Lost Magic (The Swift Codex Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

can.”
     
    The baby was already making me feel fatigued and positively terrified. How was I going to do this? “So, we're still going to the Midsummer Festival?”
     
    “And we're going to blend in with the adults. Be ready to be the center of attention, everyone is going to want to croon over her.” Mordon grabbed the pliers, clamping the ends of the anklet shut above my foot.
     
    “How long will it take to find this Septimus fellow?”
     
    “That depends if he's easy to find. Could be a matter or days or weeks. If not,” Mordon closed his eyes and tilted his head back, “it could take a while.”
     
    The implication gave me a bad feeling, but I had to know. “How long is a while?”
     
    “Months. Years.”
     
    “Years!” The outburst lacked strength, just a whispered cry of despair.
     
    “You're the one who made the oath.”
     
    A retaliation on the tip of my tongue, I glared at Mordon—and saw a strange, soft expression on his face. “You...weren't accusing me of making a mistake?”
     
    Eating with one hand, he grasped my ankle with the other, passing his thumb over the bottom of my foot. “It wasn't that long ago that I had an intruder in my shop. Got through all my wards, didn't set off a one of them, not until someone else set them off.”
     
    I put my head in my hands. “Mordon.”
     
    “Let me finish. She was hurt and in trouble, and she had nothing, nothing at all, to offer me. There wouldn't have been a single person who would have blamed me for turning her aside. But she had a need, and I was in a position to fill that need. Why would I be angry with her now for following in my footsteps?”
     
    The baby was starting to get the hang of swallowing the milk instead of letting it drip down her jaw. “People thought you were crazy.”
     
    “Just the ones who would have been too frightened to do the same in my place.”
     
    I raised a tentative glance at his face. He was watching me with a mixture of warmth and amusement. I wasn't ready to be buoyed up yet. “But, I've drawn you into it. A lot of people into it. And you said yourself, this is dangerous territory. With whatever Josephina was involved in. It's dangerous.”
     
    “So were you, my chicklet, so were you.”
     
    My chicklet? That was a new term of endearment, not one I'd even heard applied to me before.
     
    A tiny fire started on the table between us. My first instinct, after the fireball of earlier, was to put out the mysterious flame—but then I saw the corner of an envelope being left behind as the fire spread. As it grew and wavered, the black following the flame turned white and crisp, and before long I saw a familiar shorthand of hard vertical lines.
     
    “Who is that from?” Mordon asked.
     
    I picked up the envelope, impatiently waiting as the last corner formed and the fire died out. “My contact in the Tribune . It's been ages since she's written me. I wonder what's up?” I tore the flap open and exposed a thick wad of papers and parchment. I read the cover letter aloud. “ 'Swift, I am enclosing an article to be printed in tomorrow's edition. If you find it is not accurate in its source, please sign the last page and burn it back to me now. RJ.' ”
     
    Mordon took the last page from the bottom of the stack while I read the article. “ 'Wildwoods Burn After Black Magic, Feys Return to Damaged Home, by Simona Eccles, American Sorcerering Today. A spokesperson for the Wildwoods Fey Council has confirmed today that a black magic spell has caused over 70% of the Wildwoods to burn. The identity of the spellcaster is as yet unknown, and authorities are seeking information related to the incident. Rumors of the Fey Council seeking legislature to identify and license practitioners of harmful magic have not been confirmed, but it is suspected they will add their support to the grassroots movement Safe Streets in order to prevent tragedies like this in the future. “The loss of the forest of the Wildwoods