Free Death of a Darklord by Laurell K. Hamilton Page B

him again, dark eyes gentle and searching. The anger was seeping out of her. Tereza could never stay angry long, at least not at him. Frankly, this new reasonableness was more dangerous. As long as she ranted and raved, he could simply fight. But how to argue with reason?
    He looked away from those searching eyes. It was a bad sign that he could not meet her gaze. He was losing, and not sure why. ”Surely you see that we cannot take a wizard along on our work. I am the mage-finder. I cannot cart a mage along to aid me.”
    ”He won’t be there to aid you, Jonathan. He will be there to see that Elaine does not inadvertently kill herself.”
    ”It can’t be that serious. She has gone on all these years.” Tereza shook her head, dark hair sliding along her shoulders. ”I told you what happened tonight. She was like a stranger, Jonathan.” Her face when she turned to him showed something he had not expected . . . fear.
    He reached out for her without thinking, touching her arm. ”Are you truly afraid of our little Elaine?”
    She cupped her hand over his, pressing gently. ”She would never harm us on purpose—I know that.
    Before tonight I was only worried for her safety, but now ...” She knelt at his feet, hands encircling his hand. She gazed up at him.
    ”She is going to be a powerful mage, Jonathan. We cannot change that.” He opened his mouth to argue, but her fingertips touched his lips and the protest died, unspoken.
    ”We cannot change it, Jonathan. After what I saw tonight, I know that for a certainty. All we can do is train her to be a power for good and see she does no harm to herself or anyone else by accident.”
    He pulled her hand away from his mouth. ”There is no such thing as good magic.
    It is all evil.”
    ”Then Elaine is evil,” she said softly. ”But you don’t believe that. We’ve raised the girl for eight years.
    You know her heart is kind and gentle. You know that.”
    Jonathan stood, pulling away from her hands, the smell of her skin. He would not be persuaded by beauty to override his common sense. He walked to the window, staring down into the cold courtyard.
    There was a gleam of firelight in the wizard’s cottage. He smashed his fist into the wall beside the glass.
    ”Magic corrupts all it touches. I have seen proof of that, again and again.”
    He felt her approach behind him. He did not need eyes to sense her movements. He could sense her like some great irresistible force. Love and passion can be as strong as any star.

    Her strong hands touched his shoulders, her body pressing against his back. ”We cannot change what has happened to Elaine. All we can do is protect her as best we can, as any parents would.”
    He leaned his forehead against the icy glass. A wizard was sleeping just below, behind stout walls that Jonathan had built. A mage inside his defenses. It was outrageous.
    ”Leave Elaine here in Gersalius’s care, or bring them both with us. Those are our choices, my love.” Her voice was soft and warm against his neck. He straightened. Her arms encircled his waist, and he pressed his hands over hers. ”They will come with us.” Her arms tightened against him, snuggling closer. Why was that small movement worth losing a dozen fights? ”Perhaps we might have the wizard look at Elaine.”
    Tereza was very still against him. ”What do you mean?” ”His ability to feel animals, plants; he said the tree was dead, even when it attacked them, he knew it was dead. You tell me Blaine’s magic said the same.” ”You think Blaine might be a mage, as well?” Her voice was very soft, very careful.
    ”I don’t know.”
    ”But you fear it?”
    ”I fear we have harbored serpents in our midst without knowing it.”
    ”You can’t believe the twins are evil, Jonathan.” Her arms tightened around him.
    ”You can’t.”
    ”I don’t know what I believe anymore, Tereza. If you had told me two days ago that I would allow a wizard within my home ...” He let the