* * *
“Not was. Is my bounty,” Joleen said, setting Devon straight. Which goddess of fate had the twisted sense of humor to stick Devon Fortier in her path again? Blond strands fell loose from where he wore his shoulder-length hair tied back. Those dark hazel eyes were flecked with gold and seemed to maintain a perpetual anytime-is-playtime look.
A look that could make a woman do asinine things.
And make tactical errors. Like kissing Devon after their last unplanned meeting. She should shoot the cocky Belador just for interfering again.
“We can work out the money on this, Jo.”
“It’s not about the money or I’d charge you double and be done with this. I have quotas. I’m behind and need to hand in Lambert by tomorrow afternoon or Dakkar will cut me loose.” That could not happen. Dakkar was the sole person who could keep her identity secret. And he would. For a price. She couldn’t lose this gig or allow Devon to ruin it for her.
“What’s the big deal on this troll, Jo?”
“He’s not just a troll. Lambert is the bastard son of a Svart Troll and a black witch. He’s slippery. I’ve been tracking him for days.” She glanced past him. “Where’s your team?”
He gave a half-assed look over his shoulder. “Should be here soon.”
Liar. “You didn’t call anyone.” She let her weapon swing down and under her coat. “I got a bounty to pick up.”
Sliding his sword into the sheath on his back, he said, “Then we better get rolling.”
“Don’t make me tie you up, Dev.”
His grin ignited with lust. “We don’t have time for that, but I like the way you’re thinking.”
One round from her demon blaster and he’d be little Devon pieces. Tempting. “I’m not joking.”
His sigh accused her of being as much fun as rain at a picnic. Tough. She had been fun at one time in her life, but someone had stolen that life.
Devon scratched his whisker-darkened jaw—as unshaven as the last time she’d seen him. Did he never shave? “Here’s the thing. Based on what you said about Lambert, he’ll use that Noirre spell if we don’t stop him.”
“Don’t see how theft is my problem.” She beat down her surge of conscience. Nobody would waste that spell for simple robbery.
“Theft? That’s a Noirre Fixit spell. Most fixation spells just freeze a human for a minute, but Noirre could be much worse.”
Could be? Damn him. She couldn’t let this Belador go off thinking that. “If it’s Noirre, it’s not just a fixation spell that freezes someone long enough to rob them.”
Devon crossed his arms, waiting.
She cursed herself. Why couldn’t she be like Dakkar’s other bounty hunters who put their own needs first? “A Noirre Fixit spell will freeze everyone within twenty feet of another person hit by the spell. The freeze will last approximately two minutes, but when it dissipates, the memories of every person affected or watching the spellbound area will be wiped clean. They’ll continue as if nothing had happened.”
Devon’s words came out slow and tight. “I can’t share all my intel, but it’s looking like Lambert has a team here for a hit. Now that I know about his ability and this spell, I’m thinking his target is involved with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade tomorrow.”
“Trolls wouldn’t risk exposure in a crowd that big,” she argued. “VIPER would send death squads after them.”
“But as you just pointed out, this spell comes with a memory wipe. If Lambert pulls this off, VIPER will have nothing to use as evidence.”
She asked, “Why this parade?”
Scratching his head, Devon stared off, thinking. “My informant thought the trolls were here to glamour their way through the crowd to steal gold, but I ran all possible scenarios and found out an Ansgar descendant is studying art here. She’s in the parade. Six members of her family are joining her tomorrow, including the matriarch who goes nowhere without wearing her solid gold Celtic choker—”
“That holds the power to their entire Fae family.” Joleen got it.
“Right. I blew it off before, because the Ansgars always travel with security. But now I’m thinking the Svart Trolls are after the choker and/or the family members for someone else. I’d like to know who’s behind this, but with Svart involved, my bet is an enemy of the Ansgars. If that’s Lambert’s target and he pulls this off, war will erupt between powerful adversaries. The human world won’t be a safe place for anyone.”
Dakkar would be furious if she had any perceived part in that happening, since shielding nonhuman existence from humans was part of Dakkar’s agreement with VIPER.
Pushing hair off her face, she hissed out a steam of air. “How many people show up for this parade?”
“Close to half a million.” Devon hit her with a hard look. “And with the memory wipe, nothing would stop those trolls from snacking on a child, who would then end up on a milk carton.”
Playing hero was Devon’s job, not hers, but she wouldn’t allow innocent people to be hurt. “Here’s my deal. I help you get the spell and you give me Lambert.”
Hesitation played through Devon’s face. “I’ll do what I can, Jo, but I don’t make promises I can’t keep. I’ll give you Lambert if I can and if he doesn’t die in the process.”
A dead Lambert was of no use to her. She either gambled on throwing in with Devon or locking him in a rum cask while she hunted Lambert alone. But if she lost Lambert she’d have to live with the guilt for anything he did and face Dakkar empty-handed. “I’m in, but no promises either on what happens when we find Lambert.”
She expected him to agree or argue, but he just lifted the hood of his fleece jacket over his head, covering the sword handle, and led the way out.
