Chapter 5
“Your name.”
“No.”
The chair creaked.
Rayna’s eyes narrowed.
“I’ll ask again,” she said, arms folded, one brow arched so high it could've auditioned for Cirque du Soleil. “Your name?”
The man swallowed, sweat dotting his temple. “Steve.”
Creeeeak.
Rayna turned to Joell without looking away from him. “You hear that?”
“Oh yeah,” Joell said, casually examining her nails. “That chair doesn’t lie.”
“Which is more than I can say for ‘Steve’.”
“Okay, okay,” the man said quickly. “It’s, uh… Jasper.”
“Jasper, what?”
“Jasper Klepper.”
The chair remained quiet.
Rayna nodded. “Much better. Now we’re all friends.”
Jasper didn’t look like he felt particularly befriended. His eyes darted between the two women, calculating, looking for an exit that didn’t exist. The chair, high-backed, heavy, carved from dark wood, and bound with enchantments, held him tight.
Rayna leaned forward just enough to be unnerving. “Why were you following me?”
“I told you. I was just…”
Creeeak.
“Let me finish!” he snapped. “I was going to say—”
Creeeeeaaaak.
“You were going to lie.” Rayna folded her arms.
Joell raised a brow. “If you were hoping to make a good impression, you might want to start by not yelling at a High Priestess.”
Jasper paled. “Wait. High Priestess?”
Rayna smiled, slow and dangerous. “Surprise.”
“Actually,” Joell said, “Many of us are high priestesses here.”
“Many? How many of you are there?”
“We’ll be asking the questions. Unless you don’t care if we send you back to your boss without your memory.”
“Uh…” He looked back and forth between them. “Can you do that?”
The witches raised their eyebrows and gazed at each other, as if he were daring them to carry out the threat.
“I… Never mind. I really don’t want my memories erased.”
“Good.” Joell crossed her arms and glared at him. “Now, spill it. Who are you working for?”
“I don’t know his name. Some creepy guy.”
“Describe him,” Rayna demanded.
“Uh, he was tallish and thinnish.”
“Well, that’s useless-ish,” Joell said. “Be more specific.”
Jasper licked his lips. “Okay. He wore a coat. Long. Black. Kinda dramatic. Looked like he watched The Matrix one too many times.”
Rayna and Joell exchanged a glance.
“Hair?” Rayna prompted.
“Brown, I think? Maybe dark blonde? It was slicked back. Gelled within an inch of its life.”
“Eyes?”
Jasper hesitated. “Weird. Like… not just one color. More like… they changed. Sometimes hazel, then glowing with a gold color. Sometimes… Look, I don’t do magic, okay? I just follow people and take notes.”
Rayna snorted. “You’re not doing great at either.”
“I didn’t know who you were! I thought you were just some eccentric writer!”
Creeeak.
“Okay!” he squeaked. “I might’ve known you were more than that. He said you were dangerous. That you’d been flagged.”
Rayna’s voice turned glacial. “Flagged for what?”
“I don’t know. Honest. Something about past lives? Or timelines? He said you were ‘an abnormal.’”
Rayna blinked. “That’s a new one.”
Joell rolled her eyes. “Add it to the bingo card. Right next to ‘alien menace’ and ‘women’s interference unit.’”
Jasper held up his hands. “I’m just a messenger! He paid me to follow you and report back. That’s it. I didn’t sign up for truth chairs or terrifying girl bosses.”
Rayna leaned back, fingers steepled. “Did he say what he wanted from me?”
Jasper hesitated.
Creeeak.
“He said…” Jasper swallowed. “He said if you got too close to something… Something called the Echo blaster? He’d have to intervene personally.”
Joell sat up straighter. “Echo blaster? That sounds like—”
“I know what it sounds like,” Rayna said quietly.
Jasper looked between them, panicked. “I don’t know what it means! I swear.”
Rayna rose. She circled behind Jasper slowly.
“Here’s what’s going to happen, Jasper,” she said softly.
“You’re going to stay right here. We’re going to have a little chat with our friends, and they might want to dig into your memories, with your mandated permission.
Then, if you’re a good boy, we’ll let you go, because honestly, you’re not important enough for us to keep you around. ”
Jasper swallowed. “Right. Sure. Whatever you need.”
“And if you’re lying about anything…” She imitated the chair. “Creeeeeeak.”
“We’ll know, and you won’t like the result,” Joell added, since he didn’t seem smart enough to extrapolate.
Rayna walked to the door, Joell trailing her.
“Wait!” Jasper called. “Who are you people?”
Rayna paused. Glanced over her shoulder.
“Justice,” she said. “And it’s not looking good for your boss.”
She opened the door.
And there stood Major Payne.
“Well,” she said, deadpan. “Speak of the devil…”
“I hope you don’t mind my letting him in,” Lioness said. “He said he was a friend of yours.”
Rayna laughed. “Well, that’s a stretch. How did you find us?”
“With some very sophisticated technology,” Payne admitted. “And, by the way, I’m not the devil.”
“Okay,” Rayna said. “Then why did you ask your lackey to follow us and report back to you?”
“My lackey? He was following both of us, remember?”
“Then why did he only chase after me when we split up?”
“I guess you’re just more interesting than I am.”
Lioness let out a loud laugh. “You’d have to be astonishing to be more interesting than any one of us!”
