“This way, but the constables were also the way we need to go,” Kegan said.
“We should be able to weave around them,” Gavin said.
They turned, following the street. He hoped that it didn’t look suspicious, but with him and Gaspar following behind the two boys, it might look questionable or even lecherous.
“Did you find anything on the constables?” he asked.
“Nothing of use,” Gaspar said.
“They should have some way of detecting magic,” Gavin said.
“That was my suspicion, but I didn’t see anything.”
If not, then how were they searching through the city for other magic users?
He didn’t see other constables. As they moved along the street, he was lulled into relaxation. They turned a corner, and Kegan and Mekal started to quicken their steps. Gavin hurried to keep up.
He leaned close to them. “Try to run, and I will find you both.”
Kegan stiffened and almost stumbled, then slowed down a step. Mekal took another moment before he slowed.
“Better,” Gavin said.
They reached a building two doors from the end of the street. It was a simple wooden structure like so many that he’d passed, and there was nothing about it that would set it apart. They turned toward it.
“Here,” Kegan said.
“This is where we’ll find Zella?”
“If she lets you,” Kegan said.
“If she lets me?” Gavin glanced from Kegan to Mekal, smiling and shaking his head. “How powerful do you think she is?”
“Powerful enough she won’t fear you,” Mekal said.
Gavin chuckled. “You really should think about being a little more careful with your mouth.” He pushed them forward, motioning for them to head to the door.
“What do you expect us to do?” Kegan asked.
“Knock. Do whatever you do to let Zella know you’re here.”
Mekal stared at the door, holding one hand above the knob, concern building in his eyes. He didn’t look over at Gavin, who wondered if he needed to be more wary than he was. Zella was an enchantress, and one the boys respected, but it was more than that.
They feared her.
“She already knows we’re here,” Mekal said.
“How do you know that?” Gavin asked.
“She would’ve felt us. She’s probably felt you. Chances are good that she’s—”
The door opened, and Kegan gasped. Darkness greeted them from the other side.
Gavin held out the dagger. Of course it glowed.
“Go on,” he said, nudging them.
Kegan and Mekal stepped into the building.
As Gavin headed toward it, Gaspar grabbed his arm. “I think we need to be careful here.”
“This is what we’re after.”
“I don’t know if finding this egg makes that much of a difference,” Gaspar said.
“It’s more than just finding the egg. If we can find this enchantress, she can help us locate the Mistress of Vines,” Gavin said, keeping his voice in a low whisper. “That’s what you care about. That’s the job you were hired to help with.”
Gaspar frowned. “I wasn’t hired for any job.”
“You took the job with me. It means you were hired for it.” Gavin stared at the doorway. “This is just a secondary job, but…”
“But what?”
Gavin glanced over at him briefly. “But I’m starting to get the feeling that they’re connected.”
He stepped into the room. Power tried to slam into him, but he was holding onto the El’aras dagger, and the magic seemed to curve around him. Kegan and Mekal turned toward Gavin. Both of them were staring, jaws clenched.
“It’s like that, is it?” Gavin asked. He could see faces in the darkness beyond, though he wasn’t able to count how many were there.
He sighed as the power continued to push in on him. Behind him, Gaspar cried out.
Not only were they attacking me, but Gaspar too?
Gavin had some natural resistance to magic somehow, and the training that he’d undergone with Tristan had fortified that.
Gaspar didn’t have that same benefit.
“Stop it,” Gavin said, turning his attention to Kegan and Mekal.
They were the only ones in the room that he thought he might be able to get through to. He suspected that the other two dozen or so in the room were also young, at least as young as Mekal, and possibly as young as Kegan. The only one he didn’t know about was Zella.
But considering that these two knew her, was she just as young?
“You aren’t going to like what happens,” Gavin said.
“You might’ve been able to overpower the two of us, but you won’t be able to do so with all of us,” Kegan said.
Power continued to squeeze him. They were right. If he did nothing, they were going to be able to overpower him. Gavin summoned his core reserves, thinking about what he’d done in the past when magic was used against him. Not just with the Mistress of Vines, but even before then.
With Tristan.
He thought about how he’d broken through Tristan’s leathers, ropes, and finally chains. He thought about what he’d done when he’d broken free of the magical bindings Cyran had attempted to use on him.
All of those memories filled him, and that energy came up from deep within. It bubbled up from some buried pool of power that lingered inside of him, and all Gavin had to do was tap into it. Doing so was difficult now, especially when he could feel that power fading, but he needed to summon it.
He needed to decide whether he was afraid of the power within him or whether he would embrace it. Gavin pushed it out from inside him. It exploded, causing a burst of energy.
The El’aras dagger surged with light that was almost overwhelming.
With that light, Gavin counted seven faces in the room with him. Two of them were Kegan and Mekal, but the others were young, much like he’d suspected. All of them were children, and he guessed they were all using magic on him.
In that brief moment, he hesitated. He had no idea if his ability to break chains, to break through magical bindings, would cause them any harm. He didn’t necessarily want to hurt them. He just wanted answers.
It was too late for him to withdraw it though.
