Perilous Partnership by Ariel Tachna Read Free Book Online Page A

Raymond turned to Jean. “I still want Thierry at least to come test the earth, but I managed to get a minimal response even from that, and I have the least affinity there. Unless he finds something I missed, I see nothing to hold us back.”
    “I don‟t like the open lakefront,” Jean confided. “It seems like an unprotected front.”
    “Were you not the one, a few weeks ago, telling me the war was over?”
    Raymond teased.
    Jean shrugged. “And you pointed out, quite rightly, that while the war was over, we remain political targets because of everything l‟ANS stands for and because some people will never see vampires as anything other than evil.”
    “Don‟t say never,” Raymond insisted. “It may take time for us to make the equality legislation a reality for everyone, but we‟ll keep working until it is. As for the lakefront, Adèle should be able to secure that for us. It will take a group of wizards working in concert to secure the perimeter of the property, but it can be done. You remember the wards Marcel had in place on Milice headquarters.”
    Jean nodded. “I didn‟t know if that kind of magic could be applied on open spaces.”
    Raymond smiled. “We‟ll have to provide anchor points, but yes, it can be applied across an open space as long as it has something concrete to act as a limit.”
    “Do you want to call Thierry now or come back later?”
    Raymond considered the question. “Let‟s do it now. Do you mind telling the realtor we‟ll be a few more minutes? Now that we‟ve decided to do this, I want it underway as swiftly as possible.” He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Thierry‟s office number as Jean walked away to talk to madame Prost.
    “Noyer.”
    “Bonjour, Sebastien. It‟s Raymond. Is Thierry around?”
    “Hold on a moment. Let me get him.”
    Raymond waited for a moment until Thierry answered. “Bonjour, Raymond. What can I do for you?”
     
    Perilous Partnership
     
    27
     
    Raymond smiled at the question, thinking how far they had come in the past year. Before the alliance, Thierry had not trusted Raymond at all, and now he greeted him like an old friend. “I need your magical expertise, if you can spare me fifteen minutes of your time,” he said. “Jean and I are at a potential site for l‟Institut, and I need you to check on the elemental power. It felt a little off to me, but I had the same reaction at first from the water, only to find it was disuse rather than absence. I don‟t have the skill to check the earth the same way.”
    “Do you have your repère?” Thierry asked.
    “Yes.”
    “I‟ll be there in a few minutes.”
    “Wear your coat,” Raymond warned. “It‟s considerably colder here than in the capital. The air smells like snow, although the sky is clear.”
    “Do you need Alain to come too?”
    “Only if he wants to,” Raymond replied. “The wind came immediately to my call.”
    “He‟s right here. I‟ll ask.” Raymond could hear Thierry‟s voice followed by Alain‟s muffled reply. “He says he‟d like to see it. We‟ll be there in a moment.”
    Before Raymond could end the call and pocket his phone, four figures appeared a short distance away. He chuckled, thinking he should have known Orlando and Sebastien would not be left out of the adventure.
    “It‟s beautiful!” Orlando said before the others could speak. “So peaceful!”
    “It was a monastery,” Jean replied with a chuckle, returning from speaking with the realtor in time to hear Orlando‟s comment. He answered Raymond‟s silent question with a quick nod. “They built with the idea of natural beauty and silence drawing the monks‟ thoughts and lives to God.”
    “I can see why they chose this spot.”
    “Do you want me to check up closer to the buildings or is here good enough?” Thierry asked Raymond.
    “Does it matter?” Raymond replied. “If you get one response here, is there a chance it will be significantly different a few hundred meters away?”