Damn it!
I walk over to the watch on the counter, pick it up, paper and all, give myself three cleansing breaths to acknowledge how stunningly stupid I’m being, and then shove the wad into my back pocket again.
In an eye-blink, Collin is back, this time sitting on my ratty, third-hand polyester microfiber love seat. He’s hanging his head.
“You’re angry. With me.” His words come out in an unhappy mumble.
Is that what I am? I was pretty pissed off before, but was it really about him? I mean, if I’m being totally honest, like Rafa, all this spirit’s tried to do is help me. Does he actually deserve the full bill for my bad temper? When I have no idea what he’s been through?
I suppose it wouldn’t kill me totryto be a little nicer.
“Why were you hurt when I first saw you?” I ask.
He looks up, and gives me a sad smile. “Alvin… You don’t have to worry about that. Let’s talk about what I can do foryou.” He brightens a little. “I know you’re not going to be able to keep me for long, but it’s more than enough time to give you a few stock picks that could get yousorted with your mother foryearsafter the money from the elf runs out. You’d like that, right?”
Okay. So, he knows about the elf. (And my mom!) That’s, at least, a time saver. But not what I asked about.
“Collin, I first saw you when I put the watch in my pocket. You say you’re not a ghost. Am I actually talking to a magical artifact here?”
“No. I’m my own person. But the watch binds me.”
“So, you’re, like, what? A spirit that knows everything?”
“Noteverything. I’m not omniscient—a specific question has to be asked, and I have tolookfor the answer. I can’t see the future. I can’t read minds. Real-time information has strict limits, my general ‘database’ only gets updated once a day, and with only a couple exceptions, I can only know stuff that could be discovered throughhumansenses or tools. But that’s still a really broad portfolio! Magic spells, corporate secrets, advanced engineering, hidden diaries—you can pretty much ask me anything, and I’ll be able to get you a true answer.”
I think on that a moment. The ability to get an answer about practicallyanything. That would be… pretty incredible.
Then it hits me.
“Wait! Are you saying you can tell me where Emma is?!”
“Emma?” His brows scrunch.
“She’s the daughter of a woman named Nicole Bruno who works for the CPA down the hall from me. She’s missing.”
“Oh!” He grins. “Ha! Of course, your first questionwould be to help someone else! Ishould’veknown it would be!” He looks off to the side, then looks back at me. “As of my latest update, Emma Bruno was being held in the second sub-basement of the Benevolent Society of San Cipriano located in Nob Hill, and it’s very unlikely she would have been moved in the last couple hours.” He squares his shoulders, confident. “I can be more specific if you need me to be. Even help you draw a map.”
Holy crap! Yeah, I might have hoped the Benevolent Society was a good lead. But he knows her exact location! And if I hadn’t had a single clue, he could still have found her. Or any other missing person. Having Collin wouldn’t just make me a good PI—with his help, I could literally become the best in the world. My mind reels over the possibilities.
But only for a moment. Because while it might feel like I’ve just won the lottery, he’s just confirmed there’s a teenage girl in the clutches of bad guys.
I frown and focus. (Do I need to concentrate when I ask the question? I do it anyway, just in case.)
“Collin, tell me, is Emma in imminent danger right now?”
He doesn’t glance away this time. “No, not imminent. The vampires need her for a ritual, and they can’t hurt her until they’re ready to cast. They need me to help them do that, and that’s not going to happen, because I’m with you.”
Vampires!Vampiresare mixed up with Emma's disappearance. That can’t be a coincidence. And it would make sense why they’d need a human practitioner. Vampires are one of the few paranormals without any innate potentialto cast spells. Magic is the energy of life, and being dead kinda gets in the way of that. I’m not surprised they could use an already powered-up artifact like the watch, but for a ritual, they’d need someone with actual mana. Someone weaker than them who they could control, like a kid.
And apparently, they need Collin, too.
“What do they need you for?”
“I’m not 100% sure. They want to cast a spell. Something evil. Something world changing. I don’t know exactly what, because they were asking the wrong questions. And I was… deliberately not being cooperative.”
“You can refuse instructions?”
“Of course! I mean, I’m trapped in the watch, and I’m not allowed to lie—or, at least, you won’t be able tohearme if I lie—but other than that, I still have complete free will! If I don’twantto do something, I don’t have to.”
