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It seemed weird that there would betwogroups of crazies who were using exploding spells for nefarious reasons, especially when—as a whole—supernaturals were pretty good at pulling together to pretend we were all civil and harmless to keep the humans from getting spooked.
Pat’s going to be on this case—they’ll use him to represent human interests.
Pat had joined the Curia Cloisters task force department, to help them learn how to handle humans and to act as a go between for the city and the Curia Cloisters.
I turned my gaze on to the rack of magazines we sold, when my text ringtone chimed.
I opened my messages—if it was anyone besides my family I’d ignore it, but it was Pat.
Eurydice
At the sightof the code word, anxiety—followed by a surge of adrenaline—spiked through my body. I speed dialed my brother while sprinting through the house, sliding into the kitchen.
I grabbed my short sword, daggers, and leather harness—given the tracker’s continued presence in Magiford, Ms. Booker let me bring my weapons to work with me—and tossed my ringing phone on the table while I started to strap my gear into place.
Pat picked up the phone, and I frantically tapped the speakerphone button. “What happened? Did he try for Joy again?” I pinched my finger in one of my harness’s buckles and barely noticed the pain.
“Orpheus!” Pat shouted through the phone. “Orpheus, Chloe.”
I sagged, and all the fear in my body dissipated when I recognized the second code word. “Orpheus—this was just a drill? Joy’s fine? You’re fine?”
“Yes. I just wanted to test your response time while you’re on the clock.”
I would have dropped the dagger I was holding, except it was elven made, and even though my relief was making me lightheaded, there was no way I was going to justdropsomething so precious.
Especially since Charon and Noctus gave it to me—
“I hope I reacted fast enough?” I asked.
“Yeah—you were very satisfactory. Last week I tested Joy, and she took five minutes to respond, which is terrible. I gave her an improvement plan sheet, and she drove over to my apartment, used her spare key to get inside, and put bird feed on my patio. It’sstilloverrun by pigeons!”
I laughed. “Yeah, she told me about that—I’m just glad she is still so fiery!”
At the end of July, the tracker attacked Joy outside her new workplace in Magiford City Hall.
A visiting werewolf Pack heard Joy screaming and intervened, but the incident had left my siblings and me shaken.
Maybe I should stop avoiding the Curia Cloisters. If the tracker hurts Pat or Joy, I don’t know if I could forgive myself.
Since August, it seemed like the tracker had changed tactics. Now he was laying traps around Magiford for me instead of any kind of direct confrontation.
It was maddening—that he was so consumed with getting me that he would observe and change tactics, that he evencaredso much! I mean, I never did anything to him! Why was he obsessed with getting me?
Noctus and the others said he was a half elf; does he hate me just because shadows are the elves’ natural enemies? But we weren’t even involved in the elven war—everyone thought we were dead!
“Just stay alert,” Pat told me, snapping my attention back to him. “Things have been a bit tense in Magiford, and it’s only ramping up.”
“Okay,” I slowly said, trying to sense if there were any undertones to his warning. “I saw an article about the artifact incident downtown…has something new happened at the Cloisters that you can’t tell me about?”
“Nah,” Pat said. “Unless you count the new big threat the Cloisters is experiencing: a gopher infestation.”
I relaxed, some of my tension leaving me. “A gopher infestation?”
“Yep. Or maybe moles or groundhogs—I haven’t seen the little buggers. Whatever they are, they keep digging holes in the lawn and flower beds. It’s driving the groundskeeper crazy.”
“That’s oddly wholesome,” I said. “But since this was just a drill, I should get back to work. Ms. Booker has been very understanding, but I don’t want to waste time I should be spending stocking shelves.”
“Right, right. Just be safe, baby sis.”
