I fucked up. I shouldn’t have gone after level fours without our anti-magic gear, even with Victoria helping.
His work finished, Trey stood. Healing potions would take care of their injuries, but it wouldn’t wake them up, and he couldn’t leave Victoria to take on the bounties alone.
Trey spun and sprinted toward the parking lot. The sounds of shattering glass and wrenching metal filled the air.
“That don’t sound good.” He hit the corner and turned. Victoria was on one knee near a wall in a pile of glass, blood trailing down the sides of her face. The glyphs on her suit were dim now, and her breathing was labored. A smashed car lay a few feet from her.
Ben was sprawled face-down in the parking lot. Claire stood over him, her arms out.
Another car flew toward Victoria. She tried to roll out of the way as the tons of metal, plastic, and glass sped toward her but screamed as the car pinned her leg. With one final bright flash, the glyphs on her suit disappeared.
Claire glared at Victoria, hatred on her face. “Now you die, witch.”
Trey charged toward the bounty. “Yo, forget about me, bitch?”
The blonde spun toward him, her lips curling into a sneer.
Her breathing ragged and her face contorted in pain, Victoria waved her wand. Several golden lines shot toward the car and shoved it backward, freeing her leg. The torn, bloodied, and bent limb was obviously shattered.
Trey ignored her for the moment and continued charging Claire. A motorcycle flew his way. He ducked under it, raising his fist, and yelled as he closed on the bounty. A bumper flew low, and he hurdled the chrome.
Should have been in the fucking Olympics with these moves. Hope this shit works.
A few more yards turned into feet, and he barreled into Claire. They crashed to the ground. Claire raised her hand, and a shard of glass flew to it.
“I’ll kill you, bounty hunter scum,” she snarled, and stabbed Trey, her grip so tight around the glass that it cut her hand.
He winced as the shard pierced his chest, but the spike of pain was far less than he’d expected. Claire stabbed a few more times before he slammed a gloved fist into her face twice. She slumped, unconscious, her hand dropping to the side.
Trey stood up and looked down at his shirt. Bloodstains spread from the locations of the stabs, but when he pulled away his shirt and undershirt to inspect the damage, the wounds were small.
“Good job,” Victoria called from behind him.
He turned around. Her suit was shredded in several places, but her wounds were gone. He wasn’t surprised. A witch could get healing potions, even if she couldn’t make them herself.
Victoria slipped her wand into her jacket holster. “She almost had me there after I took out the husband.”
Trey glanced at Ben. He lay in a pool of blood, his eyes open in a death stare.
Distant sirens sang in the night. The police would be there soon.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Shit, hope our agency insurance pays for some of these cars. If we have to pay directly, we won’t clear much on the job.”
Victoria smirked. “Next time we should lure the bounties to somewhere we can destroy with a little less concern.” She blew out a breath and ran a hand through her short red hair. “Or at least somewhere with fewer cars to throw.” She nodded to Trey. “You’ve got good instincts, by the way. I was right to partner with you on this job.”
Trey shook his head. “Nah, it ain’t about good instincts. They help, but it’s about good training and examples.” He held up his hands. “And some nice magical gloves.”
The sirens grew closer.
Victoria stared down at Claire. “The point is, it’s nice to know there’s someone competent backing me up. It’s been a continuing problem through my various…careers, you could say. It’s been interesting since I’ve switched over to bounty hunting. It’s obvious, for example, that if I had tried to go after this couple by myself, I would have been killed.”
“Yeah, that’s why we always do teams in the Brownstone Agency.” Trey shrugged. “The big man’s the only one who goes solo, and even he has his woman with him half the time. She might not be him, but she still kicks ass. Fuck, even his daughter tears shit up.”
Victoria smirked. “What a wonderfully destructive family.”
