Chapter 27

The warehouse wasn’t insulated, so while it wasn’t as cold outside as it had been, the inside of the warehouse didn’t feel any warmer than the day before. Otherwise, the warehouse was just as empty and unused. There was only one real difference between today and yesterday. After my security spell lesson, I had cleaned up what I could of the chalk lines. I didn’t have a clenser to get it all up, so there was some smeared remnants when we left. I didn’t see anything today. I asked about that.

“This place has more spells on it than just for security,” Tanner said. “Today, I’m going to teach you how to identify those spells, as well as what it takes to disable them.”

“I understand that, ultimately, this is supposed to help me identify and disable the Lockdown, but do you really want me trying to disable the spells on this place?” I asked.

He arched an eyebrow. “What makes you think you can?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know that I can or can’t. However, if the Lockdown is as difficult to disable as the spells on this place, and I can’t disable the spells here, then I have no hope of disabling the Lockdown.”

He nodded. “Glad you realized that. There are others who seem to believe you can do it though.”

“Others?” I asked. “Other than Sheriff Dalton?”

“Do you know just how many Magi are waiting for the Lockdown to end?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Honestly? No. I only know a few and I know they’ll be happy when it’s over with.”

“Well, take my word for it, there are a lot more than a ‘few’,” He said and hung up his jacket in mid-air again.

I nodded at his jacket. “Do you do that to show off or is it habit?” Yes, I was avoiding the topic I had to tell him. I didn’t like the idea that I was supposed to be more important because of one accidental event. Even without it, Tanner was making me uncomfortable with his comments about my Magical skills.

“You’ll eventually learn there are precious few times when we can show off,” he said with a grin, but then he got serious. “There’s something we need to talk about, just to clear the air.”

I frowned at him. “What?”

“Your sister,” he said. “You do know that nothing was going on between us, right?”

I frowned harder. “You had to bring that up.”

“She invited me in when I arrived looking for you,” he said. “She offered me a cup of coffee, which I accepted, and we talked.”

“Yeah!” I said a little louder than I intended. “I could see that.”

“And just before you walked in, she had been stretching her leg on the counter,” He said. “She asked me not to say anything about it to you, but I think it’s better that you know.”

I shook my head. “You’re saying she was stretching her leg on my counter and didn’t want me to know about it?”

He shrugged. “She wasn’t sure how you’d react, but you saw the way she was leaning over,” he said and I nodded. “Well imagine that except with her left leg straight out and her heel on the counter.”

I did. It made some sense.

“I have to admit though,” Tanner went on, “she is very limber.”

I shook off the image of her stretching and stared at Tanner. “Look, I understand you have to take care of yourself and that she’s a grown woman who can make her own decisions, but I don’t need to know about it.”

Tanner stared at me for a second. “Are you giving me permission to seduce your sister?”

Put that way, my ears burned and anger boiled up in me.

“I didn’t think so,” he said.

I glared at him again. “What are you talking about?”

He waved at me. “Isn’t it obvious? You don’t want me laying a hand on her.”

I knew what he meant and my brain supplied images that only made me burn hotter.

Tanner studied me. “You okay?”

I looked up with wide eyes and tight lips. “No.”

He looked me over. “I’d say you’re not just angry about the idea of me and her together but that you’re jealous.”

I stepped away and unzipped my jacket. My blood was boiling and I didn’t feel cold anymore. “I’m not jealous. She’s my sister. I can’t think of her like that.”

Tanner sighed. “First, I’m only telling you what I’m seeing. Second, she told me you’re only step siblings, which means there’s no real concerns if...”

I spun around to face him. “IF what?” I asked. “If I give in to the weird, stupid, erotic images I keep seeing of her? If I use my Magic to do something with her that she would never forgive me for – not to mention our family.” I threw up my hands and spun in a circle of frustration. “I can hear what everyone back home would say. I don’t need Faith telling mom about it only to have her coming out here, along with Alyssa, to console Faith while condemning me.”

Tanner held up his hands defensively. “Hold on there, kid. You’re getting ahead of yourself. You haven’t actually done anything, have you?”

I stopped and it felt like the whole warehouse was vibrating around me. “No, but I can’t stop thinking about it every time I see her.”

“You’ve told your Fonti that you’re a Magus, have you told her?”

I shook my head. “It would be a breach of the Law of Secrecy.”

“And how long is she going to be staying with you?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “She’s got a pile of apartment applications. She could be moving out tomorrow or it could be another week.”

“I don’t think you can take another week of this.”

I looked at him. “Really? You think so?” I knew I was being sarcastic, but I couldn’t help it at that moment.

“Seems to me that you only have two choices,” He said. “Either move in with one of your Fonti until your sister leaves, or make her one of your Fonti.”

I looked up at him. “You have got to be kidding me.”

He waved at me. “Look at you. Just the idea of keeping this secret from her while thinking about her the way you are is killin’ you.”

