New Blood (39 page)

“No, it's you.” Harry advanced on the woman.

The small crowd faded back behind the woman, until she realized her exposed position and tried to lose herself in its midst again. She didn't succeed, standing pressed against the leading edge of the group.

“You're the ones brought this on.” Harry stabbed a finger at the woman, then at the crowd. “With your rules against magic and turnin' your nose up at it.
That place in there is like it is 'cause all its magic's been killed. There is no magic there. None.

“An' when the magic dies, plants start dyin' and animals an' people. Even the stones themselves die. So think about that, why don't ya, every time you sneer at a magician, or punish your kid for usin' a study spell to 'elp 'im understand 'is lessons.

“Tomlinson.” Grey got Harry's attention. “Lovely speech, but it might be more suited to the conclave chamber. Where a meeting is going on this very minute.”

“Right.” Harry looked back at the crowd, glowering. “Don't pass that wall. It's not safe beyond it, an' we don't know what passing through all that magic might do to a body. Nothing, maybe. But I wouldn't want to be the one to test it, would you?”

J
AX WENT TO
the next street and collected a cab large enough for all of them, including the ladies' hoops. Amanusa let him hand her in and collapsed in the corner, feeling as if she'd just built the Great Wall of China single-handedly. She'd seen pictures of it, when she was a little girl in Vienna. Elinor sat opposite, and this time, Grey squeezed in next to Jax. Harry climbed in last, after supervising the cabbie stowing the machine in the boot.

“I know you meant for Amanusa to attend the meeting this afternoon,” Jax said, “but I am taking her back to the hotel. After that spell, she's in no
shape to handle the strain of a meeting where half those present will think it a pity the criminals didn't slaughter her.”

“She may be your bride,” Elinor said, “but she is a woman grown, not a child, and a magician as well. You cannot make decisions for her without at least soliciting her opinion.”

A slight snore from Amanusa's corner announced her thoughts on the matter. Jax smiled and slid his arm around her, tipping her head onto his shoulder, reveling in the knowledge that she'd given him the right. “Even adults can push themselves beyond their limits. And when they do, it's the responsibility of those who care for them to see that they take the rest they need. Harry can report what happens.”

“I don't suppose as it'd be too effective if she fell asleep in the meeting and slid off 'er chair,” Harry conceded.

Amanusa woke enough to walk into the hotel under her own power—mostly—when the carriage paused to let her and Jax off. Elinor stayed with the cab. She could wait in the chamber lobby, she said, and hear the news all the sooner. Amanusa fell asleep while Jax was getting her out of her corset and hoops. She slept until she heard voices, and the light sliding through the gap in the curtains was a mellow, late-summer-evening gold.

She found her new dressing gown—white, but with pink-embroidered ruffles down the front—and slipped into the parlor to see what was afoot. Her head ached horribly, but not enough to dim her need to hear their news.

The three English magicians—or two magicians
and an apprentice—had returned. Amanusa hid her yawn as she padded into their little parlor and curled up next to Jax on the sofa, tucking her bare feet beneath the skirts of her dressing gown.

Elinor turned to her, eyes alight. “The most wonderful thing, Amanusa. You won't believe what has happened.” She sat on the settee opposite, Grey beside her, leaning on his walking stick.

“Let's tell it in order, a'right?” Harry sat perched on an ornately carved chair upholstered in blue-and-gold striped satin, looking as if he feared it might collapse under him. His derby hat perched on his knee, which jiggled nervously. What did he have to be nervous about?

“We got to the meeting,” he said. “Late, but not too late. Maybe five-thirty. Gathmann recognizes us right away from the podium an' wants to know where you are. So I told 'im.

“I told 'im about the attack last night, an' about the warding spell this afternoon—an' about the wedding this mornin' too. They understood as how you might be a bit tired.”

“And then Harry asked that you be recognized as a master magician,” Elinor blurted out.

Amanusa looked from one magician to the other. “What does that mean? Won't it complicate things?”

