Chapter 1: A Sword in the Silk District

The rain drummed against the grimy windows of my office like impatient fingers, each drop a reminder that the leak in the corner had gotten worse. I stared at the brown stain spreading across my ceiling, calculating how many more days I could ignore it before the whole thing came crashing down. Three, maybe four if I was lucky.

"You know, sugar, staring at that thing won't make it go away," Esther's voice drifted from somewhere behind me, accompanied by the ethereal tinkling of her spectral pearls. "Neither will ignoring those bills on your desk."

I didn't turn around. Esther Mayflower had been dead for nearly a century, but she still had an annoying habit of being right about everything. The stack of overdue notices sat exactly where I'd left them yesterday—and the day before that.

"Thanks for the pep talk," I muttered, taking another sip of coffee that had gone cold hours ago. The bitter taste matched my mood perfectly.

My office occupied the third floor of a building that had seen better decades, nestled in the part of Silverwood where magic was more rumor than reality. Down here, the streetlights were electric, not enchanted crystals. The air didn't shimmer with residual spells, and nobody's eyes glowed with otherworldly power. It was the perfect place for a Blank like me—someone born into a magical family but cursed with all the supernatural ability of a wet brick.

The Aetheric Monocle sat on my desk, its brass surface tarnished but still functional. It was the only thing of value my parents had left me before their untimely death in a "magical accident" that the Mage Council had been suspiciously quick to close the case on. Through its lens, I could see the flow and patterns of magic—not that it did me much good when I couldn't actually use any of it myself.

"Kael." Kelly's voice cut through my brooding like a blade through silk. She stood in the doorway, her cybernetic eyes glowing that familiar cyan in the dim light. The runic lines etched into her synthetic skin pulsed once—her equivalent of clearing her throat.

"What is it, Kelly?"

"We have a visitor."

Before I could ask who would be crazy enough to climb three flights of stairs to see me in this weather, the answer walked through my door.

Lyra.

Even soaked from the rain, Lyra Valerius commanded attention like gravity commanded falling objects. Her silver hair clung to her shoulders, and those sapphire eyes that had haunted too many of my sleepless nights fixed on me with an intensity that made my chest tight. She wore a long coat that probably cost more than my rent, though it couldn't hide the tension in her posture or the barely contained desperation in her expression.

"Hello, Kael."

Two words. That's all it took to drag me back three years to the worst day of my life—the day I was expelled from Silverwood Academy, not just for my lack of magical ability, but for daring to think I belonged in their perfect world. The day Lyra stood silently beside her parents while they explained why their daughter couldn't associate with a "defective" like me.

"Lyra." I kept my voice level, professional. "Been a while."

She stepped further into the room, her gaze taking in the cluttered shelves of artifacts, the water stain, the general air of barely controlled chaos that defined my existence. "You look... tired."

"Flattery will get you everywhere." I leaned back in my chair, the springs protesting loudly. "What do you want?"

"I need your help."

The words hung in the air like smoke. Behind her, I caught Esther's translucent form shaking her head vigorously, her expression screaming bad idea in several different languages.

"I'm listening."

Lyra's hands clenched into fists at her sides. "My mother is dead. Murdered. And I believe my father killed her."

The words hit like a physical blow. Lady Valerius had been one of the most powerful mages in the city, a woman who could level buildings with a gesture. Lord Valerius was equally formidable, but the idea of him harming his wife...

"That's a hell of an accusation, Lyra. The kind that gets people disappeared."

"I know how it sounds." She moved closer to my desk, and I caught the faint scent of lilacs—the same perfume she'd worn at the Academy. "But something was wrong with him that night. His eyes were... empty. Like he wasn't really there."

"Magical possession?" I kept my tone neutral, but my mind was already racing. Possession was possible, but incredibly rare. The magical protections most noble houses maintained should have made it nearly impossible.

"That's what I thought at first. But the Mage Council examined him. They found no traces of external magical influence. They've declared it a crime of passion and closed the case."

