And yet, here I was, hoping they failed.
Stupid!If they did, we’d be in even more danger.I didn’t know whether what I’d thought yesterday was true—if a single potion could actually decide the war—but having it in the hands of the dark would definitely result in massive casualties on our side.
Including my clan.
Including myboys.
Instead of a handful of Relics, the potion could make hundreds or even thousands.And what thousands of those things could do...didn’t bear thinking about.And that didn’t even count the fact that Cyrus was probably correct about the clans.
Damn it,Iwas the trained investigator here!I should be able to do this, to get a clue, to figure out some path forward.And for any other question, I would have.
But not this one.
You don’t have time to wait to recover, I told myself furiously.To go with them, to fight alongside them!I know what you want, but this will be decided soon, one way or the other.No one could hide from the number of people hunting this guy for long, and we had to get there first; we simply had to.
The swath of fiery color I was clutching had broadened to the point that it now covered half the skirt, and I stared at it resentfully.Goddamn it, I couldn’t afford to have my usual instincts blunted because I didn’t really want an answer to my question.What would I have been doing normally, after striking out with a witness?
That was easy: looking for another one.But Dave had been with Sienna when I showed up, and he hadn’t been able to tell me any more than she had.And neither did the beads.
I felt them slip through my fingers, the lightly furrowed surface giving me nothing except the vague hum of a mildly magical object.Because of course not.I was a mage, not a—
I stopped, frozen in place for a moment, and even the morphing colors in the skirt slowed to a crawl.And then sped up into a churning, whirling mass of ugly gray/black and olive green, like a thunderous sky.With only a few hints of other shades flashing through occasionally as I slowly, slowly, slowly...
Looked up.
But I wasn’t seeing the ceiling, which was plain white to avoid clashing with the riot of colors below.But rather another stretch of white I’d seen recently: ceiling, marble floor, and ribbed walls, making the whole atrium look like a giant bird cage.The gilt spines had provided the only color except for the brilliantly hued paper kites that had fluttered about, perfectly mimicking their feathered counterparts.
The Pythian Court.
Because yeah, I was a mage, not a seer.But there was a seer on sight, wasn’t there?Only no, that was wrong.
TheSeer was on sight, the greatest of them all, and the scariest, judging by the way my arms had just broken out in gooseflesh.
At least, she was supposed to be.
Assuming I had the guts to face her.
I stood up.
“It’s okay,” I told Sophie, who, like a mother hen, immediately came over.“I, uh, I’m just going to talk to another witness.”
“Okay, gimme a minute to check out.”
“What is it?”Jen called, poking her head out of one of the beaded curtains concealing the dressing rooms.She was holding a cute little skirted suit that made her look like the Joker, as it wasn’t only green but was now covered with purple question marks.
“We gotta go,” Sophie called back.
“Already?”
“No, you don’t,” I told them.“I’m just going upstairs—”
“So?”Sophie said.“We’ll go with.”
“You can’t—”
That got me a look, and the soft, pale pink cardigan she was holding abruptly flashed fuchsia.“Watch us.Cyrus said not to leave you for a minute—”
“I’m not going to get in any trouble—”
