by Karen Lynch
“Is that it?” His expression gave nothing away.
“No. As I said in my official statement, Raisa Havas told me it was the Seelie royal guard who took my mother and father. What if they did that because my parents uncovered something about the ke’tain?”
“You think the Seelie royal guard took the ke’tain?” He steepled his fingers against his lips, no longer trying to appear casual.
I shrugged. “I’m not saying they stole it. All I have is my gut feeling, which might not count for anything with you. But I do know this. My mother and father are too smart to go up against the royal guard of either court. There has to be a damn good reason why the Seelie guard wanted them out of the way.”
Stewart pursed his lips. “Impressive. I read in your file that you have an above average IQ. With your academic scores, you should be an agent, not a bounty hunter.”
“I should be in college.” I chose not to respond to his implication that agents were smarter than bounty hunters.
“Why aren’t you in college? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Life happened,” I said matter-of-factly. “I’ll get there eventually. Right now, my only concern is the safety of my family. If a faerie got past your agent at the hospital, what makes you think your agents can protect my mother and father at the rehabilitation facility?”
“The agents posted there are only a precaution. Your parents are protected by the ward attached to them.”
I clasped my hands in my lap. “And you’re sure it will keep out all faeries, including the Seelie royal guard?”
“Nothing is one hundred percent guaranteed, but I don’t think you’ll find a more powerful ward.” He smiled confidently. “Your parents are as safe as the First family.”
I relaxed my stiff shoulders. “When can I see them?”
“Tomorrow. Their doctors said the upheaval and sudden move was taxing, and your parents will need a day to settle in.” He glanced at his watch. “I have a meeting in five minutes. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss before then?”
There were a lot of things I wanted to ask him, but I settled on one. “You said yesterday that no faerie can use the ke’tain’s magic. Why would one of them want the ke’tain?”
“I wish I knew.”
The slight tightening of his jaw made me suspect he wasn’t being entirely honest with me, but I didn’t press the matter. He had been cooperative so far about my parents, and I didn’t want to do anything to change that.
I thanked him for everything they were doing for my parents and left his office with his business card, in case I ever needed to contact him. Instead of leaving the building, I took the elevator to the second floor, where I had gone to have my ID done. It was also where we had to go to sign out the ke’tain sensors.
One thing I knew for certain was that my mother and father were still in danger. If the faerie who had tried to get to them last night was after the ke’tain, they weren’t going to give up until they had it or until my parents were no longer a threat to them. The only way my family would be safe was for someone to find the ke’tain first and turn it over to the Agency.
I told the guard what I was there for, and he sent me down a hallway to the requisitions room. Inside, an agent stood behind a tall desk, working on a computer. He looked so young he had to be fresh out of the academy. I guessed they had to start new agents somewhere, and I realized this could have been me if I’d joined the Agency. I imagined working in this dull, windowless room and shuddered. I’d go stark raving mad before my first week was up.
He looked past his monitor at me. “Can I help you?”
“Yes. I’m here to sign out a ke’tain sensor.”
“Those are only for agents and bounty hunters,” he replied dismissively, going back to his computer as if I wasn’t there.
I was used to people assuming I wasn’t a hunter, and it normally didn’t get to me. After my morning, I was in no mood to deal with the attitude of someone, who would probably wet his neatly-pressed pants if he saw the things bounty hunters faced.
I slapped my ID down on the counter so hard he jumped. “And you think the guard would have let me in here if I wasn’t authorized?”
“Everything okay here?” asked Bruce, who had entered the room without my notice.
I looked over my shoulder at him and Trey. “I’m waiting for…” I peered at the agent’s badge and had to swallow back a laugh. “Agent Smith to issue my sensor.”
The agent in question picked up my ID, his gaze flicking between me and the card. “You’re that bounty hunter who got kidnapped in Queens last month. They found you and your parents in some basement.”
“That would be me.” I tapped my fingers on the desktop. “Can I get my sensor now?”
“Uh, sure.” He clicked around on his computer with the mouse and then stuck my ID in a scanner. After the light on the scanner turned green, he removed the card and slid it across the counter to me. “I need to go in the back and grab you one.”
“Thanks.”
He left through a door behind him, and I turned back to Bruce and Trey. “I guess I know why you guys are here.”
Bruce smiled. “We’re still going to take on the usual jobs, but it would be foolish not to search for the ke’tain, too.”
“We weren’t expecting to see you here,” Trey said. “Thought you weren’t going after the ke’tain.”
I pocketed my ID. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a sensor just in case.”
“Very smart of you,” Bruce said.
Trey snorted. “You came all the way to Manhattan first thing this morning to pick one up just in case?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “No, I came all this way because I got a call from the Agency, telling me they had to move my parents after a security breach at the hospital last night.”
“What?” Bruce’s eyes widened in alarm. “What happened? Are they okay?”
I filled them in on what Stewart had told me about the incident at the hospital. “Do you know anyone who would pay for a ward like that?” I asked Bruce.
He shook his head. “I don’t know anyone who could even afford it.”
