Chapter 48 — Stay Incognito

  The rest of the day passed quickly as a steady flow of customers trickled in. The few times the store fell empty we completed various other tasks around the building. I got frustrated thinking of all the protective iron enclosures I could make for store cameras, a card reader, or a landline phone, if I had the tools, the skills, time, and the money to make them. I’d had these ideas before, but I hadn’t been as devoted to making them happen. I’d been content to live life, enjoy my time, work the shop, and hope it grew.

  Now I was, on a whole new level.

  I thought about having the fencing company make me hallowed-out iron tubes I could cover wires with to help protect the power to more sensitive electronics. It would take an insane amount of work, but it might be enough to protect them. I would also need to carve protection circles in them and inlay those with silver or something else I could imbue with magic shielding to further reinforce them as dissipated magical energies could still damage the components inside overtime if all I did was cover them in iron.

  I frowned, gritting my teeth. Making my shop the way I wanted, and the gear I wanted along with it was going to take a long time, but then I would have it indefinitely. I would get better and faster at atificery. My plans could seed ideas for others and help speed up the process.

  There were others who could build what I needed. Svart elves, dwarves, and perhaps a few older wizards who had picked up the knack. I was sure the Tribunal didn’t have a complete monopoly. Unfortunately, the cost to work with the first two groups would be immense, and likely not entirely paid in money. Favors were the preferred binding payments of many races. My favors wouldn’t be worth much, and the cost of so many things might mean I’d have to dedicate ten years in service to some tribe of dwarves in the fae to come out even. All to shield a few devices in my shop. I also had Lana and Fren in my life and I couldn’t abandon everything and leave for years to pay a debt like that.

  That made me think about the silver ring. I could use the ring to diminish my aura, my power, and thereby protect everything around me. I’d rather it be for a weapon or a shield, but that was an option. Only making it restrict my power was an insane thing to do. Without my aura, I would be defenseless in many ways. If a creature attacked and I didn’t have access to magic readily… I was toast.

  Attacks like that were rare, excluding the past few days, but they did happen. I had a core inside me, just like the fae creatures Fren had stripped. That core could fuel someone else’s power if I were killed. I’d never considered it before, but it made sense. Wizards would be a great resource to grow stronger for anything willing to take up that fight. I knew one of the tribunal's laws was death to anyone and anything that killed a wizard. I wondered if that was why? It would serve to conceal our own value as a resource from other entities.

  I thanked Kate as the last of our customers left near closing time.

  “I’m going to get something officially drafted up, to encapsulate our partnership. Make it all legal, official, and above board.” I said, “You are amazing, and I can’t think of a better partner.”

  Kate’s face flushed, “I actually already found something online and printed it off.”

  “For real? When?”

  “Late last night. I couldn’t stop thinking about how exciting this all is.”

  “Well, let’s make this official then.”

  Kate pulled out a document, and I read through it. Wizard training included a lot about reading contracts, in preparation for ones dealing with other races where if you signed the wrong agreement, you could lose your soul.

  Clair had been extremely adamant I learn how to deal with creatures who delt in contracts. It translated well to ‘legalese’, and I quickly approved of what Kate had found. The store itself wasn’t involved, though the online business proceeds would be split 50/50 after all expenses were covered as well as a generous percentage being saved for business expansion, growth, and acquisition of new product and tools.

  The document was thorough, and I found myself amazed at Kate’s forethought. “You really thought this all through?”

  “I had some ideas from my class. And I have friends that have started businesses together but nothing as big as this. Do… do you like it?”

  “It’s literally perfect.” I gave her a serious look, “I hope the store can grow online, but I can’t make any guarantees. This whole thing could flop, but I think it has a good chance.”

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  “So do I,” Kate said. “I think inside a year the online store will outsell this one.”

  “Really?” I said, hoping it was true. That might fix many of the money issues I was having. And I hoped it would fix them for Kate too.

  Agreeing with everything on the contract, I signed. “Business partners.” I said, a stupid grin on my face.

  Kate was clearly excited too, “Business partners.” She said as she signed the document, then we shook hands. “Now that we are, we may need to discuss ways to ramp up storage and how many rocks we have on hand to meet demand.”

  I laughed, “Alright, down to business. Make sure you take a deep breath now that this shop is yours as much as it is mine.”

  “I already feel that way. But we need to get down to business. With the news covering the break in and influencers coming in we have followers all over the world. There’s already been people asking for an online purchase option. Be prepared to join the 21st century.”

