Chapter 10

The frustration on her face was locked down into smoothness, but he saw enough. The shake of her head confirmed it. “No. Normally I could have made the whole ocean glow and created a portal by now.”

He didn’t know much about portals, but he knew witches and warlocks were the most adept at them. The older magician folks could create them on a whim, too, which begged the question…had an older magician helped get him here?

“I suspect I was thrown here by friends. Or ex-friends now. And a family member. They might be part of the corrupt system and those deaths, and they may have had help from an older magician to get rid of me.”

“Oh.”

“And I suspect you were a bystander who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“I was on a ship on my way home,” she confirmed. “And you still talk too much. I’m still a stranger, remember?”

“One who wouldn’t kill me,” he shot back. “If you planned to, you would have already.”

She grimaced, not contradicting his statement but reluctant about it. The tension from the water discourse eased a bit from his shoulders as he scanned the horizon.

“The sun’s going down,” she observed in worry.

He nodded, mirroring the sentiment: that nightfall in an open area wasn’t a good idea. Without a word, they trudged away from the shoreline. Her hand glowed and patted her clothes, then hesitantly touched his shoulder. A second later, he felt warmth enter his skin, then travel outward until his clothes were dry too.

“I don’t have enough energy for more,” she explained. “Chants take up a lot, especially coming from a place I don’t know. I’m not drained, but…”

“I get it. I have to conserve my shield too. And look at you.”

“What?”

“Talking too much. Sharing with astranger.”

She eyed his grin distrustfully, then stared ahead without commenting. Since she looked like she already knew where to go, he let her lead the way and kept up with her quick, steady pace.

“Are you some kind of investigator or something?” she asked after a while.

Witch tilted his head, then deduced that she was still trying to decide if he was an enemy. “Or something. Let’s just say I have some authority and the royal family might listen to me if I convinced them enough—or trapped them in a room until they either killed me or listened to me. Of course, I need something to convince them.”

“A suspect to the murders.”

“Natural deaths for now, but lately I’ve been convinced they aren’t. Me being here just cements that. Anyway, yes. I either need a suspect, a confession, or evidence to expose that everything’s connected, including the attempt to get rid of me.”

“It sounds like a violent court.”

“All courts have their pros and cons. Mine happens to not be one of those that savor killing sprees and torturing others just for the fun of it.”

“So, you torture for other reasons.”

“If it’s enemies or an attempt to track down kidnapped Mabel. Believe it or not, it’s a common occurrence…wouldn’t you?”

“Wouldn’t I what?”

“Torture for those reasons?” he prompted.

Silence.

“It depends,” she finally replied. “But torture should be the last resort and should still be merciful.”

“Have you done it?”

“A mild one. Only because my brother needed help against a…difficult creature.”

“Right. We all have our reasons.”

Prince Brian mulled over this, then hesitated. “You said you think your friends and a family member might be involved in your attempted demise?”

Thinking about it and talking about it was one thing, but hearing it from another person had his chest tightening in betrayal. He brushed it off.

“Yes.”

“Don’t assume. Sometimes things are not what they seem and the people you think are the culprits are innocent. You might end up sentencing the wrong person to a hellish life.”

This time, she looked him in the eye, jolting him with how clear and dark they looked in the night. They were also very sincere in trying to get her point across as if she had experienced it first-hand. The abrupt intimacy of it had him looking away first.

“Obviously. That’s why I need to investigate…if we can get out of here.”

He waited for her assurance that they would, but even the woman with the powers didn’t seem to have concrete answers. Witch let it be since he didn’t have any either. They walked the rest of the way in almost companionable silence, senses perked for any sign of buzzing wings or hissing little mouths. When they arrived in a bushy area, she stopped.

“There it is. I saw it earlier but didn’t think to explore it since the ocean was my main goal. But now…”

Witch narrowed his gaze until he spotted the cave opening sitting snugly at the side of yet another cliff. Understanding, he blocked her before she could enter, clearing his throat.

“Let me do the honors.”

“Of checking a cave without any weapons?” she asked skeptically.

He smirked and showed off his shield, letting it hum before turning it off. “This is all that I need.”

He entered without waiting for her response, checking the walls first to make sure there were no surprise openings or trap doors. When he spotted a bank of water that was waist-deep and also held no surprise openings, he sent a signal until she ambled in.

“Water,” he said triumphantly. “Our best weapon against those violent little things.”

No sooner had he said it, one violent little thing fluttered toward them, delicate wings glittering in the dark. Witch put his shield up…and prince Brian cleared her throat and rushed forward.

“You have names for them?”

Prince Brian couldn’t blame Witch incredulity, even while she hesitated between shutting Yu out and asking the magician to lower the shield. Instead, she answered his question.

“I didn’t name all of them. Just him. He told me his name.”

“They don’t speak our language,” he pointed out.

“He doesn’t have to. We can communicate through gestures.”

“Oh. And you and…he couldn’t gesture at his peers not to attack us like little shits?”

The man had a point, but she couldn’t help focusing on the words he used. Mabel Clement and vampires from prestigious houses spoke formally and wouldn’t be caught dead using crude language, while this Mabel spoke like he was used to it. It piqued more curiosity about his past, but she set that aside and scrutinized Yu.

“Yu, are you alone?”

She gestured with her hands and body, ignoring witch raised brow. After some nose wrinkling and visible confusion, Yu’s black eyes lit up and he nodded frantically. Something about the movements called out to her and threw her hesitation out the window.

“Let him in.”

Witch gave her a wary look. “It could be a trap.”

“Then I’ll handle it if it is. You can raise your shield back up the moment he enters.”

The man still didn’t want to, but he gave in and lowered the shield, then glared at Yu when the pixie rushed in. The shield was back in place in no time, still invisible, and no other pixie came in sight. She sighed in relief.