“I 'ope it clears 'em up.” Harry set his hat on the floor and propped his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward to explain. “Your status in the conclave right now is based on your membership in the English council. Which is based on you bein' apprentice to Yvaine. It's provisional, an' it's an apprenticeship. Which Sir Billy din't bother to explain to the
conclave governors, an' I don't blame 'im for it. But that's what is. Or was. Apprentices don't generally get to attend meetings, unless they're ready for th' journeyman's test.”

“So, again, what does that mean? What was decided? What's going to happen?” Amanusa twined her fingers through Jax's, seeking his touch as always when she was uncertain. Master magician's status sounded good, but she had a feeling there was a catch.

“The governors, an' whoever else wants to go along, are goin' out to inspect that warding wall we built, an' if they're satisfied it's master-level work—”

“When,” Elinor said. “When they're bowled over by it.”

Harry's mouth twitched, as if Elinor's excitement amused him. “
When
that 'appens,” he amended, “they'll set a test.”

“What kind of test?” Amanusa's hand tightened on Jax's. Her whole existence sometimes felt as if it had been nothing but test after test. She was tired of tests.

“An attack, usually. Magic assault. Can you defend yourself against dark magic? Can you stand on your own? Master magicians got to be able to protect themselves. They got no right to be protected like an apprentice does. An' yes, Elinor, I got protections around you. Though after today, I ain't—I'm not so sure you need 'em. They'll be plenty impressed with your work on that wall, too.”

“Will we have warning?” Jax asked.

“No. But it won't 'appen 'til after they decide about the magic—the wall.”

“If they abide by the rules.” Elinor sounded bitter. “If I were you, I'd be prepared for anything, at any time.”

Amanusa looked at the men, to see whether they agreed with Elinor's assessment. Not that she had to. Frightened, ignorant people seldom followed rules. They acted on their fear, either running away to hide, or attacking. Amanusa had lived that way herself for too many years. Oddly, she wasn't afraid now.

Or maybe it wasn't so odd. After all, she had magic now. And she had Jax.

“Let them come,” she said. “We can handle anything they throw at us.”

Harry returned her gaze for a long, considering moment. “I sincerely 'ope you can.”

“Well.” Elinor's cheeks bloomed with a sudden blush and she popped to her feet. All three gentlemen rose with her. “I daresay we have taken up quite enough of your wedding day. But we felt you should know the news straightaway.”

Grey paused as they left and marked a sigil on the back of the door. “So that only those who wish you well may pass,” he said with a smile and a bow.

Amanusa didn't tell him Jax had already warded the rooms with a spell that did the same. She merely smiled and waved her thanks as they departed, leaving her alone with her husband.

Amanusa and Jax had been alone together for the whole of their journey to Paris. But they hadn't been married then.

She'd been alone with Jax today, after the magic at the dead zone, but she'd been so exhausted, she was scarcely aware of his presence, save as comforting,
efficient hands undressing her and tucking her into bed. This was different.

Jax put a glass of water in her hand. “Drink it.” Amanusa obeyed.

“I'm ordering supper,” he said, ringing for a servant. “You slept through tea, and now you've had some sleep, you need to eat.”

She nodded carefully. Her headache had grown steadily since she woke until now each hammer blow threatened to crack her skull. She stretched a hand toward him and when he took it, the headache faded slightly.

“Poor lamb.” He slid onto the settee beside her and kissed her temple. That helped even more. “Dragging all that great lot of magic halfway around the city. It's more work than you should be attempting so soon. You've only been studying sorcery since—was it only May when I found you?”

“In-depth study.” She sighed, leaning into him. “But that's not what's worrying you, is it?”

A quiet rap came at the door. Jax kissed her temple again before going to answer. He spoke quietly to the servant there, then returned.

He sat at the far end of the settee, which made Amanusa frown. Why didn't he want to touch her? Her head still hurt. She turned on the settee, putting her feet up on the cushion and sliding them forward until her toes, still covered by the voluminous raw silk dressing gown, touched his leg. “What's worrying you?” She asked it point blank this time.

