Mightiest of Swords (The Inkwell Trilogy Book 1) Read Free Page A

an incantation to trace magic.  Nothing.  At least the thief had not touched the back door.
    Coming up to the open front door, I kept an eye on the trim, examining it vertically, horizontally.  I checked the floor. Something in the door jamb caught my a wadded up piece of paper stuffed in the jab. 
    Grabbing it would likely stun me in the same way as it had when I tried to cross the threshold.  I used one of my Bics to pry it out.  It landed in front of me on the porch.  I needed to examine the wadded-up spell, but also could not allow myself to succumb to its spell.  I was at an impasse.  I elected to write out a small magic-shield on a piece of paper torn from my notepad and stick two Bics through it like the world’s worst hazmat tool.  I managed to get it unfolded and just glimpsed some of the runes when my pinky finger accidently grazed it.
    I awoke from the sleep spell some 10 minutes later without so much as a mild headache. Thankfully.  This was not particularly strong magic for someone who had also managed to confound me down in my vault. That magic, coupled with this hasty spell likely meant that the thief was not working along—that he had a more adept partner, but one not present in my house during the robbery. Perhaps this partner was the get-away driver? Though there was no way of being sure, this had me believing I was dealing with a master and an apprentice of some sort.  The speed and deftness by which the thief exited my house also implied a younger person. And while they were out to rob me of…something, they were not intent on killing me. The apprentice could have just s easily made the spell kill me as stun me. He or she just wanted to slow me down. That also meant the master was confident I could not follow them.
    This left me with the last two questions: how was the master able to confound me and what was stolen out of my vault?
    I took a moment to fish out the Post-It leading me to the culprit stashed in my pocket.  It was moving slightly, but not stationary; walking perhaps. I crammed back into the pocket next to my keys.
    Something struck me then. I had just had my jacket dry cleaned. I picked it up from the cleaners yesterday afternoon. I stripped off the jacket, emptied all the pockets. I looked over my notepad, my dwindling supply of Post-It notes. A pack of gum contained no surprises. Car keys exactly as they appear, even once I popped the fob open to check the battery compartment. I looked my jacket over thoroughly, hoping these bastards had not harmed my lovingly fatigued brown leather scuba jacket. I tugged at the lining and found it just as secure as the day I had purchased it.
    I stripped down further, scrutinizing my v-neck tee, then my jeans; my bra, my panties.  All of these items were items I would notice if they had been messed with, right? Naked, I walked to the bathroom to examine my skin in the mirror. A blemish on my abdomen; one on my shoulder; there was just the scar that ran from my left knee cap about midway through the calf. Nothing unusual to see. Someone performed a confounding enchantment on me that should have been erased the minute I walked into the vault.  Someone carrying out magic powerful enough to stymie my vault and maybe have even have found some way to invade my body made me very uneasy. I was shivering, but I did not think it was due to the cool air on my flesh.
    I drew the light-spell directly on my hand and went back to the basement. If there was something on my person that caused the vault to appear emptied, then checking out the vault naked would allow me to see it in its reality. I hoped. I returned to the basement, unlocked the vault, though not writing a few more pictograms on my skin to protect from magic, harmful forces, and unwelcome eyes—there was an outside chance that the culprit remained and was only hiding. I walked through the corridor and saw everything exactly where it should have been an hour before.
    I exhaled sharply a sigh