Gavin focused on the core energy within him.
“I’m Gavin Lorren. Assassin for hire.”
Chapter Twenty
The enchanters stood across from him, some of them trembling, but Zella held her gaze on him, unmoving and seemingly unconcerned. The room was quiet and still, and Gavin could practically feel the tension building within it. He could feel the energy here and knew that the moment he took a step forward, everything would shift.
He held his gaze on Zella but also paid attention to the others around him. He didn’t need to watch to keep track of them. He counted seven other enchanters surrounding him. Given their number, there was a reasonable danger to him.
Which meant he had to finish this quickly.
“Where is the jade egg?” Gavin asked.
“I told you where it was,” she said.
“No, you told me that you don’t have it.”
“I don’t have it anymore. I used it.”
“What did you use it for?” he asked.
“Payment.”
“What sort of payment?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Zella crossed her hands in front of her, and the El’aras dagger started to glow again.
Gavin shook his head at her, jabbing the dagger forward. “I think we have well established that your magic isn’t going to work on me the way you want it to, so you might as well stop attempting to call on it. Don’t give me any more reason to attack you.”
“You can’t defeat all of us.”
“I already have. And I’m not opposed to cutting you all down, but not before I get answers.”
Gaspar came up behind him. Gavin flicked his gaze over to him, looking to see what Gaspar might do or say, but he remained silent.
“What kind of answers do you need?” Zella asked.
“To start with, I want to know more about the jade egg. What is it?”
Davel Chan had made it sound as if it was something only slightly valuable, but maybe it was far more valuable than he’d let on. If that were the case, Gavin needed to figure that out before he returned it.
Of course, the man had been willing to pay upwards of thirty gold crowns.
“It’s an enchantment,” she said.
Gavin grunted, careful not to move the dagger. “I gathered that.”
“It’s a powerful one. Using the jade egg, even someone without the natural enchanter ability can place new enchantments.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Gavin said.
“It was created by the enchanters from decades ago. They wanted to give the constables something to use so they could create their own enchantments. They poured much of their energy into making it. The egg was how they knew they could defeat the sorcerers. It was a dark and violent time for those within the magical community,” she said.
“What happened?”
Zella stared at him. “A sacrifice.”
Gavin shook his head. He could imagine what kind would be involved in it. Creating magical items often required sacrifice, and though he didn’t necessarily know all that much about magic, he knew enough to understand that it didn’t come free.
Magic always required something of the user.
In the time he’d wandered, he had experience with many magic users. Most of them had willingly sacrificed whatever they had to in order to get the power that they wanted. “I’ve seen how magic can require a sacrifice,” he said softly. “Unfortunately, I have far more experience with magic than I would like.”
“How have you survived it?”
Gavin shrugged. “The one who trained me ensured that I would survive anything.” He watched Zella. They had gone through something, but she wasn’t going to reveal it to him.
What would Cyran have been willing to do in order to gain more power?
Gavin had seen that he was willing to sacrifice everything to grow in power, including his friendships that were the connections he had to his past.
“I imagine that your masters—or parents,” he said, watching them and trying to determine whether or not that was true, “stored something of themselves into the enchantments.”
Zella stared at him. “Yes.”
“What did they give up?”
“Their magic.”
Gavin didn’t know that such a thing was possible, but if they had poured their magic into the jade egg, then he could understand why Zella and the others would want to get it back. And he could understand why Davel Chan would be willing to pay thirty gold crowns for it.
An item like that would be invaluable.
“How did they give up their magic?”
“By pouring it into the egg, which absorbed it and gave those without power the ability to cast enchantments. It’s limited and requires time to replenish, and it’s no different than using magic normally. In creating the egg, they allowed the constables the ability to enchant anything they needed to defeat the sorcerers.”
Gavin glanced over at Gaspar. “Did you know this?”
“All I knew was that there was an item of power. I knew they had access to enchantments, sometimes many more than I would’ve expected. I would never have imagined anything like that.”
“Where’s the egg now?” Gavin asked Zella.
“As I said, I offered it as payment.”
“Payment?”
“Yes.”
“What kind?” Gavin had an idea though.
“The kind of payment that means our people will finally be safe.”
“You mean safe from the constables.”
She stared at him.
“Fine. You don’t have to tell me, but I have a feeling that your payment ended up in the hands of the Mistress of Vines and that you’re the reason I was sent to the Captain’s home.”
He had a rising suspicion that he’d seen the enchanters steal the egg from the constables. That was what he’d seen with the wagons, which meant that the egg hadn’t been out of their hands for very long. It also meant that Davel Chan was with the constables.
And even more than that, he had a feeling he might’ve been used in more ways than he’d imagined. The lack of reaction from Zella’s face suggested that he was right.
He looked at the others. “Don’t get in the way.”
He started toward the door, and Gaspar followed.
“What are you doing?” Gaspar whispered through the enchantment.
“Leaving.”
“You’re leaving, with all of this here?”
“Yes.”
Gavin reached the door and turned, holding out the
