Generally speaking, the rule is ‘Finders keepers.’ Therefore, it is a bit off-putting when what is found decides to do the keeping.

  At least it keeps one on their toes…

  I cut the engine of the Ninja early, unwilling to alert anything to my presence that I didn’t have to, and coasted in until I had to walk it the rest of the way. I tucked it into a dark shadow against the warehouse, hoped it didn’t vanish like my Civic, and headed for the door. I couldn’t hear anything, but that didn’t mean it was empty. And I didn’t dare use my ‘sounding’ trick, because that would light him up like the proverbial Christmas tree.

  It was easy to get inside quietly, and I slipped into the darkness against the wall, waiting there for my eyes to adjust. Unlike some, I didn’t have magical night vision or a handy way to do anything other than stumble around in the dark. I’d just have to wait until I could start making out details.

  It took a few minutes before I could see anything beside me, and another interminably long time before I learned that a large metal barrel was what I was seeing. It was big enough that knocking into it would have made me react, and then I would have given myself away. I thanked myself for waiting, and then eased around it, heading for the back of the warehouse.

  There was a room in the back, though it was up a rather rickety looking flight of metal stairs, and I knew that I didn’t want to creep my way up those. One wrong step and the whole thing looked as if it would go crashing to the concrete floor, let alone clatter and make more noise than a raccoon in a trash can, and if you’ve ever heard that, you know how loud it is.

  I had enough air magic flowing to get me airborne, up to the landing outside the room, and to deposit me carefully on the door mat, so any noise was hopefully muffled. It was reflex that held my breath for thirty seconds while I made sure that nothing was going to come flying out the door with intent to kill. Nothing did, so I started breathing again, and belatedly realized that the entire time I’d been standing there, that which was within the room could see me. And it was one very frantic young woman with dark hair. Sometimes I was just damned lucky my head didn’t fall off my shoulders for stupidity. At least I’d found Kelly’s sister.

  I opened the door to the room and stepped inside, looking around carefully for any traps, trip lines, or triggers that might cause the both of us to go up in some sort of incendiary ball of whoosh, but found nothing and crossed to untie the cloth that had been jammed in her mouth and tied at the back of the head. Gags, for the record, are wet. That’s all I think I need to say. “Easy, Rebecca. My name is Jedah Shestin, and your brother is worried absolutely ill. Let’s get you out of here and give him a call, hmm?” I spoke quietly, smoothly, remembering to keep my voice steady and not show my relief at her seeming safety. She was wound up enough as it was; she didn’t need any more fuss.

  “He’s only gone a minute… you’ve got to get me out of here. He’s insane. He thinks he’s a demon and he’s going to sacrifice me to some gate thing.” Her voice was equally low, and she showed no signs of panic. In fact, she was refreshingly levelheaded. “And once I’m out of here? No offense, but I want a badge or something before I go anywhere with you.” I had to wonder just how much of a fight she’d put up, as she didn’t strike me as a shrinking violet.

  “Let’s get you out of this first, and then we can have more formal introductions, hmm?” She wasn’t handcuffed to the chair, but this was almost worse: duct tape. She’d lose skin if I tore it off of her, and I couldn’t burn it off of her. It occurred to me that of all the things I’d grabbed in preparation, I hadn’t brought a knife. You don’t, after all, bring a knife to a gun and magic fight. “Duct tape. It’s going to take me a moment; I didn’t bring a knife.”

  She shifted slightly in the chair with a snort of displeasure. “God. You were never a Boy Scout, were you? Reach into my right pocket. Here, in my jeans. It’s not a knife, but it will have to do.” Her right leg stretched as far as she could with her ankle taped to the chair, and I was rewarded with a glimpse of her pocket edge. “And be careful or you’ll cut me.”

  I was supposed to reach into Rebecca Kelly’s pocket and fish out whatever she had in there while she was taped to the chair by the ankles with her wrists behind her back. Furthermore, I was going to have to be careful not to be inappropriate, and not just because her older brother would kill me if I so much as looked at her wrong. At what point can we all agree that this was not going to end well for me? I moved my hand towards her pocket, and then we both froze when we heard the footsteps on the metal stairs. I was right; it made a racket.

