by A. L. Tyler
But not me. Because of my synesthesia, I could hear magic.
Whatever Millie was playing at, she’d gone to some trouble to hide her tracks.
“Can I show you to the vault?” Alice asked.
I nodded, tossing my empty cup into a nearby waste basket. I followed her back out into the hall.
“So all of this really doesn’t bother you?” I asked. “The weird masks? The posters?”
Alice stopped and turned back to me, a mischievous glint in her eye and she checked the hall for eavesdroppers.
“I find it all a little creepy,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “But you kind of get used to it after a while, you know? Now it just feels like home.” Her smiled brightened. “And Steve just loves this stuff.”
“Yeah, I get that,” I said.
I kept a job at the Fallvale Police Department in the evidence room, but lately it had become more of a light cover for my presence than an actual job. I worked in a room filled with drugs, weapons, confiscated property, and awful stories. But somehow, one found a way to keep going amidst the destructive forces in the universe.
I was never one for romance, but I couldn’t help finding Alice and her nervous affections adorable. Adorable, and entirely inappropriate for the work environment. “So, Steve is your boss?”
“Hmm?” Alice was taken off guard by the question. “Oh. No. Mrs. Garland, the bank manager, is my boss. Steve is just the owner.”
We walked past an evil doll and a murderous scarecrow. Alice stopped, giggling a little, next to a mask of a vampire.
“This one always freaks me out,” she said. She raised her hands and mimicked the vampire’s expression, hissing a little before falling back into her laugh.
I cocked an eyebrow. If she only knew. “Totally. Kind of makes me wonder, if this is what his work looks like...”
“Oh, his house? The outside looks normal, but I’ve never been inside,” Alice said.
I tried not to act too weirded out. I cocked my head. “You’ve seen the outside of Steve’s house?”
Alice’s expression changed. “Well, yeah. There was this thing, and... he went on... it’s not... Never mind.”
She hurried off. I hurried behind her. At the top of a long flight of stairs, she stopped in front of me, standing just a little too close.
“The boxes and the vault are right down there.” Her eyes were wide and staring. “Please don’t tell Steve I said those things about his house.”
“We’re cool, Alice.” I smiled gently. “Thank you for the water.”
I walked down the stairs, keeping quiet so that I didn’t interrupt the conversation.
“...Two keys. Anne Garland, the manager has one, and Wes has the other. You need both to get in.”
“Ma’am.” A security guard stepped in front of me as I approached the open door. He was an older man, but still in great shape. His well-combed hair and flawless smile made him the perfect combination of muscle and customer service. “Can I help you?”
“Excuse me.” Nick looked over. “Sorry. Wes, this is my partner, Agent Jane Dodge.”
Thank gods he threw in a first name. I kept forgetting what it was. I shook Wes’s hand before entering the vault.
I’d never actually been inside a bank vault before. The deposit boxes that lined the walls were nothing to write home about.
I tried to act like I wasn’t listening carefully to the sneaky tune of a displacement enchantment, scanning for more magic, as Steve watched us expectantly. “Did anyone dust for prints?”
“No,” Steve said. “They took our statements, but initially, we thought everything had been returned. By the time our audit showed something missing, people had been in and out of here. The officers I spoke with said prints would be pointless.”
I nodded. He was right. “I see.”
And I heard. Millie had used a signature transporter spell mixed with a ghosting enchantment to create the effect of walking through a wall. In reality, she was blipping herself to the other side at the last moment. Sticking her hands through the vaults was something else, though.
She was using a displacement spell and something like a banishment charm. The two mingled like battling violins in my ears—fancy, but almost too frantic. I could almost hear the strings shredding as they tore out the melody, and I knew whatever she was doing was unstable.
The truth dawned on me in a grand, grotesque flourish. She was shifting parts of herself—her hands and arms—into another dimension to phase through the solid walls. She was risking her life to steal, and with the pain that spell would cause, she had to know it.
Nick caught my eye. I gave him a slight nod, and he smiled as he turned back to Steve.
“Mr. Frazier, Wes, thank you. I think we have everything we need.”
My eyes darted around the vault again, narrowing as I tried to piece together the scene. Millie Corm had robbed this place. She’d wanted to make sure that she was seen, and that meant that she probably wanted someone in law enforcement to notice her.
We’d both been with the same dangerous man. For both of us to end up in the same small town was more coincidence than I could swallow, but it did narrow down her possible motives. She wanted me to know she was around.
Maybe she was waving hello. Maybe she was mocking me.
Or, maybe she was back for revenge.
Chapter 2
“SECRETARY HAVE ANYTHING to add?” Nick straightened his coat collar and glared up at the sun.
I’d never asked, but his disdain for being out during daylight hours made me wonder if the sun was still painful to him.
“Memory spell,” I said. “Millie covered her bases on this one.”
Nick popped open the passenger side door for me, and I gave him a look and a sigh as he waited. He knew I didn’t like him opening doors for me. He insisted it was out of basic human decency.
He hadn’t allowed me the opportunity to open any doors for him, though.
