“What happened?”
The Drow shook her head and lowered herself gracefully to sit on a cushion beside her. “You are full of surprises. That was something instinctive, gathering in the power that should harm you and using it as your own attack. I’ve never seen it before. If it weren’t so unpredictable, it would be quite useful.”
“Can we train it?”
I sound like Rath.
The thought of the troll made her lips curl upward.
“Perhaps. We can certainly try. But not today. You need to rest before exerting yourself again, or you could be damaged.”
“Shouldn’t the purple crystals protect from that? Isn’t that the point of them?”
Nylotte shook her head. “For someone who was born and raised on Oriceran, they are an essential…well, resupply is probably the word that would best describe it for you. However, your connection is not as strong, so they do not benefit you as intensely. They help, but they do not alleviate the danger.”
“That’s good to know.”
The Drow held a hand up, and a small lacquered box drifted from across the room to settle gently into it. She extended the item to Diana. “Open it.”
“A gift? For me? You shouldn’t have.” She took the package with a wry grin and opened it to reveal a black leather bracelet a couple of inches wide. A design was impressed into the material, which was far less rigid than it seemed at first glance. She looked questioningly at her teacher.
“It’s a charm bracelet. I’ve worked on creating one-time-use magical spells and thought it would be appropriate to use you to experiment on. Consider it part of your payment for my instruction.”
Diana rolled her eyes. “Awesome. Really. Thanks.”
The Drow raised a perfect white eyebrow. “There are two charms stitched inside. The material should protect you from being burned when they are consumed.”
“Why do I worry when you say should? What do they do?”
“The first will enhance your perceptions. All five senses should be improved.”
“There’s that word again.”
Nylotte cackled. “Nervous, protege?”
“Not a bit,” she lied. “What’s the other one?”
“Basically, the opposite of the first. It should make you harder to detect by diminishing others’ senses when they are near you.”
She shrugged and put the item on, then used her teeth to hold the strap while she locked the buckle in place. She looked up to find her teacher staring at her with an infuriatingly amused smile on her face. “What?”
“You don’t like asking for help, do you?”
“Do you?”
“Fair point.”
Diana admired the bracelet. “It looks good. Thank you. Even if I am your guinea pig.” She met Nylotte’s eyes. “I have a question, though.” The woman gestured for her to continue. “Tell me what you know about artifacts.”
“That’s more a command than a question, is it not?”
“Let’s not get bogged down in semantics. Spill.”
The Drow showed her teeth in a mocking grin, then turned serious. “Beings have created repositories for magic since the earliest days. Some are more powerful, some less. It varies with the process and with the skills and potential of the one who crafts them.”
“The most powerful ones?”
A look of distaste swept across her teacher’s face before it vanished as if it had never existed at all. “Rhazdon’s artifacts hold the lives—or spirits, or powers, or remnants, or whatever you prefer to call them—of living beings. They are considered superior to all others.”
“People actually had such loyalty to her that they would sacrifice themselves to become part of her artifacts?”
The Drow’s voice was flat. “No.”
“Oh.” Diana’s brain took a moment to catch up. “They didn’t volunteer?” Her teacher shook her head. “That’s…terrible.”
“It is a violation of the most fundamental kind.”
“That explains why the Remembrance is so determined to collect them. The power they hold, that is.”
Nylotte nodded. “They are powerful individually, and more so once collected.”
The idea sent a chill through Diana. “You mean they…uh, reinforce one another?”
“Not as such. But multiple beings with such power make life far more difficult for those who oppose them. More tentacles and such.”
The chill became almost icy.
You did that on purpose, elf-wench.
“Well, that’s a bonus.” She noticed her teacher’s odd expression. “What?”
“I’ve heard a rumor.”
“Do you care to share it?”
“There is a set of artifacts crafted to work in cooperation with one another somehow that were fashioned into armor for use in Rhazdon’s first rebellion.”
“Okay.” Diana did not like the turn this conversation had taken.
The Drow shrugged. “After a very long time of hearing nothing about it, in the last weeks, it has been mentioned in my presence more than once. It may merely be a coincidence.”
“There are no coincidences. Bloody hell. How bad is this for us?”
Nylotte stared directly into her eyes, and Diana was shaken to see the depth of the naked concern she showed. “Quite bad, indeed.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Sloan hadn’t been in the dive bar this early in the day before. It was not the sort of place one actually wanted to see in bright light. He closed the door carefully behind him to shut out the illumination that revealed the airborne dust and any number of other things he didn’t really want to think closely about.
Teddy sat at the bar, sipping from a tall glass containing either tomato juice or a Bloody Mary. Sloan put his money on the latter. He looked very much the worse for wear, which made sense, given the celebratory mood that had filled the gang since their successful heist several nights before.
He turned his grey beard to Sloan and said, “Hey, Ketch. ’Sup?”
The agent clapped him on the shoulder as he took the tall stool beside him. “Living. Loving. Causing trouble. The usual. You?”
