Of Curses and Scandals by Julie L Kramer

Author:Julie L Kramer [Kramer, Julie L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-27T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“Crap,” Rift and I chorused. Cara’s unmarked car was parked outside a dingy building with no sign. If I squinted, I could see symbols painted on the building, almost entirely eclipsed by dirt and soot. The spells were to prevent entrance by anyone who meant harm to the owner; judging by their appearance, those sigils had been sorely tested before now. They weren’t a problem for us, since we weren’t looking to do him any harm. Just for information.

Rift paid for the taxi before I could, and we climbed out. I’d offered to pay, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer, and it wasn’t worth fighting about right now. We headed inside; a bell jangled as we stepped over the threshold.

Cara and Elliott, standing by the bar, turned to look as we entered. Their faces darkened. The man across the counter cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“Are you all together? All want the same thing?”

I’m going to kill you, Cara mouthed. I shrugged slightly, trying to convey that I was sorry that I had disobeyed her, but that there was a good reason for it.

Rift reached into his bag, dug around for a moment, and produced the sketch.

“Actually, we’re looking for this woman.” He slid the drawing across the countertop. The man barely spared it a glance.

“Sorry. I can’t help you.”

“I think you can,” Rift pressed. “We have reason to believe that you’ve had dealings with this woman.”

The man’s small, dark eyes shifted away. I leaned on the counter, purple sparks flickering on my fingers and shimmering in my irises. His eyes widened, and the dim fluorescent lights glinted off the crown of his bald head as he stepped back.

“Two hours ago, I was chained up in a car trunk with one of your shackles,” I jabbed one finger into the glass of the case; a pool of violet was gathering, spreading like spilled paint toward the little man. The slither was rather threatening, and entirely for show. It wasn’t a threat to him; I wasn’t feeding it any power. As I said, it was all for show. “You’ll understand if I’m not inclined to be friendly toward you.”

“Fine! I don’t know her name, or where she lives.”

“Then what do you know?” RIft asked doubtfully. His arms were crossed, his head tilted.

“When she’ll be in next.” He made a show of checking his watch, which was far too nice for him to be able to afford from legitimate dealings, but I tried to ignore it. Cara could deal with his shady deals later, after we were finished. “In less than an hour.”

“Excuse us a moment,” Cara said tightly. The four of us retreated to the rear of the store, out of earshot of the owner but where we could still keep a close eye on him in case he decided to try something fishy. I could tell from the flush in Cara’s high cheekbones that she wanted to yell at me, but she was right down to business.

“An hour’s not a lot of time to set up a stakeout, but we can’t risk losing our only lead to Logan.

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