The Last Spell 39.1

Marius was easy to spot. Leilan’s friend was lurking near the desserts, inhaling a plate of tiramisu as if he were afraid someone would take it away from him. His eyes were trained on an empty platter laying out on the buffet, and Leilan realized he was waiting for another tray of tiramisu to be brought out. So he’d been having a good party so far, then.

“Thought I’d find you here,” Leilan said, walking up beside him with no introduction. “You look like you’ve been busy.”

Marius’s eyes lit up when he turned to see him, and he quickly swallowed the bite he was in the middle of. “I have eaten… an undisclosed amount of this stuff.” He tapped the edge of the plate with his spoon. “It’s dangerously addictive.”

“Should I stay away from it, then?” Leilan asked.

“Yes,” Marius said without missing a beat. “But not for that reason. You should leave it all for me.”

Leilan grinned, holding out an arm. Marius understood the signal and went for the side hug.

“It’s been too long,” Leilan said.

“It’s been one week,” Marius answered, but there was amused warmth in his tone as he pulled away.

“Exactly.”

Marius let out a laugh, but he visibly sobered a little as concern flashed in his eyes. “Everything alright with you guys?”

It was a question Leilan expected, but one he wasn’t sure how to answer. The situation had only gotten worse since he’d called Marius, and he knew what Marius had already heard was alarming enough. What could he say, in this crowded room, that was honest and wouldn’t leave his friend even more anxious?

“We’re taking action,” Leilan decided to say. “And we’re doing our best.”

Marius opened his mouth to speak, his concerned expression deepening, but Kasumi materialized out of the crowd at his side and startled them both.

“How’s the desserts?” she asked loudly.

Marius pressed a hand to his chest. “You’ll give me a heart attack, if the sugar doesn’t beat you to it.”

“Yep, nice to see you too.” Kasumi was eyeing Marius’s plate eagerly, and Leilan had the feeling she might snatch it right out of his hands if she wasn’t distracted away from it, so he spoke up again.

“Where have you been?” he asked.

Kasumi shrugged. “Oh, you know. Wandering the room. Looking glamorous. Walking away quickly from anyone who looks like they want to give me a piece of their mind.”

“Just don’t be too suspicious,” Leilan reminded her.

“Like I ever have been,” Kasumi replied, before glancing around at the room through squinted eyes in a way that Leilan felt undermined her point.

Marius huffed. “I mean, there’s plenty of actually weird, questionable things happening here,” he said. “I don’t think anyone will worry too much about you.”

Leilan’s gaze flicked to him. “Like what?” he asked, hearing some of his trepidation enter his tone.

“Like, Shane beelined to the courtyard garden and back really quickly a bit ago, which was odd, although I’m sure he had some valid reason for it,” Marius said. Leilan raised his eyebrows in confusion, because that wasn’t part of the plan anywhere. “But also, there was—”

“We had a scheduled meeting time,” a harsh voice cut in. “One you really can’t afford to miss by engaging in frivolous small talk.”

Saints. Leilan wanted to groan upon recognizing who was speaking.

Casper Bridger’s scowling face appeared in his vision as the businessman shoved his way into the conversation, nearly stepping on Kasumi’s foot to do so, which earned him a barely concealed death glare. Marius visibly tensed, setting his spoon back onto his plate. Leilan pressed his lips together in an attempt to hide his frustration: partly because he wanted to hear what the other suspicious thing would’ve been, partly because this was a conversation he knew he would hate.

“Mr. Bridger,” Marius said, with forced politeness. “I’m sorry—”

“As you should be,” Casper said. His eyes flicked between Kasumi and Leilan, as if just noticing them, and his expression soured further. “You may leave us.”

There was only one person on the planet with the audacity to talk to an Heir that way, and Leilan couldn’t fathom where he’d gotten it from.

“Actually,” Leilan said, slapping a smile on his face. “I don’t believe there’s anything you can say to Marius that you can’t say to us. We’re informed, after all.”

“You’re not in business,” Casper said dismissively.

“Yes,” Leilan agreed. “We’re several steps above that.”

He didn’t really like to pull rank, but from the relief that filled Marius’s face, he decided it was worth it. Just this one time.

Casper glanced at Kasumi, who had a cheerfully bright smile lighting her face at the idea of putting him back in his place. His expression turned irritated but resigned.

“Fine,” he snapped, before turning his glare back to Marius. “Where’s my money?”

“I don’t have it,” Marius said, with the wearied patience of someone who had explained this many times already. “You’ve invested it. The money has gone into the project. The contract you signed states that there cannot be a refund on your investment, and you’ll see your profit once the product is out in the world.”

“I invested in a satellite, not a badly hatched plot to commit insurance fraud,” Casper said sharply.

Marius sighed. “Again, I didn’t steal the battery.”

“Tell that to your lawyers, not me,” Casper retorted.

Marius pressed his lips together as if he were biting something back, but he stood taller. “Regardless, this has only delayed the launch, not canceled the project. The battery was the only prototype of a final design, but our engineers are already hard at work on rebuilding it.”

“And this will take…?” Casper pressed.

“Weeks,” Marius said.

To Leilan, that was a surprisingly short amount of time, but it didn’t seem to impress Casper, because the businessman only sneered. “Yeah, count me out.”

“That is not how it works,” Marius said tiredly.

