by Ashley Meira
Our bond was stronger than blood, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t suplex her out the window.
“You’re about to be killed,” Adrienne said before sipping her cappuccino.
“She can’t pay the bills on her own.” Fiona shrugged. “Speaking of money. Roger called earlier. Said he had a job for you.”
“I’m surprised,” Ollie said. He placed Adam’s food in front of him. I drooled at the delicious smell of beef wafting from his plate, but quickly ignored it as Ollie slid a bowlful of mac and cheese under my nose. “Figured he wouldn’t want to interfere with any work you’re doing for Adam.”
Even though Adrienne and Ollie were my closest friends — apart from my sister — they didn’t know I was Fireborn, or even that I had magic. Adam knew I didn’t want anyone to know, so we’d been saying I was on retainer doing work for him.
I felt guilty about hiding this from them, but I didn’t regret doing it. Harboring a Fireborn carried as severe a sentence as being one. It was bad enough my sister was at risk for standing by me; I didn’t want my friends to be in danger as well.
I also didn’t want to see the rejection in their eyes when they found out what I was.
Possible rejection, I forced myself to remember as I said, “What was the job?”
“Don’t know,” Fiona said.
“Time sensitive?” If the job was still available, I could drop by the Guild and take it. I might have told my friends Adam had me on retainer, but I’d told Roger I felt burnt out and needed to cut back on my work a bit. Otherwise, Adam would’ve actually had to pay for all the time we spent together. He’d have done it, too. Quite easily. But he was already taking time out of his busy schedule to train me — I didn’t want to take his money on top of that.
I still had bills to pay, though. Training with Adam hadn’t left me much time for anything else, so I was relying on my savings more than ever. That’s why I’d jumped on this job from Symeon. The pay would be a huge help until I could get back to working full time.
“Don’t know that either. He called around two hours ago, though. Might be too late,” she said. “I’d have asked if I knew when you were coming back. But you seem to have forgotten how to pick up the phone these days,” she added coyly. “Too distracted by your boyfriend to call your sister, huh? Am I going to have to fight you for her, Pierce?”
“Eat your pie,” I warned him.
Adam grinned and rested his arm across the back of my seat. “Or what?”
Ollie slammed a cup down next to me, coffee sloshing over the edge.
“Or, apparently, Ollie will kill you,” I said slowly. “Thank you for my latte…. I think.”
“Sorry.” Ollie frowned at the mess. “My parents called.”
“I thought you liked your parents?” Adrienne asked.
“I do.” He sighed, running a hand through his sandy brown hair. The taste of spiced cider prickled my tongue. Ollie’s magic was moving with that nervous energy I noticed people had after disagreements with their parents. Sadly, I couldn’t relate. “But not when my mom fusses over the fact that I don’t have a healer’s license.”
Ollie’s mother was a green witch — apparently a very accomplished one in their home of Goliki, a magical village in Croatia. Green witches were naturally gifted potion makers, but they need a healer’s license to sell any of their wares. Ollie claimed he didn’t have time to get certified since he only had one other person working at the cafe — and she couldn’t take over full time — but I was pretty sure it had more to do with how expensive the certification course was.
It was a shame. If Ollie had a license, he could add magical effects to his products and make more money. I wanted to help, but there was no way he’d accept any money from me.
“And my dad tries to take my attention off things,” he continued. “Which is great, but not when I’m in the middle of a shift and he’s talking about Fireborn—”
I stiffened. “What?”
“Fireborn. Those dragon mages—” he shrugged “—or whatever. My dad finds them fascinating.”
“Certainly,” Adrienne said dryly. “From afar. Like a golden tiger — not something you want to get close to.”
“We’ve known each other for three years.” Fiona’s voice was calm, but her thin fingers dug into her coffee cup. “How come you never told us your dad was into that stuff?”
“What? It’s just a hobby,” Ollie said. “It’s not like he’s harboring any of them or something like that. He just thinks they’re an interesting part of our society. Which is fine unless I’m trying to work while he chats my ear off.” He sighed. “I love my parents, but they can be a handful.”
