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“Any luck?” I asked.
Mateo looked up at me, then at the clock. “Shit. It’s way past noon.”
“Hungry, Matty? Do you and your inferior corporeal body require sustenance?” Prax teased.
Now that I’d gotten to know Prax better, I didn’t mind him so much.
Mateo knew better than to give the incubus the reaction he wanted. “I am hungry, and food would be nice. But let’s check the Darlington office of Augustine’s hedge fund group first and see what we can find there. The cat shelter is on the way, so I can bring back the little monsters at the same time, if you’re done with them.”
“I am. Thank you.”
“Perfect. We’ll bring back some food. I would say you should come along too, Eva, but I’m not sure what we’ll find there. I think it’s safer for you to stay here.”
“I understand. I’ll just hang out here.”
We’d all gone out for lunch yesterday and the day before, purposely leaving the locket unattended in an attempt to get the wizard to make his move. We’d left it on Mateo’s bedside table in full view of the window. We’d even talked about it on the way out the first day, with me proclaiming loudly, “Oh no. I forgot to put it back in the safe.” Nothing had happened. I was beginning to wonder if the wizard even knew it was here.
I got the cats ready for transport and loaded them into the back of the SUV. Then the guys left and it was just me and Sriracha, who I’d locked in the spare room so he didn’t terrorize the kittens. I usually didn’t let him out when I groomed cats from the shelter because I never knew if it would stress them out.
It was my fluffy feline friend who alerted me of the cop car on Mateo’s street. I peeked through the curtains, keeping myself well hidden, and saw Officer Biffi creeping around the front porch.
I grabbed my phone and quickly tapped out a message to the boys. Just as I got their reply telling me to stay quiet, the doorbell rang. Technically, this wasn’t my house, so I didn’t answer the door. The doorbell rang again, and when I still didn’t answer, that was when the pounding started.
“Open up! This is the police. We know you’re in there.”
Wow. That was so cliché.
I stayed quiet and put my phone on silent. The pounding stopped, but the police cruiser did not leave. After a moment, there was a loud bang followed by a string of curses. Officer Biffi had tried to smash through one of the downstairs windows. Ha! Joke was on him, because the glass was unbreakable. Mateo’s home might look like an unassuming, charming little Victorian, but it was a fortress in disguise.
Remembering the heavy-duty door to the basement, I grabbed Sriracha and started down the stairs. As I stepped into the hallway, I caught a glimpse of Biffi outside the kitchen window. Our eyes met for just a second.
He had something in his hand; I couldn’t see quite what it was, but I did see him throw it at the window. There was a low rumble under my feet, and the air around me shimmered with energy. The window cracked right down the center and opened up. But it didn’t stop there: the wall beneath the window cracked as well, and the whole side of the wall crumbled away.
All this happened in utter silence.
I didn’t have time to react as Biffi, who was clearly in cahoots with our wizard, took his first step into Mateo’s home. He encountered some resistance as the magical ward tried to stop him. He dug a bottle out of his pocket and hurled it to the floor in front of him.
It was like one of the canned spells, but because this one was in a glass bottle it left shards of broken glass all over the place. I guess removing the stopper like a civilized person was too much work. A glow surrounded his body, and he stepped into the home, immune to the protection spell surrounding it.
Shit! This was bad. I made for the basement door, but I was too slow. Rough hands grabbed me by the arm and yanked me back. I let Sriracha go, who dashed underneath the couch to safety. I was terrified for his poor little paws with all the glass, but I didn’t hear a yowl.
“Where the fuck is it?” Officer Biffi demanded, shaking me hard enough that it felt like my brain was going to get jostled loose.
“Wha—I…I don’t understand,” I stammered.
“The locket. I’ve gone through your house with a fine-tooth comb, and it’s not there. All I found was garbage. You must have it on you.” He grabbed the neckline of my top and pulled it down, exposing my bra. His eyes weren’t on my breasts, however. They were looking for the locket.
“Fuck!” He shook me again when he saw I wasn’t wearing it before releasing me. Then he looked around wildly. There was still a hazy shimmer of magic around him, permitting him to stay in Mateo’s warded home, but it was growing dimmer. ’“I don’t have time for this.”
He hauled me up the stairs. I wasn’t dumb enough to ask if he had a warrant. He might be in uniform, but he wasn’t acting at all like a cop. I was starting to wonder if he was even a cop at all, or if he had everyone fooled, like Tony at the museum.
Biffi raced into the guest room first, checking all the surfaces and rifling through the drawers. Not finding the locket, he stomped into the master bedroom. His eyes instantly landed on the shiny silver piece on the table next to Mateo’s bed.
Crap! I should’ve put it away, but I hadn’t thought anyone would be able to get in with all the wards in place.
He grabbed it and held it up triumphantly, then dragged me back down the stairs. “Now, let’s get the fuck out of here before the spell wears off.”
I’d expected him to let me go now that he had his prize, but instead, he hauled me out the door. “Hey, let me go. You got what you were after.”
