Edge of Magic (Tara Knightley Series Book 1)

by Jayne Faith

  I shouldn’t have asked it, but a frustrated, angry, and admittedly childish part of me wanted to force him to admit out loud that he didn’t want to award me a huge payment, that doing so would mean I was so much closer to finally paying off my debt and escaping his grip forever.

  “I don’t owe you explanations!” he thundered, and I jumped. “Do I need to remind you what’s at stake here? Perhaps I do. Your mother and sister are alive at this moment because of the cure I provided. Do you want me to take those charms away? Do you want to watch your mother die?”

  The bone-deep fear I’d felt as a teenager filled me like a flash flood. The horror of watching my mother fall into a coma and my sister—then pregnant with Nolan and Luna—weakening with every passing day had remained so vividly real in my memory. For weeks, Felicity and I had watched Mom fade away. Healers had come and gone, their best efforts giving her slight comfort but not doing anything to make her better. We’d lived under a cloud of helplessness, gradually losing hope. At seventeen, I’d been truly afraid Mom would die and I would be left to take care of Dominic and Sasha while I watched the mysterious disease take Felicity, too. The intensity of the memory sent bile rising up my throat and the hard grip of fear squeezing my lungs.

  “No, boss. Of course I don’t want that,” I said, nearly choking on the words.

  Even in the terror of my memories, small tendrils of anger crept through. I was forever grateful my mother and sister were okay, but I hated this man for holding their lives over my head the way he did. Over the years, I’d made intermittent efforts at finding a different cure, one that would keep Mom and Felicity well. Obviously, I’d failed so far. Even if I’d found something and thereby removed the leverage Shaw had over me, he would still find a way to punish me, I was sure.

  “Of course you don’t want that,” Shaw echoed. “So, here’s what we’ll do. We will make an agreement. The agreement will state that for this particular bounty, you are not eligible for payout. Sign it, and your mother and sister keep their precious, life-sustaining charms.”

  My lips parted, and I stared at him. I shouldn’t have felt stunned that it had come to this, but I did. Shaw was taking away my chance to pay down my debt. And that wasn’t the worst part of it. No, the worst thing was that we had a new precedent. I could suddenly see the years before me with terrible clarity. Every time a big bounty came up, Shaw would exclude me from it. He’d give me only the jobs with smaller payouts, awarding them to me at a slow drip, measured out to ensure I’d be bound to him for the rest of my life.

  He stepped back, opened a drawer on his side of the table, and pulled out a single piece of paper. He slid a document in front of me.

  “All you need to do is sign here,” he said, his index finger on the line at the bottom.

  It would be fruitless to argue. He wouldn’t let me go until I signed his contract.

  I read through the agreement. It stated just what he’d said, that I was not eligible for payment on the bounty. It didn’t identify the prize, only the bounty number, which was the year followed by a dash and a few numbers. I still wasn’t sure whether Shaw knew I knew what the prize was. Not that it mattered at that point.

  Biting my lip to hold back the frustration that wanted to burst out, I picked up the pen provided and signed on the line at the bottom. Shaw had already added his signature, so when I finished writing mine, magic briefly shimmered in the air. Promises and contracts were serious things in Faerie, and always sealed with magic.

  I set down the pen, straightened, and slowly looked up at Shaw.

  “Anything else, boss?” I asked, my voice dull.

  He had the nerve to give me a brief smile. “That’ll be all, Tara. You’re free to go.”

  I exited the room and found the bodyguard waiting. I managed to keep it together as he took me out of the mansion, down the path, and to the doorway. When I was once again standing under the freeway in Boise, I tipped my head back and let out a growl from deep in my throat.

  “Whoa, chill out, lady.”

  I looked around and saw a couple of teenage skater boys rolling past on boards.

  “Hey, d’you see that?” one of them said. “She just kinda, like, appeared there.”

  The other one snorted. “Whatever, dude. You’re high.”

  Then they disappeared around another support column.

