by Devon Monk
“And now that we have a modicum of control over your father, there is, at least, some relief for you. If what he says is true, we’ll soon be able to find Sedra and deal with Jingo Jingo.
“I want you, Zayvion, and Shame to find the locator. Call as soon as you have it, and we will meet you before setting out to find Jingo. Everyone else, I’d like a moment with you to make sure we’re all up to date on everything that’s happened today.”
“Let’s go,” Zay said to me quietly.
“Wait,” I said. “Victor, I have a suggestion.”
“Yes?”
“I think we should utilize the Hounds.”
Zay’s breath caught on the exhale, like he couldn’t believe I was bringing this up.
“Really?” Victor said, not sounding at all interested in the idea. “How?”
“To hunt. The Hounds could be looking for Dane. Could have been looking for Sedra and Jingo Jingo all this time. That’s what Hounds do. We hunt. We track. And we stay out of trouble and keep our mouths shut. I don’t trust every Hound in this city, but there’s a good handful that I believe would do the job and keep it quiet.”
“We’ll discuss it,” he said.
And that was a no in maybe clothing.
“Come on,” Zay said.
I stood and walked out with Zay, Shame behind us.
Once we were through the door, I spoke. “I do not understand the unwillingness to get the Hounds involved in this. It doesn’t make any sense to be secretive just for the sake of being secretive. Hiring the Hounds would give the Authority twice the number of hands working to keep the city safe.”
“Well, when you are the Head of the Authority,” Shame said, “you can try to convince all the long-timers that getting more civilians involved in things that are way over their heads and way too dangerous is a good idea.”
“It shouldn’t take someone being the Head of the Authority to make people see logic.”
“It’s an old business, magic,” Shame said again. “It’s all about who’s above whom.”
“Is Sedra still the Head of the Authority?” I asked.
“Right now she is,” Zay answered. “And will continue to be unless she is unable to pick up the responsibilities again.”
“What if she can’t take on the responsibilities?” I asked. “Who steps up next?”
We’d made it to the door, and Zay pressed his thumb against the pad and pushed it open. More hallway.
Zay glanced at Shame. Shame shrugged. “Maybe my mum,” Shame said. “Maybe Victor. Makes sense to be someone from this area. Since we haven’t fucked it up completely yet, no one’s wiping the board clean, as it were.”
“You mean someone can come from outside the area and take over?”
“Sure,” Shame said. “But it’s a mix of things that would make that happen. See, Mikhail used Death magic when he was Head. Then Sedra took over Head, which was good because she used Life magic and we needed a change, right? Chances are Head will next go to either Blood or Faith—Mum or Victor—or maybe Flux, though I don’t think there’s been a Head who specializes in that discipline.”
“Joe in San Fran,” Zay said.
“Huh, that’s right. Okay, so there’s one Head who uses Flux. So it’s possible, though I don’t know the top Flux user in the area.”
We were almost at the outer door. “How does the change of leadership work?” I asked. “Election or something?”
“No. One of the Watch or Ward appoints someone.”
“I know I’ve missed out on some of the history classes and gone to self-defense and fighting studies instead, but I don’t remember hearing anything about Watch and Ward. Are they spells?”
Zay took that up. “They’re titles. We’re the local Authority of Portland. Every city with a well has at least a handful of Authority members living there to keep track of the well and magic being used. One of those people will be the Head of the Authority of their area. Portland has four wells and covers Battleground to Woodburn and the Coast Range to the Cascade Range. Over the Coast Range are other wells, other Authority members. Same with the rest of Oregon, the states, and the world. Every region has two overseers, a Watch and a Ward. The Northwest’s Watch is Bartholomew Wray, and his boss is the Ward Sam Arch.
“If they decided we weren’t doing our job, not only could either one of them replace Sedra as the Head of the Authority, but they could fire us all.”
“Fire? You mean Close?”
“Play with the bigs,” Shame said, “you gotta take the hits.”
