“I do, but this is part of that work.” Hopefully, Marcus would see it that way as well. “The ability to use magic is like perfect pitch—or so I’ve been told. It’s rare.”

“But why do you believe I can?”

“Because you could see—and interact with—Amaldi and Darreno. They’re not like Jamal and his friends.”

“No—they aren’t trapped in a particular building.”

“Mrs. Erickson, I don’t believe they’re dead at all.”

Cookies—Mrs. Erickson had brought cookies for her daily afternoon visit—were spread among the lurking Hawks. Sergeant Keele surprised Kaylin—she came out to the front desk. Keele wasn’t all that interested in baking. She might take a cookie, but she seldom ate them. Keele was the type of person sugar was probably allergic to, rather than the other way around.

“You’re wanted by your sergeant,” Keele told her.

Marcus hadn’t called for Kaylin, as she discovered when she stopped by Caitlin’s desk. Caitlin was the early warning system for every Hawk who set foot in the office, because Caitlin knew pretty much everything Hawk-related that happened within it.

Still, it allowed Kaylin to head to her mirror. What she’d had to say, she’d said, and Mrs. Erickson hadn’t said no. She hadn’t exactly said yes, either. Kaylin had some magical ability; she could certainly see magic and magical traces just as well as the best of the Imperial Mages. She couldn’t use magic the way they used it, but had never had a strong desire to learn. There were no Hawks that were Imperial Mages, after all.

But she knew that no two mages saw magic—or the aftereffects known as signatures—the same way. What they saw, their minds interpreted in unique ways. Kaylin didn’t see magic when she looked at Severn’s belt. She’d never really surveyed anyone else to see if they saw—or more accurately, didn’t see—what she did.

Teela and Tain were out patrolling, so she couldn’t ask them.

But first things first. “Records, I’d like to speak with Lord Sanabalis. The Arkon,” she amended, wondering how long it would take her to get used to the change in title.

The mirror flared to life, although it remained mostly reflective. She waited, wondering if this was a request that should have been forwarded through Hanson in the Hawklord’s office instead. She had a sneaking suspicion the answer was yes, but also knew it might take a while to arrange an appointment to speak with Sanabalis, and she turned her attention to the old missing persons Records, because Records had some information for her.