Speaking of the odious fellow, Sergio Sammael emerged behind his younger sister, golden hair the same shade, though artfully tousled, his eyes equally as black. His self-satisfied smirk was the twin of hers, though he slid it greasily over Nic, lascivious gaze reminding her that he’d been inside her. Nic returned the look coolly, refusing to care, appearing not to remember how he’d treated her.

“Why, Alise,” Sabrina cooed. “Imagine finding you here.” She tapped a polished nail against her bow-shaped pink lips, then pointed it at Alise, the digit trembling with her anger. “I just knew you’d run to your outlaw sister with my familiars that you stole. Sergio, arrest them!”

Sergio threw his sister an irritated look. “Sabrina, darling, we can’t gallivant around the countryside arresting people simply on your say-so. We must have a warrant from the Convocation.” He smiled at Nic, not nicely at all. “The warrant we have isn’t for Alise Elal.”

Nic’s blood ran cold. Sergio, noting the reaction she hadn’t quite suppressed, grinned in self-satisfaction, savoring her fear.

Sabrina pouted prettily, though her wizard-black eyes were hard on Alise. “Return my familiars, you bitch, or I will make you suffer.”

“I wasn’t aware that you’d bonded a familiar,” Alise replied with Elal poise, “much less several. Isn’t that illegal?”

“You know perfectly well I’d arranged to bond Han and take Iliana into House Sammael,” Sabrina hissed, her magic like a static charge in ozone-tainted air. House Sammael was unusual among the Convocation houses in that they accepted wizards with a variety of magic specializations. Anything suitable to punishment worked for them. The core family, however, tended toward high MP scores in psychic magic along with various elemental affinities. From the feel of her, Sabrina had the psychic magic in spades—no doubt part of why she wanted Han so badly with his strong Hanneil magic—along with something uncomfortably metallic.

Alise had widened her eyes, evincing innocent shock. “The Convocation already matched Han? He’d only just manifested as a familiar when I took a short holiday to visit my sister. By the way, have you met Lady Phel? Nic, this is Sabrina Sammael, a student wizard at the academy. I don’t believe you knew her there.”

“No,” Nic replied politely. “But then, I paid little attention to the younger students.”

“And where is Lord Phel?” Sergio asked lazily, eyes caressing Nic, as he didn’t even bother to look around. With increasing chill, she realized Sergio wasn’t expecting Gabriel to appear. He knew House Phel was largely undefended. “I find it quite rude,” Sergio continued with a smirk, “that he hasn’t bothered to greet us. I can’t imagine he expects me to suffer conversation with a familiar, no matter how well titled she found herself.”

“Lord Phel is otherwise occupied,” Nic answered with regal boredom. That was her story, and she’d be cursed if she’d admit otherwise. “Did you have an appointment? I saw nothing in his calendar.”

“I don’t need an appointment,” Sergio replied haughtily, waving his fingers dismissively. “Fetch your master, Familiar, if you can. You’ve already wasted enough of my time.”