Still smiling like a madwoman, Karyn walked up to Chase, grabbed him by the shirt collar, and whispered something into his ear that made his cheeks flare redder than I’d ever seen. I couldn’t be quite sure, but I think I saw her nibble his ear before stepping past him, slapping his ass, and sauntering out of the room with a suggestive sway of her hips.
“I have a girlfriend,” he said quietly, almost to himself. He turned and called after Karyn. “I have a girlfriend!”
I fetched Chase a strip of gauze and some tape for the wound on his hand, then we followed Karyn out into the living room. If she cared about the fact that I’d blown most of her furniture out the window and created a gaping hole in the side of her building, she didn’t seem inclined to show it. For all intents and purposes, we were allies again. She may very well have already been plotting retribution once the terms of the oath were fulfilled, but for now we had to figure out how to move beyond what had happened in the past. Even if that past was only minutes old.
“The only way we’re going to figure out how to take Montgomery down is if we know what she’s really after,” I said. “There’s no way she’s in this for a few cases of cell phones. What’s she really doing with the tech she’s been stealing from Trang?”
“Quantum encryption,” Karyn said. “I don’t know anything about how it works, but she’s trying to fuse magic with one of those new quantum computers so she can crack supposedly unbreakable encryption.”
“Holy fuck,” Chase said, the FTL drive in his brain spinning up to warp speed. “That’s genius. Breaking quantum cryptography is the new holy grail of hacking. Unlike traditional key exchange security, quantum encryption uses photons instead of numbers to encode or decode messages. It’s super complicated, but the fact that observing a photon alters the properties of that photon means it’s impossible to intercept a secure transmission without being detected. The technology to even create encryption barely exists right now. Unless there’s a radical jump forward in processing power, it could be centuries before someone figures out how to intercept the message, break the encryption, and remain undetected.”
“But with magic…” I supplied.
“Right,” he continued. “If someone knew how to fuse magic and technology, they could bridge that gap. If magic is as flexible as everything I’ve learned about it seems to indicate, it wouldn’t even be all that hard to manage if someone had access to the right equipment.”
“Well, Montgomery has already sourced a local replacement for what she lost in that job at the shipping terminal,” Karyn said. “She wouldn’t tell me where she’s getting it from, but she did let slip it was the last piece she was after. She came here today to tell me she needed her team for another job and that it was my responsibility to take care of you two and what’s left of Trey’s crew.”
“So what’s the big deal with this quantum computing thing?” I asked. “Isn’t it all just theoretical at this point?”
Chase took his phone out of his pocket and did a quick internet search. He showed us the pages of results from a company based out of Vancouver. The very same company Trang Enterprises supplied specialized parts to.
“It’s already being used in everything from international banking to digital security for federal agencies like the CIA and FBI,” Chase explained. “A key to this lock would be worth billions on the open market. If Montgomery doesn’t use it herself, she could sell it to any number of private concerns. Hell, she’s probably already got foreign governments lined up to bid on it. This is bigger than the Allies cracking Enigma during World War Two. Because everyone believes it’s one hundred percent hacker proof, no one would ever think to question the security of it. North Korea could intercept CIA communications all day long without anyone ever being the wiser. This is next level global domination shit, Alex. We absolutely cannot let something so dangerous get out into the world.”
“How do you propose we go after Montgomery then?” Karyn asked. “I’ve seen her research lab. It’s probably one of the most secure buildings in the country.”
“I have an idea, but I don’t think either of you are going to like it,” I said.
Chase glared at me, shaking his head violently. “No. No, no, no. Don’t even say it, Alex.”
“What?” Karyn asked. “What’s this ridiculous plan of yours?”
