by K. F. Breene
“So…” I pointed at her before pulling the finger into a fist and lowering my hand. However small her stature, the woman was intimidating. Something about her suggested she’d be happy to dole out fat lips. “You can see spirits, too?”
Kieran stood, the movement stretching his T-shirt in all the right places. “Bria, take care of her. You know the requirements.”
She nodded and her gaze drifted down my body. “Why would you wear a suit to a place like this?”
I ran my hand down my front. “I thought we were going to the magical government building.”
“Ah.” Her hand rested on her hip and her fingers tapped her jeans. “So you wanted to stand out in a bad way, then? Make a mockery of his reputation, that sort of thing?” She nodded. “I dig that. Good idea.”
“She’s off-kilter right now, Bria,” Kieran said as he stepped around the desk into my space. His smell wrapped around me, comforting and sexy and delicious. I hated it. “You’ll want to watch yourself when she recovers. You’ll get a shock you aren’t expecting.”
“Quite a shock,” Zorn mumbled.
“My gracious. She’s affected the mighty Zorn?” Bria made an O with her lips. It melted into a smile. “I can’t wait.”
Zorn scowled at her and then looked away.
“I thought you could start here…” Kieran’s side bumped mine as he bent, reaching for the bottom right drawer. His arm skimmed my leg, revving up the low hum in my body. “You smell good, Alexis,” he murmured.
“I showered,” I blurted, flustered by his proximity.
The new girl would think I was a huge doofus.
Kieran extracted another file folder. He laid it in front of me, but didn’t move away. Instead, he leaned over me to open it, his side now resting snugly against mine. Fire sparked in my middle.
“This is unprofessional,” I murmured with a wispy voice. Bria snickered.
A huge doofus.
The first page in the file was a photograph of a shabby house hunkering within a mess of brambles. A blurry image, human-like, stared out of a cracked window. Boards covered the front door and the steps leading to the porch lay at odd angles, many of them badly broken.
“Lovely. Summer home?” I said, leaning closer to look at the man in the window. “It’s a spirit, right? It’s kinda…‘not there’ looking.”
“That’s the general consensus, yes,” Kieran said, turning the page. “The home has been abandoned for decades, and it’s reputed to be one of the most haunted places in the country. Tours go by every Halloween, and mediums often go there to practice.”
“How do they get in?” I tapped the boarded-up door in the picture.
“The boards have been removed, and the steps and porch marginally fixed up. A key is required to enter.” He turned the page, revealing another picture of the house. This time, an orb floated in one of the windows.
“I get it, I get it, it’s haunted.” I scooted my chair away from his warm body.
“I suggested we go there,” Bria said, crossing her arms over her chest and sagging in apparent boredom. “I want to see what I’m working with.” She nodded at me, clearly indicating that she wanted to assess my magic for herself. “We’re going to meet a Medium. She’s supposed to be the best Ghost Whisperer in the city. You guys will have something to talk about.” She winked at me.
I groaned. I hated mediums, with all their bells and whistles. Literally. They created an awful racket.
“Which zone is this place in?” I asked, standing.
Kieran straightened as I did. “The magical zone, on the outskirts by the east wall. There is very little traffic there, except for the ghost seekers. Occasionally, my father’s office will allow non-magicals in via a chartered bus, but that’s usually only around Halloween.”
“Wait…” I held up my hand. “Your father owns it?”
“No. It’s a condemned building, owned by the magical government.” A crease formed between Kieran’s brows. “But my father does retain control over it. His office schedules the visits.” I shot him a look, and he shook his head. “This is what I’m talking about. That didn’t dawn on me.”
“What?” Bria asked, unfolding her arms. “I had the medium request admittance. We’re in the clear as far as the books go…”
“It’s a house stuffed with spirits controlled by a guy who traps spirits.” I widened my eyes and held up my hands. “So yeah, obviously we need to go there. We don’t need to meet a medium, though. Those buggers just get in the way.”
