The Scofflaw Magician (The Artifactor Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

become twisted as she put it on, and it was pinching her
skin a little.
    “Then I cannot
dismiss these disappearances as a simple spiriting away on the part of the Fae.
The ages of the people were quite far ranging, everything from my five year old
daughter to a tottering old man.”
    Some of those
disappearances were still likely part of the usual crime rate of a large city.
They’d find a few people eventually in shallow graves somewhere. But if it was
strange enough to be marked upon by Firuz, then she should definitely pay
attention to it as well. “How far back do the disappearances go?”
    “Three months,
or so we believe.” Firuz turned a corner, pointing ahead. “That is one of your
clocks.”
    So it was, one
of her earlier makings. She went to it and did a swift check, but it was
running perfectly. “Good. A room?”
    “Here is
something that should suit.” He gestured for her to follow him, although he
only went another four doors down before opening one of those gilt inlaid doors
and striding through. “It’s normally used for a reserve room, to hold supplies
for our garden parties, but at the moment it’s empty.”
    So it was.
Tables were shoved against all four walls, there were two bright windows
overlooking a magnificent garden, and there were two benches in the center of
the room. For an impromptu space to work in, this was perfect. “Excellent.”
Nodding her approval, she slung both packs off, taking things out and laying
them in order with efficient speed. “Continue.”
    “I’m afraid
Farah likely told you everything we know. Amas went out to play after lunch,
just to the front courtyard of the palace, and was there for several hours.
When the evening bell rang, and she didn’t return, we sent people to fetch her.
It turned into a harrying search that turned up nothing. I’ve had every
possible branch of magic used to search for her, or even summon her, to no
avail.”
    Sevana hadn’t
planned on using any of the usual tools or spells as those had likely been
tried and exhausted already. Her usual method was to start off with a Point-Me
spell and go from there, but there were ways of blocking that, so she’d have to
do something more intensive instead.
    Turning to
Farah, she dictated, “Fetch me something that Amas used a lot. Something that
would have a strong scent.”
    Farah was quick
on the uptake. She glanced at Grydon, put two and two together, then sprinted
out the door without even nodding in acknowledgement.
    “Scent?” Firuz
objected.
    “I don’t expect
much from that,” Sevana admitted, her hand hovering over her tools. Hmm, what
best to start with? “I’m doing it for two reasons. One, Grydon has limited
experience searching out missing people that have been kidnapped magically, and
he’s itching to try at this.”
    Grydon gave a
happy wag of the tail, front paws dancing in place.
    “See? It
doesn’t hurt to let him try, either. If he does manage to pick up something, we
might get an indication of which way the perpetrator fled, and right now we can
use all the information we can get.”
    Not entirely
sold on this, Firuz still didn’t argue, letting her do things her way.
    Sevana settled
on her most powerful scrying crystal and lifted it into her hand.
Concentrating, she said, “ ZIIK P O VANE 
FO LE .”
    The crystal
went blinding white as the spell activated, sparking a kaleidoscope of colors
in the room as it hit the glass windows and the gold fixtures. Sevana had to
blink, brow scrunching, to avoid being distracted by the light show.
    In all
actuality, the crystal was not her first choice in trying to locate something
or someone. It was very precise—too precise. It would show you the literal
location, but if that something was in a dark crevice, or behind a piece of
furniture, all you would see was darkness. Or a part of the furniture. Unless
you recognized the specific area the piece was in, then the image was of no
help to you whatsoever.
    The reason