Wicked As You Wish (A Hundred Names for Magic #1) - Rin Chupeco Page 0,15
out. Tala’s mother, along with the other titos and titas, were all naturalized citizens, but others had not been so lucky, and had gone through other creative, less legal channels to gain entry.
“More than just an Avalonian,” her mother murmured. “She was a glyph engineer who worked for King Ivan.”
“What?” Miss Hutchins had never given any indication that she’d known who Alex was.
“Curse the woman for letting her emotions overrule her brain. Most Avalonians would find the Emerald Act a frightening notion. That they were confident enough to push this into law implies they might have found either an alternative to glyphs, or a new source for them. Still, if she’d only kept silent longer… This is not what we need two days before Alex’s birthday.”
“Where’s Alex?”
“With his lawyer, Mr. Peets, for now. Best to keep him out of this until it’s safe.”
“He’s not texting or calling me.”
“That was on my orders. Let’s not give anyone else an opportunity to find him too.”
“You might want to consider moving Alex out of Invierno for the time being,” her father rumbled.
“No!” Tala exclaimed.
Her mother sighed. “We don’t have a choice, anak. We can’t smuggle him out the way we did Hutchins. The chances of getting caught are high, and we can’t risk that with His Highness. I presume every conceivable method leading out of the city is already being watched.”
The old woman frowned. “ICE checkpoints. We were fortunate enough to get Hutchins through before they put those up, but now we’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way. I’ve already requested for the Cheshire to send for the Order.”
“What Order? And wait—you work for the Cheshire?” Tala knew she wasn’t high up on the chain of command, but not being told anything at all rankled.
And whether or not that was the man’s real name, or if he’d adopted the moniker from the famous hero who’d fought in the Wonderland Wars, she wasn’t sure. She knew that one claiming to be the Cheshire had allegedly survived the Wonderland explosion and had found his way to London despite the dozen Interpol warrants on his head.
Lola Urduja shot her a sharp look. “He’s the sole reason Alex hasn’t been found all these years. I trust you to say nothing about this to anyone else.”
Tala nodded quickly.
“And yes, the Order of the Bandersnatch. Avalon’s finest younglings, usually with families that served Alex’s for centuries with distinction. An unofficial charter, since Avalon was overcome long before their accolade year.”
Tala’s eyebrows shot up. The Banders were prestigious magic-users—those capable of channeling magic directly instead of through spelltech—and rare. Most of Avalon’s heroes had first made their names there: the Red Hood, Rapunzel, Jack Giantkiller…
“Could I have been a Bander?”
“Someone who can directly negate magic is a form of magic in itself,” Tita Chedeng allowed. “But there are certain tests to go through before you can be one, hija.”
“So, you’re saying if Avalon was still functioning, and if I’d happened to sign up and passed those exams, I could have been one?”
“Yer mum was one,” her father rumbled.
Tala gaped at her mother, who shrugged sheepishly. It occurred to her that she still knew very little about her parents’ past.
“Governments would kill to know who the next generation of Avalon Banders are,” Tita Baby said after a pause. “Especially now that there’s a resurgence of interest in magic. The youngbloods will be in the best position to defend Alex if necessary.” She addressed the other titos and titas, switching to Tagalog. “Our status here may be compromised as well. Are all your papers in order?”
“All our passports are authentic,” Tita Chedeng replied. “Kay might have some problems, though.”
“Dad?” Tala asked.
“Aye, I’ve never had any proper documentation, even as a lad,” Kay rumbled. “But s’all right, I’m white.”
General Luna strolled up to Lola Urduja and handed her one of the guns the ICE agents had been carrying, the blue glow now prominent.
“Didn’t even see you filch that,” her father remarked, unsurprised. “Took it from their car while they were inside, eh?”
The general shrugged. The old woman turned it carefully in her hands before offering it to Tala’s mother. “Do you recognize this, Lumina?”
“This isn’t any standard police gear I’ve seen before. I’m surprised they’ve been issued category two spelltech so soon after the law passed.”
“Could you tell what it was when you negated the spell?”
Tala had already reached for it with her mind, wanting to see for herself, only to recoil.
Every spell has a unique taste, in her experience; a fire