Blood Magic

by Melody Raven

  And just like that, we had the perfect living situation for the city’s hungriest Vopura. “You said this was a new feature?” I asked. “What made you decide on something like this?”

  “We had a few requests from new tenants, and if we’re going to install in one unit, why not all? We believe in going the extra mile. For all of our guests. You’re not a tenant with us. You’re family.”

  “I’ll be waiting for my Christmas gift.” I threw in a fake laugh for good measure. Usually when I had to lie to someone to con them, it was actually work. But I could literally say anything I wanted to Donald and he’d have to like me because he was trying to sell me things.

  That kind of fake drove me crazy. If you were going to lie to me, at least be believable.

  Carter was doing much better with the act than I was. He took the remote from Donald and started to raise the shutters. “What kind of motor is running this?”

  Oh God, they were going to start geeking out over mechanics. I was out. “I’d like to check out the gym. Why don’t I take a look while you boys go goo-goo ga-ga over the toys?” I said, even as I started for the exit.

  “Don’t you want to look over the rest together, honey?” asked Carter, his eyes narrowed in annoyance the entire time.

  “It’s your money, baby. I trust your opinion. Now, don’t you want me to keep on fitting into those teeny, tiny nightgowns you like so much?” I winked. “I’ll meet you downstairs,” I called as I left the apartment. It was only when I got out in the hallway that I realized I’d never asked where the gym was. But that was okay. It wasn’t where I was going anyway.

  7

  “What the hell was that?” asked Carter as he pulled me out of the Carlton.

  His grip was tight on my hand. Even though we probably looked like happy lovers to anyone walking by, I wouldn’t be surprised if he left a bruise behind.

  “I was doing my job.” I squeezed his hand back as hard as I could, giving as good as I got.

  “Your job is to do what I tell you.” As soon as we were far enough away, he pulled his hand away from mine as if I were poison.

  “Well, I was using my well-established critical thinking skills to help us.” I pulled a piece of paper out of my back pocket and handed it over victoriously. “Here you go. You can thank me later.”

  He frowned as he took the paper and looked it over. “What is this?”

  “This is what I got for you. It’s a printout of all the tenants, their phone numbers, and Social Security numbers.”

  He looked at the paper and then back at me, scowl firmly in place. “You broke into Donald’s office.”

  “I wish I could take that much credit. He left the thing unlocked and didn’t have a password set up on his computer. Really, he might as well have just handed me the list himself.” I was already itching to try to guess what his password would be. Why did some marks have to be so boring? “We should be able to use this to keep tabs on the Vopura, right?” Go ahead, Carter. Try to downplay how awesome I am. I dare you….

  “It’s perfect. Good job, Shaw.”

  I blinked in surprise. “What?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not saying it again.”

  He got in the car, and I was left standing there smiling in victory. I’d gotten a compliment from Carter Blackburn. I never thought the day would come.

  I slid into the passenger seat, the victory still buzzing in my veins. “I’m taking Gabbie out to dinner tonight to show her the ropes. Do you want to come and try to prove how you’re the cool boss?”

  I tried to think whether his version of hell would be spending time with me and a brand-new psychic. But let’s face it. I might be annoying, but I was also damn fun.

  “I can’t. I have a date tonight.”

  Ah, yes. With the fiancée. “Gabbie and I can tag along. Wouldn’t your fiancée want to meet your coworkers?”

  “I want to show Amy a good time, not scare her off.”

  “She’s going to have to meet us eventually.”

  “I’m still not sure we’re not going to be disbanded tomorrow. This whole experiment seems destined for failure.”

  Ouch. He really didn’t mince words. “So far we’ve been doing okay.”

  “Melanie can barely secure funding, and half of our jobs depend on a newbie who has probably never held a gun and doesn’t know the first thing about her powers or what we’re up against.”

  So much negativity in such a tightly wound package. I don’t know how Amy put up with him. “Which is all the more reason to bring us with you on your date.” But I knew Carter wasn’t going to change his mind on this one any time soon. “So does your girlfriend know what you are?”

  “Fiancée,” he corrected. “She knows I’m a very dedicated agent for the US government.”

  “Well, that’s a super fancy way of saying no,” I muttered. “Why are you so secretive? Are you ashamed?”

  He glanced at me out of the side of his eyes. “My secret doesn’t just affect me.”

  “Oh. So you’re being secretive to protect your mother? Come on. We’re partners now. You have to be able to trust me a little bit.”

  “I still check for my wallet every time you leave the room. I’m not going to put my mother’s political career in the greedy hands of a thief.”

  “Rude,” I pointed out. He wasn’t totally wrong about his reasoning. I might be a thief, but I really tried not to be a bad person. Besides, I’d voted for Carter’s mom in the last election. Not that I’d ever tell him that. But I wasn’t about to mess up her career.

  “You’ve stolen from me before.”

  “Come on! I stole your badge one time, and that was really a practical joke.”

  “You used that badge to break into the museum and took off with the crown jewels.”

