New Blood (55 page)

“But it wasn't the supposed evil of sorcery that our kidnappers disliked. They would have been perfectly happy for my husband to steal my power by bleeding me dry and become the sorcerer. Because he is a man and I am a woman.

“Are you all so weak, so uncertain of your manhood that a strong woman can frighten you? It takes
both men and women to create new life. Neither can usurp the role of the other. Why then is it so impossible to believe that not only is it good and proper for women to work magic just as men do, but that it might be necessary?

“What if suppressing sorcery and barring women from magic is the very thing that created these dead zones? What if the only way to drive them back is to admit more women to the ranks of master magicians? What will you do then?”

Harry leaped to his feet, shouting something that was drowned out by the din exploding across the chamber. Gathmann came to pound on the podium as Rosato eased Amanusa out of the way. Harry bounded up the steps onto the dais.

“Decide!” he shouted, audible once the noise began to subside. “I proposed two days ago that Amanusa Whitcomb Greyson be named master sorcerer and a full member of the International Magician's Conclave. She has produced a master-level work of magic in the wall around the dead zone—which still holds firm, I might add. And she has used magic to defend herself and others against deadly attack—of several varieties. This fulfills all the requirements of master's level. It is time to decide!”

“Vote!” Grey shouted. “Vote! Vote!” The assembly picked up the chant and it took several minutes of banging to quiet them.

“Show of hands,” Gathmann ordered. “All in favor.”

Hands sprang up all across the chamber, a sea of waving hands.

“Opposed,” the president called.

The sea vanished. Other hands popped up, but they
were tiny schools of fish leaping from the vastness of the sea.

“Measure passes!” Gathmann slammed the gavel down in an echoing boom that expanded beyond physical hearing, with magic responding somehow. “Amanusa Whitcomb Greyson is accepted as master sorcerer by the Ancient and Noble Conclave of All Magic.”

The chamber erupted into cacophony yet again. Cheering mostly. Amanusa smiled as Dr. Rosato shook her hand and Harry caught her up in a bear hug. Where was Jax? She wanted Jax.

And then he was there, sweeping her into a tight hug. “I knew you could do it.”

“How did you get in?” Amanusa let him lead her down the steps to the front row where Grey had saved seats.

“Seems there's a rule about allowing familiars into the meetings. There are four cats, an owl, a crow, and two stoats presently attending the conclave. It took awhile to convince them a man could be a familiar, but Sir William finally got me in. He's not comfortable with the idea, but he'll tolerate us.”

On the dais, Gathmann was continuing with the hearing, determining punishment for the kidnappers. Esteban the conjurer was sent back to apprentice level from journeyman for six months. Paolo would go back to apprentice for two years, under Gathmann rather than Yuri Mikoyan, who was barred from practicing magic for that same two years. Massileans led him away to put the bar in place that would render him head-blind. When the sentence was up, they would remove it.

Oleg and Anton Kazaryk were both barred for life from the practice of magic, as well as sentenced to prison in France. Kazaryk turned hate-filled eyes on Amanusa as he was led away, and she shivered. She knew there were others who hated blood magic whose minds hadn't been changed by her words, Nigel Cranshaw for one. She and Jax—and everyone who supported them—would have to remain on their guard.

“So,” Harry leaned across Grey to whisper. “What're you goin' to do now?”

“I suppose we'll go to England,” Amanusa said. “To Scotland, to take possession of my inheritance. Once Jax and I have sorted everything there, we'll begin taking apprentices, so we can do something about these dead zone things.”

Harry nodded and clapped his hands on his thighs. “Sounds good. We'll see you in a couple o' weeks then.”

Amanusa exchanged a laughing glance with Jax, who took over. “Let's make it a couple of months,” he said. “We are newlyweds after all. And you've got a new apprentice to settle yourself.”

“Oh, right.” Harry stood and looked down at them. “So I do. It's goin' to be interestin', the next little while. There's new blood come into the council. I'm right eager to see what's goin' to 'appen.”

“So am I.” Amanusa leaned into Jax, her partner in magic and in life. “Good things. New things. I can't wait.”

A few short months ago, she'd been powerless, isolated, living in fear. She had dreamed of justice for her family and of learning magic but never dared
hope she might actually achieve either dream. And then Jax had appeared.

He handed her everything she had ever dreamed of—justice, yes, and powerful magic. Then he went on to give her more than she thought possible. She now had more money than she could spend in a lifetime, she who had once possessed only a single dress, but that was the least of his gifts. He brought her friends, the first in more than a decade. True friends, who would stand at her side in any fight. But the very best thing Jax had given her was himself.

His kindness, his steadfast loyalty, his bottomless love had healed the gaping wounds in her heart and soul. Challenges might lie ahead, but they didn't matter. With Jax at her side, challenges could be handled. With his blood flowing through her veins, the next hundred years would be better than she'd ever thought possible.