I sipped my latte while trying to keep my heart rate steady. Apart from Adrienne’s comment, there didn’t seem to be any hatred for Fireborns coming from them. Of course, no one seemed particularly hateful toward tigers until they met one head on. I’d know. So would Adam, whose face proved harder to read than ever before.
“Well, I’d keep that stuff under your hat.” I tried to sound casual, but it came out a disgruntled murmur. “I hear Inquisitors aren’t nice to people they perceive as being a Fireborn sympathizer.”
“We don’t get a lot of government officials here,” Ollie said, unbothered. “Most of those guys hang out at Crystarium. Unless Adam wants to arrest me,” he added with a grin. “Not gonna cuff me for saying the F word, are you?”
Adam glanced at me as I turned to check his still unreadable expression. “Actually—”
A bell chimed, signaling the arrival of a new customer. Sandra walked in, her usual pastel outfit replaced by a black dress. Sandra was Jeffery Corbin’s girlfriend — and Jeffery Corbin was an insufferable, high society douche who had a way of annoying everyone he spoke to. Sandra usually exuded peppiness from every pore and wore a friendly, down-to-earth smile. Today, she looked like the world’s saddest Barbie doll.
“Whoa,” Ollie rushed to her. “Are you okay?”
She looked at him, her blue eyes wide and watery. A squeak escaped her lips before she crumbled against Ollie in a sobbing mess.
Ollie led her to our table as Adrienne pulled over another chair. She patted Sandra’s hair while the other woman cried, humming softly as she did so. Nereids had the ability to calm people with their song, and I noticed everyone sag in their seats as Adrienne hummed.
“Thanks.” Sandra sniffled, reaching for a napkin to dab her eyes. “Sorry about this. My aunt died a few days ago, and I’m still not—” Her words trailed off into high pitched squeaks. “I miss her so much.”
Ollie grabbed my hand and placed it on Sandra’s shoulder before rushing into the kitchen. I patted her back awkwardly while she trembled like a leaf in a hurricane.
“You two were close?” Fiona asked.
She nodded. “She helped me navigate high society after mom married Arthur.” Arthur was her stepfather and a member of the magical elite. Before the marriage, Sandra and her mother had been as middle class as the rest of us. “She was so— so—”
Ollie came back as she started crying again, a cup of what smelled like hot cocoa in hand. “I’m sorry, hun.”
I leaned toward Adam and whispered, “Is that why you gave me a day off three days ago?”
“Yeah,” he said softy. “Phylis was a big donor to Damien’s gallery. He wanted to pay his respects.”
“I just came by to pick up some cake,” Sandra said through her sniffling. “A lot of cake, actually.”
Ollie nodded and went to fill her order.
“Oh, Adrienne.” Sandra took her hand. “My aunt left me something in her will. I was hoping you could appraise it.”
Adrienne ran an antique shop. She specialized in artifacts with inert magic — harmless but rare — and enchanted items used for a variety of things, like swords that came back to you with a wave of your finger.
“Of course. Anything you need,” Adrienne said softly. “What is it?”
“A necklace. Very pretty — and v
ery old,” she said.
“Phylis didn’t have it appraised?” Adam asked. “That doesn’t sound like her.”
“She said it was a priceless heirloom.” Sandra gave Ollie a weak smile when he returned with four cake boxes. “I don’t want to sell it or anything. Something about it just weirds me out. It’s beautiful, but…. I don’t know. Gut feeling, I guess.”
“Is it magical?” Adrienne asked.
“Yeah, but aunty said it’s been inert ever since it came into the family hundreds of years ago.”
“I see,” Adrienne murmured. “Well, as long as it’s inert, it shouldn’t be dangerous. Bring it by the shop when you have time.”
“Okay, thanks. All of you,” she said before standing up and exiting the cafe.
“Business is booming,” I said. For one of us, anyway.
“I’m not going to charge her for it,” Adrienne said. “Poor thing has been through enough lately.”
