by B N Miles
“Like what?” Jared asked, horrified, fascinated, and excited all at once.
“Like knowing,” she said. “I can’t explain it another way. Just knowing, without a doubt, with total certainty, that I’m meant to be with you. That you’re my mate, that it was right. My whole world just… changed.” She smiled a little. “I wasn’t sure if I should tell you.”
“I’m happy you did,” he said and kissed her.
She returned his kiss with a hunger. They broke it off, and she stared into his eyes. “You don’t have to worry with me,” she whispered. “I’m already bonded in my own way. And it’s not your fault.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Promise. This is good, Jared. This is really good.”
He kissed her again and let himself feel that for a long moment.
Until Jessalene cleared her throat. “Relax over there,” she said, glaring at them.
Jared grinned. “Sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Jessalene said, jabbing her pen at Cassie. “It’s this one. We both know she’s trouble.”
“Why, little old me?” Cassie grinned and held up her hands. “Okay, okay. I’ll be good. You two need to work. I guess I’ll just sit here and be useless.” She sighed dramatically and flopped back onto the couch.
Jared smiled at her for a long second, just looking at her. He was her fated mate. It was strange putting it in those terms, but he was familiar with the concept. He just didn’t know it could happen to him. He’d written a paper on the topic a long time ago, and the whole concept was debated in the magical community from time to time. It had always seemed like such a strange, abstract phenomenon.
But now it was very, very real. And it felt good.
He forced himself to turn back to the grimoire and continue studying. If he wanted to keep his new mate safe, he’d better get stronger, and he’d better do it soon. He could worry about mates and bonds and all that stuff later on, after they’d finished with Ferric.
They passed another stretch in silence. Cassie eventually got up and joined Jessalene at the table. The two girls talked quietly while Jared poured over the grimoire, searching for memgrams that would be useful in a fight, things that could help him go on the offensive, instead of just throwing up shields.
But after a short stretch, Cassie called for him. “Check this out,” she said.
He got up and joined them at the table. Jessalene pushed her glasses up and showed him her notepad. She had Google Maps opened to the city, and certain addresses were marked down.
“So, these are all the safe houses my mother gave you,” she said. “Most of them are clustered around here.” She pointed at four dots in the southern part of the city. “There’s one over here, and one over here.” Two more dots scattered around Center City. “And five more up here.” She pointed at North Philly. “But here’s the interesting part.”
She switched to street view and began to click around the North Philly safe houses. Most of them were boarded up, windows broken, rundown. “Here we go,” she said, stopping in front of an empty field. “See that?”
He frowned. “It’s gone.”
“Right. Isn’t that weird? I mean, I keep thinking my mother maybe gave you the wrong address. But I really doubt that. So then maybe the house got razed without the council realizing it… but I checked city records. All of these safe houses are owned by the same shell company, including the property that’s supposed to be at this address.”
“So there should be a house right there,” Jared said. “And the council likely owns that shell company.”
“That’s what I’m thinking. But clearly, it’s missing.”
“Maybe these pictures were taken a while ago?” Cassie offered. “Maybe the building was built after these maps were made.”
Jared frowned. “I doubt it. Most of these buildings are really old. And new construction in this neighborhood would draw a lot of attention.”
“So it’s just… missing.” Cassie shook her head. “I don’t know what to make of it.”
“I have a theory,” Jessalene said. “What if Ferric is using magic to protect the safe house?”
Jared tilted his head. “It’s possible,” he said.
“Would protections against scrying including electronic surveillance?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. But it wouldn’t surprise me. Magic interacts with technology in odd ways.”
“What do you mean?” Cassie asked.
“Well, sometimes it’s more about intention than about the technology itself. So if Ferric’s intention was to keep people from spying on him… the magic might extend that to Google maps, for example. Which brings up all sorts of implications for our relationship with networks.”
“Save it for your thesis,” Jessalene said. “So this place is a strong possibility.”
“Agreed.” Jared looked at Cassie. “Thoughts?”
“None,” she said. “I’m pleasantly Zen.”
“Good.” He sighed and stretched. “Great work Jessa.”
“Thanks.” She frowned and chewed on her pen. “We should get over there.”
Cassie groaned.
“Not tonight,” Jared said. “We’re exhausted. We need sleep before we try anything against Ferric.”
“But if we don’t move, he could get away.” She frowned at him. “We have to try everything we can.”
Jared hesitated. “Is this a pact thing or do you really want to get over there?”
She shrugged. “I have no clue. All I know is, I have to go over there. If I know he’s there, I can’t sit here and wait.”
“We don’t know he’s there. And you can’t go alone.”
She seemed to struggle with that a bit. “Are you telling me not to go?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “It’ll only hurt our chances of catching him.”
That seemed to relax her. So it was the pact pushing her to get moving after all.
Pacts could work in odd ways. If there weren’t enough escape valves, they could push people into doing stupid things, like recklessly running over to a magically warded safe house with no rest and no planning, all because the wording of the pact demanded instant action.