“Yes,” Zay said. “I mean Closed. Though that would be a drastic move and would take a lot of manpower.”
“Not to mention grave diggers,” Shame said.
“What?”
We were at the door. Zay pressed his thumb into it.
Shame grinned at me. “Let’s just say that the day some out-of-town magic user decides I can’t use magic anymore, there’s only going to be one of us left standing at the end of the handshake.”
“I thought those were the rules,” I said. “Agree with the Authority, or lose your memories.”
“Sure those are the rules. No rule against me fighting them.”
“Actually,” Zay said, opening the door, “there is. Not that you’d pay any attention to it.”
“Tell me you wouldn’t fight it if they told you to step down, Jones,” he said.
Zay didn’t say anything, and Shame laughed. “That’s what I love most about you, my friend. That wee bit of larceny in your heart.”
Shame stepped through the door, and I followed.
It didn’t take us long to get through the parking area. “My car,” Shame said.
“I’ll drive,” Zay said.
“Not with those ribs. I haven’t had the shit kicked out of me today.”
“And I haven’t fought Allie’s father.”
“For five minutes,” Shame said. “Barely broke a sweat. I drive.”
Zay shook his head. “Fine.” We followed Shame to his car, and Zay reached out and caught up my right hand. I could tell he hurt, but it was tolerable pain. Moving, and having a goal in mind, seemed to help. It helped me too, just so long as I didn’t bump my shoulder or do any deep knee bends. The pain of what they had done to bind my dad hadn’t done anything more than make me feel like I’d been running hard.
We got into Shame’s car. I was surprised Zay took the backseat. I sat up front with Shame.
“So do you have keys to your dad’s condo?” Shame asked.
“No. And I think Violet changed all the locks. Let me give her a call and see if she’ll let me in.”
“Or we could ask Kevin,” Zay said.
“Why not Violet?” I asked.
“It would keep her one step removed from what we are doing. You know her. She’ll ask questions. I’d rather not risk having to give her the answers.”
I thought about it. It felt like I was breaking into my friend’s house. But since it was really Dad going back to his house, or me going back to my childhood home, I wondered if it qualified as breaking in.
Yes. Yes, it really did. If I had to choose between satisfying my moral conscience and keeping Violet and the baby she carried safe, I’d throw my morals under a bus.
“Okay,” I said. “Kevin.” I dug out my phone and dialed his number.
“Cooper,” Kevin’s voice said.
“Kevin, this is Allie. I need a key to the condo.”
He paused. “Why?”
“Victor wants me to retrieve one of my father’s possessions he left there, and I don’t want to get Violet mixed up in it.”
“Is there anyone with you who can confirm that?”
Wow, talk about suspicious. I handed the phone to Shame. “He wants someone to confirm I’m telling the truth.”
Shame grinned. “Don’t take it so personally, lass. He won’t believe me either.” He took the phone. “Kevin, my man, this is Shame. Victor sent me and Zay with her to get into the place. Really and tr
uly. A key would be nice, but we’ll pick the lock if we have to.” He paused. “Fine. Here’s Zay.”
I couldn’t hear what Kevin said. Shame handed the phone back to Zayvion.
“We need it to find Sedra,” Zay said. “Good. We’ll see you then.”
“Sweet hells. How come out of the three of us, he believes you?” I asked.
“I have a solid reputation.”
“Mr. Goodie Good back there.” Shame rolled his eyes. “Angel in dark clothing. Has the rules written on the inside of his eyelids and palms of his hands, just in case.”
I turned, glanced back at Zay.
With one arm stretched out over the back of the seat, he was watching the city go by. He had the look of a storm building in his eyes, but his lips were quirked up in a slight smile. He was used to Shame’s mouth. He radiated the extreme confidence of a man who didn’t care what other people thought about him. I’d seen the man kill. Goodie Good was one thing he was not.