  “Quick, give me the gag. Stick it around my ears and go hide. When he cuts me free, wait for my signal.”

  Wait… what? I had picked up the wet cloth by reflex before it occurred to me that I didn’t have to do that. I had magic and she didn’t. My rules weren’t her rules. I dropped the gag back onto the floor, lifted my finger to my lips and shook my head. She glared daggers at me as the footsteps rose towards the room.

  “What are you doing? He’s almost here!” When the door to the room opened, I moved my hand, sent a blast of air magic into the son of a bitch and knocked him backwards over the railing. Then, I followed him down.

  I landed on my feet, unlike the poor bastard I’d just unleashed my magic on, and ignored her irate voice as I watched the demon rise to his feet and regard me. It felt a little like being sized up for dinner. After a few heartbeats, he rushed me. This, of course, was what was expected, and I expended some air magic, waiting until the last possible moment to move out of his way. He went down like a footballer who had tripped over sod, and I turned to wait it out and see what he did. As long as he didn’t know I held enough magic to secure the Gate, I didn’t have to worry about it getting ugly.

  He rose, as most who are too stupid to know when they’ve lost a fight do and glared at me. Ah, now was time for the fun, right? Magic flared around me, and while I wasn’t sure what he was doing, I didn’t want any part of it, so I darted backwards to try to get him to follow me. He didn’t budge, instead, drawing the power back in on himself and then threw it at the Gate. Well, crap.

  The Gate exploded into existence; the percussive force of differing magics impacting making a ripple in the air that I shouldn’t have reacted to… but I did. Which told him I was at least Mageborn, and the first shoe dropped. I’d thought I was at least somewhat prepared to do battle with a demon. One of these days, I will learn that one rarely ever is.

  The guy had power. And he was old. Sadly, for him, I was older. Granted, I say that with no true certainty, but he didn’t move within his power like Ravenswing did. I mean, as long as Ravenswing’s wrath wasn’t aimed at me, it was truly impressive to watch him work. This guy wouldn’t even qualify as a warm-up in comparison. Still didn’t mean that this guy couldn’t hurt me, or that I was going to have to work to bring him down.

  Now, call me crazy, but I wanted to see the guy’s wings. Wings can tell you a lot about a demon; if they’re in good health, if they’ve expended a lot of magic, or if they’re over-steeped in it and they’re likely to blast you off the planet. I had to make this guy break his illusion of humanity and show me the real monster underneath. Unfortunately for me, that usually meant pissing my opponent off. Again, I’m not Harry Dresden. I’m not good with one-liners. I just threw a ball of fire magic at him and took off towards the other side of the Gate.

  Predictably, he followed, howling in fury. His wings still weren’t out, so I shot off another two bursts of flame and double-timed it around the Gate again. I was back on the side with the room, and I skidded to a halt when I saw that Rebecca Kelly was standing on the walkway, looking over. I wasn’t counting on Kelly’s sister to be resourceful enough to escape, and I’d left the door of the room open as I blew through it. Somehow, she’d managed to get free from the chair. There was a bellow of pure rage from behind me, and I spun around to see that the illusion had fallen. Yes, freeing the damsel in distress would usually do it. Too bad I couldn’t take the credit for it.

  Judging by the wings, this demon was in trouble. They were dry, whispery as they moved, and almost as thin as paper. I’d seen internet photos of a poorly taxidermized bat once, and that’s what this guy looked like. That’s why he wanted the Gate: it was an endless source of power if he could tap it. Too bad for him, I wasn’t going to let him do that. I drew my magic up and as he started to run at me, I threw the second largest ball of fire at him I’d ever summoned.

  He went up like last season’s Christmas tree. Fire roared with his voice as I kept pushing with my magic, sheer force of will burning it higher and hotter than if I had simply let him burn. I reached into my knee pocket, pulling out a vial of magnesium and I threw it at him. The thin glass popped, and the white powder caught alight. There is literally nothing in this world quite like a magnesium fire. And kids, don’t try it. At home or anywhere else. The sprinklers came on, and the demon exploded.

