Enchantress Under Pressure Read online

  “Shut up,” Axel said. He didn’t raise his voice, but instantly the woman quieted down. She even looked a bit abashed to have let Kendall antagonize her. Kendall, for her part, just looked smug. And perhaps still a little pissed.

  Axel looked at me. “Sorry. Janette’s new.”

  “No! Her? I’m shocked!” said Kendall with wide-eyed innocence. Sam snickered.

  Axel ignored them both. “We’ll deal with the body. And the police inquiries. And catching whoever did this.” His gaze lingered on me a bit longer than necessary.

  I swallowed. “You won’t find them. Now that the Union’s involved, they’ll be long gone. Geralt’s cult is powerful, but they got that way by avoiding fights they might lose.”

  “They will want to recover the body.”

  “Probably. But only if they think they have a good chance of success.”

  “They might want to recover something else, if they know it’s here.” He continued to watch me.

  I let my gaze drop. “If they sensed any magic being used, they’d assume it was just a local enchanter the Union had hired. They couldn’t have recognized me.”

  “Positive?”

  “Almost.”

  Axel inhaled and exhaled slowly. “No missions for you for a month. You’ll stay in the guest wing at HQ. We need our only enchantress.”

  “Um, hello?” said Sam, waving.

  He snorted. “Our only mature enchantress. You couldn’t handle a gang of drunken mouse shifters.”

  “Oh, you know those guys, too?” said Kendall.

  Axel started to turn away, but I spoke up. “What if more ghosts rise? You need me to draw out their magic. You can’t keep me locked up in headquarters.” My heart was racing. Geralt scared me, rightly so, but the thought of spending a month in a small room, trapped, captive ... it brought up unpleasant memories.

  With a sigh, Axel shook his head. “Ghosts are rare.”

  “Tell that to the three we stopped this week,” Desmond muttered.

  Frost returned to Axel’s tone. “We can handle it. We can’t handle losing her.”

  “Please,” I said. “At least let me stay at my own home.”

  He studied me, mouth set in a thin line. “Ask Harrow,” he said finally.

  “I’d rather not.”

  “Too bad. He wants to see you. Tonight.”

  “Someone else on the team can take the meeting,” said Desmond quickly.

  “Not your team, Reserve Desoto,” said Axel, somehow making Desmond’s rank sound like an insult. He jerked his bony chin in my direction. “Her.”

  My stomach clenched. Bane Harrow, legionnaire of the San Francisco Void Union, was not my favorite person. Not least because he was the only one preventing the rest of the Void Union from executing me at any given moment. If he wanted to talk to me, it was almost certainly to wring another concession out of me in exchange for that protection.

  “Fine,” I said, trying to sound stronger than I currently felt. “I need to get fixed up in your medical wing anyway. But Sam comes too.” I wasn’t about to leave my half-trained apprentice among a crowd of Voids.

  “Me too,” said Kendall.

  “And me,” said Desmond, meeting Axel’s glare defiantly. “Tell them to expect all four of us.”

  Axel grimaced. “Already did.”

  Chapter 3

  THE VOID UNION headquartered itself in a tall building at the edge of the San Francisco financial district. Kendall, Desmond, and I took up three spaces in the small parking structure, but at this time of night the business-filled street was deserted anyway.

  A sleek reception desk on a black-tiled floor faced us as we entered. Cassie the receptionist wasn’t working so late. Just as well. Her smile was as fake as the rest of the office’s appearance, there to fool the normals into thinking Standard Systems Ltd. was more than a front company.

  Bane Harrow’s office was on the top floor. The building contained multiple stories of empty cubicles and unstaffed computers, again to keep up appearances. Some areas hosted actual Union operations. I knew at least one wing served as a prison. And they kept other, more disturbing things here, too. It seemed such a secret organization should operate out of an underground lair, but you couldn’t build deep basements in earthquake-prone California. Even the Voids would die if a concrete ceiling fell on them.

  Before I could see what Bane Harrow wanted with me, we stopped at the Union’s medical wing. The elevator ride took a moment, so I seized the opportunity to chat. “Seems Axel’s still mad at us.”