But as soon as he said that going over there would hinder their chances, that was a good enough escape.
“Come on,” he said, taking Jessalene’s hand. “Let’s go relax for a little while. I’ll cook you two dinner.”
“Really?” she asked. “You cook?”
“Not well, but I have some tricks.” He grinned at them. “I’ll open some wine. We’ll talk, relax, get to bed early. In the morning, we’ll scout out some of these houses and get a feel for things.”
“That works,” Cassie said, nodding.
Jessalene frowned then nodded along. “Okay, yeah, that’s good.”
“Great.” Jared stepped past her and headed into the kitchen. He watched Cassie lead her over to the couch and together they fell down onto the cushions, already talking in whispers.
He sighed, opened a bottle of red, poured three glasses, and took theirs over. Cassie smiled and winked at him.
He needed to remove the pact. Jared knew it, that much was obvious. He trusted Jessalene now and didn’t think the pact was necessary anymore.
But not this second. He wanted to talk to Cassie about it first. He wasn’t going to be the only one making decisions in this little… whatever it was. Partnership? Relationship? He wasn’t really sure.
He’d never had a girlfriend before, much less two.
Strings of one-night stands and broken hearts, sure, but no girlfriends.
Jared went back into the kitchen, sipped his wine, and got cooking. He might as well try and have a nice night before they got back to work tomorrow.
36
Jared woke up with both girls still asleep in his bed.
He felt a little sluggish in a good way. He felt rested for the first time in a long time. Jessa’s tight, athletic body was barely covered wit
h a top sheet, and Cassie was curled up beside her. Both girls were naked and beautiful, and Jared smiled at the memory of last night.
He got up, did his morning routine, and made coffee downstairs. Jessalene joined him first, pouring a big mug of coffee. “I didn’t expect all this fancy stuff,” she said.
“What did you think? That I lived like a monk?”
“Not exactly. But you’re a Marshal. I mean, I’m sure you make decent money, but—”
“But not enough to own a nice house in a nice neighborhood furnished with nice stuff, right?”
“Pretty much.”
“Perks of being a Magi, I guess. Even if I cut my ties for the most part, the money’s always mine.”
She tilted her head and sat down on a stool. “Do you ever miss them?”
“Who?” he asked as he started cooking eggs and bacon.
“Your family.”
“Ah.” He smiled a little bit. “Not really.”
“That’s so strange. I can’t imagine it, honestly. I’d go crazy without my family.”
“It’s different,” Jared said. “Your family cares about you.”
“And yours doesn’t?”
“Honestly Jessa, they’re not capable of caring, and haven’t been for a long time. I can’t remember any warmth or joy in my house. It was always magic, always power and politics. And I think my parents were already half-crazy from magic by the time I was old enough to notice anything.”
“That must’ve been a hard life,” she said.
“It wasn’t though. I mean, I didn’t know any better, it was just what I did. I learned magic, I learned how to be a Magi.”
“Did you have any friends?” she asked. “I mean, people you cared about.”
He shrugged. “I had teachers and mentors that I liked. There were cousins my age that I played with sometimes.”
Jessalene looked at her coffee. “I do know what it’s like to feel like an outsider,” she said. “Because of the way my mother entered the clan, we were always on the periphery. Always on the edges.”
“That must’ve been hard.”
“It was and it wasn’t. I’m not sure if you know how Dryads are, but they tend to be really… warm and loving. People were always so kind, but there was a sort of stilted forced aspect to it. Ferric was one of the first people to actually be my friend.”
“I didn’t know you two were close.”
“We aren’t,” Jessa said. “We grew apart as we got older. But back then we were.”
Jared finished the bacon and eggs, plated them in a large platter, and offered Jessalene some. She took it and ate with gusto.
“You know, I would’ve thought Dryads were vegetarians.”
She made a face. “We’re plant gods, not animal gods. Besides, it’s the natural cycle of things.” She shoved a strip of bacon in her mouth and groaned. “And bacon is so good.”
Jared nodded. “Bacon is so good,” he agreed.
Cassie joined them, her hair wet from a shower, and they all ate, chatting amiably about nothing. When they finished, Cassie and Jessalene finished getting dressed while Jared prepped the car. They hit the road ten minutes later.
“Where to first?” Jessalene asked.
“I was thinking we’d check a few of the nearby safe houses,” he said. “Just get a feel for it.”
“You don’t want to start at the missing one?” she asked.
“We’ll get there. Let’s check on the local ones first.”
She shrugged but didn’t argue. He could tell she didn’t agree, but he had reasons for doing it this way.
Magic could be responsible for cloaking that building. Or it simply could’ve been demolished by the state. They didn’t know how often these safe houses were checked and maintained by the clan. It could bet that they set them up fifty years ago and haven’t needed them since.
Long-lived Metas sometimes didn’t experience time the same way humans did, and forget that a lot can change.
