by Alicia Wolfe
Acting quickly, I used a spell to scan the room for magical boobytraps, finding several, one on the very grate of the duct.
I sprinkled some dust from one of pouches on the grate and intoned, “Ritha-a-lotor!”
The protective ward dissolved. I said another spell to remove the grate, then slid into the room, landing smoothly and silently. I probably would have looked pretty badass, approaching that mystical, dangerous jewel in my cat-burglar outfit, all heroic and awesome, if I hadn’t been absolutely covered in crap from the air-conditioning vent. I wished I knew a spell for that!
As I reached for the jewel, saying another spell to deactivate the ward around it, the shadowoman burst into the room. Well, burst is probably the wrong word, since he was totally soundless. Ooze is probably better.
Okay, so he oozed into the room, passing silently through the one door leading in here. Instantly he fixed on me and rushed in, raising his sword to strike me down.
“I don’t think so,” I said. I grabbed the jewel with my naked fist, thrust it in the face of the shadowman and screamed “KIVA KUM!”
Green light pulsed out from the jewel, enveloping the shadowman, and he dissolved. Gooey streams peeled away from his main mass and he just wilted away, becoming one with the shadows of the room.
The green light given off by the jewel died, plunging me into blackness.
I sucked in a huge breath, then another, and wiped sweat out of my eyes.
“Well, that sucked,” I said.
The room lights flicked on, blinding me, and a voice on some hidden intercom system said, “Well done, Jade McClaren. You have passed the test. Come find me in the study on this floor, just down the hall.”
I narrowed my eyes at the ceiling. “Where is my sister?”
Thirty seconds later:
“So glad you could make it,” said the figure behind the desk.
Covered in grime, bleeding from a few scrapes I couldn’t even remember getting, I had just entered through the study door and was approaching him, and I had to resist the urge to launch myself over his damned desk and strangle him.
“Where’s Ruby?” I demanded.
The guy opened his mouth to reply, but just then I heard coughing behind me and turned to see Ruby entering the room. Relief flooded me, and I started to wrap her in a hug, but she waved me off. It was only when I came close that I could smell the stench coming off her. She looked bedraggled, too, her hair messed up and dark splotches on her clothes, along with some burned patches.
“What happened to you?” I said. “That doesn’t look like the work of a shadowman.”
Ruby’s gaze took in the guy behind the desk, then said to me out of the side of her mouth, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Why do you smell so bad?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You smell like … poop.”
She gritted her teeth. “It was hell monkeys, alright?”
I tried to suppress a burst of laughter. “Hell monkeys? You mean, the little bastards that throw flaming dung?”
She glared hotly at me. Suddenly I realized why she had burnt patches in her clothes, along with that awful smell, and I couldn’t help it. I laughed.
“Shut up,” she said.
Regaining control of myself, I nodded, and together we rounded on the bastard behind the desk. He regarded us with cool, amused detachment. He was lean and tall, with slicked-back red hair and a red goatee. I’d never seen a ginger with a goatee before, and on him it looked particularly devilish. His whole demeanor was devilish. And he was a natty dresser, too, with a custom Italian suit and a green tie.
“Who the hell are you and what did you just do to us?” I said. “And if we don’t like your answer, you’re in deep shit.”
“Don’t say that word,” Ruby muttered.
“Talk!” I ordered the guy.
He leaned back in his well-upholstered seat and steepled his fingers beneath his bearded chin. “I’m Gavin Manor, President of the Guild of Thieves. I’m sorry if you suffered any inconvenience.”
“Inconvenience?” said Ruby. “Demon monkeys just tried to kill me with flaming crap! Their own crap!”
A small smile tugged at the corners of Gavin’s mouth. “Fear not, they would not have actually killed you. We have wards to prevent our tests from killing their subjects.”
“Tests!” I said. “I knew it. That’s why he split us up, Rubes, to test us separately.”
