His heartbeat stuttered… stopped…
“Miles!” I yelped.
A milky film rolled over Levi’s eyes, then he gave one last shudder and sighed.
“I’m good.” His voice was raspy and his eyes were clear.
“This time,” Miles said.
“That’s all I needed.” Levi gave him a cocky grin. I couldn’t blame Miles for flexing his fingers like he wanted to punch his boss, because I felt the same way. That little stunt had shaken me down to my core.
Levi straightened his clothing and ran a hand over his hair. “Lose the security. People need to see me.”
Shaking his head, Miles marched off, calling away his crew.
Levi sat there, to all appearances utterly composed. His only acknowledgement of what he’d experienced was to ask me to get him some water.
When I returned with a cold bottle a few minutes later, I handed it to him with a high five. “We did it.”
“You did it,” he replied.
I threw my shoulders back. “Hell yeah, I did. But with a firm assist from Montefiore. You done good today, kid.”
“Gee, thanks. What did you say to the reporter?”
I gave him the run down. “One step closer to solving this case. Now to find the lab.”
“About that.” His entire demeanor changed. Any high-fiving camaraderie leached away in favor of a bland professional face. “I’m going to put my people on it. They’re a good team. The loose smudges have been dealt with and your blood magic isn’t necessary to rescue the kids.”
Why? Is it ill-advised?
“I still have a brain and you hired me to also find whoever was behind their creation.”
“Circumstances have changed. Your story about an illegal game isn’t going to hold up. I have to let my team in on this now.”
“I handled that interview the best I could. I was put on the spot.”
“I appreciate that.” He kept that same calm tone like he was patiently explaining things to a stubborn child. “But the smudge is now very public knowledge. The more brainpower on this, the faster we find Meryem, right?”
I looked out over the crowd. The protestors had dispersed and most of the others remaining animatedly rehashed the takedown. I should have been celebrating this victory, not fighting to keep my composure. “Are you firing me?”
“There are going to be questions and it’s safer this way. I’m keeping the spotlight off you. Like you wanted.”
“Don’t twist my words.” I shook my head. “You know what? Fire me all you want. Charlotte Rose is my client and I’m not letting her down.”
Levi stood up to loom over me. “If I get even a hint that you’re still moving forward on this, I’ll arrest you for obstruction of justice and personally ensure your P.I. days are over. I’m not kidding.”
This was the House Head speaking. Not Levi Montefiore, the guy I’d grown up with. Not the man who’d kissed me half an hour ago. And definitely not someone who I’d almost called my friend.
“Message received. Sir.” I marched off, head held high without punching him in his fat face.
That was today’s real win.
Chapter 20
I ducked into the VAG, beelining straight for the bathroom. A thin line of blood streaked down my cheeks, but nothing was broken and I didn’t have any new bruises.
How dare he take this case away from me? I’d saved his ass and that was how he repaid me? His point about more brainpower was valid, but that didn’t mean he had to fire me with some lame-ass excuse about keeping me safe. That had never been a concern of his and even if he had developed some misguided chivalry, it wasn’t necessary.
And to threaten my P.I. license?
Hell with him. He could put every Nefesh he employed on it and I’d still be the one who found Meryem. I didn’t give a damn about coming out a hero, I just didn’t trust anyone else to care as much.
Between Adam and Levi, I was done getting screwed over by the men in my life. Not that Levi was in my life. Not anymore. The one good thing that had come out of this.
I came home armed with three boxes of pizza and a six-pack of a local pale ale and banged on Arkady’s door.
“Enter.”
I swung the door open, flinching at a loud thwack as his muscular calf connected with his punching bag, and held up the pizza. “First payment, if you’re not busy.”
“What flavor?” A too-small pair of pink sweatpants hung low off his hips exposing a dusting of hair between his waistband and his “Sounds gay. Count me in.” T-shirt. His black nail polish was starting to flake off and his hair was pulled back in a ridiculous blue scrunchie that didn’t detract from his hotness one iota.
