Page 35 of Tempest

“No, I think you should stay.” The woman raised a hand, and Iason recognized the twist of her fingers as the gesture of a spell. He couldn’t see her demon, but something was moving in her hair, like a spider, rustling in her braid. “You should stay, and come with me to my house.”

Iason’s first instinct, as he felt the weight of her magic roll over him, was to reach for his knives. But then he thought of Levi, and even as his body started moving toward the woman, drawn by her magic, he let his awareness spread out until he saw the magic draping his body, funneling from her own. He grabbed it, and the woman jerked, eyes wide, as Iason started drawing it into himself.

A spider emerged from her hair and crept over her face, chittering, and the woman tried to cast another spell. Iason took it from her as she spoke, and she coughed, stumbling back as Iason’s body grew hot with the weight of her stolen magic.

“I think I’ll go home,” he said, and pushed the magic into the ground. “But maybeyoushould stay where you are, for now.” Cobblestones began to move and wriggle over the ground, and the woman tried to run, then cried out in terror when the stones caught at her foot. She fell, her ankle twisting at an unnatural angle, and clutched her demon to her chest as a band of stone wrapped around her middle, trapping her in the street.

More footsteps pounded behind him, and Iason spun around as Lazaros and a group of robed mages came running around the corner. They slowed when they saw him, and Lazaros made a gesture, sending two mages toward the shaking woman on the ground.

“So you are following me,” Iason said.

“Of course we are.” Lazaros approached him. “Are you all right? My scout said you went to the brothels, and then we spotted her. She used to work with the Inquisitor. We found a number of people from the hills held captive in her latest hiding spot, but she kept eluding us.”

“Lazaros!” the woman’s voice rose, thick with disdain. “You traitor. What are you working with now, a light mage who steals magic? An abomination!”

“She doesn’t seem in her right mind,” Iason said.

Lazaros sighed. “The Inquisitor used to request my services,” he said. “She has a bit of a personal vendetta against me now. Thinks I should be grateful for their kind treatment.” He barked out a laugh. “Well, I should thank you… but I don’t think someone without the magic to summon a demon could have fought her and won.” He gave Iason a knowing look. “Come with me while my people deal with her. I’ll walk you home.”

Iason sighed. He couldn’t very well trap all of them in the street, even if he still had enough magic to do so. He’d acted out of sheer instinct, and he was lucky her spell hadn’t been powerful enough to overwhelm him. He walked with Lazaros, giving the woman and Lazaros’s mages a wide berth.

“So.” Lazaros took Iason’s basket. “You’re not a mage. You’re not a light mage, either, even if she thinks you are. You have a secret husband who appeared shortly after an Old One tried to devour you on the beach, and according to my people, you’re the one responsible for the tree that appeared near the tide pools yesterday.”

Iason grimaced. “You could say all those things are true.”

“But that doesn’t explain what you are. Are you a witch?”

“Perhaps.”

“You’re not being entirely truthful,” Lazaros said. “I understand the need to keep secrets, and you aren’t here to hurt our cause. My demon would tell me if you were.” Lazaros tilted his head slightly. “And your godsdaughter has a kind heart. You don’t need to be afraid of us. You should be careful using your power, though. People loyal to the mage circle will want someone who can do what you just did, back there.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Iason gave Lazaros a stern look. “And you’ll continue keeping watch on us, I suppose.”

“Wouldn’t you, in my position?”

Iason shrugged. He had to admit Lazaros had a point.

“Why did you go into the ruins? The brothels, I mean.”

“I think I had to see them.” Iason didn’t look Lazaros in the eye, instead turning his gaze to the distant beach, which was just visible at the end of the street. “I… believed many lies about them, I’m afraid. Weak lies, in retrospect.”

“Many people did,” Lazaros said softly. “Some still think we’re loyal to the Archmage, and this is an elaborate ruse.”

Iason remembered the child-sized shackles and scowled.

“You’re trying to understand us.” Lazaros swung the basket at his side. “Just don’t apologize to me. I don’t know how to deal with that. So many people, it’s… it’s like they want me to absolve them, make them feel better. I can’t do that. That’s not my job.”

“No, your job is leading a rebellion while people like that mage are running around trying to pick off people from the hills,” Iason said, and Lazaros gave him a wry smile. “I don’t envy you.”

“I suspect you’re in a similarly complicated situation,” Lazaros said. “Witch or mage or otherwise.” He stopped outside the gate to Iason’s new house and handed him the basket. “You seem to want to live a quiet life, Iason. An ambitious man would ask you to join our cause. But I won’t. Our people will watch you, and we’ll look after Sophie when she’s with us, but we aren’t the mage circle. I hope you believe that.”

Iason looked into Lazaros’s black eyes, and to his shock, he found he did believe him. “I won’t work against your cause,” he said. “Sophie wouldn’t let me, anyway.”

Lazaros smiled. “No, she wouldn’t. Good night, Iason. Thank you for walking with me.”

“It was enlightening,” Iason said. He went into the house, where he found Sophie and Levi talking over the stove and eating some kind of tomato-and-cheese concoction on slices of toasted bread. Sophie was sitting on the counter, swinging her bare feet, while Argo chased bubbles in the sink, and Levi was stacking slices of tomato and cheese in a horrifying tower on his bread while she giggled.

As Iason lingered in the doorway, Sophie turned to him, waving her hand. “Come on, Iason,” she said. “Levi’s about to see if he can unhinge his jaw.”

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