Page 76 of This Dark Descent
The man visibly relaxed. A woman in distress he could handle. She almost laughed, and it must have shown in her eyes, because a nervous twitch formed at the corner of his mouth. Perhaps he wasn’t sure if he should smile or call for help.
She longed for a piece of verillion, for the singe of magic to calm her nerves, to make that decision for him so, so easily. He should scream, of course, though no one would hear him. It was too early, the street too remote. No one would come for him.
“Ma’am?”
Ari blinked, realizing she’d taken a step forward. Had those thoughts been hers, or the voice? It was getting more difficult to tell, the line between them wearing like a fraying rope.
She clasped her hands, setting her expression with fear and confusion. The latter was easy. She felt disoriented, like a leaf caught and thrown by the wind.
“Can you help me get back to a main road?” she asked. “I can call a coach from there.”
The recruiter smiled. “Of course. Follow me.”
THE WIND CARRIEDthe scent of lavender after her as she hurried back to her room at Adair Manor. She closed her door and leaned against it, as if she could lock the whole experience outside.
She wanted so badly to believe that there was a logical explanation. Thatshe’d sleepwalked or gotten drunk and not remembered wandering out. But she knew those weren’t true as surely as she knew the crimson on her gown was blood.
Something was happening to her.
Tearing off the gown, she tossed it into a corner and scrubbed the blood from her nails in the sink. Then she dressed in a loose black skirt and embroidered blouse. By the time she’d tied up her hair in one of her mother’s headscarves and slid on her Saba’s necklace, she felt more herself.
She slipped into Damien’s room to the sound of hushed voices.
“I’m losing patience, Hyle,” Damien said. He reclined at his desk, his chin resting on one fist. A thin, pale man with a lean face and long blond hair pulled back in a bun fiddled with various things on his desk. To anyone else, it might look as though Damien hadn’t noticed it, but she detected the annoyance in the tilt of his lips. From the smile on Hyle’s face, he did too, and seemed to be rather enjoying it.
Hyle set down the pen he’d been spinning in his fingers. “Maybe I can find that for you instead. Or perhaps a lock for your door?” His gaze slid to Ari, who hadn’t moved from the top of the steps. There was something about this man that unnerved her.
“Speak freely.” Damien waved his hand, and Ari descended into the room, seeking the teakettle.
“I always do.” Hyle grinned. “Your ring remains as absent as my love life, though not yours, it would seem.”
Ari’s gaze flicked to Damien’s right hand, where his signet ring adorned one finger. Was it a different one he was missing?
“Let me rephrase.” Damien folded his hands atop the desk. “Speak freely about our business and then get out.”
Hyle released an overdramatic sigh. “You’re never any fun. Very well, you were right, as usual. Two other unlicensed enchanters disappeared before Keirian Rusel.”
Ari paused mid-sip of her tea. Why was Damien looking into Mikira’s father?
“Your source?” Damien asked.
“The Goddess herself whispered in my ear,” Hyle replied with a cheeky grin. At Damien’s flat glare, he added, “I tracked the paperwork on both of them through the Vault. Rezek has quite the network between himself and the Anthir jail cells. The paperwork shows the enchanters being executed, but there’s no additional paperwork for the burial of their bodies.”
“Which means they were never executed.” Ari dropped into one of the armchairs. “Rezek took them, like he took Mikira’s father.”
Hyle’s unnerving gaze found her once more. “Precisely. I found the berator responsible for the paperwork. It appears he owes a rather large betting debt to House Kelbra.”
“Ensure that debt is erased,” Damien instructed. “Whatever Rezek is doing with them, I don’t want him obtaining any more.”
Hyle dropped into a flourishing bow. “Done.” He cast Ari one last, lingering look before leaving the way she’d entered. Ari watched him go, trying to discern what it was about him that left her so cold.
“Rezek appears to be collecting enchanters,” Damien explained without prompting. “Since he could have traded Mikira her father’s life for her ranch, he must want something in addition to it, and her father’s powers were all I could think of.”
She shivered. That could just as easily have been her. “For what?”
“I intend to find out.”
“And your missing ring?” she asked.
