Page 2

CHAPTER 2

L ight from the bedroom window greeted me when I woke. The time difference from Queen City had me all messed up, so I couldn’t figure what time it was, but I knew it was full morning.

I took a shower and put on some clean clothes. I wasn’t sure what was appropriate, so I settled on a loose floral cotton summer dress and slippers. I debated wearing my bra but skipped it when I decided the dress didn’t show my nipples.

At the top of the stairs, I paused and surveyed the dozen or so people seated and eating in the restaurant. A waitress circulated, checking on the diners, refilling water and coffee.

When I reached the bottom, I turned right into the kitchen and stood there, watching the organized chaos of cooks, dishwashers, and waiters. Everyone had an aura of a mage. Then I saw Frau Buckner off to the side and moved toward her.

She saw me at almost the same time.

“Ah, Kaitlyn. Komm mit mir ,” she said. “We’ll get you a table and a menu.”

She led me back out into the dining room and said, “Where would you like your place to be?”

“Would that table in the corner by the window be all right?”

With a smile, she started out in that direction, and I followed. She pulled out the chair that would allow me to watch both the dining room and the little square and its fountain. Seemingly out of nowhere, she produced a menu and set it in front of me.

“What to drink?”

“Uh, orange juice and coffee?”

She turned and marched back to the kitchen, stopping briefly to exchange a few words with the waitress, whose aura showed she was an hydromancer—a water mage.

I finished my breakfast and wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do next. The waitress supplied the answer.

“The Master would like you to attend him on the terrace,” she said.

I found him sitting at a small table with a tea service. We could see the square and its fountain. The café at the other side of the Platz seemed to be opening for business, and most of the shops were already open. A couple of people strolled through, stopping to admire the fountain.

“Please pour,” the Master said as I seated myself. I poured tea for both of us—black tea, not the sleepy-time cocktail Frau Buckner had slipped me the night before.

“Is everything satisfactory?” he asked.

“Oh, yes. Absolutely no complaints.”

“Then let’s start with the rules. First, you are to bring no one to this house. Ever. For any reason.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Second, you are to tell someone when you go out, and where you’re going. That might just be for a walk by the river or exploring the town.” He slid a smart phone across the table. “There are four numbers already programmed: mine, Frau Buckner’s, the restaurant number, and the number of Noah Scheuble—the administrator of apprentice programs for the Guild.

“And when you go out at night, if you’re going to be out after midnight, or don’t plan to come home at all, you must call. Otherwise, I’ll be out in the city searching for you in case you’re just wounded.”

That got my attention.

“Kaitlyn, I wish you had come here twenty years ago. The situation would have been very different.”

I smiled. “I wasn’t born twenty years ago.”

“Yes, that would have made it difficult.” He mirrored my grin. “Well, the current situation is that we have close to a full-fledged war going on between the strigoi and the lycanthropes. Both sides consider mages the enemy, and the normal humans probably wish we’d all go somewhere else.”

I knew that strigoi was a common word for vampires in Europe. What he said was alarming.

He explained that the war between the strigoi and the lycans—werewolves—in Zürich wasn’t just a supernatural feud—he suspected it was deliberately orchestrated by a faction of mages with an agenda far more dangerous than territorial disputes.

Allying themselves with the Universal Church and the Knights Magica, these mages stoked the flames of conflict, knowing that fear and chaos would turn humans, witches, and even other mages against the supernatural community.

“There is some evidence that the Knights have staged attacks on lycan compounds and manipulated them to appear to be attacks by the strigoi,” he said. “That, of course, has prompted attacks on the strigoi by the lycans.”

Their ultimate goal? The Church and the Knights wanted a theocratic magiocracy, where magic-wielders would rule as the order-keepers for the Church, enforcing their vision of order and control. By branding strigoi and lycans as public enemies, they aimed to justify an all-out purge, forcing humans and magic-users to unite under their leadership—not just to drive out supernaturals, but to reshape the balance of power entirely.

Now, with war ripping through the city, trust was shattered, the Compact between the Church, the Mage Guild, and the supernaturals was no longer enforced. Every faction had been manipulated, and the lines between friend and foe, protector and betrayer, had grown dangerously thin.

“Is this war going on in other cities?” I asked.

“Both Bern and Geneva are having their problems, and we’ve also heard that Munich is worse off than we are. Amelia has told me that you can defend yourself.”

“I do a pretty good job of it. I worked as a tracker for the Guild in Queen City the past five years.”

He nodded. “I’ve heard your story from Amelia. Now, I want to hear your story from you .”

He sat back in his chair and took a sip of his tea. For the next three hours, I talked. Occasionally, he asked a question. I tried to read his face, but he was inscrutable. Frau Buckner came at one point and replaced the tea pot.

When I finished, he simply said, “You will meet with Frau Buckner for an hour every morning to work on your German. You and I will meet three afternoons a week to study magic. When your classes at the university start in the fall, we’ll adjust our schedules as needed. Any questions?”

He took me down to the basement, which proved to be two rooms: an open space with gym mats on the floor, and another crammed full of foodstuffs on shelves. On the wall next to the stairs sat a commercial washer and dryer.

“You can work out here. If there is any equipment you need, give a list to Frau Buckner. There are dojos in the city, but unfortunately, you can’t use the one closest to us. There is a garrison of Knights Magica at the cathedral near there, and they don’t play well with others.”

A question struck me. “In Queen City, I received a stipend. Will I receive one here, or will the Guild there continue to pay me?” I didn’t want to have to ask Frau Buckner for money for tampons or other expenses.

“Ah, forgive me.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a debit card with my name on it. “The deposits will be in Swiss currency. Day after tomorrow, on the terrace, an hour after noon.”

He abruptly turned and climbed the stairs, leaving me alone.