Terrestrial Magic (Jordan Sanders, #1) Read online

  Already, he’d made more of an effort to connect with me than my own adviser had in the past three years. I surprised myself by how much I wanted to believe he was genuine. And as we waited for the others to return, I realized that sometime within the last few minutes, I’d actually let my guard down.

  THE REMUS CUT STRAIGHT to the chase. There was no posturing or pushing to see who was in control, none of the diplomatic quirks I’d been expecting. I’d thought we were appealing to an outside party, but he spoke to Dr. Berti like an equal. Or like someone he’d known for a long time, someone he knew where he stood with. “We need to find a way to guard against another potential attack,” he was saying.

  “Yes,” Dr. Berti agreed, meeting his gaze. “But it would also be helpful to have evidence of who was responsible.”

  The Remus turned his attention to the rest of us with a sigh, which wasn’t the most reassuring start. “I cannot tell you who was responsible,” he said, “but I know where to start searching. This image on the brick is of Pluto’s helmet.”

  Tony straightened. “The helmet of invisibility?” Magical objects weren’t my thing, but luckily, we had Tony and his love of all things legend-related.

  “Wait,” Carter said, shaking his head. “I don’t understand at all. Are you saying the image of this helmet—just its image, not the actual thing—had something to do with the wall’s invisibility?”

  “The helmet had the power to make anyone who wore it invisible,” Tony explained, automatically, like he was busy thinking of something else.

  “But the helmet itself wasn’t there,” Carter countered. “Even if it was, it wasn’t like they could set it on the wall and make the whole thing invisible, right?”

  I considered the logistics of it, then cut in, thinking out loud. “If that was what they’d done, then the bricks that were detached from the wall when the basilisk came through should have been visible. They weren’t in contact with the rest of the wall anymore.” But I had tripped over them all the same, and felt them with my own hands even as I couldn’t see them. “So that couldn’t have been what happened.”

  Then I realized that I had nearly everyone’s attention, including the Remus and Dr. Berti’s. I would have felt more comfortable if I had just shut up and listened, instead of drawing attention to myself. But we didn’t have time for that.

  “I agree,” Pradip put in. “If the helmet was there, why bother marking the bricks with an image of it? Unless it was there to throw us off track.” That was an interesting possibility. I hadn’t considered that the image could have been meant as a red herring, if we were inclined to look too deeply into the incident.

  “I doubt that the purpose of the image was to misdirect you,” the Remus stated. “After all, who could have expected you to examine the wall so closely? But you are correct, the helmet would most likely not have been present at the scene.”

  “Yet the bricks were plainly invisible,” Dr. Berti mused.

  Carter raised his hands out in front of him to draw our attention. His expression was one of disbelief. “Wait, wait, wait. You can put a picture of a magical object on a brick and have it become invisible?”

  “It is a bit more complicated than that,” the Remus informed him, “but that is essentially what whoever made this appears to have done.”

  “That is really weird,” Carter said.

  The Remus smiled softly in response. “Your people have built upon your technology. Is it so hard to believe we have built upon our magic? We would not be able to keep up otherwise.”

  “Okay, so we have a lead,” I interrupted. That conversation was going nowhere relevant. Another day, it might have made for an interesting detour, but I came here for information. “Any idea who might have the original helmet?”

  “The original?” Luca asked, frowning at me.

  “The power of the images would still be derived from the actual helmet,” I explained. It wasn’t enough to just put the image of a magical object on whatever you wanted, in order to have access to its power. There had to be a connection between the actual object and the location to which the power was being diverted. That connection would require access to the object.

  Luca kept looking at me. “How do you know that?”

  “Yes,” the Remus said, “I am also curious. Most of us are reluctant to discuss how our power works with outsiders.”

  And, oh great, now I had everyone’s attention again. “Things happen differently in the frontier.” We didn’t have legend Houses at all, not like in Italy. The legends were part of other communities, which meant we’d end up working with them as often as against them.

  “The helmet? Who could have it?” Dr. Berti intervened, to my relief. I didn’t want to discuss my personal history, and I doubted that was a topic that would help us with our current problem.

  The Remus paused, his brows furrowed in thought. “In the literature, Perseus used the helmet to kill Medusa, but I have no notion of what happened to it after that.”

  “Isn’t Perseus a Greek hero?” Hayley asked.

  Tony shook his head. “It’s been millennia. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see the helmet show up here.”

  “So it could be anyone,” Pradip muttered.

  How helpful. I started thinking about who could have done it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have Tony’s cultural knowledge or Pradip’s understanding of the political climate. And even their information was still limited to what an outsider looking in might discover.

  The only way I had to narrow this down was to assume that the further a House was from Rome, the less likely they were to care about us. I couldn’t generate a large list of Houses to suspect based on that, but I could think of some. I mentioned it, and the Remus nodded.

  “Of the nearby legends,” he said, “the ones most likely to have the knowledge and power to do something like this would belong to either the House of Aeneas or the House of Hercules.”

  “Would either House have anyone living in human communities?” I asked him.

  Luca started. “Wait, what? Why do we care about that?”