  “Yeah. Hilarious.” Some people had no sense of humor.

  He let out a grumble as he weaved through traffic. “I’m glad you’re taking Gabbie out tonight. But please try to not be a bad influence.”

  What a ridiculous request. I was going to teach her how to use her magic and enjoy herself. Of course I was going to be a bad influence.

  Shockingly, Gabbie was still gorgeous when I met her at the bar. Good grief, how did this girl even go out without having to beat off the suitors with a stick? If she ever joined Tinder, her phone would never stop going off.

  “You made it!” I said happily as I swooped in to grab the barstool next to her that she’d been saving for me.

  “Well, I don’t have to get up early to get to the bank tomorrow.” She took a sip of whatever drink she’d ordered.

  “You’re welcome,” I said proudly as I signaled to the bartender and ordered a water. I wanted to have my wits about me for the night. I was still in my jeggings and tank, and I’d added a black denim jacket. Sure, next to Gabbie, I might not be the one grabbing the most attention, but I still did okay for myself. Not that I was ever approached much unless I wanted to be. I had my resting bitch face down pretty well.

  Whereas Gabbie looked like a Disney princess who was about to have forest animals approach and offer to make her a dress.

  “So tell me about yourself.” I took a deep gulp of water.

  She frowned. “What do you want to know?”

  So pretty. So socially awkward. “Anything you want to tell me. Small talk and all that. When did you move to LA? What are your dreams and aspirations? What kind of pets did you have growing up? Anything.”

  “I kind of thought you had a file on me that told you everything.”

  I snorted. “Carter might. They don’t trust me with all that.” Even though I did have a file on Gabbie, it hadn’t been all that detailed.

  “Well, I grew up in a pretty boring home in Salt Lake City.”

  My eyes brightened. “You’re a Mormon? How adorable.”

  Gabbie stared at me in confusion. “I, um, no. I’m not. I had a lot of friends who were, though.”

  “So what brought you to LA? Dreams of bein
g a famous actress?”

  “No. Actually, it was my brother who wanted that. I came here to help him out.”

  “Yeah? How did that go for him?” LA wasn’t really known for being that nice to young hopefuls.

  “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about him. He’s been missing for the past six months.”

  Well, that was a twist. “Missing? Did you go to the police?”

  “Yeah. They immediately told me how many kids come to LA and leave within a year. But he wouldn’t leave without telling me or our parents or giving me any type of notice.”

  And I bet that if she worked with Dangerous Magic Division, she’d have a lot more resources at hand to help her locate that brother. “What is his name?”

  “Brent Hanson.”

  “Well, we’ll have to make sure we spend some time running his name through our system.” I took out my phone and started frantically typing out a message.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Since Nico is our main computer support, he’d be the best one to ask. Maybe he can run a picture through some software and see if it comes up on any stored CCTV footage.”

  “Can we do that legally?”

  I frowned as I looked up at Gabbie. “We can do it. And you want it done. Don’t put those needless qualifiers on it.” Once I finished sending the info to Nico, I set my phone down. “Do you have any idea where Brent might be? Like, was he into the party or drug scene?”

  “He came here to get away. He was…” Her eyes fell.

  “Don’t be nervous with me. Just spit it out.”

  “Brent’s gay.”

  I blinked a few times. What did she expect me to say to that? “So? I care as much about that as I do about his hair color.”

  “Yeah. Which is the reason he wanted to come here so bad. Back home, it was harder for him to be himself. But here, he was just so happy, and he seemed to trust everyone. I can’t stop thinking that someone took advantage of all that enthusiasm.”

  Funny, because I kept on thinking how pretty she was and how likely it was that someone would try to take advantage of her. If her brother was half as pretty as she was, that was very likely.

  “I’m not going to tell you not to worry, because that would be stupid. But I will tell you that we’re the best possible people you could’ve found to help you out with this.”

  “I know. And ever since this morning, I can’t stop thinking about something you said.”

  Great. What did I say now? “What’s that?”

  “About the….” She leaned forward while glancing in either direction for eavesdroppers. “Vampires.”

  Joke’s on her, because if any vampires were listening, they could’ve heard her no matter how quietly she was whispering. “Are you nervous?” The sun was already down for the night, and I knew a revelation like that could make even a brave human uneasy.

  “No. But he went missing months ago and you just said all those things came over. What if he was someone’s dinner?”

  Okay, so the timing worked for that, but I wasn’t about to admit that. “That’s one very specific possibility in a sea of other possibilities. Let’s not start grabbing onto theories until we know more.” I finished my water and stood. “I’m feeling antsy. Let’s get out of here.”

  “And go where?”

  “Oh, I have an idea.”

  She frowned. “I have a feeling I’m not going to like that idea.”

  Why did everyone doubt me so much? “It’s going to be fun! I promise.”

  “This isn’t fun at all.”

  “This is perfect. You get to hone your skills as an agent and get to know the team better.”

