Chapter 6 #2
“We’re not that cavalier.”
Luke raised an eyebrow.
Clint sighed. “We do our best to guard the mortal world from greater threats. We don’t carry out vigilante justice on thieves.”
“You might think I’m some greater threat. I’m not.”
“You can’t be the one to determine if you are or not.” Clint took a sip of his tea. It scalded his tongue.
“The cup’s for you?” Luke asked.
“I have a long night ahead of me. I need the caffeine,” Clint replied.
“Your heart doesn’t need it. You should calm down.”
“Oh?”
“I can practically hear you freaking out.”
“Perhaps that has something to do with your avoidance of my question.” Clint set his mug down on the table. He reached his arm out toward where he’d placed his staff beside the door. With a bit of will, he summoned it to him.
“I have a vial of Stills water,” Luke said sharply.
Clint was glad he’d put the mug down. Only muscle memory made him tighten his hand around his staff instead of dropping it. His mug definitely would have hit the floor.
Stills water was extremely potent. If Luke had a vial of it on him—and Clint hadn’t discovered it on his person when doing the search—then he could have torn through all of Clint’s wards without any effort. He could have dispelled so much of Clint’s hard work.
But the scarier aspect was that Luke must have obtained the Stills water from a mage or a warlock.
Few supernatural creatures were willing to trek into the void where the waters existed.
Rare was the mage who could make the journey in and return unscathed.
That someone had gone to that much effort and then sold the results was troubling. Sloane could have pulled it off.
“I would like to talk about who sold you that tool and how you were able to slip past a threshold without invitation, but we have bigger fish to fry tonight,” Clint said, doing his best to maintain his calm. “You mentioned earlier that you were hired.”
“I got the job from a broker, not directly from a client,” Luke replied.
“Which one?”
Luke pressed his lips together. When Clint slightly moved his staff, Luke rolled his eyes and continued. “I get that you would want to know, but—”
Sick of dancing around the point. Clint narrowed his eyes. “As far as I’m aware, there are three go-betweens that would handle a job like this. Whistle, Price, or Hughes. Who gave it to you?”
“Since you know the names, you know I’ll be in deep shit if I tell you who. I have enough problems right now,” Luke replied, his tone tense.
Clint hadn’t stopped to consider why Luke had taken the job. He’d assumed the vampire just liked the money or the thrill of doing something impossible. “What sort of problems?”
“I lost a shit ton of money at the Gilded Thorn, and I need to repay my debt sooner rather than later. So I hit up a broker for work, and here we are.”
“You’ve been playing nice because you saw how much magic is in my collection and wards and thought that since the job was botched, you might be able to convince me to help you instead,” Clint said steadily. His heart was racing again.
“That and you keep threatening me.” Luke glanced down at the golden thread wrapped around his body. “It’s not like I’ve had a chance to tell you about my problem with the Seelies.”
Luke had a decent point. And he had thrown himself into the line of fire when he could have stepped back and let the other mages kill Clint.
In fact, that would have been the perfect opportunity for him to turn around, take the tiara, and abandon the tower.
But he’d stayed. Because he thought he could get something out of me.
Clint had to keep his mind level. He needed to keep moving forward and not let the little disappointment grow into a bigger bubble. After all, Luke was a thief. Of course he was playing an angle. At least he’d been fairly honest in doing so.
“Is Lily still running the casino?” Clint asked.
“Dawnshadow.”
Clint raked his gaze over Luke. “You owe him? You’re lucky he hasn’t whisked you away to his home in the fey realm. You’re his type.”
“And I really considered letting my ass work off the debt, but I don’t like the idea of losing time in this world,” Luke said. “A minute there could be a year here, and I didn’t become immortal to go to some other plane of existence. I like this one.”
“So you decided to con me.”
“Conning implies deceit. I was hoping that being useful would show you that I’m not a terrible person.
Once we got the box back, I would have brought up the whole Seelie situation,” Luke said.
“I wouldn’t even consider reclaiming the box worth what you’d have to do to get me free of debt.
But I’d be willing to pay it off over time.
