THE DARK ARTIFACT

IZZIE BERENS: THE ARCANE ENFORCER™ BOOK 2

MARTHA CARR

MICHAEL ANDERLE

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Version 1.00, January 2025

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The Oriceran Universe (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are Copyright (c) 2017-2025 by Martha Carr and LMBPN Publishing.

THE DARK ARTIFACT TEAM

Thanks to the JIT Readers

Dorothy Lloyd

Peter Manis

Christopher Gilliard

Dave Hicks

Diane L. Smith

Jackey Hankard-Brodie

Jan Hunnicutt

PROLOGUE

Cody glanced at the GPS map displayed on his armored truck’s console. Bright blue dots marked the two SUVs in front of his truck and the two SUVs following him. Nearby white dots indicated other vehicles recognized by the two drones flying overhead and trailing the corporate security convoy. Most importantly, no red dots marked magical activity above background levels.

He slowed at a stop light with a frown. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.”

“Unclench those cheeks, man,” Tae replied from the passenger’s seat. He adjusted one sleeve on his black security uniform, leaning back in his seat like he was on a comfortable road trip through Austin. His casual air belied the railgun locked in a rack in the back seat and the pistol in his belt holster. He brushed lint off the New Gemini Magical Research logo on the front of his uniform.

“I don’t like a transport order without a cargo manifest,” Cody explained. “This isn’t like the other runs. We have a real deal magical artifact this time.”

Tae scoffed. “I’m serious, bro. Relax. I know you’re fresh on the team, but this isn’t anything worse than you’ve seen in your time working the mean streets.”

His slight smile grew into a face-splitting grin. “I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Even with real magic artifacts, NGMR cargo transport jobs are nothing but milk runs. It’s one of the reasons I love this job. Premium pay for easy work. It’s about time guys like you and me who put in their dues get what they deserve.”

“Everyone on our team has years of experience. I feel like I’m a rookie because I’m not former special forces.”

“Nah. The company has gone out of their way to hire a bunch of former cops and military because it makes it all look good to investors, nothing more. I’ve worked for them for two years and never had to shoot anything outside of my range time.” Tae shrugged. “All those shadow convoy games are because of corporate espionage. That’s all.”

New Gemini Magic Research was a newer company focused on technomagical research. They’d done well despite electing to start their business outside of the so-called Magic Triangle in the Seattle area where most of the major American technomagic companies were headquartered.

Cody never paid much attention to technomagic other than self-driving Currus taxis until a security recruiter from NGMR reached out to him while he was working as a cop. The recruiter offered him a huge pay raise and better benefits than he’d been making as an experienced member of the Austin Police Department’s SWAT.

That had been two months ago, and so far Tae had been right. The job had been far easier than being a cop. He spent most of his day babysitting the NGMR office and helping coordinate patrols. The worst incident he’d dealt with was an old man who had a heart attack in the lobby. Once in a while the company sent them on cargo transport missions. As far as Cody knew, most were fakes and decoys.

Still, the company never answered his only real question when he interviewed with them.

Does your company really need SWAT- and military-trained security guards?

Cody frowned. “In my experience, Tae, when people ask you to carry something and not ask too many questions, it’s going to be your ass on the line when something goes wrong.”

“Of course it is our asses on the line. It’s our job to guard whatever we’ve got back there. If we screw it up, that means we’re not doing our jobs.”

He nodded toward the back. “That’s the problem. The more magicals know about your magical defenses, the better they can counter them. Sometimes it’s best for us not to know. Operational security, man.”

Per orders, they’d loaded a small, locked briefcase covered with runes into a specialty crate. Cody had no idea what the runes meant, but the wizard responsible for enchanting the briefcase told him the runes wouldn’t be a problem for the security team as long as they didn’t force it open.

The runes wouldn’t be effective inside the final container, an unremarkable-looking wooden crate with a powerful active anti-magical matrix system lining the inside. The runes provided a final security layer should the crate receive any damage.

Cody wasn’t going to mess with a double-sealed artifact. All they needed to do was take the crate to the airport. Then it would be another team’s problem until it made it to its final location.

He nodded toward the GPS. “I don’t like not going straight to the airport when it’s not a decoy run.” He grunted to warn Tae not to rebut his concerns. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know the supposed wisdom of focusing on surface streets.

“Let me tell you something I learned as a cop. I don’t know how you guys did it in the military, but sometimes it’s better to take the straight path and get there quicker than play all this 4D chess with people. The more you try to outthink the bad guys, the more you fall into their trap.”

Tae gave him a dismissive look. “Man, you’re going to stroke out after six months on this job. You know how many no-manifest runs I’ve done since starting with NGMR?”

“Did those milk runs include convoys?”

“Yeah, they did. I’m not talking decoys, either. I’m talking real-deal cargo, but no manifest.”

“I don’t know. How many?”

“Six.” Tae laughed. “And the worst trouble we’ve ever had is freaking Austin traffic, and it’s not even bad today.

“You’re worrying about nothing. We don’t have a mob boss in that little case. Even if an asshole decides to come after our unmarked vehicles because he thinks he’s going to get something nice…” He gestured at the railgun. “Then we get to use the big toys on something other than the range.”

Cody slowed with the rest of the convoy before they turned into an intersection that put them on their way to the river. “You really aren’t worried?”

“When I got out of the service, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I mean, I didn’t want to join a PMC, but I worked combat arms my entire time. Then I landed this job. Somebody up there is looking out for guys like you and me. That’s all I’m saying.”

“You could be right.” Cody wondered if he’d been overthinking everything.

The convoy proceeded onto the Congress Avenue Bridge. The river stretched below them. They should have loaded the cargo onto a boat somewhere and moved it. That would have made more sense to him. It was harder for criminals to get to people on the water.

“I’ll take you out tonight,” Tae offered. “We’ll go have a couple of drinks and find us women who can respect a proper ma⁠—”

A truck-sized fireball tore across the bridge and struck the vanguard SUV in the convoy, engulfing the entire vehicle in a massive explosion. Cody slammed on the brakes and wove around the second SUV in the convoy before screeching to a halt.

He pressed a button on the console to transmit over their radio, “This is Treasure Galleon One. Report.”

The radio crackled with static. Two more loud booms sounded outside and shook the truck, and the active vehicle markings on the GPS map vanished. A warning appeared on the console display.

ERROR: Drone feeds interrupted.

A light-colored drone Cody didn’t recognize zoomed past the rearview camera. The drone swept across the front of the truck and toward the surviving front SUV. The drone dropped a small, dark disc on the vehicle’s roof. White electrical arcs shot all over the SUV. The guards inside thrashed and twitched before slumping in their seats.

“What the hell is going on?” Cody shouted.

“Go, go, go!” Tae shouted. “Don’t stop! We’re under attack. Remember protocol! We’re asking to die sitting here on the bridge.”

Cody floored it. His tires squealed, and he lurched with the vehicle moving forward. Every last scrap of luck and skill saved him from a collision as he wove around the stopped SUV and the burning wreckage of the first SUV. He didn’t have time to think about the dead men and women inside.

