by B N Miles
“Won’t commit, huh, hun? I’m sorry, that’s just typical for a man.”
Cassie nodded. “Won’t commit and won’t let me go. He wants it both ways.”
Beth tsked. “Girl, you need to leave his ass if he can’t give you that ring.”
Cassie raised an eyebrow and looked over at Jared. “Did you hear that, honey?”
“I heard,” he said, resigned to this.
“You’d better get a ring. I’m a catch, you know.”
“She really is. Look at this girl. She’s beautiful.” Beth gave him a stern glare. “You’d better step up.”
“Are you two done?” he asked.
Cassie giggled, and Beth laughed at him. They shared a look, and he rubbed his eyes. “All right, relax,” Cassie said. “We’re just teasing.”
“Don’t be too serious,” Beth said. “Trust me. Being serious is the worst.”
“Thank you for the advice,” Jared grumbled. “But I think we will need help with our little project.”
“Ah, about that.” Beth reached under her desk and dropped a stack of papers down on top. “I printed your list out. It’s pretty long though. What are you guys researching again?”
“The life cycle of mines,” Jared said. “Particularly how nature reclaims them. We’re looking for old mines that have become overgrown but are still accessible.”
“Still accessible?” Beth frowned. “Well, I think a lot of the mines on this list are filled in now. I mean, a lot of them are really, really old. You’re looking for mines that haven’t been closed off?”
Jared glanced at Cassie and she nodded. “Yeah, that’s right,” she said.
“Okay, give me a few minutes. I’ll narrow it down.” Beth turned over to her computer. “You two should go sit and rekindle your love.”
Jared groaned and Cassie laughed. “You know what, Beth. That’s a magnificent idea. Come on, Jared. We have a love to reflame.”
“Yes, darling,” he said with a little smile on his face.
Both women laughed. Cassie walked over and took his hand, pulling him away from Beth’s desk. They found a little table off to one side and sat down together.
“We should probably talk about what just happened,” she said, keeping her voice low.
“They’re following us,” he said. “That much is obvious.”
“But she didn’t kill you.”
“No. She wanted to warn me.” He frowned at the table. “I’m not sure I get what the point was.”
“She wanted to scare you off.”
“But that wouldn’t work. I mean, scare me off, some other agent will come. Killing me might be more effective. It might actually scare the Marshals off, or at least make them more cautious.”
“Really?” Cassie made a face. “One death?”
“The paperwork is absurd and the Marshals are understaffed. Of course, if she killed me, the MetaDept would get involved and drop the hammer on their clan. Probably wipe them out.”
“Good thing she didn’t kill you, then,” Cassie said. “I would hate to see a perfectly good Dryad clan get destroyed on your account.”
He gave her a flat look. “She’s going to be trouble,” he said. “If she followed us here, she’ll know where we’re staying.”
“Should we get a new place?”
He shook his head. “She’ll hunt us down there, too. Doesn’t matter one way or the other. I’m sure she has our car watched at all times.”
“So we’re just going to let her follow?”
“Pretty much.”
“That seems like a bad strategy.”
Jared nodded and leaned back, crossing his arms. “Here’s what I figure. Either she makes a play for us before we find the safe house, at which point we’ll try and take her and question her. Now that I know she’s out there, I can prepare a bit better.”
“Magic?” Cassie asked, her voice soft.
He hesitated. “Maybe,” he said. “But I’m going to try and avoid that. Anyway, if she doesn’t make a move, then we’ll just find the safe house eventually.”
“I don’t know. You saw that list out there.”
“I did,” he said. “But I have faith in our investigative skills.”
Cassie laughed. “I don’t.”
“Don’t be such a downer. This is better than going to Max, at least.”
“Oh, no doubt about that. I get to spend time with a handsome magician human. What could be better?”
He felt an odd stirring at that as he met her gaze across the table. She looked back, sultry and inviting. He had to tear his gaze away as Beth came over, a smile on her lips.
“You two made up,” she said.
“Not yet,” Cassie answered.
“Oh, I saw that look.” Beth winked at Jared. “Anyway, here’s a revised list.” She put a single piece of paper down in front of them.
They both stared. “That’s it?” Jared asked.
“That’s it,” she confirmed. “I sorted out the old mines that are likely collapsed or just too dangerous to use. Then I sorted out all the mines that have been closed off, sealed, or filled over the years. That leaves these.”
“Ten mines,” Cassie said with a laugh. “We thought there would be hundreds.”
“Don’t get too excited yet,” Beth warned. “There are only ten names on there, but each mine has a bunch of different entrances and exits and auxiliary shafts. Really, you two must be from out of town if you don’t know any of this stuff.”
“I’m very far out of town,” Cassie said with a grin. “But you, Beth, you’re a miracle.”
The woman smiled, clearly pleased. “I’m just doing my job.”
“Really Beth,” Jared said. “Thank you so much for this. You just saved us a lot of time and effort.”
“Like I said, just doing my job. It’s not every day I get to do research around here. Mostly, I clean puke off the floor, re-shelve the Harry Potter books, and wipe down the computer keyboards.”