Rayna gave Payne a long, skeptical once-over. “Did you come all this way to flatter me, or are we gonna skip to the part where you finally admit what you're doing here?”
He held up both hands. “Truce. I just want to talk.”
Rayna turned to Lioness. “Keep an eye on our new friend in the chair, okay?”
“With pleasure,” Lioness said, cracking her knuckles.
Rayna turned and walked away, not waiting to see if Payne followed. He did, of course, like a well-trained dog in Kevlar.
They entered the kitchen. It was a massive, sun-drenched space that somehow managed to be both charming and restaurant quality, with a touch of supernatural swagger.
Cast-iron pans hung like medieval weapons above a long butcher-block island, with several knives at the ready.
And the espresso machine looked like it could launch missiles if you pressed the wrong button.
Rayna gestured to a stool. “Sit. But don’t get comfortable.” She waved her hand over the espresso machine, and it whirred to life.
Payne eased onto the stool. “Are you always this warm and welcoming?”
“Only on Sundays. And only for people who don’t show up on the heels of a mystery stalker and cryptic threats about an Echo blaster.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I was hoping I’d have more time to dive into this ambiguity and have something to share with you before you did something impulsive.”
Rayna opened a cabinet, pulled out two mugs, and poured herself a cup of coffee. She didn’t ask him how he took it. She just set a mug of strong black coffee in front of him, just the way he liked it.
“You clearly don’t know me at all,” she said.
He raised an eyebrow. “That’s the thing. I think I’m supposed to.”
Rayna sipped. “Explain.”
Payne leaned forward slightly. “There’s a file on you. It’s been buried in the paranormal unit’s restricted archives since before I joined. Redacted to hell. I only stumbled across it because your name popped up in a predictive surveillance sweep.”
“A what now?”
“Magic-adjacent behavior tracking. It’s usually crap. Flagged someone last week for burning too many candles.”
“I like candles,” Rayna said. “Sue me.”
“I’m not judging. I’m saying, your name came up. And then this guy, Jasper, pops up on our radar too. We had a photo, and he had a face no one would recognize, including the FBI. Independently, I tracked him here. He just happened to be with you.”
“Lucky me.”
“I think someone’s trying to set us up, Rayna. You, me, maybe your whole organization.”
Rayna set down her mug, her expression sharpening. “Why?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out. But I’ve got a feeling it starts with this Magical Echo Blaster thing.”
Rayna leaned on the counter. “You don’t even know what it is.”
“Nope. And that upsets me.”
Rayna studied him for a beat longer than was polite. “Alright, Major. Let’s say I believe you. Let’s say we’re both pawns in somebody else’s game. You want to team up?”
“I’m not in the habit of teaming up with witches who threaten to memory-wipe people in their living rooms.”
“Well, I’m not in the habit of teaming up with trigger-happy military men who show up uninvited. But here we are.”
They stared at each other, two suspicious animals circling the same fire.
Finally, Payne nodded once. “Alright. I offer a truce.”
Rayna extended her hand. “Temporary truce,” she said.
He shook her hand. “I’ll take it.”
From the hallway, Lioness called, “Hey! Your guy’s trying to chew through the truth chair.”
Rayna rolled her eyes. “Of course he is.”
“Have you tried torture yet?” Payne asked.
“Only our typical brand of intimidation. Why? You want in on any future torture?”
“Not really. I just wondered how far you and your organization are willing to go to get the information you need. And, by the way, what’s the name of your organization?”
“As you would say, that’s classified.”
“Not for long. If you want to work together, I need to know who I’m dealing with.”
She let out a long-suffering sigh. “Fine. We’re known as the L.A.W. The league of amazing witches.”
“I knew you were a witch. It fits.”
She gave him the side-eye.
“I’m talking about a magical being,” he said. “Not the insult you’re thinking I might mean.”
“Good. Then, yes. I’m a witch. I’d say ‘at your service’, but that would be a lie.”
“I don’t think your man-pets are supernatural, right?”
“Correct. They are tough, talented men who are loyal and a joy to have around.”
“Isn’t calling them ‘pets’ a little… um, reverse chauvinistic?”
“Do you have any pets?”
“Not at the moment. I used to have a dog.”
“What kind?”
“An English setter. She was an amazing hunting dog.”
“Did you love her?”
“Very much.”
“Was she well-trained? Smart? Loyal?”
“Yes, all of those things.”
“Well. Michael and Daniel are all of those things too. And I love them, dearly, but don’t tell them that.”
Payne grinned and sipped his coffee. “Are you three physical?”
Rayna smirked and decided to play dumb until he embarrassed himself. “Sure. We train together every day.”
“I mean, you know…”
“I know? Why don’t you tell me what I know?”
He scratched his head. “You know what I’m asking. I know you do.”
She shrugged. “No. You’re being quite obtuse. Why don’t you just come out and ask me whatever it is you want to know?”
“Argh! Are you sleeping together?”
“Well... If we’re exhausted and wind up taking a nap in the grass.”
Major Payne threw his hands in the air. “Are you fucking one or both of them?”
She burst out laughing. “Did you fuck your dog?”
The major picked up his coffee mug, looked like he was going to pour it over her head, then his professionalism took over, and he set it in the sink and walked out.