by Karen Lynch
Jordan walked up to us, jiggling the car keys. “We ready to get this show on the road?”
“Yes.” A thrill went through me. Today we would reach Albuquerque, and I might finally get some of the answers I was looking for.
Peter joined us, carrying his and Roland’s packs. “What if we find Madeline and she won’t talk?” he asked, dampening my excitement.
“She’ll talk.” Madeline owed me that much, and she was going to help me whether she wanted to or not.
We were leaving town when I spotted a sign for a thrift store. It didn’t take us long to find two small backpacks, coats, and a few needed toiletries. I moved my stuff from Roland’s pack to my own, smiling when the laptop fit easily inside. Tucked in with my clothes was a silver necklace, and I fastened it around my neck, letting the plain silver cross settle on my chest. It had been my grandmother’s and a gift from Nate on my sixteenth birthday. Wearing it made me feel like he and my dad were with me in a small way.
Eight hours and two pit stops later, we reached the Albuquerque city limits. I wasn’t the only one who released a happy sigh. Jordan and Roland had switched places at the last stop, and he glanced over at me as we drove into the city. “Where to?”
“Let’s get something to eat before we do anything else.”
“Really? I mean, I thought you’d want to go after Madeline as soon as we got here.”
“I need to check in with David first, and we’re all hungry.” We’d only been on the run for a day, but they all looked worn out and in need of a break. Spending so many hours in a car is tough for anyone, and it didn’t help that we were all a bit on edge. “Just make sure it’s someplace we can afford.”
I wasn’t the least bit surprised when Roland found a little mom-and-pop burger joint. When it came to burgers, he and Peter had built-in radar. We filled a booth and the waitress took our orders. While we waited for our food, I stepped outside to call David, using one of the prepaid phones.
“You made good time,” he said when I told him where we were. “I didn’t expect you to get there until tomorrow.”
“We were motivated to move quickly.” There were things David didn’t know about me, so I was vague on the details of our near run-in with Nikolas.
“This is good actually. We’ve been keeping a close eye on Madeline’s movements, and she’s still in Albuquerque, but for how long I don’t know. Since we’ve been tracking her, she hasn’t stayed in a place longer than a week.”
My pulse quickened. “So she’s here now, for sure?”
“Yes. Do you have your laptop with you? I’m sending you something.”
I tucked the phone between my ear and shoulder and opened the laptop. It powered up in seconds, and I opened the browser and logged into the new email account David had set up for me. Before I’d left home, I’d wiped the computer in my room as he’d instructed, but I had no idea what Tristan’s security guys were capable of.
There was a message from David in my inbox, and I opened it to find a black and white security photo of a dark-haired woman leaving what looked like a hotel lobby. She had either dyed her hair or was wearing a wig, but there was no mistaking Madeline’s beautiful features. I studied her for a long moment, expecting to experience anger, pain, something for the woman who had abandoned me, but all I felt was cool detachment.
“When was this taken?”
“This morning at Hotel Andaluz. She was checked in under the name Teresa King. It’s the first actual picture of her we’ve been able to get. She’s good at hiding from cameras. Is it her?”
“Yes.” My breath caught, and I immediately began to Google the hotel name for directions.
“She’s no longer there,” David said. “She stays only one night at a hotel before she gets a new one. She hasn’t checked into another one yet.”
My heart sank. “Then she might have left town already.”
“We have reason to believe she is still there. Kelvan has friends in the demon community in Albuquerque, and he found out through them that Madeline has gone to see a local warlock named Orias for the last two nights. His friends tell him she is expected back tonight.”
There’s a demon community? “Why would demons help us?” I asked when I’d gotten over my shock.
“They wouldn’t, but they’d help Kelvan. You must have made quite an impression on him.”
I closed the laptop so I could hold the phone again. “What do you mean?”
“Kelvan is a nice guy, but he doesn’t do well with strangers, especially hunters. That’s why I didn’t tell him what you are. After you left, he told me that if you ever needed anything, to let him know. He took it upon himself to reach out to his friends in Albuquerque.”
“I think his cat really liked me.”
David let out a laugh. “Lulu likes people even less than Kelvan does.”
I grinned. “I have a way with animals. It’s all part of my charm.”
“Okay, I get it. You’re going to be mysterious about it.” I could tell by his voice that he was still smiling. “I hope your charm works on warlocks, too.”
“I’ve never met a warlock. I’ve heard they can be into some heavy stuff.” Like capturing baby griffins and using their blood to raise demons. I shuddered. I had no desire to meet someone who practiced that kind of magic. Everything I knew about warlocks had come from Remy. Warlocks were born with magic, but they needed demon essence to make them strong. They raised higher demons and kept them captive so they could draw from the demon’s power. The stronger the demon, the stronger the warlock.
“Orias is a powerful warlock. He offers his services to anyone for the right price. He doesn’t care if you are demon, human, or something else as long as you can pay and don’t cause him any trouble. He doesn’t have a problem with Mohiri, like many of his clientele do, but he never gives anything away for free either, and that includes information.”
