Tempted by Magic by Jasmine Walt

Author:Jasmine Walt [Walt, Jasmine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dynamo Press
Published: 2019-03-23T04:00:00+00:00

8

After stopping off at a cafe to grab a quick sandwich, I headed to the Enforcer's Guild to check the board in the main lobby. Sure enough, there were half a dozen new cases waiting, four of which had hefty bounties.

"Annia, look at this one," Garalina said, tugging my attention away from a robbery.

"This one?" I plucked the bounty off the board. A newly rebuilt grocery store in Rowanville had gone up in flames yesterday, after hours, when it was supposedly locked up and empty. It was one of the buildings that had been destroyed by the quake, so the Canalo government itself was offering a hefty bounty, since they were bankrolling all the rebuilds. "Okay, yeah, it's a lucrative gig. But what's so special about it?"

"It's an arson case," Garalina said. "Weren't the mages last night saying that the anti-fire wards had been tampered with? What if this is the work of whoever is responsible?"

I frowned. "You think their first target would be a grocery store?" But then again, why not? They might be starting off small, testing the waters. "All right, we'll look into it." I’d said I would dig into the rumors before going to Sunaya, hadn't I? Maybe this was my chance.

I grabbed the file from the clerk and had just sat down in the lobby to peruse the details when a hulking shadow fell over me.

"You again," Terpan sneered, folding his arms across his massive chest. "What's with you, Melcott? You're always going after the same bounties as me and my crew."

I shrugged. "Maybe you and I just have good taste in cases," I said, trying to go for the high road. Maybe if I didn't take the bait, he'd back off.

"Pah. Other guys might fall for your sweet talk, but not me." He bared his teeth at me. "Back off, Melcott, and let my people handle this. We already started investigating this one early this morning."

"Guess that means I'll have to work hard to catch up then, doesn't it?" I flipped a page in the file, not bothering to look up at him. "Now please get out of my light so I can read."

"You snarky little bitch," Terpan growled, making no move to leave. "You think you can run around with that protection amulet and pretend that you're on even footing with me?" He jabbed a clawed finger at my torque. "You're a cheater, Enforcer Melcott. And I'm going to prove it."

Slowly, I set my file aside, then rose out of my chair. Even at my full height, I barely came up to Terpan's chest, but that didn't stop me from leveling the full force of my glare at him. "You don't get to sit here and bitch about unfair advantages when you were born with superior strength, speed, and hearing," I said. "Especially when the only reason you even have any of those abilities is because of the mages who created your kind." I tapped the torque around my neck.

"How dare you bring race into this!" Terpan's eyes bulged, and he looked like he wanted to strangle me.

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