“One veg, two Italian sausage and arugula.”
“Veg?” He said it like I’d offered him a steaming dose of syphilis. He dropped into his fighter stance, his fists transforming into stone as he brought them up to his chin.
“I didn’t know if you ate meat.”
Arkady executed a fancy combo, his stone fists practically punching through the bag. “Pickle, please.”
“Gay people can be vegetarians.”
“Not if they’re doing it right.” His next punch knocked the bag off the hook. It thudded to the floor, plaster raining down into his hair. Arkady dusted himself off before picking up the bag with his stone hands. “Okay. Scram. I’ll be there in twenty. I gotta finish training and you’re too weak to take in the full display of my manly prowess.”
“Yeah, well I gotta take a shower and you’re too weak to take in the full display of my womanly prowess.”
Arkady snorted. “Meh.”
“You’re a pain in the ass, Choi.”
He grabbed a towel off the back of his sofa, flexing his tatted-up biceps, his body gleaming with sweat. “That’s not what the boys say. Scurry along now.”
Fighting a grin, I opened my apartment door. “Hey, Pri? I brought pizza and Arkady is coming–oof.”
A pink blur rushed me in an attack hug.
I held the pizza and beer up out of harm’s way. “Did you eat my entire stash? Is this one of your touchy feely sugar rushes?”
“You could have been killed, dumbass.”
“Not really. The golem was scary but–”
“Golem?!” she screeched.
“Nope. No golem. What are you talking about?”
“That thing at Robson Square that you destroyed.”
“That was Levi.”
Priya smacked me. “We are not playing that game. You can take magic. That wasn’t Levi. That was you under some illusion to look like him.”
“Brains and beauty.” I put the pizza in the oven on warm and the beer in the freezer, the cool air easing the sweat on my forehead. No one else knew what I could do. I was safe.
“Are you okay?” she said.
“I’m fine. Other than the fact that I found out my father was the one to ward me, I got to the lab too late and they’d moved the victims, and Levi fired me because my skills were no longer needed.”
“Yikes. We might need another beer run. You want to talk about any of it?”
“Not particularly. Tonight I want to hang out with my friends and pretend I am a normal human being with a normal job and absolutely no vendettas.”
Priya clapped her hands. “Did you say ‘friends’ plural?”
“That’s what you picked up on? Yes, I admit, Arkady may have a certain likeability factor. He’s been given probationary status.”
“Ashira made a friend,” she sang. “And now you’re having your first playdate.”
“Pri.” I clasped her shoulders. “You can’t mention what you know to anyone.”
“D’uh. Your secret is safe with me.”
“It’s not about that. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you because of me.”
“It won’t.” She pushed me out the door. “Go bathe, stinky.”
By the time I got back to the living room in my black pjs with “Unlikeable�
�� written in white across the chest, Arkady and Pri were halfway through one of the sausage pizzas.
Stomach rumbling, I curled into one edge of the couch and pulled the other meat pizza closer. I couldn’t stuff the first piece in fast enough. Luckily the cheese had cooled down from “burn my mouth” territory. This was proper pizza: thin crust, baked in a wood oven, with sausage that was rich and meaty, juicy San Marzano tomatoes for the sauce, and arugula that had a spicy bite. There were definite benefits to living in the Little Italy area of Vancouver, stellar coffee and pizza being among the tops.
The TV was tuned to the local news which was a constant replay of earlier.
This was the first time I saw what everyone else had. The illusion really was flawless. It looked like Levi lifting the selfie guy off the ground and scaring him off.
“That man is incredible,” Arkady said between swigs of pale ale.
“Yeah, Levi is something else.” Priya slid me a beer.
I cracked it open, but didn’t drink, my attention riveted to the TV. Onscreen Levi spoke to Rick. The cameras had been too far away to catch what was being said, but I remembered every word of it.