“How’s Terric?” Zay said. “You two kiss and make up yet?”
Shame shut up.
Zayvion laughed. “Come on, Flynn. It’s a joke.”
“Fuck you, Jones.”
“Touchy. Something wrong I don’t know about?”
“Other than everyone thinks my Soul Complement is Terric and I have a freaking crystal stuck in my chest that makes it feel like he’s in the back of my head every damn second of the day? No, everything’s just rosy, thank you. Ass.”
“Does distance matter?” Zay asked.
“No. If I think about him, I know what he’s doing and what he’s feeling. It’s . . . wrong. That’s all.”
“Why?” Zay asked. “You’re friends. Let’s say you aren’t Soul Complements. Fine. You use magic and hunt like you’ve been doing it for years—which you have. Back before the attack—”
“Not listening,” Shame said.
“—you and he got along fine,” Zay said louder. “And now you can’t wait to be rid of him. You are missing out on an opportunity to work with someone who is a hell of a magic user and a decent person. He saved your life, Shame.”
“You weren’t there.”
“Allie was there. I know what she said is true. He saved your life. We’ve all been there, been the one to save the other. You and he and Allie saved my life; I’ve saved your life at least a dozen times—from your mother alone—and you’ve been there for Terric when he needed it. There is no score card. Let it go. Yesterday’s gone. We got today to worry about.”
“We got every damn thing to worry about,” Shame grumbled.
Zay shifted in the backseat. “That too.” He was still smiling, though. “And we aren’t going to have to worry about it for long. Kevin said he’d meet us in the parking garage under the condo.”
Shame got us there in short time, and then turned into the garage.
It had been a while since I’d been here. I knew Violet was having the place upgraded for security, both physical and magical, but the concrete garage looked just like it had always looked.
Shame parked and got out of the car to smoke. Zay and I stayed in the car. Before Shame took even two drags on his cigarette, Kevin was pulling up.
Shame held a hand up in greeting. Kevin parked. I don’t know what took him so long before getting out of the car.
“Kevin’s a good guy, right?” I asked Zay.
He glanced out the window. “Yes. Why?”
“He’s been really angry since the disks were stolen, and I just don’t want to be stupid and trust Violet’s safety with someone I shouldn’t. After Dane, and Jingo Jingo and Liddy, I’m a little jumpy.”
Zay inhaled, caught his breath when his ribs couldn’t take that much air, and exhaled. “I’ll talk to him.”
“No, you don’t—” But he was already out of the car and striding over to Kevin. He said something to Shame, who looked over at me, then back at Zay, and nodded.
Zay and Kevin walked off toward Kevin’s car, which was parked across the parkade from us.
“Good lord, Jones,” I muttered. “If you shake down every person in this town I don’t trust, you’ll be at it for years.” I got out of the car and strolled over to Shame, who stood a few feet away. “Really? Is he going to be that twitchy about what I say?”
“Dunno. What’d you say?”
“I wondered if Kevin was trustworthy.”
“Huh. Looks like we’re going to find out.” He nodded toward Zay.
Zay had a knife in his hand. He cut Kevin’s finger and his own. I smelled the sweet cherry scent of Blood magic. Truth spell.
It took a half minute. I couldn’t hear what they said through the Mute Zay cast. At the end of the conversation they shook hands.
Zay broke the Truth spell, and both he and Kevin walked back to us.
“Don’t trust me?” Kevin said.
“Should I?”
“Ask your man.” He smiled and dropped the key to the condo in my palm. “See you around, Flynn. Say hello to your mother for me.”
“You ought to come by and tell her yourself, you lazy codger. She’ll put you to work.”
“Why do you think I haven’t been by?” He walked off. “Be careful. All of you.”
“I owe you a beer, Cooper,” Zay said.
Kevin paused before getting into his car and gave Zay a grin. He looked good when he smiled. A lot less like someone who could disappear in a crowd of three. “Maybe after the storm passes.” Then he shut the door and drove away.
