I straightened my glasses, turned toward the bartender, and forced a smile. “Could I have a water, please, Tori?”
Her mouth hung open, and her gaze darted between me and Zylas. Pulling herself together, she flashed a grin that caught me off guard, then plunked a glass on the counter. Zylas held Darren against the bar, still as a statue and probably bored out of his mind. Pinning people down wasn’t nearly violent enough to entertain him.
One more minute, I told him. Then—
His head jerked up.
Like a startled herd of deer, every nearby mythic jumped away. What was he doing?
Back in the infernus! I commanded urgently.
Crimson light rushed across him, softening his form, and the power swept into my infernus. As he disappeared, I tucked the pendant away and glanced around, hoping no one would question the way my demon had suddenly looked up. Darren stumbled away from the bar, rubbing his bruised throat.
I peeked in the direction Zylas had looked.
Three men stood at the end of the bar. The redhead in the middle, tallest by an inch or two, watched me with intent blue eyes, his handsome features unmarred by his frown. On his left was a dark-haired man with a leaner build and looks that had skipped handsome and jumped straight to smoldering perfection. His expression was inscrutable, his dark eyes drifting past me. The third man, falling between the heights of the other two, ran his fingers through his tousled brown hair, his bronze skin interrupted by a scar that ran from his left temple, across his eye, and into the hollow of his cheek.
I recognized them too: the three men who had fled with Tori after Tahēsh’s death. And hidden among them was a demon.
I didn’t know how it was possible, but Zylas was certain. A third demon had been present that night, one that wielded powerful magic. The unknown demon’s scent had been all over Tori and these three men.
A water glass, rattling with ice, slid in front of me. I looked up.
Suspicion burned in Tori’s eyes, her full lips pressed thin. She knew Zylas had done something strange. She’d seen him battle and slay Tahēsh with more speed and ease than a contracted demon should be capable of.
But I’d watched her and her companions flee the scene. I knew they were concealing a demonic secret of their own.
I wrapped my hand around the cold glass and gave her the smallest nod. She shifted her attention to a mythic waiting to order, and as she asked him what he wanted, I let out a shaky breath. This guild was supposed to be my haven, but it might be a viper pit in disguise.
Chapter Three
At the front of the room, Darius called for everyone’s attention. He stood near the stairs leading to the second level, his salt-and-pepper hair combed back and his beard neatly trimmed—unlike the last time I’d seen him, when he’d been sporting a Gandalf beard. His guildeds filled the tables, fifty people watching their leader with respectful focus.
Tori stood behind the bar, her elbows braced on the counter and her chin propped on one hand. Her three friends sat on stools in front of her. None of them had paid me any attention since Zylas returned to the infernus.
Several other bar stools were occupied, as were almost all the chairs … except for the three empty ones around my table. My stomach shriveled at the unspoken rejection. Amalia should have been here with me, but—I checked my phone again—she still hadn’t shown up. Her last text, twenty minutes ago, said she was on her way. In Amalia-speak, that meant she’d arrive in an hour.
“For tonight’s safety segment,” Darius began, projecting his voice through the pub, “Felix will present a comparison of this year’s job hazard assessments versus incident reports. But before we delve into that riveting topic”—a brief smile—“let’s highlight last month’s member accomplishments.”
He pulled a paper from his pocket and unfolded it. “First, our congratulations to Katherine on the publication of her paper, “Potency Control in Alchemic Crystallization,” in the prestigious Modern Alchemy journal.”
The Crow and Hammer mythics clapped and called out to an older woman with boyishly short brunette hair and laugh lines around her eyes. She performed a playful bow from her seat.
“A special accolade for Philip,” Darius continued, “who successfully identified, located, and exorcised a new shifter before last month’s full moon.”
As applause rang out for a middle-aged man with a kind smile, a frigid breeze hit my back. I looked over my shoulder as a petite woman slipped through the door. Bundled in a leather jacket with the hood pulled up, she closed the door as quietly as possible, trying to mute the telltale chime of the bell. Strapped to her back was a huge broadsword, the hilt jutting over her shoulder.
