“How much is this reward for bringing him back?”
“Five hundred thousand dollars.”
Reg didn’t immediately jump into it. Two hundred and fifty, her share, wasn’t as big as she had hoped when he had talked about the prize. Maybe seeing billboards with sweepstakes giving away tens of millions of dollars had influenced what she considered a lot of money. Especially when she already had all of those gems. What she had in the little box under her bed was worth a lot more than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Damon eyed her. “I know it’s a lot of money, and you might not want to make a snap decision, but… well, the Games are not very far away, and we would have to bring him back in time to participate in order to earn the reward.”
“So you want me to make a snap decision. You come here today and then expect me to leave with you tomorrow, off on some wild goose chase?”
“Well… it would be really good if we could get an early start, yes. But you know it’s not a wild goose chase. You know you’ll be able to find him. You know he’s there, just like you saw in your vision.”
“Yes… I’m just not sure. I had other plans for the next few days…”
“Other plans worth more than two hundred and fifty grand? A quarter of a million dollars?”
“No. Obviously not. But that doesn’t mean I want to go. It’s like… swampland out there, isn’t it? What if there are snakes?”
“You can be sure that there will be snakes. But they’re not going to eat you.”
“And gators. Or are they crocs?”
“Well, both,” Damon admitted. “Maybe the only place in the world you can see gators and crocs in the same habitat…”
“And don’t try telling me that they won’t eat me. They’re just waiting for someone to stop in the wrong place and get out of their car. Or boat.”
“We’ll get a guide. They’ll make sure that we are not in any danger. Yes, there are hazards in such a wild area. But you have strong powers. You can probably just tell them to stay away with your mind.”
“Yeah, right. I’m not relying on my psychic powers to keep alligators away! Isn’t there… pepper spray or something?”
Damon chuckled. “I don’t know about pepper spray. The guide will know all about precautions to take and what products are out there. Alligator repellent.” He laughed again. “So does that mean that you’ll come? Please?”
“I don’t know. Let me think about it.”
Damon sat there, staring at her. Reg wasn’t going to let him rush her into a decision like that. Putting her life on the line for two hundred and fifty thousand bucks? She wasn’t sure that was wise. She didn’t need it to survive.
“I need a couple of hours at least,” she told Damon. “Why don’t you go home, and we’ll talk later? When I’ve had a chance to think about it.”
Damon sighed, his shoulders dropping an inch. “Fine. I don’t see the problem, but please… let me know as soon as possible. If you’re not going to do it… I’ll have to see if there’s someone else I can get to help.”
There were plenty of other psychics around. Reg wasn’t the only game in town.
“I’ll let you know.”
Chapter Four
When Damon was on his way, Reg found Starlight in her room and scolded him roundly for clawing and biting her and biting Damon.
“Is that any way to treat a guest? He’s a paying client, too. Well, maybe, if I decide to take it on. You can’t behave that way, or we won’t be able to get any business.”
Not that she needed more business now that she had the gemstones. Starlight stared at her reproachfully. She didn’t know what had provoked him to attack her and Damon, but he had clearly had his reasons, and he wasn’t the least bit sorry for what he had done. Reg could tell. She shook her head at him.
“No more behaving like that. I’ll get a reputation. And then we won’t be able to afford your kitty food.”
He stared back at her. He didn’t believe a word of it.
Reg sat on the side of the bed.
“Do you think I should take it?” she asked him. “Go and find this wizard out in the middle of the swamp? I would say no, but I did see him. How hard could it be? I’ll go out there for a day or two, track him down, bring him back to the Games, and then we’ll get our reward. Easy peasy.”
But when was the last time she had declared something would be easy peasy and it actually was?
She went up to the big house to talk about it with Sarah, the witch who owned the property. Sarah shrugged and told her to go. Why not? What harm could it do? The worst that could happen was that they wouldn’t be able to find the wizard, and since nobody else had found him either, how could anyone judge Reg for not finding him?
“Well, I am a psychic,” Reg pointed out. “This is how I’m supposed to be making my living.”
“Even a psychic cannot be expected to find what she is looking for every time. That’s not the way it works.”
“No,” Reg admitted. There had been other things she had not been able to find. Sarah’s emerald necklace for one. And everyone had told her not to be so hard on herself for not being able to find them. Reg had different expectations for herself from what she would have for anyone else. If Marian or some other psychic had said they could not find a lost object or person, she would have thought nothing of it, but with herself it was different. “So… just go? You don’t think there’s any danger?”
“I lived in the Everglades for a while,” Sarah said casually. “Back when they were trying to drain the water and reclaim it as farmland. But they found out… it isn’t as easy as you would think. Working against Mother Nature is never a winning proposition. She has every reason in the world—literally—to protect herself.”
“And you never had to worry about alligators or snakes when you lived there? They were more afraid of you and stayed out of your way?” Reg suggested.
“Oh, no. Why do you think I left?” Sarah asked with a ringing laugh.
