by WB McKay
I hadn't even realized I was smiling. I smiled wider. If it weren't for the trouble with the Fleece, everything would have been perfect. "Just enjoying the view." I waved a hand with an exaggerated flourish next to his face. "It's intoxicating."
Owen gave me a goofy grin and swatted at my hand. "You're ridiculous."
"Yeah, but you love me," I said. I leaned over and gave him a kiss. His mouth was an inferno. And not in the fun, sexy way. "Ouch! You got that Indian-Mexican burrito again! You could have warned a girl." I fanned at my mouth.
His grin morphed from goofy to mischievous. He had so many different smiles. "But you're so cute when your face turns red."
I tossed a balled up napkin at him and took a bite of my creamy burrito to cool my mouth. We continued to flirt and talk about work until our food was gone. I couldn't remember another time when I'd ever felt so normal.
"Well, I should be off," said Owen. He scooped up our trash and dumped it. "I need to stop by my apartment and pick up a book."
I gave him the most skeptical look I could while still grinning like a lovesick fool. "Your lab already has all the books, Owen. I'm pretty sure it has some of them twice."
His answering look was half covetousness, half pride. "Not the books that are in my personal collection. They are too rare to trust to the protections at MOD."
Which meant that the security on his apartment was more intense. I guess that made sense for a dragon whose hoard was the books he kept in his bedroom. Many of them were about the fae themselves. He'd paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to collect them.
"All right, my book monster. I'm going to go back to the office and fill out my paperwork so Carol doesn't get in trouble tomorrow. I'll check in with you at your lab before I leave."
CHAPTER TWO
The paperwork was as boring and tedious as usual. Because I kept getting distracted by researching Mr. Supervillain, it took me a couple of hours to get it done. By the time I finished, Carol had left for the evening.
The door to Owen's research lab was closed and locked. It had happened enough times that he'd given me a key. I expected to find him wading through a pile of books hip deep, or sleeping on one. I unlocked the door and let myself in.
"Owen," I called. "Don't get scared and burn me to a crisp." Sneaking up on a dragon was never a good idea.
There were rooms packed with books and others set up like chemistry or engineering labs. Owen didn't just research dangerous objects, he tested new ways to locate them and how best to handle them. He'd taken an interest in improving every part of my job. In only a few short months he'd become indispensable to everyone at MOD.
I wound my way past the beat up old sofas and pristine white tables. He was rarely up front this late in the day. I poked my head in the different rooms, expecting to find him in the interlibrary system. The shelves were lined with books that were actually in libraries from all over, the way Volarus, the fae city, was actually in Faerie but taking up space in multiple places on Earth. It wasn't uncommon for it to take me several minutes to locate him.
When I checked my phone, it had been nearly twenty minutes. I'd texted him shortly after stepping into the lab, but there still hadn't been a response. That wasn't normal. Owen always responded to my texts. I hit the call button. It went straight to voicemail.
"When I find you, Owen Kinney, I'm going to bite you for making me worry."
I locked up the lab and went outside. It was only a few blocks to Owen's place, but I took Bliss. She roared down the streets in a way that appropriately expressed my displeasure.
"Hello Miss Morrigan," said Leo, the doorman at Olendra Suites. "What can I help you with?"
Leo was a dapper man who looked to be in his late forties, though with fae you could never tell. He smelled like leather and aftershave, which was partly his magic and partly his cologne. He was a sweetheart and always talked to Owen and I when we came in through the front door.
"Have you seen Owen?" I asked.
"No ma'am," he replied. "Not since he left for work this morning."
Now I was worried. Owen forgetting to check his phone or it dying were entirely possible, if unlike him, but that happening when he wasn't in either of the places he said he was going to be?
"Any chance you can let me in to check on him? He was supposed to come back here to pick up a book and return to work. That was almost three hours ago."