“Naturally,” Gavin said. “We only allow members into the Guild if they’re qualified. We design each test to explore that particular individual’s level of talent in their field. For a magically-assisted burglar, a shadowman made sense. For a witch, a more exotic set of foes seemed prudent.”
“Exotic?” said Ruby, and took a step forward. “I oughtta—”
“I would measure your next words carefully.”
I placed a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. She started to shake it off, then sighed and nodded. She didn’t finish her sentence.
“Again, I apologize for the inconvenience,” Gavin said. “But know that you both passed with flying colors. It would have been unfortunate if only one of you had made it through. I would have hated to’ve broken up a team.”
I made myself count to five, then said, “Now what? Is there a ceremony or something?”
“Don’t be foolish. Thieves don’t do ceremonies.”
“What then?” Ruby said.
Gavin rolled his small shoulders. “Why not … a job?”
Ruby and I glanced at each other.
“A job?” I said.
He smiled, and seemed to relax, just a bit. “That’s why you want to sign up, right? To take advantage of the networking opportunities and the resources available in the Guild? Well, we happen to need thieves with just your qualifications. And there’s a social tonight where you can mingle and find the job that’s right for you.”
Ruby plucked a gob of charred dung from her hair. “A social? Like … a party?”
“Exactly!”
Gavin stood and clapped his hands. Instantly the lights brightened.
“Shall I see you at eight?” he said. “I will give you both glamours to wear to hide your real identity.”
“What do you think?” I asked Ruby.
She pulled another clump of poop from her hair. “I think that will give me just enough time for a dozen baths.”
Chapter 4
“Well, you do smell better,” I admitted as we entered the lounge room of the mansion. It was several hours after our meeting with Gavin, and we were all dolled up. We didn’t wear our usual club clothes but tight black leather and latex, with lots of zippers. Ruby’s zippers were pink, though, which I think took away some of the effect.
Ruby sniffed an arm and wrinkled her nose. “I can still smell it.”
“It’s in your nose, babe. Like your nostrils. It’ll probably take days to get out.”
“Great.”
Around us gathered thieves and murderers, scoundrels of all descriptions. I saw lean, shadowy figures whispering in a corner, a wily-looking lass trying to sell a hard-eyed woman a set of lockpicking tools, a bald-headed black woman with one white eye giving a speech advertising the benefits of her mercenary group of thieves to a trio of aristocrats. A wizard was obviously on the payroll because colored pyres blazed at regular points throughout the large chamber, throwing shifting waves of multi-colored light on the shadowy proceedings, the only major lights in the room.
“So glad you could make it,” said a voice.
Ruby and I turned to see Gavin slide out of the gloom behind us. Something about him gave me the creeps.
Well, okay, it was everything about him.
“We had a clear spot in our calendar,” I said.
Ruby gestured around us, then frowned as her gaze fell on a pair of blue-skinned demons speaking at the bar. “Where do we start?” she said, almost in a whisper. “We don’t know anyone here. Well, I don’t.”
&
nbsp; “Me neither,” I said. “At least no one I recognize yet.”
Gavin ushered us to a group of nefarious-looking types, covered in scars and tattoos. Each had a drink in his or her hand but wasn’t touching it. Smart. God knew what poisons might be found in a place like this. And these would be the types who knew how to use it.
“Jade and Ruby are new,” he said. “Make them welcome.”
“Mance,” said a gruff fellow sporting orange sideburns. “Welcome.”
“Welcome,” said a Latino woman with the tattoo of a tiger on her arm. “You can call me Claudia.”
We nodded at them, and most of them nodded back. No one offered a hand to shake, and we didn’t either. This wasn’t that kind of crowd.
Seeing that we were occupied and out of his hair, Gavin melted back into the darkness. We spoke with the group for a bit, getting the lay of the land. Mance knew of a bank job coming up and was trying to feel the others out without getting too specific. Then one of the women started talking about an armored car job she was trying to recruit for. Ruby and I glanced at each other, bored.