  When I came round, I was floating in the air. At least, at first, I thought I was. Another sanity check revealed that I was caught by the central field of the Gate, and I was held in place, awaiting activation for a destination. Conversely, I could leave the field without traveling, but for the fact that I knew this was an Earth Gate and I was anything but an Earth affiliated mage. I very carefully reached out, moving to push my fingers past the event horizon of the Gate, and no sooner had I started to move, I landed on my feet in front of the Gate, and it obediently closed behind me.

  That was new, but I didn’t have time to consider it. The last time I had laid eyes on Rebecca Kelly, she had been standing up on the platform. There was a very real chance that she’d been hurt in the blast of demon… bits, and I needed to make sure she wasn’t lying somewhere in that room, having been blown backwards into a wall. I didn’t bother with the stairs.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  I alighted in the doorway and saw a pale figure lying on the floor next to the chair she’d escaped. I moved to her side, and from what little I could tell by sight, she was uninjured. I cursed my lost healing ability and lifted her wrist to check her pulse. It was strong and steady, which was good. She’d done some damage to her wrists getting free, and that wasn’t good. She stirred at my prompting, and I helped her sit up.

  She was clearly dazed, but I knew the moment the adrenaline rush of awareness hit her, because she scooted backwards and stared at me like I was something she’d never seen before. “What the Hell was that thing, and… oh my God, I think you’re covered in it.” I looked down at myself when she spoke and realized why she’d recoiled. I was covered in various chunks of demon… offal. I’d been so concerned about making sure she was safe that I hadn’t considered what the exploding demon might have done to me.

  “I… oh, that’s disconcerting. Horrifying, actually. Hang on. I’m going to be ill.” I staggered to my feet, feeling my stomach twist, and barely made it to the back of the room before I heaved out what little I had managed to eat before Tristan’s meal had done me in. This was, of course, a large reason as to why I didn’t eat before a job. Just go ahead and laugh at the assassin who can’t stomach the sight of blood. I’ll just be over here reliving my toenails.

  “Ooookay…” her voice came from behind me as she clearly tried to make sense of things. “You are definitely not a Boy Scout. Are you sure you’re here to rescue me? No, never mind that. You know who I am, and you promised me an introduction, so I’m going to stand here until you’re finished and then we can do that. Because that guy’s dead, right? I saw him go up in flames and then he… what, exploded? All over you?” Oh yes, it did not surprise me in the slightest that John Kelly’s sister was the stay put and rationalize through it sort.

  I wiped my mouth with my sleeve, spat in reflex, and started to unbutton my shirt. This warehouse was bad for my wardrobe. “I apologize in advance, but I’m going to have to at least take my shirt off. I won’t be of any use with… this… all over me.” I extricated the twig from my shirt pocket, checked it for damage, and when I found none, I gently rested it on the table before shrugging off my shirt and dropping it to the floor. My hands were gruesome as was my face, but I had done what I could, and I turned around to see Rebecca Kelly pulling her own mostly clean shirt off. I spun back around, closing my eyes in reflex, wondering why she had done that. “Sorry.”

  Then her shirt hit me in the back of the head. “You’re skinny enough that you ought to be able to wear that. I’m decent; you can turn around without damaging my honor or something.” I turned, bent without looking at her and picked up the shirt. It made sense, then, why she’d thrown it at me: it was a man’s white undershirt. She’d been wearing it under her button-down, and by the time I looked back to her, she was buttoning the last button of her shirt and looking at me with her eyebrows up. “No, really. I buy them surplus. Put it on before you get any more embarrassed.”

  I wasn’t embarrassed… was I? I ignored the warming of my ears and tugged the shirt on over my head, finding armholes and pulling the bottom down. Hands assisted me suddenly, and then I was nearly nose-to-nose with her, looking down at the little sister of the man who dearly wanted to throw my ass in jail. Talk about jailbait. “Well, thanks. Anyway, introductions. Like I said, I’m Jedah Shestin. Your brother asked my assistance on your kidnapping, and we really ought to call him and let him know you’re safe.” My phone was back with the Ninja. The last thing I’d wanted was to get a call or a text while I was prowling in the shadows.

