Page 6

Chapter Six

For a long second, Lizzie just stared at me. I saw the moment when her brain made the connection. She went very still.

Ajax fucking Fields.

Someone both Damon and I had once trusted. He’d been close to Nat before she died. He’d been on Damon’s security team, for fuck’s sake. And then he’d betrayed us both by somehow getting involved with a lesserkind.

He’d hidden his new allegiance well until he kidnapped Damon and me, to try to force me to agree to being bonded to a demon again.

His gamble hadn’t paid off. He’d died for his stupidity and the Cestis hadn’t figured out how he’d ever found a lesserkind. They’d reinforced Riley Art’s security processes after the issues with my demon. So either he’d managed to slip under the radar or the lesserkind had found him after he’d already moved from the testing team to security.

I thought I’d heard the last of him. But sadly, not.

“This is what we’re going to do,” Lizzie said in a tightly controlled voice. “Maggie, put the badge down. I want you and Callum to go back downstairs. In fact, go back to the car. Callum, call Cerridwen. Maggie, call Cassandra, tell her what you found, tell her the address. When you get outside, take those gloves off, leave them on the back porch. There’s salt in the back of the car and purified water. Wash your hands, both of you. Callum, check her for any demon taint. Check yourself, too.”

Demon taint? Fuck.

I put the badge down as gingerly as though it were a live grenade, swallowing against the urge to puke. If Lizzie could be calm, I could be calm. Panicking never helped anything.

Easier said than done, but I tried to shove the fear away. “What are you going to do?”

“Start looking for traps.”

Hell, no . “If it’s not safe for me and Callum, it’s not safe for you. You should come with us. Wait for the others.”

“Maggie, I know you’re freaked out right now, but this is my job, remember. I’ll be careful.” Her expression was all business, no hint of fear in her brown eyes.

I knew she was right, but I hated the thought of leaving her on her own in this house. “I could help.”

“No, I need you out of this house. You were one of Ajax’s targets. If something is triggered, we don’t want you within reach if something comes through.”

“You think there’s something like a summoning set up to trigger?” I swallowed. Part of me wanted to bolt for the door and not stop until I was far, far away. But I couldn’t leave Lizzie.

“I don’t know, but I’m not willing to take the risk if there is. If one of the other rooms has any kind of ritual work set up, I don’t want you anywhere near it.”

There was only one room we hadn’t checked. Most likely a bathroom. Surely no one summoned demons from their bathtub?

“There is a door missing,” Callum said suddenly.

“What do you mean missing?” I asked.

He jerked his head toward the bedroom door. “The rooms on this floor, they do not take up the right amount of space. Unless the bathroom is a peculiar shape, there’s a space on the other side of the wall.”

Lizzie twisted to face him. “Are you sure?”

He shrugged. “Not certain. But something feels…strange.”

“Warded?” she asked.

“Perhaps. I can’t feel one.”

“Line a room with the right things before you ward it and it’s possible we wouldn’t,” Lizzie said, sounding grim.

Callum’s expression matched her voice. “I will look deeper.”

Lizzie shook her head. “I want you both outside. Make those calls. Callum, you stay with Maggie. If something happens, you’re the next line of defense.”

He shook his head, looking stubborn. “We should do it the other way around. I am much harder to kill than you.”

“No. This is my job and you’re Fae, not human. The Cestis has to take point on this.”

Callum shot a glance at me. “Take point?”

“Be in charge,” I translated.

Callum shrugged. “I do not know that Cerridwen would necessarily agree, if there is a demon here.”

“If there was a demon here, we’d be dead already. What I’m worried about is relics of spells. Or deliberate traps. Things we could trigger without meaning to. Especially if you’re right about there being a hidden room. The external wards have faded, but that doesn’t mean all the magic has. Not if they concentrated whatever they were doing in one room. And not if someone was in here, messing around with something recently. This is human magic, and while you might be able to help contain it, we’re the ones who know how to undo it. You’re strong, yes, but brute force isn’t necessarily the answer.” Lizzie put her hands on her hips. “So, no more arguing. Both of you go .”

