Blood Pact (Darkling Mage 7)

The rare compliment washed over me like warm bath water, like a cashmere hug. I perked up and grinned.

“Though perhaps next time, attempt to control them more specifically so that they do not burn your clothing.” His eyes cut into me as they glanced slowly down, and up my body. “Not that it ever costs very much to replace the things you choose to wear.”

I deflated. “Hey, that’s kind of rude. The Sisters said the same thing.” I held out my arms, looking down at myself. “What’s wrong with my clothes?”

Sterling snorted. “What isn’t?”

“The key, Mister Graves, is learning to do this without burning yourself, or indeed any of your possessions. Recall your enchanted backpack. Shame to destroy it on accident.” Carver stroked his chin. “It might even trigger a kind of arcane detonation, one powerful enough to break your spine. Yes.”

Yikes.

Sterling coughed. “Come to think of it, this sort of shit happens no matter what kind of magic you use, Dust. That shadow stuff would even rip your skin open sometimes. Get a grip. It’s like you love showing off a little too much. You an exhibitionist or something? Be honest. You’re among friends.”

Though fully clothed, I flexed every muscle in my body, then stuck my chest out. “Maybe I like the way my body looks naked.”

Sterling scoffed. “The way this fire stuff is going, you’re going to be naked a lot.”

“It’s literally fire magic.” I sniffed. “I can’t help that I’m so hot.”

Sterling groaned.

Carver cut in smoothly. “You are learning new ways to manifest the flames, after all. In time you may even find more – creative applications for your power. Boil a man’s blood. Burn the air in his lungs. Cook him from the inside.”

“Holy shit.”

“Indeed. At least you appear to be trying. Just please, do not practice in your bedroom. My pockets run deep, Mister Graves, but I am not in the mood to shop for new mattresses.”

I blinked at him. “Good point. Where am I supposed to practice, then? You said so yourself. Magic is like a muscle.”

Carver turned to leave, waving his hand behind him. “Somewhere on the premises, perhaps. The Boneyard will provide.”

I watched him head down the corridor to his offices. The Boneyard certainly did provide, in very literal ways. Like the Lorica, there was something about the Boneyard’s architecture that made me think of it as sentient. I’d seen both spontaneously reshape their structure to literally make room, or rooms, as it were.

The Boneyard had used its strange intelligence to build an entire bedroom for me, then for Asher, when he joined our motley crew. It wouldn’t be too hard to request space for a kind of practice platform, a magic dojo.

The problem, of course, was where to put that request. It’s not like there were forms for that kind of thing. I figured I could ask Gil. He’d managed to convince the Boneyard to sculpt out a gym for him. He’d know what to do.

I glanced over at Gil on the floor, Banjo twirling in tiny circles in the space between his legs. Banjo nipped at his fingers, panting happily before starting the game of chasing his own tail all over again.

“You’re really bonding with the little guy, aren’t you?” I said, struggling to keep the jealousy out of my voice.

“I have all the time in the world for Banjo right now,” he said. “I’m practically single.”

I perked up, concerned. “Wait. You’re not saying that you and Prudence broke up? I mean, did you?”

He shook his head, frowning. “Not at all. No way. She’s on vacation with her grandma, over in China. I say vacation, but Madam Chien said it was a kind of pilgrimage. They’re visiting historic sites or something. Prue was pretty excited either way. She’s never been.”

“That’s really cool that she gets to experience part of her heritage,” Asher said. “I’ve never been to the Philippines myself.” He folded his hands behind his head, sighing. “Some day, maybe.”

“And here I thought that we’d lost an entire Lorica-Boneyard couple,” Sterling said. “Quite the tragedy.”

“Speaking of which,” Asher said. “How are things with Herald?”

Sterling cackled. “Hot and heavy, by the looks of things.”

My ears burned bright red, and I tried to keep a level voice when I spoke. “It’s early days, you know? Like a honeymoon phase. New relationship energy. We just started officially dating, and I guess there’s a lot of. Um.”

“Hormones,” Sterling said.