Page 11 of Chosen Spirits (The Bartender Mage #4)

"All four prospective employees passed their background checks," Rahul told the personnel manager on the other end of the video call.

At his client's request, he briefly touched upon each file, but there wasn't a lot to say other than that nothing false, incriminating, or noteworthy had been found.

Rahul offered up a sincere smile, thanked his client for using Basu Investigations, then ended the Monday morning conference call.

After making a few notations in a digital ledger, noting the completed job and information about the company that had hired him—on the higher end of the pay scale, but wanting to be more involved in the process—he stood up from his chair and headed to the kitchen for his daily cup of coffee.

Leif was standing at the kitchen counter, eating a post-workout banana and browsing his phone. Rahul rubbed the back of his neck affectionately as he went past him to select an individual brewing pod to use with their automated coffee maker.

Leif's nose scrunched up as he smiled at him with his mouth full, then swallowed. "That didn't take long at all."

"It was just a final update. I figure now we have some time to pack, then lunch, then we'll head out between one and two o'clock.

" Rahul set a novelty black mug beneath the coffee maker, watching as the hot liquid from the machine caused glowing footprints and a magnifying glass to appear on its surface.

"Did you finish your school work for the week? "

Leif made a so-so gesture. "I'll need an hour here and there to write some easy papers, but the online classes aren't too difficult. I'm good."

"If you say it, I believe it." Rahul added a bit of sugar to his chocolate and peppermint coffee, stirred the steaming mug with a finger, then took a long drink while it was still just shy of scalding.

"Today's just a half-day of investigating, but Tuesday and Wednesday will be longer, with four sites to visit. "

"And then back here on Thursday, in time for your dancing and my wrestling, yes!" Leif started to wiggle with anticipation, but immediately desisted—they'd worked their upper-body at the gym, and Rahul guessed he was feeling it.

"So which potions should I make before we leave?" Leif asked, disposing of his banana peel and starting in on some additional stretches.

"Leif…"

His cub bent forward to touch the ground as he stretched his back, but not before Rahul noticed him rolling his eyes.

"I'm fine! At least enough to make a couple more potions after lunch for today's mission.

Better to be a little magically drained now, than being tired later at the actual site in case of an emergency, right? "

"I suppose that makes sense," Rahul admitted. "Alright, then. But don't think I didn't notice you putting in the effort to make the ones for DOMA extra strong today. You won't need to do that for the ones we plan to use tonight."

Leif straightened back up, and Rahul moved to help brace him while he stretched the other direction, reaching first overhead, then continuing to bend backwards until his hands touched the ground.

His pink shirt fell up around his shoulders.

"Just trying to exercise my magic muscles!

My goal is to eventually hit seven days of full potency for my potions, and I still have a bit to go. "

"Just don't strain yourself," Rahul said, resisting the urge to tickle Leif's exposed sides.

"Wasn't planning on it!" Leif kicked off the ground, doing a handstand before pivoting back to his feet. He stood on his tiptoes, and Rahul obliged him with a kiss. "Slow and steady progress, I know how it goes."

Rahul finished the rest of his coffee, then joined Leif in getting ready for their hired job. After the two of them finished packing a bag for the day's outing, Rahul grabbed a few things from his office and met Leif at his car.

"If we're going to be doing missions or cases together regularly," Rahul said, opening the trunk, "then it'll be good for you to know what's kept where."

"Ooh, I getcha," Leif said, momentarily in the way as he stuck his head inside, looking at the assorted bags and hard cases that Rahul kept prepped. He moved out of the way as Rahul began pulling out items.

"The most important bag is the green duffel, which has all the survival gear. If there's only time to grab one thing, you grab this one. It's got an emergency blanket, rope, tarp, some food rations, a GPS, a burner phone, that kind of thing."

Leif looked up at him teasingly as he showed off each item. "What, no emergency flare?"

"Cub, I am a flare!" Rahul put his hands on his hips as he smiled down at his boyfriend, allowing his inner light to pour out, sparks glimmering around his hands and eyes.

"I know! I was hoping you'd show off, it's always so neat." Leif took one of Rahul's hands in his, kissing at the part of his knuckles that had turned golden.

