by Melody Raven
“Like, deported?” asked Gabbie.
“Umm…. There’s no way to really send them back. The conditions back on Vora, where they came from, aren’t really ideal," I said.
“So they’re just killed.”
Oh, sweet, innocent Gabbie. “The Vopura don’t have mind control. They don’t have infrastructure. For them to live here, they need to feed often and violently.”
“What do the vampires do?”
“They have a network of blood banks and donors. Actually, it’s kind of symbiotic because they only drink the stuff that the hospitals can’t use and donate the rest. A lot of the vampires I’ve met are really cool. Sexy as hell, too. If you want a hookup, let me know.”
“Hey.” Nico elbowed me.
“I can set you up, too! I never said that the only girls I knew were human.”
I could see the wheels turning behind his eyes. He didn’t seem too averse to the idea….
“And what do you want me to do?” She started to flip through the papers.
“Right now, consider yourself an apprentice,” said Carter. “I want you to be involved in the investigation. Have you ever been able to trigger a vision before?”
Her brows furrowed. “Trigger a vision? That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.”
“Luckily, we specialize in the impossible. But you’re not going to get anything helpful in that magical mind of yours if you’re just sitting on the sidelines. Are you going to be okay hanging out with Nico and Flora today while Carter and I do some reconnaissance?”
She looked skeptically between the two of us. “But I thought you two hate each other.”
I leaned forward and held a hand up to the side of my mouth, supposedly hiding the side of my face from Carter. “He doesn’t know that,” I whispered loud enough for the whole table to hear. “He thinks we’re best friends.”
Boy Scout had his poop face firmly in place. “Yeah, I’m not looking forward to it either. The things I do for a paycheck.”
Oh boy. This was going to be a fun afternoon. What I wouldn’t give to be on mentee duty all day.
6
“What’s the deal with Flora?” I shifted my weight in Carter’s Crown Vic. Of course he drove a Crown Vic. Everything about him was so cookie-cutter cop show. He was such a stereotype.
“You know as much about her as I do.” Carter kept his attention on the apartment building we’d been sent to look into.
“Melanie didn’t give you any sort of inside scoop? No background checks on all of us?”
“For some reason, she was worried about us not getting along,” he droned. “I think she was amused by the idea of us getting to know each other like normals.”
“I really am here to help,” I said weakly. As much fun as our little rivalry was, it really wasn’t good for our long-term working relationship if he hated me. And I didn’t hate him. He annoyed me. He needed to remove the stick that had been so firmly implanted in his behind. But he seemed like a good enough guy.
But I was kind of used to people liking me. Mainly because I usually lied to people so they could hear exactly what they needed to hear to like me. It was harder to do that with Carter since he already knew the “real me.” And all the negative connotations that came along with that.
“The amount of crimes you’ve racked up, you should be behind bars for at least twenty years,” he pointed out. “And I don’t know the details of whatever immunity deal you struck, but you didn’t deserve it. Especially considering you can’t use your powers at all without putting an entire city block at risk. It seems like Uncle Sam got the raw end of this deal.”
Ouch. Boy Scout didn’t mince words, did he? “You don’t know the first thing about the deal I struck,” I murmured.
“Care to share the details?”
“For one, I’m the one who brought down the Order of Nygma.”
I finally surprised him in some way. He completely stiffened and looked over his shoulder at me, his grip tight on the steering wheel. “What do you know about the Order of Nygma?”
“They’re the ones who did this to me. One minute, I was minding my own business; the next, they were trying to turn me into a human sacrifice. You’ve heard of them?”
“They were the ones who reopened the gate for the Vopura.” If it was possible, his grip on the steering wheel got even tighter.
That thing was going to break if he wasn’t careful….
“Yeah, I heard about that.” I also knew that Carter’s partner had been fighting Vopura who had worked very closely with the Order of Nygma when he’d died. And as surly as Carter was, I knew not all of it was due to his dislike for me. Like, a lot of it was. But I was also replacing Ian Butler, who had been good cop to Carter’s bad cop for the bulk of his career.
