Free Allie Beckstrom 09 - Magic for a Price by Devon Monk Page B

tested.”
    “Still…I am curious. What is Shame and Terric’s sexual orientation?”
    “None of your business,” Zay said, short. Final.
    “So I can assume there’s tension in that aspect of the relationship,” he mused. “Interesting.”
    Zayvion cracked his knuckles, giving Eli the kind of look that I’d seen him use only right before he was going to punch someone in the face.
    “You,” I said, touching Zayvion’s arm, but talking to Collins, “should not assume anything. Not with Shame. Not with Terric. All I need from you is an informed opinion on one of my father’s technologies.”
    “I would have thought you, of all people, would have access to that information,” Collins murmured.
    I knew he was talking about Dad being in my head. Maybe I could trust Dad to tell me everything I needed to know. But habit, caution, and lack of time made me want to bring all hands on deck before we destroyed Portland with guesswork.
    “The more opinions I have, the better.” I strode down to the library and through the open door. Violet was there, and little Daniel was in a playpen. Kevin leaned over the soft netted walls of the playpen and placed several toys next to him.
    I took in the rest of the room. A few chairs stood along the walls of books, and a table centered the room, as if waiting for a banquet.
    “Hello, everyone,” I said. “We’re short on time, so let’s get to this.”
    I thought about sitting down but couldn’t stop pacing. Time was ticking. We needed answers on how to cleanse the wells, and quickly.
    “Where are the disks?” I asked.
    “I’ve sent for them,” Violet said. “They should be here any moment. I see several approaches to this problem.”
    Dad, in my mind, stirred. He wanted to listen to Violet,hear her voice, even if he couldn’t talk to her. Even if he could never be with her again.
    “I believe we can use nonmagical resources to find a solution to this problem,” she said, “but I’m not sure they would do enough fast enough. I suggest we use magic to cleanse magic.”
    “Fire with fire?” Eli Collins walked across the room and gave Violet a fetching smile. “I do like the way you think, Mrs. Beckstrom.”
    I had forgotten he was following us.
    Distracted much?
    “And you are?” she asked.
    “Collins. Dr. Eli Collins.” He extended his hand. “I did some…work with your husband several years ago, when the concept for the disks was still in its infancy.”
    “He never mentioned you.”
    Collins smiled. “I don’t suppose he would have. Mr. Beckstrom was a very private man.”
    Violet shot a glance my way, then pressed her lips together. “Yes,” she said evenly, “he was. I believe we can use the stored magic in the disks to inject the cure we’ve been working on. Magic appears to respond quickly and positively to the mix of magic in the Animate—Stone—when combined with the stronger restorative spells.”
    “So you think if we add the magic from Stone into a disk, we can then pour that into a well to purify it?” I asked.
    “I believe so.” She looked up at me. “Do you think the disks can be calibrated to respond to casting through each magical discipline?”
    Wow. I had no fricking idea. I didn’t even know why she was asking me that.
    She wasn’t asking you,
Dad said.
Tell her yes. Each user can first cast a Prime on the disk. The disk shouldallow for the subtleties of discipline to transfer that specific expression of the spell to its host well.
    I took a breath, hoping I was going to repeat this correctly. “Yes. Each user should cast Prime first. Then the disk will allow the details—”
    Subtleties of discipline,
Dad corrected.
    “—I mean subtleties of discipline to transfer that spell to its host well.”
Did that cover it?
I asked him.
    Close enough, yes.
    “Good,” she said with a small smile. “We have a theory. We’ll need to do testing.”
    “No time for testing,” I said. “We’re going to take the disks out to one