  I felt more than saw Desmond grimace. “At me, you mean.”

  “You’d think he’d be over it,” said Kendall, “since we’re all working together now. Palsy-walsy, that’s us.”

  “It’s only been a few months since I sided with Adrienne over the Union,” Desmond said quietly. “They see it as a betrayal. It was a betrayal.”

  I slipped my hand into his and squeezed. His thumb circled the back of my hand, sending a warm tingle through my body. Before I could ask the question, he looked down at me. “No, I don’t regret it.”

  I smiled at him and tugged gently on his shirt collar until he bent and kissed me, lips soft and tender. Butterflies soared out of my stomach, a reaction I thought I’d be over by now. But each moment we embraced, each time we comforted each other, still made my heart swell. Yet thoughts of our earlier conversation echoed in my head. Where were we going, as a couple? Did the discovery of the corpse change things? A few months ago, I’d have said yes. Hell, a few months ago I’d have already started packing to run. But now ... now I didn’t have answers.

  Desmond felt my kisses falter and pulled back, frowning.

  I was rescued from having to say anything when the doors opened. As we separated, I saw that Kendall was staunchly facing the elevator wall. “Is it kid-friendly in here again?” she asked over her shoulder.

  A blush rose to my cheeks. “Sorry.”

  Kendall turned, flashing a teasing smile. “No, don’t apologize. It wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable or weirdly timed or oddly placed at all.”

  Sam grimaced on the opposite side of the elevator. “Let’s just get done with this so you two can have some alone time.”

  We stepped out onto the Union’s hospital floor. It was an open space, tiled in white and lined with a dozen hospital beds separated by curtains. At the moment, the beds were empty. A small office area sat in one corner by the entrance. At the far end of the floor, walls sectioned off two small surgical wards and a pair of private recovery rooms. Voids, like enchanters, could form at any age, so some Union members were already doctors and nurses before manifesting their immunity to magic. The Union got its claws into all Voids, providing them a well-staffed doctor’s office.

  The doctor on duty sat at the desk, classy thin-framed glasses perched on a pointy nose. She had sepia-brown skin, her hair in thin braids. On her lab coat pocket, an embroidered green and gold heart enclosed several sets of cursive initials in tiny stitching. She looked up as we entered, and took a sharp breath. “You must be our enchantress.”

  My jaw tightened. “I don’t want trouble. Bane Harrow wants to talk to me, but I need–”

  “Don’t misread me,” said the doctor, rising with a warm smile. “I’m Doctor Tamika Richards. Trauma surgeon. And I for one agree with Harrow’s decision to start working together with other paranormals. It’s about damn time.”

  Surprised, I shook her hand. She had a warm, firm grip. “Thanks.”

  “It’s just basic decency.” She patted my arm with her other hand. Unfortunately she did so right where the ghost had cut me. I hissed before I could help it.

  “Ooh, I’m sorry,” said Dr. Richards, stepping closer and gently turning my wounded arm over. Blood had started to soak through the spare shirt I’d tied there as a makeshift bandage. The doctor removed the shirt and studied the gashes left by the ghost. “Quasi-solid paranormal attack?”

  “Ghost,” I confirmed.

  “Any nau
sea or vomiting?”

  “Not from this.”

  “Dizziness?”

  “No.”

  “Double vision?”

  “No.”

  “Then you probably don’t have grave poisoning.”

  “What’s that?” asked Kendall.

  “A generic name for illnesses sometimes caused when the body tries to heal a magical wound.” The doctor shepherded me to the closest bed. “Lie down. I’ll patch you right up.”

  “Him, too,” I said, nodding toward Desmond.

  Dr. Richards glanced back at Desmond, who grimaced and tugged off his sweatshirt to reveal welts the ghost had raised all over his arms.

  “You two have had a night,” said the doctor, pursing her lips. “I imagine with how strong a Void you are, I don’t need to ask about other symptoms?”

  Desmond shook his head. “I feel fine.”

  “I’m going to look at you anyway, but you’ll probably heal on your own.”