“Is that some kind of code?” I asked.
“What?”
“You and Kevin.”
He shrugged. “Yes. It’s code for I owe him a beer. Has anyone told you how suspicious you are?”
“Yes. What did you ask him? The Truth spell?”
“If he was betraying the Authority rules in any way.”
Shame whistled low. “Good thing you’re friends, Z.”
“Is he?” I asked.
“No.”
“I also asked him if he had Violet’s health and well-being in mind. He said yes to that too.”
“Blood don’t lie,” Shame said.
And that was true. It was impossible to lie blood-to-blood under a Truth spell. “Good.” It made me feel a hell of a lot better knowing Kevin really was looking after Violet. “Thank you.”
Zay started walking toward the elevator. “That’s what I’m here for.”
“Interrogating people?”
“Yes, but I like to think of it as keeping people safe.”
“You should have gone into law enforcement,” I teased.
“Thought about it.”
Shame, behind me, scoffed. “Thought about it—he enrolled. Was going to be a cop. Had the classes lined up, put the money aside for it. Had interdepartmental character references. Everything.”
“So why didn’t you do it?” I asked.
“I had other responsibilities.”
“The Authority?”
“Keeping the city safe in a way the police can’t.”
So, yeah, the Authority. I wondered if they’d made him choose between becoming a police officer and keeping his memories of the Authority. Or maybe between that and becoming the guardian of the gate.
I slid the key into the elevator lock, and Zayvion pressed the button. The door opened wide. “You ready for this?” he asked.
“We could take the stairs,” I hedged.
“There are no stairs.” He waited, watching me.
Me, I just stood there and broke out in a sweat. I’d been in a lot of elevators lately. I’d done a hell of a lot of things to confront my claustrophobia. But nothing made it better. Every time an elevator door opened, I just wanted to run for the hills.
“I don’t think . . . I don’t think I can.” I took a step. Go, me.
Well, except it was a step backward. Oops.
Zay stood in front of me, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me.
No matter how long we had been together, his touch sent electricity
riding my nerves. Heat washed over my skin in luscious waves, and the world melted away.
He opened my mouth with his tongue, and I shivered as he explored me. He tasted of whiskey and coffee. I scraped my teeth over his bottom lip, catching hold for a sweet moment, before I slid my tongue slowly back into his mouth, savoring the texture and taste of him. A second wave of heat uncoiled beneath my skin as his pleasure rolled through me, through us.
He stepped backward and, like a dancer, I followed, thinking of nothing more than keeping my body with his, moving with him, touching him, having him in every pleasurable way I could imagine.
Then there was a wall at his back, which was fine by me. It meant he couldn’t move away any more, and I could press against him and use my one free hand to pull that beanie of his off his head so I could rub my fingertips over the tight, silky curls of his hair.
The arm sling was uncomfortable and in my way. I leaned back a little so maybe I could ditch the thing, but his hands on my hips pulled me closer and held me against his hips, and I did not care about the sling anymore. He sank down a little, bracing against the wall so I could lean against him without having to use my injured arm for support, while he drew his palm up my butt, my back, and the back of my head, holding me as close as two people can get. With their clothes on anyway.
“Enough with the snogging,” Shame said. “We’re there. And me without a camera.”
I lifted my mouth from Zay’s, looked into his eyes. I had completely forgotten Shame was with us.
“Mmm,” he said with a slight smile. He’d forgotten Shame was there too.
“Out already,” Shame said. “Or at least wait to get naked until I make sure the security camera is rolling.”
Security camera? I pulled back a little more and realized we were in the elevator.
“Um,” I said. “Right.”
Zay tucked my hair behind my right ear, that soft, sweet gesture I was falling in love with, his lips curved in a sly smile. “So there’s that,” he said.
Neither of us was thinking about security cameras or what we’d come here for. That man undid me. And from the look in his eyes, I did him some damage too.
