Em had a dinner banquet to attend that night.

  It felt like a waste of time now to go to these things. But what else could she do? If she wanted to stay in the Capital without drawing attention, she had to act normally.

  So, after slipping in one more visit to the Duchess to deliver the recipe, she spent many afternoons and evenings at parties.

  And in the mornings, she split her time between studying and returning to Sager’s office.

  That was where she was going now.

  Nodding to the receptionist, she made a bee-line for the back surgery. The surgery itself was locked, which meant something was going on inside. So she had to wind her way to the back hallway, which was connected to the patient rooms instead of going through the surgery.

  Those really are more like storage spaces, she thought. Sympathetic for the poor people who didn’t even have a window while they recovered.

  “Todd, will you find Sager and tell him I’m here?”

  Her shadow nodded. “Stay in that room, and don’t let anyone else in,” Todd warned her before darting away.

  She grinned and did as she was told. Locking both doors once she was inside.

  Not much had changed in the last few days.

  She sat beside Asher and studied his face, holding her chin in her palms as she leaned on her knees.

  With a little more rest and a little more healing from her, he’d be able to leave soon. But where was he going? Who was his master now? Did he have a master? He must’ve had a master.

  There was no way Asher just happened to find his way to a highly skilled and sought-after surgeon and doctor on his own.

  And no way he could’ve paid said surgeon.

  Maybe Ben had interfered somehow?… She doubted it. It was exactly the same problem with Asher finding Sager. She just couldn’t see Ben having the human connections needed to find the doctor.

  Slowly, she reached out and touched his hair. Then she fed power into him and mentally directed it toward his hip.

  Asher.

  He was alive. And here in front of her.

  How many nights had she woken with her stomach in knots? Fearful that this time, his bouts would end in death?

  She’d been discretely keeping track of his competitions. Getting the news sometimes weeks later. And she’d learned the rules of the arena so she could understand as much as possible what he was facing.

  Because of that, she knew what this year would have meant.

  There was a light knock on the door, and Em stood up to let Sager in. Todd stayed outside, arms crossed and leaning against a wall.

  “You can go to the garden if you want.”

  He shot Em a cheeky smile.

  “And leave you to get yourself in trouble? Do you think I want Chez to beat me into a pulp?”

  Em shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t try.”

  She closed the door and returned to her seat. Sager had already pulled over another chair. As soon as she sat down, he gave her a clipboard.

  “This side is the surgery schedule. Provided my theory is right. Otherwise, this side is the alternate scheduling.”

  Em stared at it blankly. “For what?”

  “My orders were to get this boy in the best shape I can. My initial examination has revealed a lot of damage. I don’t know where the boy has been, but it hasn’t been kind to him. See.” He pointed to an item halfway down the list. “When I did an examination of his insides, there’s lung damage on the right side. That scar goes nearly all the way through. And here, his leg, and here-”

  “If there’s so much damage, why is one list longer?”

  He pointed to the shorter list. “These are the things I can do something about if we use normal methods.”

  “Ok?”

  “The rest, I can only give him painkillers. But I have a theory I want to test. If I’m right, we can take care of everything.”

  He looked up at her, eyes gleaming.

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  It was at moments like this she could see the resemblance to his brother in Silver Vale. Both of them were the doctor versions of mad scientists.

  She shuddered. Remembering some of the ‘experiments’ Sager had done. Things he wouldn’t have dared do if he hadn’t had her pouring mana into his patients.

  “A theory?” she asked cautiously.

  “I want to heal the scar tissue.”

  She blinked and stared at him.

  “That’s impossible. Believe me, I’ve tried. No matter how much mana I infuse into a scar, it just treats the scar like it’s the original form.”

  She and Maddie had theorized that mana followed DNA instructions, so healings only needed an infusion rather than complicated spells. But she wondered now if that were true. Since scarring had to somehow rewrite the DNA for infusion to follow the scars instead of the original instructions.

  Unless that’s how it worked?

  Either way, it meant treating new wounds was 100% likely to heal perfectly. Partial wounds were iffy, and scars were impossible.

  “Yes, that’s where my theory comes in.”

  The man leaned back and grinned at Asher. Like the boy was some sort of prize pig ready for slaughter. Em frowned.

  “Please remember we’re talking about a living person. We will not experiment with his life,” she told the doctor sternly.

  The doctor blinked, momentarily confused by the rebuke.

  “But he’s ly-” He stopped speaking abruptly and looked at the wall. Remembering that Todd stood outside. And who Sager was talking to inside. “Apologies, my lady. I didn’t mean to be tactless.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I intend to do a small experiment first. Something that won’t threaten the boy’s life if it fails. If it works, this,” he pointed once again to the longer list, “will improve his quality of life by restoring him to his rightful health. If my theory fails, however, we can safely return to this other list and get him on his feet. Are you willing?”

  Em hesitated and looked over at the sleeping Asher.

  He was no longer fighting the sedative. Not because he couldn’t fight it but because his body realized he desperately needed the sleep.

  She wanted to brush his hair again. The thought came so suddenly that it surprised her. Along with realizing it probably made her a pervert. Since the touch wouldn’t be for treating him. And would be without his knowledge.