After backtracking with Devon to the exit point beneath the Pirate’s House restaurant, they emerged on Broad Street. A balmy March sun had daffodils blooming and tourists crowding cobblestone streets along the historic district. She fell into step with Devon, who led the way to Coldfinger’s pawnshop on the outskirts of Savannah in an area abused by age. Spiderwebs covered steel-barred windows on shabby buildings and the homeless loitered on the sidewalks.
Joleen mused, “Would have expected Coldfinger to be in a finer part of town.”
“Not with clientele that shies away from crowds and humans to do their business.” Once they’d left the dense pedestrian traffic in the city behind, Devon had picked up the pace. Now he slowed to enter a wooden shack of a building.
She followed him in, allowing her eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness. Sunlight filtering through holes in the walls and ceiling danced over musty piles of clothes and a filthy mattress.
Did Devon know where he was going?
He slowed and gave a signal for silence.
She drew her weapon though she’d prefer to use the wand she kept hidden along with her mage identity.
Devon eased up to the side of a closed door with light sifting out from the bottom and tried the knob. Locked. He shifted in front of it, put his boot up and kicked. Rotten wood shattered.
Joleen shook her head, muttering, “What is it about boys and kicking in doors?”
* * *
Devon took in the hideous scene against one wall of the pawnshop. Coldfinger was dead, frozen with his remaining arm up in defense and his face contorted with a scream of fear. Devon wrinkled his nose at the scorched sherbet-ice-cream stench.
Jo pointed at a pile of half-chewed orange glob that might be Coldfinger’s upchucked arm and smirked. “Looks like Lambert tested the spell on Coldfinger. Trolls have a weak stomach for leprechaun, eh?”
Devon let the rare humor in her voice pass without comment. He had to contact Tzader. As the Belador Maistir over North America, Tzader directed a large portion of VIPER’s force.
Jo must have picked up the tr
ack of his thoughts. “If you’re thinking of calling in backup, you better reconsider unless you want Lambert to use the spell on VIPER agents, as well.”
She had a point, but he knew that wasn’t her real concern. “You’re just worried VIPER will pick up Lambert before you do.”
“True, but what if you call in agents, and he unleashes the spell? Svart Trolls got any old scores to settle with Beladors?”
“I’ve thought about that, but even with my intel I can’t just assume it’s only a hit squad and that he’s only after the Ansgar family. We have to cover more area than that. And we’re not sure how long the spell will last now that Lambert is using it.”
She hissed something that sounded like a curse. “That type of fixation spell that can be used in volume has a short shelf life. The spell must be contained in a way Lambert can release it as needed, but he wouldn’t have wasted activating it unless he planned on using the spell again within twenty-four hours. Even if you call in VIPER, you still can’t prove Lambert took the Noirre spell from Coldfinger and you put your teams at risk.”
Hellfire, she was right and he believed she knew her stuff with spells. He’d love to find out exactly what Joleen was. She didn’t fit the usual gutter profile of Dakkar’s bounty hunters.
She nodded at Coldfinger. “That was a message for anyone who tries to cross Lambert. The spell’s probably been working about twenty minutes because we’ve been here half that and Coldfinger’s blood has started congealing.”
Devon glanced over his shoulder. “Got what he deserved for dealing Noirre with a troll.” He swung his gaze back to her. “Any ideas on how to find Lambert?”
She pondered her answer too long, as if debating once again on how much to share. “He’ll likely position himself in a safe place to use the spell. He won’t risk being with the other trolls in case something goes wrong or VIPER rolls in.”
Devon had to contact Tzader, but without Jo knowing or she might disappear. And beyond needing her help, dammit, he didn’t want that. “Our best use of time is figuring out the most advantageous place for Lambert to release the spell tomorrow morning.”
Anyone watching Jo would think she might just be staring off as she processed information, but Devon could feel energy building that had to be coming from her. Energy she worked to keep contained.
What was she? Besides hot and dangerous?
Her lavender-blue eyes fluttered back to life, and that oddly interesting gaze met his. “You know the parade route for tomorrow?”
He lifted his smartphone up for view. “I can pull up everything we need. It starts on Abercorn Street near Forsyth Park.”
“Then that’s where we start.” She walked off and Devon let her lead the way.
What man wouldn’t want to follow something that fine?
He also took the opportunity to text Tzader a message. Not much for typing to begin with, Devon just punched in: Call me.
As one of the stronger telepaths in the Beladors, Tzader could reach across two hundred and fifty miles from Atlanta. His rumbling voice entered Devon’s mind. What’s up, Dev?
Devon answered, Have a situation we need to handle carefully. A troll got his hands on a Noirre fixation spell.
How’d that happen?
Devon explained about his investigation to this point. He finished by saying, Lambert got the spell from Coldfinger.
You bag the leprechaun?
No. Lambert tested the spell on him.
Joleen glanced back at Devon with a questioning look about his lagging behind. He smiled and held the phone sideways as if busy working on the parade route that he already knew.
She shook her head and kept walking.
Tzader said, Call me when you contain Lambert. I’ll send a team to transport him.
If only it was that easy. Devon added, One problem. I’m pretty sure Lambert plans to use the spell during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Why?