  I eased myself onto the bed. The moment my weight left my legs, my body sagged, as if sensing it could finally come off of high alert. I decided against lying down, afraid I might fall asleep from sheer fatigue.

  Not yet, I thought wearily. There was a bit more to do tonight. I pointed to my apprentice lurking near the elevator. “You actually have three patients. Sam fought, too.”

  “I’m fine,” Sam said quickly. “The ghost didn’t get me.”

  Dr. Richards arched an eyebrow. “You seem awfully sure of that.”

  “I am.”

  “I don’t see any obvious wounds, but you might want me to check you out anyway. Magical attacks can be subtle.”

  Sam didn’t budge. “I’d rather not have a Void inspecting me, if it’s all the same.”

  “Sam!” I glared at her.

  Dr. Richards held up a hand. “It’s all right. Most of our people would feel the same about an enchantress doctor. I’ll just count it as a plus that we’re all in the same room and nobody’s tried to kill anybody else yet.”

  “Sam, I saw the ghost slash at you,” I said.

  Sam shook her head. “She didn’t get my skin.” As she held out her bare arms, I saw that she told the truth.

  She waited by the door while the doctor sterilized and bandaged my cuts and Desmond’s welts. Kendall wandered around the floor, poking her head into every vacant curtained area, though she heeded Dr. Richards’ warning not to touch anything. The doctor worked quickly, raising her eyebrows at Desmond’s lack of serious injury despite his landscape of scrapes and bruises, and clucking her tongue softly as she studied my wounds. Thankfully the ghost hadn’t cut me near my heart, or she’d have seen my enchantment tattoo. I wasn’t sure how many Voids knew about that, but I had no desire to go flaunting it.

  Once the bandages secured our injuries and the numbing medicine had made my arm stop pulsing with heat, I shook the doctor’s hand again. “Thank you. For giving me a chance.”

  She dipped her head in a respectful nod. “No more than we all deserve. I hope to see you again. Though maybe in a less professional sense.” She gave Desmond an equally friendly farewell, which seemed to surprise him. Apparently not all the Voids considered him a traitor.

  Once we returned to the elevator, Desmond pushed the button for the top floor. He tried to lean against the wall, adopting a posture of ease, but he kept fidgeting and shifting his weight to the balls of his feet.

  “It’ll be okay,” I said as the doors slid closed.

  Desmond bit his lip guiltily. “I know. I’m not nervous.”

  “Liar.”

  “Okay, I’m trying not to be nervous. I don’t want to make things worse. This has to be ten times harder for you than for me.”

  “I’m actually okay,” I said.

  Desmond frowned. “I can’t tell if that’s the truth.”

  “It is. I promise.”

  “Sometimes I wish I could lie as well as you. It would make life easier.”

  “No, you don’t,” I said. I hooked my arm through his and leaned my head against his shoulder. Whether or not I felt certain about the future, he needed my support. “I like how you suck at lying. It makes it easy to trust you.”

  “Tell that to Axel,” Desmond muttered.

  As the elevator rumbled us upward, I checked on my other two friends, standing on opposite sides of the elevator. Kendall could feign indifference at her own funeral, but Sam fidgeted, glancing up at the ceiling as if searching for something.

  “It’s still not there,” I said softly.

  She jumped. “What?”

  “Magic. You can’t feel it here. Too many Voids around. You do this every time we’re here.”

  Visibly embarrassed, Sam fiddled with a silvery bracelet on her wrist. “It feels so weird. Like part of my brain is missing.”

  “You mean another part?” quipped Kendall.

  Sam glared at her.

  “Savor it while you can,” I told Sam. “The pounding will be back soon enough.”

  She frowned at me. “You like this? The silence? The emptiness?”

  “It feels weird, but it’s a nice break from the pressure.”

  Incredulous, Sam shook her head. “You’re nuts.” She folded her arms, and her bracelet rotated to expose a section tarnished black.

  I slammed my hand against the elevator’s stop button, freezing us between floors. The sharp movement made my wounds pull, but I had no thought to spare for the sudden ache. “Show me the bracelet,” I ordered Sam.

  She jumped. “What? I don’t–”

  “Now.”