Trey laughed. “You don’t know the half of it. Just saying, if you want to take on high-end bounties and be sure that someone has your back, maybe you should consider joining the agency. We’re recruiting right now, trying to grow it past just me and my boys. You wouldn’t be the first new hire. We’ve taken on a former AET officer and several other new recruits in the last few weeks. What we don’t have is a badass witch with a good sense of style.”
Red and blue lights shone down the road. The police were almost there.
Victoria blew out a breath. “I’ll admit I’m interested, but I’m not moving to Los Angeles. I like Las Vegas.”
Trey shrugged. “We usually have a Brownstone team in Vegas. You won’t always be working with my handsome self, but you will have someone to back you up—trained men who have fought everyone from punk-ass bitches to monsters summoned by the Council. I’m sure you heard about them in the news.”
“I’ll think about it.” The witch scratched an eyelid. “And I’ll admit there’s also a certain appeal about being associated with James Brownstone.”
Trey grinned. “I have to run it by the big man, but I doubt he’ll say no.”
Lachlan, Kevin, and Daryl came around the corner, their guns out.
Daryl looked at the smashed cars. “This shit all over?”
“Yeah,” Trey replied, “this shit’s all over.”
Trey didn’t bother to call James until the bounty hunters had smoothed things over with the police and returned to the loft above their Vegas office. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was a good idea.
Will Zoe be jealous if I’m working with another hot witch?
Zoe was more than enough for him. He had no intention of pursuing Victoria, but he wasn’t sure his girlfriend would see it that way. He sat on the couch and shook his head.
Women were trouble, magical women even more so.
Never gonna cheat on her. She’s more than enough woman for me. So, if I’m never gonna cheat on her, there ain’t no problem. We need magical support, and some of those will end up being hot witches. Just the luck of the draw.
Trey dialed Brownstone.
“Problem?” James answered, his rumbling voice sounding even deeper over the phone.
“Nah. Why would you think there’s a problem?”
“Because it’s late. You almost never call me late.”
Trey grimaced. “Shit, you’re right. Didn’t even think. Sorry to bother you on your vacation, big man.”
“It’s fine.”
“And nah, there’s no problem.” Trey smiled. “Just was finishing up with the level fours I texted you about. Guys got a little banged up but nothing serious.”
James grunted. “Good. And the witch?”
“Pretty badass. The bounties dropped cars on her and shit, and she kept going,” Trey explained. “We wouldn’t have been able to take down the bounties without her. That’s why I’m calling. Wanted to talk about her.”
“You want to give her more of the money?”
Trey laughed. “Nah, she’s already getting half. I brought up with her about maybe joining the agency. She don’t want to work in LA, but she’s game for Vegas. Figured we could use a witch, but you’re the boss. You make the calls.”
“I trust you,” James replied. “If you think she’ll be useful, then let’s bring her on. A more permanent presence in Vegas will help, too. Call your aunt and get her started on the hiring process.”
“That simple?”
James grunted. “Why the fuck not? We don’t need to overthink this shit. If you, Maria, or Royce say something makes sense, I’m gonna listen. Anything else?”
Trey thought that o
ver for a few seconds. “Nah, that was it. Figured this would be a longer conversation. Guess the Brownstone Agency now has its first witch.”
Chapter Seven
Aiyn leaned back in her seat, keeping her breathing steady as the data flowed. The ocular implant might be transmitting the data directly to her brain, but it was indistinguishable from a holographic display in the real world.
“Damn it, Brownstone, it’s like you know.” She sucked in a breath.
According to her information, Brownstone had gone from being heavily involved in multiple combat operations to taking on only a handful of bounties in the last month. Not only that, the only significant recent incident involved him defeating some robbers at a pet store in Los Angeles.
That doesn’t even make sense. Why is he wasting time fighting small-time criminals?
The more Aiyn thought about his behavior, the more bile rose in the back of her throat. The Vax were brutal but predictable in their own way. That was part of their terror, but at least that predictability provided some small hope to those who opposed them.
