Chapter 4 #3
He wasn’t even asking about the other broker. Like her, Augustine must’ve decided that the thief was their best option.
“I want a favor,” Sutton said.
“What kind?” Augustine asked.
If she stretched her neck and rubbed her cheek on his right wrist, he probably wouldn’t take it well.
But it was so tempting. She could have shifted away from him, but she stayed where she was.
She’d never thought of herself as a masochist, so why did she keep looking for the pain of having him near and not being able to touch?
“I don’t know yet,” Sutton said.
What were they even talking about? She toyed with her knife and tried to recapture the severed string of the conversation. Something, something… Compensation. Favor. Sutton wanted a favor.
“You asked for generous compensation, not munificent,” Augustine said.
“And you are asking me to break confidentiality. You’re not looking for an illusion mage but for the illusion mage, the one I’d found two weeks ago. If people found out that I’ve talked, I would have a hard time staying in business.”
“I doubt that,” Augustine said.
“I will grant you a favor,” she said.
She instantly regretted it. The impulse to act had been too strong, so she redirected it, and she’d done it badly.
“Diana,” Augustine murmured, a cautious note in his voice.
“A favor from Prime Harrison,” Sutton said, nearly singing the words. “Yes, that will do.”
“There are conditions to that favor,” Augustine said. “Nothing that will endanger her and hers directly. No wet work, no police involvement.”
Wise. She preferred to avoid the police, and murder always carried consequences.
“Agreed.” Sutton offered her his hand across the table. “Shake on it.”
She focused on his fingers, checking for the filaments, found none, and gripped his hand. They shook.
“Juliana Glass,” Sutton said.
“Why does that sound like a pseudonym?” Augustine said.
“It’s a stage name. She is a stuntwoman. Usually operates out of Vancouver, but she is shooting a film at HCS.”
Diana raised her eyebrows.
“Hill Country Studios,” Augustine clarified. “Half an hour south of Austin.”
Hill Country. She knew the area. Limestone and granite hills, narrow ravines, caves, all of it dry, rocky, and sheathed in drought-resistant shrubs.
Sutton smiled at her. “Happy chase, Prime Harrison. One hunter to another.”
She slipped off the chair, slid the knife back into her thigh sheath, walked to the door, and paused half a breath for Augustine to open it. They stepped into the hallway and walked down the corridor toward the reception and elevators.
“That was unwise,” Augustine murmured.
“We’re running out of time.”
A teenage girl with ginger hair and a splattering of freckles on her face turned the corner ahead, walking toward them. She was about fifteen or so, dressed in ripped jeans and a white off-the-shoulder blouse.
Augustine stopped.
The teenager grinned. Her face split, revealing an old East Asian woman, then a goth-looking white man with dyed black hair, and then finally a Black man in his thirties, clean-shaven, with a short haircut and intense dark eyes.
An elegant grey suit clasped his lean frame, and a double golden hoop twinkled in his right ear.
“Zaden,” Augustine greeted him.
“Augustine.”
Someone like Zaden Price would have chuckled and quipped something along the lines of…
“Imagine finding you here of all places.” He smiled, but his face remained focused, his eyes fixed on them both, searching for weakness, evaluating them as targets.
Her instincts wailed in alarm.
“Needs must,” Augustine said.
“Ortega?” Zaden asked.
“Not at all,” Augustine said. “A private House matter.”
The intensity of Zaden’s stare eased a little. He gave her a slight, self-mocking bow. His voice gained a smooth overtone. “Prime Harrison.”
“Prime Price,” she said.
“You know my name. I’m truly flattered. Perhaps we will see more of each other going forward.”
“Perhaps not,” Augustine told him.
Zaden grinned. His body spun, like a piece of paper twisting into a spiral, and the red-headed teenager was back. She gave them a long look and squeaked in a high-pitched voice. “That suit is mid, Augustine. It’s giving beta. Later!”
She sauntered down the hallway toward Sutton’s office.
Augustine sighed and turned toward the elevator. They were out in the parking lot, before Diana said, “I like your suit. It goes with your eyes.”
“Thank you,” he told her.
“Since he was pretending to be a teenage girl, he had to read you. It’s in the job description.”
The murderous demigod smiled, opened the rear passenger door for Lila, and then held the car door open for Diana. “No worries. I’m secure in my rizz.”
She slipped inside and buckled her seat belt. He got behind the wheel and guided the car onto the street.
“Helicopter?” she asked.
He nodded. “It’s a forty-five-minute flight.”
MII had access to a military helicopter. Nice. “From the MII building?”
“Yes.”
She tapped her phone. “Gerardine? I need Akela and Whiskey at MII. Please bring my work clothes and a new pouch.”
“Understood,” Gerardine murmured.
Diana hung up.
Augustine threw her a curious look.
“Backup,” she said. “The hills are wooded, and it will be evening by the time we get there.”
He didn’t respond. Diana settled into her seat and took a long breath. Kayson’s face shimmered, rising from the depths of her memory. Fury bit her with scalding teeth.
A hunt was coming. Finally, a chance to bleed off all the rage, grief, and frustration.
About time.