A slow grin curved Bria’s lips and a dimple dotted her chin. “We’re going to get along just fine.”
Not if she kept making me feel like a dweeb, we weren’t.
“Who do you want to send, sir?” Zorn asked.
Kieran studied me for a moment. Frustration crossed his expression. “Send Jack. Tell him to stay out of sight. I’ll want a full report.” He leaned in to me. “I can’t risk being spotted with you. If you have any problems, you have my number.”
I glanced at my handbag. “Yup. It’s in there with all the numbers I had to re-input after they were somehow deleted from my iCloud. So weird, that. Especially since they were all guys. Good thing I was late to the technology game and had a little black book, huh?”
Bria coughed into her fist before muttering, “Serves you right for getting involved with a Demigod.”
“I’m not involved.” I stalked around the desk to get away from his suffocating proximity before reaching over and grabbing my handbag. “I just always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m unlucky.”
“Very, yes. Very unlucky.” Bria ducked into the back room and returned with a camo backpack. “You should’ve played it smart and just banged the right-hand man with commitment issues. Way less stressful.”
“Bria.” Kieran had only uttered her name, but a savage intensity trickled through the room, his power filling up the space. My small hairs stood on end and my flight reflex made my legs and arms tremble.
To my utter astonishment, Bria grinned, completely unaffected. “I’m just kidding. Except about bumping uglies with a certain hard-hearted grump with a wicked tongue.” She waggled her eyebrows at me. “And I do mean wicked.” Jerking her head toward the exit, she said, “Come on. Time’s a wastin’. Let’s take that horrible suit out for a spin. By the by, have you ever purchased clothes that actually fit your body, or do you just really enjoy airing out your ankles?”
I sent a pleading look to Kieran before following her. He was sending me out into the unknown with a very cool nutcase, I was certain. Although, I had to admit, there was something about her that screamed competent. She didn’t look much older than me—twenty-eight or nine, maybe—but the self-assurance in her bearing spoke of a woman that knew what she was capable of.
“Be safe,” Kieran said as I neared Zorn. “Don’t take chances.”
“We’re visiting a bunch of dead people and you wouldn’t even let me bring a cadaver for show and tell purposes,” Bria said, pausing in the door. “What sort of chances do you think are possible?”
Zorn held out the car keys without looking at Bria. She snatched them out of his hand. “Thanks, silver-tongued devil.”
Her grin said it all. He was the hard-hearted grump she’d been talking about.
My mouth fell open. I had not seen that coming. She seemed too edgy to be bumping uglies with a straight-laced, prim-suit-wearing guy like Zorn.
“You comin’, flood waters?” she said.
I started moving, belatedly realizing she held the keys for the Beemer.
“Crap, I was going to reject that part of the contract,” I grumbled. So much for digging in my heels.
“Regardless, you need something to drive,” Zorn said. “Bria got a ride here in anticipation of you driving. This is the only mode of transportation.”
I sent a narrow-eyed look at a smug Kieran. He’d made it impossible for me to easily reject the car. He had many super powers as a Demigod, but manipulation wa
s where he truly shined.
Bria chuckled, clearly reading the situation. “You don’t stand a chance against that Demigod.” She disappeared through the door.
5
Kieran
Kieran watched Alexis go, recognizing the unsettled look on her face.
“Did I make a mistake, pairing them together?” he asked Zorn, suddenly unsure. “Alexis is incredibly powerful, but she has no experience in the magical world. Maybe I should’ve started her out with someone not as…”
“Impulsive?” Zorn shook his head and looked out the doorway. A car engine revved before tires squealed. Bria was clearly driving.
“Not impulsive…reckless,” Kieran said, hooking his thumbs into his pockets and forcing down the unease.
“She’s not reckless. She’s a fast thinker with a lifetime of experience.”
“She stands out.”
“In a good way. An expected way. Alexis stands out…in a bad way.” Zorn quirked an eyebrow.
