by R D Martin
There were no agents. The thought floated across her mind, shadowing her argument like a cloud passing in front of the sun. "What do you mean? They were right there. You were in my mind, you saw them."
No. There were no agents. Though the Finder didn't speak words, somehow his thoughts still conveyed a mixture of annoyance and disappointment. It was the disappointment, though, that hurt the worst. Witness.
She didn't have time to close her eyes before the images materialized in her mind. This time, however, they were more like still photos than movies. In one, she saw the fat man pacing after he'd been sitting for hours and showing no concern. In another, he'd grabbed the disk in his bare hands to hold against his chest. The one following that was a blur of movement as he recited the spell to open his exit, the disk in his hand and a look of total concentration on his face. Finally, the last image was her looking at the man on his knees as he stared at his gold just before escaping through his spell.
Bile rose in her throat even as her stomach felt like dropping through the floor. The Finder was right. She'd been scammed. If Imperium agents had been after the man, he would have been nervous the entire time, not just near the end, and he would already have had his escape prepared. Imperium agents wouldn't just bang on the door and give a witch time to cast her spells. They'd blow it off its hinges.
Worse, if the artifact was real, the seller would have known about the curse and would have worn gloves himself. He wouldn't have dared snatch it up with his bare hands.
Bella groaned and brought her hands up to cover her face. She felt as though every nerve in her body stood on end. She'd been played and there was no getting the money back.
That thought hit her like a freight train. What about the money? Was the Finder going to demand she pay him back? It was half a million dollars. She could work for years and never earn enough to pay that back. That was assuming he even let her keep working for him. Was he going to fire her? Sell her magical services to the highest bidder to recoup his loss? The Finder's contract with her gave him that right.
Her heart thumped so loud in her chest she was certain Gar could hear it, and the roaring of her blood as it sped through her veins deafened her. She knew this was the moment everything would change. She'd lose her job, be banished from the magical community and forced to give up everything she'd gained in the last few years. She'd have to learn to live like a mundane again, denying both her magic and her true self, forced to watch as a little more of herself died with every passing day as she sat in some boring office. Her blood, burning just moments ago, ran cold, and she shivered.
A rumble, like an echo of a landslide heard from far away, pulled at her attention. Dropping her hands away from her face, she looked up at the source of the noise. Gar had taken a seat on the floor, crossing his legs into the lotus position as he did so. Though he looked like a very hairy Buddha in that position, he was still taller than Bella standing up. He continued to make the sound for a few more moments. Bella watched in silent fascination, wondering how the giant remained so calm. He was her friend, after all. Wasn't he? He'd said so often enough. So why didn't he even look concerned for her? She was about to lose everything, and he was practicing yoga.
Bella opened her mouth to speak, but Gar cut her off.
"Go home."
"What? Go home? Why? I—"
"Go home, Bella. Relax and center yourself."
She could tell he was trying to calm her, but his voice grated on her nerves more than anything else.
"You've had a traumatic experience and you need to deal with it."
"Traumatic experience?" Her voice rose an octave with each word. "I didn't get hit in the head. I could deal with that. I got robbed—"
"And it wasn't your fault."
"I know it wasn't my fault. It's just that… It's just…" She knew what she wanted to say, but the words seemed to stop in her throat.
"It's just what?"
"It's just. Just. Oh, I don't know." With an exaggerated sigh, Bella threw her hands up in the air. How could she explain it to Gar? It wasn't just being conned that bothered her, though it added a heavy weight to the stress she was already feeling. There was too much that needed sorting and he would never understand. Maybe he was right about one thing, though. Maybe she should go home. If everything was ending, at least she could be where she felt safest when it did.
"I think I will go." Rising to her feet, she ignored the screech her chair's legs made on the marble floor. "Home, that is. I'm going home." As she stepped away from the table, her foot tapped the warped bronze disk that had started the trouble. As tempted as she was to kick it across the room, she'd end up either breaking a toe on it or having it break something else she'd have to pay for. Snatching it up, she dropped it on the table, where it wobbled for a minute before coming to a stop. Maybe it'll make a good ashtray.
Shaking her head, she stormed across the room toward the far exit. She passed artifacts collected over centuries, some of which she recognized, though most she did not. The light reflecting off one glass case she passed made her look at it for a second, though she didn't slow down to look closer. She already knew all about the object, since her father had been the one to collect it. She'd thought she could be like him, an explorer and a seeker, a witch of power and authority. At least she should have been able to add something to the Finder's collection like he had. And what had she contributed? A half-million-dollar ashtray. Bella ducked to make it through the low entrance. In a place where no one smoked, it was still worth more than she.
"Home so soon?" Cat purred as he wound his feline body between her legs.
Bella loved her familiar, but sometimes she felt like he was trying to trip her every time he met her at the door.
"I thought you'd be out all hours of the night celebrating your success."
As sharp as the reminder of her failure was, his purring was enough to keep her from yelling at him. Cat could be mean and spiteful, more demon than feline, but beneath the outer layers of uncaring disdain he had for the world was, well, more disdain. But beneath all that was a small, sometimes invisible, nugget of caring that always seemed to show itself just when she needed it the most.
