Lost Magic (The Swift Codex Book 3) by Nicolette Jinks Page A

move.
     
    “Wait, there was someone who wanted to meet you,” Mr. Mason said, torn between stopping me and reading the papers I'd handed him.
     
    “Who?” Mordon asked.
     
    Mr. Mason hesitated. “They paid cash. I don't know who they are.”
     
    I held Mordon's glance, reading the unease in his eyes. One thing was for certain: it would not do to meet these people on their terms. If we'd made the arrangements, yes, but not here and not now.
     
    Wobbling as I stood, I thought quickly about what we'd do once we were home safely.
     
    The door opened. I flinched instinctively, the air about me suddenly thick with the scent of honeysuckle. Mordon tensed. Mr. Mason hurried forward, one hand held out to greet the newcomers.
     
    Five burly people entered, all of them in black armor with visors drawn over their eyes. According to the way they moved, they were military trained. One of them had a staff with glowing runes down it.
     
    “I am the chief of the Blackwings,” he said.
     
    “Was there a reason you wished to meet with me?” Mordon asked, curling a fist behind his back.
     
    “My employer wishes it.” He jerked his head to the door. “Woman, leave us. Now.”
     
    “No way, dude, I'm a better conversationalist than Meadows any day.” I flashed the chief a cocky grin.
     
    I was right to call him 'dude'. The chief's body stiffened in sheer annoyance. He raised a hand and twitched a finger. One of his people stepped forward to forcibly remove me. Mordon inserted himself between me and the Blackwing, who froze in indecision.
     
    “Say, is anyone else wondering why they want me outside this room?” I asked.
     
    “That is the least of our concerns at this time.” Mordon stared at the Blackwing's chief. “Was it you who hired the grotesque?”
     
    “I am bound to confidentiality,” the chief said.
     
    “Indeed, I imagine that you are. Yet there cannot be very many who can afford your services on top of the security subcontractor.”
     
    “Speculation on your behalf. If your woman will not leave, then we will remove her once we're done with you.”
     
    “Gentlemen, stop this now,” Mr. Mason said, advancing his large frame forward to block out my sight of the chief. “You said you wanted to talk.”
     
    The chief regarded Mr. Mason silently for a second. “Yes,” the chief said. “I did.”
     
    Mr. Mason visibly relaxed. He angled to see Mordon and me, as if he was going to invite all of us to pull up a chair and discuss matters amicably.
     
    There was a pop . Mr. Mason gasped and staggered, holding both hands to his stomach. Blood seeped from around his fingers. He opened his mouth to yell, and instant fire consumed his body from the inside out. Mordon pushed me back until I was pressed up against the far wall. When I next glimpsed Mr. Mason, he was a heap of black ashes and the room stank of burning blubber.
     
    “I assume you will be more reasonable, Meadows. I hear you are a competent combatant. For the woman's sake, I hope this is true.”
     
    Mordon's nails grew into long talons, but there was not enough space in this office to accommodate his full dragon form. “What do you want, Blackwing?”
     
    The chief shrugged and motioned for his men to fan out behind him. “My client wants you out of the way, but I am willing to make a bargain. If you prove to be suitable, I have an alternative to my client's desires. What do you—”
     
    The lights went out, cutting him off. Mordon grasped my hand to hold me still.
     
    “Turn those back on!” the chief demanded.
     
    “Leot ,” Mordon said. A shimmering blue orb appeared in the air over his hand, making his rings seem to come to life. One of the chief's men were down. His eyes narrowed at Mordon.
     
    “You will pay for this, drake.”
     
    A shadow darted from the corner of the ceiling, plunging with a shriek onto another of the chief's men. Blood splattered across the floor. No one even got a spell off before the shadow was