Lon led his apprentice down the back hall to the archmage’s office. He’d visited her enough times now that his hands didn’t even shake. Eli, on the other hand, wasn’t doing so well. He’d thrown up twice on the flight to the capital. Being summoned by the archmage twice in as many months could put a man on edge, especially a young man with as little field experience as his apprentice. Lon had hoped to break the boy in with easier missions or just simple patrols. It wasn’t to be apparently.

Beside him Eli wheezed like a broken bellows. “Take a deep breath,” Lon said. “If you pass out before we learn what she wants us to do you’ll make me look bad.”

“Sorry, Master.” Eli took two deep breaths. At least his teeth stopped chattering. “I wonder if we’ll get to work with Damien again.”

“I hope not.”

“Why? I thought you liked Damien.”

“I do. He’s a fine young man. But if the mission is dangerous enough that the archmage feels the need to send him with us, well, I know we’ll be in for a real battle. I’d rather avoid that sort of thing until you have a little more experience.”

Eli’s throat worked as he tried to swallow. “I see. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I just figured we’d be better off with Damien along in case we ran into trouble.”

“I’d prefer to avoid trouble in the first place.” Lon stopped in front of a closed door. “We’re here.”

He knocked and the door swung open. The archmage sat behind her desk and Imogen sat in the only extra chair. As usual the room was a cluttered mess, not that anyone would ever dare point this out to her.

Imogen turned her cold blue eyes on them. “Lon.”

He nodded. “Imogen. Archmage.”

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“Lon,” the archmage said. “Thanks for getting here so quickly. We’ve had six inquisitors go silent over the past month. I want you three to find them or find out what happened to them. No splitting up.” That last she directed at Imogen whose frown deepened. She didn’t seem happy to be working with Lon and Eli, not that Imogen ever seemed happy about anything.

“Be sure to keep me informed,” the archmage said. “I don’t want to have to send searchers out for my search party. Off you go.”

Imogen got out of her chair and brushed past them without a word. Lon shook his head and followed. He and Eli made no effort to keep up with the quick-marching Imogen.

Eli turned to him. “That’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen yet the thought of spending a minute alone with her scares me to death.”

“You and me both. Imogen has that effect on people. The only person I’ve ever seen her treat remotely well was her partner, Alden, but he was killed just before the hunt for Connor Blackman last month.”

“Wait, isn’t she the one that rushed ahead with Damien? When the two of them dug their way out of that mountain they looked friendly enough. At the time I felt a little jealous.”

Lon frowned. Now that his apprentice mentioned it, Imogen and Damien had seemed awfully close. Why hadn’t it registered at the time? Probably because they were all worried about where Connor had gotten off to.

“Just keep your distance and you two will get along as well as possible.”

They found Imogen standing in the courtyard tapping her toe and holding a rolled-up scroll like a dagger she wanted to stab them with. Technically since Imogen served in the Legion she outranked Lon so he let her take the lead. He also preferred it to arguing with her.

“Where to first?” Lon asked.

Imogen unrolled the scroll. “All six missing sorcerers were patrolling well away from any major settlements, mostly in the north and east. Maria Von Kade has been missing the longest. She was due to check in three weeks ago. Her last communication came from a village two hours’ flight from the Barrier Mountains called Shadows in the East.”

Lon frowned. “Was the village by any chance undergoing construction after an attack by fire-breathing monsters?”

Imogen looked up from the scroll. “It doesn’t say. Why?”

“Just curious. I visited a village in that area last spring and fought some fire breathers. Damien’s sister and her squad backed me up. I never knew the name of the place and I wondered if it was the same village.”

Imogen’s face twisted when he mentioned Damien’s name, but it soon smoothed into her usual scowl. What had Damien done to get on her bad side? Probably the fact that he existed was enough.

“I guess we’ll find out when we arrive.” Imogen leapt into the air.