by Devyn Jayse
“Yes, some want to get a necklace but were talked out of it for the obvious reasons. I think you’ve started a trend.”
“Wow, thanks for letting me know. I’ll let Dina she has to stop sleeping and just work all the time for me.” I laughed. “I’ve been trying to think of a way to make them a little more powerful but it might get me in trouble.”
“Yeah, you don’t want to get caught up in that. Next thing you know the SBI is investigating you. Have you heard from the agent since last time?”
“No, nothing.”
“That’s strange. Don’t you wonder what’s happening with the case?”
“No, it’s only been a week. I think it’s good that no one has passed by. It means no more girls are dead.”
“Maybe they haven’t found them yet. From what you’ve told me it sounded like the killer was escalating his activities.”
“Yes, but if he had, then I’m sure I would have heard from them.”
“Not necessarily. They only want to get you to save the live ones.”
I couldn’t argue with him, because he was right. The only reason the SBI needed my consultation for was reversing the rune marks. Without live samples, they had no use for my skills. The rational part of my brain knew I should feel a sense of relief but I was also disappointed.
The bell over the door jingled, announcing a visitor. A familiar face smiled at me, “Hello! Am I too early?”
“No, you’re right on time.” I told the head witch of Barcelona’s biggest coven as she stepped inside. “And I was just labeling the dragon scales for you. Would you like to pay now or after the event?”
“I’ll pay now.”
As I took care of her transaction, the door opened and more people streamed in. Mateu jumped up out of their way and lay in his customary spot. Witches, wizards, and a few shifters streamed inside. From what I overheard as I smiled and greeted people, most of them were there for the celebrity. I hoped our speaker didn’t have a big ego, it was going to be crushed tonight. For his sake, I hoped he was an engaging presenter or he wasn’t going to hold any of their attention.
Over the next half hour I checked the names of attendees off my list and walked them to their seats. I had set up a small table with drinks and light snacks and some of the witches grouped up there, exchanging news.
The second the celebrity walked in, everybody flocked to her. I glanced over at Mateu and he was chuckling to himself. Soon enough it was time to start and I encouraged people to take their seats.
The talk itself was full of interesting stories. The speaker managed to keep their attention. Whenever I looked at Mateu he was shaking his head. I don’t think he believed that the speaker was as well-versed on legends as much as he claimed to be.
The surprise came at the end, when it was time for the question-and-answer segment. Nearly everyone wanted to ask the speaker a question, and so it went over the normal fifteen minutes we scheduled for questions. I suspected it was because the celebrity asked a question of her own and everyone wanted to talk in front of her.
I waited behind the counter and answered questions when customers came to me. Many of them had submitted pre-orders that were prepaid. I had bagged them in advance to streamline the process. All I had to do was give each bag to the correct customer. It was the best way to deal with an event with that size, otherwise things would be too hectic.
A sense of pride surged through me as I looked around the room. Members of the different communities were engaged and appeared satisfied. I did this.
Fourteen
A few diehard fans of myths lingered behind to grill the speaker with more questions. I wondered if I should step in and save him. I strolled up to him and the three witches and overheard them talking about sources of power.
“What do you think of witches that try to enhance their powers? Do you think the SBI will start cracking down on them?” One of the witches asked.
“It depends on the means by which she’s trying to grow her power.” The speaker replied. “They have various divisions that watch out for unusual activity but due to limited staff members, they cannot monitor all activity that occurs. That’s why we have to continue to be a self-regulating community.”
“But wouldn’t that lead to corruption?”
“It depends on the type of people in the community. There’s good and bad everywhere and sometimes the more powerful take advantage of the less powerful, instead of protecting them. We can’t expect everyone to treat us the way we want but in an ideal environment people would abstain from using bad means for gain.”
Mateu spoke up, “Have you noticed any unusual activity?”
I shot him a sharp glance. He was looking at the young witch that had asked the question. When I caught his eye, he gave me a lazy smile in return.
“What do you mean?” The witch seemed surprised at his question.
“Well, you’ve been asking about the regulating methods against a witch gone power-mad. I’m just wondering if you’ve seen anything that made you ask these questions.”
“No,” she shook her head. “I was reading about old legends and they all seem to stem from someone that tried to amass great powers by using the people. Then the people rebel and the power-hungry evil guy is overthrown. Rinse. Repeat.”
Mateu laughed. “The circle shifts, it never breaks.”
The speaker added, “Yes, that’s usually how the trouble begins, greed and hunger for increased power. Then use the power to take advantage of people’s weaknesses and exploit them.”
“Have you heard of anyone latching on to humans in order to use their powers?” I asked.
“Humans? No, they would be needed in such a high quantity that it would be time-consuming and wasteful. Humans were generally used as pawns in supernatural history. Their role was disposable fodder.”
“Yes, I know sometimes that magic users or others in the community took advantage of humans. That’s why we help to regulate things.”
