Perilous Partnership by Ariel Tachna Read Free Book Online

do you think?” Raymond asked Jean softly.
    “It‟s perfect, and you know it,” Jean said in an equally hushed tone. “It needs work, but the setting, the buildings, are ideal. We won‟t find anything better.”
    “That‟s what I thought,” Raymond agreed. “Let me check the magical resonances. We‟ll need to have Thierry, Alain, and Adèle come visit as well.
    I‟m adept enough to check at a surface level to make sure nothing is amiss, but
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    I would prefer to have them check more thoroughly before we commit. Most places have a natural affinity with one element more than the others, but occasionally we‟ll find a location with no affinity for one element at all, and for this kind of endeavor, we need all four elements in some degree.”
    “A phone call would be enough to get Thierry and Alain here now,” Jean commented. “If Adèle is on duty, that might be a little more complicated for her.”
    “Let me see what I can feel first,” Raymond said, closing his eyes and stretching his magical senses to the natural world around him. Air stirred his hair lightly in response to his call, the eddies warming at his command. He breathed deeply, letting the energy of the atmosphere fill him. With a nod, he sank to his knees, threading his fingers through the tall, winter-brown grass until he reached the earth beneath their feet. Sluggish with fallowness from the cold, it responded slowly to his less-than-practiced touch, but eventually Raymond could feel a tremor of magical current. He would definitely have Thierry verify his assessment, though, because if the stagnation he felt was from more than just the season, it could complicate their undertaking. Fire leapt to his fingertips instantly. The small lake that he could barely see through the stand of leafless trees drew his attention finally.
    “Walk with me?” he asked Jean, turning his head to meet his partner‟s eyes.
    Anywhere you want to go , Jean replied silently, a nod of his head all the answer Raymond needed. They made their way down to the shore of the pond.
    As Raymond knelt and dipped his fingers in the icy water, Jean looked up and down the water‟s edge. The pond had a stream at each end, although he could not tell if it was natural or manmade. More concerning from a security standpoint was the collection of houses he could see across the expanse of water. They would have to discuss that with Adèle if she agreed to undertake the security precautions for l‟Institut. With no barrier to keep people out, only common courtesy would stop their neighbors from coming to investigate what they were doing. In his experience, the novelty of new neighbors would overrule common courtesy for the first few months at least.
    Like the soil, the water in the pond was slow to respond to the touch of Raymond‟s magic. Here, with the element of his own affinity, he could diagnose the cause in a way he had not been able to with the earth. In the heart of a sleepy backwater, an area with deep history but little activity, the elements knew as little about magic as about modernity. In Paris, the Seine responded to Raymond‟s magic like a welcoming lover, but here the elements were more hesitant. Patiently, wooing the strength of the pond like he would woo a reluctant lover, Raymond stretched his magic over the surface of the basin, exploring its depths as he offered himself for inspection as well. Slowly the lake awoke, sharing with him its secrets and its inherent power. It was no locus,
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    but it would provide a well of energy for him to plumb when his own resources grew thin. As he started to draw back, he felt Jean‟s hand on his shoulder. That brought a smile to his face, a subtle reminder that his resources would never be stretched as thin as they were before the alliance that united him with his partner. Jean‟s fangs would see to that.
    Lifting his fingers from the water and blowing on them to warm them,