"And you don't believe them."

"I can't." Her voice cracked slightly. "You knew my parents, Kael. Whatever their flaws, they loved each other. My father would never—" She stopped, composing herself. "I need someone who can see what they missed. Someone who thinks differently."

"Someone who's not part of their precious magical elite, you mean."

She had the grace to look ashamed. "Yes."

I studied her face, looking for the tells I remembered from our time together. The slight tightening around her eyes when she was holding something back. The way her left hand twitched when she was nervous. They were all there.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"There was something else at the scene. Something the investigators overlooked because they were so focused on the obvious explanation." She reached into her coat and pulled out a small, wrapped object. "I found this near my mother's body."

She unwrapped it carefully, revealing a piece of metal about the size of a coin. It was black as midnight, with strange symbols etched into its surface that seemed to shift when I wasn't looking directly at them.

I picked up the Aetheric Monocle and held it to my eye. Through its lens, the metal fragment blazed with a sickly purple light, the symbols writhing like living things. The magical residue was unlike anything I'd seen before—ancient, malevolent, and definitely not from any spell Lord Valerius could have cast.

"Son of a bitch," I whispered.

"You see it too."

I set the monocle down and looked at her. Really looked. The proud, untouchable heir to House Valerius was gone, replaced by a frightened young woman who had nowhere else to turn.

"My usual rate is fifty silver a day plus expenses."

"I'll pay five hundred. Gold."

I blinked. Five hundred gold would cover my rent for a year and then some. "That's... generous."

"This is my family, Kael. My father's life and my house's honor are at stake. And..." She hesitated. "I think whoever did this isn't finished. I think they're coming for me next."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Esther gesturing frantically, making throat-cutting motions with her translucent hands. Kelly stood perfectly still, but her runic lines were pulsing faster—her version of unease.

Taking this case would mean tangling with forces that had already killed one of the most powerful mages in the city. It would mean diving back into the world that had rejected me, facing people who saw me as less than human. It would mean working closely with the woman who had broken my heart by choosing her family's prejudices over whatever we'd had together.

It was dangerous, probably stupid, and definitely personal.

"Alright," I said. "I'll take the case."

The relief on Lyra's face was worth almost as much as the gold she was offering. Almost.

"But I do this my way. No interference from the Mage Council, no political games, and no lying to me about what I'm walking into. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

She reached into her coat again and pulled out a leather pouch that clinked promisingly. "Half now, half when you prove my father's innocence."

I took the pouch, feeling its weight. Real gold, not the cheap glamoured coins some clients tried to pass off. "And if I prove he's guilty?"

Her eyes flashed with that old Valerius fire. "Then I'll pay you to find who made him that way and make them pay for it."

After she left, trailing expensive perfume and complicated history, Esther materialized fully beside my desk.

"Well, sugar, you've really stepped in it this time."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"That girl's still got her hooks in you deeper than a tick on a hound dog."

I pocketed the gold and reached for my coat. "It's just a job, Esther."

"Uh-huh. And I'm still breathing." She crossed her arms. "You mark my words, Kaelen Vance. This case is going to be nothing but trouble."

Kelly appeared at my shoulder with that unnerving way she had of moving silently despite her size. "Where do we begin?"

I looked at the metal fragment still sitting on my desk, its dark surface seeming to absorb the lamplight. Whatever had killed Lady Valerius, it was old and hungry and probably still out there.

"We begin," I said, slipping the Aetheric Monocle into my pocket, "by breaking into the scene of the crime."

The rain continued to drum against the windows as I headed for the door, my two unlikely companions falling into step behind me. Outside, Silverwood's magical elite were probably sleeping soundly in their crystal towers, secure in their power and their certainty.

They had no idea that somewhere in their perfect city, something ancient and terrible was stirring.

But they would.

And when they did, they'd need a Blank with nothing to lose and everything to prove to set things right.

Even if it killed me.