When the man walked away Claudia hissed profusely and raked a claw across her human’s face, leaving a smarting little cut. “Stupid b***h.” She spat at Felicity, whose eyes had stopped staring blankly after the man and were now turned downwards in a shameful position. She had failed Claudia. She had failed Obscuvos. She had failed herself. She had thought she had been making progress – simply talking to Dan brashly and with blatant deception had both terrified and mystified her. The broken down woman from months ago would have never have been able to do that. The House and Claudia combined had given her a backbone... But evidently her weak core still needed toughening up and thus even as the plague inflicted scratch beaded with tiny red droplets she didn’t complain or wipe them away. She muttered her thanks to the rose instead.

However, the little encounter with the mage had given her some useful information. Some mages needed a foci – without them they would struggle. Via further deception they might be able to discover these foci and destroy them for the cult. In addition to this there was a limit on how much magic a mage could use without becoming ill. Catching a mage when they were at the end of their magical tether would make them a lot easier to deal with. Furthermore... Dan had left them with this book. She turned it over in her hands, running her thin fingers down the heavy spine and tracing the finely printed lettering.

“Find a seat.” The flower instructed.

“We have some reading to do.”