Page 18

Cloaking wasn’t a complicated matter. It would hide you from prying eyes. However, if you wore a heavy perfume and stood close enough to someone, they might not see you, but they can smell you. That would lead to suspicion.

Animals were trickier to fool than humans. Most humans would rationalize away a strange smell or sound when their eyes said nothing was there.

Animals weren’t so quick to leave it alone.

When I stepped into the main room, a growl came from my left. I froze, my head slowly moving to the side to take in the large black dog. Its mouth was open, showing off rows of fangs and slobber dripping out and splattering on the floor. Its sharp claws clacked on the ground as it stalked toward me.

The dog couldn’t see me, but it knew I was there.

Now, in general, I don't condone hurting animals. They only did what nature intended or what their masters have taught them to do. It was hardly this dog’s fault that their mistress was on my list today.

However, if push came to shove and I had to, I would put the creature down.

“Nice puppy,” I murmured, pushing my magic into my voice. I’d never tried to use my powers of persuasion on an animal before. Most humans were easily manipulated, but a strong mind could hold out against my magical persuasion.

Here was hoping dogs were the same.

The dog cocked his head, his eyes dilating as he stared me down. The growling lowered slightly, but it didn’t cease completely as the dog tried to decide if he wanted to let me into his mind.

I lowered myself down to his level and pushed honey and velvet into my voice. “You don’t want to hurt me, gorgeous. I’m a friend.”

The dog whined and pawed at the ground before shaking its head. Its lips covered its fangs once more as the dog padded toward me, offering me its head as it sniffed at me.

“That’s a good...” I peered between its legs. “Boy. Yes, you are.” He pushed into my hand while I scratched behind his ears and under his chin. “Now, where is your master?”

He yipped, which wasn’t an answer. I turned to glance around the room, taking in the white furniture and the shiny black side tables. Did Healer Beatriz not know what color was?

A sound came from the back of the home. I released the cloak and kept my hand on my new companion. “Come on, boy. Let’s go see your mama.”

Now that my magic had sunk into the dog, he was fully under my control and would even take my side against his master. I didn’t know if my magic would be able to overcome a creature’s sense of self preservation, though.

I’d never tried to make someone kill themselves because I said so. However, there was always a first time.

My skirt swished across the ground, the dog’s claws clicking on the floor beside me.

“Jewel, come here, boy,” a wavering voice called out as I drew closer.

To my delight, the dog at my side didn’t even budge to her call. I smiled down at him and patted his head. “Good boy.”

“Jewel?”

I let my fingers stay on the top of Jewel’s head as I stepped into the bedroom. The monochrome coloring had been applied to this room as well. Only a few items on her nightstand and dresser gave the room random splashes of color.

A large bed sat near a bank of wall-to-ceiling windows. The drapes were pulled so the room was steeped in shadows. A small figure laid in the middle of the bed, blankets pulled up to her chest.

“Jewel?” her voice croaked and then she jerked up in bed slightly. “Who’s there? What are you doing with my dog? Jewel, come here.”

When Jewel didn’t move from my side, my lips curled up in a coy grin. “I don’t think that will be happening, Healer Beatriz.”

“You,” she hissed, which turned into a cough. “What are you doing here?”

“I heard you weren’t feeling well and came to check on you.” I flicked my fingers, and the light beside her bed turned on. As I sat on the edge of Beatriz’ bed, Jewel flopped down on the ground beside me, head down on top of my foot.

Beatriz’ beady eyes narrowed on me. Her face was wrapped in bandages with tufts of white hair sticking out all over the place, a far cry from the sophisticated woman who had sneered down at me before.

I drew the envelope Rebecca gave me up and into my lap, pulling pictures out until they were spread out across her lap. “You see, I didn’t know you could use the parts of humans to make yourself younger. Back in my time, maintaining one’s beauty was far more painful and not as easy as a trip to a clinic.”

I pointed to a picture where Beatriz had clearly been trying to hide who she was, but wasn’t doing a very good job of it. The person who took the photo zeroed in on her face so it was clear who was in the photo, even behind the black glasses on her face.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” The mage sniffed and turned her face away from the evidence before her. “Get out of here before I sic Jewel on you.”

