The Bound (Ascension #2)(81)

“I don’t know. Just a hunch,” she lied.

Telling anyone she had been having visions of the ancient Domina Serafina wasn’t high on her priority list.

“So, where are they? How do I speak with them?” she asked.

“They’re the kind of people who can’t really be…found.”

Cyrene stood and glared at him in anger. “You sent me here to find them!”

“They’re the type who…find you.”

“You’re unbelievable! How could you make it seem so urgent to get me out of the country and all the way here to Eleysia to speak with them?”

“Because it was,” Basille said calmly. “Your magic is a death sentence in Byern. If anyone finds out about it, you will be slaughtered…as they have been doing for millennia.”

“What?” Cyrene stilled and felt herself shaking.

“Magic is not welcome in Byern. You are not welcome there. Viktor Dremylon murdered all magical Doma two thousand years ago, and anyone with magic since then has been hunted down and killed. It’s cursed.”

“But…I lived there my whole life, and nothing strange hap—” She couldn’t even finish that sentence. “The deaths. The Braj. All of that was because of my magic. They were trying to get rid of me, as they had done in the past. That makes sense.”

“What exactly makes sense?” Dean asked.

“A series of deaths happened in Byern that resulted in a Braj attacking me. I killed it with my powers, but it killed a number of other people who had some kind of relation to me. Do you think they were Doma?”

Basille listened to the news, as if this were an everyday discussion. “Doubtful. It’s more likely that you awakened magic in ancient bloodlines, and the Braj killed them as it tried to get to the source. I’ve heard that a particularly powerful magical user can make strange things occur.”

Cyrene put her hand on the table to try to process everything that he had said.

“What if someone in Byern knew I had magic?” she asked softly.

“Then, I would advise you to never return to your homeland,” Basille reasoned.

She shook her head. That couldn’t be it. Kael could have killed her if he had wanted her dead. She had been alone with him any number of times, and on the docks, he’d had her in his complete control, and he hadn’t done anything. Not to mention, Edric…if he had magic or had known that she had magic, he hadn’t hurt her. In fact, he had fallen for her. She couldn’t think that he would do anything to harm her after sending so many guards to collect her. It would have been easier to send someone just to kill her.

“I’ll have to think about all this,” she said finally. “But are you sure there is nothing else that can be done to get the attention of Matilde and Vera? Are they even still here?”

“I’m sure they’re still here. This is their home. They grew up in the Swamp Sector and never could seem to get Eleysia out of their blood.”

Dean wrinkled his nose. “The Swamp Sector?”

“What is it?”

“It used to be private homes of the wealthy,” Dean said. “The area is technically below sea level, and before I was born, a massive hurricane and an earthquake crashed through the island, hitting the Swamp Sector the hardest. Sinkholes pocketed the district and tore the land apart. The nobility left, and the homes were abandoned to natural vegetation and whoever was desperate enough to live in the flooded conditions.”

“It’s not all that bad anymore,” Basille chimed in.

Dean gave him a questioning look.

“It has a certain charm for the underbelly of the population who don’t want to compete with First, Market, Lower and Fourth rivalries.”

“And here I was, beginning to think Eleysia was just paradise year-round,” Cyrene said.

“It is,” Dean assured her.

“In the palace,” Basille modified. “Otherwise, you’re competing with the various gangs who control the sectors, and you don’t want to end up on the wrong side of that war.”

“Gangs?” Cyrene said in surprise.

“Do you now see why I followed you?” Dean asked, his voice pleading.

“Ah, young love,” Basille said, his eyes moving between them. “Well, it was a pleasure doing business with you. I’ll expect the invitation to show up promptly.”

“You didn’t even give me the information I wanted,” Cyrene protested. Her cheeks were heated from his comment, but she tried to control her voice.

“You never specified the exact information you wanted, just that you wanted information. I told you how to find Matilde and Vera. You have to wait for them to find you, and find you, they will. The rest of the information I gave out for free,” he said, as if he had done her a service. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have other business to attend to.”

Cyrene swore under her breath. She should have known better than to expect more from Basille. The last time she had visited him, he had given her practically nothing and had his man literally throw her out of his tent. At least this time, she was walking out with dignity.

She stopped at the entrance to the sitting room. “What about the book?” she asked. “Why did you give it to my sister?”

Basille smiled. “If I had known its importance, I would have charged a lot more for it.”