"Hi, Cat. And how are you?" Bella bent to pick him up, but he slipped between her fingers and danced away from her grasp.
"Hungry."
"You're always hungry."
"That's because you never feed me. Look at me. I'm all skin and bones. And my coat is drying out."
"What are you talking about?"
"My coat. It should have a nice, glossy sheen to it, but look. Matte and dull. You need to feed me more often."
"You eat more than I do. Besides, you don't want to get fat, do you?"
"Not that it would be possible with what you give me."
"Whatever," she replied, rolling her eyes at the comment. "Maybe I should trade you in for a different pet, then. Give you to a nice family somewhere, one with a pretty little girl who'll tie pink bows around your ears? Better yet, someone with an infant to pull on your coat and bite your tail when they're teething."
It was an empty threat. Familiars, once bonded, stayed with their witch for life. If a witch died or gave up a familiar, the animal would age almost instantly to its proper years, generally killing it in an instant. It was the depressing downside to the relationship. However, having a familiar meant not only having a companion for life, one who could do some limited magic, but also having someone guaranteed to be on your side at all times. At least that was the general theory. When it came to Cat, though, Bella wasn't always sure. He could do some amazing things, but there had been more than a few occasions over the years that made her doubt the familiar even liked her.
Regardless, her threat had the intended effect. Cat stopped in the middle of the hall and, dropping to his haunches, stared up at her. His tail twitched in the manner that implied he was either angry or concerned, though she could never tell which.
"What's gotten into you? I normally get
to insult you much more than this. Something happen?"
"Why would anything be wrong? Who doesn't come home looking forward to being insulted by an animal? Everything's just peachy. Why do you ask?"
"Bella."
"What? Nothing's wrong. I just—" She cut herself off from what she'd been about to say. Cat had done nothing to deserve her ire, though his acid tongue did little to help. Taking a deep breath, she let it out, trying to calm herself as she did.
Leaning against the wall, she slid down until she hit the floor. Pulling her legs to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them before resting her head on her knees. Why did everything have to happen to her? Why did everything always go so wrong?
"How did everything get so messed up?"
"It's because of who you are."
"What?" she asked, lifting her head to see Cat sitting inches from her feet. She hadn't even heard him approach.
"It's because of who you are. You care too much about what other people think of you. You should be less concerned with that, and more concerned with what you think of yourself."
"What are you talking about?"
"You wanted to know how everything got messed up. Well, there's your answer. And the worst part is, it's all your fault."
Bella stared at Cat. She hadn't realized she'd spoken aloud, but even if she had, it was rhetorical. She hadn't meant for him to insult her. It wasn't her fault she'd been conned. It wasn't her fault she had a familiar who couldn't understand her. It wasn't her fault William left her.
The thought of him was the last crack in the dam. Before she could stop herself, her eyes welled and everything became blurry. It wasn't her fault. It… it just wasn't.
Pushing herself up, she scrubbed at her eyes with her shirt. She couldn't deal with this, not now. Not today. Storming down the hall, she passed Cat. Fortunately, at least for him, he had enough sense to move out of her way. Entering her room, she slammed the door behind her, shutting out both the world and her familiar. She needed rest. Rest and time to sort through her emotions. Tomorrow would be better. Tomorrow she would fix the things that could be fixed. Tomorrow she would sort everything. But for today, for right now, she just needed sleep. Stretching out on her bed and closing her eyes, she ignored the trail of tears leaking from the corner of her eyes, just as she tried to ignore the rest of the world.
2
Bella missed waking to the smell of coffee. She'd never been a morning person, but over the past six months she'd gotten used to William rising earlier than she did, making coffee and having a hot cup waiting on the table when she pulled herself from her blankets. It had made her apartment feel more like a home than it ever had. Now that he was gone, he'd taken both the smell and the homey feeling with him. Of course, she could use an automatic coffeemaker, but that wasn't the point.
The fight started over nothing. They'd planned a romantic weekend together, a getaway to her family's cabin in the mountains. Work had kept them so busy that they'd had little time to say more than hello and good-bye in passing. In the mountains, they'd have two days of nothing but each other, and she, at least, was looking forward to it. She'd even made arrangements with the leader of a local group of Coyote Shifters, a man who'd been one of her father's friends for years, to have the cabin stocked to the rafters so they could leave as soon as William returned from the job with his uncle.
Then he'd called to let her know he was running late. The job with his uncle was taking a little longer than he'd thought, but rather than being back in the afternoon, he'd get back that evening. He said he was disappointed, so was she, but promised they'd leave first thing in the morning.
On the next call, he said he'd have to meet her there, since there was a problem with the job, something about paperwork. But at least they'd have most of one day and all the next together, right?
The last call was to cancel.
