Page 42 of Borrowed Time

If he’d been born nearly magic-less in a clan full of witches and warlocks, would he have also reached out for something — anything — that might make him feel more worthy?

Devynn appeared understanding, and yet there was a certain firmness to her jaw and a steadiness to her eyes as she gazed atLawrence Pratt that told Seth she wasn’t merely going to thank the magician for telling his story and then go on her way.

“You can’t keep using it like this,” she said, and at once, the man placed a protective hand on his waistcoat pocket.

“I’m not hurting anyone.”

A defense he’d already offered. Seth guessed he believed it as well, but that didn’t change the situation.

No witch or warlock was supposed to use their powers in a way that might lead the general public to realize magic was real.

And, unfortunately, for Lawrence, he’d already betrayed the location of the precious amulet.

A blink, and now Seth stood directly behind the man. He reached into the pocket Lawrence had touched a moment earlier and felt the coolness of a metal chain beneath his fingertips.

“What the hell are you doing?” the magician exclaimed, hand going at once to the amulet.

But it was too late. Seth had the chain wrapped around his fingers, and he immediately blinked himself back to Devynn, who appeared startled but who also recovered herself at once.

“Taking the amulet,” she said. “You’ve already proved that you can’t be trusted with it.”

Now Lawrence’s face was even paler, his dark eyes filled with panic. “You can’t do that,” he protested. “How am I supposed to earn a living as a magician without it?”

“You could keep doing the small tricks,” Seth said. Even as he spoke, he felt Devynn take hold of the chain and drop the amulet into her reticule. Judging by the way Lawrence’s eyes flickered in that direction, he’d also noticed the maneuver.

Seth doubted the man would do anything about it. All Devynn would have to do was scream that Lawrence was assaulting her and attempting to take her purse, and he’d be cooling his heels in the local jail before you could say Jehosophat.

“But you shouldn’t even be doing that,” Devynn said, her voice firm. “You need to go back to your clan and make your peace with them. No witch or warlock is supposed to be out alone in the world.”

Lawrence’s jaw set, and Seth had the impression that the magician was doing his best to think of an argument to counter her words…and not coming up with much of anything at all.

She’d spoken the simple truth, after all. Those born to witch-kind were supposed to remain among their own. Anything else was just asking for trouble, since living among civilians without the necessary buffer of one’s clan only amplified the chances of discovery.

“You’re thieves,” the man said, and his voice trembled.

“No,” Devynn said, her face and her voice both sympathetic. In fact, she looked just the faintest bit guilty for taking the amulet from the magician, even though Seth knew they were only doing what needed to be done. “We’re just putting things to rights. I hope one day you’ll understand this was for the best.”

She looked up at Seth then, and he understood the message — they’d done what they had to, and now there was no reason to linger here.

“You have a good evening, Mr. Pratt,” he said, then looped his arm around Devynn’s and led her to the door.

He half expected the man to launch himself at them in a desperate attempt to get his precious amulet back, but apparently he’d realized such a ploy would only end in failure when he was up against someone who could move in the blink of an eye.

Seth opened the door, and he and Devynn both left as calmly as they could. Right then, he wished more than ever that his power allowed him to transport two people at once, because he would have blinked himself and his companion back to his room, even if doing so might have been risky.

But because he couldn’t manage such a feat, they instead walked down the stairs into the lobby and then out into the cold night.

Neither of them spoke.

Once they were safely inside his hotel room — again, no one had seen them enter, so he thought it safe enough to talk before it was time for Devynn to retire for the night — she pulled the amulet out of her reticule and laid it down on the bedside table. It was better lit in here, so now he could see that strange symbols had been etched into the bronze surface, could tell that the stone embedded in it was a garnet, giving off a deep blood red in the glow from the room’s gaslamps.

“Have you ever seen anything like it before?” she asked, and immediately Seth shook his head.

“Never. I don’t think I’ve even everheardof something like that. How does it work? I thought the whole point of our magic was that it was a part of us and not embedded in an inanimate object.”

Devynn looked as puzzled as he felt. “I’ve always been taught the same thing, too. I suppose it’s possible that maybe a witch or warlock came along whose gift was being able to imbue an object with magic, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone mention anything like that.”

Neither had Seth. He noticed how she seemed loath to touch the thing now that it was safely here in his hotel room, and he felt much the same way. Since neither of them knew precisely what they were dealing with — whether the amulet was activated by words or a clear intention or what — it just seemed safer to let it be.

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