Magic Undying (Dragon's Gift: The Seeker #1)(48)

Roarke inclined his head. “Origin.”

“Warden,” Aidan said, using Roarke’s title in return.

“Let’s eat while Del gives us a run-down,” Nix said. “I need to know what direction I should be looking in.”

“Good plan,” Roarke said.

We scavenged chairs from around the shop and in the back. Nix and I ended up sitting on the counter after having surreptitiously tossed the apple in the trash.

“So here’s the deal.” I told the story of Merlin’s Cave and Guinevere’s grave while trying to inhale a slice of cheese pizza.

“So he stole a concealment charm created by Merlin,” Aidan said when I finished.

“Yes,” Roarke said.

Aidan shrugged. “That could be your clue right there.”

“What do you mean?” Cass asked.

“For the last two months, Origin Enterprises has been conducting research on the fallibility of concealment charms.” Origin Enterprises was Aidan’s security company.

“Smart,” I said. “Trying to find ways to further protect your stuff.”

His gaze traveled to Cass. “In a sense, though we’ve never worked much with concealment charms. We protect property, primarily.’”

“Three months ago was just about when you met us,” Nix said, her gaze thoughtful.

Aidan nodded. “Once I learned that you three used concealment charms to protect yourselves from the Monster who hunted you, I wanted to make sure that those charms couldn’t be cracked. If they could, he could find you.”

Cass’s face pretty much melted—that was the only way I could describe her expression. To be fair, my heart did the same.

“You were trying to protect us?” she asked.

He reached for her hand. “I hardly think that should come as a surprise.”

“You didn’t tell us, though,” Cass said.

“Let a man have a few secrets.” His gaze turned thoughtful. “But it appears this information might help you.”

“What’d you learn?” Roarke asked.

“Research and Development determined that if you can figure out how the charm was made—either through potions, conjuring, blood magic, or whatever—you might be able to break them. You’d need to know the origin of the magic and what type it was. There are a lot of different ways to make charms. But that information is almost impossible to come by. Mage’s don’t usually advertise how they make their goods, or they’d lose their business. Keeping that in mind, it’s almost impossible to get the information needed to break the charm.”

“If you get the info you need, how do you break the charm?” Cass asked.

“Blood magic,” Aidan said. “Aerdeca and Mordaca were our consultants on this. It’s not an easy spell, nor technically a legal one. But since the creator of the charm is dead, it walks a gray line.”

Roarke scowled, as if he didn’t like the sound of breaking the law.

I hurried to clarify, saying, “Mordaca and Aerdeca are our friends who live and work in Darklane. They’re blood sorceresses, but they’re not evil.” They lived just three doors down from Aethelred, in fact, and I’d seen them while visiting. They worked on either side of the law, but most of the time they were on our side. I’d never seen them do anything outright evil. “I don’t suppose you could find Merlin in the Underworld and ask how he made the charm?”

Roarke shook his head. “No. Eventually, perhaps. But it could take years. I don’t like the sound of blood magic, but if it’s the only way to stop the Ubilaz demon, then it’s worth it.”

“So Del just needs to use her seeker sense to try to find information about the magic used to create Guinevere’s concealment charm,” Nix said.

“It’s worth a try,” Cass said.

“It’s an off chance.” But I saw no harm in it. I really wanted that info, so my dragon sense might give me something. Even better, both of my deirfiúr could look for it, too. If one of us got a lead on it, we could pursue it.

I closed my eyes and called upon my magic, working to keep my signature repressed so that Roarke didn’t get a sense of my distinct FireSoul signature. I envisioned the locket and Merlin and Guinevere, guessing at what they’d looked like, but giving it my all. Anything would help.

When the magic tugged about my middle, I grinned.

“I’ve got something.” I opened my eyes. “Near Edinburgh.”

“Scotland?” Nix asked.

Cass nodded. She’d must have gotten that sense as well.

Roarke looked back and forth between us, his gaze assessing. Shit. We hadn’t been very careful.

I turned toward him. “Do you have an Underpath exit in Edinburgh?”

The Ubilaz demon was strong. Roarke would need to be as close to full strength as possible when we found him, so tearing a hole through the ether wouldn’t be smart.

“I do. I’ll have a demon drop a car off outside.”

“A demon? Are they, like, your minion network?”

“Essentially.”

“Handy.” I stood and passed some of the books I’d been holding to my deirfiúr, keeping one for myself. “Will you guys look through these while we’re gone? See if you find anything interesting?”