I frowned and shook my head. “God, I wish I had an idea. I’ve never heard of a Wanderer losing a tattoo, except by misplacing a piece of his anatomy as I did in Colorado. The idea of something being able to scour my tats away is horrible to contemplate. When you add in that I can’t seem to burn a new tattoo, I’m more worried than I want to say, but you’re my Apprentice. You deserve to know the truth.”
Tess bit her lip and pulled back out of my arms. Crossing her arms beneath her breasts, she began to pace back and forth in front of me.
There was a flurry of wind and Beast and Maia dropped to the field beside us.
“What’s wrong with you?” Beast growled.
I shrugged. “You saw?”
“I saw.”
“It appears that whatever spell hit me, keeps me from burning a tattoo,” I said dejectedly.
Beast and Maia swapped glances.
“How is that possible?” Beast asked.
“I don’t know. I’m at a total loss here. Any harmful spell should have pinged my wards and given me time to activate my shield. Whatever that explosion was, it didn’t alert my wards.”
“You think someone has found a way to prevent your ward from detecting a magical trap?”
“Anything’s possible,” I said.
“Maybe it wasn’t a spell,” Tess suggested.
All three of us looked at my Apprentice.
“How could it not have been a spell? It magically removed Rafe’s tattoos,” Maia said.
“Yes, what are you thinking?” I added.
“I mean the explosion, not the actual black gunk that hit you. That black stuff could have been like a potion, but the trigger wouldn’t have to be magical, would it?”
I thought about it for a few seconds and then shrugged. “I don’t guess the explosion would have to be magical. If it was a potion or some kind of spell encased in a container that was set to trigger at my name…I don’t know, I’ve never heard of anyone rigging up a mundane booby-trap with a magical component.”
“You’ve never heard of a Wanderer losing his tattoos either,” Tess said.
Well, hell, she had me there.
“I don’t know. I’m in over my head here. I don’t know which would be worse, having someone hide night magic from my ward, or someone putting a night magic spell in a mundane bomb.”
“Neither is comforting,” Beast growled.
“Beast, your senses are pretty good, probably even better than mine when mine are enhanced.”
“Yes, they are much better.”
I spread my arms. “Great, take a real good look at me and see if you can tell if there’s something that could be preventing me from using my magic.”
Beast leaned toward me, staring at my bare chest. He slowly covered my entire body with a slow sweep of his head. Then he stuck his face right up against my chest and sniffed loudly. With that, he sneezed and sat down on his haunches.
“Well?” Tess asked.
Beast growled softly. “There is something there. Something other than your needing a shower.”
“Funny,” I said. “Can you tell what it is?”
“No, I’ve never smelled anything like it before. You used lightning to burn away the blackness?”
I nodded. “Yeah, that was about the only thing I had left to try. Are you telling me the lightning didn’t get it all?”
“It’s like you still have night magic inside you. It’s faint, but there’s still something there.”
“Great,” I said. “Any idea how to get it out of me?”
“No, none.”
“Fuck,” I mumbled.
“Could you do an exorcism to remove it?” Tess asked.
“An exorcism? I don’t know. That’s not something I have a lot of familiarity with.”
“I thought you ran into demons and the such.”
“Yes, but they rarely get into someone so deep that I can’t just force them out. They can be exorcised and I have done it, I’m just not sure that showing a demon the door is the same as removing a taint of night magic. I’ll have to think on it.”
“Oh, hell,” Tess said suddenly.
“Yeah, it’s a bitch.”
“Not that. What about Alex?”
“Alex?”
“Aren’t we ignoring the obvious? We went to the motel looking for Alex right after we were told he was your next apprentice. Whoever set that trap must have known we’d be coming to look for him.”
“How?” I asked. “There’s no way someone would know he was reaped by the Valkyries. The trap must have been set some time ago and was just waiting for me to barge in.”
“I don’t think so. What if someone else mentioned your name and activated the trap?”
“Well, I… hell, I don’t know, but no one but the Valkyries and Verðandi know when someone is reaped. They wouldn’t tell.”
“Are you certain about that?” Tess asked.
I frowned. “If I can’t trust them, then there’s not much point in there being Wanderers. They’re the system that creates us.”
“Maybe some of the gods are screwing with us. Maybe they didn’t like you stopping Ragnarök and want to get a little payback.”
“Hah. That would be funny if it weren’t so damned possible. The gods are known for holding grudges. I’d never put anything past them when it comes to retribution for some imagined slight. But it doesn’t feel right. The gods don’t usually mess with Fate or her charges. Hell, Loki is one of the few I’ve ever met.”
“Loki, you said he was a trickster god, right?” Tess asked.
“You’re thinking this is some elaborate trick by him?”
When Tess nodded, I frowned. “I wouldn’t think so. I mean he’s pulled a few tricks on me, but then he gave you that amulet that amps
