Terrible News

Cain grabbed Ger’s hand, pulling him back. Before them, Jasdine stood a blubbering mess. He didn’t need Ger worsening her mood. Stepping forward he patted her shoulder. “Now there.”

She looked up at him, eyes watering and nose dripping. “Cain! It’s a tragedy.” She pointed at the silver light surrounding a planter. Inside the barrier spell, the Moonglow flowers had shriveled. “I don’t know what happened!”

“I do,” Ger muttered. Cain kicked backwards. Quickly, but not hard. Ger grunted and went silent.

“The next lot will go better.” Cain reached toward Jasdine, stopping short. She’d fallen into body wracking sobs. If he touched her, she’d glomp on and he’d be snotty. “Why don’t you tackle this fresh tomorrow. Get some rest?”

Jasdine sniffled but nodded. Turning, she trudged away. “They should have been perfect!” The word echoed down the hallways warning others to get out of her way.

When the door closed, Cain turned to Ger and glowered. “What were you trying to do?”

“She has to know about developments.” Ger crossed his arms.

Cain sucked in a breath. True enough. As head Artificer of Magical Heritage Recovery, Jasdine oversaw all experiments.

But for Cain’s sanity, breaks between failures were helpful. “Tomorrow would have been soon enough before telling her the horrible news.”

Ger shrugged. “There would’ve been another failure tomorrow.”

The man wasn’t wrong. Jasdine’s brilliance was undeniable. When her magic cooperated. When it didn’t, she was a wreck.

Wreck won out. He should’ve invested in the anti-slobbering spell.