by Karen Lynch
“Prospect Park. I just came from there.”
“Prospect Park,” echoed Trey, coming up behind me. “That was our job.”
“It was your job, and then it came to us,” I said to him over my shoulder.
Mom’s notes hadn’t said what team had the job before them, but I wasn’t all that surprised to learn it had been Trey’s. I liked Bruce, and I respected him, but his son was definitely not a chip off the old block. No doubt Tok had run circles around them, just as he had with me before I’d figured out how to get the better of him.
A man who had at least ten years on my father stepped forward. He had salt-and-pepper hair and a scar on the left side of his face that went from his cheek to his hairline. His hard stare made me want to back up a step, but I held my ground. If I showed weakness now, they would never accept me as one of them.
“You’re a girl,” the man said with a sneer. “No way you were able to catch a goblin on your own.”
“Ambrose, are you saying women can’t hunt?” demanded a female voice as a blonde woman in her mid-forties pushed through to the front of the group. She was lean and muscled and looked like she could hold her own against anyone here.
Ambrose scowled. “Stop trying to pick a fight with me, Kim. I’m talking about the girl.”
I opened my mouth to retort that the girl was right here, but Bruce intervened.
“Jesse, did you really capture this goblin on your own?” he asked kindly.
“Yes.”
He rubbed his jaw, looking like he still didn’t know what to believe. “How?”
Tok tensed beside me, but I had no intention of sharing our secret with them. “Does it matter? He’s here, and the job is done.”
“It matters because he’s a level Three,” said Kim, flashing me a conspiratorial smile. “And it’s inconceivable to all these big, strong men that one of us itty bitty gals could bag one.”
“Damn it, Kim,” Ambrose growled. “You’re such a pain in the ass.”
She punched him in the arm. “That’s why you love me, big brother.”
“Jesse,” Bruce said, drawing my attention back to him. “Why would you finish one of your parents’ jobs on your own?”
“I told you I’m taking care of the business.”
“But you’re not a bounty hunter,” Trey said in that superior tone that grated on my nerves. “You can’t just decide to be one. You need a license…and a partner.”
I faced him, prepared for this argument. “Actually, I can. Mom and Dad have a family license that covers me, and I brought in my first capture, which puts me on the books. I’m just as much a bounty hunter as you are.”
Kim hooted. “She’s right.”
“But you have no partner,” Trey protested. “You can’t do this alone.”
“I didn’t say I don’t have a partner,” I said evasively. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to hand this guy off to the bond agent.”
I took a step forward, but no one moved out of my way. Tok let out a low growl, and I looked down to see him baring his teeth at everyone. He wasn’t much of a threat while in the restraints, but he was fierce enough to make people clear a path for us.
No one tried to stop us as we walked to the elevator, although there was plenty of talk. As the elevator doors opened, I heard someone say, “Look here. There’s a video.”
The doors slid shut, and Tok hit his breaking point when he realized he was trapped in a metal box. My assurances that it was perfectly safe fell on deaf ears, and I had to resort to singing to keep him from clawing the doors open. What I hadn’t counted on was him losing his grip on the sack of crystals.
The elevator doors opened on the fourth floor to the sight of me on my hands and knees, gathering up the sparkling stones, with a goblin bellowing at me from the corner. And who should be standing there, waiting to catch the elevator, but Levi Solomon?
“What the hell?” the bond agent wheezed, making me fear for a moment that the shock might send him into cardiac arrest.
“Sorry.” I scrambled to collect the last few crystals.
“Miss James, is that you? With…a goblin?”
Before I could answer him, Tok yelled, “Make her stop.”
I lifted my head to glare at the goblin. “If you hadn’t freaked out, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Tok answered me by leaping out of the elevator and hiding behind Levi’s considerable girth. “Save me from horrid human,” he begged Levi. “I go home to Faerie now.”
I sat back on my heels and held out the sack of crystals. “Don’t you want these?”
Tok peeked around Levi. “Is another trick,” he accused before disappearing behind the man again.
I stood and stepped out of the elevator to face a speechless Levi. This wasn’t exactly how I’d hoped to present myself to him when I came in and asked for more jobs.
“What is the meaning of this?” Levi asked when he regained his voice.
“You gave my parents a job to catch a goblin near Prospect Park.” I pointed at the goblin hiding behind him. “That’s him. I’m here to turn him in and collect my compensation.”
“Compensation?” Levi echoed dumbly.
“Yes. You do pay bounty hunters when they finish a job?”
“Of course,” he snapped. “But you aren’t a bounty hunter.”
I heaved a sigh, not wanting to go through this again. “If you check, you’ll find I’m covered under my parents’ license, and as you can see, I’m capable of getting the job done.”
His beady eyes narrowed on me. “Is this some kind of trick? I’m a busy man, and I don’t take lightly to being toyed with.”
“Trickery! Yes!” piped in a voice from behind him.
Levi’s lips pressed together in disapproval, and I threw up my hands. “I just caught him and brought him here against his will. Are you seriously going to take his word over mine?”