“Great,” I muttered. If we were lucky, we’d find Madeline at the warlock’s place and I wouldn’t have to deal with him at all. I sighed. Since when had I ever been that lucky?
“I’m sending you directions to Orias’s place now. It’s a little tricky to find if you don’t know exactly where you’re going. I think that is by design.”
Someone tapped on the window behind me, and I turned to see Roland waving for me to come in.
“Thanks, David. Listen, I have to go but I’ll let you know how it goes. And tell Kelvan thanks for me.”
“Will do. Stay safe.”
I hung up and joined the others in the booth where a burger and fries waited for me. Looking over at Jordan’s plate, I shook my head at the two monstrous cheeseburgers. “You aren’t actually going to eat all of that, are you?”
“Duh.” She smirked and took a huge bite from one.
I picked up my own and took a much smaller bite. It was homemade and so delicious after twenty-four hours of gas station food. I gave a contented sigh that drew smiles from my friends.
“What’s the plan?” Jordan asked in a lowered voice after she finished off her first burger. “Do we know where Madeline is?”
“She’s here in town, but she moves around a lot.” I told them about the picture David had sent me, and they all started talking at once.
“So we wait for her to check into another hotel?” Peter asked.
I took a sip of my soda. “We don’t know if she will get another hotel. But I have the name of a person she has been going to see, and there is a very good chance she’ll be there tonight. David is sending me the address.”
“Great.” Roland grinned at me. “So who are we going to see?”
I smiled at their expectant faces. “We’re off to see the wizard.”
Chapter 3
“Sara, are you sure these directions are right?” Roland twisted the wheel to the left and the headlights bounced over the cactus growing along the edge of the twisting desert road. Not a road actually, more like a track that wound through the uneven terrain with occasional mar
kers to let you know you were still on it. We had been following it for forty minutes, and so far there was no sign of buildings or any kind of life.
“David said it was a bit out of the way.”
“Out of the way or out of the state?” he retorted. “If this road gets any worse, we’re probably going to lose the exhaust... or worse.”
“We should almost be there.” The car crested a rise, and I pointed to a small cluster of lights less than a quarter of a mile away. “There it is.”
Jordan leaned forward in her seat. “Where? I don’t see anything.”
“Right there, those lights.”
She shook her head. “I don’t see any lights.”
“Me either,” Roland said.
“Ha-ha, you guys. Very funny.”
By now we were close enough to make out a large, two-story adobe structure with lights shining from some of the downstairs windows. Outside lights illuminated the front of the building where half a dozen cars were parked.
Roland maneuvered the car across a small wooden bridge. “I don’t know what you’re talking –” He hit the brakes. “Whoa! Where did that come from?”
“What the hell?” Jordan yelled close to my ear. “That was not there a minute ago.”
One look at their shocked expressions told me they were not kidding me. “You really didn’t see it before?”
Roland shook his head, still gawking at the building.
I studied the structure, which appeared pretty normal to me – well, as normal as any building in the middle of the desert. “It must be some kind of spell to hide the place until you get close to it. He’s a warlock, so he could probably do something like that.”
“But you saw through it,” Peter said.
I chewed my lip, just as mystified as they were. “Maybe my power makes me immune to it. I don’t know.”
Roland parked the car in front of the building. He rested his hands on the steering wheel and looked at me. “Are you sure you want to go in there?”
“No, but I think I have to,” I replied. “You guys can stay in the car if you want.”
He reached for his door. “No way am I letting you go in there alone.”
The four of us got out of the car and walked to the entrance. I stopped in front of the arched wooden door and read the sign affixed to it. NO WEAPONS. NO BLOODSHED. NO CREDIT. “Nice.”
“No weapons?” Jordan blustered. “That’s ridiculous.”
I removed my dagger from the inner pocket of my coat and motioned for Roland to unlock the car. “It makes sense if you think about it. He does business with everyone, so he must get clients who hate each other. It would be bad for business if they killed each other at his place.”
Jordan didn’t remove the knives I knew she was carrying, and I waved a hand at the door. “I bet he has a ward in place to detect weapons.”
She glared at me for a long moment then stalked to the car. “Fine, but I’m going on record as saying this is a bad idea.”
“We’re not completely unarmed. We still have Roland and Peter.”
She made a sound that told me she’d rather have her knives.
Roland opened the door, and we filed inside. I was at the rear and had to move up between him and Peter to get a look at the room we were in. For some reason, I’d expected the inside of a warlock’s house to be dark and creepy with candles and wands and spell books all over the place. This room resembled nothing from my imaginings. It was warm and inviting with pale stucco walls, red ceramic tile floor, and a high beamed ceiling. Several pieces of what looked like local art adorned the walls. Brown leather couches, small tables bearing pretty stained glass lamps, and several large potted plants completed the décor.
The occupants of the room were another story.
Seated on one couch was a diminutive man with a ruddy complexion and small pointed ears who looked suspiciously like a dwarf. Across from him, two old crones in identical gray dresses bickered quietly over something. A burly man with shaggy yellow hair held a magazine in his clawed hands. He appeared to be some kind of werecat on the verge of shifting. Next to him, a slightly balding man in a dark suit was playing with the silver-tipped cane that lay across his knees. Everyone looked up when we entered and watched us curiously for a moment before going back to whatever they were doing. There was no sign of Madeline.
