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“Earth to Rebekah.” Shado waved a hand in front of my face. “Which friend?”
I stopped and turned to face her. “You don’t know him. But with a little luck, and some space, he’ll be able to help me figure everything out. So, you can go back to work. I’m fine. All healed. Right as rain. Insert whichever cliché fits right here. I’m fine.”
“Bullshit,” she said, folding her arms over her chest. “I know when you’re lying.”
“I’m not lying!” I wasn’t. Not completely anyway. I was healed, and pretty sure Matteo could help me. But I wasn’t fine. I still felt lightheaded after all the blood I’d lost. My hands shook at my sides just to prove her point.
Shado glared at me. “Does Jackson know you’re here?”
“No,” I said. “And if you tell him, I’ll never forgive you.”
“Oooooh, he is gonna kill you.” She whistled through her teeth. “When he smells this place on you—”
“Enough,” I said. “Go back to work. Email me the photos I asked for, and I will call you later.”
“But—”
I held my hand up to stop her. “Just go.”
“Rebekah, I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine,” I repeated for what felt like the millionth time. “I promise. You can go home and relax.”
Shado pressed her lips together and sighed. “Fine. But if I don’t hear from you in two hours, I’m telling Jackson where you are.”
“Make it three, and you’ve got a deal.”
“Whatever.” Her form shimmered and she disappeared, leaving me alone in the middle of the tunnel.
I pinched the bridge of my nose again. “Bye, Cousin.”
I could already picture her pulling out her phone and texting Jackson. There was no way she’d wait three hours before she told him I’d gone to the market. She worried too much for that. If he didn’t show up at Matteo’s shop, he’d be waiting for me when I got home.
Continuing down the tunnel, I passed the boarded-up curio shop and bookstore next to Matteo’s front door. I reached for the handle to go inside, but a dark shape came crashing through the front window. I jumped back, and a few seconds later a man I didn’t recognize stepped out of the hole in one fluid motion. He marched past me and loomed over the figure still prone on the ground.
“Alaric, please!” The figure whined, rolling onto his side.
I recognized Matteo immediately, half drenched in what I guessed, by the smell of him, was the remnants of his fish tank. The second man kicked Matteo in the ribs, and the mage went flying across the tunnel. His back smacked into the wall, and he hit the ground again with a wet squelch.
“Hey! I need him in one piece,” I snapped. Magic raced to the surface of my skin, and I threw a wall of telekinetic force at the man Matteo had called Alaric. Alaric took a surprised step sideways, and most of my energy rebounded off a half dome shield that spread over his shoulder.
His icy blue eyes blazed with anger and waves of energy radiated from his chest. “Who the hell are you?”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I threw another spear of energy at his chest. Diplomacy is non-existent in the Borderlands. If you don’t shoot first, you die.
The energy flared against his shield a second time, but he caught the bolt in his hand. It crackled like lightning against his palm and then dissipated in a burst of white light.
Matteo sat up against the side of the tunnel. “Rebekah? Is that you?”
“Hi,” I said, willing my energy into a shield in front of me. “I’d ask how you’ve been, but I think I know.”
“Oh, this? This is nothing.” He waved his hand dismissively in Alaric’s direction. “Just a misunderstanding.”
Alaric’s eyes widened and he turned back to Matteo. “A misunderstanding? You call wiping my girlfriend’s memory amisunderstanding?”
“Jesus, really?” I rolled my eyes. “I thought you were done messing around in people’s romantic problems.”
Matteo smiled. “I couldn’t help myself. The girl was desperate to move on from Senor Douche-Bag here, and I couldn’t say no.”
