Chapter 12 Silver
SILVER
Istayed up all night, levitating objects around my apartment, and making tennis balls borrowed from Lucian fly for Amavi until she settled in for a nap in the crook of my knee.
I wasn’t the kind of person who tried to forbid a dog to sleep in my bed.
After deliberating for a while, I finally resolved to try a task I’d put off as long as I could, worried about messing it up: setting up my windows.
I’d renovated every square inch of this place with my own hands, and much of my elderly neighbor’s upstairs, but I tried to install windows thrice, breaking the glass I’d purchased each time, before finally giving up.
I meant to save up to hire a specialist before winter, but pretty dresses took precedence in my budget. Plus, I didn’t mind the cold.
Simply willing the glass to move up to the right place, I lovingly carved the wooden frames and commanded them to stay in place until they were dry and fixed.
No wonder people found this addictive. Not only was magic useful as fuck, but it also felt better than sex, alcohol, and dancing all night while watching fireworks.
I practically skipped to work, guilty about enjoying myself so much, and all the more concerned about Kleos’s lost magic.
Walking up the stairs all the way to the seventh level, I breathed in and out—and instantly regretted it when I took in a whiff of sweat underneath the lemony cleaning products. Protectors, like everyone in the guard, trained every day, and unfortunately some still hadn’t discovered deodorant.
“I ’ear we’re togezer again. And who is zis beauty?”
“Amavi.” I turned to grimace at Francois, who offered a palm to the pup at my feet. “And I hear you come as a pair.”
“A, oui. Ze pisseur,” the blond Frenchman sighed. “’E’s a coward, but he doze ze paperwork well. Besides, ’ave you seen ’is shielding spells?”
I had to admit that Irwin didn’t completely suck at protective magic.
“If he pisses on anything I own, you’re the one cleaning it.”
“Non merci. ’E can do ’is own cleaning. You know where we’re meeting?”
“The conference room opposite Gideon’s office.” I led the way, though unfamiliar with this level.
The magic buzzing under my skin seemed to echo through the hall, responding to a similar resonance. Cas.
He was standing, hands folded behind his bare back, looking out the window. The gigantic snake that hadn’t left his side any more than Amavi had left mine slithered along the ceiling right above him. I wondered if he had a name.
Gideon and Isla were also already inside, arguing over a map.
“Ah, Francois, Silver.” Gideon beckoned us over. “Come have a look at this.”
The map of the vale showed several glowing points, some brighter than others.
“What’s that showing us?” I wondered.
“Magic use in real time. The brightness indicates the potency of the spells. It’s pretty normal to have thousands of spells used here.
” He pointed to a cluster of dots concentrated in the Hall of Truce.
“And at the schools or colleges,” he added, indicating the buildings. “Not to mention the temples.”
“Isn’t everyone using magic all the time in Highvale?”
“I mean, yes, but the majority of the inhabitants of the city have low energy reserves, which means that their spells would be of lower intensity. There are far more brighter spots than there should be.”
I frowned at the map. “It would be useful to have readings from a couple of weeks ago.
“Irwin’s fetching some from the archives, and we’re recording fluctuations. His job is spotting unusual areas with more magic over the next few days.”
I had to admit that was the perfect assignment for him. He might not even piss his pants.
“What are we doing in the meantime?”
“Kleos said she had hundreds of charged crystals.” Gideon gestured to Francois.
“One of his contacts in Paris got back to us, reporting an upcoming auction for a large magical reserve. I want to know if it includes Kleos’s.
That’ll tell us whether we’re dealing with a city-wide or a worldwide issue. ”
“Worldwide would be better,” Isla said. “More spread out. I’d take one crystal in every city than hundreds in ours.”
“Agreed—but fifty could be enough to raze an entire city, especially in the hands of inexperienced little fuckers high on power. Either way, we need answers.”
Cas’s index finger tapped his thigh. As silent and still as he had been until now, I noticed the minute move. Or maybe I was just hyperaware of him. I wanted to blame his injection of power for it.
“Any input, Cas?” I demanded, voice tight.
He turned slowly, taking his time before speaking. “You’re too direct. Honest. Obvious. That’ll get you killed.”
Gideon and I exchanged a glance.
“How so?”
“The Paris lot will be part of the shipment you’re looking for,” he said casually.
“And you’ll assume it’s spread out. You’ll relax, prioritize other jobs, look everywhere from one end of the world to the other.
And ninety percent of the weapons will remain right here under your noses, until they’re ready to be used against you. ”
We all stared at him in silence.
He shrugged. “That’s what I’d do, anyway.”
“Crooked motherfucker. You’re right, it has to remain a priority no matter what we find in Paris. But if we can recover them, it’s one problem we don’t have to fix later.”
“I’ll go,” I said. “I’ll recognize Kleos’s magic.”
“We should all go,” Isla said. “Whether it’s a dozen or a hundred crystals full of magic, that’s a full team sort of mission.”
“Right, because a network of international magic smugglers is totally going to open their doors to a team of Highvale protectors.” Gideon rolled his eyes.
“Francois, you know Paris, and it’s your old Huntsmen buddies who gave us the intel.
You two can pose as a couple of lovers in for a little excitement.
Buy, steal, destroy the goods if you can—but the priority is to identify them and report back. ”
“Paris.” Francois moaned. “I can eat good food again.”
“You were a Huntsman in the city?” Cas asked.
