Page 26 of Shadow Dreaming

Everybody froze, staring at me. There was a moment where they were processing what I said, then everybody burst out talking at once.

“I doubt it, but you never know,” Duran said. “It’s a lot easier to just get rid of her.”

Everybody quieted down again, turning to him.

“I can’t believe they’re so bullheaded,” Sophia said.

“The Crystal Court makes a big noise about being honorable, but the monarchy has been around a long time and their anger runs deep and long. I’ve seen the Queen mete out harsh punishments, especially if she was angry at someone.” Duran shivered. “I watched her order one of the court advisors who contradicted her in public to be stripped of his powers.”

“What did he do?”

“He told Queen Elsabetha that he thought she was wrong about something.”

I sucked in my breath. “That’s horrible. Magical powers are innate—like my own powers are, or a shifter’s powers. That’s like stripping a shifter’s idanimus away from them.

The idanimus was the animal side of the shifter. Without it, a shifter was broken, and often fell into madness. They were usually euthanized by their Pack or Clan afterward, out of mercy. As a punishment, it was only used in the worst cases. But stripping the idanimus could happen in other ways, as an attack or through a freak accident.

“Oh, stripping magical powers is just as bad. When you work magic, it’s part of your innate self. If you drain off the magic, it causes intense physical and mental pain for the rest of your life. It’s like a singer stripped of her voice, or a chef whose lost his tastebuds.” Duran pressed his lips together, shaking his head.

“Do you think the Queen is upset enough to try to strip Penn’s powers?” Dante asked.

“I doubt it. Usually that’s reserved for the harshest of punishments,” Duran said.

“Well, regardless of what’s happened, we have at least one member of Brim Fire working at IonStar. I’m more likely to blame them,” I said.

There were so many things to think about. But the most important thing, was to find and rescue Penn. “It occurs to me that, if Terrance is at work today, suppose we pay a little visit to his workplace and wait for him near his car tonight?” I had no problem strong-arming someone who hurt my best friend. “I’ll make him talk if he won’t spill his guts.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Carson said. “Let me check to make certain he’s at work. I can figure a way to do it without setting off suspicion.”

Sophia’s phone rang and she glanced at it. “Desk,” she said. “I’ll be back.” She had the agency calls forwarded to her phone when we were in long meetings. She ducked out the door and hurried down the hall.

I was impatient, but I also knew that impatience could lead to mistakes. Glancing over at Duran, I asked, “How are you doing this morning? Last night must have been a shock.”

He folded his arms, leaning on the table. “I didn’t expect to be looking for a new job today. As I said earlier, Queen Elsabetha is capable of ruining lives without blinking an eye.”

“I don’t know why, but I always pictured the magical court as being one based on honor,” Dante said.

“A lot of witches have high ethical standards, but the old axiom about absolute power corrupting holds true among most races. Meanwhile, the rest of the people are usually so busy trying to scrape out a living that they don’t notice as the Queen’s power grows stronger and her rule, more corrupt.” He started bleakly at me.

“What will you do now?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll never get another job with the Crystal Court, that’s a given. I might set up a shingle. Hire myself out for magical duties. Or maybe I’ll approach Solimentary. I’m good with facts and figures, though I know they usually only recruit people from the great Elven families who started the library.” He paused as Sophia returned.

“That was Merry. She wants to know if you can come over a little earlier than planned?” Sophia said. “The coxigans are driving her crazy.”

“I suppose we can. That will give us more time later this afternoon to deal with Terrance.” I sighed. “Tell her we’ll be there within an hour.”

“Coxigans? They’re nasty,” Duran said.

“You want to come with us?” I asked. “We have an infestation to deal with.”

“Sure. It looks like I’m not doing anything else today,” he said.

“Great. Why don’t you help Orik gather together whatever might help us.” I froze. “Oh shit, will we be allowed to use the portal? Penn was going to help us.” I explained to Duran that we had been planning to send the coxigans through a portal into their home realm.

“Well, I guarantee you, PortalWatch has you on a blacklist now. But there are plenty of portals that the Crystal Court doesn’t control. Some are natural, some are controlled by those on the other side of wherever they lead to. I know the Fae control some of their own portals and they won’t let the Crystal Court near them. If you approach them, maybe you could send the coxigans back to their home realm? But I suppose that requires knowing one of the Fae.”

I sighed. “Yeah, it does.” I worried my lip, then snapped my fingers. “I know a member of the Fae, and we’re on good terms. I can ask her for advice.”

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