  “We’re stalking Carter and his girlfriend. Nothing about this is right.”

  “No. We’re stalking Carter and his fiancée. There’s a big difference.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  I rolled my eyes. “When a woman is promoted from girlfriend to fiancée, she gets a ring on her finger and her grandmother can start asking about babies.”

  Gabbie shook her head as she reached for the door handle. “I’m not going to get fired because you’re playing a prank.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said, trying to keep her in the car as long as possible. “This isn’t just some prank. Amy’s evil.”

  Gabbie raised one very skeptical brow. “Evil?”

  “Yes. Bad news. Going to destroy our world.”

  “How do you know this?”

  I bit my lip. I knew bringing in Gabbie would be a risk, but I just didn’t have the manpower to do this on my own. I didn’t even know what Flora was, and as cool as Nico seemed, he was a bit too by the book for me. But Gabbie was new and moldable and, better yet, psychic. I could use her. But if she stepped out of this car and blew my cover, that wouldn’t be super useful, now would it?

  “I don’t do things like this. I don’t follow people and invade their privacy and trust.”

  “Honey, you just signed up to work with Big Brother today. This is going to be your job.”

  “You said my job would be to help people.”

  “What do you think I’m trying to do?”

  “Chase away the competition.”

  I stared at her in confusion until I got what she was trying to say. “Oh. Oh! You think I… God no. I mean, Carter is pretty and all, but hell no. I’m telling you an anonymous source told me that Amy was bad news, and I can’t exactly tell Carter to break up with her because he can barely stand me. So now it’s up to us to get proof that she’s evil. We have to do this for the sake of our team.”

  “The team was just formed yesterday.”

  “And in that short amount of time, it’s become very important to me.”

  Gabbie took her hand away from the latch, but she didn’t look any more convinced. “You know, you might think you’re all cool and have such a good read on people, but I’ve got a read on you too.”

  “Well then, I’m sorry for you. People who get to know me usually don’t like what they see.”

  “You’re a walking tragedy. You come off as cocky and overconfident, but really you’re just feeling sorry for yourself all the time.”

  I took a deep gulp and took a deep breath. “Honey, that’s where you’re wrong. I don’t feel sorry for myself. I deserve every single bad thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  Just then, I saw movement and leaned back in my seat, trying to make myself as innocuous as possible even though we were parked in the shadows and even someone with vampire vision would have a hard time seeing us.

  I’d seen Amy from afar before. She had the sophisticated look of a woman who would order the expensive filet any time she went out to eat without a second thought. With high cheekbones and the understated makeup of someone who knew they didn’t need much. She wore expensive clothes, and her hair was the type of bleach blonde that was updated at the stylist before visible roots would ever show.

  In short, she was the type of high class who would make the perfect little wife for Carter Blackburn. But I trusted my sources, and I wasn’t going to let this tip go without looking into it.

  Carter opened the door for Amy like the Boy Scout he was before getting into the driver’s seat and taking off.

  “Aren’t we going to follow them?” asked Gabbie, apparently getting into the spirit of things.

  “We’re not here to follow them.” I opened an app on my phone. A little map popped up, and I saw the red dot move farther and farther away from our current location.

  “Please tell me that isn’t what I think it is.” Gabbie leaned in closer.

  “Okay. It isn’t a GPS tracker you can buy and put on your dog or cat’s collar that in this case I dropped in Carter’s car.” I jumped out of the car and headed for Amy’s house.

  The neighborhood wasn’t super elaborate, but it was close enough to the city that any property here had to be a decent buy. Which didn’t really make sense. Amy dressed rich. She acted rich. But she wasn’t. From what I’d f
ound out so far, she worked a low-level office job. The kind that needed a degree, but she wasn’t clearing six figures. Did she just have a shopping addiction? Or was something more sinister funding her?

  I was going to find out, one way or another.

  I glanced up and down the street, making sure it was relatively deserted before I made my way for the house. And when I heard the pitter-patter of Gabbie running after me, I had to suppress my smile of victory. I loved it when people did what I wanted.

  “How are we supposed to get in?” asked Gabbie as she made it to my side.

  “That’s a good question,” I muttered. If I had my magic, I could just twist the lock with a little magic kerfuffle. But now that I was like any other plebe, I’d have to show more finesse. We needed to be subtle, so I couldn’t knock out a window. And although I could very well pick a lock, Amy’s porch was well lit and it would draw a lot of attention. We’d have to find another door.

  “Come on.” I motioned Gabbie to follow me. I kept my eyes peeled for any type of security cameras. These days, anyone could go into any department store and buy a camera to hook up to Wi-Fi.

  But so far I hadn’t seen anything to give me pause. And if anyone did see Gabbie and me, they wouldn’t think twice about us. Because I was so small, I tended to come off as nonthreatening. Getting people to underestimate me was really my favorite. It was like lying with no words. The best.

  I made my way around the garage and tried the side door. And it opened. Just like that. Not locked or anything. I looked over at Gabbie and grinned widely.