A subtle Forerunner integrating himself into the target society was the worst-case scenario. Brownstone was not only gaining additional time to adapt to all the weapons and magic on Earth, but he was also learning about their defenses and order of battle. What little chance Earth and Oriceran had of striking back would be minimized if the Vax knew who and where to target upon their arrival.
Aiyn sat up and sighed. No. She needed to push Brownstone more and get him somewhere she could handle him.
“Fine, Brownstone. If you want to pretend to be a bounty hunter, then it’s time to take advantage of that.”
Shay paced back and forth in James’ living room. Thomas followed her as if under the impression they were going for a little walk inside instead of outside.
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
James looked up from the article he was reading on the different types of magic that might be potentially applied to barbeque and watched Shay for about a half minute.
“What’s wrong?” he rumbled.
Shay threw up her hands, and Thomas barked. “I let it get in my head. I thought it’d go away, but it’s stuck there.”
“What?” James set his phone down.
She stopped and pivoted to face him. “The idea that we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop; that we have some sort of luck we need to reset. I’ve tried to convince myself it’s not a big deal, but now I’m thinking about it all the time.” She shrugged. “And I’m getting cabin fever.”
James blinked. “This isn’t a cabin.”
Shay rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.” She sighed. “Look, the bedroom fun is great, but, you know, I can’t be sore all the time.”
“I’m not following you.”
“We need to stop sitting around. Like I said before, we need to take a job.” Shay pointed to him and then herself. “Both of us. Together. It’ll reset the luck if there is a problem, but it’ll also relax us. We’ll get the cabin fever out of us.”
James shrugged. “I am relaxed. I’m not worried about people coming at me; just think it’s a good reason not to start a restaurant. As for jobs, I’ve had a few people the last few days pushing me to go for some bounties, though.”
Shay pursed her lips. “What? You have?”
“Yeah, but none of the jobs are in America. One guy wants me to go to the Australian Outback. Claims there’s some sort of monster they need killed. Another guy’s begging me to kill a despair bug they found in Hokkaido. Chinese government claims they need me to deal with rogue wizards.” James shrugged.
Shay stared at him. “Those all sound perfect. Why didn’t you say anything?”
He grunted. “They are all remote as fuck. If this shit’s supposed to be about both of us being relaxed, how is shoving my ass on a plane for a huge amount of time gonna relax me? Even supersonic’s gonna take a long time if I have to go to China or Australia or some shit. Also, everyone’s so pushy. It’s rare people contact me directly, and suddenly I get a bunch? What the fuck is up with that?”
Shay scrubbed a hand over her face. “Are you purposely fucking with me right now? Your profile’s a lot higher after the Council shit. Of course more people are gonna contact you.”
“I don’t want to fly to Australia.” James shrugged. “If I’m still on semi-vacation, then jobs need to be closer. Mexico, maybe. Nothing super-long on a plane.”
She sighed. “Okay, fair enough. We don’t even need a tomb raid at this point. Let’s just go find some level four in Mexico and kick his ass together.”
James rubbed his chin and furrowed his brow. After a moment, he stood and headed to his coatrack to grab his jacket. “Let’s go, then.”
“Go where? Mexico?”
“No.” He slipped his coat on. “To the Leanan Sídhe. It’s like you suggested before. The Professor might have something. If we’re gonna do this shit, I think it should be something that involves artifacts, or you might get cabin fever again in a week.”
Shay nodded. “Okay, sure. You’re right. Let’s go. It’s not like we have to do this, but it’ll get it out of our systems.”
“Like I said, I’m relaxed. I’m only doing this because you keep bugging me about it.” James chuckled and headed toward the garage.
The Professor gave them each a broad smile as Shay finished explaining the situation, including her exact belief in both resetting their luck clock and fighting cabin fever. She saw no reason to lie to the man. If anything, Smite-Williams knowing more about her reasoning would help with him finding an appropriate assignment.