Devon went through how the spell functioned, adding, Got some help from a bounty hunter. She knows her stuff.
She?
Hellfire. Tzader wouldn’t like this. Devon said, Joleen Mac.
What’s she doing there?
This is where things got tricky. Devon wasn’t sure how any of this would play out, but he still owed Jo big-time and didn’t want her marked as a VIPER target for interfering. Jo was hunting one of the trolls. We intercepted the deal in progress at the same time. She’s agreed to help.
After a brief silence, Tzader said, I’ll bring in every available agent by tomorrow morning.
That could be risky without knowing where Lambert plans to release the spell. If the team is too close they could be compromised.
We’ll stay a hundred yards away. You find Lambert.
The connection died just as Devon reached Abercorn Street.
Jo waited for him on the sidewalk. “Lambert wouldn’t be down here on the streets even with a Svart team. He’d be up there.” She pointed to the rooftops.
“Then that’s where we’re headed.”
By the time Devon had walked Jo across every rooftop on the parade route, twice, Jo finally agreed with Devon on the best place to expect Lambert to show. On the way back to hunker down on top of a building next to the one where they expected Lambert, Devon picked up a succulent meal from the Sapphire Grill for a rooftop picnic. He’d like to squeeze some information out of Jo, but pulling gold out of a troll’s fist would be easier. And she sounded exhausted from tracking Lambert for two days.
Plus, too many questions might snap the thin commitment of this short-term alliance.
When she finished eating, Jo frowned. “Lambert won’t arrive until he’s ready to unleash the spell…unless he comes by early to scope the location.”
“Agreed.”
“You got first watch,” she ordered and leaned back, closing her eyes, not waiting for his agreement.
* * *
Seven hours later, crowds packed the sidewalks on each side of the parade walk below.
Jo stepped up beside Devon and looked over the edge to the lower roof of the next building. “You sure about this?”
“Sure about the location or making that thirty-foot leap?”
“The jump.” She straightened and faced him. “Is making death-defying leaps another boy thing like kicking in doors?”
Devon lifted his hand slowly and rubbed his knuckles along her cheek. “I won’t let you get hurt.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “I’m not the one in danger of breaking a leg.”
“So you can fly?” He’d like to see just what kind of power she had.
Marching band music and crowds cheering surged from a distance. The thick of the parade would be right below them in another couple minutes.
“Where’s Lambert?” Jo wondered out loud.
“Right here, Jo baby,” Lambert said from behind them.
Dammit. Right idea, wrong rooftop.
Devon noted how Jo still leaned her arms on the short wall but moved her fingers inside her jacket and slid out a short stick before turning around. “Big mistake to use that spell on us, Lambert.”
“That’s what Coldfinger said.” The glamoured troll held a glowing pocket watch in one hand, thumb resting against the clasp, ready to pop the cover.
Devon questioned if a field of kinetic power shoved at Lambert would do anything against the Noirre majik controlled by that watch, but he started to lift his hands.
Jo sighed and whispered, “Don’t.”
Did she have a way to stop the troll from freezing them or a plan to snake her bounty out from under Devon?
Decision time. He couldn’t stop Lambert for sure and his gut said to trust her. He whispered, “Okay.”
Lambert asked, “Any last words, Jo?”
She smiled. “Never assume all opponents are equal.”
“They are when I hold this. Admit it. I beat you.” Lambert lifted the pocket watch.
Devon tensed, fighting the urge to use his kinetics.
Jo moved so quickly Devon barely caught the motion. In the microsecond that Lambert’s thumb moved to the clasp release, Jo pointed a pencil-size length of carved wood at him. It lengthened as she rattled off a chant.
Power met power halfway between Lambert and Jo.
The backlash of energy hit Jo and Devon. He caught her arm just before she’d have flipped over the wall and used his kinetics to shove them forward.
When the power cleared, Lambert stood frozen with a mask of shock.
What the hell? Devon stared at Jo. Wizard? Mage?
Jo walked over to Lambert. “He didn’t get a direct hit of the Fixit spell when it back-lashed. Might not hold him long.”
She snapped a titanium neck shackle on Lambert who roused, muttering, “Bitch.”
Devon clubbed the troll with his elbow, knocking the slimy bastard to the ground. Once he had titanium handcuffs on Lambert’s wrists, Devon smiled, ready to offer Jo a celebration meal.
Then lost his grin.
She held the closed pocket watch that was still loaded with the Noirre spell.
Ah, hell. “Don’t, Jo. If you freeze me long enough to snatch Lambert, I’ll have to report you…oh. Guess I won’t remember.”
“No, you wouldn’t.”
With powers like hers, what was a woman like Jo even doing with Dakkar? Then Devon got it.
Jo was hiding from something or someone.
She walked over to him, hand extended, offering the watch. “I would never use the dark arts. Just wanted you to know I could have.”
His chest eased with relief. He took the watch from her and shoved it in his jacket pocket. “Fair enough. Lambert’s yours.”
Her voice lit with suspicion. “What about VIPER?”
“I contacted Tzader last night.”
At Risk Page 15