The tone of voice was so much like Cassandra that I was moving before I realized it. Callum gave Lizzie one last unhappy look and then strode out of the room. I followed, staying close, straining my magic to feel for any wards. We moved fast and silent until we were outside again, blinking in the moonlight.

“Gloves,” Callum said gruffly.

Right. Lizzie had said to leave them. I stripped mine off, balled them up, and left them with Callum’s outside the back door.

“Come on.” Callum took my arm and walked me back around the house yard, moving faster now we were outside.

“Do you think she’s right?” I asked him, half jogging to keep up with his longer stride.

“About her knowing better than me?” he said. “That remains to be seen.”

“No,” I said, “About me being in danger if something triggers?”

“Yes.”

The answer felt like a slap, making me dizzy. Well, I’d asked. I tried to focus on breathing until we crossed the property line and were back at the car. I glanced back. So far there was no sign of any activity from inside the house.

“I’ll call Cassandra,” I said.

“We will use the salt water first. In fact, stand still.”

I did as instructed.

Callum muttered a few Fae words under his breath, holding his hands either side of my face for some time. He huffed out a breath, lowering his hands. “Let me see your hands.”

I lifted them obediently and he slowly passed his over mine. “Can you see anything?” I asked, nausea rising again. I hoped not. And I really hoped the Cestis wouldn’t want to use demonstone on me again. Twice in one lifetime was two times too many.

“No,” Callum said, relief clear in the word.

“Can you check yourself?”

“No need. I would know if something was wrong,” he said. “Cerridwen will confirm when she arrives. Let’s go. We must rinse our hands with salt water.”

We could ring the whole damned car with salt as far as I was concerned. But I didn’t think it would make much difference. “The car’s not going to help us if a demon comes through.”

“No, but if we sit in the car, we are less likely to be noticed. The last thing we need now is nosy humans interfering.”

“They’ll notice if a whole bunch of cars turn up at this hour,” I objected.

“Yes, but it will be Cassandra’s task to explain. I’m sure she is more than capable of dealing with them.”

“Aren’t you?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yes, but you do not approve of my methods,” he said.

Right. When we’d fought the afrit we’d been interrupted by a squatter in the building we were searching. Callum had put him into some sort of magical Fae sleep. And casually dropped the fact that the guy would never wake up if Callum didn’t choose to wake him.

The thought of being trapped asleep until you eventually died of old age gave me the heebie-jeebies. So, yeah, better not to leave crowd control to him.

I glanced back at the house again as I hit the remote to unlock the car. I hated the idea of Lizzie being alone in the house, but I also knew she could handle herself. The fact that she was younger than me didn’t mean she was less powerful. In fact, quite the opposite.

Callum and I rinsed our hands with salt and water. Then climbed into the car and did as Lizzie had ordered.

I called Cassandra while Callum called Cerridwen. Cassandra backed Lizzie up when I explained the situation, telling us to stay put and wait.

“Should I call Mitch?” I asked.

“No.” The response was sharp. “Damon’s crew can’t go anywhere near the house until we know it’s safe. What’s the address?”

I gave it to her.

“Alright. Don’t move until I get there.”

Callum and I spent the next quarter of an hour sitting in the car, which was kind of awkward. I stared up at the second story, but with the blinds closed I couldn’t even see the glow from Lizzie’s witchlight. I gritted my teeth, telling myself no news was good news.

Just when I was deciding whether to disobey orders and go after Lizzie, she came around the side of the house. Relief stole my breath. I was remembering to breathe in when Lizzie reached us. “Anything?” I asked, lowering the window as Callum climbed out of his seat, the bag of salt in one hand and a bottle of water in the other.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “Callum was right. There’s a wall where there shouldn’t be one, but I can’t find a way in.”

“It might be mechanical rather than magical. Damon or Mitch could probably help with that,” I said.

“Not until it’s safe,” Lizzie said. “What did Cassandra say?” She took the salt and water Callum offered and rinsed her hands carefully.

“She’s on the way. Stay put until then.”

“Right,” Lizzie said. She shook her damp hands as though working off some nerves. “Callum, can you check me before I get in?”

