The paper mage offers his arm, and I slip my hand into the crook of his elbow. He smells of ink and something crisp, like a new novel. He guides me towards the door.
“Knox!” Lander growls behind us. “You’d better take care of her. If you don’t, treaty or no, I will come for you.”
“I wouldn’t harm a hair on her head,” Knox answerscoolly. He nudges the anti-magic cuff across the floor; it skitters and strikes the toe of Lander’s boot with a metallic click. “I’m nothing like you, pal.”
I cannot bear to look at Lander’s expression, so I glance at Knox instead.
“Let’s go,” he says softly.
We leave together, winding through the Ministry’s labyrinthine corridors. Magic hums in the walls; the air smells of ozone and stone dust.
At last we reach fresh air. I breathe deeply—relief at last, the city’s cool evening breeze brushing my cheeks.
A dark car waits at the kerb, engine ticking softly, runes pulsing along the bonnet. He opens the door, and I slide across before he can walk around to the other side. I sink into the plush upholstery. The faux leather is warm beneath my fingertips, and for the first time in days, I believe the day will end far better than it began.
He joins me, and we wait while his team clambers into the surrounding vehicles.
“I did not know there were that many paper mages,” I say.
“There aren’t,” he replies. “My magic coats my people, alters their aura. It makes us seem more numerous than we are. I can also lend my power to certain people, if they’re attuned.”
“Ah,” I murmur, impressed. “A handy trick.”
I understand; I once lent slivers of my magic to family so they could send notes and cast simple spells.
“The Ministry treats us very carefully because they can’t count us. The other paper mages are scattered across theworld, doing what we do best,” he continues. “We keep to ourselves. You know how it is.”
He raises an eyebrow, waiting for me to acknowledge that yes, I do. Subtle—unlike Lander, who barrels through conversation; Knox is smooth.
I nod. “Thank you for coming.”
“When I received your note, I was intrigued. I know all the paper mages; there were fifteen of us worldwide. With you, that makes sixteen. We don’t just spring up out of nowhere.”
He watches my reaction. “I should like to hear your story, Harper. I’m not like your friend in there; I won’t interrogate or force you to speak. He’s a good man—just fanatical. Lander thinks he alone can keep everyone safe, when in reality he can’t.”
That smile appears again. He is a fearsome figure—big and strong—yet his black eyes are as soft as velvet. It feels as though I can see into his soul, and what stares back is kindness. That is rare. Exceptionally so.
Now that my own magic is stirring, I can sense his. He is powerful—though not as powerful as I am. Few are—but I am curious to discover what he can do.
We set off, leaving that horrendous building behind. I glance back only once; the Ministry and all its lies fall away in the rear window, shrinking to a black scar on the skyline. If it were up to me, I would tear the place down.
“We can’t stay in the Magic Sector,” Knox says. “I have a small island off the coast. We can drive across when the tide is low enough. Provided the traffic is light, we should reach thecauseway at low tide.”
As if on cue, the driver accelerates and merges onto the main street that heads out of the sector.
“We’ll arrive in about two and a half hours,” Knox adds.
I stare out of the window. We sweep through a bustling sector: a cinema with glowing posters, a theatre marquee blazing with enchanted lights, rows of restaurants with people spilling onto pavements, laughter and music drifting in. Wards shimmer above shopfronts like heat-haze.
Their island keeps them apart, granting both space and safety, and just now safety sounds appealing.
“We have the most incredible library,” he says. “Books you cannot imagine, with information beyond belief.”
I can imagine.
“You will never have seen their like or the knowledge they hold.”
I am sure I have.