“There’s only one person I can think of who can help us break into a secure facility undetected,” I said. “I’m going to ask Trang for help.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Karyn pulled into the warehouse parking lot and cut the engine. The sky was a deep purple, the sun already having sunk below the horizon, but I knew not everyone had gone home after the last shift had ended. No doubt Quan was already on his way up to meet us. Whether he’d do so peacefully remained to be seen, but I didn’t see how we had any other choice. We needed help one way or another. Since our goal was to take down Montgomery, it seemed only practical to mollify Trang by getting him to believe we were acting in his best interest.
“We don’t have to go in there with you, do we?” Chase asked from the backseat.
A sliver of light bled from the warehouse when a door cracked open, Quan’s stocky form slipping out to stand with hands clasped in front of him. I couldn’t see his face in the growing darkness, but I could feel his eyes on me. I didn’t doubt he’d crush my windpipe with one hand just for the satisfaction of watching me suffocate, but I was counting on him being too disciplined to even let his annoyance show. I’d messaged Trang as we’d left Karyn’s building, betting that his curiosity would outweigh his desire to have me killed.
“You two might as well stay here,” I said. “If things go to hell, it’ll be easier for me to take care of myself. Besides, I don’t think he’d be too happy to see a witch that as far as he knows is still working for his enemy. And of course there was that whole thing with you driving over Quan.”
Chase sunk down in his seat a little, doing everything in his power to avoid looking in Quan’s direction. “Shit, I forgot about that. You think he’s mad?”
“I’m sure after all this is over you two will laugh about it over beers,” I told him.
“Really?” He perked up a little. Then he saw the look on my face. “Dammit, Alex. This is no time for jokes.”
“Be good, you two,” I said as I got out of the car. “No hanky-panky while I’m gone.”
Chase muttered something I didn’t quite catch. I was too busy trying to catch Karyn’s eye so I could nod meaningfully towards the hood of the car. She got out and stood in front of the car, waiting to hear whatever it was I had to say.
“If anyone but me comes out of that door, get Chase out of here,” I told her.
She simply nodded and returned to the car. While Chase would no doubt have come charging into the warehouse after me if he suspected something had gone wrong, Karyn would be more ruthless in making the decision to bail. I didn’t trust her completely, but one thing I knew I could count on was cold practicality when it came to saving her own skin.
With nowhere to go but into the literal lair of the beast, I walked up to where Quan held the warehouse door open for me. We made our way through the towering rows of storage racks, down the elevator, and into the sub-basement. I declined the offer of an arctic survival suit this time, choosing instead to tap my power for a warming spell. It was energy I’d probably need later, but dealing with beings like Trang was entirely about image and power. There was no pretending that he couldn’t destroy me with little more than a thought, but it would be worth the effort if I could gain even an inch of respect by showing my own self-reliance.
As before, Trang sat behind his desk typing away at the computer. Only this time he didn’t shut it down right away. Instead, he made me stand there burning energy on the warming spell while he typed with the painstaking slowness of a grandpa laying his hands on a keyboard for the first time. I was half tempted to go around the desk to take over typing for him, but the only way that would possibly end was in a swift
disaster involving my charred remains.
“Such marvelous devices,” he said after nearly fifteen minutes had passed. “I once had an army of slaves who would relay messages or carry out orders. Now I can do virtually everything with a few keystrokes. You would not believe how difficult it was to have a dozen live cattle delivered to your home even ten years ago.”
I was tempted to ask about the cattle, but the memory of the raging sharp-fanged dragon I’d seen beneath my mage sight during our last meeting was enough to fill in the gaps. As I waited for him to make the first move, I idly wondered how long that much beef would tide him over.
“Your message claimed you wished to make amends for your transgressions against me,” he said. “Please, enlighten me with your proposal.”
The unspoken threat of my not leaving the room alive if I didn’t present an attractive enough offer hung in the air.
“I’ve learned what Elisha Montgomery is doing with the parts she stole from you,” I said. This earned me a slightly raised eyebrow. “I’m guessing this lies in direct conflict with your own experiments attempting to fuse magic with quantum cryptography, and that you’d be much happier to have her out of the competition once and for all.”
