More than Magic Book 5: Magic Vanished
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Elizabeth Kirke
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Legend of the Arcanist
Jen
Even though I lived it, I found my heart pounding as we recounted our harrowing experience in the cavern to Jon. I suppressed a shiver as I looked around at everyone. Mariana, Ember, and Shannon had stayed behind, in case something happened to us in the park and while the three of them had already heard most of the story, they were still listening, wide-eyed, in a mix of fascination and horror. My familiar, Rak, was curled on my lap purring in support, but still feeling alarmed as well.
Magics healed quickly, but it seemed that injuries from blood magic lingered or at least the strange marks it left did. After being struck by a blood magic spell veins swelled to the point it looked like they were bulging out of the victimâs skin, if not sitting on top of it. Even the smallest capillaries turned ink black, covering the person in a strange, frightening web of dark veins.
Thomas and Charlie had both been hit by a spell from Fletcher that caused excruciating pain. After three days the swelling of their veins had gone down and the black faded, but every inch of exposed skin was still marred by swirls of gray. Dani had been hit too, but it seemed that Fletcher had concentrated the spell on his head; his veins were only discolored from the neck up, not that the sight wasnât just as unsettling.
I shuddered at the memory. All three of them had decades of experience working with MES. Dani and Thomas were even said to be two of the best special agents in the region and Fletcher had taken them both down with a single spell. Even as a vampire, arguably the most dangerous magical being in the world, Thomas hadnât stood a chance; one flick of Fletcherâs wand and he was down. Dani â not only a special agent, but also ex-military and a master of probably a dozen different martial arts â was just as helpless against the blood magic. I still felt nauseated, remembering getting into the car after the cavern, speeding to the closest source of water while Dani used every ounce of his power to slow the bleeding in his brain until we got there. There were a couple of times I honestly didnât think he could keep holding it back. The element-based spells I was familiar with could hurt someone, but not kill them. Blood magic was terrifying.
Miraculously, TS and I had escaped being hit by blood magic, although he was far from unscathed. In an attempt to kill him, Fletcher had orchestrated a car accident involving a non-magic woman that TS was soul-pack bonded to; she was still in a coma, leaving TS pale and tired-looking. We all knew that if she died⊠when she diedâŠ
âFletcher did not say anything about Miami?â Jon asked.
Thomas shook his head. âNo. He wouldnât tell us how any of the other witches and wizards going there fit in either. But we think he was there; he took six months off work a few years ago. The timing and the duration fit the pattern.â
Jon frowned. âI recall that. It was around when his familiar died. Fletcher never said how it happened⊠I wonder if he was coerced into becoming a blood wizardâŠâ
âHe seemed pretty committed to it,â Dani said dryly, rubbing at the side of his head, which he claimed didnât hurt anymore.
TS nodded. âHe also said he has been a blood wizard for a long time. He said that wherever he went four years ago he wasâŠâ TS narrowed his eyes. âHe mentioned a mistress?â
âYeah,â Thomas said. âFletcher said this mistress is going to um⊠unlock the power of her ancestor⊠and that sheâs going to teach him. He also said he went to be inducted into some group⊠the uhâŠâ
âI swear, he said Dewinnos,â TS chuckled.
âThe Disciples of Dewinnos?â Jon asked sharply.
We all looked at him in surprise.
âYes,â Charlie said. âThat was it! The Disciples of Dewinnos.â
Jon frowned, looking disturbed. Fend, perched on the back of a nearby chair, cawed in agitation.
âWhat is that?â TS asked.
âYou may know more than I do,â Jon said.
TS laughed nervously. âThe only Dewinnos I know is some sort of Welsh bogeyman. My great-grandfather would tell us stories about him to scare us when we went to visit.â
Jon nodded solemnly. âYes. They are one and the same.â He inclined his head slightly, studying TS.
âThatâs all I know, really,â said TS. He narrowed his eyes in thought. âHe used to tell us that it took over one hundred magics to defeat Dewinnos. That he found a way to⊠to steal power from magics and use it against them somehow.â TS shrugged. âThatâs about it. The sun would be rising and heâd tell us if we didnât get to sleep that Dewinnos would get us andâŠâ His eyes widened. âWould that translate asâŠâ TS began rapidly mumbling to himself, presumably in Welsh. âBloody hell!â he cried in English.
âYouâve remembered something?â Jon asked.
