by RJ Blain
“Technically, you can. Do you really want to?”
“To avoid Donners, yes. I do. I really do. Let me quit.”
“Donners is one of the few agents qualified to take on Euthal’s case, Olivia.”
“We could dump this entire case on his lap. That sounds like a good idea to me. You can dump the case on his lap, and I’ll run away. Come on, sir. Anyone but him.”
“Do I need to put you in timeout?”
“A warlock, sir. You want me to face off against a warlock. Donners and a warlock should classify as cruel and unusual punishment. Nobody wants that job.”
“You’re one of his success stories. Cut him some slack.”
“Once he’s done with me, he’ll go straight for my parents.”
My boss chuckled. “There’s a reason your parents are fond of him.”
Yep, Donners must have gotten to my boss, too. Why did everyone like the old man? He hovered, and the only people I wanted hovering were my quad members, Eddy, or my parents. “That aside, I have an allergy to warlocks.”
“We all do, but unfortunately, you’re one of the few in our jurisdiction who might be able to take on a warlock with a hope of success. While you probably won’t be able to take him out on your own, you should be able to keep him busy until a team can arrive. We’ve learned just because a warlock can do anything doesn’t mean he can do everything well. Unless he’s mastered every counter against water elementalists, you stand a good chance against him. You’re also relatively resilient against drainer attacks. I think you’ll be fine.”
I groaned. “So, not only do I have to deal with Donners, but I’m the bait?”
“Yes.”
Well, my boss was honest. “Why are warlocks all male, anyway? Let’s start with that. Are there female warlocks?”
“From where I sit, women don’t need to be warlocks. They can do anything they want already. It’s that whole beware of a woman scorned thing. Women don’t need access to all magical powers to be frightening, dangerous entities.”
I laughed. “Eddy recently threatened to rip out all your scales again, didn’t she?”
Eddy liked keeping her brother in line, and she wasn’t against goading him into transforming and tearing out chunks of his hide on a bad day.
“It’s like you’re a mind reader on top of being a water elementalist.”
“But, being serious. Why only men?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows. Warlocks are destructive by nature, and women are typically nurturing. Maybe women can become warlocks, but right now? Until one shows up, I think it does have something to do with women being the main givers of new life. Warlocks destroy, and that’s all they do.”
“Just because all known warlocks are menaces to society doesn’t mean they’re all menaces to society.”
“However true that may be, until I meet one that isn’t a complete dick out to destroy the world, I’ll stick with being safe rather than very sorry. Are you going to be able to handle this case, Olivia?”
I sighed. “I’ll have to. But does it really have to be Donners?”
“Sorry, Olivia. I’ll tell you what. Head on home early, and I’ll take care of the footwork on Euthal. If you’re lucky, you’ll miss Donners. Just send me the critical intel, and I’ll have a state-wide alert put out on him and have his picture broadcasted. With luck, Euthal will go into hiding for a while as a result.”
“Just for the record, Donners will refuse to return to Washington until he sees me.”
“You’re probably right, but this way, I can offer you the illusion of escape—and a chance to get some sleep before having to deal with him.”
“All right. I’m emailing you and going home. I might even go do some things before I go home. I might even go find a bar so I can get through tonight in a drunken haze.”
“You don’t like the taste of alcohol, Olivia. Nice try.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
My boss laughed. “Immensely. Donners could put in word that you should get a scanner of your very own. He’ll even play ball if you ask him.”
“Foul beast!”
My boss laughed. “Go ahead and run away, Olivia. I’ll tell your old man you’re hiding from Donners.”
“My old man will join the hunt. He’s an asshole like that.”
“You could just accept you’ll be dealing with Donners and save yourself the hassle of running away.”
“While you’re probably right, I might be moving. I’m going to visit where I might be moving to. I also feel a need to warn you my parents like the poor detective saddled with me. My father listened when Detective Davis waxed eloquent about wanting a police dog.”
There was a brief moment of silence before my boss snickered. “Has your mother told you your wedding date yet?”
“Not yet, but I’m concerned. If she has her way, I won’t be able to taunt Dad’s cops.”
“I recommend that you use Donners to your benefit. He’ll fight with your old man for fun.”
“That’s not a bad idea. If he’s busy fighting with my old man, I’ll only invest the minimum amount of effort in running away. That’s as far as I’m willing to compromise right now. I’ll need Euthal’s file.”
“I’ll ask Donners to give you everything he has. Go unwind, and keep an eye out. This guy can be unpredictable. He doesn’t usually go after law enforcement, but that doesn’t mean he won’t. You just made a mess of his plans.”
“And we don’t even know what his plans are yet,” I complained.
“Warlocks tend to be more than a little crazy. Between you and me, I think you’re right that there might be a few good warlocks out there, but they’re not crazy, so they stay hidden. Most of them are lunatics, and I don’t mean the fun kind.”
I needed the fun kind of lunatic in my life, and he either needed to be the kind I took home to Mom or, once we were done entertaining each other, disappeared never to be seen again. Sighing, I flicked a nail at my keyboard. “What’s his overall power level?”
