One of the men pulled a knife and the hair on Janco's arms stood on end as a wave of magic reached him. Oh boy. One or both of these guys was a magician. Here in the Commander's castle where magic is not allowed—well, only a select few could use it. Certainly not these two goons. What were they doing here? And why?

And, more importantly, what was Janco going to do about it?

PART FOUR

Two spies had infiltrated the Commander's castle and Janco just had to stumble onto them. Of all the rotten luck. They argued in a deserted corridor of the castle over which one of them was going to give

"the boss" the bad news.

Out of sight around the corner, Janco leaned on the wall and considered his options. One, arrest them--at least one of them was a magician so he had a good reason. Except, he wouldn't learn the identity of "the boss." Who thinks of these names? Probably someone with an utter lack of imagination.

Two, he could just leave them and follow up later--he knew what they looked like and both were wearing soldier's uniforms. That'd be the quickest thing to do. Again, he'd miss out on meeting the boss. Three, he could wait for them to finish and follow the loser to the boss, and learn why they were here. And the winner was...option three. Sigh. Janco was one of the best because he didn't shirk his duty. Well...not this time.

The goons finished their argument. Janco hid as they left. And instead of searching for Onora and Liana, he was stuck ghosting behind these idiots who dared come to Ixia for nefarious reasons. Yelena and Valek would never trust him to babyguard Liana again. At least the baby was safe with Onora.

The idiots in question left the castle and split up. One headed to the barracks, while the other aimed for the south gate. When the goon left the castle complex without drawing anyone's notice, Janco figured he tailed the magician. Good.

They entered Castletown. The spy kept glancing behind him. Not the smartest puppy in the litter.

Who trained this guy? And because fate decided Janco must not be miserable enough, the cuts along his arms, legs, and torso started to throb with pain. He sighed again.

After a bunch of I'm-trying-to-be-inconspicuous moves--another sign of ineptitude--the spy entered a dilapidated warehouse. Seriously? How cliched can you get? Janco tried to peer inside, but the windows were covered in grime. Although, it didn't take a genius to guess this was the lair of some black market dealer.

Janco looped around the building. It sagged under the weight of its roof. Paint peeled from the wooden siding. The door to the back alley was locked, but a window two stories up was ajar. Too easy.

Except when Janco started climbing, his skin crawled with magic. The desire to be somewhere--