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I carefully plucked the spell’s first line free from its brethren, checked there were no hidden nasties woven into its length, then deactivated and dismissed it. I repeated that process with the remaining five layers, until the whole thing was gone and I was able to release my protection net. As the last wisps of silver and gold floated away, Samuel arrived.
He stopped at the base of the building and stared up at me. “How the hell did you get up there?”
“I jumped.”
“That’s one hell of a leap.”
“He was attacking Belle. It’s amazing just how much fear and a little bit of magic can assist in these sorts of situations.” I shrugged. “Is Deni okay?”
“My people are down there checking now, so I should have a report in a few minutes. Do you need help to get down? Shall I look for a ladder or something?”
“No, I’m good.” I slid on my butt to the edge of the roof then jumped down, landing with surprising lightness next to him. “The idiot who attacked Belle is around the other side of the building.”
“So she said.”
There was a bite in his voice that had me looking at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything.” He ran a hand through his wet hair, exasperation briefly evident in his expression. “This is on me. If I’d trusted your instincts and been here when all this went down—”
“It probably wouldn’t have changed a thing.” I lightly touched his arm. It was more muscular than I’d expected. “The thing that attacked Deni and her kidnapper went through a goddamn brick wall and then proceeded to tear said kidnapper apart.”
A smile twitched his lips. “My magic is a bit stronger than yours. It could have made a difference.”
The former was definitely true if we weren’t counting the wild magic.
“I’ve had more experience monster hunting.” I paused. “Well, the supernatural kind, anyway. In many respects, the monsters you deal with are scarier.”
He wrinkled his nose, amusement briefly evident. “Only sometimes.”
We rounded the other end of the building and walked toward Belle’s assailant. He was lying in the middle of a thorny-looking shrub and was obviously a royal witch of some kind, given the strength of his magic, though in the storm-swept night, his hair looked black. His silver eyes, however, were bright, and filled with equal amounts of fury and pain. It was just as well Belle was holding him immobile and silent, because I suspected if he’d been able to speak, we’d have gotten an education in swearing. He just had that look about him.
His clothes were torn, and there were scratches all over his face and hands. The lower part of his left leg was sitting at a weird angle, though there wasn’t any obvious sign of blood or even bones sticking out from his jeans. Maybe he’d be lucky and the break simple.
Personally, I was hoping it wasn’t.
I stopped a meter away. Samuel continued on and quickly patted the man down, pulled a wallet and iPhone from his pockets, then tugged a driver’s license free. “Jacob Ashworth. Well, well, well.”
I swiped a hand across my face to get rid of some of the water, which, given the intensity of the storm, was pretty much useless. “I take it you know him?”
“Know of him. He’s a freelancer who’s come up on our radar a number of times.”
“Meaning he’s a witch for hire?”
Samuel nodded. “Jacob here has a reputation for not worrying about the legalities if the money is good enough.”
“Huh.” I told Belle to let the stranger speak, then said, “Who hired you?”
He swore at me. Colorfully.
Samuel kicked the boot on Jacob’s unbroken leg. “Enough of that. Just answer the question.”
“Aren’t you supposed to read me my rights? And what about a fucking ambulance? I’ve got a broken leg here.”
“Reading a suspect their rights is a gray area when it comes to magical crimes,” Samuel said. “I would suggest you cooperate.”
“And I would suggest you go fuck yourself.”
“Belle,” I said aloud, so that Samuel would know why Jacob suddenly became compliant. “Make him answer the questions.”