Rick swung at Levi and Arkady shook his head and pointed at Dudebro. “Sloppy. Telegraphing a mile away.”
As remarkable as it was to watch the illusion mirror my actions with Levi flipping Rick to the ground and straddling him, the true artistry of Levi’s magic became apparent when I was fighting the smudge.
While Levi onscreen was grappling to pull the smudge out, there was no sign whatsoever of blood magic. Not even a single blood tear. It simply looked like Levi fought to pull it free, put his hands into the smudge and tore it to pieces. He’d hidden all signs of the magic that I’d used to destroy it, and he’d done it in real time, fooling a live crowd and cameras. He’d gone above and beyond to keep his word and keep me out of the spotlight.
It was almost heartbreaking that no one would ever know.
Equally if not more confusing was why he’d fired me afterward. We’d been a good team.
I almost snorted beer through my nose at the victory pose I’d struck.
Arkady frowned. “That was a tad over-the-top.”
Priya nudged my leg, grinning.
The interview came off fairly believably, if Arkady’s nodding was anything to go by. I’d played Levi both suitably imperious and coy. I did a bang-on impersonation of him, if I did say so myself.
“To Levi.” Arkady saluted the TV.
“To Levi.” Priya clinked her can to mine.
“Yeah. What a guy.”
We hung out until almost midnight, falling down a YouTube rabbit hole, first watching Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon take us through the history of rap, and then with Arkady introducing us to the joys of K-Pop with BTS and BLACKPINK.
It distracted me from everything waiting to weigh me down.
Things were a tad less bleak when I woke up Wednesday morning, since my feverish dreams of labs and smudges had given me a lead to pursue. I got dressed in my best navy trousers and a smart blazer, twisted my hair into a chignon, and applied a light and natural makeup look. Satisfied with my “young professional” vibe, I grabbed my heels and slid them on at the front door, careful not to wake Pri.
With Moriarty deigning to start after a couple of sputtered protests, I drove over to Olympic Village, the waterfront area that had housed the athletes during the 2010 games. Those buildings had been transformed into expensive condos with hip restaurants and cafés lining the ground floors, all centered around a plaza with a pair of giant bird statues that were over fifteen feet tall. They were supposedly inspired by the Hitchcock film, so you know, not creepy or anything.
I threw them a chin nod as I walked between them on my way to the trendy new Italian café, complete with a “CEO of Coffee.” Pretentious much?
The pastry case was stuffed with freshly made goodies in various shades of buttery gold. I selected a half dozen sfogliatelle, similar to croissants with a variety of fillings, and got them tied up in a to-go box with a gold bow. Bribes weren’t mandatory, but they never hurt.
I got to Vancouver Mundane Police Department HQ and asked to see Sergeant Tremblay.
A few moments later, Sergeant Margery Tremblay, an officer with the VPD for the past thirty-five years, emerged from the glass doors to the bullpen. Flawless makeup, even at 8AM in the morning, her silver hair in a pixie cut, she cocked her hip, one hand on her gun when she saw me.
I held out one of the lattes and the box. “I still say that if this cop thing doesn’t work out, you have a bright future in Mary Kay cosmetics.”
Margery took the coffee and sipped it. “It’s cold.”
“But the pastries are warm.” I waved the box under her nose, the small of flaky dough and butter making my mouth water.
She snatched the box away. “What do you want, kid?”
“You haven’t been to karaoke night in two months. I was worried.”
Margery barked a laugh. “Pull the other one. You know damn well Delphine and I were on that cruise. Besides, you only ever play dress-up when you’re trying to impress me.”
“Busted.” I glanced around the lobby but everyone else was coming and going without paying any attention to us. “I need a favor. Is there still a warrant out for those two Nefesh suspects? The older woman and younger man who attacked a security guard?”
“Far as I know.” Margery was a liaison with the Nefesh police department.
“Can you find out who filed the complaint?”
“Complaints are confidential.”