  She flushed and looked quickly away from his face.

  “What’s your theory?”

  The doctor smiled. Eyes once again going mad with enthusiasm.

  As they left the office, Em pondered the proposal.

  It actually wasn’t a bad idea. And Em wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before. Maybe she'd been so wrapped up in other matters that it just hadn’t registered.

  “Todd?”

  “Yeah?”

  She looked up at him. Hesitating.

  Not that she didn’t trust Todd. She just didn’t know how much he knew. And she didn’t want to drag him further into the mess than she already had.

  That way, his chances of surviving if things went wrong would be greater.

  After all… She knew who Asher was.

  And who was after him.

  “Do you keep in contact with your Uncle Ben?”

  Todd flinched and looked away quickly before Em could see his guilty expression. Pretending to watch a man running down the other side of the street, hand on a sword handle.

  Em watched the man, too, as he disappeared around the corner.

  “Well? Can you contact him?”

  “I… can. Why?”

  “Because I want you to send him a message.”

  “A message?”

  Em grinned and turned back to Todd. The expression in her eyes was grim and didn’t match her smile.

  “Tell him I think he lost something, and he needs to come see me.”

  ***

  Ben didn’t get the message for weeks.

  He was too busy to go home, and no one knew where he was.

  After finding out a new owner had taken away ‘Gray the Basilisk,’ he spent days focused soley on tracking down the carriage. And once he found the carriage was rented, he tried finding the renters.

  Who disappeared.

  There were no bank records matching the names, no property, nothing. He used a huge chunk of his emergency funds for an information guild. Which turned up three dead ends.

  Gray the Basilisk was simply gone.

  ***

  Tomorrow was the Royal Memorial.

  Exactly one year ago tomorrow, the Emperor died. And they expected the entire Empire to mourn his passing.

  Em should have been getting ready for it.

  Officially, it was the event that opened the Season this year. Because it was a few weeks later than normal, unofficial tea parties and small family-sponsored parties had already started.

  Em’s cheek throbbed.

  Just a half-hour earlier, she told Aunt Eileen she was going out instead of picking through everything. What was the point when she’d done this a gazillion times already? All her clothes and accessories were already picked and ready for the next three weeks.

  Adding to it, the torture of the hours of preparation she’d endure tomorrow… made it even more unbearable.

  Em touched her throbbing cheek when Todd looked another way. Glad that he couldn’t see her face.

  “When is Chez coming back?”

  “Why?” Todd wasn’t looking at her. She didn’t know what he was watching for, but he seemed tense. “Don’t want me as your guard anymore?”

  She rolled her eyes and pretended to straighten her veil. It was black today, since this week they were mourning the Emperor. For once, it also didn’t stand out like a sore thumb since every other woman in the city also wore a veil.

  “Since Flint’s in the Capital, I thought he’d give Chez back.”

  “Oh. So, the problem is that you’re in so much danger you have to have two guards to feel safe. My apologies.”

  Em smacked his arm, and he laughed. Breaking his tension, too.

  “He’s supposed to be back the day after tomorrow.”

  “Thank you! Was that so hard?”

  “I think my tongue is going to fall off now that you mention it.”

  They fell into comfortable bickering as they finished their walk through the park. Heading toward Sager’s.

  The practice was quiet today. There was no one in the waiting room, and the receptionist was flirting with a delivery man. The delivery man glanced at Em and Todd, but otherwise, they were ignored.

  Em went straight to the hallway behind the surgery today. Not wanting to run into Sager’s assistants or the other doctor. But then she stood still in the doorway and stared blankly at the empty bed.

  Left without a choice, they wandered around the building until they found an assistant. The woman was the only one on duty today, as it turned out. Sager apparently scheduled only two appointments for the entire day. Both of which were over.

  The only reason any of the staff was still there was for emergencies.

  “He’s out back.”

  The assistant casually filled a supply cupboard from a stack of crates. The ones the delivery man probably just brought.

  Em nodded and was about to leave when the assistant said, “I think he’s with the difficult patient.”

  “Difficult patient?”

  The woman made a face and stuffed two more rolls of bandages on an overflowing shelf.

  “You should have heard it. That thing started yelling and reopened his wounds while pulling on his bindings. I think he even broke one of the straps. Oh, and he bit Bax to the bone. Four of us had to sit on him so Sager could put him out. It was crazy!”

  Em grimaced and glanced at Todd.

  Who had never seen Asher and only looked mildly interested in the mysterious and dangerous patient.

  So much for keeping Asher’s presence a secret.

  ‘Out back’ turned out to be a reinforced shed. Why did Sager even have a building like that? Was it originally for supplies? Or did he expect the occasional dangerous patient?

  With a shrug, she knocked on the door.

  Sager opened it with a haggard look. He blinked owlishly at her and glanced at Todd. Who seemed to be her identity card when her face was covered.

  “Miss Em? Come in.”

  Em waved goodbye to Todd and stepped inside.

  This little building was better lit than the surgery off-room. Looking up, she noticed three skylights, which explained it. They’d probably give a good view of the night sky, too. Once the house lights were turned off.

  Right away, she noticed the ragged breathing and light growling. Sager closed the door behind her.

  Locking it.