I glanced away from Carter. I didn’t want him to see me thinking about Ian. As though somehow he’d know the direction of my thoughts. I didn’t want to dredge up those kinds of memories. I didn’t want to think about—
“So that’s what they were doing that night,” he grumbled. “We knew that they had ulterior motives for helping the Vopura.”
“Yeah,” I said quickly. “The violence and death that the Vopura brought with them was used as fuel for their rituals.” They’d done a spell to basically shut down all magic and suck the powers from every witch in the world and shove it into one of their own. Except I’d accidentally on purpose killed their chosen one when he came at me with a sacrificial knife. And voilà—I was a magical abomination.
I hated everything about that night. And Melanie was the only one who knew all the details. None of my old crew would understand. Even Melanie didn’t fully understand. She just happened to be the one who’d found me. I’d been lost and she’d convinced me that working with her would give my new life purpose. Direction.
Basically the same shit I’d promised Gabbie.
Jury was still out whether Melanie was full of it. I wasn’t naive. I knew Melanie didn’t really care about my life having direction or purpose. She wanted a team of all-stars to protect humanity, and I was now the most powerful witch in the world.
I had other reasons for joining that even Melanie didn’t know about. I just had to make sure I had a chance to get what I needed to do done.
“Have you ever killed a Vopura?” asked Carter, thankfully changing the subject.
“Vopura? Hell no. I try to stay out of the way of supernaturally strong creatures.” And, regardless of what had happened yesterday in the bank, I really didn’t go around leaving a trail of bodies. I liked to get out before anyone knew I was a threat. I wasn’t a lover or a fighter. I was just a thief. Or at least I used to be.
Carter let out a little grumble. “We need to get you some training. If we’re going to be working together, I can’t spend all my time worrying about you.”
“Would you worry about me? It would probably solve a lot of your problems if a Vopura finished me off.”
“Yeah, except now I know that when you’re threatened, you create a natural disaster. So you’ll end up surviving and I’ll end up with a pile of paperwork. I was up until three a.m. filling out forms last night.”
Oops. It wasn’t as if I’d done it on purpose. Which reminded me that I hadn’t even started my paperwork. Figures Carter wasn’t the type to procrastinate.
“I’m going to talk to Melanie about fitting you with a weapon. Silver mace, for sure. Taser and probably a Glock.”
Whoa. “You’re going to trust me with a gun?”
“Of course I don’t trust you with a gun. But if I have to choose between a stray bullet and stray tsunami, I’ll choose the bullet.”
“I’ve taken a few self-defense classes,” I said proudly. “I actually have a pretty wicked punch.”
“Not the only thing about you that’s wicked,” he muttered.
And here I thought we were having a good moment. That was apparently gone. Carter suddenly started to shrug off his jacket, throwing it in
the backseat as he took off his tie and started to unbutton his shirt.
“What the hell are you doing?” I leaned as far back against the door as possible.
“It’s daylight, so I doubt we’re going to get close to any Vopura now. But we can investigate the building. And I’m not going to get anywhere looking like a cop.”
I snorted. “You always look like a cop. It’s in your DNA.”
“Is that supposed to be an insult?”
He rolled the cuffs up his arms and I had to shake my head. Did he really think taking off a tie and rolling up his sleeves would make him look blue collar? If this man was open to any type of suggestion, I could teach him so much.
“It’s supposed to be a fact.” Then I realized what my role in this was. “Crap. Am I supposed to be your girlfriend?”
He rolled his eyes at me. “We’re going to look at apartments. Put two and two together.”
“I don’t want to,” I grumbled. I started to think about what I could do to look like he and I belonged together, but came up blank. I wore my standard outfit of jeggings and a black tank top. I normally wore a leather jacket, but my favorite one had been irreparably damaged in my little tornado yesterday.