“Of course,” he said. “Hold out your hands.” She did and he repeated what he’d done with me. “Nothing.”

Lizzie’s expression was as relieved as Callum’s tone. She climbed into the back seat, with a sigh.

Callum passed her backpack over. “Here. You should eat and drink. This is going to be a long night.”

He was right. Cassandra arrived with Radha and Ian, the other two members of the Cestis, hot on her heels. A few minutes later, Zee pulled up, too. Either his tournament was done, or he’d bailed. He made a beeline for Lizzie when she got out of the car to go talk to the others, gathering her in for a hug before inspecting her with serious dark eyes, reassuring himself she was all right.

They all conferred for a few minutes before Cassandra came over to the car and knocked on the window.

I wound it down.

“Maggie, you might as well go home,” she said. “I’ve let Mitch know the address and that you found something related to Ajax. He’s going to dig into who owns the house, see if that tells us anything, but there’s nothing more you can do here.”

I hesitated, not liking feeling useless. Part of me wanted to stay and help, and part of me wanted to run far away, but the choice was out of my hands, and arguing would only slow the rest of them down. “Mitch should check the gaming gear inside. They might get an ID off the system.”

Cassandra nodded. “I’ll see that he does.”

She didn’t say anything else. Clearly, I was dismissed. “Right. I’ll get out of your hair.”

“I take it Mitch called?” I asked as I walked into the kitchen. Damon was seated at the table, working away at something on his datapad. He still wore jeans and a somewhat wrinkled white shirt. Clearly he’d had no intention of going to bed before I got home.

“Yes.” He stood and met me halfway across the room, hands catching my shoulders. He looked me over with the same intensity that Zee had looked at Lizzie.

I smiled up at him as the familiar buzz of knowing I was the center of this man’s world stole through my veins like a slow shot of tequila. “I’m fine.” I put a hand on his cheek, and he leaned into the touch. “I’m fine,” I repeated, stepping back. He’d want a debrief and if I was going to talk, then I wanted snacks.

It was too late for coffee, but I wanted something hot and comforting to drink. I had some of Cassandra’s teas, including a soothing one that tasted less bad than a lot of her concoctions. Accompanied by a cookie or three, it might be just what I needed. Damon waited for me to fill a mug. I could feel the weight of his gaze as I moved around the kitchen, as though he was still making sure I was really okay. “Tea?” I asked, holding up the teapot.

“No. Are you going to tell me what happened?”

I explained what we’d found. He listened, shoulders set in a hard tense line, laser focused as I talked.

“Where’s this house again?” he asked, when I finished.

“Sea Cliff.” I carried my tea and cookies back to the table and Damon followed, taking the chair next to mine. “One of the rebuilt parts. Nothing special.”

He shook his head, mouth twisting. “Ajax didn’t live in Sea Cliff. He was close to Riley. We never found anything at his apartment relating to demonkind or magic.”

“Which makes sense now we know about this place.” I sipped tea, closing my eyes for a moment as the heat and sugar soothed me.

“Nothing to indicate he owned a second property, either.”

“I’m sure Mitch will find out if he did. We’ll know more soon enough.” I swallowed tea, trying to focus on the warmth. If Ajax didn’t own the house, who did? Had he had accomplices we knew nothing about? He couldn’t have been renting. Surely, his family would have terminated a rental agreement when they dealt with his estate. And the house wouldn’t still be empty. I shivered involuntarily. Who owned the damned house?

Damon seemed as though he was thinking along the same lines, something hard and distant in the depths of those blue, blue eyes. “I guess we will.”

“Yeah.” I covered his hand with mine. “We should probably try to sleep. They’ll let us know if they find anything.”

“Yep,” he agreed. “Something you should probably see first.”

“Now what?” I asked. I wasn’t sure how many more surprises I could take in one day.

“Nothing as eventful as yours, but the security team sent me a clip earlier. Madge, can you pull up a holoscreen and play the video from Rufus?”

“Of course, Damon,” Madge said.

A holoscreen appeared above the counter, showing me a security clip of the garden. Dammit. What now? As I watched, I couldn’t see anything but a section of the path and the plants around it, moving slowly with the breeze. “What am I looking at?”