“Andrew led Gwen, Bryce, and Drew on a hunt for a rogue terramage, and not only did they secure the bounty, but they tagged him minutes before a team of Pandora Knights mages arrived.”
The guildeds whooped. The late arrival hesitated, then slid into the nearest chair—the one beside me—and pushed her hood off.
I’d seen her before! On the night I’d helped the Grand Grimoire hunt Tahēsh, I’d spotted her with a team of three others, who were also searching the downtown streets.
Up close, I could see she was in her early thirties, with large brown eyes set in a delicate face, a blond pixie cut streaked with pale blue and pink, four piercings in one ear, and the edge of a tattoo creeping up the side of her neck, most of it hidden beneath her collar. She swiped her messy bangs away from her face and tossed me a smile.
I’d never seen anyone so cool. I wanted to be her when I grew up.
“Lastly,” Darius said, “let’s congratulate Aaron and Kai on capturing four wanted rogues with bounties totaling over twenty thousand dollars. And a special mention for their fifth catch of the month—with Taye’s help, they tracked the notorious Sunset Beach Stalker all the way from Stanley Park to Yaletown … only to discover they were, in fact, tracking a dog.”
Laughter burst through the room. I craned my neck, trying to figure out who Darius was referring to.
“Over there,” the woman beside me murmured, pointing at the three men sitting in front of Tori. “Kai, Aaron, and Ezra.”
“One very friendly Labrador Retriever,” Darius added over the group’s boisterous amusement, “was promptly returned to his relieved owner. Aaron, what was the bounty?”
“I got two hugs and a kiss on the cheek,” the red-headed guy announced proudly. “Kai got her phone number.”
A chorus of wolf-whistles answered him. The dark-haired man beside Aaron casually waved off the cheers, and Tori rolled her eyes at them.
The woman beside me leaned back in her chair. “I thought the three guys were trouble enough, but then they adopted Tori as Mischief-Maker Number Four.”
I blinked owlishly.
Chuckling, she offered her hand. “I’m Zora. You must be Robin, the new contractor.”
I shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. That’s a big sword.”
Way to demonstrate my smooth conversation skills.
Zora grinned at my awkward observation. As Darius moved on to incident reports, starting with a sorcery array that had exploded—in the parking lot of all places—she unbuckled her baldric, slid the weapon off, and leaned it against the wall.
“I was on a vampire’s trail,” she whispered, though there was no chance her voice would carry all the way across the pub to Darius. “Almost had the bloodsucker, but he gave me the slip.”
Vampires? The word alone alarmed me. “Were you out there by yourself?”
“Only at the end. My partner had just left when I caught the trail.” She leaned closer. “Don’t mention to the guild officers that I went after a vamp on my own. That’s a guaranteed write-up.”
Now that was what I liked to hear. A guild that took safety seriously.
“What are you smiling about?” Zora asked, amused. “Are you planning to blackmail me?”
“Oh!” I hadn’t realized I was smiling. “No, not at all. It’s just that my
last guild wasn’t very safety-oriented.”
“The Grand Grimoire, right?” She nodded. “I’ve heard that about them. I also heard they’re under MPD investigation right now. Decent chance they might get shut down.”
I hadn’t heard that, but considering the GM had covered up a murder and sold me to a rogue guild, I wasn’t surprised.
“While we’re on the topic of experimental magic,” Darius said to the room at large, “it seems our local MPD precinct has added a new agent to their roster—a formidable young abjuration sorceress. Though I’m sure you would all love to meet her, if for some reason you aren’t using our well-equipped atrium or lab, let’s keep the second rule in mind, shall we?”
Laughter swept through the room and I perked up curiously. Second rule?
Zora whispered, “Where’s your friend? The sorcery apprentice?”
I tapped my phone, lying on the tabletop, to wake the screen. Amalia’s latest message: I just called a cab. See you soon. So much for being “on the way.”