He was lucky my hair was plain black and not bright fuchsia. Back when I had full use of my powers, my hair had been different Technicolors every day of the week.
I’d have to be wearing a pantsuit to look like Carter and I could possibly go together. Or maybe a tight pencil skirt and a gallon of hairspray? I could see him with a news anchor type. Perfectly polished and with a gallon of makeup on my face. A little fake. Too good to be true.
And definitely blonde.
But there wasn’t much I could do to change my appearance now. And considering we were going to look at apartments and not running a long con, it was pretty low stakes.
Oh! I knew what I looked like. A mistress! Carter looked like a politician shopping for an apartment to park his mistress.
Now that was a role I could lean in to. I flipped down the mirror as though there was anything I’d be able to do. At least I’d put on makeup today. Knowing I was going to be around Gabbie had me stepping up my game. I might never look like an Instagram model like she did, but I did okay for myself. Because thieving and conning was a fairly physical job, I’d always made sure I stayed in shape and strong. Upper body strength was essential to pull myself out of sticky situations. And, let’s be real, it was just easier for pretty girls to get what they wanted. I might not be a cover girl, but I was just pretty enough to be dangerous.
It was a lot more fun to look in the mirror when I had my magic, though. No makeup could compete with a good glamour spell. My skin had a lot of pink undertones that I would smooth out, and I’d turn my gray-blue eyes into a dark navy.
But now I just looked… human. A constant reminder of how much everything had changed so quickly.
I did the only thing I could do and pulled my hair back into a tight ponytail before Carter and I both got out of the car.
“Let me do all the talking,” said Carter as we started across the street.
Why was I not surprised? I don’t know why he thought he’d be a better talker than me. I was the best at getting people to say what they didn’t want to.
But for just this once I was going to pick my battles. We seemed to be getting along for the moment, and, for Melanie’s sake, I was going to keep this streak going.
This was the nicer side of LA. The streets weren’t lined with posh mansions, but the apartments were still luxury level. The tricky thing about Vopura was that they couldn’t use mind control. So during the daylight hours, it was a crapshoot as to what you’d get. There were plenty of humans who would kill to be a vampire, literally, so they didn’t really need mind control to put a spell on someone.
I’d told Gabbie that it was difficult for vampires to successfully turn humans, and that was true. But I hadn’t mentioned that so far it looked as though Vopura had a hundred-percent success rate with turning humans. It was a fact no one was really talking about because no one really wanted it to be true. If Vopura had the ability to increase their numbers as much as they wanted….
Needless to say, the Dangerous Magic Division was more in demand now than ever before. The gate to Vora was closed, but if we didn’t stay on top of the Vopura, they could still be a very deadly threat.
Walking into the lobby, I was overwhelmed with the scent of cleaner and bright fluorescent lights. Why did rich people think that the brighter the lights were, the better things would look? As if they wanted to make sure everyone could see how expensive the furniture and artwork was?
Carter walked toward the office as though he’d been here a million times before. What must it be like to be so self-assured about everything?
I was pretty much overflowing with confidence myself—not always a good thing either, but I was used to being the only one. Also, a lot of that confidence was backed up by magic.
I still didn’t know what was supernatural about Carter. And, frankly, it bugged the hell out of me. Before Melanie had said that, I never even suspected Carter wasn’t normal.
The list of possible things he could be was endless. The supernatural world was deep and diverse, and speculation would only trip me up.
But he better not be a witch. I’d be pissed if I found out he was like me and I didn’t have a clue. Besides, he hated me for being a witch. Well, maybe he hated me because of what I’d done with my powers. Nonetheless, he couldn’t hate one of his own that much, could he?
Nah. He had to be something else. Something older, more stubborn, and with a bit more caveman.
Before we even got to the rental offices, a man in a shiny gray-blue suit ran out to greet us, the wide smile of a lifetime salesman on his face. “Nice to meet you. I’m Donald Sampson. How can I help you?”