You’re a paranoid guy, but I managed to slip through your security.
I’m sure I could poke around some more and find other flaws to fix.
And I could run errands, odd jobs. Be a link to the outside world since you like being in your tower so much. ”
“What makes you think I need a connection to the outside world?” Clint asked.
“For starters, Lily hasn’t stepped foot in the Gilded Thorn in over two years. Her family was disgraced, and she lost her title,” Luke replied. “It was huge news, but you didn’t know it. Which tells me that you don’t get out often.”
“Or maybe I don’t have much contact with the fey.”
Luke snorted. “Everyone at your level does.”
Luke was right about that, and he was also right that Clint was a little out of the loop. That hadn’t seemed like a bad thing until earlier tonight.
Finding Valgaruz’s prison without Luke was possible, but he was connected to the theft, though unwittingly, and he had information that Clint didn’t. Clint could bust in doors all over Chicago until he found more clues, or he could convince Luke to help him.
Working together would mean having to trust him.
Trust led to betrayal.
Not every time. Bastian is a good apprentice.
You’ve had others in the past. Not everyone in the world has rot in their heart like Sloane did.
Clint stroked his beard. Posturing wasn’t only a vampire’s prerogative.
He had to maintain control, which started with the appearance of brooding confidence.
“My priority is locating Valgaruz’s prison. ”
“Because you’re scared that the thieves are going to let him out and he’ll come for you?” Luke asked.
“I’m certain revenge would be on his to-do list, but I’m more worried about the threat he presents to the world,” Clint explained. “When I captured him, he was in the midst of creating a domain in our reality. He had a cult empowering him.”
“What kind of entity is he?”
“An incubus.”
“So he was attempting to make a sex club? Doesn’t sound too bad.”
“Incubi—and succubi, for that matter—care about more than physical desire. Incubi feed from heightening a victim’s submissive desires.
They can turn the most stubborn mortals into their playthings if given the time, but they can’t remain in our world without an anchor.
Usually, that’s a person, but Valgaruz—”
“Was attempting to create a place,” Luke finished. “Why didn’t you send him back to Hell?”
“Because he had people willing to resummon him to our plane,” Clint replied.
“I can see your problem. If he gets out, he’ll pick up where he left off and include slitting your throat.”
“If I’m lucky.” Clint picked up his tea and took a long sip of it. The extra zing in it helped clear his mind of the edges of exhaustion that had been working their way in. “How much do you owe Dawnshadow?”
“Two hundred thousand dollars.”
An easy enough sum for Clint to pay off. “I’ll pay your debt if you help me recover Valgaruz.”
Luke tilted his head to the side and frowned. “That’s all I have to do?”
“We’ve already battled four mages. We may have to deal with a whole cult and possibly an angry demon if we don’t move fast enough,” Clint replied.
“You’re right. I think I should ask for more,” Luke said.
“I am forgiving you for the attempted theft.”
“Fair point. I accept your deal, though I retain the right to save my own skin ahead of yours.”
“I understand.” Clint finished his tea. As he set it down, he smirked. “Of course, a dead man has a hard time writing a check.”
“True, but a dead man’s treasure—”
“Is in a tower designed to go into lockdown until his apprentice arrives to claim it. Even a vial of Stills water wouldn’t clear all the traps, assuming you could find them,” Clint said.
Luke opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, then sighed. “I’ll just hope that you aren’t in mortal peril at any point in our mission.”
“I can share that hope.” Clint held out his hand toward the golden ball and gave the command word for release. “Elef!”
The thread rippled and unwound from Luke. It spun back into the golden ball, which then rolled to Clint’s foot. Luke stood and stretched. “About time.”
“Don’t sound grateful yet,” Clint said as he also stood. “First, I get dressed. Then you take me to whichever broker gave you the information for your job.”
“But—”
“The broker is our best lead.” Clint tapped his staff on the floor before he headed for the door to the stairwell. “You want my money? You’ll assist my investigation as I see fit.”
Luke groaned, but he fell into step behind Clint.
A slight grin threatened to tug up the corner of Clint’s lip. I’ve had worse allies.