Hired Luck

by Mel Todd

  Huh. Okay, maybe I can get used to this.

  I sat there waiting, but nothing happened. A strange light feeling filled my mind and I headed to the bathroom, not excited about today, but maybe all of this wouldn't be as bad as I thought. I made sure to stay quiet as Marisol was asleep on the futon. She said she'd head back to Rockway tonight, after she made sure I was okay. She wanted to leave me some ideas about careers and go get me an emergence present. I still didn't know how I felt about it, but her excitement made it so I couldn't refuse the offer.

  I pulled out my best jeans. New ones I'd bought that first weekend down here, and a light tank top and a loose shirt. While I had a dress, this really was the nicest of clothes I had. And, of course, my tennis shoes. Other than sandals and work boots they were my only other shoes. I made my coffee and headed out, phone in my pocket, filled coffee mug in my hand.

  I reached the parking lot and looked around. The air was still cool, but already I could sense the humidity waiting to mug me. I sipped my coffee, rolling the taste around in my mouth. I was playing with adding spices to the grounds, but I still thought the flavor was better when roasted with them. Oh well, something to consider.

  A black sedan came into the parking lot at seven-thirty on the dot, with tinted windows and nothing to give it any personality. I just sat and watched it. I wasn't happy about any of this, but even I could see there might be some long-term benefits. Short term I was annoyed and at this point I didn't see how my life could get any more complicated.

  It only took three minutes before the driver's side door flew open and Alixant half stood out of the door. "Well, aren't you going to get in the car?"

  "Oh. Hi. Sorry. Didn't know it was you. Not like I have any way to know what car is yours," I said as I slowly rose and stretched a bit, then moved his way.

  "And you didn't come over to look?" he demanded, glaring at me.

  "I don't know what they teach people where you come from, but around here we don't approach strange cars. Especially ones with tinted windows." I'd finally meandered over to the passenger side and he pulled off his sunglasses and stared at me.

  "Go change." His voice was flat, and I blinked and glanced down at what I was wearing, then back up to him in his suit.

  "Into what?"

  "A suit, professional wear. You're acting on behalf of the FBI, on behalf of my division, and I expect you to look respectable."

  That caused me to bristle. I looked decent. Maybe not like an agent or anything, but I didn't look like riff-raff.

  I forced a nonchalant shrug. Something told me if I let him start running roughshod over me now, I'd set a very bad precedent, and he'd already arrested me once. "I'm afraid this is what you get."

  "You will go and put on more suitable clothing," he almost roared.

  "And that would be defined as?"

  "A suit, or at the least black slacks and a blouse."

  I gave him a long look. I'd dumped all my slacks the weekend we'd moved along with most of my badly worn clothes. The only blouse I owned was the one Jo had transformed and Atlanta would freeze in July before I wore that for him.

  "Okay." I turned and started walking away from him towards the bus stop. I counted in my head. I made it to eight.

  "Where in the hell are you going?" He slammed the door to his car as he stormed after me.

  "Well, if you want me wearing something as tacky as that," I ran a dismissive look up and down his very expensive and very nice suit, "I need to go shopping."

  "Argh," he ground out, actually clenching his hair. I stared at him, cataloging everything. He had dashing dark looks that would have set most women I'd known into raptures of delight. His features were even, and his body seemed to meet the standards most women talked about. To me, he just represented frustration and the shattering of dreams. He took a deep breath and let his hands drop, staring at me. After another moment he closed his eyes, breathing in and out. I watched him, sipping my coffee.

  I'd thought about this in the shower. There really wasn't anything they could do to me. They couldn't fire me or anything for being a pain in the ass and I refused to lose who I was just because I'd become a mage. They would take me as I was, and I enjoyed having the money to buy clothes I liked, as opposed to clothes I tolerated. When they got me an actual employment contract maybe I'd get a suit, but overall, I preferred my jeans. They made me feel comfortable and safe.