  I wanted to swear, but I was also excited. Shielding the store and crafting items to help my control, despite the risks, might be what I had to do. If the money started trickling in, I might just be able to make it all work.

  “Let’s do it,” I said. “I’ll have to show you the downstairs soon. Then we can plan out what we’ll need.”

  “Really!” Kate said, bouncing, “I’ve always wondered what it looks like down there and I love old buildings. It’s also weirded this inner wall doesn’t match the walls outside? I’ve wondered if there is an old abandoned staircase or something that goes to the roof.”

  “Wow. I don’t think anyone has noticed that before, at least that I know of,” I said. “It’s not a staircase, it’s something even cooler.”

  “I was a little jealous you took Lana down there,” Kate said in jest. “I mean, I’ve seen your room, but never the basement. No one has.”

  “Yeah? I’m sorry to have made you feel that way. The basement… it’s going to take a few explanations.”

  She looked at me quizzically, “As long as it’s not full of bodies or something, I’m on board.”

  She said it as a joke and I smiled, but I had had bodies down there. When I killed something and wanted its core—without Fren’s assistance. I took the bodies down into my amplification circle. I could do the spell without, but there was a chance the core would be corrupted, damaged, or broken, and it would lose some of its power. It was the most frustrating thing to destroy some dark creature and not get the loot that made me more powerful.

  “Soon you’ll know all,” I said mysteriously. “And there are no bodies down there right now,” I added with a smile.

  She laughed, “And no dark leather kinky stuff either?”

  My eyebrows raised as she laughed harder, covering her mouth at my surprise. “—That’s what Rex says anytime he comes over and you’re in the basement and can’t be disturbed.”

  I swallowed hard. Flipping Rex and his dirty mind.

  “I need to clean up a few things but there should be plenty of room for extra storage and to place we can package and store supplies for the online shop. The rest will take some explanation.” I tried not to sound too worried, especially after what she’d suggested.

  “Excellent,” Kate said, grabbing her purse and heading out the back door of the shop. I cracked my neck and tried to avoid thinking about how she might react to the full truth. It might help to have Lana there; she could bridge gaps and catch social cues I missed. Fren could remain in his tree form. If it went well, I could maybe even tell her I was a wizard… maybe.

  I cleaned up the few waste bins in the store. We didn’t have a lot of waste internally, but people threw out drinks, receipts, and other trash. I saw a newspaper which showed the killings as the front cover story. I would have pulled it out to read it, but it was wet from a smoothie or shake.

  I bundled up the trash bags and headed out the back door to the industrial trash bin I shared with the next three stores. It would be emptied tomorrow, so I wanted to toss what I had out.

  It was sunny, the air cool, but it felt nice. I tossed the bags up and over the enclosure around the bin, the bins lid propped up on one side and clearly open. Then I turned to walk back. As I did, I saw a black mustang parked at the far end of the alley.

  It was empty.

  I grit my teeth. There were seekers nearby and I didn’t know where or why. The back of my neck started to itch, and I readied my will for a shield. I hoped the police would have taken care of them, but they clearly got off or hadn’t been spotted yet.

  I walked carefully towards my shop door but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in the back alley. Before going in, I whispered to one of the plants that grew next to the door in the alleyway. “Fren, is anyone inside?”

  One of the highest leaves twisted side to side, in a ‘no’. Then stopped. Before my anxiety could fully pass, it tilted up and down in the universal ‘yes’ sign.

  “Did you just changed your mind about that information?”

  The plant remained completely still.

  “Did they just get inside?”

  The plant nodded again, briskly as if to say I was the problem in the way I asked my questions. I swore. I’d locked the front door before taking the trash out, so they’d broken in. That meant they intended harm.

  I thought about my options. I could loose Fren on them, but there was a chance they would have iron weapons, and he was already weakened. If I sicked Fren on them it would also reveal my friend to the seekers. To ensure both of our safety I’d have to kill them. Fren’s power right now was too weak to trust him for long term confinement of the pair or even catching and holding the two reliably if they had tricks up their sleeves. As much as Fren liked propagation, if he fought it was to kill. He didn’t allow enemies to come at him a second time. While I didn’t like the seekers that didn’t mean they deserved death. They might even be useful. I’d never killed a human and didn’t want to start today, even with these assholes.

  “Be ready to help, but for now, stay incognito.” I told the plant, assured that if anyone was watching me, they would be thoroughly convinced I was mad. That made me wonder what Kate, Rex, and the others had noticed without my awareness. I sighed, grabbed the door handle, and got ready to throw it open.