by Sonya Clark
“And when the waiter you were seen slipping off with is unaccounted for, then what?” He balled his fists in frustration. “Gods damn it, the kid is real. He works for the caterer, that’s why we used him. I didn’t have time to set up a fake identity.”
“Can he identify the person that drugged him?”
“No, she was glamoured.”
“Is he at home?”
“Yes.”
The elevator beeped again. Lizzie slammed her palm against the edge of the door. “Get out. As soon as you’re clear, find a way to call 911 and report that you saw him drugged or something. I don’t know, think of something. Use one of the emergency phones at a subway station.”
That could work. The poor kid wouldn’t have any fun for a few days, but it would probably clear him. “What about you?”
Her features took on a look of fierce indignation. “I’m going to go back down to the party and demand to know why the hell my champagne and evening’s entertainment never showed up.”
Exhilaration consumed Vadim. He grabbed her, plunging his hands into her hair as he kissed her with reckless abandon. Heart pounding, his entire being on fire with an energy created by how she made him feel, he very nearly slipped up when their lips parted and said the wrong thing. The thing he couldn’t say but so very much wanted to. Instead, he said, “You are magnificent.”
“Damn right.” She pushed him into the elevator. “Now go.”
The door hissed shut as they stood smiling stupidly at each other. Within seconds he went to work, reaching into the building’s electrical grid to find the security system. He scrambled video surveillance as best he could, sending interference into the feeds and deleting footage from all the floors between the party and the badge office. Hopefully it would be enough to back up her cover story of the waiter never showing up.
The moment Vadim hit the street he traded one glamour for another and left the white waiter’s jacket in an alley behind the GSS building. He turned a corner, making his way quickly but as casually as possible to the closest subway. The single pulse of a siren broke across the cacophony of traffic. He glanced in the direction it came from. A patrol car and two unmarked police cars blocked the front entrance of GSS.
So the guard was awake. Hopefully Lizzie was already complaining about the missing waiter. Now for Vadim to do his part. Then the long wait to see her again and make sure she’d bluffed her way out of this mess without any trouble.
It was going to be a long night.
Chapter Twenty-Three
A cold dawn broke over New Corinth, golden light fracturing across the glass panels of high rises. Lizzie watched from a conference room on the twentieth floor of Galvan Security Systems, a cup of lukewarm coffee in one hand. She’d been questioned repeatedly by both GSS and police investigators. The experience had been tiresome but the only thing she’d worried about during it all was Vadim. Had he made it out safely? There’d been no talk of a captured Magic Born. She hoped that meant good news.
For now she waited for the police escort home she’d been promised. A throng of media lay in wait at all but one exit, the one blocked off by authorities to escort the city’s elite out of the building. She closed her eyes against the glare and leaned her head on the cool glass.
Magnificent, he’d called her. The memory of that moment and the blistering kiss they’d shared stirred her blood. It also raised the volume on her worry for his safety. She tapped the glass with the nails of her free hand, wishing for better coffee and Vadim to be standing so close she could feel the warmth of his body.
The city council would return to work in the middle of January. She expected the ordinance to be introduced quickly after that. How long a vote could be stalled was anyone’s guess. How far she could push back against Carger’s threats of exposure...that was something she didn’t want to think about yet. If Vadim was safe, then from the next moment they saw each other until the council reconvened, all she wanted was him. Carger, New Corinth, the rest of the world could go to hell. She wanted every moment she could get with Vadim Bazarov.
There was more to it than just him, and Lizzie was self-aware enough to know it. She’d been living in her own skin long enough to have a decent understanding of herself and when she wasn’t gripped tight in the fog of an anxiety attack, she recognized some hard truths. The reality of how the self-harm had been chipping away at her soul with every slap and punch and those first early slices with a razor blade. The loathing and confusion and a sort of survivor’s guilt that had birthed the need to punish herself. The toll it was taking to suppress a fundamental part of who she was.
Those were things she’d lived with for years. What was new and most shocking of all was the freedom she’d found with Vadim. The freedom to step outside the prison of ice she’d so carefully enclosed herself in, to explore the magic in her blood without fear. Without hating herself for wanting it so much. Surrendering to his blackmail by turning it into a business arrangement had given her permission to delve into magic in ways she’d only dreamed. Compared to the possible dangers inherent in that, indulging in her attraction to Vadim had seemed almost tame. But somehow with every kiss, every touch, he had written his name between the broken pieces of herself until she very nearly felt whole. Or at least, as whole as she’d ever be.
The thought of walking away from him stopped her breath and sent tendrils of cold snaking through her veins. But it wasn’t the familiar ice she’d cultivated over the years. This was a dark, alien sensation. Like losing something she didn’t even know she had.
“Councilwoman Marsden?”
Lizzie jerked her head up, tears swimming in her vision. She blinked and tried to discreetly wipe the drops away. Nate Perez stood behind her, reflected in the glass. “Detective Perez.” She turned to face him.