“So how long until you’re planning to declare bankruptcy, Casper?” Kasumi asked, the innocent curiosity in her voice catching Leilan off guard.

All three of them turned her way. Leilan and Marius looked at her with expectant confusion, while Casper’s expression was indignant.

“I beg your pardon?” Casper asked with fake pleasantness.

“Just noticing you seem a little short on time,” Kasumi remarked. “Which is funny, because if you’re looking for a quick return on your investment, you don’t invest in a space mission that takes years to finish. You must’ve considered it worth the risk a while ago. Have you lost some money in the meantime?”

It was, admittedly, hard for Leilan not to laugh at the outrage that overtook Casper’s face.

“I’m not going bankrupt,” Casper snapped.

“My bad,” Kasumi said, holding up her hands. “I shouldn’t have presumed anything so fast. I suppose the possibility of being in someone’s debt with payday coming around is still out there.”

Marius barked a loud, extremely short-lived laugh that ended the moment Casper’s livid glare landed on him. Leilan took a sudden interest in a crystal chandelier overhead so he could keep the smile tugging at his lips under control.

Casper shook his head in disgust. “My family’s got more money than your House’s yearly budget.”

“Wait, actually?” Kasumi asked thoughtfully. “Okay. That kind of sounds like a problem. Maybe that shouldn’t be the case.”

Leilan made a mental note that would likely remain tucked away in his brain for a while until this was all over: the House of Honor might stop supporting tax cuts for the wealthy soon enough.

Casper’s eye twitched. Leilan knew he had something to say, but he must’ve been unwilling to risk provoking Kasumi’s spite, because he looked away from her and back to Marius.

“This is not over,” he seethed. “There’s a loophole to be found in that contract.”

Marius shrugged. “Tell that to your lawyers, not me.”

Leilan couldn’t help but grin as Casper swore angrily under his breath and stormed out of the conversation. Kasumi pumped her fist in quiet celebration.

“Thanks for staying,” Marius said with relief.

“Anytime,” Kasumi said breezily.

“Just— Saints, he’s the actual worst,” Marius groaned quietly. “I don’t know how his family tolerates him. There was that rumor that he got his brother disowned— everyone has their own claims for why it happened, but all of them boil down to jealousy…”

Marius went on, but his words were drowned out in Leilan’s head as the gravity of the situation came back to him. They couldn’t waste time on gossip, as much as he wanted to spend the night doing nothing but talking with his friend. They were here to find Sparrow.

“Marius— sorry to interrupt,” Leilan cut in. “But you were saying something questionable was happening, before Casper came along. What was it?”

“Hmm? Oh, right.” Marius tapped his spoon against his plate with a thoughtful look. “A girl in a hospital gown.”

“What?”

“Right?” Marius said in agreement. “It’s a strictly enforced dress code event.”

“A girl? How old was she?” Kasumi asked in disbelief.

“Oh, I don’t know. Ten, eleven— definitely in her preteens. Looked like she’d been dragged right out of a hospital bed,” Marius said. With each word, he was slowing down, as if realizing this was more odd than he’d first thought. “She was accompanied by some young woman leading her around— come to think of it, she wasn’t in formal attire either…”

There was a heavy pause as Leilan and Kasumi both stared at Marius.

“…I’m getting the feeling that I probably should’ve reported this to someone long ago,” Marius said weakly.

He probably should have. But there was no time for that now.

“What did the young woman look like?” Leilan pressed.

“Very tall, and pale as a sheet,” Marius said. “She had dark braided hair, and was wearing mostly black. She had a snakeskin belt, too. I thought she might be with the House of Loyalty until I noticed her clothing was more… tactical than fancy.”

The description meant nothing to Leilan, but Kasumi suddenly reached over and seized his wrist as well as Marius’s. Leilan winced at the same time that Marius mouthed an Ouch. Kasumi’s nails were too long for that.

“I know her,” Kasumi blurted. “Her name’s Pia. She’s one of Sparrow’s—we took her magic supply in the Arcade, and she was there to steal the First Spell from the safe.”

It all clicked in Leilan’s head. He’d barely seen the robbers before that strange smoke bomb had gone off in the hotel lobby, but with the connection made for him, he thought he remembered someone like her standing in front of the safe with a spell in hand.

“I’m guessing that’s… not good,” Marius said carefully.

“Nope,” Kasumi said. “Where did she go?”

Marius turned, pointing at the opposite wall of the room. “Up the staircase on the other side. She led the girl along with her. But it’s been a while, and I don’t know if I missed her leaving.”

“Got it. We’re going that way, then.” Kasumi let go of Marius, pulling Leilan that way.

Leilan didn’t move just yet, though, instead meeting Marius’s eyes. His friend’s expression was slowly filling with more and more alarm and fear. Heart sinking, he placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Can you lay low down here?” he asked quietly. “We’re going to take care of this.”

“Yes, but—” Marius faltered. “Can’t you leave this to someone else?”

Leilan wished he could. But he shook his head.

“We’re the only ones who know what we’re up against,” he said.

Marius pressed his lips together, visibly upset. There was a familiar stubbornness shining in his eyes, one Leilan didn’t see too often, but he knew its power. “But—” he protested.

Kasumi’s nails were tightening insistently against his wrist. He sensed her panic through it.

“Stay here,” Leilan said, pleading rather than ordering. Then Kasumi was dragging him behind her, and he had no choice but to follow along.