by Maya Daniels
“Wow, I so did not expect that from such a fine establishment,” I drawled under my breath.
Stepping further inside, I tossed my bag on the bed and meandered to the bathroom seeing a small sink with a once-white counter against one wall, and a single stall shower opposite it lacking a curtain. The toilet was stuck in the corner, and it had orange stains marring the inside. Mold stains coated the ceiling, and puke green cracked tiles just tied it all together. Shaking my head, I turned the tap on, trying my best to wet my face and wash this horrible day off it.
It didn’t work, though.
Nervous energy clawed through me, and no matter how many deep breaths I took I couldn’t shake it. Feeling jittery as fuck never helped anyone stay under the radar. I had enough braincells left to know that much.
With nothing better left to do, I made my way back to the cringeworthy bed, stretching myself out across it while pretending not to notice the unidentifiable stains on the threadbare covers. My bag was moved to the floor, and I closed my eyes. A good nap would do me good.
That was the last thing I remembered before a pounding woke me, jolting me upright. Blinking a few times, I tried to make my mind focus. What was that pounding? Where the hell was I, and why was it so hard to unglue my eyelids?
I felt tired to my bone marrow.
Standing, I stumbled to the window, tugging the curtain back and glancing outside.
Darkness had fallen, and Pete stood outside the door, waiting. At the time, I didn’t find it strange that he looked much too calm for this shady neighborhood. Hurriedly, I grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open, not having to move far since it was right beside the window.
“Hey Pete, come on in.” I tried to be cheerful in greeting but failing miserably, gesturing for him to come inside with a sweep of my arm. “You weren’t lying, huh?”
“About what?” He cocked one eyebrow, shuffling inside with a large rectangular box perched on top of his palm.
“This place is definitely a dump.” I chuckled. “But also it means nobody would find me here.” Hell, nobody would ever think to look for me here, either. It was kind of perfect.
He ran a hand through his short blond hair, his dark brown eyes meeting mine. “Yeah, sorry. I had a feeling you would hate it, but—”
“No,” I cut him off, “it’s perfect for what I needed. So thank you.” I didn’t want him to think I was ungrateful, especially after all he had done for me.
Speaking of which …
I moved to my bugout bag, throwing it on the bed and shifting through the front pocket, grabbing his card. “Here. Take this before I forget to give it back to you.”
“Thanks, but you can keep it if you still need it,” he said, setting the box of what looked like pizza down. “I thought you might be hungry, and I brought something else I thought you might like. If you will just wait here a sec,” he added.
“Not going anywhere anytime soon.” I grinned, and when he turned his head to smile back at me, it lit up his whole face leaving me stunned for a second. Pete wasn’t a bad-looking guy, but there hadn’t been anything that really stood out as special about his physical appearance. Not until he smiled like that.
It made me look at him in a whole different light.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, my mouth watered from the scent of pizza filling the room, and I couldn’t help myself. I grabbed a piece and started shoving it in my mouth like a chipmunk.
“Mmmm,” I groaned, unable to stop myself.
“Busted,” Pete said, and I turned to look at him, my eyes falling to his side where a six-pack of Long Island Iced Tea was swinging from his fingers.
I lifted my chin, my neck stretching as I chewed and swallowed my bite like an emu gulping a whole pumpkin. It hurt like a bitch going down, and my eyes watering by the time I finished, but it was worth it. “Oh my God. Seriously? You brought them?”
He nodded, that smile back on his face. “Not only did I bring your favorite drink, I made them. Emptied out a six pack from the store, mixed the drinks, and refilled the empty bottles.”
I had no words. I’d never had a friend, let alone someone who would do something like this for me. A fist formed in my throat, and I swallowed hard, trying to dislodge it. Eventually, it went down, but the emotion fluttering through me was something I’d never really felt before. It wasn’t the same as when Elijah was around, especially since I had no urge to kick Pete in his family jewels. This was something different, but unfamiliar all the same.
“Thank you,” I rasped, my voice braking.
“You’re welcome, Brig.” He dug into the pizza, and I turned the old-fashioned looking TV on. Well I tried to turn it on, but after spitting at us a few times, it kind of died a sad death. We sat there in silence, eating pizza and drinking Long Island Iced Teas for hours. Not once did I think about Elijah finding me here. I felt safe.
Secure.
It was really nice.
“Well, I better take off. You gonna be okay here tonight?” he asked, raising to his feet.
I smiled up at him. “I am, Pete. Thank you again for everything.”
“I’ll be at the bar tomorrow night if you need anything, and you have my number, too. I texted it to you.”
Nodding, I realized I hadn’t even checked my phone in hours. “Perfect. I’m pretty sure I’ll have no reason to bother you more than I already have, but if the need is there, you’ll hear from me.” Standing, I walked up to him, wrapping my arms around him in a bear hug. “I appreciate you.”
He returned my hug, and warmth spread through me at the ease I felt from it. There was nothing sexual about it. If I had to describe how it made me feel I’d say it was a breath of fresh air for a man not to be making advances when alone with a woman the way we were. “You’re welcome, Brig. Anything else I can do, I’m just a phone call away.”