He was sorry, but at least he'd caught her before she made it more than halfway to the mountains, right? She'd been depressed at first, and a little hurt, but all that turned to anger on the trip back. He hadn't even tried to make it back for their escape, had he? What was so important, so earth shattering that he'd blow her off to finish some job with his uncle? The uncle was family, he have understand, right? And what was the job, anyway? He said he couldn't talk about it, but what kind of excuse was that? She was his girlfriend, wasn't she? Not some strange woman on the street. Didn't she deserve a little more respect than that?
She'd still been fuming when he returned and his smile, the same pearl-toothed grin that shot tingles up her spine, had been the spark igniting the powder keg she'd been carrying.
Most of the fight was still a blur, but she remembered one thing. She remembered demanding he choose between her and his uncle. She'd regretted saying it almost the instant the words left her lips, but she was too angry to take them back. He'd looked as though she'd slapped him. His eyes had gone wide and his mouth gaped like a fish’s. He'd tried to calm her down then, and it would have been so easy to just listen to him, but she'd said it and wanted, no, needed to hear him say she was more important. Or maybe just tell her what he did. Or, or… She didn't know, but she needed something.
He'd turned around and walked out, leaving her standing alone in her living room. Even Cat had had enough sense to leave when the fight started. William had taken nothing with him, nor had he called her since. She'd waited. If he called, she'd tell him to come back in a heartbeat, but her phone didn't ring. She could call him if she wanted, but that wasn't the point either. She had done nothing wrong. Well, apart from what she'd said during the fight, that is. She'd tried to make it work, but their schedules were just so opposite. Shouldn't he have tried to make it work too?
Pulling the pillow over her head, she tried to shut out the rays of light streaming in through the bedroom window. Hiding beneath her blankets, she could pretend the world was gone. She could imagine William would come walking in the door at any moment, a stupid grin plastered on his face and a cup of coffee in each hand. She could even try to forget messing up the exchange for the Leonidas disk. But try as she might, she couldn't pretend to smell the coffee.
The buzzing on her wrist almost made Bella jump out of her skin, and she slapped her hand over the silver bracelet with its vibrating orange gemstone to stop the noise. Gar had given the bracelet to her after Mardi Gras. She'd thought it sweet of the hairy man at first, at least until she learned the bracelet wasn't just decoration, but rather a type of pager that buzzed when either he or the Finder wanted to talk.
She sighed and, dropping to a seat on the couch, activated the stone's spell. Silver mists formed and began swirling in the air like a miniature tornado a foot in front of her. As they danced faster, a green dot appeared in the center, pulsing as it expanded, pushing back the mists until it was a little larger than a handheld mirror. The area inside the green circle did not show the other side of the living room, however. Instead, it showed a closeup of Gar's face. In the two days since Bella had last seen him, he'd braided the long hair beneath his pointed nose. She wasn't sure why he'd done it, but for whatever reason, the braids only highlighted rows of very pointed teeth.
"Gar, step back. I can only see your… mustache?" she said, not sure what else to call the hairstyle.
"So, you like it?" he asked, stepping back from the spell's view portal. "I thought I'd try something different and, well, I think this might catch on, don't you?"
"Catch on with who? Are there other ten-foot creatures covered with enough hair to make sheep jealous out there?"
"More than you know, but that's not the point. What do you think?" He twirled a braid between his clawed fingers, exposing even more of his sharp teeth. As he did, Bella couldn't help comparing him to the villain in old black-and-white movies, the one who tied women to railroad tracks and laughed maniacally until the hero arrived.
"It looks, um, nice?" She hadn't intended to ask a question, but she didn't want to tell him how silly it looked either.
"That bad, huh?"
"No. No, really. It looks nice. I can see how much effort you put into it."
"Really? Because I wasn't sure. I like how it frames my teeth, though."
"Your teeth?"
"My best feature, you know. These babies have bitten through, well, b—" Gar's words cut off as his eyes glazed, and he cocked his head as though listening to something far away. Bella recognized the look as what happened when the Finder was speaking. She hadn't seen it on herself, but she imagined her face looked the same way. When the Finder had control of someone's mind, it was like the old saying about lights being on with nobody home.
Bella leaned back to make herself comfortable, but Gar's eyes cleared and he huffed for a moment.
"So, the master," he said, putting emphasis on the last word. The way he said it always made Bella feel less like their relationship was one of employer and employee, and more like owner and property. Sometimes it made her skin crawl. "The master commands you to settle your affairs and attend him on his trip."
"Trip? What trip? And why does he want me to attend him? Don't you do that? I mean, I'll just end up messing everything up again."
"Child, please," Gar said while rolling his eyes. "You know as well as I he makes his own decisions."
"But why me?"
"Because he said so."
"Yes, but why, I mean—"
Gar shrugged his massive shoulders. "You know what I know. Now, are you coming or do you want me to tell him you're indisposed?"
It wasn't a stinging rebuke, but the point was made, and Bella nodded. Besides, going on this trip was wonderful news. It meant she still had a job, for now at least. It also meant getting out of the apartment for a while. And speaking of getting away…
"How long are we going to be away? And where are we going? I need to know what to pack. And Cat? What am I going to do with him? Can you watch him while I'm gone?"