My face must have been pretty pitiful because I thought Leo considered it before shaking his head. "Sorry, Miss Morrigan. I know the two of you are dating, but unless it's recorded officially on his lease, I can't let you in without Mr. Kinney present." He pulled a small notepad out of his pocket and wrote a note and handed it to me. It had his name and phone number on it. "I'll tell him to give you a call if I see him. If it's not too much trouble, I'd appreciate it if you did the same."
I tucked the paper away and gave him a weak smile. "Don't worry too much. He usually has his nose buried in a book. I'll call you though."
The book thing was a distinct possibility, but my new theory was that something crazy had happened at his club, Smoke and Mirrors. A bunch of fae throwing their magic around all willy nilly was a recipe for disaster if you asked me, but Owen swore it was safe with all the enchantments on the building.
"I'm sure you're right. See you later, Miss Morrigan."
Bliss roared to life and I pointed her toward the trendy part of town. I'd been to Smoke and Mirrors quite a few times with Owen in the last couple months. He'd hired a manager so he didn't have to go in everyday, but he still checked in at least once a week. I went along for the check ins as long as food was provided. The restaurant inside the club had turned into quite a destination for amazing burgers since I'd chastised him for serving crap the first time I'd gone there.
My motorcycle was no match for the thumping music of the club, even from a block away.
It was barely past dark and the line to get in already wrapped around the corner. That wouldn't be a problem for me. I parked Bliss on the sidewalk next to the door and walked right up to the bouncer. "Hey Tim, have you seen Owen tonight?"
"Hey Sophie," said Tim, putting out a huge hand to stop the group of fauns that was about to walk in. They could have easily walked under his thick arm, but everyone knew better. "I just started my shift, so he could be in there. You want me to ask around?"
"Nah, I'll check for myself."
"Suit yourself. Have a good time." Tim smiled, opened the velvet rope, and gestured for me to enter. A round of groans sounded from the fauns. I'd already passed by, so couldn't see Tim's face, but his tone was enough to make me shiver. "You shut your mouths or you'll end up under the club and it'll take a lot more than smoke and mirrors to get you out again."
Tim was a sweetheart, but he didn't screw around when it came to doing his job. There were strict rules about how many fae of what kinds could be in the club. It probably had to do with the magic that kept things from getting homicidal inside.
While no one was likely to die at Smoke and Mirrors, it wasn't ever what anyone would call tame. The focal point of the club was the dance floor. It was always packed with fae of different species. Use of magic was encouraged, but none of it came out in its natural form. Instead of jets of flames, dragons would shoot bubbles, colored smoke, or jello. Sometimes the floor would bounce, other times you couldn't actually put your feet on it. I'd never put my magic to the test in the club. I didn't want to risk it. With my luck, my magic wail would make people's heads fill with brightly colored liquids and then explode.
I skirted the dance floor, heading toward the restaurant. A few of the regulars waved at me, including a group of female ogres. They were surprisingly graceful for their build, and incredibly sweet.
While the dance floor was the big draw of the club, it was no secret that Owen had recently put his focus into the restaurant. If he was in the building, the people at the restaurant would have seen him.
As usual, Danielle, the hostess, walked with e
ase on heels so tall it made my feet hurt just to look at them. She gave me a tight-lipped smile as I approached the velvet rope.
"Would you like to come in for a bite, Sophie?" she asked, somehow in control, servile, and alluring all at the same time. It was hard to tell if all of that was a function of her magic, or if it was just the strange personality of a great hostess.
I longed to step inside that velvet rope where I would be enveloped in protective magic that shielded diners from the noise of the club. I sneezed at the overwhelming aroma of the magic scents assaulting my nose. The restaurant filtered out those as well. "Not unless Owen is in there. Have you seen him?"
She shook her head. "I haven't seen him in a couple of days. Check with Colin. He's in Owen's office."
"I'll do that," I said, my guts clenching. If Owen wasn't here, something was wrong.
I walked to the back of the club and the nondescript door there with a sign labeled "staff only". I hadn't been in Owen's office since I'd run out of there when I'd stolen a book about The Morrigan from his apartment.