  “Jedah Shestin,” she mused, shaking her head. “Not a Boy Scout, but strangely polite. And not on the force. And still ignoring the question of the hour: What in the Hell was that thing?” At least she gave me the courtesy of moving away from me, letting me have some space as she tried to work her way through it. “I mean… those were wings. And that fire wasn’t anything natural I’ve ever seen. You just threw it from your hands like it was… magic. Oh, my freaking God.”

  That was the first thing I’d heard akin to surprise out of the woman since I encountered her. “Okay… you’re fine with being kidnapped, held where-ever for how-ever long, but the minute someone tosses magic into the mix, you freak out?” I shouldn’t have found this as amusing as I was. “I mean, you’ve been fairly calm through this whole thing until now.”

  “You… you threw something at him, and he exploded. That’s not normal!” She retorted, wrapping her arms around herself in what could only be a defensive movement. “I… you’re not going to make me explode, are you? I didn’t just get out of the frying pan to land in the literal fire… right?” Now, she looked vulnerable and concerned, and she wasn’t making eye contact, instead seeming to scan the room for her best possible options.

  “Rebecca Kelly…” I started, exasperated, “I promised your brother that I would find you. Would I have done that if I intended to, as you suggested, make you explode?” I moved to pick up the little twig, watching the green of the leaves shimmer faintly as I touched it. “Oh, not you too,” I murmured at it before looking back to Rebecca. “I didn’t even use magic to make him explode. That was pure and simple science.”

  “Science?” Rebecca asked, managing to look at me now, her arms falling to her sides. “How was that science? I’ve never seen science make anything explode like that. I mean… how?” Her fear momentarily forgotten, her body language shifted and simply screamed of curiosity. This was clearly a woman who had a thirst for knowledge… and I had something new for her to learn.

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out a vial and offered it to her. “Careful, that’s magnesium. There are a few shreds in that powder, and magnesium burns incredibly hot. I ignited it with magic, yes, but when you throw water on a magnesium fire, it explodes. That’s what you saw; not magic. Pure science.” I watched her turn the vial up and down, watching the contents shift. It was safe enough in the vial, and I had no intention of letting her break the glass to test the flammability, so I saw no harm in her investigating it.

  “Huh.” She handed the vial back to me, meeting my eyes, and it seemed to occur to her that she hadn’t seen any proof that I wasn’t the next big bad guy on the block. “So… I want my proof now. I’ve got a name, but that doesn’t mean anything. Prove who you are, or I’ll make you regret it.” Well, this was amusing. She’d just handed me back one thing that she could have used to harm me, and as far as I could tell, she was unarmed.

  “All right, little cat. Puff up and hiss all you want but seeing as I just set that demon on fire and made him explode, I’m not entirely certain how you could make me regret anything. I’ll prove that I’m here to rescue you, though. Just because it amuses me. Downstairs and outside the warehouse, across the way you will find a motorcycle in the shadows. My phone is in the compartment under the seat. It’s unlocked; you go on ahead and call him.” I’d follow along after at a respectable distance. There wasn’t any point in scaring her further.

  I didn’t have to tell her twice; she was out the door and dashing down the staircase with alarming speed, considering it was metal and soaking wet. I waited until I couldn’t hear her on the metal staircase, and then leisurely left the room. I walked the steps myself, slowly looking around the warehouse to see if there was anything I needed to clean up. The exploding demon hadn’t left much mess, to my relief, and I continued across the wet floor and out of the door.

  She was on the phone when I approached, clearly reassuring her brother that she was safe, that she’d been rescued. I heard her say my name, and then she laughed at his reply. “Yes, it was him. He found me, JJ.” JJ? The thought of John Kelly going by the nickname of ‘JJ’ was a dangerously amusing one and I found myself snickering quietly as I approached. “Are you coming to get me? He’s got this tiny motorcycle, and I don’t see a helmet. Please don’t make me ride this thing.”

  “Hey, I’m not that bad of a rider, but if you want to wait for your brother, I’ll understand.” I shrugged, sticking my hands in my pockets and waiting to see what she chose. In all honesty, I’d prefer that her brother come get her, as she was right: I didn’t have a helmet. She’d also be riding pillion, hugged up against me, and that whole ‘jailbait’ train of thought went ripping through my head once more. “I’ll stay here until he arrives if he’s coming.”