Releasing me, he inched toward the door. In some way, I wished he would stay. I could see myself curling up beside him and feeling calm enough to rest peacefully for a few hours, but that wasn’t what my life was destined to be.
I had things to do, and people to find.
Assholes to pummel to a pulp if they got in my face.
Who the hell needed Elijah Hawthorne to do that? Not me? Whether I could track magic or not, I could find Crystal. The city couldn’t be that big, could it?
Snatching my bugout bag, I yanked the zipper none too gently to open it. I could feign ignorance like a pro, but my nerves were shot to shit regardless. Rampaging through the things I had stuffed inside, I pulled out the pair of jeans, undies, and long-sleeved shirt so I could change. Peeling the rumpled clothes from my body, I busied my brain with productive thoughts.
Like how doing laundry was dumb and why they hadn’t invented disposable clothing that could be thrown away after one use like paper plates. Maybe that was my ticket to having an endless cash supply so I could change my identity whenever I wanted?
“Hmmm …” Tugging the shirt over my head and buttoning the jeans, I hummed under my breath, well aware what I was doing. It was the same song I always hummed, and I really wished I could figure out where I knew it from.
I gave the worn pile of stuff a cursory flick of my gaze, and with a grimace, I stuffed them in the bag. The idea of running and hiding had sounded awesome when it came, but now, not so much. If I didn’t want the nameless one to find me, I had to turn the game around on him.
The hunter would become the hunted.
He’d better watch his back, because I was making it my mission to learn all his secrets. Everyone had a weakness.
Everyone.
If I found what he didn’t want anyone to know about him, I could use it as leverage to stay out of the mage’s grasp, and to keep my head on my shoulders. And as I zipped up the bag and threw it over my shoulder, letting it flop heavily on my back, a small bud of hope started blooming in my chest.
Crystal.
The girl successfully disappeared while living her life right in front of her
father’s nose for a couple of years, which meant if I got to her before Elijah did, I could convince her to help me while I helped her in return. Two heads were better than one, right?
I could actually pull this off. Maybe. If she decided to join rank.
With a deep breath that I regretted the same second because of the stale stench that filled my nose, I hitched my bag higher over my shoulder, rushing to the door, yanking it open, and closing it with a bang behind me. My boots ricocheted on the pavement as I moved away from the shitty motel, my smile growing with each step. A symphony of loud horns from cars I pissed off when dashing in front of them followed me as I crossed the street, and by that time, my grin was so wide that my face hurt from it. Bouncing the bag further up my shoulder, I must’ve looked like a lunatic, but I didn’t care.
I had a solid plan.
The nameless one better watch his back.
9
Lost in thought, I walked aimlessly, unsure where to go. My bag was heavy on my back, but I didn’t mind, not when the evening’s darkness wrapped its soothing arms around me. The shadows welcomed me, called to me, but right then, I couldn’t answer. If I did, Elijah would be able to find me easier, and I wasn’t about to make anything easy for that asshole.
No thank you.
I needed to stay under the radar, and out of the tracker’s way completely.
My phone rang, so I fished it out of the pocket of my jeans, answering when I saw the Caller ID announced it was Hank.
“Hey, Hank. How’s it going?” I answered, meandering under a streetlamp with millions of tiny insects flocking to it.
“Going good, just wanted to check in with you and see how the search is going,” he said, anticipation clear in his voice.
He wanted the money. Oh, and believe you me, I did too.
Though things might have changed for me in that regard a little.
“It’s going. I found her, but she keeps slipping through my fingers. I’m sure we’ll be able to wrap this up soon enough though,” I told him, hoping that would placate him. Plus, it was mostly true too.
“Perfect. Well, I won’t keep you. Get back to work,” he said, and he hung up before I could even say goodbye.
Story of my life.
My thoughts took me back to Crystal.
If I were her, where might I go? Even though night had fallen, it wasn’t that late in the evening. My mind thought of local hangouts, going over places in the city that might be popular for a girl her age.
That’s when it hit me.
Library. The girl was studying Quantum Physics when she went into hiding. It might be a bit of a stab in the dark, but it was worth a try. Shrugging, I spun in the direction of the library, my feet smacking against the sidewalk as I moved as fast as I could without looking like I was running from something. It was a longshot, but I wasn’t able to track magic like other individuals I knew, so this was all I had.
The hike to the library went faster than I expected, and truth be told, my legs burned by the time I arrived. Seriously, who the hell liked exercising? Because it sure as hell wasn’t me, and I’d be the first one shouting stupid if there ever was a protest against it. Maybe I could organize one when I started selling one-use clothing.
Walking up the concrete stairway, I shouldered my way through the heavy double doors, immediately taking note of the older woman sitting behind the desk reading a book.
Rows upon endless rows of books met my eyes, my nose filling with the scent of ink and misty paper, but I didn’t think Crystal would be there. Modern day stuff didn’t seem like her jam. Studying Quantum Physics, she would want to learn about magic, and not from some fiction book. There were long banner-like signs hanging in various places above the lined bookshelves, but I couldn’t see anything that caught my eye. Meandering to the back, I noticed a door, so I peeked around it, finding a spacious room filled with long tables and high-back chairs. There was one person inside, sitting at a table in the middle of the room with large, hard-bound books scattered around her. The piles were stacked so high she would’ve been buried between them if I didn’t see the top of her head.
