Thirty-Eight

 

Alasdair rang the local lunar priestess, who arranged a meeting with the best hedgewitch she could get a hold of. Lerae was a very different woman to the one we’d met in Galway. She dressed like a modern business woman with a well-fitted navy-blue suit and her hair pulled up into a complex design that looked like it would take far too long to do. Her front, the business she hid her hedgewitch business behind, was that of a high-end cooking supplies shop. She had very expensive mixers, sieves, knives, and the like carefully arranged throughout the white shop. I had no idea that a chopping board or whisk could cost so much, and how on Earth did they justify charging that much for a simple mixing bowl?

Alasdair nudged me with his elbow, and I turned a polite smile towards Lerae, who was looking at me with pursed lips. I hoped I hadn’t said any of my thoughts out loud.

“You wish to discuss the alchemist who makes the magic-removal powder?”

I found it interesting that she referred to him that way, rather than the alchemist who made the Tempo.

“Yes,” Alasdair said, ever a man of words.

She gave a small nod.

“And why is it that you wish to take away such a thing?”

I frowned. We were doing it because it was causing harm. As far as we knew, making it required the deaths of a number of supernals.

“Because too many beings must die to make it,” Alasdair said.

“And what about the good it could bring?”

“You mean the changes to the fae political landscape?” Alasdair asked.

“Yes.”

“If the change is needed that badly, then it can be facilitated another way.”

She crossed her arms forming a small crease in her peach-coloured satin blouse, the first imperfection in her appearance.

“Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing, to allow this dust and its cousin, ‘Tempo’ I think you call it, to continue. The world has grown and changed since you were born, wolf. Maybe it is a time for change.”

“You believe it would be a good thing, to allow people to become addicted to some shred of magic? Magic that came from the deaths of countless supernals?” I asked.

I couldn’t keep the emotion out of my voice the way Alasdair did, but then, I hadn’t had centuries of practise like he had.

She gave me a small smile.

“I think that maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to quell all changes. This might be a bad way of bringing about the next wave, but perhaps it would be best if you stepped aside when the time is right. People are not as they once were, maybe they are ready for magic and all it brings.”

Alasdair gave her a predatory smile, which she reflected back at him.

“We will deal with such a thing when it happens. Until then, what do you know about the alchemist that has been making the Tempo and the magic-removal powder?”

“Give me an honest answer, and I will give you one.”

Alasdair growled softly but nodded.

“What is your bond with the moon goddess?”

I frowned. That was such a simple question. I had been expecting something far more personal, more intrusive and painful to answer.

Alasdair’s expression flickered to one of surprise and sadness before it returned to his usual poker face. I felt the shift in him through the bond.

He lifted his chin and maintained his poker face.

“She is my keeper, she holds the key to my cage. My bond with her reflects that. It is one of respect and at times resentment.”

It took everything I had to keep my expression flat and even at his words. I had thought that his bond with the goddess was similar to mine; she felt motherly to me. A caring presence that had taken great pride in choosing me to help her keep the balance of this world. A flicker of fear formed within me. What if she had also caged me and I just hadn’t noticed yet? Was becoming a Guardian a big mistake?

Lerae smiled and said, “I do not have a name, but I trust you know the alchemist is fae, yes?”

Alasdair nodded.

“There are only three fae alchemists in Romania, and two of them have been acting very strangely as of late. They were removed from the alchemists guild for breaking the laws and ignoring the guidelines that had been put down with regards to interfering with life.”

“And where are they now?”

“They wished to change the world, to tear down the foolish barriers that hide magic. I do not have an address, but I can point you to the alchemists’ headquarters. They will be able to tell you.”

A soft growl rumbled in Alasdair’s throat. Lerae smirked at him before she handed him a pre-written address for the alchemist’s headquarters. She’d known how this would play out.

Alasdair didn’t say another word, he simply turned on his heel and marched out. I followed him and put my arm around his waist once we were out on the street, I didn’t need a bond to know he was angry and hurt. He looked at me in surprise when I held him close to me, our hips brushing.

“You want to discuss what I said,” he said softly.

“Can you blame me?”

He shook his head sadly. “No.”