Lone Gold, Daring Purple ✓ | Sorcerers, framed, runaway

26: Was it cold-hearted gold?

The door was right there. So was a squinty-eyed policeman who was facing away. Cypur ducked into a nearby room filled to the top with boxes. How did they know he would be here today? He didn't even know he would be here today!

"Are you sure he'll come today?" The voice of the policewoman was like poison to Cypur's ears. She was right, damn, there. What was he going to do?

"Absolutely," the policeman answered evenly. "What with Charmteller looking for him, it was easy to see. But you could have allowed me to do it sooner."

The policewoman gave a loud sigh. "Don't you tell anyone about this. Or that I allowed it."

"Absolutely not."

A long pause followed. Cypur shallowed his breathing. He couldn't use magick or be found out, but he wasn't sure if he could leave without being found out either.

"What else did you foresee?" the policewoman said.

Foresee? Illegal foreseeing magick? Cypur's heart thumped. Seeing the future was dangerous. Anyone could change the future for their own personal gain. The police, the ruling body of the Fourth Ring, should be the last citizens to use it.

"The Rauvuren will come soon," the policeman said. "We will succeed."

The policewoman's heels went clip-clop as she paced.

"Psst!"

Damn! She's here. Cypur turned to Wescherlie as she slipped into the room to stand beside him. A victorious sparkle in her eyes. She handed him a slip of paper.

"You stole it?" he hissed.

She rolled her eyes. "This is a library, stupid. They had paper and things to copy it down."

"This is your handwriting?" It was neater than he had imagined it to be. It looked like print.

She rolled her eyes again. "I'll take the proper compliment later," She jabbed the paper with her finger, "She was right. Marlevianne was right. Danisilus rí Charmteller killed them."

Sure enough, there were names of some Archs involved with a list of Rauvuren they killed. The second column next to the Arch names were the basic methods that made the kill. Cypur's stomach churned when he read Charmteller killed a Rauvuren Korva named Korvrelie en Vauphnen stabbing her in the throat and skinning the wings from her back.

His hand flew to his mouth. The final blow was a longsword cutting her in half, vertically.

He couldn't believe his race was so brutal! And for what reason did they do this? Marlevianne said it was a secret war. Probably it was for no reason, but Sorcerers never killed without reason.

"Oh, my starlights, Wes, I'm so sorry."

"And you know what? This Charmteller guy," She turned the paper over, and it listed Archs still alive, "he went on to have a family. He escaped conviction and they only exiled him when he killed another Sorcerer. This guy is evil. He shouldn't reproduce." She curled her lip.

Cypur noted next to Charmteller's name it said his spouse died at childbirth. The child of a father who would kill for no reason, he couldn't help but side with Wescherlie. What if the kid inherited his father's evilness?

"I'll kill Charmkiller and his kid if I see them. I know for a fact evil is passed down. I've seen it with the evil Kathula." Wescherlie took a deep breath. Her eyes moistened. "But you know, I feel relieved," She forced a smile, "I wasn't the only one of my kind. But—"

When she choked on her words, he pulled her into his arms. As she quietly sobbed, he rocked her back and forth and patted her back. Suddenly, he remembered his mother doing this for him when he was little. There had been good moments with his family. A pang in his chest hollowed his heart. In the end, they were his family and he missed them.