Chapter 20
Jolene, Trevor, and Lizzy came in during the dinner rush, looked around for a table, then decided to sit at the end of the bar closest to the door.
“We’re here to work on your project,” Jolene announced when I approached them.
“Where’s Josh?” I asked.
“He has a date,” Trevor said.
I raised an eyebrow, and Jolene laughed. “They’re going to a hockey game. He seems to have found a woman who shares his interests.”
They ordered dinner and drinks, then Jolene pulled out Trevor’s folder and the three of them bent their heads over it. I checked on them occasionally, and once or twice they asked me questions, but otherwise they didn’t seem to need my input.
After I cleared away their dishes, Jolene said, “Lizzy thinks the mayor’s chief of staff is the villain. But you don’t really need to find him. We know where he lives and works. What we need to find is the Hunter. Right?”
“Why the chief of staff?” I asked.
“I See him,” Lizzy said. She shrugged. “When I went down your list and looked up their pictures on the internet, he gives me a buzz. And when I visualize the Hunter with all of their pictures, he’s the one who feels right.”
It might not be scientific, but magic wasn’t science. I remembered someone asking me how I knew where to find a ley line. There wasn’t a way in the world I could explain it. I just felt them.
Trevor said, “I mean, the Hunter is just a person. He has to eat and sleep someplace. Right?”
“Yeah,” I said. “He’s a mage, but still human.”
“So,” Jolene said, “if we can find him, we can take him down.”
“Uh, we? You mean the whole damned bar?”
They all laughed. “We’ll let Blair and Frankie figure that part out,” Trevor said.
Sure, I thought, and let the Hunter slaughter their whole little paranormal crime group. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what I could do if I did confront the Hunter. I was a little bit puzzled that he was so cautious about me. I had never worried that one of my targets might best me. Even William Strickland had little chance against me, and he was one of the most powerful mages I’d ever encountered.
“Do you know anyone who’s good at trap spells?” I asked.
Jolene looked thoughtful, then said with a laugh, “I do pretty good trapping mice, but I’ve never tried to trap a mage. Sam might know someone.”
I glanced at Lizzy, but she shook her head. “You don’t want the kind of help I could find.”
The Fae never did anything for free, and the payment they would ask had nothing to do with money.
“Right,” I said. “I’ll talk to Sam. You’d think Blair would have someone like that on his team.”
Trevor shook his head. “Most paranormals don’t want to get involved with Blair. I’ve gotten the impression that his budget could handle more people, but he has a hard time recruiting.”
Since I was one of the people he’d tried to recruit, I understood. As Westport had demonstrated, sudden death in the magical world was all too common. Only a fool stepped in between warring paranormals or supernaturals unless they had no other choice.
Lizzy and Jolene stayed for a couple of hours more, then they took off. Trevor stuck around, flirting and talking to me when I wasn’t busy. He walked me out to the bus stop when I got off work, saying he’d ride the bus to the train station.
“The offer to buy you dinner is still open,” he said as we walked.
He was handsome and seemed very nice. I did know that I felt comfortable with him, but I wasn’t sure I was looking for a romantic relationship. Hell, I didn’t know what a romantic relationship entailed, other than what I’d seen in a few movies.
“Trevor, I like you a lot, but my life is so crazy right now. I don’t want to lead you on. Hell, I don’t know what I’m doing or what I want.”
He gave me a smile. “Have you had west coast crabs?”
“No.” I actually couldn’t remember ever eating a crab. They weren’t on the menu in the City of the Illuminati, situated in a forest near the Canadian border. Trout, muskellunge, and walleye were the fish I knew.
“Let me take you out as a friend. Show you a little of Westport.” He cocked his head, a slight smile on his face. “No expectations. Okay?”
“Oh, hell,” I said with a smile. “Okay. I’m off on Mondays through Wednesdays.”
“Next Tuesday, then,” he said. “I’ll pick you up at your place.”
We got to the bus stop about five minutes early. I dropped onto the bench and looked around in time to see the Hunter emerge from the trees behind the stop. Dressed in a black, skin-tight bodysuit with a balaclava covering his head, he would have been almost invisible except for his movement and a flash of light reflecting from his sword.
“Shield!” I called out, casting my own shield as I leaped to my feet.
Lightning shot from Trevor’s hands and created a fireworks show as it hit the Hunter’s shield.