Teddy raised his red drink in a toast. “Holding down the fort and getting my energy back.” Sloan noticed belatedly that there was no one behind the bar.
“You’re working here?”
The man waggled a hand in the air. “Not really. More filling in while Geetch is out buying supplies. It’s not like anyone comes in this early.”
Sloan made a show of looking around. “Yeah, and you can see why. When’s the last time they deep-cleaned in here?”
The older man gave a scratchy laugh. “World War Two, probably. But the booze is good and cheap, and no one bothers us.”
“Y’all should get a clubhouse. A base of operations.”
Teddy shrugged. “Here works. For now, anyway. Maybe soon, things will change a little.”
“How so?”
He took a long swig of his drink and swiveled on the stool to face Sloan. “We have something bigger than usual on the way. Mur is setting it up with some friends of his. It’s gonna be a good payday.”
Sloan grinned. “Another break-in? That was smooth as silk the other night.”
“Kind of. He’ll be here in a few to explain it, along with the rest of the boys.”
“Did I screw the time up?”
“No. I wanted you here a little early so we could have a word.” He seemed uncomfortable, and a flash told Sloan he had some uncertainty about something. He took a guess at what it might be.
“Is this about the gun? It’s okay that it misfired. No harm, no foul.”
That should make him think I don’t suspect a thing.
Teddy gave him a half smile. “Good. I felt bad about giving you a piece that didn’t work.”
“It’s not like you had a way of knowing. Sometimes stuff goes wrong.”
“True enough.” Any further words were rendered inaudible by the sound of the front door banging
open, and the offensive-lineman-sized leader of the group pushed through. Teddy stood. “Hiya, Mur. Drink?”
The man shook his head. “No time. Places to be. Let’s go back.”
Teddy moved past the newcomers and locked the door. Sloan trailed him as he followed the others into the rear of the bar, where they gathered again around the card table. This time, he was the one left without a chair, which suited him fine. The other two men had been on the heist with them, but Sloan hadn’t been introduced. They stared at him with a mixture of distrust and a distinct lack of welcome.
“We have a gig working for some friends of mine.” There were supportive nods, the kind that followers gave when sucking up to a leader who calculated loyalty minute by minute.
Sloan added his own slight nod but wasn’t about to play the pandering wannabe. He sensed the man’s respect wouldn’t be won by over-subordination. “It’s nice to have friends, like you said.”
Teddy laughed uncomfortably, and his voice cracked from the alcohol he’d already consumed. Mur looked at Sloan but didn’t reply. For his part, the agent maintained eye contact and gave them what he thought of as his blank face. Finally, the leader broke the silence. “It is, indeed, Ketch.” He turned to the group. “We’ll hit the University. They have a special collection on exhibit in the Library—some old books from this world and the other one. It should be a score that gets us some good cash.”
Sloan frowned.
Odd.
“What do your friends need a bunch of books for?” He injected a note of bewilderment into his tone.
Mur frowned at him and leaned back to stare. “I’m not sure why you care, new guy, but the answer is I don’t know. And I don’t want to know, either. They’re the kind of friends that when they ask you to do a thing, you do it.”
He held up a hand in apology. “I’m not criticizing, only curious. Is there anything else in there we can grab while we’re at it? Do they mind a little freelancing?”
The leader’s lips spread in a cautious smile. “Now that’s the first useful question you’ve asked. It seems like you’re the right person to find out. Does that sound good?”
Sloan nodded. “I know some people. Not friends, not really, but also not above trading inside information for cash. I’ll check in with them.”
Mur nodded. “We’ll do the heist one night next week. Everything has to run like clockwork. We’ll go in when the library closes, right after midnight. The books will be in the secure exhibit on the fifth floor. I already have a contact to let us in.” He snapped his fingers and turned to Teddy. “We gonna need stun guns for this one. We'll blast him so there’s no suspicion afterward, and any other resistance will be only students and rent-a-cops. There’s no reason to bring heavy hardware.” Unsaid was the fact that if they were arrested, they’d get a lighter sentence if they carried only non-lethal weapons.
Somehow, I doubt Mur will go in unstrapped, though.
The meeting adjourned and the others took their leave. Sloan was left with Teddy and the man still seemed uncomfortable. As he had on many occasions before, the agent wished he could summon his magic at will.
Heh. Maybe the scary elf everyone talks about can train me next.
But his mundane senses screamed that something was up, and his mantra in situations like that was to get simple, get clear, and get clean. He raised a fist for a bump, and Teddy met it with relief in his eyes. “Text when you need me, bruh. Y’all are my main job right now, and I’m up for whatever. I’ll go see what I can find out about the library.”
He nodded and unlocked the front door to let Sloan out into the sun. Outside, he squinted at it and looked around as if deciding what to do next. Down the hill and to the right, the road led to a string of more dive bars and a strip club that touted itself as the best place to watch sports in town.
Sports, right. Sure.
