Free The Magic Catcher by Cassie Clarke

ONE

    They were
coming.
    Weren’t
they always? Ever since she could remember, they had chased her
kind. They’d stayed away when she was in her prime – she could have
obliterated them with a wave of her hand, after all – but word had
got out that her magic was weakening. It made her an easy
target.
    It also
made her an urgent target. Because soon she wouldn’t have any magic
left for them to take.
    Aprestine slipped back into the shadows, pulling her cloak
further above her head and trying not to shiver. It was beginning
to rain, the first few drops spitting against her face like little
needles of ice. Part of her was glad for the fortuitous change in
weather; if the cold ocean wind wasn’t enough to send the magic
catcher indoors for the night, perhaps the rain would.
    The
wheels of the catcher’s cart clacked as it manoeuvred down the
cobbled streets. From her position in the alley, she could only see
its shadow, the only real giveaway it was there at all was the
light swinging from side to side as the lantern that hung from the
roof of the cart rocked back and forth in the winter
breeze.
    Deniz
was empty at this time of night. The curfew had been in place for
the past few months, the citizens of the coastal town forced to
empty out of the inns three hours earlier than they were accustomed
to. Aprestine had expected a riot when the Mayor announced the new
law, but most people were happy with the decision.
    Fear
could do that to you.
    The
strange disappearances had started a year earlier. Children
snatched from their beds. Women taken on their wedding night. Men
plucked from the pavements as they stumbled home in the
dark.
    Aprestine shouldn’t be out this late. She was deteriorating
rapidly, her magic failing her, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able
to defend herself from whatever was taking the citizens of
Deniz.
    She
certainly wouldn’t be able to defend herself against the magic
catchers. They had no magic of their own - they always sold on the
power they stole for a hefty price - but they were skilled with a
blade. A blade she might not be able to outrun. Not
anymore.
    Some of
the Denizians blamed the catchers for the disappearances. Almost
all of those who’d been taken were witches, warlocks, or were born
with the potential to be one. But that wasn’t how the catchers
operated. All they were after was the power. If they had to kill
you for it, so be it, but they weren’t in the business of murdering
anyone if they could help it. Not on a regular basis. Not like
this.
    This was
something else.
    Aprestine shook her head, and waited for the magic catcher to
pass. She couldn’t let herself worry about what was plaguing Deniz.
She had enough problems of her own. She shouldn’t even be in the
coastal town, not really, but she felt fatigued at the very thought
of crossing the fifty mile distance to the city of Ezeth, which was
where she really needed to be. Besides, there were opportunities
here.
    The
catchers were hunting her. But she was hunting them as
well.
    They had
what she needed, as loathe as she was to admit it, and the magic
they possessed was just what she needed to make the journey. She
only needed to find the opportune moment, a chance to catch one
off-guard, and then she could-
    A shadow crossed her path and she inhaled sharply. The
catcher couldn’t have found her, surely? She’d been so careful,
hiding out of sight from everyone and everything. No, the catcher’s
cart was still moving at a steady pace, it can’t have been him -
but there, just to the left of her, there was something . She span around, about to
slide her dagger out of its sheath, but her attacker was too quick
for her. They forced the inch of knife she’d managed to bare back
into its case, and her heart stilled as a set of fingers clamped
around her arm, dragging her backwards, further down the alley. A
hand pressed itself against her mouth.
    “ My, my, what do we have here?” A voice whispered in her ear.
“A lady