Something popped up from the roadway. Cody assumed his armored tires would protect him, but as he drove farther, he understood the horrifying truth. Something reformed the concrete into a wall of solid spikes angled at the front tires.

Cody slammed the brakes. The truck slid and struck the spikes. The loud pops sounded like gunshots, although he wasn’t sure gunshots weren’t involved. He tried to cancel out the spin by turning the wheel. The truck twisted and fell onto its side, scraping along the road and shaking him like a ragdoll. Miraculously, his head didn’t smack anything too hard.

He'd never been more grateful for seatbelts in his life. A light flashed nearby outside the truck. The engine and the electronics all died.

“EMP spell?” Cody asked. “Is that a thing?”

Tae gingerly ran his fingers over his bleeding forehead. “Son of a bitch. Pain’s a thing.” He unbuckled himself and leaned into the back to grab the railgun.

“You saw the road. We’re dealing with magicals. Time to show ’em some of our boom magic courtesy of the ye old wizards Sig and Sauer. I’ve been itching to use the railgun with anti-magic rounds.”

Cody reached into the back seat to grab a shotgun and a small tactical backpack filled with ammo boxes, grateful their contents hadn’t spilled in the crash. He already had five anti-magic shells loaded in his shotgun.

Tae crawled out the window with his railgun while dragging another backpack. He rolled onto his stomach and set up the railgun’s tripod. “Cover the front. I see tango activity in the rear.”

Cars zoomed past on the other side of the bridge. Wide-eyed drivers craned their necks to make sense of the carnage of the southbound lanes. The two rear convoy SUVs had stopped, but a small sedan had rear-ended one.

Cody finished loading his shotgun and shinnied out the window onto the road. Smoke poured from the burning first vehicle. He grunted and shifted to one knee, gripping his shotgun tightly and seeking a target.

Clever spells and drone tricks didn’t matter. Somebody needed to come and grab the cargo. When they did, he would shoot them. Nothing got simpler than that.

The light-colored drone whizzed overhead. Cody whipped up his gun and fired. His shot tore the rotor off, leaving the drone smoking and spinning out of control. He fired again. His second shot tore through the center and sent the dead drone crashing to the ground. A bright light suffused the craft, and it vaporized.

“How do you like that?” he shouted despite his confusion about why the drone was nothing but ash in the September wind.

A loud chorus of overlapping gunfire from pistols, rifles, and shotguns filled the air. Tae’s railgun came to life with a loud, piercing whine. Loud pops echoed from the far end of the bridge.

Cody turned to see who Tae and the other guards were shooting. Vague triangle-headed person-shaped concrete masses lumbered down the road toward the overturned armored truck. Bullets bounced off the concrete men.

Tae’s railgun round tore through a concrete man’s chest without hurting the magical monstrosity. His next shot sheared off a leg and sent the evil mass of road material to the ground, where it broke apart. “Yeah. Thought so.”

Cody turned his head, frowning. His old tactical instincts warned him of a nearby threat. Concrete men continued their advance from the north. Their reinforcements formed out of the bridge.

The first SUV, the most southern vehicle, was a burning, smoking wreck thanks to the fireball. The strange electrical attack had disabled the second SUV in the convoy and its occupants. Despite that, the concrete men formed and moved from the rear of the convoy where two SUVs filled with heavily armed guards survived to shoot at them.

That didn’t make sense to Cody. Why didn’t they attack the truck with the cargo?

A nearby thud that sounded like something falling heavy on metal caught his attention.

Tae reloaded his rail gun and continued his fire support against the advancing concrete men. Trying to ignore everything else, Cody looked around for the source of the noise before hearing another almost smothered thud at the far end of the overturned truck.

He sprinted toward the truck’s rear and fired twice. His rounds bounced off nothing in midair, producing a big flash and a grunt. A tall man wearing dark sunglasses in a dark, hooded outfit appeared. He flicked a knife toward Cody and glanced down at his ballistic vest covered in runes filled with shotgun pellets.

Cody threw himself out of the way of the knife. The blade changed direction and struck his right arm. When he struck the ground, the impact knocked the blade clear. He lifted his shotgun again, but the stealth robber ducked behind the side of the armored truck.

“Tango at the back of the truck!” Cody yelled. “Careful, tangoes can turn invisible!”

Two knives shot into the air from behind the truck and cleared the back before abruptly changing direction to fly toward Cody. One struck his vest and tore through it until it pierced his upper chest. The other knife tore into his palm.

He screamed and dropped his shotgun. He pulled out his pistol with his left hand and crawled toward the back, pausing at the edge of the overturned truck.

Tae ran up behind him with his pistol drawn. “I’ve got you, man. I’ve got something for our friend.”

Another knife zoomed around the corner. The blade broke apart into a cloud of metal chunks. They all morphed into thin strands that connected and wrapped around Tae. He fell, grunting and straining against the net surrounding him. His pistol slid across the road.

Tae tried to twist his arms and reach for his knife. “Stop him! Use my gun. I loaded the starlight rounds.”

Cody’s vision swam from his wounds and his heart pounded as he forced himself to his feet, dropped his weapon, and swept up Tae’s gun. He fell as he threw himself around the corner, saving him from another magic net conjured by the robber.

He fired, aiming for the robber’s head. His bullet struck a flashing layer, a shield spell, and blew apart in a bright white blast.

The robber jerked back with a grunt before flicking a small pin with his thumb and index finger. The pin struck Cody’s neck.

He grimaced, expecting to die. He tried to fire again. His hand wouldn’t move. Nothing moved.

The robber watched him for a couple of seconds. He tilted his head as if confused by something before pulling out a small spray canister. He sprayed a white foam around the edge of the door and stepped back, raising his palm and snapping his fingers. The foam ignited on one end and burned through the metal until a huge chunk of the back door fell out, revealing a half-dozen identical crates.

Cody lay paralyzed and wounded, watching as the robber climbed in and sliced through the chains in the back of the truck with a glowing knife. He kicked the freed crate out of the vehicle and hurried out.

“You’re lucky.” The robber’s voice was low and ragged. “Most men would have died from that. I’m feeling generous, so you get to live.”

After hoisting the crate to his shoulder, the robber jogged toward the edge of the bridge and leapt off.

Cody groaned. His fingers twitched. Whatever magic the man had used on him was dissipating, but the throbbing pain from his wounds kept him on the ground. The concrete men fell and broke apart. The remaining guards ran to the edge of the bridge and sprayed the water with bullets. The last thing Cody heard before falling unconscious was a speedboat’s motor rumbling below.

CHAPTER ONE

Izzie stepped around the burned husk of an SUV, grateful the firefighters had already collected the bodies prior to her and Rafe’s arrival on scene. She’d left Rafe to check with the surviving guards and witnesses while she inspected the destroyed remnants of the reported concrete automatons and the SUV.

She concentrated for a moment, soaking in the sensation of the magical residue. Thus far, she hadn’t encountered anything that felt like dark magic, let alone familiar dark magic, however obscure the sensation.