To the left, the long walk through the strip district would return him to the city proper. His dingy hotel stood about halfway between here and there, but he wasn’t sure it would be smart to go there immediately.
He ambled slowly down the hill, slipped on his sunglasses, inserted his earbuds, and looked at his phone. A few swipes activated the AR functions, and he left the camera on to feed into the eyewear’s display. He swung his arms as he walked to make sure the lens had a look in all directions and finally spotted the tail. The two other men from the bar took turns to stay close while one paralleled him a block away on either side.
They’re trying hard not to spook me. And they’re not terrible at tracking, either. A point to them.
He had several options available. A simple set of counter-surveillance moves would lose them, but it risked them realizing that he’d made them.
So, that’s out.
He could pretend to notice them by chance and confront them about following him. That might increase his standing with them, and maybe Mur and Teddy, but it could also have the opposite result and increase their suspicions. He certainly wouldn’t let them trail him to the hotel. His mind sifted through other possibilities, but they were all risky, and he didn’t want to jeopardize his connection to the gang.
Only one option remained. He boarded the next bus and dropped his fare in the till before he shuffled to a seat at the back. While he bounced his head in time to the music playing in his ears, he typed a text to the operations number, which would be monitored by whoever was in the base at the moment.
Heading to someplace called Homestead Waterfront. Bus 5349. Need a tail check.
The encrypted message sent and vanished seconds later, while all record of it was wiped from his device.
The response was immediate.
Ops. K.
So, Kayleigh.
Check inbound.
A dozen minutes passed before he received a one-word follow-up.
Clean.
She must have detailed a drone or two to follow him and make sure his watchers had been left behind.
He typed again.
Cool. Ride?
Her answer was brief and brutal.
Bus trip back is as scenic. Enjoy.
He shook his head. The tech was a tough cookie, but he’d win her over eventually. So far, she’d proven immune to his charms, but then again, he hadn’t really tried yet.
You know, what I truly need to make this cover persona work is a girlfriend. I wonder how easily we could disguise her.
He spent the rest of the trip considering options to improve Tommy Ketchum’s viability, only a few of which involved the hyper-intelligent blonde technician. But the ones that did were his favorites.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Vincente’s office was as dark as he could make it. The doors were closed and the lights turned off. Blinds covered the windows he so often paced in front of to shut out the rest of the warehouse. The only illumination came from the statuette before him via a soft glow that never left the crystal at the top.
His coin felt heavy where it burned against his chest, signaling his superior’s desire for communication. The wizard sighed, withdrew the object from the small pocket inside his shirt, and slotted it into place at the base of the sculpture. The device performed its magic, and a three-dimensional image of Dreven appeared and hovered above the crystal.
“Master.” The artifact within him seemed to twist, disliking any act of subordination. Whispers from the entity—it seemed appropriate to call it that—had assaulted his mind at random times. It demanded that he seize power and spun plans to ascend in the ranks. It didn’t have the best understanding of the situation at hand, but it was very committed to the idea of becoming the most powerful being around.
In time. For now, we must serve.
The image nodded. “Vincente. What is the status of your team?”
Lousy, thanks for asking. How’s yours?
He cleared his throat. “As expected, Sarah has…recovered from her experience in the World in Between. The humans still lack a leader with Marcus locked in the human pr
ison.” He schooled his voice to contain the hope he felt. “Will we attack the installation to rescue our people in the near future, Master?”
Dreven nodded. “Soon, but not yet. We have another objective in the interim.”
“And my people will be a part of securing this objective?”
“Among many others across many operations, yes. You will be my personal representatives in this undertaking, and as you are in charge of the primary assignment, failure would be…unacceptable, to say the least.” The venom contained in the threat was unmistakable. His artifact bristled, and Vincente’s lips twitched. He covered it with a sneer.
“If there is a disappointment of any kind, Master, it will not come from us.”
The virtual wizard nodded. “Excellent. In preparation for the event, you are to bestow an artifact upon your subordinate.”
He couldn’t contain the grimace. “Do you think that’s wise, Master?”
“Would I instruct you to do it if I did not?”
Vincente sighed. “Of course not. I will do as you say.”
Dreven gave him a knowing smile. “There are reasons for everything, my trusted lieutenant. Have faith.” For a moment, warmth crept into his voice. It vanished as quickly to be usurped by aloof certainty. “The event occurs in less than a week and requires a full commitment from you and all your people.”
“You have it, of course, Master.”
“Once there are details to share, they will be communicated to you. The location is still uncertain, and thus the timing is in flux. Events shall move quickly once these things are known. You must be ready at a moment’s notice.”
“We will be.”
His superior nodded. “I know that you will. Now, empower your second in command and prepare for what is to come.”
“Yes, Master.”
The connection dropped as the image turned to vapor and spiraled away. Vincente withdrew the coin and returned it to the inner pocket, then buttoned his black shirt and smoothed his black tie into place. He had a flash of self-analysis accompanied by a mocking laugh.
Federal Agents of Magic Boxed Set Page 58