To the left of the door, a pretty young Hispanic woman sat behind a desk. She smiled and beckoned us over. “Welcome to Casa Orias. Do you have an appointment?”
“I don’t have an appointment, but I have an important matter to discuss with Orias,” I told her.
She flashed her dimples. “Orias is a very busy man, and as you can see he is booked tonight. If you’ll leave me your name and phone number, I’ll add you to his schedule.” She glanced at her computer. “How about tomorrow at 5:00 p.m.?”
Jordan tapped her fingernails impatiently on the desk. “This can’t wait until tomorrow.”
The receptionist’s smile never faltered. “I understand, but everyone’s business with Orias is important. It wouldn’t be fair to the clients with appointments.”
Something told me sweet talk wasn’t going to work on this woman. I unzipped the small front pocket of my coat and pulled out a rolled-up tissue. Discreetly, I opened the tissue and let a perfect, fat diamond bounce across the polished wooden desk. The diamond had to be four or five carats, and it sparkled under the small desk lamp. Beside me, Jordan let out a small gasp while the receptionist’s mouth made a perfect O.
The phone on the desk rang and the receptionist answered it. “Yes, sir. Canceled? I do have a walk-in I could schedule instead. I’ll do that.” She hung up and smiled again. “Wonderful news. One of our clients just canceled and we have an opening tonight. Mr. Orias will see you right now.”
“What luck.” I picked up the diamond. “Lead the way.”
She walked around the desk and led us through a closed door, down a hallway, and up a flight of stairs. At the top, she knocked on a door and a male voice rumbled for us to come in. I took a deep breath and stepped inside.
“Welcome,” said the man sitting behind a large mahogany desk. He looked to be in his thirties, with long black hair and sharp brown eyes. He wore a plain blue dress shirt and black pants, and he looked more like a businessman than a powerful warlock.
He looked at the four of us and his eyes widened almost imperceptibly. “Mohiri children and werewolf pups, what an intriguing group.”
“We get that a lot.” I walked farther into the room and my power stirred, sensing the presence of a demon nearby. Warlocks kept their demons with them at all times so it made sense that Orias had one in his office. The demon felt oddly muted, as if it was under glass, but even so I could tell it was somewhere to my left. It was strange and disconcerting to be in a room with a higher demon, and I forgot to introduce myself.
Orias steepled his fingers, and his shrewd gaze shifted to me. “And how may I be of service to you this evening?”
Trying to ignore the demon, I walked forward until I stood behind one of the three visitor chairs in front of his desk. I rested my hands on the back of the chair, thinking about how to broach the subject of the reason for our visit. “I’m looking for information.”
“I know many things. What kind of information are you seeking?”
“I’m looking for someone, a Mohiri woman who has been to see you a couple of times this week. I need to find her.”
“Indeed. And does this woman have a name?”
“She probably goes by a lot of different names, but I doubt you have many Mohiri clients.”
He rested his forearms on his desk. “And what business do you have with this woman?”
“It’s personal.”
“Indeed.” Orias smiled, showing off even, white teeth. “It’s not often I have three beautiful Mohiri women visitors in as many days.”
My breath caught. “So she was here?”
“I do have a client who matches that descri
ption, yes.”
His short evasive answers were starting to annoy me. “Can you tell me where she is? It’s really important that I find her. I can pay.”
He leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “I can’t give out sensitive information about another client.” I started to speak, and he raised a hand. “My clients pay well for my discretion as well as my services. It would not be good for my business if they felt like they could not trust me.”
His expression told me he wasn’t going to be persuaded to give up Madeline. I wanted to scream. I couldn’t believe we had driven all this way to the middle of nowhere for nothing.
“What kind of services do you offer, if you don’t mind me asking?” Jordan said from behind me.
“I offer many services, spells mostly. Protection and locations spells. My specialty is glamours.”
“Glamours?”
Orias smiled at her. “As you probably saw on your way in, many of my clients can’t go out in public in their natural form. My glamour spells allow them to live among humans undetected. They look and sound human for as long as the spell lasts. Of course, the stronger the spell, the shorter it lasts. Mine are very strong so my clients have to come back for a new one every month. I have many repeat customers, and I’ve found it to be a very lucrative business.”
Roland spoke up. “What if someone asked for a spell to kill someone else? Do you do those, too?”
“At one time, yes,” the warlock replied without remorse. “But I found it to be too messy, so I don’t deal in that type of magic anymore.” He waved a hand at his richly furnished office. “As I said, my current business is very profitable. It also keeps a certain warrior organization that likes to raid my peers at bay.”
I sighed inwardly. It was obvious we weren’t going to get anything useful from Orias. Hopefully, Madeline was still in the city and Kelvan could locate her again before she moved on.
Orias tapped his long fingers on his desk. “Speaking of the Mohiri, I received some very interesting news this afternoon. It seems they are looking for two of their young people, and they are offering a generous reward for their safe return. It’s not often that they reach out to their contacts in the community, so these two lost children must be very important to them.”