The Hunter ignored him, heading directly toward me with his sword unsheathed. I pointed at him and said a Word, casting the same spell I’d used to kill the vampire my first night in Westport. My magic wasn’t showy, and no one could see it, but I knew when his shield deflected it. It rocked him for a moment, but then he kept on coming.
The Hunter was armed, I knew, with a spelled short sword or long knife in addition to his spelled sword, and had a half-dozen knives and a dart gun. I had no weapons at all. When he got closer, I dodged, diving to my left and forward under his sword. My quickness took him by surprise, and he continued for a couple of steps before he stopped and whirled.
I crashed into his legs, knocking him down. It took him by surprise, as he expected his shield to protect him, but my shield absorbed his shield’s energy. Before he could recover, I kicked him in the head, then leapt away.
Another bolt of lightning, condensed and focused, hit the man on the ground. He rolled away, but the following bolt also found him. He fought to get up, but I could tell he was weakened, staggering a little as he found his feet.
Deciding that Trevor was a threat, he hurled a fireball in my friend’s direction. Trevor ducked it and let loose another lightning bolt, forked into four prongs. Two of them hit the Hunter.
He turned his head in my direction, and I could tell he was calculating a charge at me, but I was fifteen feet away.
The lights of the bus approaching illuminated the scene. The Hunter turned his head and saw the bus coming toward us, then gathered himself, tossed something at me, and sprinted away in the direction of the trees.
I backed up as fast as I could and saw the ball the Hunter had thrown hit the ground. Smoke or gas exploded from the ball, and I tweaked my shield, making it airtight.
The bus slowed to a stop past the smoke, and Trevor and I ran to catch it. We boarded and showed our transit passes; the driver closed the door and pulled back onto the street.
I dropped into a seat, and Trevor plopped down beside me.
“So, this is how you get your exercise?” he asked. “Definitely saves on paying for a gym membership.”
I laughed, and it sounded shaky even to me. “Not my preferred workout.”
“So, that’s a Hunter?”
“Yeah.”
“Nasty. If anyone ever accuses you of being paranoid, tell them to talk to me.”
We rode for a little while, then I said, “You’re a badass. Who would have thought?”
He chuckled. “I can stick up for myself. Had to face an ogre once. He lost.”
“I’ll bet you’re a major hit at Fourth of July parties.”
I felt his hand on my face and turned to look at him. He leaned forward and kissed me. A very gentle, very full kiss. Lots of lip and only a bare touch of tongue. Then he pulled back and smiled.
I was stunned. And speechless. No one had ever kissed me like that before.
“Wh-what was that for?” I finally managed to say.
“Your knight in shining armor claiming his prize for rescuing the damsel in distress.”
In the back of my mind, something was saying, That’s awful damned cheeky. Who says I was in distress? But I didn’t really feel that way. I thought it was sweet, and I wanted him to do it again.
The bus pulled up to my stop. Trevor stood to let me out.
“Should I walk you in?” he asked.
“No, I don’t think he can run as fast as the bus. I’ll be okay.”
We stared at each other, and then I said, “I-I don’t think going out on Tuesday is a very good idea.”
I spun about and rushed to get off the bus. Halfway across the parking lot, I turned and watched the bus pull away. I could still feel his lips on mine, and my head was spinning more from the kiss than it was from the Hunter’s attack.
Chapter 21
A pounding interrupted my sleep. At first, I couldn’t figure out what it was, but when it stopped, I drifted back to sleep. Then it started again. Groggily sitting up, I figured out it was someone knocking on my door. No one had ever knocked on my door.
Throwing on a t-shirt, I stumbled into the kitchen and grabbed my only knife, then made my way to the front door and looked through the peephole. Lizzy and Jolene stood in the hall, and Lizzy was beating on the door with her fist.
It took me a moment to collect myself enough to open the door and dissolve the ward.
“What’s going on? Is the building on fire?”
They barged past me.
“Trevor told us you fought the Hunter last night,” Jolene said. “Do you have any coffee?”
“I don’t think so,” Lizzy’s voice came from the kitchen. “She has tea, though.” I heard the tap turn on and the sound of my teakettle being filled.
“What time is it?”
“Eight o’clock,” Jolene said. “Actually, eight-ten.” She looked around the apartment, taking in the complete lack of furniture. “What do you sit on?”