He sipped his beer and offered them a red-faced smile. “You’re in luck, Miz Carson. I’ve just the thing. Good bounty, and tomb-raid potential.”
James grunted, but Shay leaned forward, interest in her eyes.
“I’ve been sitting on it the last few days,” the Professor continued. “Of course, you two came to mind immediately, but I wanted to respect your time off after everything that happened with the Council.” He chuckled and let out a sigh of relief. “I’ve been looking into some of my other contacts, but this makes things far simpler since now I know the job will get done.”
James shrugged. “We haven’t agreed yet.”
“Oh, you will.” The Professor’s eyes gleamed, but that might have just been the beer. “I’m sure of it.”
Shay nodded. “What’s the job?”
The Professor took a long pull and finished his beer before continuing, “There’s an abandoned oil refinery in northern Alberta. It—”
Shay threw up her hand. “One sec.” She turned to James, pleading with her eyes. “You said Mexico was close enough. How about Canada?”
James grunted. “Canada’s fine.”
She smiled at the Professor. “Please continue.”
The older man chuckled and nodded. “As I was saying, an abandoned refinery. It’s in a remote area, so it’s been ignored for years, but a most unpleasant group called the Brotherhood of Silence has taken up residence in the complex.”
“Who the fuck are they?” James asked.
“Weird cult,” Shay explained with a frown. “Have all these fucked-up beliefs about how if they can silence their conscience, they’ll transcend God.”
James frowned. He had a more practical approach to his religion, but the Brotherhood was aching for a little corrective theology in the form of an ass-kicking.
The Professor nodded. “An apt summary. They aren’t terrorists per se, but their moral system tends to lead to them hurting a lot of innocent people. The Canadian Department of Magical Affairs is aware of the group and is considering options including military strikes and partnering with the American PDA, but concern about facing them directly has delayed operations, especially since the group isn’t currently attacking anyone.”
James frowned. “Wait, why are they letting those fuckers stay there?”
Smite-Williams took a deep breath and shook his head. “Everyone’s af
raid of running into the next Council, lad. No one wants to send their agents and soldiers to be slaughtered, and many governments have become much more cautious about how they’re handling these matters.” He beamed a smile at the waitress as she delivered a new beer. “But, the Brotherhood already has a level-five dead-or-alive organizational bounty on them.” He shifted his attention to Shay. “And on top of that, they have an artifact I want to get my hands on so I can lock it up far, far away, if not destroy it.”
Shay frowned. “And what artifact is that?”
“An ancient Sumerian urn that enhances magical power.”
She shrugged. “Tons of those kinds of things around.”
The Professor shook his head. “This one is fueled by blood, but not just any blood—only blood taken from conscious and living sacrifices. I, for one, don’t want any artifact around that encourages murder.”
Shay winced. “I see your point.”
James grunted. “You said these fuckers are level five?”
The Professor nodded. “The organization is, lad. Most of the foot soldiers, as it were, aren’t that powerful. Physically enhanced through their leader’s magic, and without the urn, he wouldn’t even be able to do that. So, he is functionally a level five, even if without the urn he’d be less of a threat.”
Shay blew out a breath and grinned. She looked at James. “Come on, this sounds perfect. You get to beat some people down who really have it coming for money, and I get to remove some messed-up shit from circulation. We’re not even being mercenaries this time, but straight-up helping people. Maybe the Canadians will give us medals.” She smirked.
James chuckled. “Yeah, maybe you have a point. Don’t want to get rusty. Kicking guys at pet stores doesn’t do much to help.” His smile faded. “Wait one fucking second. It’s in Canada.”
“Yeah.” Shay shrugged. “What about it?”
“Not just Canada, but northern Canada in December. It’s gonna be fucking snowing and cold.”
The Professor burst out laughing, “No, lad, it’s Canada. Nothing but palm trees, coconuts, and sunshine.”
Vax Humana: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone Book 13) Page 6