Ever since her encounters with Xelius, she couldn’t shake the familiarity she’d experienced when dealing with the Arcane Syndicate’s dark magic. Everything was so subjective. She couldn’t ignore the possibility that she had only convinced herself she’d felt something more than was there.

Xelius admitted as part of his confession that the Arcane Syndicate had passed along knowledge of how to improve a couple of his specific techniques. That left Izzie wondering if she’d missed something connecting him to a past case, but other than a vague sense she’d felt aspects of his type of dark magic before, she couldn’t say.

The Arcane Syndicate knew the PDA was hunting them. For all she knew, they had used someone to hide their involvement.

Izzie frowned. She knew what Rafe would say if she told him. He would claim she was seeing evil conspiracies in every shadow.

Most magicals didn’t have to deal with what she’d dealt with. They weren’t forced into their parents having to wipe their minds and memories, stripping them of their identity to protect them.

As much as Rafe liked to joke about it, Izzie’s parents had sent her to a secretive magical school with no memories of her true parentage. The drastic move was to protect them from a twisted cabal of dark wizards and witches determined to use her family heritage, including her ability to channel magical energy from the women in her line. Too many years had passed until she’d regained the memories and learned the truth, all because of the Seventh Order, the dark wizard organization that had targeted her.

Izzie sighed. The Seventh Order was no more, and their plot to use the Berens family to conquer and destroy was gone with them. Alison and Izzie annihilated the conspiracy. Izzie told herself that every day, but it didn’t matter.

The mysterious Arcane Syndicate had targeted Austin. It was up to Izzie and her partner as head of the task force to figure out if there was any link between the Arcane Syndicate and the brutal and brazen convoy robbery that had shut down Congress Avenue Bridge.

Izzie looked around at all the holes and concrete spread around. Despite their fearsome advance earlier, recorded by a nearby news drone, the automatons offered no current threat other than a tripping hazard. Piles of concrete chunks lay all over, interspersed among the damaged SUVs that formed part of the NGMR security convoy. By the time the police and PDA arrived, the fight was over, and the suspect was long gone. Drones had already tagged the boat discarded farther down the river with no sign of the suspect.

That didn’t surprise Izzie. Anyone skilled and bold enough to launch such a brazen daylight assault wouldn’t get caught so easily.

Unlike her dealings with Xelius and the Syndicate a couple of months prior, using a drone in the attack also meant her suspect understood technology and technomagic. He or she wouldn’t make the same mistakes their rogue shapeshifter did in underestimating a PDA investigation. The suspect had gone through the trouble of not leaving anything of the downed drone.

Izzie put her gloved hand on the SUV, concentrated, and whispered an incantation. The magical residue she sensed turned into a visible glow. She narrowed her eyes and looked over the shell.

Rafe walked over from the back of an ambulance. “Find anything interesting?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Rafe raised an eyebrow. “Now you’ve got me intrigued.”

Izzie frowned at the wreck. She looked between the burned-out SUV and the back of the truck. After jogging over to the truck, she stared at the residual magical flows on the back door and the carved-out section. “The witnesses all said there was only one guy, right?”

“Yes. He wore a mask, but when I pressed the closest guard, Cody Calloway, he said the guy was in a hood and wore sunglasses. About the only useful tidbit he could give me was his rough height and build as looking human male, along with his voice sounding deep, and the fact he wasn’t an elf.” He pointed at his ear. “The hood let him see rounded ears.”

“Unless our suspect used an illusion spell on his ears.” Izzie stepped away from the truck. “Our attacker used an invisibility spell. I don’t think ear illusions are too much to handle. I could look like an elf in seconds if I wanted, a drow even.”

“The witness statement gets worse. Or more annoying, depending on your perspective.”

Izzie tried to imagine the last seconds of terror of the guards inside and vowed she’d help bring down whoever was responsible, whether or not she felt any familiar dark magic. “Of course it does.”

“All these NGMR security vehicles have front and rear high-resolution cameras, 360-degree recording.” Rafe gestured at the dented SUV farther down the bridge. “Our suspect didn’t bother to kill the cameras, but his face is distorted on two of the recordings I checked. It could be an active spell. It could be his glasses.”

Izzie thought that over and glanced toward the ambulance. “Have any witnesses mentioned a distorted face?”

“Nope.” Rafe shook his head. “Our friend Cody got the clearest look, and he didn’t say anything about that. The guy’s voice didn’t sound distorted to him either.”

“Then we have someone who’s good at dealing with cameras,” Izzie concluded. “Drones with ridiculous electrical attacks. Spells that disable electronics. That all points to good technomagic, but nailing a vehicle with a large fireball and the knife tricks all sound like traditional magic. I hate it when the bad guys are open-minded and flexible. It makes it so much harder to catch them.”

She frowned at a concrete pile before walking over to an otherwise undamaged SUV, the victim of the electrical drone attack. Unlike the guards in the fireball target, the men and women inside had survived, but the paramedics had taken them to the hospital for a neurological workup.

Izzie walked around the vehicle, her scowl growing with each step. “You were right. This is getting annoying.”

Rafe cleared his throat and slipped on his PDA glasses. He activated them with a side touch. “What are you seeing exactly?”

“Go ahead and take pictures, but we’ll want forensics to come up here and handle the hard work for this scene.” Izzie gestured at the SUV and its burned-out cousin, finishing with a nod at the overturned truck. “The magical residue is different among the three vehicles and distinct enough that I can tell just from the surface flows. This is pretty blatant, but it helps that they used such heavy magic during the assault.”

Rafe nodded and leaned closer to the car. “Which could mean multiple suspects.” He offered a sly smile. “Or it could mean one shapeshifter using mul⁠—”

“Finish that sentence, and I’ll throw you off this bridge.” Izzie shook a finger at him.

Rafe chuckled. “Have you inspected the concrete piles?”

“Also different magic. Not much dark magic away from the truck, although it’s a little harder to tell. We’ll need Katya to do her thing there, but by my count, there are four distinct signatures. Even if we account for magical items, this was a team effort. At least two, if not three or more magicals.”

“We had a driver for the boat. According to one of the guards, our guy got the crate and jumped onto the boat. It was under fire but repelling bullets with a shield spell. Assuming our boat driver is separate from our crate guy, and you’re right about the other thing, we’re talking at least three people.”

Izzie crouched by a concrete pile. “Why take the trouble of distracting the team instead of blowing up all the SUVs?”

“They might not have enough magic power or items to pull that off. Or didn’t want to risk damaging whatever was in the crate.”

“In a straight fight, the guards would have been able to take them,” Izzie concluded. “Anti-magic rounds, railguns, enchanted bullets. These security guys were loaded for a major fight. I wouldn’t have wanted to mess with them.”

“All the more reason to use the distractions and invisibility.” Rafe frowned at the SUV in disappointment. “The robbers hit hard, fast, and knew to take out the spotter drones. My question is whether they knew those drones could detect magic or were just worried about getting IDed.”