Kieran had to give him that. Alexis was a woman who marched to the beat of her own drum. She was breathtakingly beautiful, but dressed in unfashionable, ill-fitting attire, as though she didn’t have a clue how to clothe a lithe, graceful body like hers. She shoved her hair up in messy ponytails, rarely bothered with makeup, and made constant use of frustrated, impatient scowls—and yet she had the poise and grace of a model. The unexpected dichotomy suited her to a T, and it was what had first drawn his notice.
Yes, she did stand out. In a sea of similar people, she was absurdly different. And he fucking loved it.
He’d have to hope Bria could tone Alexis down when it was needed. He didn’t have any other options. Not so late in the game.
Kieran checked his watch. He had a meeting with the mayor of non-magical San Francisco in an hour. On paper, they were meeting to discuss the new magical showcase. After following Alexis to the old one, Kieran had shut it down. It had been a magical freak show of sorts, whereby people with powers showed off for a bunch of small-minded, non-magical, and cash-carrying morons. The conditions had been appalling, especially for the magical animals on display. He planned on opening a new, improved showcase in the neutral zone, allowing both magical and non-magical folk easy access.
The move would also give him a great reason to spend more time in the dual-society zone. Under the guise of overseeing the fair’s progress, he’d be able to check in with Alexis more frequently without fear his father would grow suspicious. That was the plan, anyway. Valens was anything but easy to navigate.
Off paper, and unbeknownst to the mayor, Kieran also hoped to use this meeting to discuss his hidden agenda.
It was no secret that Valens deemed non-magical people beneath him. That fact created dissension in the already divided city, especially between the two governing bodies. Given apt assurances that someone else would assume the brunt of the risk, Kieran anticipated the mayor would jump at the chance to end the reign of the magical tyrant next door. All Kieran would then need to do was secure some of the mayor’s weaponized forces. Just a fraction of what the mayor had at his disposal, when added to the units Kieran had been working to accrue, would be enough to equal Valens’s standby battalion. It would give Kieran a fighting chance to take down one of the most fearsome Demigods in the world, a tyrannical leader who thought he was above the law.
“Keep in contact with Bria and Jack,” he told Zorn, heading into the back office to get changed. He’d dressed down to be more on Alexis’s level, not anticipating the strange suit she’d worn. It was on a level all its own.
He grinned. He fucking loved it.
“Sir,” Zorn said after a moment. “I would like to train the girl.”
Kieran paused in unzipping the garment bag hanging on the inside of the door. “Daisy?”
“Yes, sir. She’s…got something. She’s a diamond in the rough. Hard. Insightful. Durable. She’s training with the wolf and holding her own.”
“I heard. She has impressed the guys. What do you suspect she’d be good at?” Kieran finished unzipping, exposing his navy blue, tailored suit.
“I can’t tell for certain, but a spy comes to mind. An assassin. A mercenary, maybe.”
Kieran widened his eyes. It wasn’t normal for Zorn to take an interest in someone, even when they had some natural ability. That this non-magical girl had drawn his notice meant she had something special.
“Get to it. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that your tolerance and endurance is far above that of most people. Don’t push her hard enough to break her. Nor do I need to remind you that Alexis might be as dangerous as a kitten now, but someday soon she’ll surpass anything you could imagine. She’ll rip you apart if you harm one of her wards.”
“Didn’t need to be said, sir.”
Kieran nodded and extracted his suit. “Oh, and tell the guys that I’ll take cooking duty tonight. I want to get a first-hand account of Alexis’s first day.”
And a larger glimpse into her life. He wanted to find out all her secrets, and then he’d make her scream his name.
6
Alexis
“There’s the Medium,” Bria said quietly. She sat in the driver’s seat of my new car, leaning her elbow against the window ledge and covering half her face with her hand. The rest was concealed by the visor pulled down in front of her.
She turned off the engine but didn’t move to get out. Quiet settled between us as we stared out at the driveway of the plain, nondescript, though apparently incredibly haunted house. A woman with bright red hair waited beside a newer Mercedes parked in front of us.