Mr. Trang removed his glasses to wipe them with a small silk square. When he was done, he returned them to his face, adjusted the frames to sit just so on the bridge of his nose. Throughout the process, his gaze never wavered. His shrewd eyes remained fixed on me as though trying to decide whether or not I’d make for a tasty appetizer.
“Allow me to guess,” he said. “You need the help of my young associates in order to penetrate Mrs. Montgomery’s security? In exchange for me showing you and your partner leniency, you’ll see to it that she is permanently removed from the equation. You will also secure all of her research for me.”
That wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but I didn’t see any way of getting Trang off my back unless I went along with it. There was little doubt as to what he meant by removing Montgomery from the equation. He wanted her dead, and nothing short of that would satisfy the bargain. I also hadn’t planned on handing over such valuable and dangerous research to Trang. The whole point of not simply walking away was to prevent potentially world-changing technology from getting out on the international black market. Giving it over to Trang might just put it right back out there from a different seller.
Maybe it was inevitable. Who was to say Trang wouldn’t figure it out on his own soon anyway. The real reason I’d come begging was to get Chase and I free of his vendetta against us while also helping Karyn shake Montgomery’s hold on her. The first priority had to be helping my friends. I mean, for all I knew, creating a magically enhanced quantum computer wasn’t even realistic. Montgomery could spend ten lifetimes trying to fuse magic and physics, never getting the result she wanted. As enthusiastic as Chase was about it being theoretically possible, there was nothing to say anyone would actually crack it in the next hundred years.
“Montgomery dies, you get the machine,” I said.
The words fell heavy from my mouth. I’d never bargained one life for another, but after everything Montgomery had done teaching ungifted like Trey to kill in order to channel power into themselves, her life was forfeit by the laws of the Conclave anyway. All I’d be doing is shortcutting the process.
Mr. Trang smiled. “Very well. If you can rid me of this nuisance, I will gladly consider your transgression absolved. Fail to deliver on your promise, and my vengeance will be swift and merciless. You have until sunrise tomorrow to comply.”
“What?” I sputtered. “Less than ten hours? You’ve gotta be kidding me. No one ever said anything about such a ridiculous timeline.”
“But I just did,” said Trang. “Would you rather I execute you and your two companions right now? I could just as easily have young Mr. Trey perform the task without your assistance.”
“If you thought Trey was capable of taking on Montgomery without help from someone like me, you’d already have sent him in. He’d be slaughtered, and you know it.”
Trang’s eyes narrowed, and I thought I saw the corner of his mouth curl up in the slightest of grins. He was toying with me. He knew I had no choice but to accept his terms. Hell, he knew that I knew he didn’t even really need me. There was every chance Quan could lead Trey and his crew on a raid of Montgomery’s offices and succeed. But why gamble with his own loyal man when he could leverage me instead? Moving against Montgomery directly would escalate their little business feud into an all out war. By using me as a third party pawn, he got what he wanted without having to take on any of the risk.
“Fine,” I said. “Before the sun rises.”
Trang smiled openly now, the expression on his wrinkled old face making me think he’d be just as happy to see me fail simply so he could enjoy the pleasure of tearing the flesh from my bones while Chase and Karyn watched.
Chapter Twenty-Six
By the time I got back to the car, I was too zoned out to do more than slide into the back seat, staring numbly at Karyn’s headrest while Chase peppered me with questions. I only half heard them. I was still trying to come to terms with the reality that I’d accepted a contract to take a hit out on someone. Mages like Elisha Montgomery weren’t the kind of people who gave up easily. Unless I was somehow able to strip her of her power, something I wasn’t even sure was possible, the only way I’d be able to take her off Trang’s radar was to end her life. Just thinking about intentionally taking a life was enough to set my stomach on edge. It was one thing to lash out in self-defense. Using my powers to take Montgomery out would be quite another.
At Chase’s insistence, Karyn started the car and backed out of the spot. She turned out onto the road, sitting at the first stop sign even after it was clear there was no other traffic to prevent her from continuing on.
