Born in Fire (Page 4)

“He only bothers the magical community. A couple of his neighbors got together to raise the money. It isn’t on the government’s dime, so I can’t send my people. It’s either you or no one.”

I groaned and dropped the hand holding the file. “Why not the shifters?”

“They have their hands full with the vampires. That’s what they said, anyway. Word is, they tried, but lost two of theirs. This is heavy magic, and they don’t have that kind of arsenal. Neither do I, if you want to know the truth. This guy has dabbled in the dark arts. He’ll throw hexes at you that you might not be ready for. Word of caution.”

I shook my head and tapped the folder against my leg, thinking about the vampire’s note. “I have to eat,” I said vaguely.

Pity crossed his features for a brief moment, but was wiped away immediately. “That’s all I’ve got, kid. Sorry about the vamp trouble. Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

I blew out a breath.

A silent beat. “So, you going to do it?” he asked.

We both knew he wasn’t asking about the file.

I glanced at the note again. I didn’t know. I said as much.

“In addition to that note, I got the official notice of a bounty.” The captain nodded toward his computer screen. “They’re doing it by the book, though the actual mark is not yet known. There’s a catch, though. If you accept the bounty, they’ll be assigning you a vamp partner.”

“Wait.” I let my confusion show on my face. “What?”

“Together, you’ll track down the mark, bring him in alive, and collect the bounty. You will take half. The vamp will take half.”

“They’re going to take back half of the bounty they put up? That doesn’t make sense.”

“It’s our system. Otherwise, they’d have to personally hire you. This way they’re doing it through us.”

“Why bother?”

The captain smirked. “Working through us means the wolves have to leave them alone. They’re using you and my department as a get-out-of-jail-free card. It’s pretty clever, really.”

I shrugged. “With the power I saw last night, the wolves wouldn’t stand a chance. Not unless they pulled in bigger numbers from other parts of the country.”

“Which they’d do for a chance to take out an elder. Roger would be all over that.”

I swore under my breath. “Still. Why me? Why not Garret?”

“I have no idea. Maybe something you did last night impressed them.”

“Doubtful.” I scrubbed my fingers through my hair before redoing my ponytail.

“So…you going to do it?”

“How much?” I asked, thinking of running away and joining a circus instead. It would make more sense than my life.

“Your cut would be fifty grand.”

The muscles in my jaw went slack. A wash of tingles worked down my body. That was a lot of money. That would let me disappear for a good long time. I needed that.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly, defeated. “Have you ever heard of anyone going into the vampires’ lair and coming out alive?”

“No. But then, I’ve never heard of anyone being invited, either.”

“I was more commanded than invited.”

“People don’t boss you around. That’s an invite if anything is.”

He knew me well.

“The elves don’t have jurisdiction within that lair.” I bit my lip. “Anything could go on in there.”

The captain tapped his fingers against his desk, something he did when he was working out a problem. “Does he need your help, or is he curious about you? Maybe he’s testing you. There is no way to guess what a vampire that old is really up to.”

“You’re sure it was the elder?”

He nodded slowly, his eyes surveying me. “He probably wants to know if you’re magical, and if so, what breed you are.”

I’d come to the same conclusion. “I should’ve showered to get rid of the weird stench,” I joked.

The captain’s gaze turned piercing. He’d said it once and never repeated himself: I looked human but didn’t smell it, I was chock-full of powerful magic, and most people would guess, correctly, that I was a hybrid of some sort, but I wasn’t a type that had ever been catalogued before. He’d ended his analysis with, “Reagan, that doesn’t add up. People notice.”

No, it did not add up. Yes, people did notice. Luckily, as long as I kept to myself, meaning no magical BFFs or drunken gabfests about my ancestry, I would be in the clear.

After a moment, he huffed and glanced beside me. “I’m going to have to dock you for that door.”

“It wasn’t me. It was the one-armed man.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Actually, I bet it was the vampire. They are damned clumsy, aren’t they? Surely he knocked it off the hinges when he was putting up that note.” He nodded decisively. “I’ll write that up.”

