Page 30 of The Study of Fire
“I…” She shivered and wrapped her arms around her chest.
Valek took his uniform shirt off and draped it over her shoulders.
Taking a deep breath, Bea said, “It had to be a nightmare. Except, I couldn’t wake from it. And you were there.”
“I chased you.”
“No. Before that.”
Odd. “Me specifically? Or a patrol officer in general?”
“You, specifically. Not dressed like a patroller either. Dressed in all black.” She stepped away from him. “You were coming to kill me.”
He stilled as some of the pieces clicked into place. “Do you know who I am?”
Bea shook her head. “I’ve never seen you before tonight.”
Not a surprise. Valek tried to keep a low profile among the general population. But a magician afraid of being caught in Ixia would be terrified of Valek.
“You had a name in the dream.” Bea jerked with recognition and backed away from him. “Please don’t kill me.”
“I’ve no intention of harming you. The nightmare you experienced wasn’t your own.”
“But that’s impos— I don’t have magic! Don’t kill me!” She held her hands up in a pleading gesture.
Normally, Valek didn’t mind his reputation, but there were times when it was bloody inconvenient. “I’m not going to kill you. You are the victim, not the perpetrator.”
“Oh.” Bea’s body quivered as if she was ready to bolt.
Conscious that they probably had an audience, Valek said in his most soothing tone, “You’re freezing. Let’s get you home. I’ll explain on the way.”
She hesitated for a few heartbeats, then keeping her distance from him, she resumed walking.
“My theory is that there is a magician in Castletown. They are naturally afraid of me catching and executing them. At night, they have nightmares of me hunting them and, because they’re asleep, they don’t have control of their magic. They must have projected their nightmare onto you.”
Bea pulled his shirt tighter around her shoulders. “Do you think this magician is the one causing all the problems?”
“At this point, I’m not sure. That’s why I’m investigating.” He stopped and turned to her. “And I need you to promise not to say anything to anyone about me being here. Or about your nightmare.”
“What if it happens again?”
“None of the other victims were targeted twice.” Probably because the magician moved locations to avoid the extra patrols, which was why Valek wanted to keep this incident a secret so as to not spook the person into relocating again. Bea might have another nightmare, but he didn’t want her to have trouble sleeping. Besides, Valek planned to be nearby. “Do you promise?”
“Will you let me know when they are caught?”
“I will.”
“Then I promise.”
When they reached her house, she handed him his shirt. “Thank you for waking me up.”
“You’re welcome.” He waited until she closed the door. Then he disappeared into a shadow and watched the street. The two patrollers had hung back, but now they approached Bea’s house and glanced around. Finding nothing, they left.
Valek scanned the nearby buildings. Bea’s place was in a small cul-de-sac. Two houses bookended hers, and behind them was a tight row of residences. No light shone from any of the windows facing him.
His thoughts whirled as he considered his new theory. He hadn’t been entirely truthful with Bea. Magicians who had control of their magic didn’t lose that control while they were asleep. The ones that did were adolescents whose powers had just awakened. And now Valek needed to track down the teenager before they could do any more harm.
Once found, he’d have to decide what to do with them. A heavy weight sank in his chest. If the person was close to flaming out, he’d have no choice but to end their life. The disruption to the blanket of magic power that surrounded the world would be disastrous. While the Commander would probably give him another medal if he helped ruin the source of the magicians’ magic, Valek couldn’t do that to Yelena and those who used their powers to help others. Since being with Yelena, he’d dreaded the thought of killing another magician. However, if they were abusing their power to harm, like Alea Daviian and Mogkan, he had no problem dispatching them.