"Ha, well. Moving on, I've got a first aid kit. It's identical to Tucker's, and we both keep EpiPens inside for emergencies. "

"Good to know. I wish I could keep them both stocked with Recovery potions, too, but…"

"Nah, even with their extra duration, your special spirit herbs are too important to waste on something that would probably just collect dust every month. Your current system works for now."

Most of Leif's potions had about three days of optimal strength, followed by another two or three days of degraded effect before losing its magic, but the potions that he made using the spirit-enhanced ingredients from his hydroponics garden in the basement, like the mint simple syrup required by his Recovery potion, lasted nearly a month.

Since Leif could only harvest four or five cocktails worth a month, though, he was being conservative with their usage.

Rahul then showed off his investigator's kit with its voice recorders, flashlight, chalk, lockpicks, and zip ties.

"Are lockpicks legal?" Leif asked him as Rahul put the kit away.

"It varies by state, but yes, they're generally fine as long as you don't have criminal intent. Should I be worried that you're asking, Mr. Break-In?"

"Hey, it was just two, um, three times. Extenuating circumstances, all of 'em!"

"Sure, sure. Anyways, next we have my bounty-hunting box, which I mainly use to catch non-sapient critters, like lost pets or wandering spirit echoes. It's got a lot of different lures and traps to help with that. I haven't accepted a job to bring a person in, yet, but I want to be ready if so."

"What would it take?"

"Hmm… probably a kidnapping, or something."

Rahul just about swore, putting it together too late that Leif himself had been kidnapped by a geomancer just a short while ago, but Leif didn't react, just nodded along. Rahul hurried on.

"A fair bit of modern bounty-hunting involves going after poorer folks that skipped out on debts, but I don't truck with those kinds of cases, or the ones that would break up a family.

You know how many requests I get to try to catch a cheating spouse?

Nah, I'll stick with my missing persons, lost property, and mythic mysteries, thank you very much. "

Lastly, Rahul rapped on the locked, hard case where he kept the more sensitive and expensive tech equipment, which currently included several portable solar-powered cameras that he'd billed DOMA for.

"We have seven right now, one per site we plan to visit plus a spare.

They're not the cheapest, but they are recoverable.

If not by us, then by another DOMA operative.

" After making sure that Leif's fingers were clear, he shut the trunk of his car.

"Ready to get some lunch, and then head out and plant some surveillance? "

"Ooh, you betcha! Wow, my first mission as a certified mage.Maybe if this DOMA stuff doesn't work out, I could come work for you?"

"Cub, I don't think I could afford your rates.

" Rahul hugged him fondly, then went back indoors to grab his wallet.

"But if you're willing to help out, you and I can sit down at some point and draft papers to extend the services I offer on my website.

Being able to officially add in spirit investigations alone would probably double my caseload.

Something to talk about later, though, let's first focus on what's in front of us. "

"Sure thing, boss bear!" Leif said as he rushed past him and headed upstairs.

Rahul growled, then began chasing his laughing cub, wondering if they had time for a quick diversion before they left.

◆◆ ◆

Later, after a two-hour drive east into Wisconsin during which Rahul shared some of his knowledge on how to be a good investigator, he pulled his car into the fire station of a city surrounded by large hills.

He sent a quick text to their contact saying that they'd arrived, then emerged with Leif and made their way to the main office.

"So what's Gio look like?"

"Haven't the foggiest!" Rahul answered brightly. "His texts sounded friendly enough, though. We'll just ask someone."

With Leif following, Rahul entered the administration area of the station.

As he took in the wooden decor and peered through a window into what looked like an empty classroom, he noticed Leif immediately wander over to a cork board where some elementary school students had sent crayon-written letters and illustrations, thanking the firefighters of Station 4 for their hard work.

As he watched Leif make several different kinds of happy faces while he perused the wall, he heard footsteps approaching, and turned to see a young woman with short hair, dressed in a station shirt.

"Well, hey'dair, strangers!" the woman said, her Midwestern accent even thicker than Leif's own. "I'm Luce. What can I do for you guys?"

"Good evening, Luce! I'm Rahul, this is Leif. We're looking for someone named Gio, he should be expecting us?"