“They hit an NGMR convoy. Our suspects knew what and who they were hitting and their capabilities. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have taken the precautions they did.”

Izzie looked at a second guard sitting in the back of an ambulance after being checked out and bandaged by a paramedic. She headed his way. “It’s time we figured out what is missing. Because I don’t know about you, but nobody’s been able to tell me.”

Rafe shrugged. “Me neither. All the guards I’ve talked to keep calling it the cargo and claim they don’t know.”

The guard glanced at Izzie with a nervous look. She flashed her badge.

“Special Agent Izzie Berens, PDA. And my partner, Special Agent Raphael Martinez.”

“Tae Jefferson,” the guard replied. “NGMR security. I don’t have much I can tell you that you won’t be able to see on the security feeds. I wish I could have brought down one of the bastards. All I did was pop a few of their concrete dolls.”

Izzie followed his gaze to see what he was focusing on. He kept glancing at the burned-out car with his mouth twitching. She couldn’t begrudge a man’s anger over his fallen brethren.

“The security feeds aren’t telling us the most important fact of the incident,” she replied. “You were obviously hit hard by magicals using a combination of more modern and traditional techniques. That’s what the evidence tells us. What we don’t know is what was stolen.”

“Our cargo,” Tae related. “A metal crate. It looks the same as the others in the truck, but they were all decoys. The real crate got taken.”

Izzie nodded at Rafe. She didn’t like the way Tae kept looking past her and refusing to make eye contact.

Rafe cleared his throat. “What was in the crate, Mr. Jefferson?”

Tae chuckled. “That’s the thing, man. It was on a need-to-know basis, and we didn’t need to know. I honestly have no idea.”

“You didn’t find that suspicious?” Izzie raised an eyebrow.

“Other than knowing it’s valuable, it wasn’t my business.” Tae winced and rubbed a bandage on the side of his head. “The company tells us to protect the cargo. We protect the cargo. It’s not our place to ask too many questions.”

He smiled. “I was hired because I know how to shoot and take orders, not because I love to ask questions about shit that’s not my business.”

“You were the one of the two highest-ranking personnel on scene,” Izzie noted. “Would your partner know? The other guard with you in the truck?”

“Cody?” Tae laughed but looked like he immediately regretted it when he winced. “He wished he knew, but he doesn’t know.”

He shrugged. “It’s simple, Agent Berens. You want to know? You’re going to have to go higher up the food chain. We bottom-feeder guard sharks were here to bite people who swam too close. This time they bit harder than we could.”

“Then we’ll have to do that, Mr. Jefferson.” Izzie nodded toward the river. “There’s nothing else you want to add about this?”

“What do you want me to say?” Tae glared at her. “I’ll be lucky to have a job after this.” He curled his hands into fists. “We were supposed to see any magicals coming with all our special gear and drones. They shouldn’t have known our route.

“On top of that, I might not know what we were carrying, but I know the containment level. You could have parked a light elf’s ass on top of that crate, and she wouldn’t have sensed the magic inside. We also had a bunch of dummy crates, but that asshole went right to it like it was calling his name.”

Izzie thought that over. “Depending on the artifact, it might have leaked magical energy that could be detected using different means. You’d be surprised.”

“Hey, NGMR isn’t my nephew playing wizard in school,” Tae complained. “This is a cutting-edge research company. They know how to handle this stuff.”

Rafe’s brow lifted, and he smiled. “Are you suggesting it was an inside job?”

Tae glanced back and forth and leaned closer. “I’m saying I’m not getting thrown under the bus when a son of a bitch set us up. They knew right where to hit us, and they knew what to take, and I’m pissed off. The people who got hurt and died here today were my friends. I’ve known some of those people for years.”

“Who authorized this transport mission?” Rafe asked.

“It came direct from the top.”

“The CEO Brandon Brundle?” Izzie clarified.

Tae frowned, then shook his head. “I mean, we were told the orders came from Mr. Brundle, but the sign-off was our chief of security, Jason West. He’s the only one who can sign off for no-manifest transport orders other than the CEO.” His nostrils flared, and he glared at her.

Izzie saw the hatred in his eyes. Even for somebody who worked at a company doing technomagical research, it was hard to trust magicals when a team of them had just shown up and killed a half-dozen of his friends and coworkers. Again, she didn’t blame him.

She kept her tone polite and professional. Finding the men and women responsible for the crime was the best way she could fight any of Tae’s lingering prejudice.

“This is just between you and us, Tae,” Izzie began. “Do you have any reason to suspect Mr. West of anything suspicious? Or anyone else in your company?”

Tae let out a low chuckle. “If I knew something like that, I wouldn’t have told you anything. I would have gone home, got my gun, walked to work, and made them pay for what they did.”

“Don’t do anything rash, Mr. Jefferson,” Rafe advised. “We’ll find whoever is responsible for this, and they’ll be punished.”

“You do that, then. Meanwhile, I’ll have to get ready for a bunch of funerals. I’ve got to buy a new suit. It’s been a while since I had to help bury someone.” He looked down at the ground with a haunted expression.

“Thank you for your cooperation.” Izzie stepped back. “We’ll be in touch if we need anything else.”

“Hey, one last thing. If you find these guys and they start throwing knives and fireballs at you, what are you going to do?”

“We’ll do what we need to do to protect the peace of this city and country. That’s the PDA’s mission.”

“You’re not going to go out of your way to protect the magicals?”

“It’s our job to protect everyone, magical and non-magicals alike, from those who abuse their magic.”

Tae scoffed. “You get a chance, you fireball their asses for my friends. They didn’t deserve to die like that. Not like that at all.”

Izzie offered a polite nod and put distance between herself and Tae. Rafe joined her.

“I’ll contact NGMR and see about getting an interview with the security chief,” Rafe volunteered.

“He’s going to talk to us,” Izzie predicted. “Because whatever they were transporting was worth enough that a team of highly skilled magicals were willing to kill for it.”

CHAPTER TWO

The NGMR building in downtown Austin was one of the many new skyscrapers built in recent decades focused on a business model that no one could have imagined until shortly before Izzie’s birth. Most Americans’ wariness toward magic in the early decades of the Oriceran gates’ opening had shifted into eager, often greedy hope about business opportunities for marrying magic and technology for profit.

Despite all that, when Izzie and Rafe stepped into the lobby of NGMR, an overwhelming sense of banality struck Izzie. Although she sensed magic, on casual inspection, the room looked no different than any other office lobby with a water cooler and chairs. A normal human receptionist was dressed in a conservative, professional manner. The only difference Izzie noticed was a series of runes and wards inscribed onto the baseboards and overlapping a circuit-like pattern.

She headed to the reception desk and flashed her badge. “Agents Berens and Martinez. We called ahead about the robbery.”

The receptionist offered a polite nod before typing something into her computer. Izzie sensed magic. A thin printer-like device beside her spat out two thin silver cards in the blink of an eye. The cards featured Izzie’s and Rafe’s faces and the word Visitor embedded in the bottom.

