Page 50 of Bear Protector
Kiera looked at her familiar with confused. “Outside? I did not perform any magic out there.”
“There was no mistaking it, Kiera. It augmented our powers. I felt it. You did too. It affected you physically…made you stumble.”
“It had to be Liam,” Xander said to Kiera. “When he shook your hand. Though… it can’t be. He is not a witch.”
“But…how?”
“Someone may have put a spell on him,” Coco suggested. “I know how to determine who or what it was, but we have to do it right now. Minassus will be back at the fortress in a few hours. He was visiting his mother’s home village, but he’s on his way back now, which is another reason I hurried to get here before him.”
“You know, you could have led with that information,” Xander said to Coco, clearly irked.
“I guess I could,” she replied, detached. “You’d better go now.”
He shook his head and turned to Kiera. “Be careful.”
“We will,” Coco answered for both of them.
As he turned to leave the way he came, Kiera had a hard time shaking the feeling that Xander also needed to take his own advice.
18
Kiera
Kiera was trying to keep it together, but the fact that she and Coco were about to break into the Chancellor’s locked study and rifle through his belongings took away any confidence she had.
“Are you sure nothing in the main library has the information we need?” she asked Coco for the tenth time.
“Positive. That bastard kept all the good stuff to himself.”
“And you know that how exactly?”
“Hello,” she said, pointing her index fingers at her chest. “Over three-hundred-year-old practicing witch familiar here.”
“You know what we’re looking for?”
“Of course, and I know exactly where it is. He has a lockbox under the floorboard behind that big paisley armchair at the window. I saw him flipping through that scroll one day, and he was so focused, he didn’t notice I was sitting on the windowsill spying on him.” She took off again, and stopped in front of his door, bending to study the lock. “Now shush so we can steal it before he arrives.”
“Do you need help with that?”
“Right. I forgot. Telekinesis is one hell of a talent,” she whispered, smiling broadly.
Kiera focused on the lock parts with her mind.
“Okay,” Coco said. “All you need to do is picture the metal tumblers and levers, lifting out of the bolt that prevents the handle from moving. It’s like your—”
Kiera smiled. “Done.”
Coco shook her head. “Please tell me you won’t turn into one of those boastful bitches…I mean witches,” she grinned, and pushed the door open. “Nice work, by the way.”
“Thanks.” Kiera lit a candle next to the door and followed Coco across the room to the window. They pushed the armchair to the side. “The loose floorboard is right where you said it was.”
“Of course it is,” Coco answered, getting down to her knees. She lifted up the square of wood to reveal a long, rusty metal box. Picking up the box, she checked the lock. Coco needed no help replacing the floorboard, and pushed the armchair back to its original spot. “Let’s get this to your room.”
“Good idea,” she agreed, following Coco back to the door. “Tell me something. Why have we never done this before for other spells we were curious about?”
“Search his room?” Coco checked the empty hallways, then motioned for Kiera to leave the room. She blew out the candle and quietly pulled the door shut, not wanting to attract any unnecessary attention as she considered the question. “Nothing else was worth taking the risk.”
Kiera folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. “I’m not sure I believe that.”
