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Dark magic covered their own signature.

  Whatever they were doing with that portal needed to be stopped.

  In the middle of the room, three other thieves fought off three guards who wore the blue museum uniform. Magic flashed from their hands, spikes of ice and flying jets of flame. But they kept the attack tight, contained. Their magic felt strong, like they could have blown the guards away.

  But they held back. Did they want to avoid hurting the artifacts?

  The guards rebuffed the attacks with circular shields. Magic repellers. When they could get a shot in, they sent blasts of golden light at the thieves.

  Stunning spells, if I had to guess.

  One crashed into the thief on the left, throwing him back almost to the portal.

  “I’ll take the guys on the left,” I said.

  “Right for me, then.” Aidan threw a spear of flame, precise and blazing, toward one of the intruders. It engulfed him, and he fell to the floor, screaming.

  I called upon Aidan’s power over flame, using my Mirror Mage abilities to borrow his gift. It was safer than using my FireSoul power since Mirror Mages were accepted in magical society.

  The evergreen scent of Aidan’s magic filled my nose as I drew it into me and crafted a bolt of fire. Warmth filled me, that now-familiar joy, as I molded the magic to my will. I sent the fire streaking toward the thief who stood to the left of the portal.

  Direct hit.

  I grinned.

  Flame licked up his form and he flailed, tumbling back into the portal and disappearing. A pang of loss hit me. If he hadn’t fallen through the portal, I’d have been able to take his power.

  “Oh, dear.” Dr. Garriso’s startled voice pulled me from my dark thoughts.

  I flushed. What was I thinking?

  I glanced toward Dr. Garriso. He’d entered through another exhibit and stood near the portal, his wide gaze traveling over the scene.

  He was too near the last thief for my liking.

  “Get back!” I shouted as I called upon Aidan’s Elemental Mage powers and crafted a spear of ice. I’d wound the bad guy with this, then be able to question him.

  The ice froze my fingertips as I sent it streaking through the air toward the final thief. It punctured him right through the middle. He flailed, knocking over an artifact case.

  Dr. Garriso’s shout echoed in the room. He lunged for the amphora that tumbled toward the floor. As he passed by the portal, it pulsed, a bright purple light illuminating the room. Magic surged, a dry static crackle in the air that made the hair on my arms stand on end.

  The purple light expanded, reaching for Dr. Garriso and dragging him toward the heart of the portal. His wide gaze met mine as he was sucked inside. His sensible brown shoes were the last thing to disappear as I reached for him, my hand outstretched and too far away to be any help at all.

  2

  “No!” I lunged for Dr. Garriso, but he was long gone.

  “Cass!” Aidan shouted as I sprinted for the portal.

  Heavy footsteps thundered behind me. Just as I reached the glowing purple, an arm wrapped around my waist like a steel band and yanked me backward.

  “You don’t know what’s on the other side.” Aidan loomed over me, ten times as strong as I’d ever be. I suddenly wished I’d stolen that demon’s immense strength back at P & P. Aidan could never have stopped me then.

  I thrashed in his arms. “He’s my friend!”

  “I know, but we need to be—”

  I stomped on his heel, dropped my weight, and thrust my elbow back into his gut. He oofed and let go of me. I threw myself at the pulsing purple light.

  Pain.

  I slammed into a wall. Stumbled back onto my ass. I blinked past the searing agony in my face and hands, which had hit the portal first. My face felt like it’d been stomped on by a giant troll.

  Slowly, my gaze cleared. I was still in the museum. The portal pulsed with light, looking like it was open.

  “The portal’s closed.” I struggled to my feet, my heart pounding desperately.

  Aidan took my arm, his strong grip steadying me. “Damn it, Cass. That was stupid. Are you all right?”

  “Don’t worry about me.” I pulled free and approached the portal. “We have to get to Dr. G! But why is the portal still here? It shouldn’t be here if it’s closed.”

  I reached out to the purple light. It glowed on my fingertips, turning them alien. A cold hardness met my touch.

