Monty Calvin could only grit his teeth at Briggs’ mockery. Challenging the right of the people to buy spells at the Hunter’s Guilds probably meant he was going to die in his sleep without knowing who or what killed him. If the Hunter’s Guild sanctioned buying them from her, then she was qualified to sell them to anyone the Guild did!

“’Untested dispersal of unsanctioned magic’ is not a charge. Magic has to be tested before it is declared unsanctioned, part of the infamous Section Seven of the Magic Association’s Code of Conduct. If magic was declared unsanctioned before being judged and tested, there would be no magical research being done at all, except the illegal kind.”

Grimly amused, Briggs continued, “Blood Magic has been certified as a proper sealant to a magical Contract between willing parties for probably six thousand years, and yet you’ve summarily judged against it? I suggest you do your damn research on how many hundreds of official Court case precedents you’ve just summarily overruled. I think you better get your legal ducks in order, as the amount of paperwork you’re going to have for the literally millions of Blood Contracts out there for the last few centuries is going to take you a while.” Even the Court Enforcers couldn’t help but be amused at that one, although they didn’t scoff aloud.

“Ignoring a Magic Association Summons is not a criminal charge if the reason for the Summons is invalid, and personal abuse of Association authority is not a valid reason. Section Two, subsection nine, item eight. Bullshit reasons are bullshit reasons.

“’Monopolizing magical resources’ first requires that a monopoly be established, identified as such, ruled improper, and ordered to be broken up by the Courts after due deliberations. There have been no such proceedings and deliberations over such a minor matter. Exercise and control of one’s own magical discoveries and findings is not a monopoly, per Section Eight, subsection five, and about forty-five precedents I can think of off the top of my head, although the Association’s members are quite infamous for stealing the discoveries of other mages and not compensating them for the knowledge once said mages DO register it with them, oddly enough...

“Research into unapproved magic falls under the same Section Seven guidelines as above, where you are beating the horse before it runs away, and then blaming the horse. In any event, there are tens of thousands of users of the new Light and Earth magic, including multiple members of your Association in good standing, who have filed public tests, briefs, reviews, and all manner of findings that far surpass the standard review processes of the Magic Association.

“As the Association has not chosen to review the spells formally, that constitutes de facto acceptance under subsection three until such findings are gathered, a review is formally established, and the data studied, said process of which is to be expedited if there is a, quote, ‘clear and present danger to the public or corruption is entailed with the usage of said magic’, unquote.”

“Next!” Fae shouted behind him, still ignoring everything. Monty Calvin’s left eye twitched, his right eye already starting to swell shut.

“You thus have no valid charges, and no valid excuse to be here. That means you are here under the personal direction of someone in the Magic Association, not to gather up someone who has violated any directives of the Association itself.

“Which now leads to the question of why a member of the Council here would want to meet Lady Fae so badly that he is willing to misuse his authority and status as a member of said Council to work to force her to come to him. Coercion? Bullying? Intimidation?”

Briggs hadn’t blinked the whole time, just glowering like a volcano ready to go off. “So, Mr. Calvin, we have established you are here on personal business. You dragged three magic cops here for no reason other than to look impressive and official, despite not being so.

“I personally believe you came here to threaten and intimidate my employee, perhaps even imprison her and torture her until she gives up the knowledge you want, all the while blathering excuses.

“Let me be very frank here, Mr. Calvin. If I see you, or any of your three accomplices near Lady Fae again, I’m going to assume you are attempting to kidnap her, just as you are attempting to do now. Unlike right now, I’m not going to just stop you. I’m going to kill you where you stand.

“Is that clear, Mr. Calvin? Given your poor memory, I can repeat this several times if you like, along with some physical accompaniment to drive the point home.”

Monty Calvin wanted to seethe, but didn’t dare to under those pale violet eyes. It was hard enough keeping his legs straight under the weight of that stare, and his hackles were straight as he felt the killing intent standing behind him, too. He was quite sure that if he had been able to Cast spells, he simply would have been killed straight off, along with the three Enforcers behind him... and, given the nature of things, it would have been waved off as an overreach of his authority for personal business.

Americans didn’t pay the Magic Associations much more than lip service, and the laws of the country were definitely skewed against the Associations setting more than general guidelines for how the Americans went about things. What was a road to great political power in other nations was a divisive and derided career in the United States, with the top ranks of the Association seen as corrupt and useless, and their words something to be ignored or taken with a grain of salt, rather than followed ardently.

Still, to be openly defied by the rabble, and threatened to his face by a non-mage!... Monty Calvin could only swallow his indignation and turn to go, the jeers of those watching promptly arising in mockery.

The scarred woman with the burning Weapons behind him put them all away so smoothly it was like they were never there in the first place. However, her smile was very wide, her teeth very white, and she had pairs of canines, hinting at some odd mutation or something, so that smile just made her look like a wolf who had invited a rabbit in for dinner.

It was an eerie and unsettling feeling retreating under her gaze, as if she was so disappointed they hadn’t put up a fight and was begging them to try something.

They boarded their black SUV and drove off under hundreds of mocking stares, which seemed to follow them down the road. They wouldn’t find out until later that the whole thing was caught on video and transmitted throughout the area, as well as the conversation being broadcast to everyone with ears for over a mile around...

They also didn’t notice the invisible Celestial Fox running along after them, but then, nobody did.