  I powered on my phone to check the time. Just under an hour until I was due at Volkov Retrieval. I grumbled under my breath, almost wishing the thing with Shaw had taken longer. I wasn’t in the mood to try to kill the time I had until my next proverbial lashing.

  I got in my car and scanned through my messages. There was a text from Ray Artois asking if we could meet. Um, no. I wasn’t ever going to do a thing for that guy again.

  Roxanne had sent me three texts asking how things were going. I sent her a quick message back saying that Judah’s predicament had been resolved, but I’d hit a snag with Shaw and would tell her about it later.

  Then there was a message from Judah asking me to call him. I set my phone down, balancing it on my knee, and looked through the front windshield with an unfocused gaze, popping my knuckles in an old, nervous habit that used to drive Felicity crazy.

  With a deep breath, I called Judah’s number and put my phone to my ear.

  “Hi, Tara,” he answered.

  My heart bumped hard at the sound of his voice.

  “Get any sleep?” he asked.

  “Not a whole lot,” I said. “Shaw summoned me.”

  There was a beat of silence on the line. “I take it that wasn’t a good thing.”

  I tipped my head against the side window, drained from my meeting with Shaw but also slightly amped with anticipation of what Judah had to say.

  “No, not really,” I said.

  I told him about the agreement Shaw had forced me to sign.

  “How is that legal?” Judah spat, and his outrage somehow made me feel a tiny bit better. “That’s complete bullshit. How can he do that to you?”

  I shrugged, even though Judah couldn’t see the gesture. “Our laws don’t apply in Faerie. You know that. He’s the boss. He can do almost anything he wants to do as long as he’s holding Mom’s and Felicity’s lives in his hands. And before you ask, yes, I’ve looked for alternative cures.”

  “I don’t accept that,” he said, his voice pitched low. It was that ferocity I’d seen a couple of times, creeping back in, that quality Judah seemed to have developed in our years apart. “I believe you have more power here than you think. You must, somehow.”

  “That’d be nice,” I said. “But I really don’t. My skills are valuable to him, but he’s got me cornered. He knows how to control his underlings all too well.” I hated saying such things out loud, admitting to such a level of powerlessness.

  He let out a grumble of disapproval.

  “Tara, will you please let me help you, to try to repay you?” he asked, his voice unexpectedly gentle. “It would mean the world to me in more ways than you know.”

  “But there’s no point in going after the bounty now,” I said.

  “No, I think you’re wrong.” He paused. “Please, just say you’ll let me help you. I really think I can.”

  My lips parted, and I inhaled softly.

  “Okay,” I felt myself saying.

  Chapter 18

  JUDAH AND I hung up, and I started the Land Rover.

  My entire body was tingling in the afterglow of talking to Judah, and in anticipation of what our conversation might mean. My acceptance of Judah’s offer wasn’t just about what it seemed on the surface. It was a more significant gesture than that. I was opening a door to the past, to what had gone on between me and Judah years ago, and it was also an opening to future possibilities. Ones that my mind darted around like a skittish wild animal, not yet trusting them enough to face them head on. I pushed those thoughts away, unready to bring them into focus.

  When I recalled what I had to face next, my attention sharpened on
the present.

  The offices of Volkov Retrieval Services were located about fifteen minutes from the Faerie doorway. I wished the drive were longer.

  I pulled into the parking lot of the small business park located on State Street, a few miles from the west edge of downtown Boise. The park had five one-story buildings. Volkov occupied half of the first one on the left. A home and auto insurance branch office took up the other half.

  I pulled open the door to find Katerina’s receptionist, J.R., at the desk in the front room. He was a friend from high school—one of the few I’d had—and I’d connected him with Katerina to get the job. He looked up and set down his ereader, which no doubt displayed a historical romance novel. His hair, as usual, was perfectly trimmed and arranged in the latest style—short around the sides and back and gelled back with careful comb lines on top. The guy must have gotten haircuts every other week to keep it so uniform.

  “Oh, Tara. You’re in trouble,” he said, drawing out the last word and wagging his finger at me.