“Nice to meet you, Donald.” Carter held out a hand.
I tried my best not to roll my eyes. It was frustrating to see him be so nice to random strangers when he was such a dick to me. At least I knew this was all an act.
“My fiancée and I are looking for a place to call home, and we’ve heard some wonderful things about the Carlton.”
Donald nodded. “Oh yes? Do you know any of our current tenants?”
“Better than you’d imagine,” I said before Carter not so subtly bumped into me.
Donald laughed, even though I hadn’t technically made a joke. Oh, the not-so-fine art of ass kissing. “Well, I can’t wait to show you around. Did you have any sort of idea in mind of what kind of place you’re looking for?”
“I just got promoted, and we want to upgrade our lives, too,” said Carter, his voice dripping with charm.
I doubted his government paycheck would ever pay enough to get him a place here, but he did come from old money. Who knew what kind of trust fund he had in his list of accounts?
But while he was being subtle, I decided to play up the role of money-hungry mistress. “We’re looking for something with at least fifteen hundred square feet. Hopefully a two-story with a lot of natural light and three bedrooms. I do like my space, baby.” To really sell it, I leaned against Carter and wrapped my arm around his.
I loved that he couldn’t fight me. I knew I was supposed to be trying to get along with him, but damn if I didn’t enjoy putting him on edge.
But Carter was a professional and very experienced at annoying me. So instead of getting riled, he one-upped me by pulling his arm away from mine and instead wrapping it around my waist, pulling me tightly against him. I had to keep myself from grunting in annoyance.
“We can’t wait to really start our life together,” I said between clenched teeth.
Damn it, I was better than this.
But Donald seemed too distracted with the possibility of making a sale. “Well, let’s get you upstairs. We currently only have one unit available.”
“Only one? I thought you had more. Has there been a housing boom lately?” Namely, have there b
een a bunch of foreign vampires moving in?
“Once you hear the list of amenities, you’ll be shocked we even have one opening.”
Donald started listing off a bunch of pointless facts about pools and gyms as he led the way to the elevator, and my mind wandered. I took in the number of cameras around and the locks on the doors. Getting the lay of the land was the reason I was here, but I really would rather get a few minutes alone in Donald’s office. Maybe I could break away for a few minutes?
But then the elevator closed and that idea got away from me.
“How many apartments per floor do you have?” I asked as Donald swiped his keycard over a security pad to get past security on the elevator. Which would be a great feature if I was looking to buy a place. Not so much if I was looking to break into a place.
“Privacy is of the utmost importance to us. The most units we have per level is four, but you’re going to be looking at a deluxe offering, which takes up half of level ten.”
“And you said the gym has free weights?” asked Carter.
My head whipped over and I raised a brow. What was he doing?
He met my gaze and just shrugged.
“Oh, yes. We had a national strongman consult with us on the design. Not only do we have a state-of-the-art cardio section, but we have all the dumbbells and plates you could need.” The elevator doors opened, and Donald led the way through the short hallway with just two doors.
“What are you doing?” I muttered to Carter.
“I do want a new place for me and my fiancée,” he said back.
I stopped. His fiancée? He was actually engaged? I knew he had a girlfriend, but I hadn’t realized they were that serious. Great. I didn’t know anything about this guy, and I was supposed to be partnering up with him.
Donald entered a combination into the numeric keypad on the apartment door, and the electronic whirring of the lock sounded as the door opened. “Come on in and let me give you the tour. You can see that everything has been designed for wow factor. This level is all about entertaining. You walk right in to beautiful tall ceilings and opening right into the living area. The unit is furnished with an eighty-inch flat screen.” Donald seemed so proud of the flat screen aspect, as if tube TVs were still a thing. “There’s also a digital fireplace, and our newest feature is right here. Wait for this. It’s true wow factor.” He walked over to the fireplace and, taking a little remote from the mantel, pressed a button. Immediately, shutters started to lower and completely blocked out any sunlight from the windows.
