The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses #1)(31)

“That makes sense,” said Magnus. “I’m well-known for my taste in fashion and the hospitality of my parties.”

“It’s true that everybody seems to trust you,” Shinyun continued. “It’s not like I wanted to believe you were running some cult, but recently I’ve been hearing it over and over. ‘Magnus Bane is the Crimson Hand’s founder.’ The one they call the Great Poison.”

Magnus hesitated. “Maybe. But I don’t remember it. My memories of that time period have been—altered. I wish I did know.”

Alec gave him a look that, though Magnus was unable to read minds, very clearly communicated the idea that he was shocked Magnus was trusting this total stranger with an important and dangerous secret.

Magnus, on the other hand, felt oddly relieved that he’d admitted out loud that he might have founded the Crimson Hand, even to a peculiar stranger. After all, he had made the joke to Ragnor. He’d seen Tessa’s picture. He knew he was missing years of memory. Which was likelier, that those were all coincidences or that he’d actually done it?

He wished he could travel back in time and kick himself in the head.

“You’re missing memories? You think the Crimson Hand took them?” Shinyun said.

“Possibly,” said Magnus. “Look, I don’t want a cult,” he added. He felt strongly he should make his position on cults well understood. “I am not out to take over the cult. I am out to shut down the cult, and try to pay back whatever fault I bear for the bad stuff they’ve done. I want the memories back, and I want to know why they’re gone, but that’s more out of personal curiosity. The important thing is, no more demonic cults that feel any kinship with Magnus Bane. Also, they have ruined a romantic vacation that was getting off, I thought, to a very good start.”

He drained his drink. After almost getting thrown off a train, he deserved one. He deserved more than one.

“It was getting off to a very good start,” Alec muttered, looking at Shinyun in a manner that suggested that though she’d saved his life, her presence was no longer required.

Magnus considered saying something about how now no one was getting off at all, but decided it was not the time.

“You can understand why I might have been suspicious—” began Shinyun.

“You can understand why we might be more suspicious!” countered Alec.

Shinyun glared. “Until I saw that Raum brood mother attacking you,” she said. “I know the Crimson Hand well enough to know the way they operate. The current leader must be trying to kill you, Bane. Which means that whatever happened in the past, now they consider you their enemy. I may have stopped them last night, but they will likely try again.”

“How do you know so much about them?” said Alec. “And what do you want?”

Shinyun lifted her glass to her lips and took a slow, careful sip. Magnus admired, not for the first time, her intuitive sense of dramatic timing.

“My goal is the same as yours. I intend to destroy the Crimson Hand.”

Magnus felt uncomfortable at the presumption of her declaring his goal for him. He wanted to quibble with it, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized she was right. In the end, it probably would come to that.

“Why?” Alec asked, focusing on the more important thing. “What did the Crimson Hand do to you?”

Shinyun looked out the window, at the pale reflected globes of lamplight against the night. “They hurt me very badly,” she said, and Magnus felt a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach. Whatever the Crimson Hand had done, if he had founded them, he was at least somewhat responsible.

Shinyun’s hands began to tremble and she pressed them together to hide it. “The details are not important. The Crimson Hand is amassing sacrifices—human sacrifices, of course—toward raising a Greater Demon. They’ve been killing faeries. Mundanes. Even warlocks.” She looked back at Magnus, unblinking. “They think that is their path to ultimate power.”

“A Greater Demon?” exclaimed Alec.

The horror and loathing in his voice was entirely understandable. He had nearly been killed by a Greater Demon. It still made Magnus’s stomach twist. He finished his second drink and poured himself another.

“So the most banal, typical thing for an evil cult to want. Power. Power through some demon. Why do they always think they’ll be spared? Demons aren’t known for their sense of fair play.” Magnus sighed. “Wouldn’t you think a cult I founded might have a more creative spirit? Also, I would have assumed a cult I founded wouldn’t be evil; that part remains a surprise to me.”

“People I loved are dead because of the Crimson Hand,” Shinyun went on.

“Maybe the details do matter,” said Alec.

Shinyun gripped her glass so tightly that her knuckles went white. “I still would prefer not to speak of it.”

Alec looked dubious.

“If you want me to trust you, you’ll have to trust me,” said Shinyun plainly. “For now, all you need know is that I wish for revenge against the Crimson Hand for the crimes they have committed against me and against my loved ones. That is all. If you’re against them, we’re on the same side.”

“Everyone has their secrets, Alec,” said Magnus softly, feeling awash in his own. “If the Crimson Hand is trying to kill me for some reason, we can use all the help we can get.”