Izzie picked up her offered card and sensed slight magic from the ID. She waited for Rafe to grab his.

The receptionist smiled and gestured at a nearby elevator. “Please keep those cards with you at all times while in the building. You won’t be able to use the elevators without them. Please go to the elevator and select floor seven. First door on the right. He’s expecting you.”

“Thank you,” Izzie replied.

She headed toward the elevator with Rafe. There was no button. The doors hissed open once she got close. They stepped inside, and she pressed the button, taking note of the pulse of slight magic she felt from the card. That marriage of magic and technology was useful without being flashy.

The elevator hummed on its way up to the seventh floor. Izzie and Rafe exited into a busy administrative floor with a cubicle-intensive administrative area. Normal office workers and a noticeable number of black-uniformed NGMR security filled it. All had pistols and stun rods on their belts.

Izzie ignored a couple of curious looks their way before following the receptionist to the office door marked Jason West, Chief of Security, NGMR Austin.

She reached up to knock, but a man inside called, “Please come in.”

Jason West waited at his desk. His office had a nice view of downtown. He wore a black security uniform like the other security guards. Something about the wiry man struck Izzie as dangerous despite all the friendly, smiling photos of his beautiful wife and children on his desk. He also had an excessive number of framed Dallas Cowboys posters and pictures on the wall.

Jason took in Izzie and Rafe with a penetrating gaze before gesturing at the prepared chairs in front of his desk. “You’re here far sooner than I anticipated.” He checked his watch. “Less than three hours since the attack. Impressive. I underestimated the PDA.”

Izzie and Rafe offered their hands. He responded with light shakes before everyone sat.

“We try to be efficient in our job, Mr. West,” Izzie replied. “For everyone’s sakes.”

“I’m former FBI. I know all too well from experience how much red tape can slow down law enforcement responses to complicated incidents, and more so when it comes to magic-related crimes.”

His attention flicked between Rafe and Izzie before he focused on Izzie. “Even if the government has bought a clue in recent years, they spent decades pretending if they stuck their fingers in their ears, the magic issue would go away, or the magicals would all solve their own problems without it leaking out to the non-magical world.”

“It’s like you said.” Izzie settled into her chair. “Things are different now. People understand that being proactive and involving magicals in federal and local law enforcement directly solves a lot of problems. It’s not only the PDA anymore. If you’d stayed in the FBI, you might have ended up working with magicals on cases.”

Rafe plastered his standard good cop smile on his face, allowing Izzie her bad cop slight frown for their version of good cop, bad cop.

“Red tape isn’t our biggest problem when investigating magical crime in this city,” Rafe added.

“Is that true?” West watched Rafe with the caution of a salmon eyeing an eagle circling overhead. “I can’t imagine things have changed that much so quickly.”

Rafe explained, “The cooperation of victims, especially those in the magical community, has been a bigger problem lately.” He shrugged. “It’s not only the government that got used to magicals being able to do what they want. That’s made it harder to solve crimes and catch suspects.”

It was like Rafe could read Izzie’s mind. She smiled a little.

West’s expression turned icy and distant. “I wouldn’t know. I’m not a magical.”

“But you work as chief of security for a technomagical research company,” Izzie pointed out. “One whose team lost a secure shipment to a brutal attack by well-trained, professional thieves with magical abilities.” She sighed. “Now, here’s where we find things odd. Nobody on that security detail knew what they were guarding.”

West shrugged. “So? It’s NGMR security, not the post office dealing with annoyed citizens. My people don’t need to know what they’re guarding. They only need to guard it, and today they failed horribly.”

“We need to know what they were guarding,” Izzie insisted. “This is no longer a private matter.”

West shook his head. “Really, you don’t. I apologize on behalf of the company for the damage to the bridge. Mr. Brundle will be contacting the city to discuss donations from the company to help fund the repairs. On his behalf, we ask that the PDA perhaps turn over the investigation to us so we can pursue this without any unnecessary public resources being wasted on, yes, an internal matter.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Izzie scoffed. “Not going to happen in a million years. You must have known that before we asked. You’re former FBI.”

West frowned. “We’re not interested in pressing charges. We’re only interested in recovering our property.”

“And we’re not interested in a company running around acting like it’s above the law.”

“I think you should consider how you’re addressing me, Agent Berens.”

“And I think you should consider what happened this morning.”

Rafe let out a light chuckle. “What my partner is trying to communicate, Mr. West, is that this isn’t a matter you can stop us from investigating. If this was an internal matter with no violence, maybe we could look the other way, but we have multiple dead victims and damage to a public road.

“It’s a miracle that nobody unrelated to the company was harmed, and just because the victims were employees of your company doesn’t mean we’re going to ignore those deaths. Your company doesn’t get to decide when law enforcement is allowed to investigate mass murder.”

West pursed his lips. Izzie could almost see the gears turning in his brain. She’d debated waiting around to talk more with forensics but coming straight to the company was the right move. The company’s officials didn’t have enough time to compare notes and come up with their official BS cover story. This conversation could have been far more unpleasant and difficult.

West’s voice turned cold and emotionless. “As I noted, the company will do its best to help get the bridge repaired. I can assure you that NGMR security has extensive benefits packages, including life insurance. All our dead personnel’s families will be well taken care of.”

Izzie frowned. “Your people are dead, and you’re quoting recruitment lines at us? What’s wrong with you?”

He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t appreciate your tone, Agent Berens.”

“This is my normal tone,” Izzie insisted, despite the increased anger seeping into her voice.

“We don’t see the need to drag out their suffering in an investigation that’s unlikely to end with any arrests,” West added. “You and I both know whoever did this were errand boys. I’d bet my FBI pension they dropped that cargo off and flew to Bali for a vacation.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that point, Mr. West.”

Rafe nodded toward Izzie. “She’s really enthusiastic about her job. I’m sorry if she offended you. I understand you’re a busy man, especially this morning, Mr. West, but we have a job to do.

“While our forensics people are working on tracing the suspects, we need more from you. The more we know about what was stolen, the easier we'll be able to investigate the crime. Each minute that passes, the farther away those criminals could be traveling. We’d like to catch them before they end up in Bali.”

West stared between them as if trying to force himself not to look away but refusing to meet their eyes. “If you can track them, why do you need to know what the cargo was?”

“Because tracking success isn’t guaranteed,” Rafe replied. “Especially with the magicals who demonstrated that level of brutality and practical technological knowledge. Knowing more about the cargo can also allow greater insight into the suspects.”

“You know all that,” Izzie added. Annoyance crept back into her voice. “You’re former FBI.”

Rafe put on his best warm, soothing, “help me” smile. “Did you work in the Austin area when you were FBI?”

West shook his head. “I was based mostly on the East Coast. I specialized in fraud cases, mostly in NYC for most of my career.”

“Then you might not appreciate this area’s rich, magical history,” Rafe replied. “It’s always punched above its weight when it comes to magical trouble. It’s a crossroads, and was important in many of the initial major incidents during the opening of the gates. That means cases get complicated when people hold things back. We have a deep magical history, good and bad.”