“It’s nice to see you again, Councilwoman. It’s been a while.”
“Yes, it has.” She stepped on the urge to blurt out a demand for information on Vadim.
“I’ve been tasked with escorting you home. Are you ready to go?”
Relief coursed through her tense muscles. Even if Perez didn’t know anything about Vadim, at least she was finally getting out of this damn place. The knowing look in his eyes and his slight smile told her he did have information and that it was good. “I’ve been ready. The wait has been interminable.” She headed for the door and the nearest elevator, not bothering to make sure he kept pace. She knew he would.
They didn’t speak again until in a department car. He raised a finger to indicate she should wait, then withdrew his cell phone and tapped the screen several times. Magic flowed from the device in a gentle, encompassing wave.
“We can talk now.” He started the car and eased out into traffic. “It’s an app to counteract any surveillance inside the vehicle. Just in case I’m being monitored.”
“Because they don’t know where your loyalties are?”
He snorted. “Because they do know where my loyalties are. It’s just gonna take a little time for them to go through the process of firing me and for me to do what I want to do.”
“You don’t seem upset, so I take it Vadim is okay?”
“Yep. Kept me up playing pool all night.” The detective glanced at her, a curious look on his face. “I’ll get you home. He’ll come to you as soon as he can. He needs to be seen in FreakTown. You understand?”
“I do.” She stared out the window at the curve of the highway overpass and the precipitous drop at its edge. “I haven’t heard anything about the badges. Have you?”
“The entire building was searched and nothing out of the ordinary was found.” He cut his eyes to her briefly, a small smile on his face. “Weird, huh?”
“Very.” For the first time in her life, Lizzie wished she knew other hidden Magic Born. If someone was in a position to hide the badge theft, they could prov
e incredibly useful. But it could just as easily be the company wanting to cover up the loss to protect their reputation and government contracts. There was no way to know for sure and no point in getting her hopes up. “I’m surprised the department allowed you to do this.”
“I’ve still got some friends.” He drove in silence for several minutes. “Look. We really don’t know each other and I don’t mean any disrespect.”
“This is going to be interesting.” She turned from the window to face him. “What’s on your mind, Detective? And please, don’t mince words.”
“Call me Nate. And believe me, I won’t.” He paused while exiting the highway, turning the car onto the slower, crowded streets of the University District. “Vadim is my friend. He’s a good friend. I may not have known him near as long as Calla has, but I think I know him pretty well.”
He seemed reluctant to continue. “What are you getting at?”
“That ordinance is going to pass. Everybody who knows about it knows that.”
“Yes.” She knew where he was headed and didn’t want to go there.
Nate jumped his gaze from the road to her and back. “This is going to hurt him. Bad.”
Lizzie said nothing. What was there to say?
He said, “I think it’s going to hurt you too.”
Some of that old ice would have been good right then but it was gone. She took shelter in staring out the window again.
“I just want you to think about what you’re doing. What you’d be giving up.”
That statement confused her. “Do you mean as in giving up my life and my citizenship? Or giving up him?”
“You’re the only one who can decide what you can’t live without. You figure that out, making a decision will be the easy part.”
“What’s the hard part?”
“The follow-through is a little tough. My father disowning me, refusing to let my mother speak to me. That was harder than I thought it would be.”
“What about walking away from your life? Your career, your home, everything?”
“That’s the thing. Calla is my everything.” They’d reached her street. He parked in front of her building.
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It is and it isn’t. I just know it’s the right decision for me. You have to make the right one for you.” He took a deep breath. “We’ll take care of him. It’ll be bad but we’ll make sure he gets through it.”
Who would make sure she got through it? She swallowed the bitter thought. “You’re very loyal.”
Nate shrugged. “He’s my friend.”
“I don’t want to hurt him.” Pain stabbed at her heart as she remembered the look on Vadim’s face the night she’d rejected him at his club.
“I can tell.” He gazed out the window, squinting in the morning light. “He knows it too. This isn’t your fault. None of it is. Not the ordinance, not what it’s going to mean to the people in FreakTown.” He shifted his gaze to her. “What it means for Vadim and for you.”
Lizzie was quiet for a moment as things swirled in her head. “You’re Normal. I know you’re not scared of us. Obviously, you’re not. Why?”
“You want to know the difference between me and people like Brice Jennings?” He shook his head, one hand lifting off the steering wheel in a helpless gesture. “I’ve been trying to figure that out myself. The only answer I can come up with is power.”
“What do you mean?” Jennings and his ilk, they were the ones who held all the power. Not just in New Corinth but everywhere.
“Money and influence will get you a hell of a lot. Magic, though. That’s on a whole different level. They don’t understand it so I guess they figure it needs to be controlled. What they don’t know is that’s not possible.”
“Seems to me they’ve got things pretty well under control.”