  “The tech link,” Hayley said. “Good call.” I wasn’t surprised she caught on so fast—she was the one with the best reason to remember it.

  “This is odd.” The Remus looked at me. “I would not expect either House to know or care much about human society. The House of Aeneas is more indifferent, but the House of Hercules tends to display feelings of superiority. I would be surprised if Aeneas had much human contact, and if Hercules had any at all.”

  Maybe it was odd, but it wasn’t impossible. The communications could’ve been taken out by accident, if they got lucky. Or they could’ve had outside help, which I really hoped wasn’t the case. Either way, it gave me a few specific Houses to focus on.

  It gave me a sense of the criteria the guilty party should match, as well: size of the House, resources of the House, and proximity to Rome. Maybe even some human contact, if the tech link was handled internally. I could use that information to add to the list of suspects, determine who else could plausibly have done this.

  I thought about the way the Remus’ mannerisms had set me at ease, and frowned. Dad would love for me to trust openly and easily, but mom wouldn’t approve. She’d tell me it wasn’t enough to like someone just because they were nice. People had to prove themselves first.

  And here was the Remus, offering to help us, guiding our suspicions. I didn’t need to rely entirely on his opinions as to the responsible party, however. I could think for myself. And by my estimation, taking into account our criteria, he left out one obvious suspect.

  The House of Remus.

  Chapter Seven

  THE REMUS INVITED US to stay on the Aventine while we were figuring this out. He reasoned that if someone wanted us dead, we’d be better off in a place that was difficult to infiltrate. Because legends had been known to assimilate into human society without anyone realizing for years, even decades. Often, they were never found out at all, or
so the Remus claimed.

  Which meant that there might have been legends, even now, living within the safety zone. In my neighborhood of Trastevere. As we didn’t know which House wanted us dead, it was better to be safe.

  Dr. Berti accepted the invitation on all of our behalves (even after hearing that the Aventine would occasionally host guests from other Houses, who the Remus totally insisted he could protect us from). That meant, in order to get any peace of mind, I needed to convince myself that the House of Remus didn’t do this. I spent the rest of the day figuring out what to do, planning my next move.

  We could have been targeted for a number of reasons. For being one of the few groups to regularly and freely travel outside the safety zone, like Hayley suggested. Or for our research—they could have been unhappy about the progress of human science in general, the study of legimals specifically, or the demystifying of magic.

  But what if the real target was Dr. Berti? She’d branched out from a scientific career, to political consultation on science, to political consultation in general. She’d been making waves ever since. No doubt she had complicated stances on all kinds of issues which I didn’t know about.

  None of that should have anything to do with our research, but we—me, Carter, and Tony—were all associated with Dr. Berti. Had been for years. So if anyone wanted to get at her, we made for an obvious target, what with our constantly leaving the safety zone. I couldn’t see how going after us would actually disrupt any of our mentor’s political plans, but someone on the outside might think it would.

  I didn’t know how likely any of these possibilities were, but I needed to know whether the last one was possible. Could this have been a move against Dr. Berti, or could I rule that out as the motive? I had a general sense of my mentor’s political goals. Communication between all Italians. An understanding of the animals that had recently come to occupy half the country. She was definitely in opposition to the kill-it-with-fire party.

  Why our legend neighbors might dislike any of those things, I couldn’t guess. Still, as my brother kept reminding anyone who’d listen, sometimes perception matters more than reality. So I needed to know how our local legend communities perceived these policies.

  By the next morning, I’d turned the problem over in my mind long enough to realize all the thinking in the world wouldn’t overcome one intrinsic problem—I didn’t have a window into those communities. But Pradip might.

  Unfortunately for me, Pradip hated all of us. So I needed to give him some incentive to talk to me, which obviously amounted to coffee and cookies. Not many people couldn’t be bribed with a really good cup of coffee.

  There was a place run by human followers of the House of Remus, near the historical Circus Maximus. It was close enough to the Aventine to be relatively safe—regular buses out of Trastevere made stops in the area. It was also a popular location for both Romans and the House of Remus.

  Pradip thrived on stimulants, and had a soft spot for this place in particular. But he never got to go unless he was getting something for Dr. Berti. Or Hayley. Or any of the rest of us.

  Note that I never said that I didn’t understand why he hated us.

  Since the location was relatively safe, I wouldn’t need Tony to drive. That was good, because he was guaranteed to refuse. He studied the culture of legends, after all, and I was sure he was having a field day getting to stay in the Aventine among the legends of the House of Remus. After the deal with the chimera, he could use a break, so I was happy for him. Especially since it meant I wouldn’t have to deal with his bad attitude. At least, not after I’d finished shaking him down for the keys to Dr. Berti’s car. (Pradip had the keys to the pick-up, which I would not be asking him for. For obvious reasons.)

  Still, I needed backup of some sort. Just in case. And Carter would be perfect.

  I found him in the same park where we’d met the Remus, standing by the edge of the balcony, looking down the same cliff I’d been terrified of. The pent-up energy practically radiated off him, and I knew he was probably bored here.

  As he spotted me heading his way, a grin broke through his placid expression. “What’s up?” he called.