“What makes you think anything is worrying me?” Jax gave her a smile without meeting her eyes. His hand drifted down to settle atop her silk-covered toes.

Amanusa scowled at him. “It's all over you. Worry. I can hear it in every word you say. I see it in your face. I can smell it, taste it—and if you weren't sitting way over there, I'm sure I could touch it, too. You're worried. Why?”

“After last night? After the news you just heard, you have to wonder?” Jax shot her a glance before denying her his eyes again.

His hand wrapped all the way around her ankle, over the silk, away from her skin. Her head was pounding again. She wanted his touch. But not if he didn't want to touch her.

“Jax.”
She poked him with her toes. “I know you're worried. Talk to me. I am the sorceress, after all.”

“And I'm the husband.” He shot her another quick look, his jaw going hard and stubborn. “You put me in this position. You gave me the right to worry.”

“But not alone, Jax. Share your worry with me. A wife is supposed to be a helpmeet, not a burden.” She reached past her upthrust knees to touch him. “We're still partners. Aren't we?”

Finally, at last, he met her gaze, looked into her eyes. “If you haven't figured it out yet on your own, I suppose I will have to tell you. You veiled how much of your blood you put into that bucket, but still, it came perilously close to revealing sorcery guild secrets, the truth about the source of a sorceress's power, in her own blood. More than that—” Jax gripped both her ankles as he turned his body toward her, intensity in every line. “If that warding works as well as I think it will, the conclave will be after you to work the same magic around every dead zone in
Europe. This one was only a few blocks around, and look how tired it left you.

“How big was the one we passed through in Germany? And it was growing. I'm told that the bigger they are, the faster they grow. I will not let you drain yourself dry for them.”

Oh my
. His fervent words warmed Amanusa all the way through. “I don't want that either.” Not now that . . . She grabbed for ways to prevent it. “I need apprentices. I need a whole classroom full of them.”

Jax shook his head, a crooked smile twisting his full, kissable lips. “It's not easy to find a classroom full of young ladies willing to spill their own blood for humanity's sake.”

“Do they have to be young?” Amanusa shrugged. “Or ladies? We look for those like me. The ones who have nothing left to lose. And the ones who understand the difference between justice and revenge.”

She cocked her head as she looked at him then, sorting through all the worries she saw written across him. “But that isn't all of it. It's a great deal of it, but—”

“How do you know?” he burst out. “How can you look at me and just know that I am worried? How can you tell this worry from that worry, when a week ago you could not?”

“I could sense—”

“Physical. You could sense the physical from me, when I was injured, when I touched the machine, when I fell ill in the vacuum—but you've never been able to sense my emotions.” He looked uneasy.

As well he ought. She'd never meant to trespass so far into his heart and mind. “I'm sorry. I won't—”

“Amanusa, I don't mind you being able to sense how I'm feeling. It's the why of it that worries me. You tasted my blood. You have my blood flowing through your veins. In the more than one hundred years that I served her, Yvaine never took my blood.
Ever
.”

“But—why not?” Amanusa took a moment to inventory all her parts. “I feel perfectly fine. A little tired—or maybe more than a little—but that's due to this afternoon's spell-crafting, I'm sure. Other than that, I feel no different than I did yesterday morning. What difference could taking your blood possibly make?”

“I don't know.” The strain in Jax's voice came through clearly. “And that's what worries me. Ask Yvaine.”

“Jax, no.”

“Ask her. We're inside a fully warded set of rooms. No harm can come to you, even if I fall unconscious.”

“We were married today. Maybe I don't want you unconscious.” Amanusa pulled her feet from Jax's grip and dropped them to the carpet. “I don't understand why you're raising such a fuss about this. It's nothing. Less than nothing.”

“You don't know that.” Jax captured one of her hands. “We don't know anything about it, except that Yvaine was so careful not to let it happen. Which in itself indicates that it's dangerous. Amanusa, I am serious about this. If you do not ask Yvaine, I will.”