  “This is weird,” I said. My skin chilled with fear-sweat, the worst kind. Dr. Garriso was trapped.

  Aidan approached, extending his big hand and laying it next to mine. “No. This isn’t right.”

  I turned to face the rest of the room. The guards were snapping pictures of the fallen bodies with their camera phones. No doubt in case they were demons and disappeared soon.

  Good idea. I tugged my phone out of my pocket and went to the nearest man. He had pale skin and dark hair, and though I could see no horns, it didn’t mean he wasn’t a demon. Demons were the favored supernaturals to act as henchmen for the baddies in the magical world. I snapped a picture of him just as Aidan joined me.

  Two of the guards approached, stopping in front of us. A burly one with dark hair and ruthlessly pressed clothes demanded, “Who are you? Why are you here?”

  His tone pissed me off. “Uh, we just saved your ass.”

  “And threw the icicle that ended with Dr. Garriso sucked into that portal,” he snapped.

  That deflated me in a heartbeat. He was right. I was responsible. I’d been having such a good time with my magic, getting so cocky with my new skills, that I’d chosen a riskier magic because I’d wanted to question the thief. I should have recognized there were potential casualties in the room and used my lightning, but that was a FireSoul power. I didn’t want these guards seeing it.

  “I’m going to get him back,” I said.

  Aidan’s hand gripped my own. Warmth filled my chest at the support.

  “That doesn’t answer my question. Who are you?” The ferocity in the guard’s dark eyes cut me to ribbons.

  “Friends of Dr. Garriso’s,” Aidan said. “We were in his office when we heard the fight.”

  “I didn’t ask who you were to Dr. Garriso, I asked who you were,” he barked.

  Aidan grinned. “Well, why didn’t you just say so? I’m Aidan Merrick.”

  The guard’s gaze flew wide, startled. A gleam of sweat shined on his brow, the fastest flop-sweat I’d ever seen.

  “Origin. I—I didn’t realize.”

  I raised a brow. As far as I knew, only Shifters held that level of reverence for the most powerful of their kind. This guy was all Magica, though. It’s not that Magica didn’t respect Shifters, it was just that we were different. Magica used magic, whereas Shifters were magic. We were so different that we had our own governments and everything. The Order of the Magica ruled the magic users, and the Shifter Council ruled the Shifters.

  Aidan nodded graciously at the guard, and I made a mental note to ask what the deal was. Was he a big donor at the museum or something? He was rich as twelve dragons.

  The third guard entered the room, slipping a cellphone into his pocket as he walked.

  “Administration is coming,” he said. “Be here in five.”

  “Damn it!” The guard who’d interrogated us grimaced. “What the hell were those idiots thinking? You can’t steal from here.”

  Which explained the guards’ lackluster showing against the thieves. Magic ensured that nothing could leave the museum’s walls, so the guards had gotten lazy. The protections were why I’d felt comfortable bringing the Chalice of Youth here for Dr. Garriso to look at before handing it over to Aidan for safekeeping. I hadn’t anticipated this.

  “What could they have been after in this room?” I asked.

  The guard shrugged. “Same old stuff as in every other room.”

  “Old stuff? What are you, a troglodyte? This is our history! This stuff means something! It means a he
ll of a lot.”

  The guard stepped back, his hands raised. “Whoa, chill lady.”

  “Did you just tell me to chill? As in, calm down? When in the history of ever has that worked?”

  He sputtered, but was cut off by the arrival of the museum administration. I didn’t know what I’d expected—hadn’t thought of it, really—but the people who walked in were far from the tweedy old nerds I’d imagined.

  The two women and two men, all of them tall and thin and dressed entirely in black, looked like hawks. As they approached, their sharp eyes assessed the room, the shattered amphora that Dr. Garriso had tried to save, and the portal.

  The head guard cleared his throat. “Madams and—”

  The severest looking woman held up a thin hand. The guard’s mouth snapped shut, and he appeared to wilt. The four approached the portal, their gazes darting around it. The sharp woman reached out to touch it. Her hand stopped, no doubt blocked as mine had been.

