18. Keelan

Chapter 18

Keelan

R ather than interview the victims while they sat naked in their own excrement, a group of officers helped them up the stairs, then shielded them from passersby into a shuttered carriage. I rode my horse behind the carriage all the way to the Mages’ Guild, where they were helped down and guided into a small public receiving room just inside the Guild Hall.

Eight Mages stood along the paneled walls, hovering and watching, scrutinizing as one of their robed sisters sat before the trio.

Sometime during their ride over, they’d been given loose gray trousers and light green tunics. They’d also had a chance to wash their faces and arms. Whatever water and food they’d managed to hold down since leaving Albrecht’s office had worked wonders. They looked like different people than those I’d found a couple of hours earlier.

Atikus loomed near the door, his eyes hard and fixed. I knew from a lifetime with the old Mage that he never missed a detail—and never forgot one, either. His Gift of perfect recall was something for which I had always been jealous, though I doubted I would have traded with him if that had been an option. Truthreading was the perfect ability for an investigator. I was lucky, and I knew it.

“ . . . name is R?sín,” the female Mage said. “What is your Gift?”

R?sín sat in a leather chair across from where the three victims sat clustered together. A round, knee-high coffee table formed a barrier between the victims and the rest of the world.

Delaney struggled to hold back sobs. Alana wrapped her arm around the woman and held her as she struggled to speak. “I can call Light. Well . . . I could . . .”

“I know this is difficult.” R?sín’s words were wrapped in sympathy. No one alive appreciated the loss of a Gift more than one who dedicated their efforts to studying them. “When you say, ‘call Light,’ what do you mean?”

Delaney looked up, confusion entering her eyes. “I mean . . . I can make a ball of Light appear, make a dark room bright, that sort of thing.”

“Very useful Gift.” R?sín nodded. “When was the last time you remember casting a ball of Light?”

Delaney thought a moment. “When we first . . . when Albrecht . . . when he locked me down in that place.”

“She was the first,” Alana offered.

“How long were you there before another joined you?” R?sín asked.

Delaney shook her head. “I don’t know. I couldn’t see anything down there, no sun, no moon, nothing. I think it was several days, maybe a week.”

“And you could cast your Gift throughout that time?”

Delaney shook her head again. “At first, but not after . . .” Her words trailed off as one hand lifted to rub against the center of her chest.

“That’s right,” R?sín said as those behind her stirred. “He branded you, didn’t he?”

Delaney nodded, tears flowing.

“Delaney, I know this is difficult, but may I see your brand? I can ask everyone to turn away if it would make you more comfortable.”

Delaney wiped her nose with her sleeve. “It’s okay. After everything . . . being naked is nothing.” She shrugged off Alana’s arm with a tight, grateful smile, then pulled one arm out of her tunic so it would lift over her head.

A couple of the Mages standing beside me sucked in sudden breaths. I looked at Atikus as the color drained from his face.

“Dear Spirits,” R?sín said, covering her gaping mouth with a hand before standing and taking a step backward.

“What? What is it?” I asked, the urge to step in front of the victims to protect them almost overwhelming me.

R?sín turned, her eyes wide and filled with . . . something. Shock? Rage? Disgust? Probably a bit of all three.

“It is a Seal,” R?sín said.

I reached inside my cloak, pulled out my notepad, and flipped to the page with my drawing, then turned it around to face R?sín. “Like this?”

The Mage’s eyes widened further, and she stumbled back, nearly tripping over the chair. I had to grab her arm to keep her from falling onto Alana and the others. I grabbed her other arm with my off hand and helped her sit.

“Mage R?sín, do we need to talk outside?”

“No!” Kieran shouted. All heads turned to stare at the man who looked like he might leap up and attack one of us at any moment. He wilted under the scrutiny of so many Mages and a Guardsman. “Forgive me. It’s just . . . We deserve to know what that man did to us.”

I thought only a moment before turning back toward R?sín. “He’s right. They deserve the truth.”

R?sín looked over my shoulder, I assumed to gain permission or acceptance or some show of support from her fellow Mages. A heartbeat passed before her eyes locked onto mine.

“The symbol in your sketch is one half of a Seal. Such Enchantments are used to lock or unlock an item, their twin, usually a door or passage, occasionally an item, like a box or book.”

I nodded. “We assumed this was used to lock Albrecht’s missing ledger.”

R?sín shook her head. Her hand snaked around to point at Delaney’s still exposed chest. “That is the twin.”

My brow furrowed. “I don’t understand. Each of them was branded with that symbol. How could someone lock a person? That doesn’t make any sense.”

R?sín looked over my shoulder again, a pleading entering her gaze.

It was Atikus who spoke next.

“This Seal was not meant to lock or unlock a person. Rather, it was designed to open their Gift.”

“Their Gift?” I released R?sín and turned to face Atikus.

Atikus shoved himself off the wall and stepped forward. “Your accountant was using this device to open up the Gift within each of these individuals. There is no way to remove a Gift or steal it from another—at least, no way I have ever heard of. If I had to guess, Albrecht was studying their magic, perhaps their connection to magic.”

“He kidnapped people to study their magic? That’s insane,” I said, still unable to wrap my brain around what I was hearing.

Atikus gripped my arm. “Do you know what Albrecht’s Gift was?”

I nodded. “His wife said he could see patterns, which was why he was such a good accountant. He could read those ledgers and know everything that a person was doing with their business, good or bad.”

My words hung in the air.

No one spoke.

The only sound was Delaney’s soft cries as she gathered herself.

Then, as if clouds parted and the sun shone down, I understood.

“He was searching for the pattern within their Gift. He studied how they were connected to magic, how it worked, how it flowed. He used the Seal to turn it on and shut it off so he could see the impact of terminating a person’s connection to their Light.”

Atikus nodded.

One of the Mages lining the wall muttered, “Fucking bastard.”

“Can you turn our Gifts back on?” Alana’s voice begged for mercy.

Atikus kneeled, bending to meet the woman’s gaze at eye level.

“I believe, and this is only a guess, that your magic will return to you in time. I have never heard of a person being severed from magic. I do not believe such is possible.”

“What about the device?” I asked.

Atikus looked back over his shoulder, one brow cocked. “The device?”

“Whatever Albrecht used, the thing that left the imprint in his hand. We never found it.”

Atikus thought a moment, then stood. “I . . . I do not know if someone else may be able to wield such a thing or if it was attuned only to the accountant. It is possible . . . Spirits . . . I hope it was not.” He glanced at our three victims, then back at me. “For their sakes, I hope the Enchantment passed with Albrecht.”