Ghost's Stories, part three

It was well after midnight, and while the gym was still open the basement -- and the pool -- were empty. 

Chris Black stepped out of the locker room and onto the tile floor, breathing the scent of chlorine and very little else. He circled the room once, paying careful attention in case anyone was trying to conceal their presence with magic. Then, satisfied that the room was empty except for him, he started down the steps into the water. 

Something cold touched his shoulder, but it was the gentle brush of a fingertip rather than the grasping hands that Elyssa had described. He turned, but of course nobody was there. All right. He was still charged from having ventured into the Grey to rescue Adam Davis from the bonetaker; he expended a bit of that stored magic, and spoke the word for communication, for connection. 

A clawed hand wrapped around his throat, and he went very still. He still couldn't see anyone, but from the feel of it the owner had to be right in front of him. 

The pool room wasn't watched or warded -- not magically. There were cameras in the corners, but they were unmonitored and the tapes were only consulted if there was some sort of incident or complaint. As long as he didn't do anything too obvious, nobody would realize what he had done here. Well, not unless the unseen presence ripped his throat out; that might be hard to hide. 

Are you wolf, or magus? asked a silent voice. 

He focused on the connection. This was more than familiar; this was how the magi communicated through the arcana, and it could be done (albeit with more difficulty) through eye contact or touch. With the hand around his throat, strengthening the connection was easy. Both, he replied. Wolves can learn the magespeech. It's forbidden to us, and none of them would teach us, but we're actually more likely to have a talent for it than mundane humans are.

Then how did you learn? He was starting to get a feel for unseen entity. Another wolf, a woman, now dead, clinging desperately to any traces of magic she could find... until Chris had offered her his own to draw upon. 

That's a secret I cannot share, he said, but I'm here to help you if I can. What is it that you want? 

There's a girl, she told him. And a magus who murdered me. She's been partnered with him; I can smell him on her, even now. Even like this. 

Elyssa, Chris told her. I know her, though not well. You scared her very badly. 

I was trying to warn her, but she wouldn't listen-- couldn't hear me. I tried to get her attention, but she panicked. It-- I-- I handled it pretty badly, didn't I? 

Chris considered that for a moment. The Grey he'd brought back with him was running out; he wouldn't be able to keep up this conversation for much longer. Tell me about the magus, he said. 

Julius Thornblade, she answered immediately. He... he used his magic to take advantage of me. When he was done, he tried to bind me, to make the control he'd taken permanent... and when that didn't work, when I fought, he tried to place a geas on me so that I wouldn't be able to speak of it. There was a momentary pause. When that didn't work, he killed me and sank my body beneath the tiles here. 

Somebody has to suspect, Chris said silently, but even as he said it he knew it might not make any difference even if it was true. The Thornblades were one of the Old Families, descended from the Founders who had first walled the Mundus off from the Grey. ...but they won't move against him unless they have absolutely no choice. 

You have to warn her, the woman said. You have to protect her from him. 

Do you have a name? asked Chris. 

Clarissa. 

All right. He'd need to think about that; he couldn't just kill a Thornblade outright. Not and keep his place here. Elyssa wouldn't be able to fight back at all; the geas placed on ROs in service to the Ministry would prevent her from doing any harm to any of the magi. Even acting in self defense, her response would be delayed at best. So... he had to keep her away from her partner as much as possible, and figure out some way to...  

Clarissa. Clarissa could kill him. She wasn't bound by the geas any longer, and she had unfinished business with the magus. She could do it, if she had power enough.

Yes? She asked. His thought had been loud enough for her to overhear.

He felt the dark heart stir inside him, coming partially awake in a way that none of his other captured essences ever did -- not even the bonetaker. Hang on here, he told her. We're going protect Elyssa... and vengeance will be yours.