“The only advantage he has is his lack of restrictions. He has just enough power to annoy us, but he won’t be flipping any skyscrapers on you.”
I winced at the mention of the extra-crazy warlock who’d killed himself and hundreds of others during a firefight with police near the end of World War III. The video of the incident made the rounds and served one purpose: to remind people of what warlocks could do.
The wise feared and hated them. I did, too. I also pitied them. Most believed the only good warlock was a dead warlock. In the case of Dimitri Damascus Euthal, I agreed.
“Hey, boss?”
“What?”
“If I catch this guy in an alley and kill him, what charges would I face?”
“You’d face his ten million dollar bounty paid into your bank account, and it’s untaxed.”
I whistled. “I could buy a house and retire on that.”
“Yes, you could.” My boss sighed. “Please don’t. Retire, that is.”
“You’re about to tell me about the previous supervisors again, aren’t you?”
“Only if I think you’ll actually quit.”
“Good to know. I’m going home now. I’m not coming in tomorrow unless I get actual evidence or solid information on this Euthal guy. I’m going to the library, and you’re going to pay me to go to the library.”
“Looking into Hypnos?”
“It seems my Greek mythology is rusty, and I might need to learn about my horoscope. Or astrology. Whatever that stuff is called.”
“If you want to go on a date, just tell your mother, Olivia.”
“Clarence Michel Atwater, you are the worst.”
My boss laughed and hung up on me.
Chapter Ten
I decided the fastest way to get what I wanted from my mother was to catch a cab to Crocker Highlands and look for an uninhabited wattle and daub Tudor home. If my mother believed she could saddle me with it, the For Sale sign w
ould either boast ‘Sold’ or be long gone.
I ordered the cabbie to take me to the top of the hill, which earned me a disbelieving stare and a laugh. “Know the street?”
Blind guessing might work; the last time I’d gone to Crocker Highlands, I’d been on a case, had gotten slightly lost, and had ended up on the wrong side of the neighborhood. “Let’s try Mandana. I’m looking for a recently sold or for sale home in the area.”
The man pulled out his phone. “Two listings came down in the past twenty-four hours.”
It never failed to amaze me how diverse cabbies could be. In my time as a quad supervisor, I’d met doctors, nurses, teachers, and even politicians driving around San Francisco for a few extra bucks in their spare time. “Prices?”
“One and a half million and five million.”
“Take me to the five million property and drop me there, please.”
“Checking out the neighborhood?”
“My apartment’s too small. I’m thinking about taking the dive. May as well see what five million will buy me, right?”
“That’s one way to go about it.”
Fortunately, once on the road, the cabbie wasn’t much of a talker, and I used the ten-minute drive to debate how best to handle my mother. So close to work, I might be tempted into falling for her scheme. The whole Detective Hunk thing would be a problem, however. He’d shown interest in free rent.
My mother would wage war to marry me off at long last.
The cabbie dropped me off near the top of the hill, and five million would buy me a cute little house without much of a yard. I whistled and wondered if my mother’s wattle and daub was a shack—or a figment of her imagination.
Using my phone, I pulled up a map of the neighborhood, which consisted of a tangle of streets traversing the nearby hills. I marched up the street, taking my time to admire the mix of old and new homes, which gave the place a cozy yet regal feel.
At the top of the hill, I found a two story wattle and daub, ridiculous even by Californian standards. One of my mother’s signs was posted proudly beside the arched gate leading into the garden. A second entry meant for cars also boasted a gate.
Tapping my foot, I considered my options. Calling my mother out on her blatant lies topped the list. There was no way she’d gotten the property for as little as she claimed. In a world of magic, miracles could happen, but a mansion so cheap in a posh area classified as a true impossibility.
Screw the rest of my list. My mother would pay for her blatant lies, and I’d begin with calling her.
“What’s wrong?” my mother demanded when she answered.
“You are a filthy liar of a woman!”
“I am?”
“You did not pay five hundred thousand for a mansion.”
“Ah. You decided to look up the listing?”
“I’m standing in front of the house.”
“I see. Did you check the listing first?”
“No. I asked a random cab driver to drop me at a recently sold property in the area and took a walk. How much did you really pay?”
“I really only paid five hundred thousand. I may have slightly lied about the value of the home. I’ve invested a quarter of a million in renovations.”
I eyed the house. My mother hadn’t just flipped it; she’d gutted it and replaced everything inside for that much money. “Where the hell did you get that much money for a flip if you weren’t sleeping with the entire bank?”
“Flipping other houses. Where else? Do you like it?”
Just like that, my mother won. I whimpered. “It’s so pretty.”
“It really is, isn’t it? Should I be drawing up a leasing agreement? A sale? What’s my baby going to beg me for?”
“Mercy? Donners is flying in tonight. I’m considering running away.”
“He is?”
Yep. She was excited. I examined the gate and spotted a lock box. “He is. What’s the access code for the lock box?”
“Your birth month and minutes,” she replied. “Keep the keys. I’ll remove the box tonight. It’s fully furnished; your choice if you keep the furnishings.”
