Magic's Memories

Chapter Forty-three

Adrenaline was a drug all its own. It had shot through Daydrel's veins as he had watched his rival topple to the ground beneath his boot.

Rival. The word tasted bitter on his tongue. He stared down at Sedgewick Alverdyne. With his hat now off of his head and abandoned on the ground, and with no hint of magic shining behind his eyes or sparking in his hand, he looked...weak. Fragile. A pale, slight man who had no business causing as much trouble as he had. What had Feyla wanted him for?

A sickness grew in his chest; one that had been there since Feyla had touched the nape of his neck. He'd thought she'd meant to kiss him.

Daydrel's fist tightened but he forced it to relax a moment later. He tapped his foot against Sedgewick's, testing.

"He won't wake up early," Arilla Everbloom said. She stepped over the mage with dainty disdain. "I selected the dosage carefully."

Daydrel grunted in answer but still kept watch over the sleeping mage. Who could tell what hidden protections he might have?

The adrenaline was wearing off. He shook his head. "This wasn't what I came here for."

"You came here because I told you to." Arilla placed the spiked cup of tea and the other tea things onto her tray. Her hands moved with a casual elegance as if she really were just cleaning up after having company.

Daydrel's nostrils flared. "I came here because we had a chance to advance the battle healers and the guild's reach."

Arilla finally turned and gave him her attention. She placed a hand on her hip, the moment much like her daughter's, and gave him a stare that reminded him of why Madam Everbloom was a guild leader to begin with. "I like you, Daydrel. You're ambitious and determined but don't make the mistake of thinking that you are in charge here. I approved your plan because you were supposed to draw my daughter away from him." She flicked her hand in the mage's direction. "And back into the healers. Since you couldn't do that, I've had to find a new way to help Feyla."

"Catching Desden was my ticket to a guild leader position," Daydrel let out through clenched teeth.

"I'm your ticket to a guild leader position." Arilla stepped closer, her voice sinking low. "Do what I tell you and I'll make sure you get what you want." She grabbed him by the shirt and jerked him down to eye level. "Don't do what I tell you and you'll be lucky to be assigned to some backwater village for the rest of your life." She smiled sweetly and Daydrel's stomach twisted. "Are we clear?"

"Yes, Madam Everbloom."

"Good. Now prep the mage for treatment. I want Alverdyne ready by the time he comes back."

In her old healer's uniform, she'd been a pale shimmer of moonlight shifting through the shadows. Now, she more closely resembled the patches of dirt covering the stone street her and Dormaeus were slinking down.