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Pissed off and all set to rip him a new one, I picked up the phone and immediately laid into him. “You’ve got a lot of nerve calling me after what you put me through, Tony.”
“I know, sis. And I’m sorry. I really am.” Tony’s voice was high pitched, the words tumbling out in a mess. “I messed up. I fucked up super bad this time.”
“Yeah, I’ll say. I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to save your ass from a dragon.”
“Dragon? I’m not worried about no dragon, man. No, I’m talking about this psycho wizard. Listen, Evangeline. You have to give back the locket.”
Was I hearing this correctly? Ugh. I shouldn’t have picked up.
“Go to hell, Tony. And don’t call back.”
“Wait! Eva, please. Don’t hang up. You have to help me. You’re my sister. If I don’t give this crazy-ass wizard the locket, I’m going to be in big trouble.” He legit sounded scared, and not in the pretending-to-be-frightened-to-get-what-he-wanted way.
“Big trouble? Maybe you should’ve thought twice before stealing from a dragon. Let me guess, you set my house on fire, too, didn’t you? You snuck into my house to steal the locket, and when you couldn’t find it, you set the place on fire to cover your tracks.”
“I had no choice. Really. They made me break into your house. But I wasn’t alone, and I didn’t set it on fire. Those pyromaniac genies did.”
“You broke into my house.”
“I had to,” he whined.
Somehow, I’d known Tony was involved. I wasn’t even surprised anymore because, come on, he’d already crashed my car once. Even if he didn’t start the fire personally, he was still responsible in my books.
“What the hell were you thinking?” The question came out more as a screech. “No. Forget I asked, because you weren’t thinking. As usual. End of story.”
“I have to get the locket back, or else he’s going to kill me. He’s going to feed me to his crocs, Eva. I saw them. Actual crocodiles. You have to help me.”
Eva from a few years ago would have fallen for that line. Eva from a few years ago would have assured Tony that she did care. I was done with that; I had no more fucks to give. But I was curious about the locket, and I wasn’t about to pass up the chance to learn more about it.
“Who is this wizard, anyway? Does he have a name?”
“I don’t know. He never told me. I don’t even have his contact. He calls from a private number whenever he needs something. Sometimes, he just shows up without warning, teleporting right into my room.”
Teleporting didn’t exist, but I refrained from correcting him.
“He’s been paying my bills since I started volunteering at the museum, so I just went with it.”
Tony launched into a rant about how boring it had been at the museum, and I pressed the mute button. I looked up at Mateo who was leaning against the kitchen doorway and listening in.
“Should we pretend to take the bait and try to find our wizard that way?”
“Not after what happened at the motel last time. We’d never catch him twice the same way. Besides, I have another lead.”
I unmuted the call and interrupted Tony, who was still complaining.
“What’s so special about Mom’s locket, anyway? I mean, she had it the whole time we were growing up, and we never noticed anything.” If Tony thought telling me more would get me to cooperate, I planned on milking as much information out of him as possible.
“I’m not sure, but the wizard called it a catalytic amulet. Or was it cationic? I don’t remember. But it sounded important, and he’s willing to pay a fortune for it, but only if I get him both halves.”
“But you had both. Did you not try to put them together to see what would happen?” I knew he must have, but I wanted to hear it.
“Of course. They glowed when they first touched, but that was it. I even wore them together for a while, but I didn’t feel any different. Anyway, where are you staying? I’m in front of your place right now, but you’re not home.”
Suddenly, I wondered if this call was being traced. Shit. I hadn’t even thought about that.
“At a motel,” I lied. “You know, on account that my house is covered in soot and char and everything is soaked and frozen solid, thanks to you.”
“Which motel?”
