city of dragons 03 - fire magic Read Online Free PDF Page A

Ophelia.
    I found her at the sink, washing dishes. Even though she owned the cafe, she still did menial work when she had to, pitching in wherever she was needed. But when she saw me, she handed off the dishes to someone else, and we went back to a little office she had, which was messier than mine, to talk.
    “You look worried,” said Ophelia.
    “What do you know about the Order of Rasmossen and Wolffe?”
    She made a face. “Nothing. Never heard of it.”
    “Is it possible that other people would know about Lachlan and me?” I said. “Like you sensed that we were powerful when we came into the restaurant a few months ago. Are we causing some kind of rippling disturbance that mages can feel somehow or something?”
    She considered. “Well, maybe. Not recently, of course, but when you were using your magic against Alastair, I think it’s possible that could have been felt by mages. Not by anyone far away, I don’t think. Only sensitive, powerful mages close by might have sensed it.”
    “So, they’d know that I had a blood bond.”
    “Not necessarily,” said Ophelia. “The magic isn’t like that. It doesn’t feel any different than other magic, if you know what I mean. No, all they might be able to know is that you’re very powerful.”
    I nodded slowly. “Huh. Well, that might explain why she didn’t mention anything about Lachlan, then.”
    “What’s going on?”
    I explained to her what had happened this morning, all about Darla Tell and her strange request. “There’s something fishy about it,” I finished. “It doesn’t add up. And I feel like if I help her out, I might be walking into a trap.”
    “Maybe,” said Ophelia. “Or maybe she’s just feeling you out. She wants to see you in action in a controlled environment. Wants to determine if you’re a threat.”
    “Could be, I suppose,” I said. “But there’s got to be something else going on. Why would someone so powerful want my help?”
    “I can ask around if you’d like,” said Ophelia. “See if anyone knows anything about this Order of Rasputin—”
    “Rasmossen,” I said.
    “Rasmossen,” she repeated. “I’ll let you know if I find anything.”
    * * *
    “I barely got out of bed during my second pregnancy,” I said to Shirley the therapist, “and it ended up not making any difference. So, in my third pregnancy, I figured that if it was going to happen, there was nothing I could do about it, so I just did everything normally. But that didn’t make any difference either.”
    “You’re worried about losing this baby too,” she said.
    “Of course I am,” I said. “Given my history, it only makes sense. But I also wonder if Alastair beating me during the pregnancies caused the miscarriages. I always shifted to heal, and I assumed that healed the baby too, but I never really talked to a healthcare professional about it.”
    “Because you were ashamed.”
    “Exactly,” I said. “So I haven’t been shifting because I’m worried that could cause problems. But that also makes me nervous, because now I don’t have magic, and if something went wrong, I wouldn’t be able to protect the baby.”
    “What’s stopping you from consulting a healthcare professional now? I assume you’re seeing a doctor that specializes in dragon prenatal care?”
    “Yeah,” I said. “I guess nothing. I should just ask. You’re right.” It seemed simple enough. I was often amazed at how old ways of thinking had become such ingrained habits for me that I didn’t even think to challenge them or do something different.
    “And with your ex-husband’s body having been found, you should be a little less on edge about danger, right?”
    “You heard about that,” I said.
    “I work for the police department and that bust is big news. So, yes, I heard. How are you dealing with the news?”
    “It’s, um…” I debated lying about it, but then I figured lying to a therapist sort of defeated the purpose. “It’s actually great news.