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“This way,” I told her instead, leading her to the next alcove, mostly filled with boxes.

I levitated each, until I spotted what I was after: a WS logo on a blue box. Everything was color coded, for my sanity. Blue should mean winter.

I opened it up, and smiled. “Here. Help yourself.”

Kleos peeked into the container, filled with folded cashmere scarves, shawls, and ponchos.

“I couldn’t!” she quickly protested. “Lucian, they’re worth a fortune.”

I shrugged. “I don’t price them. They’re worth what people are willing to pay for the softest cashmere that never gets dirty or wet, with a warming spell that never fades and a protection shield.”

“That’s what I said. A fortune. I think it was, like, five hundred golds!”

“I have hundreds lying around,” I assured her. “And honestly? I overcharge.”Your kind,I didn’t add.

“I don’t even ownanythingworth that much.”

That was…strange. The scarves were cheaper than anything I wore.

“All the more reason to take one.” She wasn’t going to, either because she was unwilling to set Zazel down, or because she truly was horrified at the idea of a gift of this value, so I made the choice for her.

Teal, slightly more green than blue. It suited both her complexion and her hair perfectly. I unfurled the triangular shawl and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Hm. It felt rather peculiar to have my arms around her shoulders like this.

Zazel hissed. “It’s cold down here, and she left her blazer upstairs. You wouldn’t want your witch to be uncomfortable, would you?”

The demon, understanding every word, shot me a dark look, but let it pass.

“Wait, is that what you wear all the time? Spelled, fancy-ass designer clothes?”

My smile widened. “Naturally.”

“All protectors should get their gear from you!”

I laughed. “The Guard can’t afford me, Valesco. Come on.”

22

LUCIAN

The heart of my labs was the brewing room, right off the main hall. Almost all of my inventions, at one point or another, needed some sort of a potion to anchor, strengthen, or permanently fix whatever spell I worked through the materials.

The potion room was as outwardly untidy as usual, by virtue of the hundreds of things I had on the go at any given time. Today, large pots worked on the permanence spells that I applied to most fabric, while Callie simmered, brewing Ronan’s potion—the wolfsbane mix to ease kids’ first shifts.

Ronan’s family owned several businesses, including the largest school in the underside. He’d taken up a permanent academic position there, serving as both a researcher and advisor. It kept him busy and out of his parents’ way: neither of them cared about the school.

At the last board meeting, a nurse working in the high school brought up issues with teenage shifters going through their first transitions, and Ronan asked me for input. The first few changes could be excruciating for kids not yet one with their inner beasts—and sometimes, even adults who never learned. Everyone haddismissed the problem as “something every shifter has to deal with themselves,” but that wasn’t my vibe, or Ronan’s.

I would normally have taken over, but given my previous commitments at the Guard, he worked on it until I was available. Ronan had the brains and skills to recreate any existing spells, but didn’t excel at changing things. There were a number of existing brews meant for shifters, but most had harmful intent: potions to stop them from shifting altogether, or return them to their human form. It was handy against bloodthirsty rogues, useless for hormonal teens who could shift on impulse.

I checked on Callie, who blew happy little bubbles at my approach.

“Good work,” I told her, making her hop a little on her floating flame.

By the looks of it, this batch might just be the one. His formula only needed a few tweaks—including the hemlock drop suggested by my mother. The trick was to calm down the beast eager to get out so it could emerge gently, all the while handling the kid’s anxieties. A few ingredients against pain topped it all off. I’d try it later.

“This place feels like pure magic,” Kleos said reverently. “Like it has seen a billion kinds of spells.”