“No. Gold, I think I could differentiate.”
“Take a closer look.”
Kaylin in the present said, “Is he an idiot?”
“He doesn’t seem to understand how visions actually work, no.”
Kaylin would have bet a lot of money that Margot didn’t, either, and clearly, she would have lost it.
Past Margot said, “That is not the way visions work. If it was a precise science, the existence of Oracles would have started seven different wars by now.”
“Why did he want an Oracle?” Kaylin asked.
“Maybe he wanted to avoid angry Dragons,” Margot replied. “I don’t know.” Margot’s response was dismissive, which was typical for her. But the line of her shoulders was a little too high, and her eyes were narrowed in something that wasn’t quite anger or hostility, both of which Kaylin knew quite well.
Something was wrong. Kaylin frowned and glanced at Severn. It was brief, but pointed.
Severn walked across the rug, bent, and examined something. The rug itself was a complicated weave of color and pattern. He rose and lifted an arm; the familiar came to land on it, as if he were a kestrel. He then carried the familiar back to Kaylin.
The familiar crooned.
Yes, Severn said, speaking privately, as he so seldom did. Kaylin was mortal. Kaylin had taken a Name—for herself, instinctively—from the Barrani Lake of Life. The only living person who knew it was her partner. The Name was a bridge he seldom crossed.I think you’re right. I think Margot’s visitor never left. I’m certain the playback is genuine. I’m certain the visitor did somehow cajole an actual vision out of her. But I think something in that vision involved you.
Is she likely to survive if we leave?Kaylin glanced, briefly, at Margot.
Would you care? Severn unsheathed his blades. Although the room was large, it wasn’t large enough that he could wield the full length of his weapon’s chain without lopping off someone’s arm or leg.
Yes. If I’ve managed not to kill her all these years, I resent some stranger strolling in to do it first.
Grab Margot.
You think he’ll use magic here?
Probably.
Past Margot inhaled sharply, and both Hawks stopped their discussion as the Records playback demanded their attention.
“What is it? What did you see? What changed?” the man demanded; he’d risen from his chair to lean over the table, staring into the crystal ball as if it could provide answers. As if.
Kaylin headed across the room to the mirror, and stopped at the midpoint between the table and the wall, which happened to be Margot. To Severn, she said,Break the ball. To present Margot, she said, “Can you speed this up a bit?”
Margot turned a familiar glare in Kaylin’s direction, and the Hawk draped an arm tightly around the redhead’s shoulders as Severn brought both of his blades crashing down on the glass orb.
Chapter 9
The glass shattered.
As it did, Kaylin felt the uncomfortable tickling across her skin become painful. She didn’t otherwise notice. Shards of glass flew outward. By some small miracle—and by small, she meant dragon—none of them hit either Kaylin or Margot.
She felt acutely embarrassed. She’d assumed the crystal ball was a kind of second-rate magic that Margot used to fleece people—and she’d been right, of course. But the ball Severn had just shattered wasn’t the one that had originally been sitting on the table. Kaylin was surprised she hadn’t seen the difference immediately.
She was also chagrined. Destroying it had been a hunch. Destroying itintelligentlywould have been the brighter move. Severn had one cut across his cheek, but it wasn’t deep. And he wasn’t bothered by it. He didn’t even look. He turned instantly toward the room’s fourth occupant.
The man whose visit had been captured in the Records mirror was looking slightly surprised. He was standing in the corner farthest from the door, where no one was likely to accidentally run into him. He wasn’t prepared for combat. He wasn’t prepared for discovery at all.
Kaylin watched his eyes widen, saw his mouth open, saw his gaze rake Margot’s face with slow blossoming fury.
“I didn’t tell them,” Margot told him, voice cold. “If you recall, I advised you against this course of action. The Hawks are a constant irritant, but they’re not reliably stupid.” To Kaylin, she said, “I would appreciate it if you escorted this man off the premises.”