“Just wait,” Damon pointed at a section of the screen. “There.”

I leaned closer. Yep. Barely visible among the bushes were two twining furry tails.

Well, crap. “ Another nixling?”

“Yes. But as far as we can tell, it’s gone.”

“You went out there?” I squeaked. Damon had no magic to defend himself.

“No. Jake and Rufus did a sweep. But no sign of your fairy kitty.”

“Not my fairy kitty.” I leaned in to examine the image. “Who knows if it’s even the same one.”

“Not me. But I thought you’d want to know.”

I sighed, finished my tea and pushed the plate of uneaten cookie away. There wasn’t enough sugar in the world to soothe me at this point. “And now I do. We can tell the others in the morning. Not worth interrupting them for this.”

A nixling, while disturbing, was not as important as working out what the hell Ajax had been doing in that house.

“Would you mind coming back to the house before you return to the city?” Callum asked. “I have something to discuss with you.”

I stopped chugging water and wiped my mouth. We’d been sparring for twenty minutes, and I was sweating like a pig. But the workout had helped, making me forget about Ajax and demonkind and nixlings for an hour.

Two days had passed since we’d found the name badge at the house.

Turned out Callum’s instincts had been right. There had been a hidden room and the Cestis had managed to break into it.

The walls were lined with steel and iron and layers of other protections, which explained why we hadn’t noticed it when we’d entered the house. Ian and Trick and Cassandra were still working on cleansing the space completely. But there’d been no traps. No demons suddenly sucked into the world from their dimension.

Not that Cassandra had allowed me near the place yet. Mitch had been equally adamant Damon stay away. The house was owned by a private company. One owned by a succession of equally private and mysterious corporations, culminating in one incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Damon had his lawyers and accountants working on who was behind it all, but if Ajax had been working with others, we were no closer to finding out who.

Which left me and Damon with a lot of frustration without many outlets. Turns out there are only so many times you can have ‘I’m annoyed, take my mind off it’ sex before it starts to feel weird.

Which was why I’d been relieved when Callum had called me earlier and said he was free for a training session. I’d been reading the pre-release story bible for Infinite Rise , Damon’s next launch, trying to get a feel for the game, but the details wouldn’t stick. I’d jumped gratefully at the chance to take my frustration out in a more direct way.

It had worked while we sparred. Having a Fae warrior swing a freaking big sword in my direction always focused my attention.

But now the tension came back with a rush. “Is something wrong?”

He shook his head. He, of course, was annoyingly sweat-free, his dark gray workout gear as pristine as it had been when we’d started the session.

Damned Fae. But I’d made him at least start breathing harder. One day I’d make him sweat. Until then I tried to think of him as more an early model avatar—when they didn’t show details like sweat or hard breathing——rather than admit he was barely exerting himself against me.

Better for my ego.

In contrast, I was a mess. The air-conditioning in our training gym was perfect, but while it kept out the midsummer heat, it couldn’t counteract the fact that fighting Callum took nearly everything I had. I put down the water bottle and reached for a towel, mopping sweat off my face and neck. Ugh. Maybe it wasn’t the exertion that heated every cell of my body so much as the burn of having my ass handed to me three times in an hour.

If we’d been fighting for real, I’d have been dead, dead and, oh yeah, more dead.

“I have to be back in the city in a couple of hours. Damon and I have a charity thing tonight. Is this thing a long discussion or something quick? I might have to rain check if it’s long. Unless it’s urgent.” I stared at him for a moment, looking for any clues in his face as to what this was about. But the Fae do inscrutable better than anyone.

“Not urgent. And it should not take long.”

I glanced around the empty gym. Pinky had a deadline for her latest movie score, so had passed on today’s session. Maia was out in one of the other rooms. She didn’t watch me every minute I was with Callum now. Fine with me. Being beaten every time was less embarrassing without an audience. “And we can’t talk about it here?”

“No,” he said. “It will make more sense at the house.”

Okay. Now I was curious. But I knew him well enough to know that Fae surprises weren’t always the fun kind. But non-fun surprises seemed to be par for the course for my week, so why the hell not? “All right. Let’s go.” Good or bad, I might as well find out.