I got in and he shut it behind me. He was still smirking when he got into the driver’s side of his ancient blue Chevelle. He gave me a look, waiting for the discussion we had every time he opened a door.
I passed on the discussion. He was beginning to enjoy it too much.
“That’s all you got?” he finally asked. He had a small stack of papers in his hand; copies that Steve had provided on the contents and owner of the robbed deposit box.
I raised an eyebrow. “That, and she has a crush on her boss that she’s probably taken to some unhealthy levels.”
Nick continued to stare at me in question.
“She’s driven by his house. Probably more than once.”
Nick scoffed. He dug in his pocket for the keys. “That’s unhealthy?”
“It’s stalking.”
“Everyone gathers information on someone they’re romantically interested in. That’s normal human behavior.”
“You stalk people for a living,” I nodded. “Forgive me if I feel your opinion on this is skewed.”
He shrugged. “Perhaps. You’re identifying our suspect as Millie Corm?”
“No trace of any spells or enchantments that might have disguised someone to look like her, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said. “Not that I’m infallible. This isn’t exactly how I’ve used my skills in the past.”
“It’s good enough for me. She made a point of looking directly at that camera.”
I nodded. I knew what he was going to ask me next.
“Do you think Alex Mordley is here with her?”
I shook my head and stared out the window. Alex was the only connection between me and Millie. She’d been his girlfriend for two years before he met me. Years ago, when I needed Alex’s help stealing an ancient store of magic held by the Bleak, I’d vied for his attention a little too hard.
His ensuing split with Millie gave me what I wanted, but it was a double-edged sword. I wanted a partnership. A friendship, at the most.
Alex wanted more. I strung him along un
til I had what I wanted, and I knew even while I was doing it that I was playing with fire.
If Alex ever found me, he would try to kill me. Players don’t like to be played.
“I honestly can’t imagine the two of them getting back together, but I don’t know. She made a point of looking at that camera, and yeah, that is something he would do. Give me a hint that he’s coming for me. But the robbery... That’s just something else. Why would she do that? What does it say about the necklace?”
“It’s a twenty carat ruby pendant on a diamond tennis necklace. Vintage style.” Nick stared at me for another moment, trying to gauge my emotional state. He was trying to read me. To see if I was lying to him or hiding something. My mind raced as I tried to think of any spell work that would require a stone that large. “The owner of the box is George Roost.”
My thoughts ground to a halt somewhere between an exotic resurrection and a sketchy fertility spell. “George Roost?”
Now Nick was really watching me. “You know him?”
“Yeah. He was attached to Millie’s sister for a while.”
“Attached?” Nick had his interrogation face on, and it made me a little antsy. There are certain traits about vampires that become much more evident when they’re stalking someone.
He made me uneasy and I shifted in my seat. Nick sat up a little straighter. He relaxed his posture, and very deliberately changed his expression.
“Marcus brought him up a few times. Alex didn’t like to talk about George, but then he didn’t like to talk about Millie, either. Or Mabe. Mabe was the sister. She’s dead.”
Nick kept his voice level. “Mabe and George Roost were romantically involved?”
“No one ever directly said that, but yes, I think so,” I said. I furrowed my brow and shook my head. “That’s a hell of coincidence. You’re telling me George Roost lives around here? He just happens to live where I was hiding?”
“He lives two states away now, but the account was opened five years ago. The Roosts are well known for keeping their wealth and heirlooms dispersed to deter thieves looking for a big score. It’s just as likely she picked the bank here because of you.” Nick made a noise halfway between a groan and a growl as he tossed the papers about the necklace into the back seat. He ran a hand over his face. “Well, this is fantastic. We’re barely out of that mess with the hunters and already onto a textbook bank heist committed by one of the best cat burglars the Bleak has ever known. And she didn’t even steal anything worth stealing.”
“Fifty bucks and a necklace,” I said. “And it sounds like a hell of a necklace.”
“A necklace in a box with a slew of other necklaces and jewelry. She didn’t take any of those, and believe me, they’re just as... excessive. Whatever that necklace is worth, it can’t be worth more than everything she returned.”
He paused, shaking his head before he turned the ignition.
I cocked an eyebrow. “You have a bad feeling about this one?”
“Yes. I do.” He eyed me. “People who steal money are easy. They’re greedy. People who steal anything else have been hurt. They want something much more complicated.”
I knew what he was hinting at. I had stolen magic while planning to free my father, who the Bleak had wrongfully imprisoned. I’d turned myself into a weapon in the process and kicked a hornet’s nest of criminals. I didn’t care if I killed myself freeing him, as long I hurt the Bleak...
But then I met Nick. I saw him mourn a friend, and I realized that while I was focused on my singular goal, good people were dying. And I could stop it.
Nick cleared his throat. “People like that are dangerous.”
He started to drive. I twisted around and made a small gesture at the folder in the backseat. A light chirp—like the sound of someone locking their car–rang in my ears and the folder flew into my palm.
