Chapter 22 #2
She rolled her eyes. “First, I want you to tell me why you’re so interested in scary shit. Angels and demons are nothing to fuck around with. Second, I want to start selling some stuff out of your apothecary. If you’re amenable.”
Well, the apothecary was already illegal, so it couldn’t hurt to carry a few more things. But there was a difference between illegal and deadly. “What kind of stuff?”
Cat grinned. “I’m an eclectic witch, but I seem to have a knack with tech. My brand of magic isn’t exactly popular with the big boys, so I can’t very well kick off a new magical phone brand and not expect to wind up in the river.”
“You want me to sell phones?”
“No. I want you to sell a router I came up with.”
“A router. Like for the Wi-Fi?”
Cat nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Exactly. But this one is for house protection. It acts as a normal router, but I inscribed the device with warding runes. It scrambles magical surveillance spells and prevents anyone from scrying your location while you’re within five hundred feet of the router.”
My house had built-in protections against scrying, thanks to mine and Edmund’s combined paranoia.
I could use magic inside the house, but the outside was protected with wards specifically made to prevent such spells.
Edmund kept them up automatically. On top of his wards, I’d also built a general purpose one that acted to repel direct magical attacks against the house.
I replenished them once every few months and had occasionally wondered if I still needed them, but Mom had so often emphasized magic’s potential risks to life and limb, I continued to do it. Just in case. Story of my life.
Cat’s invention could change surveillance as we knew it. “I don’t understand why you can’t sell that on your own. It sounds amazing.”
Our drinks came. Cat was right. This was the best espresso martini I’d ever had. My face must have shown my amazement.
“Told you. Best in the city.” Cat took another sip and sighed. “To answer your question, no one thinks there’s a market for a device like this. I’ve been to four separate places and several investors, and they all think it’s too niche.”
“You’re sure the device works?” Seemed odd no one had an interest unless…
“Have you given out the specs to any of those companies?”
She shook her head. “Nope. They’ve all asked me for them. For someone with no interest, it doesn’t make sense they’d want them, right?”
“Right.” Turning someone down and then asking for extra info on the product sounded shady.
“To answer your other question, I tested them multiple times. They all work like a charm. And it does more than what I just said, but I’ll email you an info sheet if you’re interested.”
My mind was whirring with possibility, but there was something still bothering me. “The device doesn’t sound exactly legal,” I hedged.
Cat’s lips twisted. “No, but it’s only gray market, considering magical law enforcement uses scrying when they’re hunting suspects.”
I grimaced. “Forgot about that.”
“But it can also be used for good. This device will stop stalkers in their tracks. If someone attempts to hack into a network where this is installed, a virus will upload into their devices, and it will leak their information to the owner of the router.”
“Double whammy,” I said. “You stop the scrying, but you also know who’s trying to find you. Huh. That’s incredible, Cat.”
She waved her hand. “Yes, yes, I’m a genius. Tell that to the loser investors who turn me down.”
“How much do you want to sell them for?” I wasn’t opposed to carrying the routers, but it would require more specialized shipping.
“Seven hundred a piece.”
I choked on my martini. “What?!”
Cat snorted. “The equipment is highly specialized. I can only make a few at a time, and the process takes months.”
“Sure. I can stock them. Just have one of the couriers drop them.”
Cat shook her head. “No. I’ll handle shipping on my end. I just need the listing on your apothecary site. I’m willing to offer a seventy-thirty split.”
I blinked. “Done.”
Cat grinned and clinked our glasses together. “I’ll email you the specifics later. Glad to be in business together once more.”
The ride home was uneventful, but while I was on my way back, my phone rang once, then stopped, rang one more time, stopping abruptly again, then a text came in, all from the house.
Edmund could text and call me when he needed to, but it took a lot of effort, and he usually refrained from doing so unless it was an emergency.
I pulled over to the shoulder and checked my phone. All the text said was Sta—before being cut off.
Something was wrong. I called the house, but my answering machine picked up before the first ring went through. Either the Wi-Fi was down, or someone had cut the lines.
“Don’t be overdramatic,” I whispered to myself. The Wi-Fi went down enough to be a nuisance, so that wasn’t out of the ordinary. Cutting the lines was something right out of the movies.
Beckett surely wasn’t methodical enough to do such a thing. He was a creature driven by instinct and need. He saw, he wanted, he took.
I tried calling the house again to no avail. Cursing under my breath, I pulled off the shoulder and back into traffic, grinding the pedal to the floor. I was only twenty minutes away, but it felt like I was driving through quicksand.
Worry for Edmund urged me to drive faster. I knew he’d be fine. He was attached to the house, and as long as the house remained undamaged, the house spirit would surely be fine too. But if Beckett was there, if he was inside my house…
I shuddered. Sleep might be a long time coming if Beckett was there when I got home. Or maybe I’d be sleeping forever if things went sideways.
I pressed harder on the gas pedal.