That description stirred the warnings about the Arcane Syndicate targeting the city. Izzie fought a shudder. She would protect the city like her mother had.

Her commitment wasn’t in question. The logic of her enemy was. There had to be something about Austin that caught the Arcane Syndicate’s attention to the point they were willing to risk so much with their bold moves. The implications chilled Izzie, but she needed to concentrate on the case in front of her.

Izzie leaned forward. “You’re going to tell us, one way or another, what was stolen. The last time someone held back on me and claimed to be a victim, he turned out to be involved and almost killed me.”

West glared at her. “Are you accusing me of something, Agent Berens?”

“Yes. I’m accusing you of stonewalling when six of your people are dead and several more hospitalized because you’re too busy trying to cover the company’s ass.” She scoffed. “Or are you trying to cover your ass? Because that’s not going to work. I’m not going away to make your life more convenient.”

West leaned back in his seat. He kept his voice low, but his red face betrayed his true emotions. “It’s not for me to tell you what was being shipped. We are entitled to our corporate trade secrets. Need I remind you, we’re the victims here.”

“You left the FBI too soon. The Federal Magic Investigation Act gives us the right to press this issue without going through as many hoops. They cut down the bureaucracy you hated so much. You can’t throw trade secrets and intellectual property to block us, not with those dead bodies we found on the bridge.”

“I’m aware of the relevant legislation.” True anger crept into his voice. “You’re not understanding that I don’t have to tell you what you’re asking without much more court paperwork. This goes beyond what you know.”

“If the cargo’s dangerous and you know it, you damned well do have to tell us. I’m going to make this crystal clear to you. There better not be a magical weapon of mass destruction in the hands of criminals in my city that you’re keeping secret from me because you don’t want to hurt shareholder value or you’re worried about your job.

“Every second you stall us is another second those thieves can use to get away. If they’re errand boys like you’re saying, that means there’s someone far worse out there waiting for them to drop off your mysterious cargo.”

West’s jaw tightened. “It’s nothing…like that. It’s not a weapon.” He took a deep breath. “Right now, we’re reviewing our internal procedures and security records. The concern is how anyone even knew to hit the convoy. That’s one of our concerns.”

Rafe nodded. “You’re saying there was a leak?”

It was good for the start of the investigation that both Tae and West spotted a possible leak. That didn’t bode well for the investigation’s successful completion.

“We’ve been preparing for this transfer for two months,” West continued. “We’ve been sending dummy convoys loaded with magical items for transport several times a week using different schedules.”

He shook his head. “We had two dummy convoys today, including one taking a more direct route to the airport, yet the robbers knew right where and how to hit us. All our tests confirmed that the cargo couldn’t be detected remotely.”

“Isn’t that more of a reason to cooperate with our investigation?” Izzie tried to push any irritation out of her voice. “If you have an internal leak, you’ll have trouble finding it. We can approach this from a different angle. We have more authority and can compel more cooperation than you can as private security. Come on. You must realize that.”

“There’s another important thing to remember,” Rafe added. “Whatever you lost, we need to find, and you need to find. The quickest way is to work the case from both ends. We’re not telling you that you can’t do your own investigation. We’re only asking that you allow us to do ours. Don’t tie our hands behind our backs out of pride.”

West reached into his desk drawer and produced a tiny die-sized silver cube. He held it up. “Do you know what this is?”

Izzie narrowed her eyes. “No, but I can sense magic from it.”

“It’s a sound inverter,” Rafe said with a delighted smile. “Technomagical anti-spying device. I heard the CIA invented them. Who knows?”

West set the cube on his desk and tapped the top. Izzie tensed at the magic. West eyed her with a frown before turning, pulling out a phone, and dialing. He put it to his mouth and started talking. She couldn’t hear anything, and with his back turned, she couldn’t read his lips.

“I can do that with a spell.” Izzie folded her arms. “Big deal.”

“Sure.” Rafe pointed at the cube. “But anyone can use that. No innate magic required other than recharging it now and again.”

West nodded before turning and shoving his phone in his pocket. He tapped the cube again. “You want to know about the shipment?”

“Of course.” Izzie raised an eyebrow. “I thought that much was obvious.”

He stood. “Then follow me.”

“Where are we going?”

“To talk to Mr. Brundle.”

CHAPTER THREE

An annoyed-looking West led them back to the elevator. Their trip earned special attention from the other employees on the floor before the doors closed. West pressed the button marked P and waited with his arms crossed.

Izzie was glad the company was cooperating. She was surprised at the level of resistance given how many of their people were killed in the attack. She wouldn’t have been able to rest if six of her fellow PDA agents were murdered.

No matter how wealthy the company, they faced basic restrictions. There was no reason to ice the PDA out unless they had something to hide. Izzie remained convinced of that.

The door opened into a small alcove with two guards in front of an ornate wooden door carved with arcane sigils covered in silver and gold. More of the circuit-like patterns from the lobby traced the door's perimeter. Magic radiated off the door and the submachine guns both guards carried. Izzie twitched at the sight, but the guards made no move other than nodding at West.

Izzie gestured at the circuit-like patterns. “What is that exactly?”

“It helps mess with spying spells and keeps EM emissions from being intercepted.” West sounded proud. “I don’t know how it all works, but we have major government interest in the technology. Here in ten, twenty years, every building that needs to keep basic operational secrets will have them.”

West dropped his arms and stepped into the alcove. Izzie resisted the urge to cast a shield spell and nervously glanced at Rafe. He tried to reassure her with an obviously forced smile.

“Does the CEO always have two armed guards with enchanted weapons?” Izzie watched the guards.

“On days when a convoy’s been attacked, yes.” West nodded at the door. “It’s dangerous to make too many assumptions about safety. I get that you’re suspicious of us, Agent Berens, but we really are the victims here.”

One guard opened the door and motioned inside with a blank expression. Izzie kept him in the corner of her eye as they entered the sprawling penthouse suite that was half-office and half-lounge, complete with a bar on the far end.

Unlike West’s office, there was no window to let anyone look out at the downtown area, but a huge skylight bathed the room in natural sunlight. A man sat on a couch in the lounge portion of the room, sipping a clear drink.

Izzie recognized Brandon Brundle from the news. He was a charming, handsome man in a perfectly tailored suit. She cared far less about his smile than the fact that the room was brimming with magic and none of it felt like dark magic.

“I’ll take it from here, Jason.” Brandon sipped again. “Close the door behind you, please.”

“Yes, sir.” West stepped out and closed the door.

Izzie looked around. “Are you a magical?”

“Don’t you know that already?” Brandon asked with a slight smile. “I would have thought that was obvious.”

“You tell me. We don’t have time for games. Considering a bunch of men and women just died, I don’t think you do either, Mr. Brundle.”

