章 198: Chapter 198: Konstantin

It was Piers who spoke while I dove into Femke's magic and started digging. "The Steam Union has full jurisdiction over this prisoner," he said, as calm as my mother. I really had to take lessons from the two of them on how to hide my feelings behind that kind of precision. "Any attempt the WPC makes to liberate him from our possession will be seen as an act of war." And his temper was showing. So maybe he wasn't the best one to teach me after all.

Didn't matter. I was swimming in a cesspool of magic so torn and damaged I could barely breathe. I only peripherally heard the rest of the exchange. Femke barked ineffectual and contradictory orders while Mom did her best to diffuse the situation. Quaid shivered beside me, around me, following me deep into Femke who didn't seem to notice we were even there.

Nothing. No trace of what had been done to her, not a hint or a spark or a-

There. A flicker, on the edge of the maelstrom. I dove for it, grasped it. Fell into memory-