I read what the bank had on George Roost. Nick was right. George kept a lot of jewelry, loose stones, bonds, and deeds, in that safety deposit box. And even if none of the other jewelry had been as valuable as that necklace, surely the cash she had stolen would have been worth keeping.
No, there was something special about this necklace.
I narrowed my eyes. “And fifty bucks. Why steal fifty bucks?”
“Why turn to a life of crime? Why return everything else you’ve stolen after you’re free and on the loose? You can ask her when we find her.”
My palms were starting to get heavy. I tried to discreetly stretch my fingers. I wasn’t discreet enough.
Nick glanced at me uncertainly. “How are you doing with that, Driftwood?”
I cringed. I still didn’t like him asking me about my condition. But we were on the same side now, so I tried to take it at face value. “I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
“I’m calling bull on that.” Nick glared at me. “You said you were going to accept treatment.”
I had to grit my teeth to keep from snapping at him. He made it sound like “treatment” was as easy as popping a couple of pills every night.
“I am,” I said with irritation. I shook my head. “I was. I told you, as long as I keep up with breaking enough artifacts I’m fine.”
“You said you were going to start yesterday.”
“And then Millie Corm robbed a bank. And then I got a visit from the Bleak.” I glared at him. “I’ve been a little busy.”
“I’ve been a little busy,” Nick corrected. “I gave you Angel’s number. You haven’t called her yet.”
“Since yesterday?” I practically laughed. “No, I haven’t called her yet.”
“You’ve got a phone. Call her now.”
“No. I’m busy. And now I’m pissed.”
“At least you’re being honest about something,” Nick said testily.
The silence was almost thicker than the tension. Nick stared straight out the windshield. I glared at the passing scenery, and then down at my hands. I flexed them again before cursing under my breath and rolling down the window.
“Do not burn my upholstery.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, whatever. Freaking deathtrap on wheels. Just letting off some steam.”
Literally. Steam and ice crystals erupted from my hand as I waved it out the window. It wasn’t nearly the relief that it had once been, but it would have to do.
For now.
Chapter 3
WE DIDN’T TALK THE whole elevator ride up to Nick’s apartment. I stretched and flexed my fingers as clouds of cold mist formed around them. Nick stared straight ahead, ignoring the elephant in the room.
The familiar sound of his keys landing on a hook by the door, followed by him stripping off his jacket and work essentials, welcomed me back as I shuffled down the hall to the bath.
I filled the tub and sank in. The ancient magic seeped out in fits and spurts, alternatively making boiling bubbles and frozen filaments around me.
My bag was in the room across the hall, slung across the foot of the bed I’d occupied since the incident with the hunters. I still had my own apartment, but neither Nick nor I was fond of living alone at the moment.
Nick liked company. Every night when I closed my eyes, I still saw the men that I had killed. And even though it had been done in self-defense, it was a hard pill to swallow.
Nick was up at all hours, coming and going for various cases. When my day job didn’t interfere, I went with him. When my day job did interfere, but he wanted me anyway, I found a way to make it happen.
It was easier now that Marge was in on my second life.
It was awkward at times, because Nick didn’t really respect my sleep schedule or regular need to eat. His kitchen was usually empty except for the donated blood he got from I-didn’t-want-to-know-where. My food waste was creating smells in his living space that he politely never commented on, but the way he eyed the trash kept me taking it out at regular intervals.
I meditated in the mornings. He read in the evenings. Even stepping on each other’s toes, we’d found a good
balance.
That was all ending, though.
A had inherited the house of one of the victims of our last case, and we’d set a date. The date was today.
Farrow’s house. The house he’d left to Robert, who, in his short term as owner, had left it to me.
I really didn’t want to start spending my free hours going through the possessions of a dead artifacts and counterfeits dealer. It had to be done, though, and Nick kept telling me it would be good for my mana burn—lots that needed breaking in that house.
“She won’t care. She’s been avoiding you, and it needs to end.” Nick appeared in the open bathroom door. “Jette. This is Angel.”
A woman was barely visible at the edge of the door frame. “You just walk in on her while she’s in the tub? What is wrong with you? I know your mother raised you better than...” Angel glanced at me, and her deep brown eyes widened in surprise. “You bathe with your clothes on?”
“Yeah,” I said dully. “My partner has a habit of walking in on me.”
“Smart ass,” Nick whispered under his breath. “It’s her crutch for her mana burn. She purges it into the water. We need to talk about cases, and it can’t always wait.”
Angel cocked an eyebrow. She shook out a mane of dark curls before giving Nick the side eye. “I’d like to say this is the weirdest introduction I’ve ever had in this apartment, but you know who you hang out with. Jette, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Angel Wilson. Nick told me you want to learn some management strategies for your medical condition.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Nick was pushing me, and it was really hard not to push back. “Yes. I’m sure that’s what Nick has told you.”
“You don’t want it?” Angel stood a little straighter.
I stood up. My clothes dripped a waterfall back into the tub as I used a toe to pull the drain. Nick offered a hand as I stepped out and wrapped myself in a towel. He gave me a stern look.