Magebreakers

In a world of elves and dwarves and sprites and mages, Tane Carver is a human with no gift but his wits. Which, to be fair, did get him into the world's most prestigious university of magical technology. For a while. Until his lack of magic was discovered. And then it all came crashing down. But when a student is murdered on campus behind unbreakable wards, Tane gets a second chance. Solving an impossible crime should be easy for the man who fooled the university's best mages for years. Except he's not counting on the head constable being an old flame who isn't so fond of him anymore.

A killer walks among the rich and powerful. Who can the Magebreakers trust? Someone is killing the non-magical members of Senate houses - those who might one day be named Protector of the Realm. And that same someone is leaving behind messages for the Magebreakers beside symbols of the shadowy organization known as the Knights of the Emperor. Under suspicion from the constabulary, Tane and Kadka are drawn into the investigation to prove their innocence. What they find is that Audish politics are as dangerous as any Porthaven back alley.

Thaless is still reeling from the actions of the assassin known as the Emperor's Mask, and in the aftermath, believers in magical superiority have been greatly emboldened. When a goblin girl named Tinga Vreeg goes missing, it seems like a tragic consequence of the atmosphere of hostility and anger toward the non-magical. But when Tane and Kadka investigate, they find a much deeper mystery. Tinga isn't the only one missing—and she might have been on the trail of something important herself.

The nations of the Continent are on the verge of declaring war with Audland over the actions of the man who would be the next Mage Emperor, and only Tane, Kadka, Indree, and Tinga know the truth about Endo Stooke's plot. The problem is, they're on the run, blamed for the attempted assassination of the Belgrian Kaiser. And the non-magical forces gathering off Audland's coast are the perfect target for the terrible spell Endo has created—a spell that saps the life out of anyone without magic. A spell that won't be sated by foreign armies alone, if it reaches Audish shores.