“And what about the shard? Do we place it in evidence once we’ve gotten the practitioner’s address?”
“The minute I dismantle my shield, it will start disintegrating. The mage may not even have time to run a trace.”
That at least is the truth.
Atticus, will you shut up?
He regarded me steadily, his tail flicking slowly from side to side. He didn’t say no, but he didn’t have to.
“But youwillring me once you get the name and/or address of the shard’s owner,” Ginny said.
I hesitated, then nodded. Whether I actually did was another matter entirely.
You should not attend a dark mage’s lair alone. It is not safe.
I’m not alone.
His tail flicked.Aware.
Meaning René, not just our unknown shard owner.He’s not a dark mage.
I see him in your thoughts. You cannot feel his magic or essence, so you do not know what he is.
True, but Sophie trusts him.
And I trust no one. I come.
Seriously? No.
He gave me a feline smile. One that said, “Try to stop me.”
I couldn’t, of course.
“Then while I wait for your call,” Ginny was saying, “I’ll run a trace on the number we got from our would-be thieves, and see if we can ping its location.”
“If you find it, do not go after him alone. Remember what happened to Mark.”
“A little scouting in hawk form won’t hurt. If luck is with us, I can uncover where either Lanie or Monica is, and we can run a full raid to take them into custody.”
“I doubt it’s going to be that easy.”
“Oh, I agree, but it can’t hurt to hope, can it?”
“Just be careful.” I drained my hot chocolate, then rose and walked over to the dishwasher, popping the mug into a rack. “Seeing as you’re going to be flying tomorrow, I’ll take the car. Oh, and Michael wants us to move. He’ll send me a new location tomorrow.”
Ginny frowned. “Why do we need another apartment?”
I shrugged, once again feeling a little guilty about having to lie. “Michael ordered it. He wouldn’t say why.”
She sniffed. “He’s probably worried that his little sister will get hurt worse next time there’s a break-in.”
“I wasn’t hurt this time. Well, aside from a few bruises.” I paused. “He also said not to give Lowell or his people our new location.”
“Well, that’s not going to work, is it? We wear earwigs for the very reason that they can trace our location at a moment’s notice.”
“Which is why he wants us to use the signal blocking boxes that will arrive tomorrow.”
“Wow, he’s really not trusting anyone up here, is he?”