We fell quiet when Agent Smith returned and placed an oblong object the size of a vehicle remote on the desk. There were no buttons on the sensor, only a single light that glowed a dull red color.
“How does it work?” I asked him.
“It’s pretty simple. The device will start to vibrate when it’s close enough to the ke’tain to pick up its power signature. The light will change from red to yellow to green the closer you get to the ke’tain.”
I lifted my eyes to his. “If the ke’tain has never left Faerie, how do we know the sensor works?”
He looked at me as if I’d asked why the sky is blue. “Because the faeries supplied the stones that power the devices. I’m sure they know what they’re doing.”
“I bet they do.” I reached over and picked up the sensor, and the light began rapidly flashing red, yellow, and green. “Is it supposed to do that?”
“No.” He took the device from me, and the flashing changed to soft intermittent flickers. “It must be bad. I’ll have to get you a different one.”
He disappeared into the back again and returned with a new sensor. The light flickered before he handed it over to me. It went crazy when it touched my hand.
“That’s strange. These were fine when we got them in yesterday.” Frowning, he took the sensor and turned it over in his hands.
“Can I see it?” Bruce asked.
Agent Smith handed the sensor to him. I waited for it to act up, but nothing happened. Bruce passed it to Trey and still nothing. Trey gave it to me, and it lit up like the Fourth of July.
The agent eyed me suspiciously. “Are you carrying anything on you that might interfere with the signal?”
“Like what?” I set the device down and emptied all my pockets. Other than my ID, I had my phone, keys, some cash, a wool cap and gloves, and the new Metro
Card I’d purchased today.
“That’s it?” Smith asked.
I held up my arm and pulled down my sleeve to show him my leather bracelet. Agent Curry had returned it to me when I came in to give my statement about my kidnapping. “Except for my anti-glamour talisman.”
“That can’t be the problem because Trey and I are both wearing talismans,” Bruce said.
Smith was unconvinced. “There has to be something else.”
“Unless you plan to strip search me, you’ll have to take my word on it. There is nothing on my person that could interfere with a Fae device.”
The moment the statement left my lips, I realized that wasn’t true. I raised my hand automatically, but checked myself before I could touch the tiny stone hidden in my hair. To cover the action, I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
Trey grinned and raised a hand. “I’m happy to –”
“In your dreams.” I scoffed, and Bruce chuckled.
Smith picked up the device again. “I don’t know what to tell you then. For some weird reason the sensor doesn’t work for you.”
I let my shoulders sag. How was I supposed to search for the ke’tain without a sensor? The stone could be right under my nose, and I wouldn’t know it.
My face must have shown my disappointment because Trey said, “You can still work with us if you want to. Right, Dad?”
Bruce smiled. “We’d be lucky to have you.”
“Thanks. I’ll think about it.” I stuffed my belongings back into my pockets as Smith took Trey’s ID and scanned it. He handed Trey one of the sensors he’d brought out for me and repeated the process for Bruce.
“Did you drive here, Jesse?” Bruce asked as the three of us walked to the elevator.
I made a face. “The Jeep had about half an inch of ice on it, so I took the train.”
He pushed the button for the elevator. “We’re headed home if you want to ride with us.”
“That’d be great.”
We exited the building, and a cold wind sucked the breath from me. Shivering, I pulled on my wool cap, tugging it down over my ears. Days like this made me think Maurice was onto something, spending his winters hunting down south. I hadn’t heard from him since I’d called him after my parents went missing, and I wondered what kind of job he was on that kept him out of communication for so long. Had to be a big one, although not as big as the ke’tain job.
“Have you done any research on the ke’tain?” Trey asked me as we walked down the slippery sidewalk toward their SUV.
“I was going to do some last night, but I didn’t get around to it. I know where we might find some information, if there is any to be found.”
The two of them stopped walking and gave me expectant looks.
“The Fae section at the Library of Congress. There’s an online portal you can log onto with your ID number.”
Bruce rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve never had to use it, and I probably wouldn’t have remembered it.”
“You might want to check it out because you know I’m not the only hunter who thought of it.”
He gave me a grateful smile. “Thank you, Jesse. We’ll need every advantage we can get with this one.”
“I hope it helps.” It didn’t matter to me which one of us found the ke’tain as long as it ended up in the right hands.
Trey was a little more exuberant with his thanks. He pulled me into a tight hug and lifted me off the ground to swing me around. “You’re the best!”
He set me back on my feet and wrapped an arm around my waist to steady me when I slipped on the ice.
Laughing, I pushed him away. “You’re such an…”
The words died on my lips when I looked past Trey and into a pair of midnight-blue eyes.
Lukas stood less than ten feet away, his face carved from stone as his gaze shifted from me to Trey, who still had one arm loosely around me. Our eyes met again, and my traitorous stomach did a little flip before it tightened in anger.
I don’t know what he saw in my expression, but his face lost some of its hardness. For a brief moment, it was almost like looking at the old Lukas, the one I’d thought I knew before he’d shown me what a naïve little girl I was.