  "We started out on the wrong foot. Let's get past that. I need you. I need you badly enough that I don't care if you wear a bikini and feathers. You're the only Spirit Merlin in the area and even better, you know the South. I'm only down here for this case, and this place is worse than being in another country. I need your help. We still don't know for sure what this idiot is trying to do but I'm worried that it's going to get worse if we don't stop him."

  "Or her," I said, mostly to be a pain in the ass.

  He froze. "You think the perp is female?"

  I sighed and headed towards him and the car. That speech was probably the closest I'd get to an apology. "I don't think anything but assuming the person is male is short-sighted, don't you think?"

  He looked thoughtful as I slid into the car. It was clean, almost new smelling, and I looked around. Outside of a fancy dash, it just seemed to be a regular car.

  "Were you expecting lots of sci-fi gadgets?" he asked, his voice dry as he buckled in.

  "Yes, but I guess the government is too cheap to spring for them." I buckled also, my mug firmly in my hand.

  "Tell me everything you know about the murders." It wasn't a question, but a demand and I wanted to sigh. I knew, absolutely knew, that every statement I'd given had been uploaded into the system, and if he didn't know how to get them, he didn't deserve this job. Which meant he'd probably read them ten times and wanted me to spontaneously come up with some glaring clue I never noticed before.

  I'll never make it through today. I'm already tired of him and it hasn't even been thirty minutes.

  "Assuming you're not a moron, I figure you've already read everything I've said multiple times. So why don't we start with what questions you think I didn't answer." I took a drink to stop myself from saying anything more. This would be hard enough.

  He didn't look at me but I saw his hands clench on the steering wheel. I knew I was playing with fire, but I got a perverse sense of enjoyment out of antagonizing him. The best part was everything I said was true.

  "Fine. What drew you there?"

  "First or second scene?" I countered. He needed to be very, very specific. "And if you say second, I'll quit talking."

  That glare almost heated up my coffee. I looked out the window. We were headed away from downtown, so a new area to me. The idea of being able to drive without worrying about something going haywire was an idea I still played with. I'd give it six months first, make sure the disasters were really over.

  "The first," he ground out. And I might have heard him grind his teeth. If he billed me for dental costs, I wasn't paying.

  "As I said in my reports, nothing. I was learning the area. We'd just moved here, and I was trying to get a feel for the local area."

  "That area is more than ten blocks from your apartment."

  I shot him a glance then looked back out the window. I didn't want to miss scenery or deal with his glares. I didn't know where he was going with this line of questioning.

  "And?"

  "And college students don't walk, they drive everywhere. Why were you walking in that area?" He said it the same way I would have said Marisol is an excellent cook. An immutable fact of existence. Too bad he was incorrect.

  "Well, since I don't have a car and I wanted to know what was in the area, I walked. Which means maybe you should stop making assumptions."

  I didn't look at him but I heard his teeth grinding. I drank coffee so I wouldn't laugh.

  We rode in silence, and I was fine with that, but no good things last forever. "Did you smell anything odd?"

  Hmm… interest
ing question. Did I?

  I closed my eyes and thought back but other than blood and trash and urine, nothing jumped out at me.

  "Not that registered. Blood, yes. But otherwise it was the same stuff, trash and city smells."

  "What about your magic sense, what did you sense?" he demanded.

  This time my attempt to be good failed and I turned to stare at him. "Really? If you are this stupid, how in the world are you in charge of this? Until yesterday, I didn't know I was a mage. I didn't know there was such a thing as magic sense and I can guarantee you that I didn't know how to use it." He tried to interrupt me, but I kept right on talking. "If you're asking, did I sense or feel something I couldn't explain, the answer is no. The only thing that stands out to me is the look of pain on that girl's face. Now are you through asking stupid questions?" That last part came out a bit snappish.