  She turned, her gaze sweeping over the room. She wasn’t my boss but even I felt a little anxious about her appraisal.

  “They took nothing,” she said.

  “No, Madam Astrix,” the guard said.

  “But the portal remains. Why?”

  “We don’t know,” the guard said.

  “But it sucked in Dr. Garriso.” I clenched my fists.

  Her eyes widened. “How?”

  My heart squeezed in my chest. I was at fault. Not that I’d admit it to her, though. “An amphora was falling off a table. He tried to save it and got too close to the portal.”

  She shook her head, her gaze grim. “Always thinking of history first.”

  “We have to get him out.”

  Madam Astrix nodded sharply. The three who stood partially behind her nodded as well, a mirror image of their leader.

  “We will call the Order of the Magica. They will send investigators.” She turned to the man on her left. “See that it’s done.”

  He nodded and walked away. My heart thudded, threatening to break my ribs. investigators from the Order of the Magica? Sweat prickled my skin. The investigators were like the magical international super police—trained to carry out the Order’s will and see to it that all laws were followed.

  Like imprisoning FireSouls.

  I’d never met an investigator before, and it’d sure as hell been on purpose. They were beyond qualified for their work, and I’d always been terrified they’d sniff me out.

  Madam Astrix’s eyes fell on Aidan. “Mr. Merrick. It is good to see you, but may I enquire as to why you are here?”

  “We were seeing Dr. Garriso about an object when we heard the commotion from the break in.”

  “Thank you for intervening. They couldn’t have stolen anything, but I’d hate to have seen anything else broken.” Her gaze traveled around the room, landing on the shattered amphora. “Stupid thieves. Didn’t they know it’s impossible to steal from us?”

  “It seems not,” Aidan said. He glanced over his shoulder at the guard leaving the room, then turned back to her. “We will leave you to it.”

  “Again, thank you for your help,” Madam Astrix said.

  “Absolutely,” Aidan said.

  “And please let me know if there is anything we can do to help,” I said.

  “I’m sure the investigators will have it under control.”

  Maybe, but I wasn’t about to be kept in the dark. As much as I wanted to stay the hell away from the investigators, it was my fault Dr. Garriso had fallen into the portal. I’d see to it he got out.

  I was just about to ask for more information when Aidan gripped my arm and tugged gently, but determinedly. I suppressed my scowl and walked from the exhibit with him. As soon as we turned the corner and were out of Madam Astrix’s eyesight, Aidan stopped, his posture alert. I could almost see his ears twitching.

  “I assume we’re not just leaving this alone, right? You know I need to make sure the Order of the Magica gets him back.”

  “Of course. The guard went left,” he murmured, then set off that way.

  I grinned, suddenly getting it.

  “We’re going to bribe him for info about the investigators, aren’t we?” I asked as we strode through the nearly dark exhibit of ancient armor. The elaborate metal work gleamed dully in the minimal light.

  “Absolutely,” Aidan said.

  “I like how you think.”

  “Likewise.”

  “And you make a good sidekick.”

  “Sidekick? I thought I was Batman and you were Robin?”

  I punched him lightly. “Maybe. But then I get to be Wonder Woman.”

  We found the guard at the eastern exit, leaning against the wall outside, having a smoke. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, but the night was cool. The orange tip of his cigarette glowed in the dark. His annoyed gaze met ours. It wasn’t the same angry guard, but rather the one who’d called administration.

  “Yeah?” he said as we approached. His gaze widened when we stepped under the light. “Origin.”

  “Yes,” Aidan said.

  The man bowed low. I reached out for his power, getting a hint of animal musk and the sound of wind through the tress. A Shifter. Good. That’d make this easier.

  “What can I do for you?” the guard asked.

  “How’d you like to make a quick buck?” Aidan pulled a wad of cash out of an envelope.

  He nodded eagerly. “To help you, sure. What do you need?”

  “Let us know when the Order of the Magica arrives.”

  “All right.” The guard’s gaze was avid on the cash, then fearful on Aidan.

  “And don’t tell anyone we’re interested,” Aidan said.

