Page 3 of Bonds of Magic
“Just tell us what happened,” Isaac said. His voice was steel draped in velvet.
“It was—” Cory started again, before coughing and taking another drink of water. “Imbolc. We were looking for the spring.”
I sighed, and Isaactskedin consternation.
The fucking Spring of Irylis. A legend the upperclassmen told freshmen about each year. No basis in reality, but every year, students left the manor looking for it. And most years, at least one of them landed in the infirmary due to a fall or exposure or walking into a tree.
I’d thought that with Isaac’s restrictions, students would have the sense not to go hunting this year. Thought that the upperclassmen would have the sense not to egg them on. From the look on Isaac’s face, he’d thought so too. We’d both been wrong.
“You’re supposed to go alone,” Cory continued. “I did, but then I saw—I saw Erika.”
This time when he stopped talking, I didn’t think it was from pain. Not the physical kind, anyway. More tears slipped silently down his face.
“She was acting weird when I reached her,” he continued. “Like she was in a trance or something. I couldn’t get her to see me or hear me.”
I shot a glance at Isaac. That couldn’t be good. Isaac’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly, but he nodded at Cory to continue.
“She made this door, or hole, or something, in the air. A big rectangle, floating a foot off the ground. And as soon as it was open, this man—”
He broke off, and I watched him swallow a sob. I had the strongest urge to cross to where he sat and take his hand, touch his shoulder, pull him into a hug. To tell him it was all okay. But, of course, it wasn’t
“This man came through. In an overcoat. And he had a gun?” Cory looked up at Isaac. “Why did he have a gun, if he was magic? Why didn’t he use a spell?”
This time, Isaac looked at me. I nodded in response to his silent question. It was Jude, alright. He couldn’t do magic any more than I could. That wasn’t an incubus’s gift.
Cory seemed to realize he wasn’t going to get an answer. “I was still in the trees at that point,” he continued, “but when he pointed the gun at her, I tried to get to her. Tried to help.”
He shook his head and closed his eyes against a memory only he could see. His fingers tightened around the glass in his hands. He inhaled, but it was half-sob.
“I fought him,” he said, his eyes still closed. “I tried to get the gun. Itried. But I couldn’t, and he—he—”
He stopped there, another sob wrenching from his chest. He hunched over, crying openly now. I bit the inside of my cheek, forcing myself to keep still. I ached to hold him. But now was not the time. It would never be the time.
“He shot her?” Isaac filled in for Cory. I was pretty sure Cory nodded, but it was hard to tell with the way his body was shaking, wracked with sobs.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I crossed to his chair and put one hand on his back, pulling the water glass free with the other. As soon as I’d plucked it from Cory’s grasp, he hunched over farther, hugging his arms to his chest.
Without thought, I began rubbing slow circles on his back, trying to soothe him. Until Isaac caught my eye, that was, and raised a single eyebrow. I stopped dead. Not because of his look, but because I’d just realized what I was doing.
I used to rub Ben’s back that way when he was crying, or when he couldn’t sleep.
A rush of cold flooded my body with that realization, except for my hand, which burned where it rested now between Cory’s shoulder blades. I wanted to pull it away, wanted to howl, but I didn’t want to make Cory feel worse. I forced myself to keep it there, my chest filled with unutterable sadness.
“What happened next?” Isaac asked, when Cory’s sobs had subsided into quiet weeping.
Cory looked up at Isaac. He didn’t seem to realize I was there, let alone touching him. Good. I wished I could fade intonothingness, rather than having to make a thing of it when I walked away.
“He tried to—” Cory hiccuped around another sob. “To kill me,” he finished.
Isaac’s brows drew down. “To kill you? Are you certain?”
Cory looked at him blankly. With the mask of blood drying on his face, it was disturbing. The presence of that blood, and those bruises on his neck, should have been proof enough. But Isaac waited.
Finally, Cory said, “He tried to strangle me. I don’t know what else that could mean.”
I frowned. After Isaac had brought Cory here, after he’d tried to get me to teach him, he’d told me of his suspicions. He feared that Argus would try to turn Cory to his side. I’d agreed that seemed likely. And even if I couldn’t teach Cory myself, I’d known that building up his abilities was the best way to keep him safe from Argus.
I’d never expected Argus to kill him outright. Argus liked power and control. I doubted he’d turn down a chance to at least attempt to turn Cory. Jude might have been trying to make Cory pass out, to make transport easier. But there was no guarantee that choking wouldn’t have caused permanent damage anyway.