“She’s running behind,” I sighed. “At this rate, she’ll miss the whole meeting.”
Zora smiled conspiratorially. “Anyone who misses without a solid reason gets the minutes treatment.”
“The what?”
“They have to copy the entire meeting’s minutes, by hand, and present it to an officer. And they’re automatically volunteered to take minutes for any and every meeting over the next four weeks.”
Oh, Amalia would love that.
Zora’s grin took on a wicked edge. “Once, a couple of years ago, Kai missed the monthly meeting. That month, Aaron and Ezra organized a dozen completely pointless meetings with almost every member of the guild and made him take minutes for each one.”
I glanced at the three mages and the red-headed bartender. At the other end of the room, Darius was describing a near miss, where a mythic had almost backed their car over their teammate. The room was quiet, Darius’s aura of authority holding every member spellbound.
I fidgeted with my phone, lining it up with the table’s edge. “Can I ask … what class is Darius?”
“He’s a luminamage—a light mage.”
Oh, a light mage. That explained the “blindness magic” Zylas had claimed Darius had tried on him.
“He’s an excellent guild master. You’ll find him very different from the Grand Grimoire’s GM.” She cast me an amused look. “But don’t be fooled. He has his soft moments, but he’s a hard-ass. No one messes with Darius King.”
That didn’t surprise me either. “What about the other three—Aaron and … uh …”
“Aaron, Kai, and Ezra,” she supplied. “Pyromage, electramage, and aeromage. A power team for sure. By the way, they’re all single.”
My mouth dropped open. “Huh?”
“Isn’t that where you were headed with your questions?”
Actually, no. They were certainly good looking, but also big and muscly and probably loud. I’d bet they hadn’t read a single book between them this year. No thanks.
Refocusing, I considered where the demon scent Zylas had picked up would have come from if all three men were Elementaria mythics. “What class is Tori?”
“Uh … Spiritalis.”
Her uncertain pause caught my attention, but at that moment, the noise level in the pub rose. Darius had given the floor over to a blond man with spectacles. He was tinkering with a projector and laptop that didn’t seem to be cooperating, and idle chatter was spreading through the group as they waited for the meeting to resume.
The chair across from me slid out. A plump, elderly woman lowered herself with a sweep of her daisy-patterned, floor-length skirt. Glasses with turquoise frames perched on her nose and a knitted cap topped her wispy white hair.
“Good evening, Zora,” she murmured before fixing an intent stare on me. “Child, your aura is troubled.”
My what was what now?
She leaned forward. “Your energy called me to you. You are in dire need of guidance, aren’t you?”
I was? I glanced confusedly at Zora. The petite woman seemed to be suppressing a reaction, but I wasn’t sure what sort.
“My name is Rose,” the elderly lady added. “I’m the guild’s senior diviner.”
She shot a haughty look at the bar, where a young woman with a blond bob was talking animatedly to Aaron as she showed him something on her phone.
Rose reached into the floppy bag hanging from her shoulder and produced a black velvet cloth. She threw it across the table, then added a small wooden stand. Onto the stand, she placed a pale crystal ball. I watched her set everything up with a bemused frown.
“May I scry for you?” Rose asked.
Right now? Seriously? “Um … I think the meeting is going to start again soon.”
“It won’t take long. This isn’t an ideal setup—the energies in the room may interfere—but we can begin with an exploratory séance.”
I glanced between her and Zora again. “This doesn’t seem like the best time.”
“No sense in waiting, my dear,” Rose insisted. “Your conflicted energy needs an outlet, and if you wait, you may find a lesser psychic attempting to assist you.”
Her oddly accusatory gaze swung to the young woman as though the girl were about to swoop in and steal Rose’s crystal ball off the table. Zora coughed in a way that sounded suspiciously like a stifled laugh.
“I have the skill and experience you need,” Rose declared confidently. “Let’s begin. First, clear your mind.”
Unsure how to refuse, I gave in with a nod. Though I’d read about the predictive powers of psychics, I’d never seen a real diviner at work before.