  “Thanks for the pep talk,” I said wryly.

  “Hey, you know I call it as I see it.”

  “That you do.”

  I glanced over at the short hallway that led to two offices and a supply room. The door at the end of the hall, which opened into a mini kitchen and bathroom shared with the insurance brokerage business next door, was shut and locked. But the smell of coffee and toast still wafted in, making my stomach growl. I could hear Katerina’s muffled voice through her closed office door.

  “She’s on a call,” J.R. said. “She’ll be done in a minute.”

  “How mad is she?” I asked.

  “About this mad.” J.R. made a severe, sternly pinched face and peered at me down his nose.

  I snorted a laugh and then covered my mouth, hoping Katerina hadn’t heard.

  “So, what’s new? How’ve you been?” I asked, trying for a distraction to keep my dread at bay.

  “Same, same,” he said and gave a dramatic sigh. “Nothing to report, sadly. What about you?”

  I bit my lip for a second. “Judah’s back in town.”

  J.R.’s mouth formed a wide O. He pressed his palms to the desk and leaned forward. “What? You’re just now telling me this?”

  I cracked a smile. J.R. and Judah had known each other only in passing in high school, with Judah a year ahead of us. But J.R.’s crush on Judah had been almost as giant as mine. Well, that wasn’t true. Mine had been epic in a way that only an adolescent crush on a best friend can be.

  “Please, please tell me he’s realized he’s gay,” J.R. said, pressing his palms together in a prayer position.

  “If he is, he’s still firmly closeted.”

  He arched a brow. “Well, maybe he just needs a little time with an old friend. You’re going to talk me up, right?” J.R. pulled a comically serious face.

  “Oh, absolutely,” I said.

  He waved a hand at me and rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You want him all to yourself.”

  “No, it’s not like that,” I said, shaking my head. “He asked me to get him out of a jam with some Fae.”

  “When opportunity comes a-knockin’ . . .” he said in a sing-song voice.

  It was my turn to roll my eyes.

  “What’s he look like?” J.R. asked eagerly.

  “Good,” I admitted. “Really, really good.”

  He made a pleased little humming sound.

  Katerina’s door opened, and J.R. schooled his face into a business-pleasant expression and sat up, his posture perfect. I straightened as well.

  My boss appeared in the hallway and beckoned to me. At nearly six feet tall, with kinky deep-brown hair parted in the middle, gray-green eyes, and light sepia skin that was smooth and flawless even in her late 40s, Katerina posed a striking figure. Rumor was her father was Russian and her mother was a former model from somewhere in North Africa. Katerina had never mentioned her family or background to me, and we’d never been on the kind of terms that would make it appropriate for me to ask.

  When I passed J.R., he mouthed, “Good luck!”

  Whereas Grant Shaw exuded arrogant masculine dominance, Katerina Volkov possessed a brand of self-confidence that didn’t need to make a show of itself. It was in the way she held herself, looked directly in your eyes, and spoke with precision and purpose.

  She went to sit behind her modern yet classy glass and metal desk. Her open palm indicated I should take the chair across from her. She waited for me to sit and then clasped her hands on her desk.

  “I know you know the terms of your contract,” she said, her words clipped. She spoke perfect English, but with a faint lilt of a French accent that made her seem even more sophisticated. “So, I won’t insult you by reciting them or forcing you to recite them to me.”

  I nodded.

  “My retrievers—you—are the lifeblood of this business,” she said. “Our ability to respond very quickly to clients is one of the things that sets us apart. You’re welcome to do as you wish when you’re not on shift. But when you’re on call, you’re mine.” She punctuated the last few words by tapping her index finger firmly onto the glass surface of the desk.

  “I know that, Katerina,” I said. “I got caught up in a project. I lost track of time, but even if I hadn’t, I couldn’t have easily gotten away.”

  “You were in Faerie?”

  “Yes.”

  “On a job for Grant Shaw?”

  “No,” I said. “I was helping a friend who was in trouble.”

