by Martha Carr
The tomb raider shook her head. “Peyton’s not me, and I don’t think he could handle it if I pulled the trigger. It doesn’t matter that his brother’s been trying to kill him for a while now or that we’ve given the asshole every chance in the world to walk away.” She shrugged. “What can I say? He’s fucking soft, okay?”
Shay patted her tactical harness to confirm she had extra magazines and grenades. If everything went according to plan she might not have to kill anyone, but with a dozen men on the way, they needed to be prepared in case shit went south.
She looked at James. “You got Whispy Doom on?”
James shook his head and slapped his chest. “Not bonded. Don’t need the amulet for only twelve normal guys. I feel like he’s got more of an attitude now. I think I liked it better when I couldn’t understand what the fuck he was saying.”
Shay shrugged. “If you end up getting killed, I’m gonna mock you at your funeral.”
He grunted. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
They threw open a side door to the old abandoned factory where they’d hidden the van just inside the loading bay. The pair hurried outside to get into position on both sides of their kill zone.
There were a lot of moving parts in the plan where things could go wrong. Shay had to cover up the contract on Peyton’s life before he found out about it while simultaneously leaving breadcrumbs for the hit team. It’d taken several days of time and effort, especially since she’d had to do it under Peyton’s nose. The big risk was actually giving the team the information that their target might be in LA.
She’d anonymously reached out to Tyler and a few other information brokers across town to provide them a juicy little tidbit: a hit team was setting a trap for the Peyton kill team, with the relevant people meeting in an abandoned industrial park.
In minutes, the future of Peyton and Randy Coolidge would be determined.
Two vans and an Audi with tinted windows were parked outside the closest factory, all with dummies inside. Jammers choked the EM waves in the area, stopping drones from getting a closer look or launching any aerial assaults.
James and Shay already knew the men were en route. She had been tracking them by drone before she activated the jammers.
If anything, the jamming would make the hitmen more apt to believe a meeting of killers was occurring. No one jammed an area unless they were trying to hide something.
Anyone who wanted to finish off the alleged ambush team would need to get up close and personal.
Shay pulled her magical silencer out of a pouch in her harness and screwed it onto her 9mm. James would make the big noise, but she’d break her typical pattern and be a little less up close and personal with her kills.
It’d have to be a careful balance. An ambush where you wanted to kill everyone was easy enough to pull off, but one where you were trying to leave some survivors and pass along a message without being obvious? Not so much.
James jogged toward several rusted oil drums and crouched behind them. Shay scrambled up a rickety ladder until she hit the partially collapsed roof of a nearby building.
Hope they don’t have real-time satellite coverage. If they do, this will be over really quickly.
Shay snorted. This wasn’t a CIA wetwork squad, just some run-of-the-mill killers. She and James had decapitated an entire cartel and the Harriken. These guys were roaches in comparison.
The rumble of engines sounded, and she crouched. Three black SUVs shot down a side street, screeching as they took a hard turn into the industrial park.
The tomb raider grinned. She almost felt sorry for the bastards. Almost.
One of the SUVs sped past the bait vehicles Shay and James had set up and turned hard to block them in. The other two stopped behind them. Rifles poked from open windows and opened fire.
The guns spat bullet after bullet, their loud reports overlapping and echoing in the lonely industrial park. Glass shattered on the bait cars, and the dummies jerked with each bullet striking them. Fake blood from the dummies splattered all over the glass.
I knew it was worth it to add the extra touch. It’s the small details that really sell something like this.
Shay smirked at the mock massacre going on beneath her. A brief halt in the hail of bullets ended seconds later as all the hitmen reloaded and opened fire again. Finally, after a long couple of minutes, the assault ceased.
Dozens of bullet holes punctured the bait cars. Red splotches lay in the street and the shattered windows. Almost all the tires were now flat.
A cautious hitman in a suit stepped out of the lead SUV, automatic rifle in hand, and crept toward the Audi with his gun up. A few others exited the other vehicles and made their way toward the vans.
Almost there, asshole. Almost there. Just keep going.
Shay reached down to her belt and pulled out three EMP grenades. She trusted her throwing arm, but with three vehicles it didn’t matter. She really only needed to ensure two were taken out.
“What the fuck?” the first hitman shouted. “There ain’t anyone in here. It’s just dummies.”
“You fucking sure? Maybe we just jacked them up so much they looked like dummies now.”
Shay rolled her eyes. It was an important reminder that not every professional killer was an intelligent woman with an interest in ancient history and a penchant for wanting to uncover the truth.
With three quick tosses, she sent the EMP grenades flying toward the SUVs.
“What the fuck is that?” the first hitman shouted.
A loud buzz and crackle filled the air, and the SUVs all died.
“Randy Coolidge sends his regards, assholes,” Shay shouted, her voice echoing among the cluster of buildings and difficult to trace. “You call that an ambush? We’ll show you a fucking ambush, you pieces of shit. This is what you get for being so greedy. Should have only asked for ten percent.”
James threw a couple of frag grenades from behind the oil drums right after her speech. Shay raised her 9mm and put two rounds into the first hitman. He dropped to the ground with a scream.