“Put your hands on the ball,” she said. “Just like that, yes.”
I laid my palms on the cool crystal and she placed her hands over mine.
“Relax,” Rose crooned. “Let your energy flow into the crystal.”
I inhaled slowly, concentrating on the cold, hard quartz under my skin.
“Look into the ball. Stare deep as you empty your mind and spirit of conscious thought.”
That was easier said than done. I gazed into the white crystal, wondering what I would see—then realized that was a thought and I wasn’t supposed to be thinking.
The crystal ball reflected the dim lights of the pub, and the rumbling conversations around us faded into a smear of sound. The crystal seemed to draw in the light. Its depths swirled ever so faintly. The sphere filled my vision until the pub had disappeared, until all I could see was spiraling white smoke. It drifted sedately, insubstantial, empty.
As it moved, a shadow appeared in its depths. The distant shape … a sitting figure. Dark, featureless. Male.
He drew closer as though I were sweeping into the mist’s depths to join him. He sat on the fog-covered ground, legs drawn up, arms slung around them. Chin resting on one knee, black hair tangled and wild.
Zylas sat in the mist, staring into the distance.
Shadows clung to him, and in them, I tasted dark emotions. Uncertainty. Unease. A restless longing, a quiet desolation. He gazed at nothing, as still as though he were impersonating an enslaved demon, but no demon would sit like that—like a lost child waiting to be found.
A strange sorrow swirled around him, a vulnerability I’d never seen before. Here, in this endless mist, his fearless confidence had been stripped away. His aggression, his defiance, his sarcasm and insults … all had faded to reveal what hid beneath.
His head lifted, then turned. His crimson eyes looked into me, through me. His hand drifted upward, fingers stretching toward me.
“Let’s begin!”
At the loud declaration, I jerked backward with a gasp. The vision of white mist disappeared, replaced by the crystal ball, black velvet cloth, and noisy pub. The man beside the projector was talking, a laser pointer directed at the screen where a colorful line chart zigzagged.
“Robin.” Zora touched my arm. “Are you okay?”
I panted in shuddering breaths.
My hand was fisted around my sweater, gripping the infernus underneath. “I—I think so.”
“My dear,” Rose whispered keenly, “you fell instantly into the crystal’s energy! What did you see?”
My gaze darted from the orb back to Rose. “What … what did you see?”
“The crystal darkened to the deepest shade of pitch—a warning of grave danger.” She placed her hand on the orb. “But you experienced the séance—you saw the crystal’s message. What vision did you experience?”
“I didn’t see any black,” I hedged, releasing my sweater and the infernus.
“Do not be shy!” Rose exclaimed. “Tell me! With my expert guidance, you experienced a true—”
“And,” the presenter at the front called, staring pointedly in our direction, “if you all want to look this way, you’ll see a fifty-eight percent reduction in incidents when the team spent ten minutes or more on their hazard assessment.”
Zora snorted and tipped her chair back, balancing it on two legs. Flushing, I fixed my attention on the projector, ignored Rose’s probing gaze, and did my best to push the crystal ball’s vision out of my mind.
Chapter Four
The bus’s doors clanked and hissed open. Amalia and I stepped down onto the sidewalk. My cousin tossed her blond hair over her shoulder and marched away.
As the bus accelerated, I trotted a few steps to catch up to the tall, long-legged apprentice summoner. She glowered at me and stormed onward into the afternoon gloom, the sun hidden behind a thick blanket of gray clouds.
“It isn’t my fault you missed the meeting yesterday,” I pointed out.
“You should’ve warned me they’d give me a stupid punishment. Meeting minutes? Come on!”
I shrugged as we followed the sidewalk along a curving street lined with gated properties.
“Saturday evenings aren’t exactly convenient!” she added angrily. “And Christmas is, what, nine days away? Why can’t they cut us some slack?” Her steps slowed, a grimace pulling at her full lips. “I guess I should get used to a guild that takes regulations seriously.”
Slaying Monsters for the Feeble: The Guild Codex: Demonized / Two Page 3