“You’re right. We don’t.” Brandon held up his drink with a sly smile. “Gin. I don’t normally day drink. Please don’t let my pleasant demeanor fool you, Agent Berens. I’m very well aware that a number of my employees were murdered. I’d offer you a drink, but I’m sure you people have rules about that sort of thing on duty.”

He gulped down half the drink. “But I’m the CEO and majority shareholder, so I make the rules here.” He gestured at other couches and chairs. “Take a seat. We need to come to an understanding so we don’t end up getting in each other’s way.”

Izzie and Rafe hesitated before sitting in separate chairs, facing Brandon. Now that they were closer, they saw his red cheeks and bloodshot eyes. His glass of gin wasn’t his first for that day.

“Jason informs me that you believe you need to know the identity of the cargo to do your job.” Brandon set his glass down on a nearby coffee table. “Is that an accurate representation of your position? I didn’t want to presume too much.”

“Yes, Mr. Brundle,” Izzie replied. “That’s exactly what we want and need to know.”

“Call me Brandon. I prefer my visitors to do that. It takes the edge off conversations.”

Izzie took a deep breath. “It’s straightforward. Right now, whoever took whatever you had in that convoy is getting away. Letting us know what it is could help us figure out a tracking method and know where to look for it. That increases the chance of recovering the artifact and finding the culprits.”

He sighed. “I doubt anything you do will help with tracking. The crate and briefcase are designed to minimize that using cutting-edge techniques combined with proven traditional techniques. The last thing we wanted was for anyone to be able to track the cargo on the move. We spent a considerable amount of time working on that problem.”

He let out a pained chuckle. “Talk about shooting ourselves in the foot. I can only presume the relevant magicals also have the skill to defeat the briefcase’s protections.”

“Do you have any suspects?” Rafe asked. “If you’re not interested in sharing what it was, that might help us with our investigation as a starter.”

“Suspects?” Brandon shook his head. “We didn’t have any specific credible threats if that’s what you’re talking about. Of course, there are always anti-magic groups complaining about research or traditionalist magicals who claim technomagic is an affront to everything Oriceran stands for and dislike companies like ours. Chesterton out of Seattle has only made things worse. All the magicals are convinced we’re plotting against them now.”

Technomagic company CEO Derek Chesterton had been involved in dangerous research targeting the magical community a few years back. Izzie hadn’t been much involved, but her friend Alison was both a victim and helped bring him down.

Brandon shrugged. “It’s background noise. Chatter. Constant. It’s not worthy of attention.” He stared at his glass. “That’s the best way to deal with minor annoyances. Ignore them like you ignore a buzzing fly. Eventually, they’ll get bored and go away.”

“You were attacked by a crew using a combination of traditional magic and technomagic,” Izzie noted. “I’ve been on-site, and I’m sure our forensics will back that up. That wasn’t a group of ideological protesters trying to make a point, and if they were, they would have taken credit by now.”

Although a handful of terrorist organizations had claimed involvement in the incident, the PDA and FBI had no reason to believe their claims, especially since none of the organizations offered any information about the case that wasn’t in the news. That kind of false claim happened with almost every major case.

Brandon sighed. “Exactly. I doubt any of the usual people who complain and agitate against us would hire mercenaries of that type. Of course, there’s the ever-present shadow of industrial espionage.”

He shook his head. “We have to deal with industrial espionage, but I can’t think of a single rival that would be so ruthless and bold to launch a daylight attack on a convoy and kill that many people. It’s exceedingly unlikely.”

He gestured at Izzie. “I don’t say this to praise their morality and restraint. It’s more a practical consideration. After all, this attack has drawn major law enforcement attention, and other factors make it a dangerous play.”

“All of this leads back to the same place,” Rafe interjected. “We need to know what’s inside. We’re all on the same side, Brandon. I’m sure you want whatever it is back, and we want to find the criminals responsible for the attack and deaths. That’s why we don’t understand why your people are so unwilling to cooperate with us.”

“The issue is one of contracts and relevant restrictions.” Brandon held up his hand. “Don’t throw the FMIA at me. Jason mentioned you did that downstairs. This involves high-level government contracts, including Department of Defense matters. We’re not talking about standard corporate crap.”

Izzie’s heart sped up. Every new revelation made her worry that someone had gotten away with a dangerous artifact that could turn Austin into a crater. The military didn’t want magic to develop new ways to bake cupcakes.

“Yes or no,” she replied in a tight voice. “Is the cargo a weapon? I’d throw up a truth spell, but I’m sure you have a gadget here that beats those.”

Brandon put his hand over his heart. “I swear to you, Agent Berens. It’s not a weapon. I’m not going to say it can’t be dangerous if applied in certain ways to certain people, but it’s not a weapon, and it’s certainly not a WMD.”

“Then tell us what it is, and we’ll help get it back for you. Because right now, I’m having trouble trusting you.”

“How about this? I’m going to call certain people in the Department of Defense. We’ll discuss this matter, and I’ll see what I can do for you. As much as I want to help you, this can destroy my company. It’s bad enough that we lost the cargo, but if the DOD believes they can’t trust us, we’ll never get another government contract.”

He looked down. “I know you think this is about nothing but a rich man guarding himself, but it’s been a tough few years for us, and the board of directors is pressuring me for results. Chesterton’s screwup in Seattle made investors wary of many established technomagic companies.” He shook his head. “Consider it nothing but pride, but I don’t want to be thrown out of the company I started because of others’ mistakes.”

“Fine.” The way the word came out of Izzie’s mouth, it sounded like a threat.

Rafe walked over to shake Brandon’s hand. “That’s great. You just keep us informed. Do you have a timeline for getting back to us?”

“I’ll contact you within twenty-four hours.”

“The thieves will probably be halfway to Brazil by then,” Izzie said. “Or Oriceran. Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Brundle. I hope for all our sakes that you’ll be able to help us sooner than later.”

Izzie let Rafe drive back to the PDA building. She stared out the window, trying to run through what could be so secret that the government would want a technomagical company to do experiments and not tell anyone, but at the same time not be a weapon.

The only good thing she could come up with in the scenario was that it cut down on the likely involvement of the Arcane Syndicate from one end. The organization knew the government was hunting them. Playing games through the Department of Defense would be a stupid strategy.

“I know I’m typically the good cop in the good cop, bad cop,” Rafe began after a long stretch of silence on the road. “We can mix it up more. You need to practice your good cop skills.” He chuckled. “Good agent skills, you know what I mean.”

Izzie shook her head. “I’m a magical. Plenty of non-magicals don’t trust me anyway. I should be the bad agent in those scenarios. It makes things simpler.”

“The company doesn’t seem like they want to hide anything. They’re victims, too. They’re not wrong about that.”

“The dead men and women are the real victims. Secrets. With magic, it always comes down to secrets. Everyone’s trying to keep their secrets, and that makes everything worse.” Izzie glared at a random old man sitting on a bench. “I’m not letting what happened with Xelius happen again even if I have to piss off people.”

“Ah.” Rafe sighed. “And here I tricked myself into thinking it’s been two months so you’d been able to relax a little, especially with the lighter casework lately. But you were pulling your standard Izzie and letting it build into a case of righteous self-destruction.”