“Why do you wipe down—” Jared stopped himself. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“Porn,” Beth said. “Lots of porn.”
Jared groaned and Cassie laughed.
Beth waved to the pair of them and headed back to her desk. Jared gathered up the single piece of paper, slipped it into his pocket, and they left the library.
“Food then rest,” Jared said, checking the time. “It’s already past five. We’ll eat, sleep, and start searching in the morning.”
“We should get a new room,” Cassie said, leaning up against Jared. “With a single bed. Maybe a single twin? I love to cuddle.”
“I think we’re good where we are.”
She laughed and smiled up at him. Jared felt a flash of Need, but it was dull now. That was good. It meant the Need would be under control tomorrow.
Instead, he’d just feel regular old lust for this gorgeous, flirty Shifter..
Flirty prisoner Shifter girl.
As they climbed into the car, he realized he still had no clue what her deal was. She seemed sweet and innocent, almost nice. But then there was her shifted form, that huge menacing fox that could easily rip a Dryad into pieces. Her beautiful outward shell hid something darker inside.
But that wasn’t why they’d send her to Max. Any Meta prison could deal with a Shifter that liked to turn into something dangerous. Max was for the violent and deadly and magical. If she was going to Max, they had a reason for it. Jared just didn’t know what that reason was.
And he didn’t want to ask. He didn’t trust Cassie, not yet at least. So far, she had proven that she wouldn’t run away, and even went so far as to let him chip her. But she was still a prisoner and she still didn’t want to go to Max, so she couldn’t be completely trusted.
Sooner or later, she was going to try to run. He knew it and she knew it.
The thought didn’t piss him off. He resigned himself to it.
“What are you in the mood for?” he asked her as he started the engine.
/> “Pancakes,” she said.
“Seriously? You just ate the biggest pancake platter I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
“That was hours ago. I’m starving.”
“Okay then,” he said. “Back to the diner.”
“You’re such a prince.” She leaned her head across the car and put it on Jared’s shoulder. “What would I do without you?”
“Get thrown into Max, probably,” he grumbled.
She laughed as he put the car in gear. “By the way, what’s Harry Potter?”
He gave her a look, shook his head, and drove off.
10
Jared woke up early and grabbed a shower before Cassie even stirred. He stood in front of the mirror and stared at himself for a long moment, testing his Need, but felt nothing. He let out a long sigh.
He looked at the scars on his arms. Small scars, just faded gray dots now. It seemed like a long time ago when he lost weeks or months to his Need, drowning it in heroin, the only drug that really worked to quiet the screaming in his head. Before he could go too far down that train of thought, the bathroom door opened.
Cassie stared in at him. She looked surprised. Her hair was messy from sleep and she looked like she just crawled out of bed. “Shit,” she said. “Sorry. I didn’t realize.”
“It’s fine.” He pulled the towel tighter around his waist and tucked his arms away. “I’m done in here.”
She bit her lip, looking at his chest. He felt a pulse of desire run through him at that look, but it was just regular human desire. It was almost nice to feel something so mundane and dull as normal lust.
He slipped past her into the main room, rummaged in his bag, and found some clothes. He changed while she was in the bathroom and was pulling on his shirt when she came back out.
She looked at him for a long moment. “What?” he asked.
“Can I ask you something personal?”
“No.”
“Come on.” She shifted foot to foot. “It’s just something I’ve always wondered about magicians.”
“Magi.”
“Whatever.” She sat at the end of her bed and leaned back on her hands. “How bad is it? I mean, I know it’s like, a compulsion to use more magic. But how bad is it, really?”
He frowned for a long moment. “The Magi families don’t like talking about the Need,” he said. “As far as they’re concerned, it doesn’t exist.”
“You’re not part of a family, are you?”
He gave her an odd look. “Of course. Any human that knows magic is part of a Magi family.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “I thought the families were like… rich and powerful. And a little evil.”
He laughed and sat down in a chair, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “They are,” he said. “But that’s a different discussion, and one I don’t feel like getting into.”
“Okay, so you want to pretend it doesn’t exist. It must be bad then, right?”
“There are ways of dealing with it. And not just sex or drugs.”
“Really?” She tilted her head.
“Meditation works,” he said. “I mean, that’s a big part of how magic works anyway, controlling your mind. Meditation takes the edge off.”
“Why not just… touch it?” she asked.
He arched an eyebrow at her. He was very aware that she wore nothing more than a thin t-shirt and her baggy brown bottoms.
“The priori,” she said. “Why not just touch it if the Need is so bad?”
“Some do that,” he said. “There are some in the Magi that spend their whole life using small magic just to keep the Need at bay. But that makes a person…” He hesitated. It was hard to explain to her what a Shell was like. “Withdrawn. I’m not sure how to describe it.”
“Huh. So then… sex and drugs and meditation.”
“The holy trinity.” He grinned. “Now, how about you tell me where you’re from?”
She blinked in surprise. “Excuse me?”
“You keep making comments,” he said. “Little things about how you’re not from around here, and how things are different where you’re from. You didn’t know what Harry Potter was.”