  Alixant yanked the wheel, pulling into a parking lot that had quite a few cars in it for a Saturday. He slammed on the brakes, throwing me forward and I sloshed out coffee, which was impressive given the coffee mug I had and how little was in it.

  "I will have you up on charges if you don't cooperate and give your all in this investigation. That means not being obstinate and helping us find the killer."

  "I don't KNOW ANYTHING!" I shouted the words and felt my skin tingle—this time I recognized it for what it was, magic. My magic. I'd always pushed it down and tried to ignore it but this time I embraced it, pulling it towards me like the last chocolate pastry. I had no idea what I was doing but my anger took over, doing things by instinct. This time I could almost see it, the Murphy's Curse settling around him and his car, the strands of probability twisting and shattering, and the offering of the top layer of skin easily paid.

  Between one breath and the next, all the alarms on the dash went off, two tires ruptured with enough force I was glad he'd stopped, his watch fell off his arm, smoke started to rise from his pocket and all the buttons on his suit fell off.

  I looked at all of this and then at the fine powder of dust on my arms. "Well, that was different. Now, if I could do that on purpose and not only when I'm ready to beat someone to death…"

  The wave must have shocked him because he looked around, sniffed, and reached down, pulling a phone out of his pocket that was leaking smoke.

  He looked at me, then back at the car and took a long breath, holding it in at each point. I didn't know if what I did was allowed or not, but I didn't care. Sitting in jail would be better than dealing with this jerk.

  "I think…" He paused and looked around and heaved a sigh. "I suspect I deserved that. Treating you like a suspect is not going to work."

  "Not if you want me to actually work with you. Otherwise, I'm just going to sit in a corner and read." I didn't mention that would drive me crazy. Some things I wasn't about to tell anyone.

  "I'll try, but don't expect a miracle. That isn't who I am." He pushed open the door and climbed out.

  I followed, but this time I tried to see if the magic from what I'd done was visible. I didn't see anything, though my head itched.

  Huh, all this time that must have been offerings.

  I bent over and scratched my head, then dusted off my arms.

  "Is it still around, the magic? I mean the Murphy's thing. I never really did anything active before. At least not consciously."

  He glanced at the car and shook his head. "No, but I'm not driving it again until a mechanic has gone over it with a fine-tooth comb." He turned and started walking. We were in a quiet office complex off Lennox, but there were a lot of cars, all with government tags.

  I followed, but said nothing, guilt starting to set in about the magic lash-out.

  "I've never had to deal with anyone using magic on an instinctual and emotional level. Most mages are in college learning the basics before they ever have a chance to more than play with it. You'll need to try to break that habit. It will either get you killed or arrested, because you did hurt something. I do find it interesting that I didn't get hurt."

  I stumbled to a halt and must have made a sound because he turned and looked at me.

  "Are you okay? Your face is pale, and you look like you might throw up."

  Throwing up sounded like a very good idea.

  "Did I? I mean my magic…" I swallowed, coffee churning in my stomach. "Did I cause the deaths of the people I stumbled across?"

  Chapter 19

  To a large extent, magic is like the stories told and is intent-centered. While that mostly is verified via anecdotal evidence, it seems to hold. The few deaths caused by emergence, Murphy's Curse, or even young mages playing with their abilities is less than what any statistics would predict. ~ Magic Explained

  He didn't even look back at me, just waved at his outfit. "If you could have killed me with that, I would be dead, not just looking like a hobo, though I probably should be glad I wasn't eating anything at the time—I might have choked. But no, Murphy's Curse doesn't work like that, though I suppose if you directed it, maybe. I think it more worked to give you reasons to walk towards the victims you found. If you've had it up for a while, weird things might happen to guide you to them. However, you were not the cause of their fate. You would probably make a fascinating case study if anyone had realized what you were doing before it was dismissed."

  So much I didn't know. His calm dismissal of my worries and his vague apology went a long way to soothing my ruffled feelings, but at the same time I still fought my own resentment.

