Cambridge at the precise moment that Al’Hassan was doing the

same thing. We were both looking for you, as a matter of fact.”

Wyrdrune shifted on the couch, uneasily. It was hard to believe

now, but when he and Modred had first met, Modred, in his identity

of Morpheus, had been hired to kill him. And if it hadn’t been for

the fact that Al’Hassan had been after him as well, he might well

have succeeded. The only thing that saved him was the fact that

Modred had decided that if one of the world’s most powerful mages

was after him as well, then whatever he had or knew must have

been worth a great deal more than Modred had been offered.

Of course, that had been before they realized the true nature of

the runestones and the truth of their relationship. Morpheus was

no longer a professional assassin, but it was sometimes difficult to

remember that the elegant and charming man who stood before

them now, a man who had become closer than a brother to both

him and Kira, was a ruthless and cold-blooded killer.

“Al’Hassan had been using an astral projection spell to access the

school’s records, trying to find a clue to your identity. A risky

business, but he evidently felt secure enough in his power to chance

it. He was already inside the system when I accessed it through

Apollonius. He detected it, locked on, traced the break-in to its

source, and used some sort of explosive fire spell that not only

obliterated Apollonius, but burned down my entire penthouse, as

well. As a result, I not only lost Apollonius and some irreplaceable

works of art, but the authorities cracked my alias as John Roderick

and I was forced to abandon it. Altogether, it was quite an

inconvenience.”

Wyrdrune glanced at Kira. An attack by one of the most powerful

mages in the world, and he dismissed it as “an inconvenience. ”.

Al’Hassan had almost succeeded in killing them all, but in the end,

thanks to the power of the runestones, Modred had destroyed him.

It was a grim reminder of what their lives had now become. And

the fact that Modred could be so casual about it all was sobering.

But then, he’d been a mercenary for two thousand years. And

Wyrdrune had been a devout coward for twenty-five.

“I wish there was some way to replace Apollonius, ” said Modred.