“Kieran knew of her,” Bria whispered. “She’s the best in the area. Damned expensive.”
“How much is expensive?” I whispered, too, not sure why we were being quiet but going with it.
“Five hundred bucks an hour.”
“Five hundred bucks an hour?” There went being quiet. “What the hell? Who would pay that?”
“Your new boss, apparently. Highway fucking robbery, if you ask me, but he didn’t, so there you go. Then again, he isn’t going to spare any expense when it comes to his new pet. Demigods are all the same. If I were you, I’d ask for a bunch of expensive shit, starting with pants in a size long. Go ahead, you deserve it.”
“A bunch of expensive shit…and a lovely little leash and collar, yeah.” I shook my head and put my hand on the door handle. “Why are we waiting in here?”
“Sure, yeah, get a leash and collar, if that’s what you’re into. Diamond stud that shit. Kink can be fun. Just remember your safe word.”
I could tell she had misunderstood me, since it was clear she wasn’t kidding.
“No, I mean, leash and collar…as in…he’d try to control me. Like…he’s possessive.”
“Ah, right. Yeah, that’s a given. Demigods are a huge buzz kill with all the controlling shit. Don’t worry, they do it to everyone. That’s what you get for banging him. Hindsight, though, right? He’s hot, I get ya. Okay, first order of business—”
I put up a finger in indignation. “I did not bang him.” No need to mention how close I’d come. I’d been freezing cold and in need of body warmth, and he’d been mostly naked—the saintliest of souls would have been tempted. “This is strictly a professional situation.”
Her lips pulled down at the corners. “Fooled me. Okay, check this out. I’m using all of my senses to get a feel for what’s around me. Feel for that weird little tingle between your shoulder blades that means someone’s watching you. Do you know what I’m talking about?”
I did, so I nodded.
She nodded with me. “Good. You’re shit at it, because you didn’t know I was in that back room, so you’ll need to practice a lot. Don’t focus on any one thing with your eyes. You do that, and your brain ignores everything you’re not focusing on. Let movement come and go around you. Anything out of the ordinary will trigger you. I assume so, at any rate. Your experiences in the magical showcase and the dual-society zone should’ve honed that
ability.” Without looking, she reached over and put her hand on my forearm. “I read a bunch of your file. Sorry to snoop. I have to get a little creepy when I gather information before taking an assignment, but you had so much crazy shit in there, I couldn’t stop reading. Your whole situation is truly whack. I’m jealous.” She pulled her hand back. “At that fucked up fair, you were probably always looking out of the corner of your eye, so you should be good at that.”
I frowned, because she made it sound like the dual-society zone was dangerous, when actually, people mostly just minded their own business. I hadn’t grown accustomed to looking out of the corner of my eye at all. Not even at the freak show, the magical showcase she was talking about.
Clearly, I should have been…
“We’re in a car, so this is a moot point at the moment, but you’ll want to key in to sounds around you,” she went on. “Now, in addition to those things, I also tune in to my environment magically. It sounds like our abilities are similar, but I won’t know how similar until we get in some field tests. For the time being, suffice it to say that I’m a kick-ass Necromancer, and can sense souls. I can feel…” She made a claw with her hand and touched the center of her chest. “What I’m doing right now is assessing what we’re about to walk into.”
I nodded even though I had no idea how to duplicate her efforts.
“I don’t sense anyone other than the Medium,” she said. “Not anyone living, I mean. She didn’t bring an army or even a bodyguard. Not that I can feel at the moment, at any rate.”
“You’re always suspicious of foul play, then?”
“Yes. Always. You never know when some dipshit will turn on you and try to stick a knife in your skull. I know this for a fact. My old roommate was a real piece of work.” She got out before grabbing her backpack from the rear passenger seat. “Come on.”
I glanced at my purse, resting at my feet. Then at the dirty house with people crowded at the windows, staring out like they were starving and there was a pizza logo painted on the car.