“Alex, I need to know where we’re going,” she said.
“No idea,” I replied, shaking my head. “I don’t know what to do next.”
“Maybe we should pull over and figure it out?”
“No way,” Chase said quickly. “I’m not spending any more time around that guy than I absolutely need to. Had I known Trang was a dragon, I’d never have gone down there the first time.”
“Fine,” Karyn said. “I’ll take us somewhere we can talk without geek boy freaking out over being eating by a dragon.”
She drove along the busy road that would have taken us back into the city, but instead of turning onto the highway, she turned left towards the riverfront. We followed this ghostly quiet road for a few miles, then she turned the car into a gravel pullout next to a rundown riverside picnic area. The lights of a few houses and low-rise condo units sparkled across the way. There was virtually no traffic behind us, despite being so close to the city, and the only sound was the gentle current of the Fraser River lapping at the shore. Karyn popped the center console, rooted around a minute, then came up with a small plastic bag which elicited a quiet protest from Chase.
“Do you really think that’s a good idea right now?” he said softly enough that I gathered he was trying, and failing, to keep me from overhearing. “Especially with what Alex has been going through?”
Karyn ignored him and got out of the car, so Chase and I did the same. We walked to the waters edge where Chase tried and failed to skip stones while Karyn fiddled with the bag she’d retrieved. I just stood watched the inky black water flowing past, wishing I could stir it up with a magic wand in order to scry my way to the right choices.
A lighter sparked off to my left, and Karyn’s face was briefly illuminated in the flame’s soft glow. She puffed on the joint she’d rolled, a thick cloud of intensely herbacious smoke billowing out into the night sky.
“Hit this,” she said softly. “Take a minute to get your shit together. Then come back to us, okay?”
I accepted the joint without hesitation. It was extremely high quality, and potent as hell if I knew Karyn’s preferences. I drew deep and long, holding t
he smoke in my lungs for several seconds before letting it slip out in a thin stream. A soft haze settled over me before the joint had a chance to make it back into my hands after being passed from Karyn to Chase. It wasn’t the kind of carefree bliss a couple of Oxycontin would give me, but it was something. It let me filter out the ache of my injuries, the lingering sickness of my near-death poisoning, and it almost let me ignore the creeping fear that I wouldn’t be able to do what needed to be done when the time eventually came.
“We have to kill Montgomery,” I said to no one in particular.
Saying it out loud made it all the more real. Despite the pudding-thick mellowness enveloping my body, my heart rate spiked and my stomach churned with a new flare up of nerves. Karyn hardly reacted to the statement. If I had to guess, I’d say she’d have been happy to do it herself. The idea of shifting that responsibility to her had already crossed my mind, but there was an issue of power imbalance. Karyn was wildly talented as far as witches were concerned, but there was no chance she’d survive a confrontation with Montgomery. Mages had a more immediate access to their power that was devastating to anyone who relied on ritual and invocation to do their thing. As our scuffle back at her condo had proven, Karyn could conjure some nasty things given enough time to prepare and perform, but any mage worth her salt would see threats like those coming from a mile away.
Chase, bless him, looked like I’d just told him we had to — well, he looked like I’d just told him we had to kill someone. I doubt the idea of doing such a thing had ever crossed his mind when he’d signed up to work with me, but there it was.
“Why do we have to kill her?” Chase asked, flicking ash from the joint a little too vigorously. The burning tip fell to the sand, and he fumbled to relight it. “I mean, can’t we just get the tech for Trang then destroy her lab or something?”
I shook my head. “Those of us who use magic fall outside the laws of ungifted. How hard do you think it’d be for me to escape from handcuffs or from the back of a police cruiser? Even if they did get me into a cell, how long do you think it’d take me to get out? Montgomery’s far more powerful than I am. Even if we did manage to debilitate her somehow, she’d only come back stronger and hellbent on revenge.”
Black Market (Black Records Book 2) Page 24