Her eyes darted to me, considering. “I do not recognize you.”
“I’m not a resident of Guild City,” I replied. “Not this Guild City, at least.
“So you’ve given me this money to ease my way.” She hefted the pouch. “And you’ll have the information you want, whether or not I give it to you of my own volition.”
“That is essentially it, yes,” Grey said.
“You could have just taken the information.” She frowned at him. “That’s the reputation associated with you.”
“I suppose so.” Grey shrugged. “Perhaps I am a changed man.”
Her eyes moved to me again. “Love.”
He said nothing, but I couldn’t help but look at him. Just briefly. Then I turned to the woman. “Will you help us?”
“Yes. And you’d best be grateful, because your power would not work on my mind. It is too strong.” Pride echoed in her voice.
“Really?” Grey leaned forward, interest in his eyes.
“Indeed. Part of my magic.” She gestured to herself. “Try.”
Grey’s brows rose, and then he spoke, his voice echoing with his power. “Tell me the date of your birth.”
She smiled. “No.”
“Tell me a secret from your childhood. Something harmless.”
“No.” She shook her head.
Grey stared at her a moment. “That’s quite impressive.”
“Indeed. Like I said, my mind is quite powerful.”
“What species are you?” I asked.
“Witch. From a long line. My mother was the same.” She looked at Grey. “So I suppose it is good that you showed me kindness and honesty. I will help you.”
“Thank you,” Grey said.
My gaze moved to the money he’d given her. It had been a thoughtful gesture. Would the Devil have done that in this time? Somehow, I thought not. Even the Devil I’d known when I’d first come to Guild City would not have thought of it.
But Grey had. He was changing.
I liked it.
The woman leaned forward. “What do you want to know?”
This was the tricky part. We were looking for information about me. About my powers and my past. And somehow, Rasla was tied up in all of this. The woman I’d seen in my vision was tied up in this. But where did we start?
“Are you familiar with the Shadow Guild?” Grey asked.
It was as good a place as any to start.
Fear flashed in her eyes, turning the blue dark. “How do you know of that? I thought I was the only one who knew, besides Councilor Rasla.”
“Really?” I leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
She swallowed hard and lowered her voice. “The Shadow Guild was real. I swear on my eternal soul. The tower was on the far side of town, near the gate through the Haunted Hound. But it’s gone now because of Councilor Rasla.”
“He erased the town’s memories of it,” I said. “Did he not erase yours?”
“Oh, he tried, but the magic did not work on me. My mind is too strong, as I said. But he erased it in the memories of everyone else in town. Even in the memories of those who had once been in the guild. For a while, I spoke of it, trying to find someone else who remembered. But no one did.”
“And then what?” I asked.
“Eventually, I drew too much attention from Councilor Rasla. He’d worked so hard to hide what he’d done. If he learned that I knew…” She shook her head, and it was clear she feared for her life. “I left my post, hoping to find other work and that he would forget me.”
“What happened to the members of the Shadow Guild?” Grey asked.
It was a good question. The council evicted anyone who didn’t have a guild. Where were they? Still in Guild City?
“Most of them are outcasts now. Nearly all have left town,” she said. “He didn’t even care that his own daughter was in the guild.”
“His daughter?” Excitement thrummed in my chest.
“Yes.” Mrs. Birch-Cleve nodded. “His daughter, Evangeline Rasla. His only child.”
“Why does he hate the Shadow Guild so much?” I asked. “And his own daughter?”
Her eyes shifted left and right. “I’ll confess, I found this information in the tried and true way of all housekeepers. I snooped.”
All right then. Fantastic.
“Rasla should have been in the Shadow Guild,” she continued. “His father was the guild leader, you see, and the Rasla family comes from a long line of those with strange magic. But Councilor Rasla himself—full mage. Nothing unique about him, besides his particular talent for manipulating people’s minds. But he’s not so talented that he could lead, and he couldn’t bear it. Neither a member of the Shadow Guild, nor a leader of his own.”
“And that was enough to make him destroy the Shadow Guild?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not just that. His father was a hard man. Demanding. Not cruel, not quite. But Councilor Rasla had a terrible relationship with him, ever since the moment he could talk. Those two were ever at odds, I tell you. The fights would do my head in. Vicious, so vicious that they seemed like animals.”
“Which one was in the wrong?” I asked. Was Rasla an abused boy or a bastard?
“Both, if you ask me. Neither man was evil. But combined, they brought out the worst in each other. And when Rasla learned he would never be in the Shadow Guild and that his power was a fraction of his father’s? Well…” She shook her head.
“So Rasla destroyed the Shadow Guild as revenge against his father?” I asked.
She nodded. “Once he joined the Mages’ Guild, he began to work against his father. In small things at first, gradually growing larger. It went on for decades, until finally, his granddaughter was born. That was too much for him.”
“Granddaughter?” Was she the woman I’d seen in my vision? No, Rasla was too young to have a grown granddaughter.
She nodded. “His only daughter had a daughter of her own. When she was born, her magic was unlike anything anyone had ever seen. She can touch a person’s soul. Pull it right out of their body, if she wishes.”
“How old is she?” Grey asked.
“Not more than a year, I’d say.”
“She can do this as a baby?” I asked. “Before she even knows what she’s doing?”
“Yes. She’s never harmed anyone. It is more like…an act of love, I suppose. She fills you with such joy that your soul tries to leave your body to be with her.” She shuddered. “It is an odd feeling—good and bad at the same time. I’ve felt it but once.”
“How did you survive?”
“It wasn’t a forcible thing,” she said. “I could feel my soul moving toward her, and I pulled it back into myself.”
“But that magic must be incredible.” I looked at Grey for confirmation that this was strange.
He nodded.
“It is,” the woman said. “And that baby would lead the Shadow Guild one day, no doubt. He couldn’t bear such a constant reminder of his failure. A short while later, the tower disappeared, and everyone in town acted like it was the most normal thing in the world. He used magic unlike any I’d ever seen, combined with his gift for controlling people’s minds.”