Slowly, TS nodded. âMy brother Enceladus would say, âBut Taid, Dewinnos is dead, he canât kill us.â Then, our Taid would say, âIt doesnât matter, his disciples are alive and well, theyâll kill you.â
Jon folded his hands on the table in front of us with a heavy sigh. âIf that is trueâŠâ
âWho or what are the Disciples of Dewinnos?â Thomas asked.
âThe Disciples of Dewinnos is an ancient cult,â Jon said. âSome say they were Dewinnosâ children. Others say they were servants or just like-minded witches and wizards⊠Regardless, after his death they dedicated themselves to preserving his research. Dewinnos is said to have uncovered a strange type of blood magic. As Tethys said, according to legend, Dewinnos could steal power from other magics, although I have never seen an explanation of what that truly means.â Jon shook his head. âBoth the cult and his research were supposed to have been destroyed when blood magic was outlawed⊠If the cult has survived and any of the work on arcanism existsâŠâ
âArcanism?â I asked.
âThat is what Dewinnos called his style of blood magic.â
âIs that like arcanist?â
âYes!â Jon looked at me in surprise and alarm. âThat is what he called himself: an arcanist. Where did you hear that word?â
âFletcher used it.â
âThatâs right,â Thomas said. âHe said thereâs a new arcanist! Or⊠thereâs about to be one.â
Jon exhaled sharply. âIf thatâs trueâŠâ He slowly shook his head. âI fear we must assume the other witches and wizards who went to Miami are blood casters as well, perhaps even disciples. Now, Fletcher was a MES agent, as is Greyson Turner who is on that list. Neither should be able to make the changes Ember found in the MES database, therefore we must assume that they were not the only MES employees involved. Now, more than ever, it is of the utmost importance we keep this investigation secret. Did Fletcher say anything else that may give us a clue?â
I cleared my throat and all eyes turned to me. âFor a couple of minutes⊠I was the only one conscious. He⊠he talked to me.â
âWhat did he say?â Jon asked gently.
I took a deep breath. âHe was trying to get me to join him,â I said. Thomas hissed and the others gasped. âHe kept saying Iâd be a powerful blood witch and stuff like that andâŠâ
âAnd?â Jon prompted.
âHe told me if I want to become a blood witch⊠I have to find a mystic key.â
âA mystic key?â Thomas echoed.
Jon slowly shook his head. âI have never heard of that.â
âThen he gave me something and said to tell them Fletcher sent me. But he never said who they are.â
âWhat did he give you?â
I crossed the room to my purse and fished out the strange stone and held it up. It was shaped like a small droplet and bright, blood red.
Brows furrowed curiously, Jon joined me and took it. He turned the stone around, examining it. âIâve never seen a stone like this.â He pulled out his wand and cast a couple of spells. âIt seems⊠innocuous. Anyone else?â
Thomas came over and sniffed. âSmells a bit like blood. Itâs not strong, but thereâs a faint bloody odor⊠like the rotten blood magic scent.â
âItâs warm,â Charlie said. âWarmer than it should be, even with you holding it.â
Dani held out a hand and Jon passed it to him. His eyes rippled with blue as he studied it. âIâm no expert on solids but⊠I think this is blood.â
âInside it?â I asked.
âThe whole thing. Itâs a stone made out of blood. Here you go.â Dani flashed me a weak smirk as he held it out.
âWhat should I do with it?â I asked, reluctantly taking it back.
âPut it somewhere safe,â Jon replied. âBe careful with it and⊠be careful around it as well. We must figure out why Fletcher gave it to you. Did he say anything else?â
We followed him back to the table. âThat was it,â I said as we all sat. âHe told me to find the mystic key and gave me that uh⊠stone.â TS caught my attention with a pained groan as he sat heavily, prompting a memory of that night. âHe did stop using blood magic,â I said. âThatâs why TS wasnât hit. Fletcher used it on him and it⊠it didnât work.â
âInteresting,â said Jon.
âHe didnât use it at all toward the end, did he?â Thomas said.
âNot that I remember,â answered Charlie.
âMaybe he got tired?â I suggested. Using regular magic made me tired, although I had a lot more stamina than I used to.
âPossibly,â Jon said. âIt bears further research. Let usâŠâ He trailed off and frowned. We stayed quiet as he thought. At last, he nodded once, more to himself than to us. âWe must continue your investigation and follow any leads. However, I do not want to pursue Greyson Turner until we have exhausted every other avenue. If he truly is in league with Fletcher, I do not want you confronting another blood wizard if it can be avoided. With luck, we can discover a way to combat it before we encounter him.â He bowed his head a moment. âI am⊠sorry.â Slowly, Jon looked at each one of us. âThis is far more than I wanted to ask of you⊠any of you. The last thing I want is to put your lives at riskâŠâ
âIf not us, then who?â Dani asked softly.