The nearest safe house was only a few minutes by car. Jared found a spot and pulled over. “You two stay here,” he said. “I’ll check it out.”
“I’m coming.” Jessalene jumped out of the car before he could argue.
He sighed and looked at Cassie. “You stay,” he said. “Please. Someone has to be with the car in case we need to move.”
“I’m on it, boss,” she said, grinning. “Although I can’t really drive.”
“You can’t drive?”
“Well… I can. Just not good at it.” She beamed at him. “It’ll be okay, don’t worry.
He sighed and got out.
Jessalene was already up on the stoop of the house. It was a simple row home, nothing distinguishing on the outside. It was the mirror image of its neighbors, but it lacked window boxes for flowers or any sort of personal touch. Dark red door, facade in decent condition, though there were bars on the windows. That stood out just a bit in this area, though they were more common in other parts of the city.
“Looks empty,” she said, trying to peer into a window.
“You look like you’re trying to break in.”
“I am.” She walked up to the front.
“Wait.” Jared joined her.
“You got a spell for this?”
“No. I have a more manual way.” He took out his lock pick set and got to work. Jessalene stood and blocked for him, casting an angry glare at any pedestrians that looked for too long.
Eventually, he got the lock open. It took him a couple minutes. He turned the knob and the door creaked inward.
“Magic would’ve been easier,” Jessalene grumbled.
“Magic would’ve made me want to fuck you raw right here,” he said. “And we don’t have time for that.”
She blushed a little. “We could make time.”
He smiled and put his hand on the small of her back, kissed her neck, and then stepped into the safe house.
It was empty. He didn’t feel any auras nearby except for Jessalene’s, brushing against his skin. She did that when she was excited, forgot to keep her aura retracted. Jared kind of liked it, actually.
They went through the house. It was furnished about as sparsely as possible. Nothing was plugged in, but everything seemed like it was in working order and modern. The bedrooms had linens and there were clean towels in a closet. There was even soap and shampoo in the bathroom.
“It looks like this place is well kept,” he said as they stepped back out and closed the door behind them.
“Yeah, you’re right. Like someone stopped by and checked on it.”
“I’d guess someone related to the clan has a key and straightens up every once in a while.”
“So then that brings me back to the missing house.” She crossed her arms and tilted her head. “How did my mom not know it was gone if these places are checked up on?”
Jared had no answer for that.
“Okay,” he said. “You’re right. Let’s go check it out.”
She rolled her eyes. “Finally.”
“As much as I’d love to just go running out there guns blazing, we need to do a little investigating first. Stopping here gave us some valuable information.”
“Like what?”
“Like even if we go out to that address and find an empty lot like in the pictures, we know that your clan takes care of their safe houses…so it’s unlikely that it’s actually gone.”
“All right, fine. I hear your point.”
They got back into the car and Cassie looked at them. “Well?”
“Someone checks up on these places,” Jessalene said, filling her in. “So we’re going out to the missing place now.”
“Oh, fun.” She grinned at Jared. “Can I drive?”
“Absolutely not.” He put the car in gear and slipped into traffic.
Getting out to North Philly didn’t take too long. There was a little traffic around City Hall, but otherwise Broad Street was clear. They took that all the way up, past Temple University, an
d cut into the lower street numbers, right into the heart of Kensington. The neighborhoods got rougher, with more abandoned houses, more trash and debris on the street. These were the places the city forgot about, the places the city decided not to help out. Jared always hated coming out here, not because of the people or the crime, he could handle himself, but because it was such a stark reminder of the poverty still all around him.
And nobody gave a shit, so long as it stayed in its neighborhood.
He kept all that to himself. They pulled up to the block where the safe house was supposed to be. Jared drove past it and, just like he expected, there was nothing but an empty lot where the row home was supposed to be. The other houses looked decent, some of them well kept in fact. Each house had a red brick facade, though the doors were all different and most had bars on the lower street-level windows.
“You guys notice anything off?” Cassie asked.
“Aside from the missing house?” Jared shrugged. “Not really.” He took the car around the block and they parked at the far end. The lot was still visible, but they were far enough away from it that they wouldn’t be obvious.
“No, I mean, this neighborhood. It’s not exactly nice… but there are fewer abandoned houses.”
Jared frowned. “Now that you say it, yeah, that’s true.”
“And I haven’t seen any demolished homes in a while,” Jessalene added. “At least not for a few blocks.”
“Huh.” Jared tilted his head. “More evidence then. I’d bet anything your clan would choose a halfway decent neighborhood to stash their safe house.”
“Ferric’s here,” Jessalene said. “I know it.”
He looked back at her and frowned before turning to Cassie. “What do you think?”
“I think we should sit tight and watch for a while,” she said. “Unless there’s magic you can use to test it out?”
“There are some things I could do,” Jared said. “But I’m out of practice and it might alert Ferric. We don’t want him to know that we’re on to him.”
