Ripper (The Morphid Chronicles Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

insisted in using all three of his names—stepped in, wearing a deep scowl that made Veridan run a hand across his own forehead, whispering a rejuvenating spell. Why Danata kept the annoying man as her personal secretary and assistant was a wonder.
    “My Regent.” Vitorio bowed, then looked in Veridan’s direction. “High Sorcerer.”
    Veridan almost glanced around for Portos, but the old Sorcerer was gone, disappeared right alongside Bernard. Veridan’s new title sat poorly with him. He didn’t have Portos’s patience or disposition to deal with Danata’s people and their petty affairs. But refusing to fulfill the role at this critical juncture would have been unwise and counterproductive to his goals, so here he was, the Regent’s High Sorcerer.
    Bloody Portos!
    A month after the old bastard’s defection, intelligence had arrived of his whereabouts. Not that it had come as a surprise, but the ex-High Sorcerer had joined the Morphid Order for Regency Fealty, better known as MORF, a faction that had come to life shortly after Danata announced her sister and niece had died in a mysterious car crash while on an excursion to London.
    At the time, several members of Roanna’s retinue challenged their Regent’s closed-coffin memorial. They suspected foul play, but couldn’t prove anything in the short time it took Danata to install herself as the new Regent and head of the council.
    As Danata demanded everyone’s allegiance and loyalty, a handful of Roanna’s closest advisers vanished without a trace. Shortly after that, the first signs of unrest appeared in the shape of MORF. The movement had always been subtle, enough to be ignored, but Veridan doubted it would remain that way.
    “You asked me to report back as soon as we had word from the Seekers,” Vitorio said.
    “Well, speak. Did they find him?”
    Vitorio lowered his gaze. “They did not.”
    Danata sucked in a breath, the oxygen needed to fuel her fury. “What kind of inept Seekers are these?”
    “They are the best we have,” Vitorio said in low voice. “They suspect magic has been used to make your brother-in-law untraceable.”
    She exchanged a look with Veridan, then took a seat in a high-back chair with a cushion decorated in intricate patterns of silk thread.
    There was no reason for this to come as a surprise to Danata. Veridan had already told her that tasking the Seekers with searching for Bernard was a waste of time. Portos was with him. A cloaking spell would be a trifling thing even for the decrepit ex-High Sorcerer.
    “There’s something else, my Regent,” Vitorio said, looking as if he’d rather slit his own throat than give Danata the next piece of news.
    “Apparently, there is a . . . rumor circulating the castle. I suppose the . . . events of that dreadful day,” he cast a glance toward Ashby’s bed, “have caused everyone’s imagination to run wild, and the staff has been gossiping.”
    “Out with it, Vitorio. We don’t have all day.” Danata practically vibrated with impatience.
    “Well, they are saying the girl healed your brother-in-law.” The grooves on Vitorio’s forehead grew deeper, as impossible as that seemed.
    Danata glanced toward Veridan again, this time with an intensity that suggested she wished him to intervene. Her face was too red, her mouth probably too full of expletives, to allow her to handle this situation properly. What staff members the rumors had come from, Veridan couldn’t say. He had placed memory spells on Simeon and Omar, the guards who had witnessed Bernard’s miraculous recovery. The men were the only witnesses besides Portos, Samantha, and the Keeper. There was only one possible explanation. Portos was somehow behind this. He, Bernard and the recently-rescued Roanna were already at work, undermining Danata.
    “Healed him?” Veridan asked, his tone innocent and perplexed.
    Vitorio turned his drooping eyes away from the Regent. “Yes. Like I said, I personally believe it is