The frag grenades exploded near the other men. Their echoing cries of pain further added to the confusion.
Shay started unloading her pistol into the two back SUVs, while James blasted away with his .45, bullet after bullet striking the vehicles. This time the shattering glass and blood splatters were all too real markers of actual men dying.
James took the opportunity to toss another couple of grenades while Shay reloaded.
They’d concentrated their fire on the back two SUVs and the men outside. The doors to the front SUV opened and three men rushed out, sprinting away from the carnage.
Shay waited a few seconds and then put three rounds into the back of one of the men. That left two men fleeing.
She smiled. They’d killed enough to make their point. The tomb raider sent a couple of smoke grenades down at the ground. She doubted the men would realize the SUVs weren’t burning in their confusion.
The tomb raider reloaded and slid down the ladder on the side of the building. She crouched against the wall, then spun around the corner, approaching the lead SUV while James came in from the other direction. Blood and bodies covered the ground.
A man groaned and crawled toward his weapon. Shay kicked it out of his grasp but didn’t finish him off. She had a mask on, and his survival, in addition to the other two’s, would only work better for the plan.
She strode toward the other two vehicles. Most of the men were dead, but a few had managed to survive.
Maybe a little overkill, but enough.
The tomb raider nodded to James and jogged toward the abandoned factory. He caught up with her as she pulled open the loading door.
“Still think it’d’ve been easier to just go kill Randy,” James rumbled. “When the Harriken fucked with me, I went and killed the Harriken. I didn’t trick the Nuevo Gulf Cartel into killing them.”
“If only we could all be as honest with our feelings as you.”
Shay grinned and shook her head. “Nope. This way they waste him, and Peyton doesn’t end up beating himself up over his piece-of-shit brother.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Nicely done. A good mixture of brawn and brains. Won’t be long now till Randy is no longer a problem.”
10
A few days later, Shay sat on a bench in front of a fountain in the middle of the mall, scanning the crowd. A small bag from a jewelry shop sat in her lap, but she was focused instead on the arrival of one teenage girl with white-tipped black hair.
This is the ultimate test. You have all the people around here, but you can use the magolocation to help you navigate. Let’s see if you can actually find me, Alison.
Shay chuckled. Finding a particular teenage girl with unusual hair in a mall was an exercise in false positives, not helped by the tomb raider disliking the fact that her back wasn’t against a wall. The more she thought about it, the more she realized the only worse place to die than her kitchen would be the mall.
If she hadn’t been concentrating, she might have missed the faint purple pulse. They still needed to figure out a way to perform the magolocation without it being visible, but in a crowded and raucous place like the mall, no one noticed anyway.
The tomb raider continued scanning the thronging humanity. She could never get over how so much had changed but also so little had changed at the same time. Despite the powerful magic now pouring into the world, the only difference someone might see at the mall was the occasional non-human customer, like a trio of elven women strolling out of an aromatherapy shop across the way.
Is this what culture does? Just keeps flowing in the rut it’s in? We get magic back, and mostly we get criminals and terrorists with magic or an elf who cooks barbeque. Don’t know if that’s comforting or scary.
White-tipped black hair emerged from the crowd. Alison glided between the crowds to the bench. She sat beside Shay, a triumphant smile on her face.
Shay nodded, giving the girl an answering smile. “All the way from the car to this fountain, and much better time than without the pulses. Still have some tweaking to do.”
“Did you see the pulse I did just before I sat down?”
“Yeah. Like I said, some tweaking.”
“It’ll take a while to get used to, but I still think it’s useful.” Alison shrugged. “Not going to complain if you can get me the artifact to help me see more, though, and I’ll keep trying to figure out a way to do it without it being so obvious.”
Shay smiles. “Sounds like a good plan, and I’ll definitely get that artifact for you. I’d like to give you a particular date, but my gnome friend isn’t the kind of guy who responds well to deadlines.”
Alison sighed. “Don’t get me wrong. All this training you and Dad have given me means a lot, and if I went back to school today, I’d go back feeling more confident.” The teen smiled softly. “I know I bitched in the beginning, but I really do get it now.”
Shay nodded. “Good. That’s what practice and training do; they give you confidence. Did you see what I had in my lap with your last pulse?”
“Some sort of bag.”
The tomb raider lifted the bag and held it out. Alison grabbed it with no hesitation. Even without the pulse, it seemed like her ability to judge item distances based on life energy from limbs had improved in recent weeks.
“What’s in here?” Alison asked. “Even with the pulse, it’s hard for me to tell. Small boxes. I’m assuming something inside them.”
“Diamond earrings. Studs,” Shay explained.
“That’s nice, Aunt Shay, but I don’t worry about jewelry much.” Alison laughed. “Even with the pulse, it’s not like I can see it. I do appreciate the thought though.”
“I know. Just wanted to get you something nice. James gave you that pendant, which is pretty and functional, so I can at least give you something nice to remind you of me when you’re at school. I don’t know how long it’ll take to get the artifact ready.” Shay rubbed the back of her neck. “If I’d been thinking ahead, I would have scored you some lesser artifact jewelry.”
