But then all my tiredness pressed in on me like a blanket. I yawned, hastily covering my mouth. “Sorry.”
Rafael’s condition showed no sign of diminishing. A good night’s sleep would do us both good. Then we could discuss our problem clear-headed.
I scraped the chair back. “I’ll see you when you get to Vancouver.”
“I shall wait with bated breath.”
Aw, shit. He wasn’t being snarky. I fiddled with the wooden ring on my finger. Was it irresponsible of me to run out on him? But at the same time, how much of this was my responsibility? It would wear off, wouldn’t it?
Rafael brushed a lock of hair out of my face. “Get some rest. Until we next meet, my Jezebel.”
Chapter 6
Wednesday morning, I woke up on my back, the blankets barely wrinkled. Usually, I slept sprawled out, playing a constant game of sticking my feet in and out of the covers to regulate my body temperature until the blankets twisted ninety degrees. I’d slept as motionless as the undead, and that only reinforced how vampiric I’d felt sucking on Rafael’s magic. I kicked the covers into a messy ball out of spite.
Mrs. Hudson whined at me from her dog bed on the floor. The pet store owner had tried to convince me to buy a crate for her but she’d shied away from the display so violently that I hadn’t had the heart to force her into one. I’d sprung for an uber-plush bed that was designed to calm anxiety, and she did look pretty calm, if I said so myself.
It turned out that puppies did not have any respect for the sacred first morning cup of coffee and would pee on the floor if not walked upon waking, whether a person was decently caffeinated or not.
“Do this with your new family,” I said, squatting on the balls of my feet to wipe up the puddle. I threw the sodden mess in the trash and washed my hands before jumping in the shower.
After donning a pair of jeans and a red sweater to show this day who was boss, I dished out puppy food and clean water. “Where’d you get to?”
Mrs. Hudson sneezed and I followed the noise to the living room. A sound of horror squeaked out of me.
Priya grinned, running her hand along the pink sweater that Mrs. H now wore, as if my former bestie was some kind of showroom model. “She loves it.”
Priya was in a taupe dress that dulled her brown skin. I considered the odds of getting away with a break-in that only stole the clothes in her current color palette.
“You know what she’d really love? Matching with you,” I said. “Your bright pink cowl neck sweater would be just the thing.”
Priya gathered up the packaging that the doggie outfit had come in. “Nah.”
“If you’re not wearing pink, then it’s not going to be inflicted on the pug, either.”
“She’s not going to wear black,” Priya said.
“She’s not going to wear anything. It’s the best thing about dogs. They’re clothing optional.” I tried to tug the ridiculous article off, but Mrs. Hudson nipped at my finger.
Priya smirked and flounced out of the room, just as the buzzer to the building’s front door went off. We went weeks with no visitors, so why had we suddenly turned into Grand Central Station?
“Yes?” I said testily into the intercom.
“It’s me.”
Awesome. Nothing capped the glow of morning-after magic devourment like a visit from one’s mother. Why was Talia here? We hadn’t spoken since our tacit understanding to pretend that I didn’t have magic and would continue to live as a Mundane putting my detective skills to work for an insurance company.
Reluctantly I buzzed her in, meeting her on the landing. “This is a surprise.”
She kissed my cheek, immaculately turned out as always, with pearl buttons on her smart pantsuit and her hair in a sleek bob. Talia was every inch the high-powered woman-on-the-go, as befitted her position as the Senior Policy Advisor for the provincial Untainted Party. We had the same dark hair, but she had gray eyes where I’d inherited my dad’s brown ones. “Darling. Let me take you for breakfast and hear how your first few days on the new job are going. Any interesting fraud cases?”
Yeah, my father. “It’s early days still. I’m not sure I should be—”
“I’m off.” Priya slid out the front door in a beige coat, her custom-built pink laptop sticking out of her open computer bag, and Mrs. Hudson on a leash. “Oh. Hi, Talia.”
They hugged. My mother was genuinely fond of Priya and I suspected that in the event of a friend divorce, she’d keep the non-biological female.