------

Sama strolled leisurely through the halls of the Boston Mage Association.

It was late at night, so there were no random employees around. The most powerful mages of the Association had their own chambers here reserved for them, although all of them had rooms elsewhere in the town, or down the coast in New York City, away from the violence of the stinking Barrier and the Boonies beyond it.

Sama had been a Hunter for a long time, joining up just a couple weeks after she had gone through her Rantha Awakening. She had met Briggs soon afterwards when working Slaughter Shore in Baja, and they had been in and out of Guilds all over America, and even overseas at times, pursuing contracts that still astonished people long after the two had completed them.

As a result, she had friends. She never competed with mages for resources, only money, and so she and Briggs had an amazing number of contacts here and there they had worked with in the past who appreciated the two’s near-invulnerability to magic and unearthly levels of endurance and perception. Briggs tended to overawe them, big gregarious brute that he was.

Sama, Sama tended to frighten them, which was only proper. She grinned far too widely at the happy thought.

Resisting the urge to whistle, and with Vampire’s Veil totally flummoxing the security cameras, Sama deftly inserted a Golden soulclaw into the door of Councilman Vesper’s personal chambers. She adjusted it to fit the tumblers in the lock, her Null neutralized the magic in the mechanism, and she barely broke stride as she turned it quietly, opened it, slid inside, and closed it.

His voice was coming from the other room. Sama glided across the floor, not raising a hint of dust, and stood next to the doorway.

He was speaking in Italian, which probably meant somebody in Rome. That was where the Church of Light, the real backers and authorities behind the International Magic Association, were based, the Archangels of the Church considered the most powerful living mages in the world.

“<...the cagey brute cited the Association’s own by-laws and codes. I even found citations from Association branch heads in Texas ruling the new spells as considered to be reviewed and safe for all parties, citing tens of thousands of public users and no negative effects. They do indeed seem to be standard Light Magic spells of the Novice Tier.>

“<Yes, elder, I am aware. Everyone wishes to know if she has spells of higher Tiers, in addition to more Elements. The extra Elements are a given. Those Texan scouts all displayed a basic new spell from every Element, and cited her as the source. Those mercenaries have also been viewed using multiple different kinds of Novice spells, of which the Light and Earth spells were later positively identified by those who went to the Spellhouses.

“<She is a public figure and not at all easy to move against, much loved by the people for introducing new Novice magic. A casual exercise of power will not work here as it might elsewhere, especially if the other party is aware of Association rules. Trying to push the point could destroy all Association, Court, and Synod authority here in the States.

“<Subterfuge is possible, but there are many eyes on her right now, and any movement on a magical basis will draw attention we will be unable to avoid. She could be rescued by multiple parties seeking to gain her favor and the knowledge she holds.

“<My Lord Sariel, she has rebuffed our advances and evaded our authority, along with every other interested power. How she fell in with that magic-less duo I have no knowledge of. While removing her from play would send a message about re-establishing the authority of the Synod, the value of her potential knowledge is simply too great. The fallout from such a move would be immense, and the cost greater than simply allowing her to proceed as she is doing. She is not, after all, reserving the knowledge for herself. It stands to reason that without interruption she will eventually set up more Spellhouses, and may even be doing so now.

“<No, my Lord. The Texas and Michigan Associations are basically ignoring any instructions to seize control of the Spellhouses, citing that they’ve been warned the Spell Scrolls will become non-functional if they do so. In like manner, the banks clearing the funds have also been warned of possible intervention by others, and will ignore any authority save of the highest order, as if payments are interrupted, the Spellhouses will also shut down. The Magic Association being the ones responsible for denying people the new spells, when we are the ones supposed to be encouraging and supporting the development of most magic, will not be looked on well, and may inflict irreparable damage on our reputation.

“<I suspect that, at the very least, the American Association would sever any relationship with the Synod and the Courts of Magic, given that the Spellhouses are here and they want to ensure their people have access to the spells. The American military is adamantly opposed to any intervention by the Association and may well move to counter such directly. She saved the lives of thousands of soldiers in Texas, and Americans value their soldiers far more than many other nations do.

“<Yes, I do believe the American military and intelligence agencies have people watching her. Commander Briggs and Captain Sama have excellent relationships with the military personnel here. Even if all they do is note who acts against her, we would be shooting ourselves in the foot.

“<My information on the Kryzaniak assassin clan that was wiped out recently is scant. I have no information on what might be involved, although there are rumors they were being employed by someone interested in the Coralost Compound. The few survivors of the clan have contacted the Hunters for information, but they know nothing.

“<No, I have no idea if she has managed to find some way to overcome the no-magic field there. We know the towers generate the effect, but not how or why.

“<Yes, my Lord, very frustrating, but it appears we will not be able to recruit or secure her for the Synod, and her removal is not in our interests, nor that of the world at large. We can apply some pressure to her, especially if she keeps opening more Spellhouses, or ventures into clearly corrupt magic, but that has not been the case so far...

“<Exerting pressure on those around her is certainly a possibility, yes. We have a file on the mercenaries, but you know the people employed by that duo are absurdly recalcitrant about information, and attempts to coerce them have only received violent retaliation.

“<Very well, I’ll have files drawn up on their friends and families, and we’ll see how they respond to some pressure, or other opportunities...

“<Yes, my Lord. Very good, I’ll stay in touch.>”