Reg next phoned Officer Marta Jessup about it, because she didn’t really have any other friends to get advice from. She and Jessup were always a bit at odds, with Reg’s history as a con and Jessup being the long arm of the law. But they maintained an uneasy truce. Jessup was more cautious than Sarah had been.
“Damon seems like a nice enough guy, and you already know what it’s like going on a trip with him—”
“Only, this time, I won’t have a caffeinated pixie and two cats with me.”
“Right. So in that way, it will be easier. But do you really want to be alone with this guy in the Everglades? Have either of you been there before?”
“No… but he says we’ll get a guide, so I don’t have to worry about that.”
“Huh… I’m not sure it’s that easy. Is this guide going to know how to find a lost wizard? You don’t even know what part of the park he’s in. It’s a huge area.”
“That’s why I’m going; I’m the one who is going to find him. I already saw him in the crystal ball. It’s not going to be that hard once I get there. I’m just worried about… you know… predators.”
“Well, Corvin isn’t going with you, is he? He’s the predator that I’d be worried about.”
Reg rolled her eyes and shook her head. “No, no Corvin this time either. Just me and Damon, a quick trip in and out. And the wizard, when I find him.”
“How did he get lost there in the first place? How did Damon know that’s where he was?”
Reg readjusted the phone and looked in the fridge for something good to eat. There were a few takeout clamshells but she wasn’t sure what she wanted. Starlight yowled, having heard her from the bedroom. He told her how hungry he was and how she was remiss for having let him go so long without any food.
Reg pointed to his bowl of dry kibble. “What’s that?” she demanded.
“What?” Jessup asked on the phone.
“Oh, sorry. Just talking to the cat. I don’t know how Damon got a line on where this
wizard is, but it was good information, because that’s where I saw him.”
“And how many other people are going to be out there looking for him? Are you going to end up in a big competition seeing who can get to this guy first? With prize money like that, you can bet that Damon’s not the only one interested in finding the old guy.”
Reg nibbled at a cold fried chicken leg. “I don’t know. He didn’t say other people were looking… but I guess you’re right. There are bound to be others looking for him too.”
“Yeah. I don’t know if I would take it if I were you.”
Reg took a larger bite of the chicken, nodding, even though Jessup couldn’t see her response.
“Ah, who am I kidding?” Jessup said with a laugh. “If I was you, I absolutely would go. Even just being me, with no psychic powers, I’m thinking… I could get a few days off of work. I’m a trained investigator. I have just as many chances as anyone else of being able to find him. Why not me?”
Reg laughed. She snorted unexpectedly and then tried to tamp down the giggles at her own response. She felt the same way. Even though she knew she should be cautious, she wanted to go. She was ready for another adventure. One that didn’t involve serial killers or weird accidents. Just a good old quest, like when they had gone to the mountains.
Chapter Five
In the evening, Damon had been thrilled when Reg had reported her decision to go with him to find Wizard Wilson. Reg suspected he had known all along that she would decide to go. She was a little too predictable when it came to joining a cause or chasing down some challenge. Sometimes literally. They’d been through enough adventures—investigations—together that he knew how she would react.
He promised to take care of all of the arrangements.
Reg began packing some clothes and overnight things. They would hopefully only be two or three days. If they were there longer, she might have to buy another change of clothes or hand-wash stuff in the hotel sink.
There was a knock on the door. Reg left her packing and went to see who it was, expecting it to be Sarah. Maybe she had some kind of ward or talisman to help keep Reg safe in the Everglades.
But she felt a peculiar resistance as she approached the door. Like there was a force on the other side that she didn’t want to encounter. A push like two magnets with the same poles pushing away from each other. She leaned in to look out the peephole. But the door was warm as she leaned into it, and she knew who it was before she put her eye to the lens.
She put the chain on the door and opened the door the two inches the chain would allow. A warlock stood there, his handsome face shadowed by the hood of his cloak. Short, dark goatee. Dark, penetrating eyed.
“Corvin.”
“Regina,” he purred.
Now that she could see Corvin’s shadowy form outside her door and breathe in the pheromone-laden air around him, it was like the magnet had shifted poles, and she was now drawn toward him. She leaned against the wall, basking in the warmth that surrounded him. She had been distracted by her packing, and it was probably a good thing that they had a door between them so his charms couldn’t pull her in.
“What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Well, a little birdie was telling me about your newest quest…”
“Would that be a little bluebird?”
She could barely see Corvin’s face, hidden in the shadows of his cowl. But she saw his mouth curve upward in a slight smile.
“Yes, a little bluebird,” he admitted.
Despite Jessup repeatedly warning Reg away from Corvin, Jessup had a professional relationship with Corvin as a consultant or informer. They talked all too often for Reg’s comfort, particularly when the subject matter was her.
“She didn’t have any right to tell you about that.”