“Quick detour by my place,” I said to Maia after I’d done a lightning quick change back into my street clothes. I regretted skipping a shower, but I didn’t have time.

“Will that leave you enough time? You have your glam squad coming at five.” She pulled up something on her datapad. Probably my schedule. No doubt Cat, Damon’s assistant, had been reminding her tonight wasn’t one of those nights we could be late.

“We’ll make it.” Or they would wait. Damon paid the makeup artist and hair stylist I used when we went to god-tier rich people events like this evening’s. The ones that cost eye-watering sums for a ticket and involved people who would never give me the time of day if I wasn’t with Damon. I kind of loathed them, but I never wanted to let Damon down by not looking like I belonged there like all the other partners who spent large chunks of their time every week to ensure they always appeared immaculate. I, on the other hand, spent mine , wading through obstreperous code or reading ancient documents or trying not to get stabbed by a Fae shapeshifter.

So now I had a glam squad , as Maia and Lizzie delighted in calling them.

It was their job to try and turn Cinderella into the belle of the ball when I needed to be. Or as close as I could get. They knew what I liked and were both excellent and fast at what they did.

Though tonight it didn’t matter what I liked. It mattered that I fit in. Everyone would be dressed to outshine, outdo and, bluntly, assert their dominance. I didn’t want to win whatever contest most of them—men and women—seemed to be playing. I wasn’t interested in billionaire power games. I had enough to worry about between witches and Fae. But Damon’s world had rules and I wasn’t going to break one unless I absolutely had to.

Back at my house, Callum offered tea and I declined. Which didn’t stop him making himself a pot.

Maia tapped her wrist, looking stern. “Don’t forget, we’re on a schedule here.”

Callum remained unperturbed. Kind of his default. Whether he did it to be irritating or whether it was the result of centuries playing Fae politics, I was never sure. But it annoyed Maia and if she showed it, he’d only slow down more.

I caught her eye and tilted my head toward the door. “It’s fine. Go wait in the car, I won’t be long.” I intended to be done with whatever this was and headed home as soon as possible. The house was cool, but I was regretting the not-showering decision. I felt grimy and sticky underneath my clothes.

A shower was definitely a nonnegotiable step once I got home. My gown for the ball had cost several small fortunes. So I needed Callum to say what he had to say so I could bail.

“So, what’s this about?” I asked, not willing to wait for Callum to finish fussing with his tea before we talked. Tea could be a whole ritual with the Fae, but today I didn’t have the time.

Callum spooned pale green leaves into a small sedate black teapot I didn’t recognize. Chinese, or maybe Japanese? I didn’t know enough about tea to know. Perhaps Callum had had enough of unicorns and acquired a pot more to his taste. After the third scoop of leaves, he put the spoon down and closed the tin of tea slowly.

I took that to mean he would take as long as he wanted. I chewed my lip to stop myself telling him to hurry the hell up.

“I had an idea about the nixlings,” he said while he poured boiling water into the teapot.

“Which is?”

“Have you ever heard the expression ‘set a thief to catch a thief’?”

My shoulders tensed. “Yes,” I said warily.

“Then this should be simple.”

In my experience, rarely could anything involving the Fae be called simple. “Define ‘simple’.”

He flashed me a grin. I was used to how handsome he was now, but that didn’t make it any less distracting when he exerted himself to be charming. Though I’d learned to be wary when he did.

“Let me demonstrate.” He pursed his lips and whistled three short notes.

The door to the laundry room, which I hadn’t noticed was ajar, pushed all the way open and a nixling walked through and jumped up on the counter to perch next to Callum’s teapot.

No cats on the counter . I could hear my Gran’s voice, and the memory cut through my surprise. He’d brought the nixling back out from the realm? “Is that...” I started to ask but stopped.

This wasn’t either of the nixlings we’d seen. It was lighter. Still shades of gray, but no black as they had. Instead its fur was banded with light and dark gray stripes. The tips of its tail, ears, and a patch of fur on its chest were more silvery, and its eyes were a luminous gold with a near metallic sheen.