Movement behind Lukas tore my gaze from his. Iian and Kerr flanked him, and they looked uncertainly between him and me. Of course, he wasn’t alone. A Fae prince didn’t go anywhere without his personal guard.
I opened my mouth to yell at him, to tell him all the things that had been bottled up inside me for weeks. But the words wouldn’t come. Here was my opportunity to confront him on equal ground without bars between us, and I was too emotional to speak. The more I tried, the more my throat closed in frustration.
My back was ramrod straight as I pulled away from Trey and marched past Lukas without another look at him or his men. I didn’t look back to see if Trey and Bruce were following me. All that mattered was getting as far away from him as possible.
Idiot! I berated myself as I stalked off, barely noticing my surroundings. I’d known there was a chance I would run into Lukas eventually, but I hadn’t been prepared for it to happen so soon. Even after Conlan’s visit last night, Lukas was the last person I’d expected to see today.
I didn’t stop walking until Trey snagged my arm and pointed at their SUV, which I’d passed. He and Bruce cast questioning looks at me as I climbed into the back seat, but I didn’t offer them any explanation. I was shaken from seeing Lukas, and I was afraid I’d embarrass myself by crying or ranting if I had to answer questions about him.
Bruce and Trey talked quietly among themselves for the ride to Brooklyn. When we pulled up to my building, Bruce put the vehicle in park and turned in his seat to look at me.
“Was that something I need to worry about?”
I forced a smile to reassure him. “I’m okay, and you don’t need to worry.”
“You’d tell me if you were in trouble, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, and I promise I’m not.” I opened the door. “Thanks for the ride. Happy hunting.”
* * *
“I’ll be with you in a minute,” Levi Solomon rumbled as the door to his office opened. Muttering under his breath, he continued writing out the check for the two peri I’d brought in.
I looked toward the door as a man in his late twenties entered the room with a large frayed backpack slung over one shoulder. His sun-bleached blond hair and tanned skin screamed California surfer, and I was betting he was one of the out-of-state bounty hunters flooding the city.
Levi’s mouth was pinched as he handed me the check. “I have a dozen new jobs and twice as many hunters in the city, but all anyone cares about is that bloody ke’tain.” He inclined his head toward the newcomer, who was studying the old wanted posters adorning the walls. “You here for a job?”
“I was told at the Agency to check in with a bondsman before I got to work on the ke’tain job,” the man said.
“See?” Levi shook his head at me, making his chins wobble. “Not sure how the Agency expects me to get anything done when no one wants the jobs.”
“I’ll take them.”
“Very smart, James.” He gave me a shrewd smile. “There’s a lot of money to be made here. Let everyone else fight it out over the ke’tain.”
I folded the check and stuck it in my pocket. “Actually, I am going to search for it, but I’ll take those other jobs, too.”
He raised his bushy eyebrows. “You sure you can manage all of that?”
“Are you going soft on me, Levi?”
He barked a laugh. “You can jump off the Brooklyn Bridge for all I care, as long as you don’t screw up my jobs.”
I placed my hand against my chest. “You’re all heart.”
Five minutes later, I had four new jobs with the promise of more as soon as I finished them. I was pretty pleased with myself as I stuffed the list into my pocket. One of the jobs was a Three, and the rest were Twos. I intended to knock them out as fast as possible so I could get
started on the ke’tain job.
Levi’s phone rang as I walked to the door, and he grumbled as he answered it. I had a feeling the bondsman had some long days ahead of him until things went back to normal.
I had just pushed the button for the elevator when Levi’s office door opened, and he said, “Good, you’re still here.”
I faced him as he ambled toward me. “Something wrong?”
“Got a rush job that needs to be handled ASAP. House with a bunch of creatures on the loose.”
“What kind of creatures?”
“A nixie and possibly a drakkan,” he said.
I perked up at the mention of a drakkan because I’d never seen one up close. I couldn’t imagine why a drakkan and a nixie would require a rush job, though.
“And about three dozen verries,” Levi added slowly.
I shuddered. “Verries?”
“They’re a level Three,” he reminded me. “For the lot.”
I didn’t respond. Normally, I wouldn’t hesitate over a Three, but five thousand dollars suddenly did not sound like a whole lot of money.
Levi’s face twitched like he was fighting some internal battle. Either that or he really needed to go to the restroom. “Fine! Double the bounty for the verries, but only because I don’t have anyone else to ask.”
I stuck out my hand. “Deal. I have to run home to get a few things.”
“Don’t take too long,” he said, squeezing my fingers in his meaty grip.
The elevator doors opened, and I stepped inside. “Where am I going?”
“Flatbush. The Agency raided the home of a black market dealer there, and he freed everything he had in cages to create a diversion.” Levi’s lip curled. “The agents weren’t equipped to handle the verries and called us for help cleaning up their mess. As if I don’t have enough to deal with, without them creating more work for me.”
My stomach quivered with excitement. Raids were not uncommon, but the Agency was too focused on the ke’tain to bother with some guy selling the usual Fae contraband. If they suspected the dealer knew something about the ke’tain, it was the perfect place for me to start my own search.