“You’ve been a Magus for years,” I said. “Is that really the answer or are you pulling my leg?”

“Son, I’ve had more Fonti than even I care to admit,” he said. “Sometimes you have to make decisions that are the best for you and those around you. I never said it was easy.”

I shook my head and paced in a circle. “There’s got to be another option.”

“Well, until someone comes by and offers it,” he said, “what’s this thing you need me to know?”

I nodded and paced in a circle. My anger and confusion about Faith kept me from worrying about what Tanner would think of what I was about to tell him. “There was an incident this morning. I’m not allowed to discuss the details of how it happened, but suffice to say, I have a Stirpe.”

“You what?” he asked and his voice was low and careful.

I glanced at him but kept pacing. “Dalton was only able to tell me that I could share power with Emma, but there’s a lot more going on than that.”

Tanner paced back and forth. “I’d ask how you stumbled onto this, but that would be pointless.” Then he stopped and looked at me. “Have you come up with a name for your House?”

I frowned. “I’m not making a House.”

“You don’t understand,” he said. “Taking your first Stirpe is tantamount to starting a House. All Magi will now consider you a House Leader and expect you to act accordingly.”

“Dalton said you wouldn’t know much more about this than she does,” I said.

He shook his head and started pacing again. “She isn’t around House Leaders all that much, whereas I may end up training anyone with need. It could be anything from a single spell to as many ins and outs about Magic as possible.” He nodded my way with his latter statement. “The point is, I’ve seen things and have come to my own understanding of the relationship between a Padrone and Stirpe.”

I was suddenly anxious, both to know what he knew and because he seemed upset about this. “Okay, so why are you upset?”

He stopped and looked at me. “There are Magi out there who’ve spent years of political maneuvering to gain what you’ve stumbled across by accident. Once word spreads that a new House has started up, you could be in danger.”

“Dalton didn’t seem worried about that,” I said.

He shook his head. “She doesn’t play politics. She earned her commission through hard work and honest dedication. There are plenty of Sheriffs who shouldn’t be Sheriffs, but that’s a different issue. In your case, if anyone finds out how inexperienced you really are, there’s no telling what they would do to get that secret out of you.” Then he stopped pacing. “Whom did you bond with?”

“Emma Barett,” I said. “Why?”

“Have you explicitly decreed that she’s not to tell anyone how you two forged that bond?” he asked.

“I told her it wasn’t allowed,” I said. “Why?”

“Because she could be in more danger than you,” he said. “Can you get ahold of her?”

I pulled out my cell phone. “I made sure Jordan got her contact info.”

“Call her,” He said. “Talk to your Stirpe directly. Make sure you explicitly forbid her to tell anyone by any method of how your bond was forged.”

I frowned. “Shouldn’t Dalton have told me this?”

He shook his head. “She makes a great Sheriff for common Magi, but when it comes to anything outside her sphere of experience, she really doesn’t know what’s going on.”

I nodded and called Jordan. She picked up. “You done already?”

“No,” I said. “I need to talk to Emma. Send me her contact info.”

“Okay, is something wrong?”

“Not at the moment, I just have to take precautions in case something happens,” I said.

“Okay, it’s sent,” she said. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, Tanner’s telling me things Dalton didn’t,” I said. “I better call Emma right away.”

“Okay, later.”

We hung up and my phone notified me of a new message. Jordan knew these phones better than I did, which was why I had her collect Emma’s information. I thought I would have time to allow Jordan to copy it to my phone later. However, Tanner’s tone indicated I must figure this out now.

The message had an attachment. Thankfully, when I tapped on it there were only a few options. One option was to add it to my contacts, which I did.

I called Emma. She picked up after a moment. “Hello?”

“Emma, it’s Seth,” I said.

“Oh,” she said, as if disappointed.

“I just found out something that the Sheriff didn’t tell me earlier about our bond,” I said.

“Should we be talking about this over the phone?” she asked.

“You’re right, we shouldn’t,” I said, remembering what Dalton said about phones never being secure. “I’ll make this simple. I explicitly forbid you from communicating to anyone by any method how we forged our bond.”

“Okay,” she said. “Why?”

I blinked and frowned. I looked at Tanner. “Why did I just do that?”

“For her safety,” he said. “Even if she’s tortured, she couldn’t tell them.”

“Emma?” I said.

“I heard him,” she said, sounding angry. “Would someone really try to torture me for that information?”

“Tell you what,” I said. “Until I contact you again, find a hotel near work to hide in.”

“You can’t be serious,” she said. “What about work?”

“Seth,” Tanner said, “Don’t overreact. It’s not like your bond with Emma is something new. If someone wants the secret bad enough, they’ll come after you, not her.”

I thought about it and realized that Tanner was right. I focused on Emma again. “Emma, I’m sorry for overreacting. I didn’t want to put you in any danger.”