I giggled darkly, letting my fingers trail over the back of the large dog. “Now, let’s all be civil here. I haven’t offered you violence... yet.”

She gasped and clutched her bed sheets to her. “What have you done to my dog?”

“Oh, do not worry, I wouldn’t harm an animal. He’s perfectly fine and will be back to normal once I leave.”

“Arch Mage Adam is looking for you. Why aren’t you with him instead of terrorizing me?” Her eyes filled with real fear now that she has realized she didn’t have her guard dog to protect her.

“We’re just having a conversation here. You’ll talk to me, won’t you?” I offered her a saccharine grin.

“What do you want?”

“I’m so glad you asked.” I scooched closer to her, a feeling of glee filling me at the prospect of getting what I wanted. “I’ve been... educated about how your little council works and, well, getting the approval of four unknowns isn’t exactly how I work.”

Beatriz snorted. “I would think not. Your actions at the ball have shown that you are a volatile variable. No one would just let you do what you want.”

“Precisely.” My smile broadened. “I’m so happy we understand each other.”

The long sigh that came out of Beatriz showed her age, even if her face didn’t. “I’m assuming you want me to agree to whatever it is you’re after in exchange for keeping my secret.” She flicked her hand toward her face.

“And here I thought you were going to be difficult.” My head cocked to the side. “I had prepared to have to get a bit more aggressive but, while it may seem like I want to cause others harm, it’s really not on my agenda or something I enjoy.”

“I hardly doubt that.”

The lethal look I gave Beatriz made her flinch. “As you know, I’m human, at least partly. I want to improve the lives of my fellow humans. While I’ve been told this isn’t something that can happen overnight, I think we can make my dreams come true much faster than Arch Mage Adam thinks.”

The disgusted noise that came from her made my jaw clench. “So, you’re behind the new bill suggested about humans.”

“Not exactly. Arch Mage Adam wants to do things the right way...” I trailed off, lifting my hand a flicker of fire came to life on my hand. My insides squirmed with excitement as Beatriz flinched back. “Now, I’m not too inclined to wait for a bunch of mages with an exaggerated degree of self-importance to tell me the right time to give up power and realize that humans aren’t lesser than you.”

“You don’t know how they were before. You weren’t here.” Beatriz leaned forward to argue, then jerked back, remembering the fire in my hands. “They almost destroyed this planet. If we hadn’t taken over, there wouldn’t be a planet to even live on.”

I let the flame bounce in my hand, rolling it over my fingers and letting it dance. “As I’ve been reminded ad nauseam, not all mages are bad, and neither are all humans. So, to punish all of them for the few that cannot control themselves isn’t quite fair, now is it? Or do you think differently? Maybe I should punish all the mages?”

“N–no.” She shook her head weakly. “I agree. Not all humans are bad nor all mages. We can live together in harmony. But...”

“But what?”

“We only control Neo New York. We don’t control the planet. Even if you make things better for humans here, there will still be pushback from the other regions. They might even send in someone to deal with the problem.”

The way she said it made me wonder how exactly the mages’ government was set up. If this council dealt with this region, that lead me to assume there were others.

However, was there someone above all of them? A King? A Queen? Someone who made all the rules and made the others follow them? It was something I would have to talk to Rebecca about, because I didn’t want to show all my cards to this one mage.

“Let me worry about that.” I gathered up the pictures and put them back into the envelope. “Here, for you.”

Relief bloomed in Beatriz’ eyes, and I was swift to shoot it down. “Don’t worry, we have more. I expect to have your backing when the time comes.”

“Of course, yes. I understand.”

I stroked my hand down Jewel’s back one more time before standing.

“There will be others who won’t be as easily persuaded,” Healer Beatriz cautioned. “I’m too old to fight for something I don’t even care about. But others, like Carisa and Jetta, won’t give in just because of some veiled threats and blackmail.”

The smile on my face wasn’t a pleasant one before I let my magic wrap around me. “I’m counting on it.”