Jon sighed. âThank you.â
***
âSo, what leads do we have?â Thomas asked.
Once again, we were back in our living room, sitting on couches and chairs. Dani was sprawled on the floor with Ember and her laptop. Rak was curled in his place on the hearth, although it was getting too warm to light a fire.
Ember clicked and hissed for a moment in Sadehic as she looked at her laptop. I assumed she was mumbling to herself, since Charlie didnât seem to be paying attention.
âOkay,â she said at last, switching back to English. âWeâve got those three groups of people, right? The first is the ones who all went missing in the park. Since Fletcher was obviously covering up some of those cases and you found his creepy hide-out, I think we can assume those poor people were all sacrificed by blood wizardsâŠâ
We all nodded.
âLetâs just hope we ruined their plans when we collapsed the whole damn thing,â Dani said.
âYeah,â Ember said, verbalizing what I, and probably everyone else, was thinking. âI guess that means that whole group is already a dead end. We initially couldnât figure out how they were all connected, but it seems like the blood casters were kidnapping them at random to sacrifice, soâŠâ
TS nodded. âI agree. I donât think we can glean anything else from that group. We know where they were taken and why. We should focus on who took them. Ember, what else have we got?â
âThe group of witches and wizards that went to Miami,â she answered. âBut weâve looked over these files a hundred times and there are no connections between them, other than Miami. The only one weâve taken a closer look at was Turner and we know how that turned out.â Her eyes flared, then darkened and I knew she was remembering being attacked by a man Fletcher hired to kill her for checking into Turner, the same reason he tried to have TS and his soul-packmate killed.
TS growled softly. âRight. Jon doesnât want us looking deeper into that yet, if we can avoid it.â
âI donât know what else we can do with the Miami bunch,â Mariana said. âShort of going to Miami.â
âYou did go there, didnât you?â Dani asked. âWith your family for that cruise?â
âYeah,â Mariana said. âBut I wasnât exactly watching for blood casters.â
âI think thatâs out too, for now,â Thomas said. âWe barely beat one blood wizard. Iâd rather not go to where an entire group of them may be congregating, without knowing more about how to combat blood magic.â
âThat just leaves the CVLR group,â Ember said. âAnd we donât even know if thatâs related.â
âWe didnât look into it much though,â Shannon said. âWe were focused on the park.â
âMaybe we need to review CVLR again,â TS said. âIf it is related, we might find something. If itâs not⊠well, itâs the only lead we have right now. Char, any idea what CVLR is?â
Charlie shook his head. âI went over all of the businesses I have the other day, before this chaos with Fletcher. CVLR is an accounting code, but I donât have anything with that on it.â
âI checked too,â Mariana said, âand I asked my boss about the codes. Peridot said theyâre generated through the bank; we donât have any way of finding out what they are in accounting. But I could call around to the credit card companies and see?â
âDo that,â TS said. âCarefully. See if Jon will give you a different cell phone. We donât need anyone else getting targeted.â
Mariana nodded.
âWhat about that name?â Shannon asked. âWe turned up one name in the CVLR group, right?â
Ember flipped through her notebook. âReave,â she read. âItâs mentioned once. We also have a couple of mentions of a farm and a vampire.â
âLetâs take a look,â Dani said, nodding toward her computer.
Ember rapidly typed away for a moment. âThere are three Reaves!â she announced. âOne is a wizard from out of state⊠one is⊠looks like heâs been dead for twenty years⊠oh! This one is a vampire!â
âFrom Utica!â Dani cried, reading over her shoulder.
âIs that in New York?â Shannon asked.
âYeah,â TS said. âItâs about, what a couple of hours away?â
âAt least three,â Charlie said. âMy sister taught out that way for a few years.â His eyes flared. âLot of farmlandâŠâ
âHey!â Ember gasped. âHis feeding activity is gone! He isnât listed as deceased or missing, but according to his activity log, he hasnât registered to feed with MES in five years. The CVLR people have that deleted too, right?â
âYes!â Mariana said. âBut none of them have theirs deleted that far back. Theyâre all four years or less.â
âSeems like whatever is happening, this Reave may be at the center,â TS said. âSounds like a good place to start. Letâs get some property records; find out if ReaveâŠâ
âReave Mitchell,â Dani read.
âFind out if Reave Mitchell has a farm.â
Dani hummed something that sounded suspiciously like E-I-E-I-O.
Thomas threw a book at him.