The speaker noted, “That’s correct.”
“So do you think if someone in our time went and took advantage of susceptible humans, using their untapped reservoir of magic in order to create something?”
I watched the speaker mull the over the question.
“If I had to wager a guess, I would look at the norse legends. There’s one obscure myth that ascertains that sleeping magic is the strongest magic due to its purity.”
“Purity?”
“Yes, that’s the closest translation. Utilization of magic from a dormant magician was believed to be the purest power as it wasn’t tainted by experience, usage, or behavior.”
“I’ve never heard that before.”
“Neither have I,” Mateu said.
“Well, it’s not really discussed or covered much anymore. There isn’t enough research. There is one legend about a little-known wizard that told about his desire to have the purest of all magic. Of course they killed him before he murdered too many people, but as an experiment it would have been interesting to know what came out of it.”
“There’s something I don’t understand,” another witch spoke up. We all turned to her. “If the wizard had taken pure magic and mixed it with his own, wouldn’t that result in impure magic rendering it useless?”
The speaker nodded. “Yes, that’s what one would assume. I would share your opinion however there has been alternate research conducted saying that it is possible to claim pure magic and isolate it from your own.”
“How?” I asked him.
He raised his shoulders. “Unfortunately, or should I say fortunately, those kinds of experiments were banned. Needless to say, that type of research was conducted much like the doctors in the past, under the guise of darkness and disapproval of the community.”
“How did they know to stop them?” The witch asked him.
The speaker studied her naive expression. “Because they usually left behind a field of bodies in their wake.”
The witch grimaced.
/> Mateu coughed. I looked at him and he raised an eyebrow.
I glanced over my shoulder. Adrian stood there with his usual frown. And judging from his stormy eyes, I was in trouble.
To his credit Adrian didn't say anything while the speaker and the young witches were there. Instead he waited until they and the traitorous gargoyle left the store before he showed his displeasure. “Why were you talking about the case?”
“I wasn't talking about the case.”
“I heard you.”
“I was asking him questions based upon what the witch was asking.”
“Do I need to remind you that this is a confidential case?”
I glared at him. “Did you hire me for consultation? That's what I'm doing I'm consulting. I had somebody with unusual expertise and I thought I would ask him the questions that I had on my mind.”
“You have one job. To unravel the runes that we show you.”
“How can I do that if you don’t find any of them until they’re dead?” I regretted my words as soon as they left my mouth. One of those deaths was my fault. He had found a live girl and I had let her down. It would be easy for him to throw it in my face. A heavy silence hung between us. I licked my lips. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”
“That’s alright.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Would you like to have dinner?”
“What? You want to go on a date?” I stared at him confused.
His expression instantly shifted into something I couldn’t identify. A telltale flush rose to my cheeks. He wasn’t asking me on a date. He was asking me to have dinner. He confirmed my thoughts with his next words.
“I’m hungry. Do you want to go eat dinner?” He clarified.
I was mortified, but hid it by pasting a wide grin on my face. “Yeah, sure, I was preparing all day for the event, I forgot to eat.”
“I’d like to hear about the event if you don’t mind, especially if you learned anything useful from that guy.”
“Sure, give me a minute to set things right and we can head out. We can go to Miguel’s, it’s right down the street.” I suggested over my shoulder as I grabbed items. “They have good food there.”
He waited for me to lock up everything and then we walked down the street to the supernatural hangout.
I wondered if I was making a big mistake.
Fifteen
I felt self-conscious walking into Miguel’s with Adrian by my side. I couldn’t help but feel that all eyes were on us, even though the rational part of my brain knew that only a few people looked at the entrance when we stepped in.
“Is it always this busy?” Adrian asked, eyeing the packed tables. There didn’t seem to be anywhere to sit.
“No,” I replied. I waved at Miguel who stood behind the bar. He raised a hand back at me and gave me a shrug. I interpreted that as good luck finding a table. I skimmed over the faces in the place. “Usually it’s just regulars, but I think more than half of the people that showed up for my event decided to eat here too.”
“It must be really good then.”
“It is, let’s hope we find a table.”
“There’s one over there,” Adrian pointed out the couple getting up from their seats. His height allowed him to see them. I barely reached his shoulder. We hurried to the table before anyone else could reach and claim it. The table was in the corner and the lightbulb above us wasn’t working. It gave our section dim lighting. That didn’t help make things feel less awkward. I took a seat as Adrian removed his suit jacket and slipped it over the back of his chair.
“So what’s good here?” Adrian asked me, crossing his arms and placing them on the surface of the table.
I couldn’t help but notice how the muscles bunched under his shirt. I looked away from him and back to the center of the pub. I raised a hand and tried to flag down a waitress. “Everything really. Miguel has an excellent cook. I usually have the burger though.”
“Oh.” Adrian’s eyebrows rose.
“What?”
“I thought you were a vegetarian.”
