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Cade straightened. “It does.”
“Match?” I asked, glancing between them.
Both men seemed reticent to speak further, so I pointed out the obvious. “Look, if I’m stuck here as bait… Which, forgive me, but I imagine that was the plan if Constable Cade was preparing a fake identity to pose as a marital counselor and a warlock.”
“It’s hard not to forgive you when you’re only pointing out the truth,” Cade said.
Derrick snorted a faint laugh.
“Yes, well, if I am stuck as bait for the time being, then I need as much information as you can give me. It’s a safety measure as much as anything.”
Derrick looked about to speak but Cade overrode him. “There’s only so much we can tell you, Miss Grayson. But you have the bulk of it. We have been chasing a warlock trafficker for the better part of two years now.”
“Two years?” I asked, stunned. “Why so long?”
Cade looked annoyed or frustrated, but it didn’t seem aimed at me. His gaze fell on the folder of papers nearby. “Because they operate in a large territory both in and out of Fairy. Magic is only a benefit if your opponent does not also wield it.”
“Their signature is in the runestones themselves,” Derrick explained. “They are…”
“Derrick.” There was a warning note in Cade’s voice and Derrick stopped.
“You realize that as a magic practitioner myself, I do know something about runes?” I asked Cade drily.
“Not runes like these,” Cade said.
I frowned but couldn’t argue. What little I’d managed to spy of the rune in my palm, it was not like anything I’d dealt with before. But it wasn’t like I knew every rune in existence.
The hair on my arms began to prickle.
“So this is a rune I won’t know but it matches the signature you’re looking for?” I asked.
“Yes,” Derrick said, his expression going grim. “Which means you’re in a lot of danger.”
“Which is why we need to get that thing out of her and send her home,” Cade said.
Unease prickled through me. “I support this plan of action.”
Cade’s mouth twitched in a faint smile. “See? The girl at least has some sense about her.”
“Unfortunately,” Derrick said with a frown at his partner, “Trying to remove a runestone without first knowing who created it is dangerous. He could kill you, Nora.”
Confused, I glanced between them. Another niggle of fear hit my stomach and I pressed my hand to my chest. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
“He’s not wrong, but in my defense I didn’t intend to leap into the process without researching first.” Cade said, casting Derrick a frown as he leaned against the table. “Every warlock influences magic differently and that makes each spell or enchantment as unique as their individual creators. Sorcerers, for example, we know to be summoners of elements, so when they use enchantments, they are focused on water, earth, air, or fire and the only way to break free of one of their runestones, is to use the opposite element on the spectrum.”
“Water for fire,” I said with a nod, following this logic.
“Yes, exactly. But because all runes are written in the same base language, there’s no way to tell if it is fire aiding the enchantment.” Derrick said, though he didn’t sound pleased.
“Unless you know who the warlock is and what sort of Bright creature they are,” I said.
Derrick smiled at me, but I could see the trouble in his eyes. He shook his head and continued; “Wizards are slightly more difficult. If a wizard created that runestone, it broadens the spectrum some. Instead of summoning elements, they summon magic from life itself. Your empathic abilities, for example, stem from the living relationships around you. In a very real sense, you are attuned to people, and I can only imagine what it must be like being cut off from all that.”
Breath left me in a rush and fresh tears pricked behind my eyes. The struggle of being locked away from the aether had been my focus, but Derrick was right, there was more to my magic than what I could do in the aether. Sensing how people felt, finding the right words at the right moment to help them, locating that hurting person in a crowd; these were all things that defined me. Without them, I felt anchorless.
More than that, I was chartless and blind in a sea that was swelling with storm.
Cade cleared his throat and the reluctance in his face was clear. He gave Derrick another frown. “You have a choice right now, Miss Grayson.”
