“Well,” Klaus started, straightening his coat as he led Kieran to the moss-covered ground.It was springy under Kieran’s feet, almost like walking on a plush blanket.Klaus continued: “That’s a very good question.It’s…something of a mystery.No onereally knows what form raw magic takes.Whether it’s some sort of liquid or perhaps a gemstone—all that knowledge has been lost to time.So the real question is, what is it and how do we refine it?But we won’t know until we reach the inner part of the vein.”
Kieran cocked an eyebrow.“Which you plan to…dig up?”
“Theoretically,” Klaus said.He gestured to a particularly large clump of blue, green, and pink mushrooms that sprouted out of the ground in a grand bouquet.“That’s the last place I tried to dig.I created a slim, handheld device that can bore a narrow hole in the earth, and my hope was to disturb the vein as little as possible.Unfortunately, even with the addition of an invisibility spell, the vein’s creatures still found me and drove me away before I dug more than a few feet.”
“How many ways have you tried to get to the vein so far?”
“Last week I reached attempt seventy-three,” Klaus said, sounding almost proud.When Kieran’s face went pale, Klaus quickly justified, hands gesticulating wildly, “It’s all part of the scientific process!And, well, now that you’re here to help me, I have the advantage of a witch who might be able to help fend off the vein’s creatures while I work.”
Kieran did his best not to openly laugh at that.“You wantmeto fight off magical creatures?”
Klaus cocked an eyebrow.“Is that a problem?Your twin seemed quite adept at fighting, so I assume you had similar training.”
“Um.About that—”
Before Kieran could finish, though, a new voice boomed through the woods, calling, “Well, now, look who it is!My dear friend has returned.”
Kieran and Klaus turned to find a pair of figures approaching them.One was a short, stout man with his arms outstretched as if he were going to embrace them.He wore a clean, pressed pair of slacks and a crisp black coat—he would have looked more at ease having a martini at a five-star hotel bar than in the woods.He appeared to be in his early fifties, with a light, ruddy complexion and gray-streaked, neatly trimmed brown hair.He also lacked much of a neck, lending him the likeness of a posh turtle.
“Elias.”Klaus said his name like a chore he needed to cross off his to-do list.“What a surprise.”
“A pleasure as always, Klaus.”Elias’s eyes fell on Kieran.“And who is this?”
“This,” Klaus said, gesturing to Kieran with a flourish, “is my new assistant, Koren.”
Typically, Kieran would have quickly correctly the misnomer.But he hadn’t processed anything Klaus had said, nor Elias.
Because the boy standing at Elias’s side may well have been the most attractive person Kieran had ever laid eyes on.
He was a few inches shorter than Kieran—who stood just shy of six feet—with a slim, muscular build.His skin was pale but gold-toned, his piercing eyes so dark brown they appeared black.He had shiny jet-black hair parted in the middle and trimmed so it barely tickled the shell of his ears.His face was a mix of delicate features—a straight, short nose and pinkish lips—paired with sharp cheekbones and a slim, angular jaw.He wore a simple slate-gray woolen trench coat and had his hands tucked in the pockets.Based on his stony expression, he had little interest in the introductions at hand.
Kieran’s heart thumped hard against his ribs.
Elias stepped up, blocking Kieran’s view of the other boy, and offered a hand to shake.Kieran had to pause for a moment to remember what he’d been doing, then took the hand.Much to his surprise, Elias yanked him forward.Kieran stumbled just as Elias clapped Kieran on the back as if they were old friends.The pat of his heavy hand felt more like a smack than a kind gesture.
Kieran tensed as Elias pulled back, a smile on his face.Nothing about it, though, seemed friendly.“Nice to meet you, Koren.”
“Oh, um—it’s Kieran.Kieran Pelumbra.”
“Pelumbra, hmm?Been hearing that name in the papers a lot recently.”Elias chuckled, trying to meet Kieran’s gaze even as his focus wandered back to the other boy.“So sorry about your family’s…misfortune.I will miss the estate parties.”
Realizing that Kieran was not paying attention to him, Elias added, “Ah, yes.This is my assistant, Sebastian Feng.Sebastian?”
“It’s a pleasure,” the boy said in a voice as smooth as silk.For the first time, he met Kieran’s gaze, nearly making his heart leap from his chest.Sebastian bowed his head politely to both Kieran and Klaus, a greeting Kieran recognized as being more common in places like Shui City, where most people had ancestral roots in the neighboring country of Fenshi.
“How nice that you finally have some help for your experiments,” Elias went on, returning to his pissing contest with Klaus.“It’s been so sad seeing you alone out here on your knees in the dirt day in and day out.”
Kieran tried and failed to hide his bemused expression, his nose wrinkled and eyebrows furrowed.He wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn that the corner of Sebastian’s mouth twitched towarda smile as he held in a laugh at the older men’s absurdity.
Kieran’s stomach fluttered.This guy is definitely not your average assistant.
“Well,” Klaus shot back, fingers twitching at his sides, “I’ve always been the sort of man who isn’t afraid to do things himself.I’ll have you know, I’ve made great—”
Suddenly, the sound of a branch snapping cut him off.Sebastian stepped into action immediately, moving in front of Elias with his arm out.Kieran’s head snapped toward the sound just in time to catch a flash of movement.Not a small movement either.
That was all the warning they got before something massive crashed through the woods, claws aimed at their throats.
Chapter Four