  Swallowing, she slid the metal band off her wrist and passed it over. I turned it so the black tarnish showed once more. “Desmond, I need your–”

  Good man that he was, he already knew what I wanted. His dark eyes fixed sharply on the bracelet as he drew his silver-tipped knife and held it out. The black tarnish on the blade was identical to that on the bracelet.

  “The ghost did try to slash you,” I said to Sam. “But this stopped her. This is real silver.”

  She wouldn’t meet my eyes.

  “Where did you get it?”

  “Home.”

  “Don’t lie to me. Your dad doesn’t have enough money for something like this, and even if he did, he’d never let you sneak off with it.”

  Sam swallowed. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “You stole it.”

  “I ...”

  “You’ve been shoplifting again.”

  “Nobody saw!” Sam folded her arms again, this time stubbornly. “And I didn’t mean to. I was at the fashion fair in Golden Gate Park and there was this table display, and the guard got distracted by some vagrant peeing in the bushes, and the bracelet was right there. I just ... I thought maybe it would hold enchantments better. It’s not like it’s that expensive. The guy wouldn’t have left it sitting there if it was.”

  “Sam.” I sighed, closing my eyes and leaning my head against the elevator wall. The bracelet felt heavy in my fingers. “You’re going to return it.”

  “I don’t even know which vendor it came from!”

  “Then you’re going to call every jeweler in the city until you figure out who owns this, and you give it back to them. I’m serious about training you, Sam. Both magically and morally. If you’re going to wield magic responsibly, you have to stop behavior like this. It’ll get you killed one day.”

  A sulky pout twisted her mouth, but she dropped her gaze and nodded. “I’ll do better,” she said softly. “Please don’t abandon me.”

  “I’m not going to abandon you, Sam. You should know that by now.”

  She flashed me a quick, searching look, before dropping her gaze again. “Sorry.”

  I handed her the bracelet and let the matter drop. “You stay outside while I talk to Harrow.”

  “But ...”

  “We don’t need you under his eye, too.”

  Her sulk deepened. “Fine.”

  “Desmond, can you stay with her?” While I wanted
Desmond with me, he’d respond badly to anything Harrow said that sounded threatening. The last thing I needed was my boyfriend assaulting his boss.

  Desmond did his own bit of sulking, but nodded. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t sneak off with any of the computers.”

  Sam rolled her eyes. “You can’t sneak off with a desktop computer.”

  “One of my dorm mates did, actually,” said Kendall brightly. “In freshman year. Remind me to tell you about it sometime.”

  With that I punched the button to set the elevator moving again.

  When the doors opened on the top floor, Bane Harrow was waiting.

  I froze for a second. I’d expected him to be in his office, but he stood just a few paces outside the elevator, smiling like he’d accidentally been coming this way. He wasn’t a large man, but what stature he did have was packed with lean muscle. Grey flecked his hair, which was cropped short over ears with the permanent puffy look common to boxers. His skin was light, his features angular. “Adrienne,” he said, as if we were friends. His smile didn’t reach his icy grey eyes. “I see you brought your entourage.” His gaze lit on Sam. “How is your apprenticeship progressing, young lady?”

  Sam swallowed. “Fine.”

  “Did you assist in disenchanting this most recent ghost?”

  “Kinda.”

  “Remarkable. For someone who’s only just come into her powers, you show great potential.”

  “Leave her alone, Harrow,” I said. “You have one pet enchantress. If you start looking at others I might get jealous.”

  With a laugh that sounded rehearsed, he held out a hand toward the walled-off corner office down an aisle of empty cubicles. “Please. Let’s talk.”

  Kendall and I went first, Harrow following. Desmond stood against the wall by the elevator, and Sam took a seat in one of the office chairs, looking troubled.

  “Did she truly help against the ghost?” Harrow asked.

  “She wasn’t supposed to,” I said. “But yes.”

  “Impressive. That young woman is going places.”

  “Yeah,” muttered Kendall so only I could hear. “One of them might be jail.”

  Harrow unlocked his office door and then stopped. “I’m afraid your shifter friend must wait outside. This meeting is of a sensitive nature.”