“At least you can listen to reason,” she said. “Thank him for me.” Then she hung up.

I looked at Tanner. “She said thank you.” Tanner nodded. “Now, why did I forbid her from talking?”

“The bond protects her mind,” he said. “Most Magi would simply try to extract the information with Magic. Should they try that now though, they’ll find out very quickly that asking her, no matter what they do to her, wouldn’t get them anything.”

I shook my head. “Are you saying that anything I command of her becomes Law?”

He nodded. “In short, yes. Since she carries your Magic, anything you tell her is Magically enforced.”

I nodded. “Jordan and I came to the same conclusion,” I said and told him about what happened when Emma tried to summon her purse.

“How did you know what she was trying to do?” he asked. “She could have been trying to throw you into the door.”

I shook my head. “I just knew that’s what she was doing. It’s how I would have done the same thing.”

He looked at me sideways and pointed back at his jacket. “Summon my jacket,” he said.

I frowned. “I don’t know how.”

He shook his head. “Don’t think about it. Just go by instinct, by whatever it was that told you Emma had done the same thing.”

I blinked and thought about Emma summoning her purse. I knew that’s what she was doing and threw myself into that knowledge. I held out my hand and the summoning spell was just there. Tanner’s jacket flew across the room and I caught it.

I looked at the jacket and then Tanner. “But how?”

“I’ve suspected for a long time that this was the case,” he said. He retrieved his jacket from me and hung it up again.

“Suspected what?” I asked.

“You’ve gained Emma’s experience with Magic,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she got what little you understood too, but that would be a guess at best since she probably knows enough to overshadow anything she gained from you.”

“Jordan said there was a rumor about that,” I said.

“Well, I’d say you have your proof,” he said. “Now, about your House name...”

I shook my head. “I said I’m not making a House.”

“And I’m tellin’ you that the other Houses won’t see it that way,” Tanner said with a low growl. He ran his hand through his hair, paced a little more, and then turned to me again. “I don’t mean to snap, but you have to understand what this means. It’s not just a privilege, it’s a responsibility.”

I nodded. “Dalton told me I was responsible for Emma.”

He nodded too. “Yeah, she may not be allowed to arrest you or your Stirpe for anything, but other House leaders can. One thing I’ve learned is that there are a lot of things you can be arrested for as a House Leader that a normal Magus would never be arrested for.”

“Such as?” I asked.

“Not keeping up with your responsibilities,” he said. “That’s a big one. It’s a tough job, mostly because you end up with more Magi in your House than you can really handle. Most Houses are like that at least, especially in large metropolitan cities like Arlington.”

“Then, wouldn’t my House be a welcome bit of help?” I asked.

“There’s also the politics and power involved,” He said. “Most Houses take on too many Magi because the more they have, the higher their standing and the greater the power for the House Leader.”

I thought about that. “Unless there’s a reliable way to measure Magic power, then any pecking order ends up being determined by challenge and contest.” I looked up. “Maybe by bluff too, but that all seems too open to be allowed.”

Tanner shook his head. “More often than not, it’s about counting the members of the House and how many Fonti each one has. The higher the number, the more power the House Leader typically has.”

“Are you saying it’s possible to have fewer members and Fonti, but be more powerful?” I asked.

“That’s only happened twice that I know of,” he said. “One of the Council members had to step in and measure each House Leader with spells rather than letting them duke it out.”

“So, what are they competing for?” I asked. “I don’t see this as a contest.”

He chuckled. “No, you wouldn’t, but then you’re one of the few who have ended up in this position without the desire to be there.”

“That may be true, but it doesn’t answer my question,” I said.

“This competition is for the next higher seat,” he said. “We don’t live forever. We’re not perfect either. When a higher position of Leadership becomes available, someone from a lower rank is chosen to fill it.”

I nodded. “Then only the most ambitious and potentially ruthless end up at the top.”

“Ambitious, yeah,” he said with a shrug. “Ruthless, not always.”

I shook my head. “And you said the Guilds didn’t agree with the Council for various reasons. This has got to be one of them.”

He nodded. “I’m sure it is, but then I doubt they would change that part of the system.”

I frowned. “Dalton said she took a ritual oath of loyalty as a Sheriff. Does that give power to the House Leader she pledged to?”

Tanner nodded. “Yes, but not nearly as much as a Stirpe does.”

Tanner’s answer cleared up one aspect I was confused about: why would a House accept an oath of loyalty if they didn’t get anything out of it other than the person’s promise to be loyal, especially if they wanted more power so as to move up in rank at some point. If this oath gave the House Leader power, even a little bit, then the only way they could compete with each other via power or politics would be to have as many Stirpe and Loyal members as possible. And here I was suddenly, potentially cutting into the limited number of Magi who could bolster one House over another. There were going to be Houses that didn’t like the news about a new House at all.