Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) Chapter 37: 37: Feel His Wrath

Read chapter 37 of Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) by Deb E Howell on NovelPedia.

In Orin’s absence, Braph had to work nearly twice as hard. That wasn’t so bad. Once he found his rhythm, it became much like a dance; holes, buckets, & keeping the sap flowing. As important as that last step was, thankfully, it didn’t seem to require much power, as the same crystal he’d been using for several days retained its luster. All he had to do was prevent the sap from crystallizing, and it flowed at its usual drip by drip. By lunch time, his large pot simmered over a medium flame, nearly full. Lunch time. Orin would be pestering him soon. He stopped drilling holes and poured the final contents of the collection buckets into the pot. Hours of simmering ahead. Now would be a good time to take a break and eat. Where were Orin and Orinia? They’d all returned to the garden after breakfast, but it hadn’t been long before Orinia had chafed for a change in scenery and Orin had declared himself bored. For once, he’d been more keen to join Orinia on a walk than continue helping his father, the novelty evidently wearing thin. That was a couple of hours past now. Walking itself would bore the child, surely. Realization dawned. He’d let slip to that officer last night that Orinia’s blood was a cure. A cold anxiety gripped him. A cure, for someone she loved. Not the cure. Damned his own hubris. He’d told them. But he hadn’t told them not to kill her. Imbeciles! He picked up an empty bucket and hurled it across the garden. Pointless. But he felt fractionally better. He checked the crystal on his wrist again. Too risky. He clicked it out and replaced it with one from his pocket. Glancing at the simmering sap, he surmised he would be back before it burned, and stalked from the garden. Let Quaver feel his wrath and never cross him again. *** Jonas had shifted to the single cushioned chair in the shadowed back corner of the dining room and dozed while Llew chatted with Elka and Lyneth, calculating supplies, and garden and livestock yields versus people, all while continuing to prepare vegetables for lunch and dinner. They had two mouths to feed Gaemil hadn’t known to account for, but now Alvaro had left they were up by just one. There was a good chance they could get by for a month, and hoped to have more options before then. The house was beginning to fill with the mouthwatering aroma of crusts forming over bread loaves. “Ready test subject number one?” Rowan entered the kitchen, beaming and holding a mostly empty syringe in a pinch grip. But what the syringe did contain caught every eye in the room, for it cast its own light, if pale. “Pure Syaenuk magic.” Rowan waved his free hand beneath the syringe, flourishing it. Karlani entered the kitchen behind him and closed the door. With less light to compete with, the magic glowed brighter, with a pink, glittery quality. “We can even do this in here. You’re freed from the Ajnai trees.” Rowan shuffled around those sitting at the table, sparing Llew a cursory apologetic glance. She wasn’t freed. Her gaze followed the syringe. “There’s not much. How long do you think it will last?” Llew asked. “No idea,” Rowan said in an oddly gleeful tone, reaching Jonas and gesturing for him to roll up a sleeve. “Just one way to find out, though, eh?” He crouched by Jonas. “Only, the light’s not so good here.” Karlani opened the door again, and a cloud-hazed light flooded across the table, the dregs falling on Jonas. Llew came around by Jonas. Careful not to block Rowan’s light, she placed herself behind Jonas’s shoulder. All in the room focused on the glowing contents of the syringe and Jonas’s exposed arm, one prominent vein sweeping down his forearm. “Perfect.” Rowan lined up the needle. “Now, we have no idea if this will work, or how it will work. My hope is it works like normal, but without the downsides of the full blood transfusion. In theory, you should be able to make use of everything in this syringe. So, just do what you normally do.” Jonas nodded. He had few expectations. Rowan pushed the needle