Magic Runes
Page 11
“All the victims came from your pool of participants. We verified that data this morning. You’re the bastard that’s been killing all these girls.”
“No,” Professor Sven shook his head. “It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me.”
“Who was it then?”
“He made me do it. He told me to.”
“Who did?”
“Adrian, watch out,” I warned him. He spared me a glance and I pointed at the professor. “His skin.”
Something strange was going on with the professor’s skin. It was pulsing in a strange manner, almost as if it was bubbling under the surface.
“He killed them all. It was him! It was the soul eater!” The professor grabbed his head and began to scream.
“Everybody get down!” Adrian barked.
He crashed into me knocking me off my feet as something exploded. He kept my body covered with his and I closed my eyes tightly. I opened my eyes after a few second and saw Adrian looking down at me.
“Are you okay?” I asked him. I couldn’t hear my voice because of the ringing in my head.
He nodded and lifted himself. I gave him a thumbs up to show I was okay too. We got to our feet. Rafael and Joe moved. I rushed to them to check they were okay. They had been closer to the professor. They both appeared to be fine.
There was nothing much of the professor except for tiny body parts. I fought the urge to throw up. It had been a while since I had been exposed to that.
We all looked at each other in grim silence. We had thought the professor was in charge of the murders but it appeared there was a far bigger threat instead. We waited for the crime scene guys to show up and then we went back to the SBI headquarters. At this rate, I should just apply for to work there. I was there more than my actual job.
We all trudged to Adrian’s office.
“That was weird.” Rafael was the first to say what was on all our minds.
I collapsed into a chair. “Really weird.”
“What do you think will happen to the girls?” I asked.
“They’re being brought here for you to unravel the spells. Why do you think I asked for you to return with us?” Adrian frowned.
“I thought you enjoyed my company.” I muttered.
Rafael laughed.
I said the second thing on my mind. “What are we going to do?”
“Something set it off. It triggered a spell.” Joe said.
“He exploded after he said it was the soul eater.” I added.
“Can we not say it, just to be safe?” Rafael asked.
“I think I’ll be okay. I’ve said it before.” I told him.
“Indulge us,” Adrian said.
“Fine.” We sat there in silence. I don’t know about them but I was thinking what a narrow miss that had been.
Someone knocked on the door and we all looked up.
“Sir, there’s someone here to see you,” a young man said.
“Tell them to take an appointment. I’m busy at the moment.” Adrian replied.
The man looked apologetic. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, sir.”
Adrian glowered at him. “Who is it?”
He didn’t have time to answer, the woman stepped through the doorway and all the agents immediately got to their feet. I stayed seated as I stared at former SBI Director, Anne Berg.
My lack of deference meant her gaze immediately fell on me. She stilled.
I glared at her.
A sharp smile crossed her face. “I didn’t expect to find you here.”
I didn’t want her to find me at all.
“Hello, Mother.”
Twenty-Four
“Mother?” Rafael repeated glancing back and forth between us.
I sighed.
“But all of Anne Berg’s children are in the SBI.” Joe interjected.
“Except for one. They don’t mention her very often.” I raised my hand.
“Look at you returning to the fold.” My mother studied Adrian. “I do hope she’s been useful.”
His trademark frown was back. He couldn’t offend the former SBI Director but he also couldn’t allow her to minimize my role.
“She’s been a tremendous asset.”
“That’s good to hear, because she’ll be working with you for a little longer.”
“I know, she’s in charge of saving the lives of all the remaining bewitched girls.” Adrian replied.
I was impressed that he stood up against my mother.
“I knew you looked familiar,” Rafael whispered.
“You didn’t know I existed,” I whispered back.
“Don’t be rude, Nina. Pay attention to the conversation.” My mother rebuked me.
“Nina?” Adrian looked at me.
“What name have you been using?” My mother asked.
“Carmen Rebello.”
“Rebello? Because you consider yourself a rebel? You always had an odd sense of humor.”
“I own a store called Magic Runes. I was under your nose the entire time.” I shrugged. “You lost. I managed to stay off your radar for years.”
“But here we are.” She looked at me.
“Here we are.” I repeated.
“Are you going to continue to waste your life in the magic shop or are you going to finally live up to the family legacy?”
“Why can’t you let me live my life?”
“Why can’t you do something useful with it instead of squandering your unique gifts?”
I glared at her. “I used them to save lives.”
“As a part-time consultant.” She sniffed. “You could be so much more. I heard about you. I was excited to learn that we had discovered a new talent. I didn’t realize it was you. It makes things both easier and more difficult.”
She studied me and turned to Adrian. “She’s to be a full-time consultant.”
“We can’t force her to work for us.”
My mother looked at me. “Do you want to save the girls?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll have to sign a contract right now to work for the SBI for five years. We’ll draw it up right now. Until you sign it you won’t be allowed to go near them.”
Rafael whistled under his breath.
Joe gaped.
“And you’ll be signing it under your real name, Nina Berg. No more of this silly Rebello business.”
Adrian said, “I’m afraid you don’t have the authority to do that.”
My mother’s head snapped to him. “You challenge me?”
“I’m not blackmailing someone by threatening to kill dozens of women.”
“You wasted the threat. She would have caved.” My mother waved her hand dismissively. “I can unravel the runes. They wouldn’t really die. ”
“Except that sometimes, they do die.” I said bitterly.
Adrian cleared his throat. I looked around and all of them appeared to feel awkward. Rafael alone was enjoying the drama. He reminded me of Mateu.
I winced. Mateu was going to have a field day when I told him.
There was no way around it now. My past was catching up to me. I could run or I could stay and fight.
I looked again at the faces around me. I thought about the life I had built for myself in Barcelona.
Dina. Natalie. Sylvia. Rodrigo. Mateu.
I braced myself.
I was going to fight.
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