“Yeah,” Fiona said. “Just like Ollie will if Sophia learns one of those boxes had a key lime pie.”
I whipped around to look at him, eyes wide. “The betrayal.”
“There were no pies!” He glared at Fiona. “Stop causing trouble. You know how she is about her food.”
Adam chuckled and pulled me back before I could grab anyone. His arms were warm around my middle. “Haven’t you had enough fighting for one day?”
I scowled to cover my smile. His breath against my cheek was all kinds of trouble. I jumped at the vibration that shot through me, which made him pull me closer. It took me a second to realize I’d gotten a text message. I glared at the four grinning faces around me. “Stop smiling, or no one will find your bodies.”
“Challenge accepted,” Adam breathed into my ear.
That’s it. I was upping my water magic game and drowning him.
“You guys are the cutest,” Fiona crooned, pulling her phone out. “Be nicer to him— Holy shit.”
“What?” Ollie asked.
Fiona looked at me, all color gone from her face. “Did you get a message from the Guild?”
“I didn’t check,” I told her, unlocking my phone. “Oh no.”
I stared at the screen for a long moment, not wanting to believe my eyes.
Someone had been murdered.
Chapter Three
“This is bullshit!”
“Crap,” Fiona muttered. “It’s already starting.”
“What do you expect?” I asked her. “She may not have been a mercenary, but she was one of us.”
The majority of the Guild’s members were gathered in the parking lot outside our office. Most of them were pissed. Some were confused. Others were sad. Tommy, one of our top-ranked telekinetic mages, looked like he was about to throw up.
In front of her white SUV, laying in the middle of our circle, was Elizabeth, the Guild secretary. Her normally immaculate auburn hair was splayed around her like a halo. A dark blue pantsuit covered her body. It was littered with wrinkles, so far removed from her usual pristine appearance. The moonlight made her porcelain skin look even paler, drawing further attention to the dark purple bruises around her thin neck.
Stepping back, I bumped into Adam who was standing behind me. He placed a hand on my shoulder. I couldn’t resist. I turned and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his chest. For someone who claimed to want distance from this man, I had a terrible habit of clinging to him. It wasn’t fair to lead him on. I needed to stop.
I looked back at Elizabeth’s broken body. I’d stop tomorrow.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, holding me tight. “I met her when I came to hire you. The secretary, right?”
I nodded.
“Were you two close?”
“No,” I said. “We barely spoke. But she didn’t deserve this.”
“No shit, Sinclair,” Rosie said. Standing at over six five with enough muscles for three people, Rosie was a model orc — with the temper to match. “What are you trying to say?”
“Back off, Rosie,” Fiona said. “She’s upset. We all are.”
“Damn straight—”
“Enough,” Roger stepped forward, looking ten years older. “Mr. Pierce, it’s a pleasure to see you again. However, as you can see, we’re closed right now. Perhaps you could come back tomorrow?”
“I’m with Sophia,” Adam said, causing everyone to look at me.
I shrunk under their scrutiny and wished I was Elizabeth. “Yes, he is.”
“I see,” Roger said slowly before addressing the crowd. “It’s been too long, guys. I need to call the Council and report her death. None of you disturb the body until they send someone.”
His statement drew outrage from everyone, myself included. Not only did I not want anyone from the Council near me, but I didn’t trust them to solve Elizabeth’s death. Like I’d said, she was one of us.
I forced myself to focus. The Council’s agents might be handling the investigation, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t snoop around on my own. While everyone was busy arguing, I slipped closer to Elizabeth’s body. Not enough for Roger to blow his lid, but enough to pick up some details.
There were two security cameras in this section of the parking lot, but I knew this was a blind spot. If Elizabeth had a smaller car, there might’ve been something to work with. She’d been strangled — the finger-shaped bruises around her neck made that clear. Lighter bruising around her wrists and the state of her clothes revealed she’d struggled with her attacker. Elizabeth was a small woman, and a dark parking lot like this made sneaking up on someone easy.