“Do you seriously expect me to believe you apprehended a goblin?” he shot back. “I don’t care who your parents are. No one is that good on their first job.”
I inhaled deeply to control my frustration. It hadn’t really mattered if the bounty hunters in the lobby believed me. The people I really had to convince were the bond agents because they were the ones who gave the jobs to the hunters. If Levi didn’t believe me, my career as a bounty hunter would be short-lived.
“If we can go to your office, I’ll explain it to you,” I said in a conciliatory tone.
He stared at me for a moment longer before he nodded. “Fine. You get one chance, but only because I respect your parents. If I think you’re lying to me, I’ll see that you don’t set foot in this building again.”
He ambled toward his door, leaving Tok and me facing each other. The goblin looked like he was debating if he should try to make a run for it.
“Don’t even think about it.” I snagged the chain between his cuffs and forced him to accompany me into Levi’s office. Once we were inside, I stood in front of the desk and waited for Levi to take his seat.
“Alright, Miss James. You have five minutes.”
Less than five minutes later, the bond agent stared at me with a mix of awe and suspicion. “That is a rare ability. I’ll need a demonstration to believe it.”
“I figured as much.” I turned to Tok, who was watching me warily. “Last time, I promise.”
Before the goblin could protest, I sang a few bars of a song. His jaw went slack, and his eyes took on that dreamy look I knew well. I stopped singing, but this time I was prepared for his rant. I held up a handful of glittering crystals, and he stopped yelling immediately. Then I thrust the sack into his hands, and he hugged it to his chest.
I looked at Levi again to see a calculating gleam had replaced the suspicion in his eyes.
“Impressive.” He clasped his meaty hands on the desk. “That is a valuable weapon for a bounty hunter to possess.”
“It doesn’t work on every lower faerie,” I reminded him.
Tok gru
mbled resentfully beside me.
“But it will work on some,” Levi said more to himself. “You might be onto something here.”
“What do you mean?”
He turned his shrewd gaze back on me. “You don’t look like a bounty hunter. You look like a harmless teenage girl, but you obviously inherited your parents’ cunning and resourcefulness. And you have a secret weapon.”
I held up a hand. “A weapon I can’t rely on.”
“True, true, but it will come in handy at times.” He drummed his fingers on the desk. “Okay, Miss James, you’ve convinced me. I’m inclined to offer you another job on several conditions.”
“Really?” I couldn’t suppress the little squeal that slipped from me. So much for being professional.
Levi scowled. “With conditions. This will be a probationary period, and you will only do level One and Two jobs until I say otherwise.”
I started to protest, but he cut me off. “You got lucky this time, but Threes and Fours are too much for a new hunter to handle.”
“What if there’s a bulletin, or I’m in a situation where I come across a Three or Four and I can bring them in?”
He scoffed. “Go right ahead, but make sure you’re not stepping on another hunter’s toes. They don’t take lightly to someone grabbing their bounty.”
“But that happens all the time.” I’d heard enough stories from my parents and their friends about hunters stealing captures from each other.
“It happens, but they still get upset when it does. Just remember that.”
“I will. When do I get my next job?”
Levi laughed, and it turned into a cough. “I can see you take after your mother in more than looks.” He turned to his computer and clicked around a bit. “Here is a level One that just came in. You think you can handle a peri? If not, we’ll have to wait a few days for something else.”
“No problem,” I said in a rush.
A peri was a faerie about the size of a pixie that loved to wreak havoc. They weren’t dangerous to humans, but they were one of the most destructive pests to come out of Faerie. If you left one of them alone in a room for a day, they would scorch anything that could burn. Their magic normally wasn’t strong enough to start actual fires, but every now and then, one of them got lucky.
Pleased, Levi printed the job and handed the sheet of paper to me. “Everything you need to know is on that. Head over to Agency HQ today to register and get your ID done. You’ll need that before you take on new jobs.”
I folded the paper and tucked it into a pocket. “What about my friend here?”
Levi opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out a pair of shackles that looked like mine, except his were black. Holding them out to me, he said, “Put these on him, and then you can remove yours.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it for you. He’ll go in one of my detainment cells until someone from the Agency comes to collect him in a few hours. He’s lucky you brought him in when you did. Most captures come in after the daily pickup and have to stay here overnight.”
I took the shackles and locked them around Tok’s thin wrists. I didn’t ask Levi how long the goblin would be in the Agency’s custody before he was sent back to Faerie. I could see how anxious Tok had become at the sight of the other set of shackles, and I didn’t want to upset him more.
Once my shackles had been removed, I said an awkward goodbye to Tok before Levi led him through the door at the back of the office. There wasn’t much you could say to a goblin who hated you for forcing him from his home and treasure hoard.
Levi returned after a few minutes and wrote out a check for the job. I stared at the amount, finding it hard to believe I’d earned five thousand dollars in one afternoon. It was more than I’d earned in two months at the Magic Bean.
“You made the check out to me.” I pointed out his mistake.
“You do the job, you earn the payout,” he answered. “There’s more where that came from if you can prove you’re not a one-trick pony.”
