Read Dead Magic for Free Online

you."
    "I'm a little hurt that you wanted to."
    She looked back at him and their eyes met. "I was afraid at first," Elsie smiled remorsefully as she explained. "I was afraid that I really was going crazy."
    Dorian let go of the breath he'd been holding and pushed himself away from the door. He took the room in three strides and crouched down beside her. Covering the offending hand with one large palm, he endured the zaps that needled into his skin on contact. It was several moments before the unpleasant prickle subsided and they both looked at each other again.
    "Elsie, I love you whether you're crazy or not." Holding her gaze, he tightened his grip on her hand and tried to give her a reassuring smile. "But we both know you're not. Something terrible is coming and you're the only person who can see it."
    "I'm tired of being the only one, Dorian." With a shaky, unhappy sigh, she leaned over until her head was on his shoulder. "Just saying it out loud can't capture it all. Something is driving the Wild to breech our borders. When the Warding Pillars fail-and they will fail, Dorian-it wants nothing short of our complete annihilation."
    "The ark . . ."
    "The ark will preserve a few, but it will only buy them time." He felt a shiver pass through her and turned to kiss her forehead. "Something else has to be done. I just don't know what."
    "It would help if the Council quit fighting. Maybe that's why we're supposed to go to Tournament."
    She made a disgruntled sound. "They won't listen. They want to maintain their power and we threaten that."
    "Right now, the Wild threatens that more."
    "If they wouldn't listen to Fate eight years ago, they aren't going to listen to us."
    Dorian grunted his agreement. "Does that mean we shouldn't try?"
    Her sigh brushed across his throat and she nuzzled closer to him. Dorian pulled her out of the chair and half into his lap, balancing carefully on his haunches. She settled into him, her slender form relaxing against his and he held her tighter. He wanted to shake her, to get her to tell him everything, but he couldn't do it. If there was one thing he knew about his wife, it was that Elsie Delgora required her privacy. Even after eight years of marriage, she still had to keep secrets.
    He couldn't blame her. Not after all she'd been through. But he still wished she'd let him in completely.
    His attention caught on the sketch and he paused. "Those aren't your measurements."
    "No," she said, sounding almost amused. "This is for Valeda Quinlan."
    "You're making a dress for the Tormey reporter?"
    Elsie looked at the sketch too. "She's Fated."
    "But she's Untalented."
    "I know," Elsie shifted back into her chair. "Which makes me doubly curious to know why she's here."

CHAPTER FIVE
    After an awkward half an hour at tea with Monty, Vicaress Leona had come to collect Valeda. The economy with which the Vicaress managed to arrange the cleanup, the necessary accommodations for the Ambassador, and Valeda's own needs, left Valeda dizzy. She had never seen a woman so perfectly suited to their profession before. Leona was gracious and kind in a bubbly way that made complaining impossible. Which was why Valeda found herself chin deep in fluffy, light-weight sheets, her body held snugly in a luxurious mattress that made her wish she really was a dignitary.
    When she'd tried to say that she had lodging in town, Leona had reiterated that the Witch insisted Valeda remain as a guest. Servants were parked right outside her door, giving Valeda no need to depart. She needed night garments-they were provided. She needed toothpaste-it was already stocked in the room. Messages had already been sent to Miss Margaretta Orianne explaining where Valeda would be staying, which made her nervous. She couldn't remember using Margaretta's last name at any point during tea, which begged the question of how they'd known.
    From start to finish, Vicaress Leona would have had no more than one hour to discover who Valeda was and where she