“You got a puppy?” Talia did not attempt to pet the dog.
I waited for Pri to stake her claim on Mrs. Hudson, but she decided to buck tradition and throw me under the bus.
“Oh, not me. Mrs. Hudson is Ash’s dog.”
“Mrs. Hudson?” Talia said faintly. She mustered up a smile. “I’m happy to see you so settled.”
Wow. We were really digging into the fantasy version of my life. I didn’t have the energy to tell her the dog was temporary. “Yup. Settled. That’s me. About breakfast—”
“Just a quick bite.” She smiled politely at the dog. “We can go somewhere with a patio so the puppy can come.”
Shoot me. She was being inclusive of the dog. Priya raised her eyebrows at me, like “You have to go,” and I rolled my eyes back in a “No kidding.”
“Great,” I said. “Let me get my stuff.”
Priya and Mrs. Hudson stayed with Talia, chatting, while I shoved doggy supplies into a backpack and grabbed my purse and leather jacket.
Breakfast happened on a heated patio at an upscale restaurant where Talia breezed us past the line-up. A server was instantly at our table to take our order: an egg-white veggie omelet for my mother and waffles with extra whipped cream for me. Then the two of us engaged in stilted conversation like minor skirmishes: me spinning lies about how fascinating insurance fraud was and my mother giving updates on the bill she’d written to dissolve House Pacifica here in British Columbia and put Nefesh governance back into Mundane hands.
That policy had worked brilliantly before Houses were created—so long as you didn’t mind pesky things like witch hunts.
It was already April and the provincial Parliament would end in late May. There wasn’t enough time to get the proposal into shape for this spring session, so the Untainted Party was gearing up for when Parliament returned in the fall. The bill would have its first reading in the legislature, with printed copies distributed to all parties. At that point, it would go to a second reading, where the proposal would be debated and a vote taken. Based on those results, it would proceed to the committee stage or die. If it continued, successful, it would go through more debates and a third reading. The last step was to achieve Royal Assent from our Lieutenant Governor, who represented the Queen’s official approval since we were a Commonwealth country. From there, the bill would pass into law.
Meantime, my mother and her cronies were getting the legislation word-perfect and feverishly making backroom deals to secure support across party lines. Support on an oppositional front would be Levi’s main priority right now as well.
It was hard to tell if Talia was honestly trying to connect with me or offering a warning to keep up my charade. I kept a bland smile on my face, but inside I seethed. How could she still be going ahead with this when she knew I had magic too?
“Our momentum on this issue is very exciting,” Talia said. And she did sound excited, like she used to get when she was helping me put jigsaw pieces together as a kid and she could see the whole thing coming together. Not like it was for something that would actively harm me.
The waffles turned to cardboard in my mouth and I dropped my fork. “Could we not discuss this anymore?”
She flinched, almost imperceptibly, but I caught it. I’d spent a lot of time in my teens deconstructing her every minute reaction. “The Party has always wanted this.” Her look was almost beseeching. “It just happened at an… unfortunate time.”
Unfortunate, as in her daughter wen
t and landed herself with magic, but so long as I kept it hidden all would be well? Did Talia assume I’d value my own self-preservation over loyalty to fellow Nefesh, seeing as how recently I’d become one of them? I pushed my last piece of waffle around in the puddle of syrup. To be fair, I’d never been much of a joiner.
I wiped my mouth. “I need to get to work. My Mundane job. So Mundane.”
Her eyes flashed, but before she could answer, a cheerful voice boomed out, “Good morning, ladies.”
It was Isaac Montefiore, Levi’s father. The man who’d physically abused his son as a child and now was publicly backing the Untainted Party’s bill, despite the fact that this legislation threatened to destroy everything his son fought to protect.
Levi had inherited his father’s black hair, though Isaac’s was shot through with gray, and those blue eyes. On Levi, they were as dazzling as the ocean when he smiled. On Isaac they were flat and calculating.
Mrs. Hudson growled at him. I scratched her ears, reinforcing that behavior.
Isaac and Talia greeted each other warmly and then he turned to me with a hearty handshake. “Ashira.” He rolled the “r” in my name with his Italian accent.