“This is getting us nowhere,” she told me after a few hours. We’d been going from group to group, trying to find some sign of Nevos. So far no luck.
“I know,” I said. “You have a better idea?”
“I guess not. But this sucks. These people freak me out, and so does this place.”
I shivered, thinking of the shadowman. Could he have been resurrected, or could there be another one here somewhere? He could be prowling about even now. The Guild of Thieves was really not the sort of organization you wanted to get on the bad side of. And yet here Ruby and I were actively fucking with it on our first day. Don’t poke the bear.
“Jade,” Ruby said, snapping her finger before my eyes. “Earth to Jade, can you hear me?”
“Hysterical,” I said. “I was thinking. Let’s just get back to it. This party won’t last much longer. It’s already three in the morning.”
“That’s another reason this sucks,” Ruby said. “We have to stay sober. And there’s an open bar.”
With a dramatic sigh, she agreed to split up, and we returned to eavesdropping, snooping and listening to various recruiters, sales pitches and doubtful tales of intrigue and adventure. At one point I saw a group of pale women drinking thick red fluid out of wine glasses. My shifter senses detected the scent of blood. Vampires. I kept well clear of them. Not only had I had a bad encounter with the undead a few months ago, but I knew my old buddy Vincent Walsh was in league with the bastards. These women could be allies of his.
At last I found a clue. I’d fallen in with a hard-bitten group near the fireplace. One was the bald black woman with one eye. I stood up straighter when one guy said something about the job he was going on about being sponsored by a Fae Lord.
“What’s that?” I said. “A Fae?”
The guy nodded. He was short but thick in the chest, and he’d grown a resplendent beard and had thick hair to make up for his height. “That’s right,” he said. “I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it. Forget I said it.”
“But that’s who you’re working for? That’s who’s trying to set up this job?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “So what?”
I swallowed. Tucking a strand of hair back behind my ear in my most feminine manner, I batted my eyes and said, “I’ve always wanted to be under a Fae.”
He grinned. “Well, girl, you might want to get in on this. Your specialty is magically-assisted entry and exit, yeah?”
“That’s right.”
“Then we’ve got an opening for you. Nothing for that other one, though—your partner, with the hair? If you sign on, that’s the last position we need filled.”
That would make it easier to break it to her, I thought. The last thing I wanted was to involve Ruby any further. But this really did sound like the best lead I was going to get. If I could get hired by Jim, the short guy, I might just meet his boss. What happened after that I had no idea. I’d cross that disaster when it happened.
“So,” he said. “You in?”
I rubbed my chin, as if really thinking it over, then looked up and gave him a measuring glance. “What’s the job?”
* * *
“A mansion?” Ruby said. “What’s in this mansion?”
I shrugged, which was hard to do driving my flying motorcycle, and I wasn’t even sure she could see it. At least we could hear each other. She’d used another one of her noise-dampening spells. Below us the nighttime city scrolled past.
“Who knows,” I said. “But it’s magically warded and guarded. Obviously Nevos couldn’t break in there on his own. He needs help.”
“You’re assuming it’s Nevos.”
“True. But it makes sense, right? Nevos was seen nosing around the Guild. Had to be because he needed something stolen.”
“Yeah, I guess. And there’s probably not two Fae out there hiring thieves from the Guild.”
“God, I hope not.”
“I wonder what Nevos could want. I mean, it has to be his fallback objective, right? He’d meant to storm the Palace and smash the Fae Lords, but we made sure he didn’t have an army. Now what does he want?”
“Hopefully not another army,” I said.
“Better not. I wonder how much of Angela’s army is left. Any idea?”
“No. Most of them scattered after the battle in the stadium—at least the survivors. A few were caught, though.”
“Were do the Fae keep them?” Ruby said.
“Oh, they have a prison somewhere. I’ve never been there.”