Bingo. That had to be her.
Inching forward, I kept an eye on her, but she didn’t even take notice of me. She was focused on the words in front of her, and as I got closer I finally saw the book she was reading was titled Occult Spells on Sigils.
Interesting.
That meant she’d never actually stopped studying, and that might end up being a very good thing for me.
Plopping down in the chair opposite her after depositing my bag on the ground with a heavy thud, the scraping sound it made against the hardwood floor had her eyes flying up and landing directly on my face. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she cleared her throat. “Can I help you with something?”
“I know you don’t recognize me, but I honestly hope that you can help me with many things. I think I can help you too, but the conversation is a tad too long to be had here.” I said, knowing that no matter how I handled this I was going to scare her. That was fine, as long as she didn’t run screaming.
She didn’t.
But she did scramble to her feet, her back slamming into the table behind her as she pulled her chair in front of her as if she was preparing herself to swing it at my head if I moved. “Who are you, and how do you know my name?”
“My name is Brigit, and we actually met last night,” I said, my tone calm and placating. “And you don’t remember, but if you give me a sec, I’ll take care of that for you.”
All the blood drained from her face, and her eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her skull. Not good. She was about to run, so I didn’t have much time.
Calling the shadows, they answered instantly, wrapping and swirling around me like long-lost friends. But I didn’t want them around me, so I sent them toward her, letting them coat her as I coaxed them to undo what they did last night. Bring back her memory, I whispered to them in my mind, and they responded, doing my bidding with only that little bit of effort.
Tucking them away after they’d finished their job I eyed her, waiting. I didn’t have to wait long. “You saved me!”
“That’s me,” I told her. “So you remember?”
She nodded, a slow bob of her head, and then she set the chair down and slid into it. “Wow. That made me dizzy.” Her unfocused eyes flicked to me. “You didn’t tell me your name.”
“Brigit.”
“It actually suits you.” A small smile played across her lips.
I chuckled. “If you say so, I’ll take your word for it.”
“The shadows. You used them. I saw it.” Her words were choppy, and I could tell she was in shock, but there was nothing to do but push forward.
“Yes, the mages wanted you,” I said, “which could be by the same person that had me hired to find you too. I didn’t know it when I heard the commotion last night or I never would’ve touched your memories.”
“My father wants me found again, doesn’t he?” she asked, her tone more monotone than anything else. I couldn’t blame her, not when I’d probably feel the exact same way if I did my best to stay out of their notice for as long as she had. There was always a back story, and Crystal was no different, I just had no time to hear it at the moment.
“Yes, he does. But he isn’t who you need to worry about. The people from last night want you, and I think they might want me, too. I was hoping you could teach me…” I trailed off, leaning back in my chair and staring her down.
“Teach you what? I don’t know anything,” she said, and I could tell that was something she’d said a lot in her life. Instinctual. The poor girl felt like she couldn’t tell anyone the truth, and probably for a good reason.
“How to hide in plain sight.” Sitting straighter, I planted my elbows on the table and leaned closer. “You’ve been missing for years, and nobody has found you until last night. I want to learn how to do that, because I don’t want anyone to find me.” Le
ast of all Elijah Hawthorne.
“I guess I have, huh?” She grinned, obviously proud of herself for that tiny fact. “Sure, I can teach you, but why are you telling me all this when you were hired to find me? I’m sure my dad offered to pay you handsomely.”
That he did, but did money matter when the Mage’s Guild were breathing down my neck? Not so much.
“Let’s just say the guys who are after me are people I want to avoid at all cost, money be damned. So, I thought if we worked together, maybe it would make it even harder to find us.” Pausing, I met her eyes. “What do you think?”
Silence surrounded us then, and I really had no idea what she was about to say, so I waited in anticipation, my heart beating so loud in my chest I was sure the lady at the front counter could hear it.
Finally, after what felt like forever, she pursed her lips. “Okay. I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” Crystal told me, giggling at what I assumed was her famous-movie quote. “But first, we need to get to my apartment. Think you can get me there without us being seen?”
“Of course I can. That’s easy enough with the shadows at my beck and call,” I told her, unsure why I was being so honest. Nobody knew about what I could do, and I liked it that way, but if Crystal was going to help me, she needed to know at least something.
“Let’s go, then,” she said, standing. Leaving the books right where they were, she slung a purse over her shoulder and stepped toward the exit, glancing back at me where I still sat. “You coming or what?”
Shaking my head, I hopped to my feet, slinging my own bag on my back. It was now or never. “Lead the way.”
As I rushed to catch up to her, it hit me.
I’d just used the shadows to bring Crystal’s memory back.
I used my magic.
Goddamn it. Hopefully Elijah missed that part.
I’d just made it easier for him to find me. That meant getting to Crystal’s apartment without being seen might not be as easy as I’d originally thought.