Levi had the same accent since he’d been born in Rome, but it only ever came out when he lost control. I thought fondly of all the ways I’d ever made him lose said control and allowed Isaac’s small talk BS to wash over me.
Until he said, “I understand you’ve been visiting my son a lot at work.”
You Nefesh-hating fucker. I wouldn’t put it past him to have a mole at Levi’s office feeding information to Isaac that would at best discredit the House, and at worst help this horrible bill become law.
My mother shot me a sharp look. “It’s nice that those two have grown close.”
I almost snorted, because her tone made it clear that a boric acid enema would also be nice. To Talia, Levi was the enemy, so to have me fraternizing with him was a potential minefield. “My best friend started working for them on an IT project. I go to visit her.”
Talia gave a shaky laugh. “Priya. Of course.”
Isaac smirked. “My son’s loss.”
My father had worked for Isaac when I was younger and I’d bet he knew where all of Isaac’s skeletons were buried. Sadly, Adam wasn’t around, and Isaac would be no help in learning what had happened to Dad, since any business dealings they’d had had ended a couple years before my father left.
“I doubt Levi is too upset. We were never really close.” Making my excuses, I whisked Mrs. Hudson away with a sigh of relief and drove to my office.
Back on home territory, I strode through the reception area of the shared workspace that housed Cohen Investigations. The pug danced underfoot on her new collar and leash, examining the exposed brick, original oak floors, and steel cross bracings. With a soft huff, she deemed the place acceptable.
Coming to my office had always been a bright spot in my day, and it had been with a heavy heart that I’d shut down my website. The Mundane private investigation firm that I’d worked so hard to establish was no longer open to the public. I didn’t have the heart to take down the stenciling on my door and I couldn’t declare myself Nefesh and change my detective license either, since I had to keep my Jezebel magic secret.
Bryan, the dog-crazy insurance agent who shared the space along with Eleanor, a graphic designer, murmured hello from the leather sofa, not taking his eyes off his laptop. When he’d asked about my new contract in his industry, I’d given the name of a global insurance firm, and he’d merely nodded. If my cover story passed the Bryan test, I figured it’d hold up to the casual observer.
Mrs. Hudson barked, and Bryan perked up, practically long-jumping the couch to get a better look. “You got a puppy!”
At his approach, the dog shivered closer to my leg, whining softly.
“She’s just a temporary visitor.” I scooped Mrs. Hudson up and she snuggled into my chest. “Nothing personal if she’s skittish around you, she’s a rescue pup.”
“That’s okay,” Bryan said. “It looks like she’s very happy with you. What’s her name?”
“Mrs. Hudson,” I said.
“Cute.” He obviously had no idea where the name came from and thus no opinions on it one way or the other. I liked him more for it.
“Hey,” Priya said, opening my office door and stepping out.
Priya only worked for Team Jezebel one day a week. The rest of her time was now devoted to overhauling House cybersecurity. As the person who had hacked them the most often, she was uniquely qualified for the job.
“Today is not your allotted day. Did something happen?” I sniffed the air. “Do I smell pakoras?”
Priya rocked back on her heels, her eyes crinkling in amusement. “Yup. The meeting got pushed and then Mummy asked me to make a special delivery.”
I groaned. “Make it go away.”
“I warned you the first time this happened to say no. You’ve only yourself to blame. I’ll get Mrs. Hudson some water.” Priya headed into the kitchen.
Bryan lit up. “I have some doggie treats. Be right back.”
Mrs. Hudson cocked her head at me, her little black nose glistening. Why were pug’s faces so consistently damp?
“Feel free to bite the person inside.” I took a deep breath and entered my office.
Five minutes later, even Mayan didn’t seem so awful. I leaned back in my new, non-deadly chair with its added cushioning. Lumbar support was a beautiful thing. “To clarify,” I said, “a seven-foot-tall she-devil pinned you against the wall on Saturday night, stuck her tongue down your throat and, I quote, ‘sucked out your soul, your free will, and your Fortnite know-how’?”
