The Chronicles of Elantra 6 - Cast in Chaos by Michelle Sagara Page B

and the image that had occupied it before his curt command receded until it was part of a larger network of lines.
    “Special commentary?” She walked over to the mirror, looked at her hands, and let them drop to the side.
    “It has,” he continued, ignoring the interruption, “stopped attempting to correct ‘obscene’ language.” He gestured to the mirror, stepping out from behind his desk to do so.
    Since even Mallory had never attempted to rein in what was politely referred to as local color, Kaylin grimaced. She hated to think that something could be more uptight than Mallory. “I’ll wash up,” she told him.
    “Don’t bother. No one else has.” To drive this point home, he ran a claw lightly over the mirror’s surface. It stopped at the intersection of Lattimar and Gorran. “You mirrored from here.”
    “A bit down the road, but yes, that was the general area.”
    Severn stepped up to the mirror, to the left of their Sergeant. “Magnify. Center Lattimar and Gorran.” The mirror obeyed, and Kaylin found herself holding her breath as the buildings came into view. But they didn’t leap out of the mirror’s surface, and they didn’t turn into something monstrous or strange, which was good because she needed to exhale.
    Severn pinpointed the boundary—and the boundary’s width. The point just beneath his finger began to glow; gold for the outer bounds, bright pink for the inner. When she snorted, he said, “I don’t choose the colors.”
    Marcus growled, which was tired Leontine for Shut the Hell Up. Since it was aimed at Kaylin, Severn continued to call cross streets. The map would blur and shift, he’d add two points, and then repeat the process. When he was done, he called “Map” again, and this time the line of dots—in gold and pink—formed a pattern. To emphasize this, a line, in each color, ran between the points, terminating at the start and the finish of their trek.
    It was a third of a circle, give or take some math.
    Marcus actually purred. If you had very little experience with Leontines, it sounded a lot like growling. “Good work,” he said. He barked an order, and the map began to extrapolate, from their coordinates, the perimeter of these two circles; the theoretical portions were in slightly dimmed colors, which in the case of the pink, was a distinct improvement.
    “Good work, Private Neya, Corporal Handred.” He turned and then bellowed at the rest of the office. “No, don’t crowd around this mirror. Use the ones closest. Teela, Tain—you were out on the eastern edge. If what we’ve got is inaccurate, mark it. The same goes for the rest of you.” He turned to her and added, “What did Lord Sanabalis say about your report?”
    Kaylin froze. “We were on our way to the Palace when it started to rain blood, Sir.”
    “And you didn’t head there before you reported in.”
    “No, sir. You said—”
    “I know what I said, Private.” He growled. Because Kaylin did have experience with Leontines she couldn’t tell herself it was a purr. But he didn’t bite her head off, and he didn’t demand that she expose her throat, although she’d already started to lift her chin. “Did you get anything from the Halls?”
    “Gibberish, mostly.”
    “Useful gibberish?”
    “I’ll tell you in a month or two.”
    He did chuckle at that. “I’ll mirror Lord Sanabalis. You two, hop in a carriage.”
    “The yard’s closed.”
    “I didn’t tell you to use one of ours.”
    “Sir.”
    “The department,” he added, “will reimburse you.” Which meant he really was pleased.
     
    Severn had enough money to pay the driver; Kaylin didn’t.
    Severn shook his head as they parked themselves on opposite benches. “You can’t be paid so little that you’re scrounging for meals for the last week or two of every month.”
    “Clearly, I can.”
    “I live in a larger apartment than you do, and I can afford to eat.”
    “My point. You’re a Corporal. You get paid