“I don’t think she broke any confidences. Why shouldn’t she tell me that you’re going on a little jaunt to the Everglades?”
“I didn’t intend for her to spread it around to anyone else.”
Reg was irritated, not only because Jessup told someone else her travel plans, which left Reg’s cottage and gems open to burglary—as a law enforcement officer, Jessup really should know better—but also that she had told Corvin in particular. And now the warlock was on her doorstep. Reg knew what was coming next.
“It really isn’t safe for you to go with him all by yourself,” Corvin crooned. “I think that would be a bad idea.”
“He isn’t you. He isn’t a predator.”
“He isn’t the same kind of predator,” Corvin corrected. “But you have no idea whether he is safe in other ways. Just because he doesn’t have the same nature as I do, that doesn’t mean that he is… harmless.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“A woman, alone on the swamp with a warlock…”
“You seem to forget that I looked after myself before I came here. I’m not some damsel in distress. I can take care of myself. Even against you.”
Despite herself, she was still leaning into the wall, almost sticking her nose out the door to breathe in the heady scent of roses that seeped from his pores. But with a physical barrier between them, she didn’t have to be as careful. She didn’t have to use her powers to stop him. That would take energy, and she needed her energy to finish packing and getting ready for the trip.
“I’m sure it won’t take you long to pack,” Corvin said.
“Get out of my head.”
But thinking about packing distracted Reg from his visit and she started thinking about what else she would need to take with her. She had a leash for Starlight this time. She would need to pack other essentials for him.
“You can’t take the cat with you.”
Reg glared at him. She focused on putting up mental barriers to keep him out of her brain. But the two of them had shared too much in the past and there was always a conduit between them. She could shut the door, but she couldn’t stop the light from getting in underneath and around the edges. “Why not?”
“It wouldn’t be safe, Regina. The Everglades are wild. Full of animals and cryptids and all kinds of magic that you haven’t encountered before.”
“Cryptids?”
“Cryptids are… creatures that are not accepted by the scientific world. Creatures whose existence has not been properly proven to academia.”
“What does that mean? Some kind of rare frogs?”
He laughed. “Well, certainly, they are always discovering new species of frogs and insects. But generally, it means things like… Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster.”
“Oh.” Reg thought about that for a minute. “There’s a Loch Ness Monster in the Everglades?”
“That was just an example. Although there could possibly be a creature of that size in the Everglades. There are sharks and manatees.”
Reg thought about Starlight. What was she thinking? If she took him with her, she’d just have to leave him in the hotel when they went exploring the Everglades. If they could even find a hotel that would let them keep a cat. Not all hotels liked pets. She couldn’t exactly get Starlight in based on the fact that he was her familiar. That wasn’t included in the statutes on assistance animals that couldn’t be barred from commercial businesses.
She was going to have to find a pet sitter to look after him while she was gone. A heaviness settled in her middle at this thought. She didn’t want to have to leave Starlight behind. He would think that she had abandoned him, even if she tried to explain it to him.
How had she gone from a carefree wanderer to someone who couldn’t bear to leave her cat at home?
“Well then… I guess I have to make arrangements, so I don’t have the time to visit with you,” she told Corvin. “I’ll see you in a few days when we get back.”
He shifted, sending another wave of scent over her. “You should have someone else with you. Someone who knows more about the Everglades and who can make sure that Damon… doesn’t take any liberties.”
Reg
laughed. “You want to be my chaperone now?”
Usually, he was the one she couldn’t be alone with. She wasn’t sure how many times she’d had to find a friend to join her so that Corvin couldn’t use his charms to overcome her.
Corvin’s shoulders shrugged under his cloak. She couldn’t see his expression, but she could feel his irritation at being laughed at.
“I’m serious, Reg. You have no idea what you are walking into here. Does Damon know anything at all about the Everglades?”
“Well… I don’t know. It sounded like we could just get a guide. Hire someone to drive us around, you know.”
“A non-practitioner? They might know their way around the tourist sites, but they aren’t going to know anything about the… darker areas of the swamp. Or about the magical creatures or dangers that lurk there. People disappear in there, Reg. They disappear and are never seen or heard from again.”
“But if we had a guide…”
“Where are you going to get this guide? Just grab someone from the first boat rental place you see? Some college student making a few extra bucks driving tourists around?”
“I don’t know.”
“You need someone who has studied the Everglades. Someone who knows all about the river itself, the creatures there, the magic. There are curses and spells you wouldn’t even dream of…”
“And I suppose you are an expert on the Everglades.”
“I would never call myself an expert concerning something so ancient and complex, but…”
Despite his humble words, she felt his ego swelling behind them. Of course. He was offering himself as an expert. Her personal guide and escort. Making sure that she didn’t get too close to Damon, who she supposed Corvin saw as a rival.
“If you want to come along, you’ll have to talk to Damon. This is his thing, not mine. And I’m not splitting my prize money with you.”
Skunk Man Swamp Page 2