Arnav, the scrawny fifteen-year-old sitting in one of the client chairs on the other side of my desk, bounced his leg at tweaker-level speeds, an energy drink clutched in his hands. “Yeah. Her name’s Ellie. You gotta get it back.”
“Your soul?” I raised my eyebrows at Priya.
“Told you not to talk to my cousin.” She blew compressed air into her keyboard.
“I told Geeta I was now only working for the insurance firm.” I gestured at Arnav. “She doesn’t seem to care.”
“Our family drama is your family drama,” Priya said.
“Hey,” Arnav protested.
“You’re here because a ‘she-devil sucked out your soul.’ Your protest is noted and summarily ignored,” Priya said.
I nudged Mrs. Hudson away from the tin foil package and slipped her another dog treat, before helping myself to one of the crispy vegetable balls. “Your mother made me pakoras. How was I supposed to refuse?”
The pug toddled off to play with some chew toys that I’d bought.
“Mom’s evil that way,” Priya said.
“Harsh, Pri. I’m telling Auntie.” Arnav shook his head, then frowned at me. “What do I need my soul for?”
“Nothing that I can think of in the foreseeable future.”
Mrs. Hudson nosed half-heartedly at a ball, then turned her attention to a colorful twist of rope.
“My Fortnite skills, though. Those are important,” Arnav said. “There’s a tournament tomorrow.”
After my office had been trashed by a suspect in a previous case, Levi had completely restored it with all new upscale ergonomic furniture, reframed a university graduation photo of Priya and myself, and replaced my dart board and mounted holder. That was generous enough, but he’d gone one more step and hung up a set of framed Sherlock Holmes book covers, transforming this room from a nice office to a space that was uniquely mine.
I now gazed upon those prints, seeking strength. Sherlock would never have put up with this shit. Arnav had been a drama queen since birth and I resented being tagged to deal with his “latest crisis” as Geeta had put it the first time she’d delivered me the fried deliciousness that guaranteed my compliance.
“Here’s what we’re gonna do,” I said. “What’s your Fortnite character called?”
“Psycho Ban
dito.” Arnav leaned forward with the manic enthusiasm of someone about to launch into a very detailed description of a topic only slightly less painful to the listener than stepping on a Lego.
I quickly cut him off. “Ellie’s last name is what?”
“Ramirez.”
“And the guy she decided to date instead of you is who?”
“Logan.” Arnav froze, then hurriedly backpedaled. “That has nothing to do with it. She stole my skills, dude.”
Priya snorted and Mrs. Hudson barked, pawing at a squeaky toy that was shaped like a deranged cow.
I plucked the energy drink out of Arnav’s hand. “You want your skills back? Drink water and get some sleep. This hyped-up sugar shit is messing with your concentration and reaction times.”
“You sound like my mom,” he huffed.
I pulled my mini Taser out of my desk drawer and thunked it down. “Unlike your mother, I have weapons and am licensed to use them. Were you a willing participant in the kiss?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled.
“Then that’s the end of it. If Ellie wants to kiss you at a party and then date someone else, that’s her right. Enjoy the memory and do not disparage that girl again. Understood?”
“Yes. Geez.” He pointed to the two lone pakoras that neither Priya nor I had eaten yet. “Can I have one?”
I held up the Taser. “Go away. Now.”
Arnav slunk off.
A jackhammer started up outside in the latest round of constant construction tearing up Gastown’s streets. Its pounding matched the headache taking root in my temples.
Mrs. Hudson had dismissed the other toys and was now slobbering contentedly on the cow’s head.
“I’m impressed you figured it out about the other boy,” Priya said.
“My powers of deduction are unparalleled.”
We clunked the two last pakoras in cheers. There was no point keeping food from Priya. Especially anything made by Geeta. Priya’d just change all my passwords in retribution, and I’d been locked out of my accounts too many times during our university days when Geeta first started feeding me to want to go through Password Hell again.
Shadows & Surrender: A Snarky Urban Fantasy Detective Series (The Jezebel Files Book 3) Page 7