I frowned. “No, why would I be?”
He coughed. “You seem to be a little complicated.”
“What does that mean?”
“You don’t make things easy,” he raised his hands in a symbol of surrender.
“In what way?” I was genuinely curious. I know I had refused to go with him the first time but I didn’t think I was generally difficult.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about work.”
“We’re not talking about work. We’re talking about why you think I’m complicated and assumed I was a vegetarian.” I stared at him in bewilderment. “What has that got to do with work?”
“It’s just that your stubborn streak reminds me of my ex.”
I pushed down the feelings that bubbled to the surface. “You equate being stubborn to being a vegetarian?”
Before I could really start my argument and probably prove his point, the waitress showed up. She had bright purple hair, a heart shaped face and a smile on her face. I knew her as the one that changed her hair color every time I showed up at Miguel’s.
“Hi, my name is Greta, I’ll be your waitress for the night.” She handed us two sets of menus. “Can I get your drinks order?”
I glanced at Adrian but he waited for me to order first. “I’ll have a sparkling water.”
“I’ll have a beer,” Adrian said.
Greta gave us a nod and went away to fetch us our drinks.
I allowed myself to raise an eyebrow. “Off-duty?”
“Yes, for the night.”
“You don’t strike me as the beer kind.” I teased him.
“How about we agree that you don’t seem like the vegetarian kind and I don’t seem like the beer kind?”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Now, are you going to tell me why you passed by the store?”
Adrian let out a low chuckle. It did strange things to me, but I didn’t allow my expression to change. “You never let up, do you?”
“Well, what would you like to talk about? The only thing we have in common is the SBI.”
“I’m sure we can come up with more than that.”
The waitress brought our drinks to the table. She took our order, two burgers with everything. I took a long sip from my glass.
I looked up to find Adrian’s eyes watching me.
I smiled. “I found one thing in common. We like burgers.”
“We do.” A lazy grin stole over his face.
I realized at that moment I missed his frowns. He was less handsome with his frowns. His smiles were distracting.
“The reason I passed by the store was because I thought I’d ask if you thought of anything new. It’s been a while since our last discussion.” He raised his beer glass and took a sip. He placed the glass back on the table and said, “I didn’t expect to overhear you talking about the case with others.”
“Why don’t we just argue and get it over with?” I suggested.
I blinked when he burst into laughter. “What’s so funny?” That seemed to set him off some more. “Why are you laughing?” When he didn’t answer, I crossed my arms and waited for his laughter to subside but every time I looked at him he started up again. “Whatever it is you’re laughing at, it’s not that funny.”
“I’m sorry, I was thinking that in my head and when you said it I realized how ridiculous it sounded.”
“While no, I haven't learned anything we've been in touch with other divisions of the SBI worldwide and asked them to inform us if they knew anything. None of the other divisions have noticed similar deaths, so it looks like it’s isolated to our region so far.”
“I guess that’s good.” I winced. “Or bad. Whatever it is.”
“We did have a stroke of luck.”
“What’s that?” I took a sip of my water.
“We did manage to get in touch with an expert in runemarks. She’s kind of a big dea
l. Have you heard of Anne Berg?”
The drink went down my throat the wrong way and I started coughing. Adrian looked at me with concern. I grabbed a napkin and wiped my mouth. “I’m sorry,” I said, still coughing. “I think I need to learn how to drink again.”
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.” I patted my mouth. “It will go away.”
Adrian continued, “Well, I don’t know if you know her but she was the former director of the SBI. She’s considered one of the most brilliant minds of her generation. All of her children entered the SBI and they’re all doing quite well. Of course, they can’t compare to their mother but they’re still great at what they do.”
I chewed my lip. “Did she say anything useful?”
“Our correspondence was through her son. He said she’d get back to us as soon as she had a chance to look over the file.”
“Thats sounds good.”
Adrian picked up on the hesitation in my tone. “It’s great. You have no idea what an asset it will be to have her eyes on this. As soon as our Region Head catches wind of this, he’ll allocate us with more resources. I’m surprised you’ve never heard of her. I thought you did an intense study in runelore.”
“I don’t really keep track of SBI Directors.” I wasn’t being entirely truthful. I knew exactly who Anne Berg was. I just didn’t want to talk about her.
“In any case, we’re making little to no progress and I have to tell you it’s extremely frustrating. I’m not use to working cases where I don’t see results.”
It was an interesting insight to the inner workings of the agent.
Our burgers arrived and Adrian was stalled from talking more about Anne Berg. I bit into my burger with relish, closing my eyes to savor the taste. When I opened my eyes, Adrian was giving me an odd look. I wiped my mouth, “What? Something on my face?”
“No, you just looked really happy. It suits you. You should smile more.”
“Hasn’t anyone warned you not to say that to a woman? Seriously, you might get stabbed for that.”
“It’s true. I think this is the first time I’ve seen your smile. You’re always frowning.”