Francois nodded. “A good job, but I am a morning person. Huntsmen are creatures of ze night—we ’unt rogue vampires mostly.”
“Don’t you think underground criminals might know you, if you were a vampire hunter in the city?” he pressed. “It’s my understanding Huntsmen are renowned, wearing their colors proudly.”
I narrowed my eyes. “So you know what Huntsmen are, huh?”
Cas shrugged. “Just like I know how to talk, walk, recite Shakespeare, fuck, and fight. They’ve been around for centuries. Memory loss tends to be about personal experiences, not general knowledge.”
I bought exactly none of that.
But the asshole made a point. If we were going undercover, I couldn’t take someone who might be recognized on sight. Francois only left Paris a year ago.
“I’ll go,” Cas offered.
“How are you so sure you won’t be recognized?” I challenged. “Maybe you were a Huntsman in Paris, too.”
“If I were, your friend could tell us,” Cas said smoothly. “But what I picture when I hear Paris is not modern. I don’t think I have been anywhere in your world in the last few centuries.”
I couldn’t help myself. “Your selective amnesia is so fucking convenient, isn’t it?”
He snorted, shoving his hands in his pocket. “What do you imagine I could tell you if I remembered, I wonder?”
“What you’re doing here, for one.”
His glare was challenging as ever and I refused to look away first. In the end, Gideon cleared his throat.
“Silver, take him with you. He’s strong, and will provide good backup.
Cas, if anything happens to her, I’d happily kick your ass, but I doubt there’ll be anything left by the time Kleos is done with you, so, maybe take care of her. ”
“I don’t need a damn babysitter.”
“You’re a protector, and we work in pairs for a reason. It’s a recon mission, but you never know—things could turn sour.”
In truth, keeping an eye on Cas was one of my current assignments, so as fun as a couple of days in Paris with Francois would have been, swapping my old colleague for the untrustworthy newcomer wasn’t the worst idea.
I sighed. “Whatever.”
Gideon levelled me with one of his rare serious looks. “Out there, you two are partners. That means watching each other’s back. Do I need to put you through some trust exercises before the assignment?”
I would rather throw myself off a cliff, so I shook my head. “No, sir. I’ll have his back.”
While I still didn’t trust Cas’s motives, I doubted he’d do something as obvious as betraying me once we were alone.
The fact that he thought of a crooked, complex strategy about the missing reserves while the rest of us went for the obvious told me that when he’d show his hand, it would be calculated, the knife coming in the middle of the night, silent and still.
Which of course was exactly the problem. But I’d still be safe until he was ready to strike.
“When are we leaving?”
“Thursday, first thing. The auction is Friday night. Make your own way to Paris, but the jet will be on standby Saturday morning—you’ll need it in case you’re traveling back with a stock of stored magic.”
The jet was prepped to not explode because of magical interference. We never could take a commercial flight—and traveling by train or car with a sensitive, precious load was inadvisable.
I rubbed my hands together. “Two days in Paris!”
Gideon’s look told me he saw right through me when I imagined whistling with my arms full of designer clothes. Suddenly I felt far less ambivalent about the piles of gold in my safe.
“To scout the place out,” he intoned, gaze sharp. “Not shop.”
I pouted. “Must you ruin my fun?”
“Literally my job.”
“So what’s the plan until Wednesday?”
Gideon cocked an eyebrow. “What do you think you should be doing, protector?”
I didn’t miss the challenge in his tone.
I straightened up. “Well, if Irwin doesn’t trip over his own feet and die, we’ll have a comparative map soon.
We can charge runners to observe the new hot spots for signs of unusual activity.
If we’re lucky, they’ll arrest someone with more magic than they should have for questioning—and if their source is one of Kleos’s reserve, we can try to make them talk about where they got it.
But that’s a lot of ifs. Today, the best actionable plan would be to check on the known dealers in town.
I’m sure the inquisitors have a list. Francois? ”
“Fuck if I know. I only got ze job today,” he reminded me.
“They have one,” Gideon confirmed. “Go on.”
“Well, Francois will get us the list. I’m guessing it’ll have a few names. We’ll go in teams of two, carefully—ourselves, not curse-happy runners throwing accusations. While I doubt we’ll get answers, we’ll be able to tell who’s dodgy.”
Gideon snorted. “They’re all dodgy, Silver.” He rolled the map carefully before placing it in a thin cylinder—likely to avoid messing with the spell by folding it. “All right. You each have your assignments.”
I inhaled sharply. “You’re implementing my plan?”
“Why not? It’s a decent strategy given what we know so far—which is next to nothing.” He shrugged. “Isla, you’re with me. Silver, take Cas. Francois, let us know when Irwin gets the bloody map.”
I tried not to groan.
Noticing my expression, Gideon pointed out, “Isla’s a novice. You’re a new protector. I can’t pair you up. And you’re going on a mission abroad later this week. Might as well get used to each other.”
I hated that I couldn’t argue. Turning back to the ridiculously tall, dark, and handsome newcomer, I stated, “You need a fucking shirt.”
He had the gall to chuckle. “Why, am I distracting you, pet?”
“Because it’s November, it’s fucking snowing outside, and while protectors don’t have uniforms, we have badges. You can’t pin a badge on your nipple.” While my list of arguments started out weak, the last one seemed valid.
The smug prick retrieved a badge just like mine from his back pocket, before pinning it to his belt buckle. “There. Happy?”
My jaw ticked.
“Ecstatic.”
I was going to murder him before the week was out.