  “Coffee run, to that place by the Circus Maximus.”

  That lit a spark of interest behind his eyes. “Awesome. Wait, I thought you didn’t drink coffee.” Sometimes, people managed to be surprising. I wouldn’t have expected Carter to remember that.

  “I’m going to use it bribe information out of Pradip,” I explained.

  “Then I’m totally in,” he said, already on the move, obliging me to follow suit. Yep, he’d definitely been bored. “Can I drive?”

  “Sure, why not?” What was the worst he could do? It was a five-minute drive. And anyway, I hated driving. I didn’t used to, but then I’d come to Rome. There was a huge difference between driving on dirt roads with no one else in sight, and driving on crowded paved roads or (horrors) cobblestones. Why not foist the responsibility off on my partner?

  Carter visibly restrained himself so I wouldn’t have to run to keep up with him. Once, I had seen him stay in the same position for four hours, while he waited for a muscaliet to pop out of its burrow, just so he could take the perfect shot. It baffled me how the same person could be so restless one day, and perfectly still another.

  We found Tony talking animatedly to a group of legends, probably questioning them about their belief systems or whatever. As we approached, I heard him ask, “How does the original Remus’ story affect your way of life?”

  The woman he was addressing sighed with exasperation, and one of the girls took out...a phone? And started texting? Weren’t legends supposed to be all magic, no tech?

  But the man next to them smiled, as if amused, and answered the question. “The original Remus was fair, and a supporter of the people. He contrasted with the elitism of his brother.” Well, that was an interesting way to interpret his character. I was pretty sure he wanted to be king as much as Romulus did. Probably shouldn’t mention that to anyone in this House, then. “As such, we maintain close relations with the city of Rome, and deal fairly with everyone. We don’t seek to control anything, but to help everyone around us reach their potential. To be part of that, instead of above it. That is the mantra of our House.”

  I stifled a snort. The House of Remus: spreading peace and understanding throughout the world.

  “So you emulate Remus’ personality and values,” Tony continued. Oh boy.

  Time to get this over with, before he became too engrossed in the conversation. I put on a smile, trying to look pleasant and undisruptive. I probably failed, but at least I made the effort. “Sorry to interrupt.” Tony glared at me as I approached, because of course he did. “We just need car keys, and we’ll be out of your way.”

  Since he wanted to be rid of us as fast as possible, Tony handed over the keys without any fuss. Good. We could go on our way and stop distracting his poor research subjects.

  The woman who hadn’t answered Tony’s questions looked over at Carter and me. “You are Simonetta’s Americans?”

  Uh oh. Better deflect questions before Tony killed us. “Yeah, that’s us.” I lifted up the keys. “We’ll bring these back when we’re done.” I grabbed Carter and pulled him after me as we left, off to drive Dr. Berti’s nice car.

  I glanced back once, sighing in relief as both legends turned back to Tony to continue the conversation. Friction between us was something I wanted to avoid. We barely got along enough to get our jobs done as it was, and the last thing I needed was for Tony to hold a grudge because we’d come in between him and the one thing he really cared about.

  Besides, this was keeping him occupied. I had no idea if he’d hold it together or not otherwise, with the pressure we were under now that we knew someone wanted us dead. He had something to do, and we weren’t interfering. If he kept calm for now, and didn’t carry any extra animosity towards us in the future, everything would be fine for when we finally got through this.
/>   Yes, when we got through this. Because I needed to believe it was ‘when’, instead of ‘if’.

  ONCE, THE CIRCUS MAXIMUS had been Rome’s oldest racing venue, capable of containing an audience of 250,000. It hosted chariot races, and at times even animal hunts or gladiatorial battles. Stone and wooden seating had surrounded the track, and decorations such as obelisks had adorned the central area, around which the racers circled.

  But that was a long time ago. Now, it was pretty much a large field of dirt.

  From our vantage point, driving along a road that ran parallel to the Circus, the land to our right dipped down. At the bottom of that dip, out of our sight, was the field. Beyond it lay the ruins of the ancient Roman palace on the Palatine hill, home of Emperors and (allegedly) kings. We were minutes away from our destination—I could see the shop, on the other side of the Circus Maximus, the ruins on the Palatine towering over it.

  My eyes caught a stream of water running down the road, as if it’d been raining. For a moment, it didn’t register as out of place. I breathed in the fresh air, felt the warmth of the sun on my skin. Then realized the air I’d breathed in was dry and moisture-free, and the sun shone unobstructed through the clear skies—all things that shouldn’t have been, if it’d rained recently. Turning my gaze back towards the running water, the flow seemed a bit heavier than it had a few seconds ago. I wondered if maybe I was imagining it.

  “That’s weird,” Carter said. Yeah, no kidding.

  This was probably too much. It was excessively paranoid. But considering that someone had recently sicced a chimera on us, I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease.

  “We should get out of the car,” I told Carter. In case it wasn’t my imagination, and the water flow really was getting worse.

  “Yeah,” Carter agreed softly, pulling up and turning off the engine. We hopped out, meeting towards the front of the vehicle. I strained my eyes in the direction that the water was coming from. Just in case.