“Have you lost your mind!” Gwen stormed into Verdan’s room, interrupting his work on his spiral. Lightning sparked from her skin as she glared at him, an unseen breeze catching her hair from time to time.

Verdan restrained a sigh as he recreated his mental image of the spiral and got to his feet. Verdan had told Kai of his decision when they returned from talking to Macannan the day before, but it seemed that the news had spread since then.

Elliot had worked with Verdan to produce the five testers as fast as possible and would be delivering the final one this morning. Once done, Verdan would attach the Aether constructs to them and pass them on to Macannan.

The sooner they sent the testers, the better chance of the Steel Custodians coming to their aid in a meaningful way.

Macannan had promised to stay himself and would ask for reinforcements, but Verdan was certain that the strength of what they received would only increase when the Sect realised what was being offered

Bringing his attention to the present, Verdan looked over at the fuming Gwen. “I’m assuming you’re referring to the deal I made?”

“The one where you sold out to the first Sect to come knocking?” Gwen retorted, folding her arms as she stared him down. “I thought you were better than this, Verdan.”

“I have traded a small number of them for the support we need to weather this. We need all the allies we can get. This wasn’t my first choice, but I don’t regret it.”

“Sects as a whole are a blight on our species,” Gwen said passionately, her anger fading to a less visible level. “Giving them the chance to increase their numbers so quickly is only going to make things worse. You’ve helped me start to bring Witches back to where they should be, but all that will be undone if you give the Sects this. They see us as a threat. They always have.”

“I hear you, and I have the same worries, but we can manage that once this is over. I’m limiting the exposure and making them dependent on me for recharging. We know that they’re one of the most honourable of the Sects as well. I’ve thought this through.”

“You’ve thought it through but didn’t think it worth discussing with the rest of us?” Gwen shook her head. “This is a mistake. We’ll come to regret this, mark my words.”

Gwen turned on her heel and strode out of the room before Verdan could reply, the door slamming shut behind her a moment later.

Verdan sighed, running a hand through his hair as he considered her words. It wasn’t like he didn’t agree with her. Releasing the testers to the Steel Custodians was a terrible idea, but it was the best he had.

With two Sects against them, they simply lacked the numbers to be able to win in the long run. Even if they won this fight, what about the next one?

No, they needed allies, and this was the way to do it.

Verdan was terrified of sending civilisation down the same path of self-destruction that had gripped the Imperium, but by the same token, he had already meddled with the Witches, so helping more Sorcerers find their power was more of the same.

Verdan sighed once more before heading downstairs himself, Elliot would be done with the fifth tester by now, and Verdan’s mind was too chaotic to work on his spiral any further.

-**-

True to Verdan’s expectations, Elliot had finished the final tester, and they were ready to go. What surprised him, however, was Cullan’s absence.

Cullan had been lingering around Elliot’s forge since they got back to the city, seemingly unsure of what to do with himself, but there was no sign of him now.

“Cullan has gone to meet up with Branwen and bring her here for the fight. They should both be here in two to three days, all being well,” Elliot said in answer to Verdan’s questioning look.

Relieved that they would be getting at least a little more help, Verdan turned to the testers and began to create the Aether constructs that would be tethered to them.

-**-

Elliot helped Verdan make the delivery to Macannan, which technically fulfilled Kai’s rule that he not travel alone, even if Elliot’s preference was to avoid fighting at all costs.

The two junior Sorcerers placed the testers in a courier satchel and were gone before Verdan even made it out of the training yard.

“Any other projects for me to work on?” Elliot asked as they started to head back to the estate.

Verdan started to say no, but a stray thought made him reconsider at the last moment. “Actually, I do, depending on how skilled you are at carving?”

“As good as I am at smithing,” Elliot said with a languid shrug. “What do you need making?”

“A new staff,” Verdan said, his mind awhirl with the potential pseudo-enchantments he could place on it. He’d have to be careful to protect it from stray magical attacks, but it would help round out his offensive capabilities.

“Tell me more,” Elliot said, an intrigued look growing in his eyes as Verdan ran over his requirements for his new staff.

-**-

Elliot went his own way once they returned to the estate, the big man mumbling to himself as he considered his new project.

Verdan was unable to return to working on his spiral, though, as Ruan directed him to the mansion, saying he had visitors.

The visitors in question were an unlikely pair at the best of times. Sergeant Falk was present in his trademark overcoat, but he was also joined by a leather-clad Val, who was sprawled in one of the armchairs.

Verdan was familiar with Val’s irreverent nature, so he paid her no mind as he walked over to greet the Sergeant.

