Incarnate (A Spellmason Chronicle) by Anton Strout Read Free Book Online

down every last one of these creatures.” He tapped his forehead. “You know, work smarter, not harder and all that.”
    “Well, what are you actively doing to help the cause?” I asked. “Because right now it looks like you’re doing two things: jack and shit.”
    He smiled at that.
    “I’ve got my connections,” he said. “My feelers are out there. The arcane community—what spastic factions there are of it, anyway—is already trying to contend with this sudden influx of gargoyles in their own way.”
    “How?”
    “Well, for one, I’ve done a lot of groundwork making sure no one knows who actually caused said influx of gargoyles.”
    I shook my head with a grimace. “Again, protecting yourself,” I said.
    “And you,” he said, his face turning serious. “You don’t understand these people, Alexandra. They see this awakening, as they call it, as a hostile move by some grand sorcerer supreme out there. Some of the local factions in the boroughs are out for blood. It takes a lot of effort to keep you and me out of their sights.”
    “Wonderful,” I said. “I’m a child of arcane privilege
and
a Magical’s Most Wanted now.”
    “Back to that, are we?” he said. “You’ve just never had to scramble for it, that’s all. It’s not a judgment call.”
    “You don’t have to scramble anymore for it, either,” I reminded him. “You can come work for Team Belarus. I’ll put you on retainer.”
    Caleb raised one eyebrow. “Tempting,” he said, “but I think I’ll pass.”
    “What?” I asked. “My money’s not good enough?”
    “You know what high esteem I hold financial gain in, but it would be . . . well, odd. Let’s not bring money into our relationship. My favorite part of being a freelancer is the being free part.”
    “You, sir, have commitment issues,” I said, my mood a solid mix of flirtation and frustration by then.
    His eyes met mine from across the table and he smiled. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
    His words bordered on being far too suave, almost cheesy, but I couldn’t help smiling back.
    “I tried to resist you,” I told him as I raised a glass. “I really did, but you just
had
to go be all adorable by blowing yourself up on our enemies’ boat to save me and my friends, didn’t you?”
    “Years of downing alchemical concoctions will make a fellow nigh invulnerable like that,” he said with a shrug like it was an everyday thing for him.
    I reached across the table and took his hand, squeezing it. “You act like blowing yourself up was nothing,” I said, “but back then
you
didn’t know you were going to prove near indestructible, which only makes your intended sacrifice all the more noble.”
    And Lord, did I have a soft spot in my heart for nobility,
I thought, allowing myself to finally relax into my evening and try to enjoy the moment.
    Or I
would
have. A flurry of activity dropped down out of the sky into the shadows to the left side of our table, the rooftop shaking with the impact. Caleb and I were both up and out of our seats before either of us could process what was going on, reacting out of pure instinct. Caleb’s hands were already reaching into his coat for one of his alchemical concoctions, and I had snapped my connection out to pavement stone pathways all around us.
    A lone figure stepped out of the shadows, but even before it fully came into our circle of candlelight, I recognized its gigantic bat-winged form.
    “Stanis,” I said, letting go of my connection to the pavers, settling them back into the pathways. “You startled us.”
    “Forgive me,” he said.
    Strangely, I already had. After a long evening of hard words with friends and arguing up on the roof with Caleb, it was Stanis I realized that I felt the worst about having been unkind to earlier. If anyone should be asking for forgiveness, it was me.
    Caleb, on the other hand, appeared wary still, his hand remaining inside his coat.
    “Easy,” I said, waiting until Caleb’s hand