“It’s not a competition, Aunt Shay. I love you both.” The girl fingered the chain of the Aegis Pendant. “And you don’t have to give me things for me to think about you at school.”
Shay looked away, her face burning. The girl’s comment struck her heart more than she’d expected. “Well, you can always just loan the earrings to a roommate then. Everyone likes a generous roommate.”
Alison laughed. “Maybe I’ll do that.” Her smile faded a second later. “I just…don’t get one thing, Aunt Shay. I didn’t want to bring it up, but I guess now is as good a time as any.”
“What’s that?”
The girl looked down and frowned. “Not saying no one should have secrets, and I know a lot of the stuff with your job you try to keep quiet to keep things safer, but I still...” She sighed again.
Shay frowned. “What? Are you worried about me being a tomb raider? Not to brag, but I’m pretty damned good at my job. I know what I’m doing at this point, and now I typically even have Peyton supporting me. It’s not like when I first started.”
“It’s not that.”
“What is it, then?”
Alison shook her head. “I don’t get why you’ve been hiding Lily from Dad and me.”
The tomb raider sucked in a breath. Trying to deny the existence of the other girl was pointless since she was sitting in front of a half-Drow lie detector. Shay took a long, deep breath. “How did you know?”
“Peyton told me.”
Shay frowned.
That son of a bitch. It wasn’t his secret to share.
Alison shook her head. “I can see the anger in your energy, Aunt Shay, but he told me to tell you that it’s not a state secret, so don’t threaten him with firearms.” She smiled as she said it. “And I think he was right to tell me.”
Shay took a few deep, cleansing breaths. Peyton did have a point. Alison and James knew about multiple warehouses and her tomb raiding career. Both knew how to keep secrets, and Lily’s existence paled in comparison to things like James controlling a wish on Alison’s behalf or James knowing Shay used to be a vicious professional killer.
The tomb raider scrubbed a hand down her face and blew out a breath. “It’s not like I never planned to tell you or him. It was just hard to figure out how to do it. Like I told you the other day, the way I’ve handled all this stuff is by compartmentalizing my life. Everyone has their little boxes. I thought that would make it easier, not just for me but for everyone else, but lately, I’ve realized that wasn’t the best plan.”
A brief look of sadness passed over Alison’s face. “I’m not saying it’s wrong to have secrets. I’ve got a few myself.”
Shay shrugged. “Not even gonna ask. I know if you need help you’ll ask for it.”
The girl nodded. “I…do kind of want to meet her, though. Lily. I mean, we’re similar. Orphans. Half-elves. The same kickass woman has taken an interest in training us.”
Shay chuckled. “She’s pretty secretive. Meeting her isn’t all that easy. Even with me, most of it is on her schedule, and she only shows up when she wants to. I can try to call her, but I can’t always reach her.”
“I get that. Just saying.”
“We also had a nasty experience on our last raid. She might not want to show up for a while, and I can’t blame her.”
Alison nodded. “You think she’ll avoid you the rest of the summer?”
Shay shook her head. “I honestly don’t know, but if the chance comes up for you to meet her, I’ll see what I can do.”
“That’s all I ask.” The teen kicked her legs, a wistful look on her face.
Why did Peyton suddenly tell her about Lily? And why does she care that much? I hope she’s not jealous. Wait…
Shay furrowed her brow. “Do you miss your friends at school?”
Alison blinked and looked up. “What?”
“We’ve got you hanging out with bounty hun
ters, cops, and tomb raiders, but not anybody your age. I was just wondering if you missed your friends.”
“Yeah, I do.” Alison shrugged. “But I love being home with you and Dad. I want to spend more time with you, and as for Lily, some of it’s about her and some it’s just about…” She sighed. “It’s going to seem silly.”
“I’m dating your dad. He’s Captain Silly sometimes between his KISS and the barbeque obsession. I still can’t get over that ridiculous pit he and Sergeant Mack had built.”
Alison laughed and shrugged. “I just want to know more about you, Aunt Shay. Even the parts you aren’t proud of, but I’m willing to wait until you’re ready.” She pointed to her face. “You forget, I can see your soul. I know how beautiful it is, even if you doubt it.”
Shay blinked and stared at the girl.
If you say so, Alison.
11
Shay slipped on her gloves and began stretching along with Aaron, Lana, and the other members of Free-to-Move. They’d already taken a helpful elevator to the top of an eight-story office building downtown. The streetlights had flicked on with the setting sun, and the bright lights of the city pushed away much of the darkness but left more than a few pockets in shadow.
She smiled. Alison wanted to do parkour. If they could improve her little pulse technique, or if Tubal-Cain could come up with something practical, it might be less of a dream and more of a reality.
Hell, if she really gets good with her pulse technique, she might be better at night than I am.
Lana grinned at Shay. “You’re in a good mood.”
“I’m always in a good mood.”
The other woman laughed. “If you say so.”
“Just thinking about friends and family, is all.”
Lana’s face scrunched. “I always think of them more around holidays.” She shrugged. “When they aren’t bothering me online.”
Shay moved to the edge of the roof to stare down at the flow of traffic up and down the road. “Family’s kind of a new thing for me, to be honest.”