I knocked and a deep voice called for me to enter. Colin sat at a rich desk; it looked out of place in a dim office in the back of a club. "What can I do for you, Sophie?"
Colin was the manager that Owen had hired to run Smoke and Mirrors when he'd taken his job at MOD. He had dark skin and even darker eyes. His magic smelled like the forest, like moist earth and growing things. He always seemed much too serious for a club manager.
"Have you seen Owen tonight?" I asked.
"No," he said, scratching his chin. "I've called him a couple of times to talk budget and I've gone straight to voicemail. Is something wrong?"
"I'm not sure, but I'm getting worried," I replied. My eyes were glued on the blank wall across from the desk. It was a portal directly to Owen's bedroom. "He was supposed to stop by his apartment to get a book and then go back to MOD. He wasn't seen by his doorman. Is it possible he slipped through here without you seeing him?"
Colin shrugged. "I've been in and out, so it's possible. I haven't sensed his magic, though."
My eyes never turned away from the portal. "I'm going to come back in a while. I'd appreciate it if you would leave me alone in the office for a few minutes then."
Colin gave me a sly smile. He knew about the portal in the office. That meant he also knew that it was keyed to Owen so only he, or someone he was touching, could pass through. I had a way to cheat that part of the magic and it would be obvious to Colin, but if he didn't directly see it, he would have a lot of latitude if he was ever asked if there was a way through the portal without Owen. "Of course. I have some work I need to do at the bar for the next hour or so. You find the boss man."
"You can count on it."
The ride from Smoke and Mirrors in Volarus to my apartment at The Arbor was usually one of my favorite things. I knew the roads like the back of my hand and reveled in weaving Bliss through them at high speed. This time I barely paid attention. All I could think about was getting back to his apartment and yelling at him for being a clueless ass who got lost in his books. That was the only scenario I was willing to consider. It kept me moving, and moving was the only thing that kept me from having a panic attack.
I barged into my apartment without my usual knock on the door. I didn't care if I found Phoebe doing something indecent. I stomped into the bathroom, not caring that the shower was running.
Phoebe squawked and poked her head around the shower curtain. "What are you doing?"
If I hadn't been so distracted, I would have been amused that I'd managed to startle her. Her pranks had been the bane of my existence for the last seven years. "I just need Owen's hair," I explained, rooting around under the sink.
I pulled out a folded up paper towel and held it up for Phoebe to see. She shut off the water and stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. It was the most covered I'd ever seen her body.
"Why do you need Owen's hair?"
My phone buzzed and I pulled it out like it was on fire. Just a stupid junk email. "Owen is missing. He's not answering my texts or my calls." I fired off another message before sliding the phone back into my pocket. The words I'd been avoiding spilled from my lips. "I think something bad has happened."
"Have you tried calling the hospitals? That's a thing they do on TV."
Phoebe's experience with the outside world was rather limited in many ways, but she knew everything about TV. "I'll do that now."
While I looked up and called the medical centers in Volarus, I explained the situation to Phoebe. The whole time her forehead grew more and more wrinkled.
"So, you're going to take that chunk of hair and use it to walk right into his bedroom?" she asked.
"Yes. It's the last place I know that he was supposed to be going. I need to check there before I assume anything else has happened."
She bit her lip and gave me a look that immediately made me uncomfortable. "You know I like Owen, but this doesn't sound good."
"What do you mean?" Even I could hear the growl in my voice.
"Well, if this were an episode of Medical Heroes, you would be walking in on him cheating on you."
I turned on a heel and marched out of the bathroom. Phoebe followed, calling my name. I rounded on her, causing her to stop short. "That is not what is happening."
Medical Heroes was our favorite TV show. It was about a bunch of doctors who slept with each other more than they practiced medicine. Just about everyone on the show had cheated on someone at some point. To say that I hadn't already considered the possibility of Owen doing something he didn't want me to know about would have been a lie, but I really didn't believe it.
"Like I said, I like Owen, but you even told me that he was a bit of a… slut."