It stared back at me while I studied it. Then, apparently tired of waiting, it made a purring chirrup of a noise, twin tails curving curiously.

“Maggie,” Callum said, “this is—” He spoke a rapid string of Fae words that merged together in a musical lilt that took me a minute to untangle.

“Right,” I said, struggling to translate with my basic vocabulary. “That means she who hunts softly?”

“She who hunts in silence like the breeze in the east.”

Of course it did. “That’s an impressive name.” And quite a mouthful I stopped myself from adding.

Callum smiled. “You can call her Lianith if that’s easier.”

It was. And I wasn’t going to ask what Lianith translated to. If the nixling liked it, it was fine by me.

“And what am I supposed to do with tha—with her,” I amended when the nixling hit me with a slit-eyed look I could only describe as judgmental.

“She can patrol your garden for you. That should keep other nixlings out. If one should come, she can deal with it, or perhaps convince it to talk to her.”

“And why would it do that?”

“She assures me that they will. It’s a nixling thing. They have hierarchies, even if the other one doesn’t belong to Cerridwen.”

Of course they did. They were Fae creatures. The nixling certainly looked regal. “And she’s high up the chain?” I asked.

“Yes.”

I pictured Damon’s face if I came home bearing a magical cat queen. Or boss. Or whatever. He liked Ted well enough, but I didn’t really know if he was an animal person. Even if he was, liking normal human world pets and wanting a Fae beastie living in his house were two very different things.

“It does not have to be forever,” Callum said, seeing my hesitation. “But for now it is an added layer of protection more likely to help than anything else I can think of.”

Dammit. If he couldn’t think of a better option, there probably wasn’t one. “I see.” Other than Damon, I couldn’t think of another objection. Not if Lianith could keep the other nixlings away. I met her gaze. “And you’re happy to do this?”

She nodded, a movement that was disconcerting coming from something my brain still insisted was a cat despite the two tails.

Two tails. Right. That was a problem.

How was this going to work? Damon’s grounds were extensive, but he still had neighbors and nixlings could climb. Unless we kept Lianith inside—which defeated the purpose of having her—there was a chance someone might see her. Some of Mitch’s team knew about the Fae but Damon’s gardeners didn’t. His housekeeper, Amy, knew I was a witch but she didn’t know about my past or that things like demons were real.

“She doesn’t look much like a cat,” I pointed out. “That’s going to be confusing for people if they see her.”

“It won’t be a problem,” Callum said. “We can cast an illusion on a collar.”

I blinked. “She’s happy to wear a collar?” Her neck was bare now. A collar seemed a very human thing. And not in keeping with her being high up the nixling pecking order.

“I do not know if happy is the precise word, but she has consented so it can carry the illusion. She understands it is necessary.”

“Okay, well, it’s worth a shot. But if Damon disagrees we are going to have to come up with another plan.”

“Your Damon is a sensible man,” Callum said. “He will not argue when it comes to your safety.”

He was right. That was the one argument that almost always worked with Damon. Though I wouldn’t blame him if he decided a live-in nixling was not something he was on board with.

I turned my attention back to Lianith. She stretched her front legs, bowing like a dog, and yawned, baring very long, very white, pointed teeth, before sitting back, casually raising her front paw and unsheathing equally long claws before starting to clean them with her tongue.

Apparently I was boring her with my questions. And I was running out of time. “Okay,” I said. “I guess we’ll try it. What does she eat?”

No doubt there were mice and other small critters in Damon’s garden, but the nixling was large. Too big to live on mice. And I didn’t want her hunting birds or deciding to go farther afield in search of prey.

“Raw meat,” Callum said. “Beef or lamb, chicken. Fish. Not pet food,” he added, wrinkling his nose. “I have smelled what they feed Ted. It would be unacceptable.”

Ted seemed happy enough to scarf down what I knew was expensive gourmet pet food. But he was a Labrador and I don’t think he’d ever met a food he didn’t like. But raw meat was easy enough. I’d add it to the shopping list on the house comp and Amy would work her housekeeper magic to make it appear in the fridge.

I looked at Lianith. “Let’s go for a ride.”