A deadly smile flashed over his face. “I don’t think he expected me to have more than one binding composition. But I was an Academy trainee only months ago. I’m fresh from endless mock battles in the arena.”
“I don’t want to wait around here for hours,” I said. “Even if it is safe.”
“Definitely not.” Zak’s fingers already reached for another composition.
He took longer making his choice this time, finally selecting two. He ripped them both without offering an explanation, pulling me back into his arms and holding me tight, as if to reassure himself I really was still in one piece. I accepted his embrace without comment, needing the reassurance myself.
Barely two minutes had passed, however, when pounding feet sounded and two guards burst into the alley. Zak stepped calmly away from me.
“Thank you for coming so quickly.” He nodded at the men.
“We followed your composition,” one of the two commonborns said, admiration in his eyes. “A neat working, that one.”
Zak smiled. “Thank you. It’s my own design.”
“What’s going on here?” the second guard asked, having stepped into the alley far enough to see the man frozen in place behind us. The guard’s eyes widened as he took in the material wrapped around the man’s head and his voluminous cloak.
He exchanged a look with his companion. “Don’t tell me this is…”
“I think your mages will find it is, indeed, the Shrouded Killer,” Zak said. “He just attacked me, but thankfully Aria and Iwere able to overcome him. I’ve sent a second composition to the closest law enforcement hub to request backup for you, and I’ve instructed them to come with at least two mages.”
“That’s all right, then,” the second guard said. “The mages will sort it out.” He looked relieved that he wasn’t going to be asked to take charge of the infamous serial killer himself.
“It doesn’t fit the profile.” A hint of skepticism sounded in the first guard’s voice, despite his respectful tone. “You’re not a commonborn. And this isn’t the lower city.”
I cleared my throat, willing my voice not to shake as I took a half step forward. “I think I might be able to explain that.”
All three men looked at me curiously.
“When he first arrived, he said that he’d heard Zak has been looking for him.”
“Looking for him?” The first guard’s brows rose almost to his hairline. “And what reason would you have to do that, My Lord? You’ve a black robe not a red one.”
Zak shifted uncomfortably.
“He thought the mages should have been doing more to find him,” I said, not sharing his discomfort. We were talking to commonborns, and I suspected the commonborn law enforcement guards had been feeling even more frustration with their superiors than Zak had been.
The two men exchanged a look but neither of them protested.
“He wasn’t actually looking for him, not actively.” I bit my lip. “I think it was my fault.”
Zak frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“The last day we spoke in the lower city, I thought I saw someone nearby, close enough to hear us. I was just embarrassed, of course I never dreamed…” I winced. “But I guess after all those times wandering around back alleys, we finally did stumble on the Shrouded Mage. And I was talking inan exaggerated way, telling you to stop hunting the Shrouded Killer.”
Zak’s eyes widened. “And you made me promise to stay out of the lower city after that.”
“Thank goodness I did!” I shuddered to think what would have happened if the killer had caught Zak alone.
“We mentioned starting at the University as well,” Zak said. “And this is the first day of classes. He must have been lurking outside the University waiting for me to appear.”
“You’re fortunate to have escaped,” one of the guards said with a low whistle.
“It was all because of Aria.” Zak smiled at me proudly.
“He underestimated me,” I said quietly. “I’m a commonborn, so he just dismissed me. I don’t think it even occurred to him that I might be a threat.”
The tramp of more hurrying feet sounded, along with a shout, calling for the traffic on the street to make way. We all turned toward the alley mouth in time to be greeted by a wave of red.
