“But no one I spoke to knew what was causing it. So I was careful. I took smaller jobs even though they always wanted to throw me right at the hardest shit because I’d always been able to deal with it. Then, about three years ago, a woman who’d fallen deep into the world of blood magic attacked the department. The problem with dark, illegal magic is that the power it gives the user is well beyond something a regular magic user can deal with. So when the woman attacked my unit and killed multiple people, using their blood in an attempt to grow stronger, I knew we had to stop her…
“And so I did.The cost was the rest of my eyesight. I was determined not to tell anyone. I was hurt and ended up inthe hospital, but… suddenly being in a dark world was so disorienting. I had been using illusions on my eyes for a while at that point, so they had no idea what was going on with me. They thought I’d hit my head and they ran all of these tests on me. I just let them believe that because I didn’t know what else to do. Once I left that bed, I’d have to tell everyone my secret—that I couldn’t see anymore. My whole world was crashing around me. Being a part of that unit was my whole life. They were my family. But the guidelines for being an agent in the Magical Interference Unit are so strict. Any sort of medical condition or disability immediately gets you removed for ‘safety reasons.’ It’s an old practice that hasn’t changed. And this… this would instantly get me knocked down to a different department.”
I sigh and rub my face before continuing. “A nurse in the hospital had a familiar, and I noticed that she could tell things while busy working on her computer, things she couldn’t see when clacking away on her keys. And when I touched her, I discovered she was a seer… but she didn’t see into the future or any of that. She could see the ‘here and now’… but through another’s eyes.
“I spent days trying to learn how to connect it to Kit, and when I finally did, I was so relieved. My shoulder was already her favorite spot. She already went everywhere with me and watched everything I did. I thought everything was going to be fine, that I was going to fool everyone… but it wasn’t enough.”
Torin shakes his head. “I can’t imagine how hard it’d be to suddenly see everything from off center. Judging distances to things alone would be hard,” he says as he squints his eyes, like he’s trying to envision this.
I nod, not surprised that he immediately understood something I thought I could breeze through. “My dream of being back in the unit was quickly destroyed when I nearly gotVinny killed because he was relying on me when Kit had fallen off my shoulder. I’d spent so much time trying to learn how to understand the world when it was shifted mere inches to my left through eyes that are so different than a human’s. Her color perception, how close and far she can see, and how well she can see in the dark are all so different. But nothing prepared me for when she was ten feet away and looking at things from a distance. I nearly got us both killed, and it was at that moment that I realized it was best for me to leave… that maybe when I learned how to function better, I could return. And then this started.”
I hold up my hands.
Torin reaches across the table and picks up my hands to examine my fingers. “This gets worse when you use your magic?”
“Just strong magic.”
“Like today.”
“Yes.”
“My world is quite different from yours, but the magic is very similar. And the power of the magic you had within your body today exceeded what someone who isn’t relying on blood magic or other dark magic should be able to do.”
“But it’s not like I can turn it off. Just like today, if someone touches me, I’m stuck with the magic until I find another magic user. It doesn’t matter how many clothes I wear; their magic grabs me the second they touch any part of me, clothed or not. Or hell, today I gained the magic simply by standing there, which has never happened before.”
“Do your hands hurt? That’s a silly question; I saw the way your hands were shaking earlier.”
“Right after I’ve used strong magic, the pain is extremely sharp. But it’s more tolerable now. Do you know anything about it? Have you ever seen anything like this?” I ask, feelinglike a god who has probably lived for hundreds of years would have seen it all.
“No.You’re quite special.”
I glare at the man just because it makes me feel better about my hopes being dashed. “Lovely.”
Torin gazes at me intently, his fingers still on mine. “I knew someone who might have known more…”
“Back in your realm?”
“Yes. But she’s no longer… able.”
At first, I assumed she was dead, but now I’m not quite sure what that means. “Go get your shower.”
For a few seconds, his fingers continue sliding over the inky black stains on my hands, his expression showing his fixation on them. Then he lets go and gives me one of his charming smiles. “Let me think on that.”
“You do that,” I mutter. “Also think about how to ride an escalator because I work in the morning, and I’m supposed to babysit you, which means you’re going with me.”
I’m not quite sure why I told Torin everything. Was it out of hope that he might have an answer that no one else has?
Either way, I feel like I’m no closer and really do need to stick to my desk job at the library.
Chapter Eight
Riley
I wake up to the lights going on and off and on and off. They immediately go back on when Kit looks over at Torin, who is staring at the light switch.
“Do you store this magical energy somewhere to run these things?”
“For the millionth time, it’s not magic, it’s electricity.And why are you flickering the lights?”
