by Kimber White
I could just make out the glittering shore of Lake Michigan over the next rise. And I could smell the nearby woods. I wondered if that was what called to Colm now. Did he even realize where the hell we were going?
“If you want my help,” he said, startling me. “You might want to quit talking.” He turned so quickly. In the darkness, I could only make out his white teeth and the golden glint of his eyes.
I opened my mouth to argue with him, then clamped it shut. I stood with my arms crossed.
Colm let out an exasperated sigh. “You think you know the rules. Is that what you said to that driver back there?”
“I…”
Colm lifted a finger to silence me. “You got their attention,” he said. “Except you think that’s a good thing. Anybody with info worth having won’t like drawing that kind of heat. And they won’t be hanging around Michigan City proper.”
“But… you do know someone who can maybe help?”
He looked me up and down. “Why should I trust you?”
“I… what?”
“Why should I trust you? How do I know you’re not some spy from the Ring? You look like some…what did you say…spoiled little rich girl? Seems to me that’s exactly the kind of bait the Ring would use to draw out every two-bit hustler back there. Entrapment. It’s a pretty standard ploy.”
“What? No. I’m not working for the Ring. I mean, good lord, you saw what I have for collateral.” I patted my pocket where I kept the Dragonstone ring. “And all you have to do is ask around. I told you, Xander and Shae Brandhart are known by some people out here.”
“Yeah,” he said. “If they’re into what you say they are, pretty sure the Ring’s offering a reward that’ll top anything you’ve got hidden in your jeans, sweetheart.”
He licked his lips when he said it. I couldn’t help it, a flash of heat shot straight down my spine.
“You want me to prove myself to you,” I said. “Exactly how do I go about that?”
Colm closed the distance between us. He towered over me. I felt his hot breath on my face. My knees went a little weak.
He wanted me. I could feel it pouring off of him. I shuddered under the weight of his gaze. He tilted his head to the side, studying me. The man was cocksure of what he wanted. It was me who felt the burn of indecision.
I expected his lust. But I never once planned on mine.
Colm broke his stare and turned his back on me. He kept on walking toward the woods. Exasperated, I flapped my hands and ran to catch up again.
He turned, holding up that single finger to silence me. This time, I wasn’t going to give in to that. I had a new indignant tirade already formed in my head. But, before I could launch into it, there was movement behind Colm’s right shoulder. A door opened at the center of a pile of rubble. Light blasted forth.
“Colm?” The voice was gruff and gravelly.
Colm tugged on my jacket sleeve and led me forward.
The man in the doorway had tufts of white hair on his head and cold, gray eyes. Not shifter. I smelled the sizzle of old magic. He was a wizard.
“Who’s your friend?” the wizard asked, casting a suspicious eye my way.
“Not sure yet,” Colm answered. “She’s got an interesting proposition though. First, I need you to help me check out her story.”
The wizard set his jaw to the side and glanced at Colm. “A little word of warning would have been nice,” he said.
Colm rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it. You got time for one more tonight?”
“One more?” I asked. “One more what?”
Neither of them answered me. Instead, the wizard turned and started walking down the set of stairs behind him. Colm followed. I waited for a moment, unsure of what they expected of me.
This was starting to feel like a very bad idea. The trouble was, I didn’t have a better one. Finally, Colm turned. He gestured to me.
“You want your intel or not?” he asked.
“What? Oh…” I hurried down the stairs. The smell hit me first. Spilled alcohol. Cheap magic. There were a few spent needles on the floor. Their glittering, green contents had long since spoiled, but a few sticky drops still stained the plastic.
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Colm, I told you. I’m not here for a hookup. I’m not into this crap.”
“You said you wanted information. You said you were told I had the contacts to get it for you. Well, this is as good a place to start as any. What’s the matter, Cassia? You scared?”
I straightened my back. He had no idea what I was. But, in a place like this, I wasn’t sure if I could keep that secret under wraps for long.
There were voices coming from further down the hall. Laughter. A couple of junkies staggered out arm in arm. A man and a woman. They took a seat together at the end of a long table in the corner of the room. The woman was still glowing from whatever hit she’d just taken. The man kissed her neck and pulled her against him. He had a series of circular burns going up and down both of his arms.
“Wait here,” Colm said.
“What? You’re leaving me?”
He smiled. “And you’ve been bragging all night about how you can take care of yourself. You trying to walk that back now?”
“No. No way. It’s just…hurry up. I don’t have all night.”
The wizard had already disappeared from view, turning down another hallway.
“I’ll be back,” Colm said. “Give me ten minutes. And whatever you do, don’t touch anything. And for the love of God, don’t whip out any more money.”
A few more junkies came out of the backroom and joined the others at the table. None of them paid any attention to me. I turned to Colm to tell him I was coming with him. But he’d already disappeared.
Chapter 4
Colm
Bach’s magic was starting to smell bad. He’d been underground way too long and surrounded himself with the worst elements in the NZ. I tried not to look too hard as I followed him down the hallway. This used to just be a place where nomads like me would crash for the night without having to worry about the company they kept. Now, every room we passed was filled with some witch or another hooking up junkies to the Source.