“Mom, furnishings aren’t cheap.”
“Fifty thousand to add two hundred thousand to the property value is nothing. If you buy it, I’ll roll the fifty thousand into your final price.”
“And the renovations. At cost.”
“Rent to own or mortgage?”
“Rent to own, and I will kill you if you screwed up the renovations.”
My mother laughed. “I’ll take it off the market tonight. Defend me from your father. He said I had to sell it immediately last week.”
“You did. To me.”
“For a substantial profit, darling.”
“Wasn’t it an extra fifteen dollars for whining? That’s profit.” It wasn’t substantial profit, but my happiness was worth much more than money. My father wouldn’t agree with my opinion, but I’d enjoy the resulting argument.
“That’s not quite what he had in mind.”
“Put him on the phone. I’ll set him straight.”
I loved my daddy, but he wasn’t coming between me and my dream home. While I waited, I retrieved the keys and let myself in. I wouldn’t ask how much tending the extensive rose garden would cost me, but I already looked forward to taking up residence on the nice bench nestled among the blooms.
“What are you up to, Olivia?” my father asked.
“I’m buying the wattle and daub from Mom, and you’re not stopping me. Right now, her profit margin is fifteen dollars. I told her she had to charge me for everything.” I closed the gate behind me, making certain to lock it. “She already gave me the keys. I’ll need a car to get to work, so please don’t crank my monthly payments to Mom. I’m renting to own.”
“Who are you? What have you done with my daughter?”
“Donners is flying in tonight, and I am going to hide in my new house.”
“Ah. All right. Your mother can scratch her profit margin just this once, but you better take good care of that house. I have a condition, however: you need to buy yourself a fun car.”
“Sergio has a better SUV than I do. Anything that is better than his SUV is a fun car to me.”
“Get a convertible. That’ll show him. Your quads will still have their vehicles, and you can get authorization to use your personal vehicle at work.”
“Who are you? What have you done with my father?”
“Your mother is staring at me while sharpening her favorite knives.”
That would do it. Few were more dangerous than my mother when armed with her favorite knives. “I think she wants me to buy this house.”
“I also think she wants that detective of yours to move in with you.”
I took a long moment to consider all the advantages and disadvantages of sharing the same roof with Raymond. “He’s very hunky, Dad. That factors.”
“Why must you tell me when you find a cop attractive?”
“It drives you crazy. That’s why. Detective Hunk is an excellent specimen. He might even be smart. That’s a dangerous combination. Anyway, we’re at a standstill in the case for the moment, so he’s back to doing his cop thing, safe from my advances.”
That would bother my father all night long, and I smirked at the thought of him pacing his house wondering what—and who—I was doing.
“Well, he is a cop, and cops do cop things. Left work after giving up?”
“Nope. I have a suspect, but I can’t do anything about him tonight. Tomorrow, I’m going on a research trip to the library.”
“What will my little girl be researching?”
“Greek mythology and horoscope stuff. And no, not for dating purposes.”
“Looking into the origin and uses of hypnosis? I’m going to just ignore the horoscope and potential dating commentary for now.”
“What did I do to deserve you saying that near Mom?”
“My little girl got herself drained, then she wiped herse
lf out, and since that wasn’t bad enough, her boss called me with a heads up on your suspect.”
Shit. I was a dead woman walking, and my father would be the one to finish me off. Also, my boss was a complete and total asshole, and I’d owe him a batch of cupcakes from his favorite shop. Such artistic manipulation of my father had to be rewarded. “How much did he tell you?”
“Enough to know why Alex is coming. The police, state wide, are now on high alert. Congratulations on finding a break in that case, but I’m not happy about who the suspect is.”
Yep. My boss had masterfully played my father, getting him to do some of the heavy hitting on the organization front for the state interfering in Euthal’s business. “Is anyone happy about Euthal?”
“Well, no. When a fairly low-powered but versatile warlock gets the power to walk down a city street and knock out hundreds without effort, he could take out the entirety of San Francisco in a matter of hours—if he refines whatever he’s doing. Still, I’m worried, especially since that haunter—”
“Elizabeth.”
My father sighed. “You’ve inherited something that warlock used, and its previous owner is dead now because of it.”
“Honestly, I’m hoping it stays locked in evidence until I’m dying of old age.”
Everything Elizabeth had said implied the trouble was just beginning. What would a warlock want with a god? Did he wish to become like a god? Become a god? Use the god’s power to become a stronger warlock? The possibilities seemed as limitless as the man’s abilities. My father’s worry that the entirety of San Francisco might be targeted would bother me until Euthal was captured—or neutralized.
I didn’t enjoy killing people, although I’d done it more times than I cared to think about.
“Still, be careful. I’m worried there’s a reason he abandoned that statuette.”
“The most logical explanation is simple: he doesn’t need it anymore. Why abandon it if he needs it?” I shrugged and strolled to the front door of the house. “Please ask Mom if there’s an alarm system.”
“There is, but she’s disabled it on her phone.”
“I can’t tell if that’s a really cool idea or dumb. What if someone steals her phone?”