Edge of Pathos (Book 4 of The Conjurors Series)

Chapter 7

Henry and Thai burst into Valerie's bedroom the next morning. Luckily, she was dressed, and she drew Pathos from her sheath, ready to fight.

"What's wrong?" she said, her mind snapping into alert focus. "Did you find out what Reaper's doing during this truce? Is it too late to stop him?"

"Sorry, Val," Henry said. "Everything's okay."

"Better than okay! I've figured out my power!" Thai said, smiling like a kid on Christmas morning. "I can amplify other Conjurors' powers!"

"What do you mean?" Valerie asked, sitting down as her blood pressure returned to normal.

"I was mentally searching for contacts in Arden who might know Al, the Grand Master of the Stewardship Guild," Henry explained.

"Good thinking," Valerie interrupted, surprised. Henry rarely participated in the war effort, instead vanishing for hours at a time only to come home exhausted and sleep for days.

"That's not the important part. Thai came and slapped me on the back, and suddenly my mind became more focused than it ever had," Henry explained. "It was like skimming a book, except that I was touching different minds, quickly looking to see if there was a connection to Al. I did it in minutes, and I thought it would take days."

"No offense, but are you sure it had to do with Thai? Maybe the effect is in your mind, and you imagined that Thai was helping."

Henry huffed impatiently. "I know what it's like to tap into others' powers. Remember when the whole Empathy Collective helped me search for my dad? We all joined minds. And you and I have shared magic before, too."

"It's not only Henry," Thai continued, speaking fast from his excitement. "Remember when Cyrus shot that fireball out of his hand? I was touching him."

"We ran super-fast together when we were holding hands, racing to the Society of Imaginary Friends, too," Valerie remembered. Her joy and amazement at Thai's power filled her up. "Thai, this is incredible!"

"I know! I thought maybe my only power would be that I cloned myself and made Tan. But there's more to my magic than that. Think how much I'll be able to help defeat the Fractus now," he said.

"Your eyes are huge right now," Henry said to her with a rare smile.

"Thai's right. This could change the game," she said.

Thai picked her up and swung her around, still exuberant. "Those Fractus are toast!"

Even Henry was laughing now, and Valerie let herself be carried away in the moment, because who knew when they'd have another one?

Still riding the high from Thai's news, Valerie, Henry, and Thai went to track down the person Henry had found who was connected to Al.

"So who is this friend of Al's that you think we can convince to help us?" Valerie asked Henry as they walked to The Horseshoe.

"Her name is Willa, and she's a master in the Literary Guild," Henry said.

"Is she Al's daughter? Friend?" Thai probed.

"The only family of Al's that I could find when I reached out with my mind was a sister in the Guardians of the Boundary who is firmly aligned with the Fractus. Other than her, Al knows a lot of other Grand Masters and, of course, Conjurors in his guild, but no one who I sensed had any power over him."

"I'm really curious now," Valerie said. "How come you think he might listen to Willa?"

Henry reddened a little. "I didn't want to probe through her mind like a complete creep, but I think Al has been trying to date her for a long time. And she finally accepted before everything went down with the Fractus."