“Beware the Dementors.”
“Har.”
The bike’s black wings pumped to either side of us, stroking the air powerfully. Damn, I love my ride. I could see why some people really dug motorcycles.
“What are you going to name her?” Ruby said, noticing where my attention was.
“I don’t know. But I was thinking … Chromecat.”
She laughed, then said, “Actually, that’s not bad.”
“I don’t think so, either.”
Suddenly, Ruby stiffened behind me, and her arms locked around my middle.
“What is it?” I said.
She released her hands and glanced all around; I could see her in my rearview. She seemed to be scanning the skies behind us.
“I feel something …”
Fire flared in the blackness of the night directly behind us, spreading out from a central mass. I gasped, watching it in my rearview mirrors. Heart pounding, I craned my head for a moment, but only for a moment. That was enough. What I saw sent a chill coursing down my spine. A huge bird, with maybe a fifteen-foot wingspan, all composed of fire, was bearing straight down on us. It shrieked, and gooseflesh popped out all over my body.
“VERICON MATHRA!” Ruby shouted and waved her wand. Power burst from it.
The huge bird shrieked again, but it pumped its wings to slow itself down, giving us some space, at least for the moment. Watching it out of the corner of my eye via the mirrors, even as I yanked the wheel and banked hard around a corner, I could see that it was some sort of hawk-like bird. A raptor. A bird of prey.
“What the hell?” I shouted over my shoulder.
“I don’t know!” said Ruby. “Another test?”
“Lousy Gavin. If this is his doing, he’s not getting a Christmas card.”
The bird of fire drew in its wings and dove at us, fast. The flames composing it crackled as it sped through the night. I jerked the handlebars, swinging us to the right, and it barreled past, so close I could feel its heat. Its smoke enveloped us. Coughing, I guided us around another turn.
It screamed and flew up at us.
“Na’va correlto!” Ruby said. She threw an azure bolt of energy down on the thing. It veered aside and kept coming. She threw another. Again it dodged and continued toward us. It would strike us at any moment.
I swung the handlebars, jerking us around the corner of a skyscraper, th
en twisting the bars the other way and sending us around another.
The bird came on.
“Make a net!” I said. “Put it between the buildings!”
“Good idea.” She muttered to herself, and I felt a powerful burst of magic behind me. I turned my head to see a magical green spiderweb materialize in the space between two skyscrapers. The bird of flame hit it full on. Flame and smoke crackled, and the web buckled. I held my breath.
“Is it strong enough?” I said.
“We’ll find out in a moment.”
The bird thrashed, but the net held, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Turing down one corner and another, putting some distance between us and the thing, I felt safer. Who knew how long Ruby’s spell-web would hold? She probably didn’t know either. I made for our apartment, praying the bird didn’t get free and find us there. The last thing we needed was for our enemies to know where we lived—or our friends, either, if Gavin could be considered a friend.
“What was that thing?” I said.
Ruby shook her head. “Beats me. Let’s look it up when we get home.”
We arrived home in Gypsy Land, the area of town where we lived, fifteen minutes later. I parked on the roof, cast an invisibility spell on the bike—Chromecat? The name was growing on me—and trooped down to our apartment, neat and colorful, with a few knickknacks from our adventures scattered here and there. The whole place was powerfully warded.
“We should be safe now,” Ruby said. “Even if that thing gets free, it can’t see through these wards.”
I poured us both a glass of wine, then took a long sip.
“To nets,” I said, lifting my glass.
We clinked glasses and drank.
“Really think it was Gavin?” I said.
“I don’t know. It could be anyone we met tonight, or even someone totally random.”
“It could’ve been those vampires. They might have worked for Walsh.”
“Maybe. Or it could’ve been those demons. They looked like they were up to something.”
“When aren’t demons up to something?”
She downed another sip. “Actually, from what you’ve told about your run-ins with them, I was wondering if there might be something going on there.”