I stuck the check in my back pocket. “I’m not.”
His mouth curved into some semblance of a smile. “Good. I look forward to seeing you back here in a few days with that peri.”
I knew a dismissal when I heard one. Picking up my shackles, I said goodbye and left his office. I nearly ran into Trey and Bruce, who were standing on the other side of Levi’s door.
“I take it everything went okay with Levi?” Bruce asked, reaching for the door before I could close it.
I smiled. “Couldn’t have gone better.”
“Good.” He started to enter the office and stopped to look back at his son, who hadn’t moved from his spot. “You coming?”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Trey told him.
Bruce gave me what could only be an apologetic look and went inside. At least, he wasn’t completely blind to the fact that his son was a moron.
Trey turned to me. “Did Levi actually believe you caught that goblin?”
I scowled at him. “I did catch him.”
“How?” He crossed his arms.
“Sorry, trade secret. That’s between me, Levi, and the goblin.”
“Come on, Jesse. You honestly expect anyone to believe you snared a level Three on your first job?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Levi believes me. In fact, he gave me another job to do.”
Trey’s jaw went slack. “You have got to be kidding.”
“Why? I have a valid license.”
He shook his head. “Levi shouldn’t give you a job just because of who your parents are.”
It took considerable effort not to let him get a rise out of me with that insult. I cocked an eyebrow at him. “And you got your first job based on your own merits or because of your father?”
“That’s not the same thing,” he blustered. “I’m older than you, and I trained for six months with Dad before I got my license.”
“But without your dad, you wouldn’t have gotten a job as easily,” I said pointedly. “I’m not denying my last name probably had something to do with Levi’s decision. But I also proved myself to him, and he’s willing to take a chance on me.”
Trey surprised me by switching gears. “Fine. But don’t go off on your own. Work with Dad and me.”
My annoyance lessened at the concern in his voice. “I’ll think about it.” I already knew I wouldn’t join their team, but letting Trey think I might would appease him for now. I’d go work with surly Ambrose before I’d test my sanity working with Trey.
“Okay, then.” He smiled, letting his arms drop to his sides.
I pointed a thumb in the direction of the elevator. “Well, I have to be going.”
“Call me,” he said.
Not likely. I offered up a small smile and turned to the elevator. “Happy hunting.”
Chapter 6
“Ow,” I yelped when a thick hardcover book glanced off the side of my head and landed with a thump on the floor. I glared up at the tiny, brown, stick-like faerie that grinned back from the top shelf of the bookcase. “That hurt!”
The peri snickered and disappeared from sight. Rubbing my injured head, I bent to pick up the heavy copy of Moby Dick that bore several scorch marks on the front cover. He couldn’t have found a smaller book to clobber me with?
“That thing is a menace,” cried the middle-aged man with a tragic comb-over, who rushed at me. The proprietor of Howell’s Used Books snatched the tome from me and ran his hand over the damaged cover. Hugging the book to his chest, he said, “Don’t just stand there. Do something.”
I looked up at the spot where the peri had been and let my gaze sweep over the cramped space between the rows of bookcases. Mr. Howell had filled every inch of his small store with merchandise, and while I’d normally be happy at the sight of so many books, it was only going to be a hindrance to me now.
The man huffed impatiently. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“I need to assess th
e situation before I do anything.” I studied the layout of the store and mulled over possible ways to trap the peri.
“Well, while you’re assessing, that thing is going to burn everything I own,” he snapped.
I turned to him and asked the question that had been bugging me since I got here. “Don’t you have a fire ward?”
Mr. Howell sniffed and drew back. “I did, but it expired, and with sales down from the recession, I can’t afford to get a new one yet.”
“I don’t think you can afford not to have one with all these books.” I went back to studying my surroundings, but not before I caught the indignant look he shot me.
He could glare all he wanted, but we both knew I was right. Fire wards were one of the best things to come out of Faerie. You paid a Court faerie a fee to come and ward the place, and the cost depended on the size of the building and the strength of the ward. Most apartment and office buildings in the city had them, including ours, and I’d heard it would soon be required by law.
I walked down one of the narrow rows, listening intently for movement on the shelves. Up ahead, I heard a faint shuffling. Aha.
“How exactly do you plan to catch this thing?” Mr. Howell asked loudly, following me.
I put a finger to my lips. “Maybe you should go up front while I do this,” I whispered.
I moved away in the direction of the peri without waiting for a reply. My feet made no sound as I crept toward the spot where I suspected the peri was hiding. The rustle of pages made me smile. Got you.
Something smacked against the floor behind me, making me jump. I spun to find the shop owner bending to retrieve the copy of Moby Dick he’d dropped.
“Sir, please go –” I broke off when another fat book came flying off a shelf to nail the man in the back of the head.
Mr. Howell yelped and fell over, swearing. I went to help him up and saw the peri had thrown a George R.R. Martin book this time. How was that little wretch even strong enough to pick up these heavy books?
“Am I bleeding? I think I’m bleeding,” Mr. Howell wailed, poking at the back of his skull.
“You’re okay,” I assured him.