“Christ, Cyrus,” I said as we walked into his office. “Are things that bad for you?”
He heaved himself into a chair behind his desk. It was dark and dank back here. Mildew covered the baseboards. No doubt he had groundwater seeping in and rain pouring down the walls whenever it came. For years, he’d used a high-level spell to keep things tight and dry down here. It didn’t look like he cared anymore, or the effort of the magic was too much for him. If it was the latter, he’d be dead soon, I feared.
“Drew too much attention,” Cy said, guessing my thoughts probably from the scorn on my face as I surveyed the room.
“And those kids don’t?” I pointed behind my shoulder with my thumb.
Cyrus ran a hand along his jaw. He wrinkled his nose as he looked at me.
“Nobody cares about them anymore. It’s steady money with low maintenance. My reputation keeps the covens away.”
“Your reputation,” I said. “You mean your power.”
It was easy enough to figure out his game. Cyrus Bach was considered the most eccentric wizard in the NZ. In his younger, wilder days he’d even been suspected of aligning himself with the shifter cells behind the attacks. I knew better, and nobody could ever prove anything. Still, Cy had enough of an aura about him that most stayed away from him. Now, he was using that aura to mask what was really going on under his roof.
In some ways, it was a genius setup. Cy didn’t have to do anything but keep being himself. He probably took a cut of the door and rent from the witches in every room.
It sickened me, but Cy and I had a long history together. Once upon a time he’d saved my life… twice. And as much as he made my skin crawl, he always provided me with reliable information. That’s what I counted on now.
“She’s on something,” Cy said. “Yo
ur new friend. You know that, right?”
I bristled at the mention of Cassia. I kept looking back over my shoulder. I couldn’t see her this far into the building. But I could sense her. Her scent clung to me like the sweetest perfume. My wolf rumbled at the thought of her anywhere near Cyrus’s clientele. If she did what I told her and stayed out of everyone’s way, no one would pay her the slightest attention.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “She doesn’t have any of the usual…uh…markings. She’s different, I’ll give you that. But I’m pretty sure she’s clean.”
“Hmmm. Pity,” Cy said. “She looks like she can afford the good stuff.”
Cyrus leaned forward, peering over the desk. His eyes settled on my hands. I held them in tightly curled fists. He smirked.
With great effort, I managed to steady my breathing and settle my wolf.
“You don’t think,” Cy said. “Well, now I get why you’re here.” He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a small, red leather-bound book with gold leaf pages. He stopped on one page and stabbed it with his index finger.
“Simple incantation,” he said. “Shouldn’t take more than five minutes. But I’m gonna need something off of her. Strand of hair should do it if the root’s attached. Although…a drop of blood would be definitive.”
I squeezed the arm of the chair so hard the wood splintered. My fangs dropped.
“I’m not here for that,” I growled. “You don’t touch her. Nobody touches her.”
My vision went white. I knew my wolf eyes blazed.
Cyrus just kept smiling. He sat back in his chair and tapped his fingers on the desk.
“Interesting,” he said. “I mean…I know you want to know what she’s on. I’m offering you the chance to figure out the source of her power the easy way. There are other ways.”
I got in his face. “And I told you, I’m not here for that.”
Cyrus didn’t back down. He met my stare. “So, what are you here for? I’m in the middle of a business day, Colm.”
“Information. That’s all. Tell me what you know about a Xander Brandhart. That name ring any bells?”
Cyrus kept tapping his fingers. Then, he finally put them back in his lap and tilted his head. “Brandhart. Sounds familiar. Yes.”
I debated how much of Cassia’s story I was willing to share. This protective streak was new to me.
“Tell me the context,” I said. I reached into my pocket and pulled out two gold coins. I tossed them on Cyrus’s desk. That was twice what I usually paid him for intel like this. I hoped I hadn’t overplayed my hand.
“Body smuggler,” Cyrus said, confirming Cassia’s story and the rumors I’d heard myself over time. “I’ve had a few people over the years coming in asking about him before you just did. Never met the man myself.”
“Billionaire do-gooder,” I said. “That sound about right?”
Cyrus pursed his lips. “I suppose. We didn’t, uh, travel in the same circles.”
“Me neither. You know I make most of my money getting things into the NZ, not out of it.”
“Why are you asking?” Cyrus said. “He approach you? If so, double…no…triple whatever he’s offering to pay you.”
I crossed my legs at the ankle. It took a beat before I realized my foot was banging up and down. It earned me a raised brow from Cyrus. Straight up, this girl had me jumpy. That was seriously bad for business.
“Someone’s looking for him,” I said. Somewhere along the way, I decided it served me better not to let on who Cassia said she was. Let Cyrus think she was just some random girl I collected. She was pretty enough. Pretty. That wasn’t really the word for what she was.
“Who’s looking, Colm?”
“I’m being paid to keep that confidential for now,” I answered. “I just want to know if you’ve heard what Brandhart’s been into lately. Anything that might have stirred up unwanted attention? Or have you heard which border he’s been working most recently?”