“Oh.” She let out a breath. “Yeah. I have been. Shit.”
“I shared a little about myself and my world. Now it’s your turn.”
She looked away. “It’s better if I don’t.”
“I disagree with that. We’re stuck together, Cassie, and in the end I’m the one that will put in a good word for you or not.”
She looked back, eyes hard. “Are you trying to blackmail me?”
Jared shook his head. “God, no, that came out wrong. I’m just saying that we need to build some trust between us.”
She softened a bit. “I can agree with that.”
“Give me something. Where are you from?”
She was quiet for a long moment before taking a breath and letting it out. “I grew up in a big family,” she said. “It was a big, prominent Shifter tribe. We controlled vast swaths of territory. I was the second born… and took on everything that entailed.”
Jared frowned. He didn’t know a ton about Shifter culture. He knew about tribes, they were like Magi families and based on bloodlines, whereas Dryad clans were based on loyalty. Anyone could join a Dryad clan in theory, but you had to be born into a Shifter tribe. But he didn’t know they controlled territory, or where those territories were, or what it meant to be second born.
She stared down at her hands for a long moment and Jared didn’t push her. He could tell this was difficult to talk about. It was a fresh wound, maybe fresher than his own. He knew a thing or two about wounds, and knew not to press if she wasn’t ready.
“I did everything my tribe demanded,” she said, a hint of bitterness showing in her tone. “Absolutely everything. But one day they asked too much of me and expected proper obedience, but I just… I ran away. And here I am.”
Jared let her story hang in the air. He had so many questions, but he knew she was being vague on purpose.
She looked up and smiled. “Anyway, it’s a stupid story.”
“I want to hear it one day,” he said. “When you’re ready.”
“Yeah?” She tilted her head at him. “And if I do, will you tell me the story of those marks on your arms? And the scars on your chest?”
He puled back. He thought he’d hidden them, but clearly she’d noticed. They stared at each other for a long moment before he nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Okay. When you’re ready to share, I’ll tell you my story.”
She perked up. “I knew it. You have some deep, dark back story. Oh, Jared, is that why you look so haunted?” She threw herself back on the bed. “Oh, my poor Jared! Abused, broken, beaten, left for dead on the side of the road! No wonder you’re so closed off and dark, oh my poor Jared.”
He sighed and closed his eyes. “Are you done?”
“Yep.”
He opened them again. She was grinning at him.
“Get showered. We need to get to work.”
“Fine.” She rolled out of bed. “But I need new clothes. And breakfast. And a gun?”
He snorted. “No gun. But we’ll do breakfast and clothes.”
She walked over to him and bent down. Before he realized what she was doing, she kissed him on the cheek. Her lips lingered there for a long moment and he nearly reached out to lace his fingers through her hair.
“Thanks for asking about me,” she whispered. “Most people don’t bother.”
“I’m curious,” he said.
“Good. I’m curious about you, too.” She pulled back and grinned at him. “I’ll get showered. From now on, I’m following orders.”
She turned and headed into the bathroom.
“Wait, you haven’t been following orders?” he asked.
She laughed and shut the door behind her.
He put his hands behind his head and smiled despite himself.
11
Cassie leaned on her elbow and
stared out the window. The wind blew through her hair and Jared watched it flutter around her face. “Not much of a town,” she said.
“Yeah,” Jared agreed, looking back at the road. The entire town was more or less one single street lined with squat, old brick buildings. Their signage looked like it hadn’t been updated in fifty years and it seemed like every other building was closed down.
“Where do we even start?”
“I’ve got a few ideas,” he said, pulling into a gas station. He parked in front and looked at Cassie. “Let me ask the questions.”
She shrugged. “Sure, whatever.”
“But, uh…” He frowned at her. “Unbutton a button on your blouse.”
She stared at him for a second, then laughed. “Oh Jared,” she said, popping open her second button. “You have a dirty mind.”
He smiled. “What can I say? I know what men want.”
“And they want boobs?”
“In general.” He opened the door and got out. “Come on.”
She followed him. He pushed open the door and walked to the counter. The woman behind the desk was old, in her late sixties, wrinkled around the eyes and glaring at him like he was bringing the plague into her gas station. He glanced back at Cassie and she was grinning like a fool and buttoning her shirt back up.
“Morning, ma’am,” Jared said.
“You want gas?” she snapped.
“Uh—”
“Got gas and coffee. Go ahead and help yourself.” She waved at the store.
“No, ma’am, I was hoping I could ask you a question if you had second.”
She frowned but shrugged. “Yeah, sure, I got all the time in the world left, right?” She grinned and Jared noted missing teeth with no attempt to fill them in.
“We’re doing a survey of the mines around here and I was wondering if you know anything about them?”
“Oh, sure,” she said. “Been living in Forward my whole life. What you wanna know?”
“We’re looking for… stories,” Jared said. “About some of the inactive mines.”
“Got lots of those. Kids love them mines. Every year, we lose at least one or two kids down there.”
“I’m thinking more along the lines of…” He hesitated. “Well, strange growth. Any of the old mines overgrown when they shouldn’t be?”