"He is not cheating on me." I stopped talking to her then because the Volarus Medical Center finally picked up and they confirmed that nobody matching Owen's description had been brought in this evening. "That doesn't mean anything," I said, responding to Phoebe's raised eyebrow. "Actually, it does mean something. It means that I'm wasting my time here. I need to get to his apartment."
"I don't want to be right," Phoebe said, gripping my shoulder and looking me in the eye. "But if I am, I'll help you get rid of the bodies."
It startled a laugh from me, but the look in her eyes was deadly serious. "You've been watching true crime shows again, haven't you?"
"Just Real Murder: The Suburbs. I'm pretty sure that bad traffic is the reason behind most of the murders in the suburbs. That, and cheating."
She chewed on her lip and looked sheepish, but her earnest offer to help me hide bodies had gotten me over my anger. Now all the talk of dead people was sending chills down my spine. What if he was dead?
No, I couldn't think like that. I just had to go to his apartment. I knew there would be answers when I got there. "I have to go. I appreciate the offer to deal with the bodies. I'll call you when I know more."
With that, I was on my way back to Smoke and Mirrors with Owen's hair tucked in my pocket. This time I very carefully focused on the potholes in the road and pushed Bliss as fast as I could while still keeping her upright. It was as much to keep my mind off of what was happening as it was to get me to Owen's place faster.
The drive came to an end in record time. Tim stepped aside as soon as I screeched to a halt a few feet away. He looked pale, so I imagined the look on my face was pretty severe. Either that or I didn't have a very good grip on my fear magic. Probably a little of both. It was something that I always had to keep a leash on, even on my best days. Today was not my best day.
True to his word, Colin wasn't in Owen's office when I came through the door, banging it into the wall. The wad of hair was gripped in my fist, so I could see a hazy oval outlined on the brick wall.
Worry immobilized me for several seconds. I had no idea what I was going to find on the other side of that portal, but my gut knew it wouldn't be good. I mentally prepared myself to find Owen lying in a pool o
f blood. As long as he was still alive, I could deal with that. There were a lot of good healers in Volarus, and Owen had both money and a job with the government. He had connections to get him the best healthcare possible. He'd be fine, just as soon as I found him.
I dialed up my control on my magic when my thoughts drifted to Owen rolling around in his bed with some other woman. I didn't want to kill anyone. I would be stronger than that. I'd probably set fire to his hoard. I wasn't a saint, but I wouldn't kill him and I definitely wouldn't kill the woman. It wasn't her fault that he was a cheating slut.
Or maybe he'd gone to pick up that book and wound up reading it instead. I was about to find him sitting on the floor, flipping through pages, too absorbed to even notice I'd entered his apartment. First I'd kiss him, then I'd kill him. The picture only calmed me for a fraction of a second before my mind fleeted to the idea of him hurt again. I couldn't make the idea that everything was fine stick; my gut wouldn't let it.
Prepared for what I'd randomly determined were the two most likely of the possible scenarios, I stepped through the portal, uncertain which one I would rather be true. Between one step and the next, I decided I'd rather he was cheating. As much as it would break my heart, I still didn't want to see Owen hurt. If he was cheating, I would still be in control of the situation. If he was hurt, I would have to hope that somebody else could heal him.
When I cleared the portal it took a while for me to realize that something was off. The room was still and quiet. I turned the corner, still hoping to find Owen asleep with a book on his face. No such luck. He wasn't there. A quick run through the rest of the apartment and I was certain that it was empty. I went back to his room and scanned for anything amiss. That's when I noticed a couple dozen empty spots on his most prized bookshelf. It was the same shelf that had held On Unseelie Fae and Life of the Phantom Queen, both of which were now gone.
Owen wasn't there, and there were a lot of books missing. I might have believed that he'd taken one or two out of his apartment to the lab, maybe. But not more than that. Not this many. They were too important to him. He didn't risk moving them around. Dragons were funny about their hoards. His books were gone, and so was Owen.