Cyrus crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Body smuggling isn’t my thing, Colm. You know that well enough. I’m happy right here in my little corner. I don’t bother anybody big enough to cause me trouble and they don’t bother me. I have no reason to start poking around in Xander Brandhart’s neck of the woods, my friend. You shouldn’t either.”
“So, you have heard something,” I said.
Cyrus looked at the coins shining brightly on his desk. One side of his mouth curved upward.
“Forget it,” I said. “I already told you that’s an overpayment as it is. I can tell by that shit-eating grin you’re wearing that you know who this guy was working with lately.”
Cyrus put his hand over the coins and slid them along the top of the desk. He pocketed them.
“You really should sample the merchandise before you pay for it, Colm.”
“Dammit, Cyrus, I’ve sat here about ten minutes longer than I want to. You either tell me what you know or I’m going to rip your damn hands off and take my gold back.”
I rose. I let just enough of my wolf out to underscore my point. Fur sprouted on the backs of my hands. I let my fangs drop.
It was enough to make Cyrus’s color drain. A long time ago, he’d been a pretty powerful wind mage. But he’d been ousted from his coven for far too long to be able to do much more than blow smoke up my ass. He knew it. I knew it. And he also knew I wasn’t one to throw my wolf weight around if I wasn’t prepared to carry through on it.
“Fine,” he said. “If you can’t see I’m trying to help you, to hell with it. Yeah. Brandhart’s name popped up a little more frequently than usual a few months back. I didn’t see him. I’ve never met him. But the rumor was, he was in the thick of it when a twenty-shifter transport went missing along the Michigan border with Canada.”
“An entire shifter transport?” I asked, incredulous. “Twenty people?”
“That’s what I heard,” he said.
“That’s insane,” I said. The best body smugglers in the country would never do a job that big. I’d only ever heard of a maximum of five people getting out at a time.
“Man,” I said. “And you think these twenty definitely got out? Safely?”
Cyrus shrugged. “You’d have to go a little further north to ask that question. All I know is it screwed up business in the whole southeast Michigan, northwest Ohio area. It’s still not back to normal. Patrols have been quadrupled. Some good people, friends of ours, have disappeared.”
“Let me ask you something else,” I said. “What kind of money do you think that would have taken? I mean, assuming he got all twenty out of here safely.”
Cyrus shrugged. “More than I’ve ever seen.”
My next question was a risk. But, if I were going to try to unload a piece of Dragonstone, I’d have to go through Cyrus Bach whether I liked it or not.
“Have you seen any Dragonstone come through here lately?”
“You think that’s how Brandhart financed that little caper?” Cyrus whistled. “Brass balls then.”
“Well, if I or someone were to come into a piece of the stuff, do you think you could move it?”
His brow went up. “How much are we talking?”
“Talking hypothetically at this point, Cy.”
“Hmm…well, it’s possible. Dangerous. But possible. It would take some patience and a few middlemen. But I’ve done it before. Been a while. Hell, a long while. If you’re telling me you think you might come into some of the stuff, a heads up would be nice. I could start laying some groundwork. For a commission, of course.”
“Of course,” I said.
“Who’s your supplier?” he asked. I put a hand up.
“Right,” he said, before I could answer. “Hypothetical.”
“Ten percent,” I said. “That’s our standard deal.”
“Dragonstone’s a different beast, Colm. No way I’d even touch it for less than fifty-fifty.”
“Forget it,” I said, starting to rise.
“T
wenty,” he said.
I glared at him. “I’ll up it to twelve percent. That’s it.”
He saw my eyes. He knew I wasn’t bluffing.
“Twelve,” he said. “You’re an ass.”
“So, I’ve been told. Now what else can you tell me about who Brandhart might have been associating with?”
“You’ve been working the Lake Michigan side a long time, Colm. You might want to try expanding your horizons. And you know I can help with that.”
“Not interested,” I said. “Like you, I’m happy in my little corner of the world.”
Laughter wafted in from the other rooms. I heard the sound of breaking glass.
“Party’s starting to get a little wild out there,” I said. “You sure you don’t want to keep an eye on things?”
“Natural selection,” Cyrus answered. “Anyone dumb enough to let things go too far deserves whatever happens. I’m not a babysitter. I’m just a landlord.”
“Right. So, do you have any names? People on the transport. Who might have bankrolled it?”
Cyrus picked at a piece of lint on his sleeve. “None of my business. You want to get deep into it, sounds like you’re going to have to head to Lake Erie.”
I growled. I was afraid he would tell me something like that. I wasn’t in the mood for a road trip. Especially if Cyrus was right about the heavier patrols to the east of us.
“Or,” Cyrus said, leaning forward on his elbows. “You could head north. Easier money for you up there in say…Wild Lake?”
My fangs dropped again. “Save it. I’m never going back there.”
He laughed. “Look at you. Pretending like you even could. Son of a prince. Isn’t that what you told everyone?”
“We’re done here,” I said. “Unless you have any other useful intel on what this Brandhart was mixed up in.”
“Was?” he asked.
I was about to ask him what he meant by that. Instead, a scream cut through the air. My back went up, and I tore out of my seat.