Yet, she’d managed to fight back. Did that mean her attacker was similar in build? Maybe she knew him, and they were speaking? It was possible she was attacked while it was still light out…. No, someone would have found her much sooner if that were the case.
Another thing that bothered me was the cause of death. Seeing someone strangled was unpleasant on its own, but in a magical community, it was strange. Magic was the usual weapon of choice, but it was trackable. Why not a poison instead? Those were harder to trace. Swords and guns were another option. Strangling felt unorthodox. Heat of the moment? Maybe they hadn’t meant to kill her.
The Mercenary Guild had a lot of mages, so it was hard to separate the familiar from the new. But if a mage was behind this, I might be able to find a trace of their magic. I edged closer to the body, kneeling when I couldn’t go farther without arousing suspicion. I buried my face into my knees in a not-so-insincere show of grief, and tried to find a foreign source of magic.
A shiver ran through me. I looked up, wide-eyed. Fireborns weren’t affected by temperature the way normal people were. A frozen lake felt a little less than tepid and lava was a relaxing bath. I’d never encountered anything that made me feel physically cold.
Until now.
It was just a glance, a soft breeze that left as quickly as it came, but it was there. I licked my lips, trying to place the taste. It was like frost or ice, something cold and hollow. The faint scent of lilacs tickled my nose. There was magic here, but it didn’t belong to a person. It was different — an item. Could this have been a robbery?
“Is anything missing?” I asked.
“Doesn’t seem like it,” David, an ice mage, said. “But we can’t be sure.”
“When did she—” Fiona swallowed hard, unable to tear her eyes away from the body. “When was she found?”
“About twenty minutes ago,” Tommy said in a hoarse whisper. He looked even sicker than before. “We were supposed to have dinner two hours ago, but I pushed it back so I could do a job. Wanted to afford something nice for her. She changed our date to after dinner drinks and went to eat with a friend instead. I came out to meet her and saw…. She was still warm.”
Fiona patted his shoulder as he turned away, his shoulders trembling.
She hadn’t been dead long, then. I tried to follow the strange, cold magic around her, but the trail died off immediately. That was odd. Could someone be blocking it? But
then I’d sense their magic instead. None of this made sense.
“The Council is sending an agent,” Roger said, pocketing his phone. He held a hand up at the rising protests. “Enough. You don’t think I’m pissed? She’s a civilian. There are laws. The Council is handling this investigation. If you want to go after the killer, fine. But I can’t let you interfere with the Council’s work.”
“Are they going to send Inquisitors?” I asked. Because screw Adam not wanting to fly, I was making him take off tonight if Inquisitors were coming.
“Depends,” Roger said. “The Council sends an agent first to assess the situation and order reinforcements accordingly. Regardless, we are to give whoever the Council sends our full cooperation,” he said firmly. “Is that clear?”
There were grumbles of consent, but most of the mercenaries remained silent.
“All right, guys,” he said. “Clear the area. Take tonight off. Go home or wherever.”
That drew as much enthusiasm as his last statement, but soon the crowd dispersed. Tommy lingered behind, his watery eyes never leaving Elizabeth’s body. It wasn’t until Roger told him he could visit her at the morgue later that he began to move, leaning on David for support.
Eyeballing Elizabeth’s pockets, I inched closer. Roger saw me and opened his mouth to tell me off. I let out an exaggerated sniffle as I angled my body to cover her torso. I slid my hand into her pocket, my fingers glancing off something hard.
“Goodbye,” I whispered loudly enough for Roger to hear as I slipped the item out of her jacket and into my palm.
Adam was waiting for me with open arms. I threw myself at him with another exaggerated sniffle. Roger seemed to buy my act, because he relaxed and looked away from me. Crying was a good way to scare off guys, I’d learned.
Except for Adam, who called me out on my dramatics the moment we were back in his car.
“What do you mean?” I said. “Couldn’t I just be sad about Elizabeth? She was a nice person.”
“Of course you can,” he said. “One question: what’s her last name?”