I couldn’t help a smile. “You’re an asshole, but you’re my asshole.”

His grumpy expression turned quizzical. “Is that from a movie?”

“I feel like it is, but…I’m not really sure, to be honest. Fits, though, no?”

“Too touchy-feely for my taste. Now get out of here. And leave Garret alone when you walk past. Every time you break one of his body parts, we get behind.”

“Hire better people.”

“Buy some papers.”

I glanced back at the note one last time as I walked from the room, the folder tucked under my arm. I needed to think on that. I also needed to plan a course of action for bringing in the idiot terrorizing one of the few solely magical neighborhoods within the city. So much to do…

Fifteen minutes later, I sat down on a barstool.

“Hurricane, please.” I rapped my knuckles on the bar as the bartender walked away to make me a drink mostly consisting of turpentine and artificial flavoring. Other bars made a fruity drink high in alcohol that the tourists loved. Not this bar. They tried to peel the eyebrows off your face.

Just what I needed to take the edge off.

I shifted, trying to get comfortable. The stool clunked to the right, uneven.

“Do you live around here?”

I glanced over to find a twenty-something guy slumped in the stool next to mine. Glazed-over eyes and a strange lean said he didn’t know what he’d gotten himself into with the hurricanes.

“Yeah,” I answered. “You?”

He shrugged and visibly tried to play it cool. The result was a dangerous sway in the other direction. “I’m in town for a few days. Just taking it in, you know?” He leaned over the bar. His tongue wandered out of his mouth until it bumped off the straw in his drink. He corralled the straw between his open lips before taking a sip like a giraffe eats leaves, grossly floppy.

“Is that tasty?” I asked sarcastically, nodding toward the drink.

He released the straw and licked his lips. A cock-eyed, drunken smile slid up half his face. The other half was probably numb from the alcohol. “Yeah. Killer.”

I figured there was about a ninety percent chance he’d end up half-naked and facedown in the gutter with beads littering his back. Grimacing, I pulled out the file. My drink arrived as I was perusing the magical misdeeds of my new mark, which all seemed like high-powered hexes gone slightly wrong.

“Power-drunk mage,” I muttered to myself, looking at his handiwork.

“Mage. Is that, like, Warcraft or…” The man swiveled in his chair until his knees bumped off mine, clearly attempting to face me.

I pushed his leg, turning his body back toward the bar. “There you go. That’s better. Just ride that stool, cowboy. Keep straight and hold on. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

“Ha ha ha!” He wiped his mouth. “But, like, a mage. That’s cool, right?” He might have attempted a thumbs-up, but only succeeded in pointing at himself with his thumb.

I sucked down a quarter of my drink.

“Whoa. Careful. I don’t know if anyone told you”—his burp turned into a small groan—“but these drinks are strong.” A finger wobbled into my peripheral vision.

I batted his hand away. “I’m a local. I know how this shit works.”

“I know. How this shit. Works.” He nodded dramatically and slumped toward the bar. “Ha!”

I looked for the bartender, who was perched in the corner looking out at the bright day through the distant door. A little wave brought his eyes toward me.

I threw a thumb at the man next to me before putting that digit to my head, indicating his intoxication level.

The bartender shrugged. “Let’s see how he does.”

A little sport on a slow day. Fair enough.

I pored over the contents of the file, preparing myself. A touch skimmed my back and a face closed in for my throat.

A shock of fear washed over me. The next instant, my fist smashed into the guy’s nose, throwing his head back. I’d already grabbed the hand on my back, and now I twisted it, bending his body toward the ground. He rolled off the barstool and crashed to the floor like a clump of wet paper towels.

“Oh shoot.” I dramatically grimaced. “Sorry about that, guy. But really, you shouldn’t try to invade a girl’s space without approval. That’s a dick move, right there. Stuff like that gets you hurt. Obviously.”