  “JJ!” That didn’t sound as if he was coming. “I can’t believe you.” She moved the phone from her face and looked at me in irritation. “He wants you to take me to the station, so I’ll be processed. I don’t want to be processed. I want to go home, have a hot shower and sleep for a week. I haven’t had a shower…” she shuddered and moved the phone back to her mouth. “I want a shower, JJ. He kept me fed, but I want to be clean.”

  I could sympathize. “Look, tell him that I’ll take you by the station, but I’m pulling rank. I’m taking you to a friend’s first; it’s nearby and she’ll have clean clothing and a shower for you. Then we’ll go to the station, and I’ll wrap the paperwork up while we wait for him to get there. Deal?” She relayed this to her brother, and then handed the phone to me, wordlessly irritated.

  I took it, and before I could even speak, Kelly was. “Shestin, that’s my baby sister. You do anything that upsets her, and I swear to God above that I will end your career, Interpol or not.” I gave a half-grin and nodded, even though he couldn’t see. “I mean it.” I could see him glaring, knew the color that his skin was turning and how his jaw was working.

  “Kelly… I understand. I had a sister.” Still did, though she wanted nothing to do with me other than to hurl insults at me. “I promise that I will take care of Rebecca. I’m taking her to the Bell Tree on East Bay. I know the proprietress, and if I don’t miss my guess, Rebecca won’t get out of there without a long hot shower, fresh clothing and a gourmet meal. Then we’ll go over to Lockwood, and I’ll sign out the case. And as to the guy that did this? You can ask your sister about the science lesson.” I ended the call and looked to Rebecca. “Shall we, then?” She wasn’t thrilled, but after some consideration, she nodded. It wasn’t as if she had much of a choice, after all.

  Fifteen minutes later, my lungs ached for not being able to take a deep breath due to the death grip that she used to cling to me while we headed to the Bell Tree. My left ear was ringing from her random shrieks, and I was ready to call Tristan and ask him to meet me at the Bell Tree simply so that we could trade vehicles. If I hadn’t known that it would start more questions than I could possibly begin to answer, I would have. As it was, the thought of trying to make sure Rebecca was taken care of and dealing with Suzu, Xelander, and Tristan was too much for my mind to cope with.

  I parked the bike in the private lot for the Bell Tree and waited for Rebecca to realize that we were stopped and that she could let go. It might have been funny, given how she was clinging to me with her face buried in the back of my shoulder, but that whole breathing thing was required, even if I couldn’t die. “Rebecca… Rebecca, we’re here. You can let go now.” Please. I had to call her name twice more and reach down to shake her leg before she lifted her head and realized we had arrived. Then she couldn’t let go and get off the bike fast enough.

  I hid my chuckle and dismounted, pocketing the key and looking to Rebecca. “Trust me, you are perfectly safe here. The most that might happen to you is that you’ll be asked what your favorite foods and colors are.” And that was only if Suzu couldn’t immediately sense them from the young woman’s mind. I moved to the back door, keyed the access code, and opened it, offering Rebecca the entry first.

  She slipped past me, wary of my actions, and I just smiled faintly to her, inclining my head. “Just go straight past the elevators and turn to the left. There will be a blonde at the bar, and that’s who we’re here to talk to.” I followed her through the elevator lobby and as Rebecca turned, she caught sight of Suzu and came to a stop. I double-stepped to keep from running over the brunette and waved at Suzu as she looked over. “Hello, Suzu. I’ve brought a young lady in need of assistance. Do you think that you might have a hot shower and a change of clothes?”

  “Oh, is this the young woman you’ve been searching for, Jedah? Hello there, my name is Suzu. Welcome back.” Suzu dropped the towel behind the bar and moved around the end to approach Rebecca with her hands out. It was always amusing to see people obediently lift their own hands to allow Suzu to take them and move them along where she wanted them to go. “Jedah, you sit here in the dining room while I take care of our guest. We’ll be back soon.” And off the pair of them went, the blonde perfectly in charge while Rebecca followed in bewilderment. Most people never knew what hit them when they first met Suzu. It was nice to see that Rebecca was much the same.