“I’m the woman,” I said. “I was undercover on a job and came across information that some powerful people would rather I keep quiet.”
“But you’re Mundane.”
“Exactly. There was no assault.” I’d checked the House database before I came. I still wasn’t entered into it so my story would hold up. “Canadian law dictates the person has a right to know the name of who complained in order to give their side of the story.”
Margery finished her sfogliatella before she answered me. “Can you prove that was you?”
“If there are details of where the attack occurred listed in the complaint, I can tell you where I was and you can see if they match.” I gave her the address of the auction in Tofino.
“All right.” She stood up and brushed crumbs off her jacket, taking the pastry box with her. “Wait here.”
I remained in the lobby, watching cops come and go, tapping my foot impatiently. My relationship with Mundane police had never been as antagonistic as with the Nefesh ones. They didn’t love private investigators but none of them had the hard-on for me that Novak did. I’d skirted Nefesh jurisdiction once too often.
Finally Margery returned. “Sorry, kid. The complaint was filed anonymously.”
“In an assault charge?”
“Yeah, it’s highly unusual. There’s no name of who was assaulted either.”
“Trumped-up bullshit.”
“Ash, be careful. There’s pressure from on high to find these two and if they were willing to make your undercover persona seem that dangerous, they won’t stop until they find you.”
That was what I was counting on.
I dumped my empty latte cup in the recycling bin. I was so consumed with what my next move was, that I didn’t see White Rabbit Man waiting next to Moriarty until I was practically on top of him. “Geez.”
“Nice car. Four wheels and everything,” he said.
I held up a warning finger. “No one disses Moriarty but me.”
“My most heartfelt apologies. A more magnificent vehicle I have never seen.”
I made a snarky face at him. “What do you want?”
“The Queen requests your presence.”
“‘Requests.’” I snorted. “That makes it sound like I can refuse.”
He smiled. “You can try.”
“Fine.” I pulled out my car keys. “Get in.”
“Why?”
&nbs
p; “To drive over to Harbour Center.”
He pulled a thin gold chain out from under his shirt. On it was a gold replica of the coin with the “H” that Miles had given me. “All-access pass.”
Before I could double check that I had enough time on my parking meter, we’d shifted.
My ears popped hard, the world snapping back into focus. I shuddered. “That was horrible.”
“You build up a tolerance. This way.”
As always, it was night in Hedon. The magic wasn’t as unsettling as on my first visit and I’d been too distracted at the lab to notice one way or the other. I was only mildly queasy instead of wanting to puke my guts out, and could plausibly blame it on the jump, which was good, since White Rabbit Man couldn’t know that I had magic.
“You know, I never asked your name,” I said.
“I never intend to give it.” He led me through a narrow pathway between unkempt hedges into a courtyard strung with fairy lights where a bunch of empty picnic tables were scattered around a lone parked taco truck. Throw in some bearded hipsters drinking from mason jars and, if it hadn’t been for the magic pulsing against my skin like waves lapping at the shore, I wouldn’t have believed we were in Hedon.
The Queen had her back to me, studying the short menu tacked to the food truck. Today’s outfit consisted of red pants, a red blouse, and red leather stiletto boots. I so needed a signature color.
Part of me wanted to be her when I grew up. Without the beheadings.
White Rabbit Man motioned for me to continue on to her alone.
I stopped next to her, reading the offerings chalked on the menu.
“What do you want?” A light breeze teased the ends of her dark red hair and she held it back with one hand. She’d been in the sun since I’d last seen her, her skin a richer, deeper bronze.
“What would you suggest?”
“The carne asada.” She held up two fingers to the guy manning the truck, then sat down at one of the picnic tables. “It seems my debt to Levi Montefiore keeps growing. First, he alerts me to these people using my name on their business dealings, then he gets my nephew out of harm’s way.”
Blood & Ash: A Snarky Urban Fantasy Detective Series (The Jezebel Files Book 1) Page 24