  “Of course.”

  “Excellent. And I’m sure you know what will happen if you don’t stick to your agreement?” Aidan asked.

  The guard swallowed hard and nodded.

  “Good man.” Aidan handed him the wad of cash. “My business card is there too. Call when you know something.”

  He nodded and we left, walking quickly through the dark night toward my car.

  “That was smart,” I said. “I want to come back and spy on the investigators.”

  “I thought you might. You’ve got good control of your magic signature, but it’s not what it could be. You’re fine around most other supernaturals by now, but no need to court trouble by meeting the investigators directly.”

  “And they wouldn’t tell us anything useful. I’d rather have the information flowing from them to us rather than the other way around.” But it warmed me that Aidan’s first concern had been my safety.

  Every supernatural gave off a magical signature—it could hit any of the five senses. Sometimes multiple. To me, Aidan’s magic smelled like the forest, sounded like crashing waves, and tasted like chocolate. It took a strong supernatural to hide their signature. Though I was strong, I wasn’t practiced.

  I’d been hiding as a FireSoul so long that I’d only recently embraced using my magic. Though I’d learned to repress a lot of my signature, the investigators were trained to hunt my kind. It was way too risky to face them directly. My last run-in with a supernatural government—the Alpha Council—hadn’t gone well. One of their own had discovered what I was. He was keeping my secret, but I couldn’t count on the same leniency from the Order of the Magica investigators.

  Aidan and I climbed into my old car. I turned the key, grateful to hear the engine crank to life.

  “What if they weren’t at the museum to steal something?” I asked as I navigated onto the street.

  “I was wondering that,” he said. “It’s not exactly a secret that it’s impossible to steal from the Museum of Magical History.”

  “Think they were after Dr. Garriso?”

  “Could have been. He’s a knowledgeable guy. Knowledge is powerful.”

  I clenched my hands on the steering wheel. If that was the case, I’d given him right over to them with my cockiness with the icicle. I sucked in a ragged breath.

>   “It’s not your fault, Cass.” Aidan gripped my thigh in a comforting squeeze.

  How did he know so well what I was thinking?

  Our arrival at Factory Row saved me from having to answer. I pulled my car into its usual spot along the street and turned the key.

  “We’re going to need a way to sneak up on the investigators,” I said. “Let’s see if Connor has anything to help us out.”

  Aidan’s solemn gaze met mine, but I scrambled out before he could say anything. I wasn’t going to be stupid and throw away whatever good thing I had with him by clamming up totally, but I didn’t want to talk about my guilt right now. That would end up feeling like therapy, and I didn’t have the time.

  Aidan grabbed my hand as we crossed the street toward P & P. I squeezed, grateful for his presence. His patience.

  Dark had fallen while we were driving home, and the windows of P & P glowed with warm yellow light. There were a couple patrons sitting at one of the many small tables, but it was the sight of my two deirfiúr, sitting in our favored comfy armchairs in the corner, that made me smile.

  Del was back.

  I hurried ahead, pushing through the door before Aidan could try something silly like holding it open for me.

  I caught Connor’s eye from behind the counter and nodded my head toward Del and Nix. A signal that I wanted to talk.

  “Be there in a few,” he said as he stirred a drink.

  “Thanks.” I glanced over at Aidan, who’d just entered.

  “I’m going to see if Connor has any pasties in the back. Better to go back to the museum with some fuel in our stomachs.”

  “Thanks. Good thinking, but ask Bridget.” I nodded toward the blond girl who sometimes worked the counter when Claire was on mercenary jobs. “I want to talk to Connor when he’s free.”

  “Sure.” He headed toward the counter, his tall form commanding the attention of the other patrons.

  I turned to approach Del and Nix. “Del! You’re back. You get your guy?”

  “Better believe it.” She grinned, her blue eyes sparkling. Her black hair was pulled back in a ponytail. “He put up a fight, but he’s back in his hell now.”

  “Good.” I flicked a hand over the sleeve of her black leather jacket. I favored brown, but Del was all about the black. “You got some blood there.”