  I wondered if it would make her feel any better to know my little adventure had gotten me in trouble with Shaw, too. Probably not. Katerina wasn’t petty.

  “Is this going to be a problem, Tara?”

  By “this,” I knew she meant me working double-duty for her and for Shaw. I’d managed to juggle both jobs for years with few conflicts, but this wasn’t the first time Faerie had interfered with my retrieval job.

  “I will do my damnedest to make sure it’s not,” I said. “Please, if you can give me a pass this time, I promise you won’t have to worry about me.”

  Her mouth pressed into a flat line. “You know I can’t make exceptions. It wouldn’t be fair to the other retrievers. And there are plenty of people who would love to have your job.”

  My heart sank. She was right. Katerina expected a lot, but she also paid well. I was lucky to have a contract with Volkov Retrieval, and we both knew it. But if she put me on suspension, I’d lose an entire paycheck. With all the kids’ upcoming expenses, not the least of which was Dominic’s freshman year in college, I didn’t have enough cushion to sit out for two weeks.

  “Could I work a double shift after the suspension?” I asked. Normally we were on call for four days followed by three days off. Eight days in a row would be brutal, but I was willing to do anything at that point.

  She shook her head, briefly closing her eyes. “I can’t do that.”

  “Please, Katerina,” I said. “You know how tight things are at home.”

  “I sympathize, but I’ve already been lenient with you in the past. I will start your suspension retroactively from the time of your nonresponse,” she said, turning to type something on her laptop. “So, the good news is that you’ve already served almost two days. I’ve asked J.R. to email the suspension paperwork to you.”

  I clenched my jaw, my stomach tightening as I desperately tried to think of how Mom, Felicity, and I could squeeze out some extra money to cover the lost paycheck.

  “You’ll hear from me twelve days from now with a job,” she said, and it was clear she was dismissing me.

  My shoulders rounded slightly in defeat. “I apologize for missing the call. It was unprofessional. I appreciate this job, and I won’t let you down again.”

  She nodded her acknowledgement, and I stood and left her office.

  On the way to my car, it struck me just how different my meetings with Katerina and Shaw were. With Katerina, our relationship was professional. There were high expe
ctations, but there was also respect. I felt like an adult. With Shaw, it was more like a psychologically abusive relationship between parent and child.

  My next stop had to be home so I could give Mom and Felicity the bad news. They never put pressure on me when it came to money, but I brought in more than the two of them combined. Mom wasn’t up to full-time work anymore, though she had a few small, consistent streams of income. Felicity did as much as she could with her business, and her products were in demand, but she was maxed out being a full-time mom to four active kids and keeping up with consultations and orders. We’d been allowing Dominic to keep the money he made at the taco joint where he’d worked the past couple of years, but maybe it was time he started contributing to household expenses. Sasha did a bit of babysitting, though not enough to make much of a dent. We’d really wanted to let the kids grow up without having to worry about adult money problems at a young age the way Fel and I had. I was proud of the fact that we’d mostly succeeded. We’d been behind on rent a few times in the past but always made sure the kids didn’t know.

  As I drove toward our neighborhood, I mentally ran through my options. I had one emergency credit card with a balance I’d finally managed to pay off the previous month. The limit was pathetically low, but it was something. We couldn’t put rent on a card, but I could charge a lot of other things like food, gas, and some of the bills. I started to feel a little less stressed as I realized Mom, Felicity, and I could probably use our credit cards to get us through the next few weeks.

  I parked in back and went inside, where I found Sasha and Mom making sandwiches. My stomach rumbled again when I realized it was nearly lunchtime.

  Mom looked up. “Everything okay? Felicity said you had to speak to your boss this morning.”

  “Ooh, which one?” Sasha asked. “The Fae man or the awesome lady who wears the ass-kicker boots?”

  Sasha had come with me to Volkov Retrieval a few months back, and Katerina had made quite an impression on my niece. In fact, I could probably trace Sasha’s newfound love of black leather—fake, since she didn’t believe in killing animals for clothing—to that meeting.