“No worries,” I said. “Thanks for the help.”
I walked out of the dorm, my head spinning. I hadn’t thought Devon might be linked to the Family, so at least there was little chance of word making it back to them. Yet I had the sinking feeling they’d left their signature on the cantrip partly as a message to me. Adair had already goaded me about the Family hiding in plain sight, and while I hadn’t had cause to pay any attention to the Order of the Elements before now, I had yet another reason to have a bad feeling about the situation in the Houses.
What if the worst had happened, and the Houses already did the Family’s bidding?
8
After leaving Devon in the dorm, I walked with Ryan back to the main hall.
“So you’re going to wait for her to figure out what kind of spell was on the cantrip?” they said.
“Not much choice,” I said. “I mean, we can go back to the supplier in Elysium again, but I doubt anyone would tell us directly if they’re working with the Family. So I thought Miles and I could grab some invisibility cantrips and take matters into our own hands instead.”
“That sounds more like bending the rules than I’d like,” said Ryan.
“Two people have died,” I told them. “I don’t know about you, but the idea of a cantrip which can kill people with hardly a trace is pretty unnerving, and I don’t see any harm in snooping around the supplier’s house. You don’t have to come.”
“Did you say snoop around?” said Dex, flying over my shoulder. “I’m in.”
“You weren’t invited,” said the Air Element.
“That’s not very nice,” he said. “I won’t tell Liv, honest. I want to come.”
“You don’t even know where we’re going,” I said.
“To spy on someone?”
“No, to sneak around the cantrip supplier in Elysium and see if we can find evidence linking them to whoever used two unknown cantrips to commit murder at the House of Fire,” I told the sprite. “You can come along if you don’t draw attention.”
“I would never,” he said solemnly. “I’ll not make a peep.”
“Uh-huh,” I said. “I think we should go after they close up for the night. Ryan, are you in?”
“I have plans tonight,” they said. “Surely your friend Miles can help you instead.”
“I haven’t asked him, but I’m sure he will,” I said. “If it turns out the suppliers are involved in creating these illegal cantrips for the Family, though, we need all the backup we can get. What plans do you have?”
“None of your business.”
I frowned. “No need to be rude. It’s not like the Death King has given us any specific instructions. He didn’t say we couldn’t leave the castle.”
“He also didn’t give you permission to start a feud with Elysium’s only cantrip supplier.”
“I won’t get caught.” When they rolled their eyes, I added, “Trust me, I’m good at stealth.”
“No doubt, given how you cheated your way into the Fire Element contest.”
Okay, that was unfair. “The Death King gave me the job because he wanted me to negotiate with the Houses of the Elements. The House of Fire won’t speak to him because they’re too preoccupied with the fact that two of their people dropped dead in the last week. If I can find out who did it, technically I am doing my job.”
“If you say so,” they said. “Then go, but for all our sakes, please don’t get caught.”
When I left the castle later that evening, I found the dark shadowy form of a lich waiting for me outside.
“Where are you going?” asked Harper. “The House of Fire again?”
“Nah, the cantrip supplier in Elysium,” I said. “Might end up in the House again if the clues lead that way, though. What’re you up to?”
“Well…” she began. “I’m kind of running an important mission for the Death King, too.”
“Really?” I said. “He never mentioned it.”
“It’s because his enemies are specifically recruiting liches,” she said. “They want the Death King’s forces on their own team. So I’m taking advantage of that.”
“Huh,” I said. “I didn’t know.”
Still, at least she had something to do with her time. I’d felt bad for leaving her out of my plans, but I knew how much she hated the Houses, and I didn’t want to freak her out by insinuating that the Family were back to their old tricks, either.
Nobody else was outside except for Neddie the horse, so I walked over to him while I waited for Dex to join me. The horse whinnied when he saw me and tried to bite my fingers.
“I think you’re going to have to give up on your ambitions to ride a zombie steed, Bria,” said Harper. “They really don’t seem to like you. If you ask me, they have a thing against fire mages.”
“Guess I don’t blame them for that.” I spotted Dex approaching from the castle. “See you in a bit, Harper.”
Dex and I left the castle via the gates and passed through the node, heading to the city of Elysium. We emerged down the road from the Spirit Agents’ house, where Miles waited for me outside, as we’d arranged, wearing a dark coat with the collar turned up against the cold evening air. “Hey, Bria.”
“Hey.” I glanced down at the sight of movement at my feet, but it was only a curious vampire chicken. “I thought someone was supposed to be picking those things up.”
“They were,” Miles said. “Haven’t heard a word. I reckon they got distracted by all the crap happening in the Houses.”
“What are you two doing?” Shelley said from behind him.
“We’re going to pay another visit to Dawson’s place,” I said. “To have a poke around and see if there’s anything he’s not telling us about who he sells to.”
“Really, Miles?” said Shelley. “Did you really want to alienate one of our few allies?”
“We won’t alienate anyone if we don’t get caught,” he replied. “Which we won’t.”
“We could use