“So, what seems to be happening?” Verdan asked, glancing between the two of them.

“Well, you’re not paying me any attention for one,” Val said with a fake pout that Verdan ignored completely. He had no intention of encouraging her.

Sergeant Falk cleared his throat and gave Verdan a tired smile. “Perhaps it’s best if I explain. Val introduced herself to me yesterday as an agent of yours working within the city, looking into potential agents for the Weeping Death.”

“An agent of mine,” Verdan repeated flatly, turning to Val for an explanation.

“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” Val shrugged, waving away the matter idly as she kicked her legs back and forth where they hung over the arm of the chair. “We made a deal, and I’m seeing my part of it through.”

“I thought you wouldn’t commit until we had confirmed reinforcements?”

“Well, you already gave me that lovely jewellery, so I decided to help out in the meantime. Besides, you’ve got quite the team backing you up now. It isn’t so much of a risk any more.”

“I see,” Verdan said, considering her words for a few moments as he tried to consider any angles that she might be playing. “Very well. Please, continue, Sergeant.”

“Right,” Falk glanced between the two of them before clearing his throat and focusing on Verdan. “Val was quite free with her information, and though some I needed to corroborate, I believe we’ve come to the core of the operation the Weeping Death have in the city.”

“Excellent news. What have you been able to find out?”

“As we surmised, Lieutenant Michaels was being used as an easy culprit to blame, and Sergeant Troy was instrumental in this. Unfortunately, the Sergeant had little contact with the person who hired him, which is where Val’s information came in.”

“Some rich bloke has been running underground gambling rings, and that Sergeant was a regular at one of them. He’s bad at cards, apparently, but his debts were never a problem.” Val chipped in absently.

“This fits with what we knew already, and given the location of the different events Val told me of, it seems that the person pulling the strings is Bernard Feveraux.” Falk took over once more, his tone grim as he gave Verdan the name.

“Why do I recognise that name?” Verdan muttered, wondering where he’d come across it before.

“Feveraux is Tobias Brock’s counterpart and is the second most influential merchant in the city. He has a good number of mercenaries and guards on his payroll and owns a significant amount of the property in the centre. As far as I’m aware, the only reason Mr Brock has more influence is that Feveraux’s money comes entirely from within the city and has been much reduced in recent years.”

“The merchant,” Verdan said, nodding to himself as he placed the man. “He was there when I first met Garveth, and he seemed to support the Sorcerer. Do we know what his connection is to Michaels?”

“An old family friend. He’s also the owner of a significant debt belonging to the mutual friends who own the Sorcerer safe house.”

“It’s him then?”

“As far as I can tell, yes. Regardless, I have enough to bring him in and make him sweat. Commander Griffon has signed off a dawn raid to bring him in, one supported by the new Sorcerers your tester discovered. We shouldn’t need your support, but I wanted to make you aware beforehand.”

“That’s appreciated, and it’s a weight of my mind that we’ve located who’s behind it all,” Verdan said, pausing as he thought through the consequences of taking Feveraux out of the equation. “This will put us on the final clock for the attack, though, as they’ll want to act before we have a chance to change much else.”

“Agreed, but we judged the threat of further action high enough to act now.”

With his news delivered, Falk promised to send a runner with an update once the raid was concluded before heading on his way, Val sauntering along in his wake with a carefree skip in her step.

Verdan still wasn’t sure what to make of Val, but hopefully, Falk would be able to keep her under control if she was assisting them. Either way, there wasn’t anything more for Verdan to do right this moment.

Verdan started to head upstairs and do some work on his spiral, but he thought again of how little time they had left. He had time right now where he wasn’t needed, and it might well be the last chance he had.

Turning on his heel, Verdan left the mansion and walked with purpose, hurrying to try and get there before anything else went wrong.

Thankfully, everyone seemed occupied, and Verdan was able to get across the estate without incident.

Verdan hesitated for several long moments before taking a deep breath and knocking.

As before, Natalia answered the door reasonably quickly, and the smile she gave him when she who it was made his heart stutter for a moment.

“Finally free of obligations?” Natalia’s smile broadened at Verdan’s sigh, and she waved him inside, shutting the door firmly behind him.

“Yes, but I don’t know for how long. Everything is picking up pace,” Verdan said honestly, not knowing if he had hours or mere minutes to himself.

“Then allow me to make the most of the time we have,” Natalia said in a throaty purr that made Verdan’s heart pound as she slipped into his arms, her body pressing up against him as he dipped down to catch her lips with his own.