  Waste of energy. Like caring about the Munroes. Accept it, adapt, move on. Becoming Ronin really isn't a good option.

  The thought made me laugh at myself. Me, as a Ronin? That would be a failure before it even started. I followed, looking around the area. It looked like a typical office complex. Wherever I had thought he was taking me, this wasn't it.

  He walked into a building, pulling out a badge and waving it at the card reader.

  "This place only has basic security. I'll get you a badge on Monday but for now I want to explain why I need you so badly and what we know." He talked as he walked, assuming I followed, and I did. Still disappointed. It looked like an average office building. I'd been in enough buildings the few weeks of working on the ambulance, both here and in Rockway, to recognize the blandness. What I'd seen convinced me I never wanted to work in one, yet here I was. My spirit shrank down even more. How did I get myself into these messes?

  He went through one more sealed door and stepped into a large area that had a long white counter and drawers against the left wall from the door with a bunch of fancy machines on it. Five cubicles were on the wall straight ahead from us, and to the left were rolling white boards, the hugest computer screen I'd ever seen and a conference table with six chairs and power outlets everywhere.

  The expensive electronics everywhere gave me hives. If I fried one of these, they'd never forgive me.

  "Come on. We don't have any more time to waste. I can feel the killer getting ready for the next attempt."

  I swallowed and followed him in, feeling more and more out of place with every step.

  One of the two agents who had arrested me, the one with an accent that sounded like the ones I'd heard on TV when talking to people in New York, stuck his head out and blinked.

  "Merlin, Steven. What happened to you?" The accent was there, and it brought the other agents out. The other agent looked way too fit to be real with his blond hair and dark blue eyes; he had to have won the genetic lottery.

  Alixant glanced down at himself and I paid attention to what he focused on. Mostly I had avoided looking at him. I didn't want to make him think I cared, but even I blinked when I really looked.

  His jacket looked like half the threads had snapped, the buttons were gone, his belt had broken, his shoes were frayed, his tie had shredded at the tie bar, and his shirt collar was all wonky.

  "Oops." I wasn't that sorry but still, he looked ridiculous. Others had stuck their heads out of their cubicles and they all gaped at h
im.

  He heaved a sigh and pulled the jacket off. It almost fell apart in his hands. "Take this as a lesson to not get a Spirit merlin truly pissed off at you." His voice had a wry tone to it, so at least I didn't think he was about to try and kill me. "I liked this jacket," he muttered as he dropped it on the table. "Okay, listen up—this is Cori Munroe. She is officially drafted and while she can't start her mandatory college until next semester, we need her now. Here is where we stand on everything." He turned and headed to the board, looking rumpled and vaguely wrong.

  "Umm, and who are these people?" I didn't even try to not be snide, looking at the two familiar strangers and the one unfamiliar one.

  He groaned and turned around and looked at all of us, treating social niceties an obvious waste of time. "They have badges. Read them." I put one hand on my hip and stared at him. I hated first days anywhere and this was already the worst first day ever. I didn't really think I could make it worse.

  "Fine. Niall McLachan, FBI Agent, he's my evidence person. An Earth archmage. He is excellent at seeing what isn't obvious or doesn't match or even what has been added to the scene." Niall looked at me his eyes lingering on my temple.

  My instinctive reaction was to wipe, thinking something was stuck there, but the simple act of creasing my brows reminded me of what he was staring at.

  "Not a mage, huh? What were you trying? To go Ronin, learn without oversight and strike out on your own?" The sneer in his voice could have been used as a weapon and I glared at him.

  "I didn't know I was a mage but I did know you were a jerk. Nice to know I was right about you," I snapped back. This whole situation would never work.

  "Chill, Niall." The other guy, the one with blue eyes, crew-cut blond hair, and a smile that I suspected should make me swoon. He stepped forward, holding out his hand. Before he could say anything else, Alixant spoke.