“Do they?” Nate smiled. “When I first moved here, I had no idea about magic. Now I see it everywhere. Not just in FreakTown. And not just because some kids decided to play pranks and put up spelled graffiti.”
“What do you see?” Intrigued, she wondered if she’d been missing things for years because of suppressing her own magic.
The police band squawked. Nate pressed a button on the touch screen in the center of the dash. A text message appeared, wanting to know his location. They really were keeping close tabs on him.
He said, “I gotta go. Time for more chauffeur duty for the disgraced detective.” He gave her a sardonic grin. “Just take a walk sometime. You’re a witch, you’ll feel it even before you see it.”
She rested her hand on the door release. “Thank you for the ride. And thank you for talking to me.”
“You’re welcome. Vadim will see you tonight. He said to tell you the regular place. I’m guessing you know what he means.”
“I do.” She exited the vehicle and watched him drive away.
She’d spent so little time in the apartment lately, the place felt strange. More like a hotel than a home. She turned on a ceiling fan to move the stale air, using the control panel on the wall. Then she pressed the button to turn it off.
Surely it was no different than manipulating the stereo at the house. She closed her eyes and shut out everything as best she could, all thought and worry and the discomfort of being in a place that used to feel like a sanctuary but no longer did. It took more time than she’d gotten used to, several minutes, but finally the now-familiar vibration of magic teased at her awareness.
Lizzie grabbed on to it. Something opened up inside, a well releasing a flood of energy and emotion. Warm and bright and alive, it felt as solid to her as the floor under her feet. She guided the energy to bend to her will. Brightness shone through her closed eyelids. The faint tic of the fan resumed, the air stirring.
She opened her eyes to see exactly what she wanted, expected to see. The fan rotated and her favorite floor lamp was on, the one by the couch where she liked to read. Satisfaction curled around her like a sleepy cat.
A shower, breakfast and good coffee put her in better spirits. The apartment still felt wrong, as if something was missing. She packed a small bag to take to the house and was reaching for her phone to call a cab when she thought of something Nate had said. It would be a long walk to Sheridan Village and while it had turned out to be a sunny day, winter cold kept a firm grip. Still, she had comfortable shoes, a warm coat, gloves and stocking cap to cover her ears against the brisk wind. Not to mention restless energy to spare despite the lack of sleep the night before.
Decision made, Lizzie gathered her things and left. With school on holiday break, the University District was quieter than usual. Students who hadn’t gone home lingered in the cafés. Last-minute shoppers ambled in and out of the boutiques, not yet desperate for the perfect gift. Uniformed officers patrolled every other block, it seemed. It was a heavier-than-usual police presence, even for this time of year.
Lizzie made her way through the district at a sedate pace. She divided her attention between staying on course and opening her senses, searching for magic. The first echo of it came to her from an alley across the street. Cops huddled in front of the brick wall in the alley, gesturing and talking excitedly. But not happily. Along with whatever was sending out a weakening pulse of magic, there came another thread. Something darker, unsettled.
The cops started looking around. Lizzie decided to keep going, stepping up her pace for a few blocks.
The wind had died down, which was why she noticed the crumpled paper coffee cup rolling along in the gutter. It should not have been moving, but there it was, tumbling end over end. She picked up the energy signature emanating from it without too much trouble. Bitter and oily, like coffee left to sit too long. Not exactly malicious, but a step or two up from mischievous. Definitely chaotic, which didn’t fit with what little she knew of the spells V
adim crafted. So what was this?
She stopped at a traffic light, edging toward the cup. Sent a kick of will its way. Instead of jumping forward as she’d intended, it pushed back with a lash of chaotic energy and rolled into the street.
The light changed, people around her surging forward. She let herself be carried along with the crowd another three blocks. A small park set back from the street proved an ideal place to collect her thoughts. She sat on a bench and tucked her bag close to her body, legs crossed and hands in her lap. The trees were winter-bare of leaves. A swing set was devoid of children, the metal poles covered in graffiti. A sensation of standing outside a room, knowing it would be full of noise and light once she entered, filled her.
There were things there, waiting to be noticed. She took a deep breath and looked around, opening herself to whatever magic came to her.
Trash that moved of its own accord. A constant, nervous skitter. The hum and crackle of electricity. Unceasing motion and the never-ending trail of energy it created. Below that, a deep, steady throb of solid power.
It was the city itself. New Corinth had a magic of its own. She didn’t understand exactly what all she was sensing, but she knew it was magic. It had a similar vibration but a higher pitch. And it wasn’t just the city. When she poked and prodded at that nervous skitter, it showed her things she already knew, but in a different way. Below the surface lurked an unease that suggested potential danger. As if the source of that energy was on the cusp of something big, something momentous. Lines of it spread out in a tentacled mess that covered the entire city, reaching through every avenue of communication, every interaction. A kind of magic formed by the people of New Corinth, their emotions and their psychic energy. She felt it like a live thing against her skin, bristling and angry and scared and threatening to boil over.