“It’s been two months, and we’ve found exactly jack and squat about the Arcane Syndicate operations in the city. All we have are rumors and innuendos. Nothing solid.” She scoffed. “We basically gave Xelius a head pat and a glass of milk for nothing useful.”

Rafe slowed and stopped at a red light. “He confirmed the organization's existence, and I don’t know if life in prison is exactly a head pat and a glass of milk. Besides, you’re looking at this the wrong way.”

Izzie looked at him. “How so?”

“According to Xelius, the Arcane Syndicate is supposed to be making a big move on this city, yet they’ve been too afraid to do anything bold since we snatched their last big toy from them.”

Rafe broke into a huge smile. “These guys are big on being spooky and pretending they have all the power. In the end, they had to call on a semi-retired man who wanted nothing to do with them and teach him new tricks, which means they have limited personnel. Anyway, you can’t take out your frustrations about the Syndicate on everybody we run into going forward.”

“I know.” Izzie sighed. “I know. I was thinking about that building. I sensed so much magic in it, but barely any actual magicals.”

“Does that bother you? That magic will get less special with more companies like NGMR working on technomagic research?”

Izzie shook her head. “It’s not that. I just…” She paused to try to articulate the exact loose collection of worries haunting her.

“I worry that magic’s getting too easy and accessible. It’s beautiful and glorious in so many ways, but it’s also dangerous. A handful of criminals on that bridge launched a brutal, dangerous attack. The only reason there aren’t dozens of people dead is because those criminals were focused on stealing that crate, not killing people. That doesn’t take into account all the dark magic out there waiting for people to do more twisted research.”

Rafe shrugged. “How is that different than terrorism and crime at any other point? Guns and explosives have always meant a small number of people could kill tons of other people. Chemistry can make fertilizers and poisons. The only difference now is with magic, we have more of a chance to counter those threats.”

He turned hard enough at an intersection that Izzie strained against her seatbelt. “Defensive magic. Healing magic. Tracking magic. All useful and helpful in stopping criminals and terrorists.”

“What do you think they’re hiding?” Izzie asked. “The company. They keep saying it’s not a weapon, yet I have a hard time imagining the military funding something that won’t be useful for kicking ass on the battlefield.”

“Really?” Rafe glanced at her with his eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Think about all the things I listed.”

“Defensive magic, healing magic, tracking magic. What about them? I don’t see the link other than they’re all not used to hurt people.”

“Let me put it another way.” Rafe grinned. “Military-linked researchers effectively invented the Internet because the military wanted to figure out how to make computer systems that could survive getting nuked. Their answer? Data redundancy.”

He slowed into another turn. “GPS? That was originally about helping military vehicles get where they needed to be and, more importantly, military bombs and missiles. When civilians first got access to the system, it was a degraded, lower-quality version because the government worried about people using it for the bombing version. Prosthetics research has often advanced after wars.

“My point is there are tons of areas of research the military cares about that aren’t about weapons themselves.” He shook his head. “You’re thinking way too narrow if you think the military only cares about weapons.”

Izzie frowned. “You’re not thinking about this the right way. It’s not only about what the military would want. It’s about what someone else would want enough to kill people to grab.”

Rafe’s smile faded. “True. But the investigation doesn’t have to end with NGMR. We’ll have to see what Katya found.”

Izzie’s phone rang. She pulled it out and frowned again. “It’s Bill.” She cleared her throat and accepted the call. “This is Izzie.”

“Where are you now?” Bill asked.

“On our way back to the office.”

She was surprised their boss would suddenly care to micromanage them at this level. Bill tended to want updates only at the end of the day, after they had time to get a handle on things.

“I just received a call from NGMR’s CEO,” Bill explained. “He’s made it clear he’s willing to talk to you again about the cargo. He insists the meeting not happen until tomorrow morning.”

“Understood. That works. We’ll proceed with the rest of the investigation in the meantime.”

“That’s good, Berens. Brief me at the end of the day when you have something useful for me.”

Izzie chuckled at her boss’ brusqueness, grateful that something in her life was a constant. “We’ll do that for you, Bill.” She ended the call and looked at Rafe. “If Katya has a lead for us, great. If not, we can go shake Brundle for more info again tomorrow.”

CHAPTER FOUR

By the time Izzie pushed into the magical forensics laboratory with Rafe, much of her frustration had drained away. Whatever her concerns over the investigation’s progress, the path forward remained promising. She couldn’t ignore that the suspects might have gotten away, but it wasn’t the same thing as them erasing their trail. The case was far from over.

Brandon Brundle’s cooperation and the solid magical signatures recovered from the crime scene would take them to the suspects. With such a high-profile incident, they’d have access to every PDA drone in the sky and locate the suspects in no time. Then they would pin them down or find where they’d been. They would pay for what they did.

More importantly, if they were mercenaries or errand boys, they would give up whoever hired them. She lacked evidence of a connection to the Arcane Syndicate or any other organized group. That didn’t mean there wasn’t one there to find.

The lab was abuzz with techs scurrying around among workstations and tables while examining evidence. Katya sat behind a desk in the corner typing with a frown, wearing none of her technomagic examination gear such as her brass goggles. Her keystrokes increased in speed and intensity like she was trying to beat her computer into submission.

The agents walked up to the desk and waited. Katya continued typing. She muttered and scowled.

Izzie waited about thirty seconds before clearing her throat to get Katya’s attention. “What do you have for us?”

“You want the less annoying news or the annoying news first?” Katya didn’t look up and kept typing. “Only you know which you’d prefer.”

“You didn’t detect any unusual dark magic, did you? Or detect any signatures that seemed similar to Xelius’?”

Katya stared at Izzie. “Hmm. I calibrated my question wrong. We didn’t find anything like that. So I’ll go back to my original question. Less annoying or annoying first?”

Rafe chuckled. “Shouldn’t it be good news and bad news?”

“That presupposes there is such a thing,” Katya replied. “There’s one great truth I’ve learned from having this job, and I would have thought you two learned it as well. Life doesn’t always hand us easy enough answers, now, does it?”

“Then we’ll go with the less annoying news, please.” Izzie sighed. She took some small comfort in Katya shutting down the idea of dark magic being a major factor, yet all her confidence in a quick resolution vanished. “We need something to work with, anything, to find these guys.”

Katya finished typing and looked up. “Analysis of the low-level magical residues and signature analysis establishes there were likely at least three distinct magical suspects on site. Like I said, no real traces of dark magic.”

Izzie appreciated the confirmation that the case didn’t appear to be related to her lingering concerns. It didn’t mean she could ignore everything else that happened. “It makes me feel so much better that the criminals murdered people using only mainstream non-dark magic like the fireball.”

Katya stared at her. “When you think about it, sarcasm is an interesting defense mechanism, isn’t it?”

“Sorry, Katya.” Izzie drew a deep breath. “I just want to catch these guys. I know you’re doing your best.”

Rafe folded his arms and sighed. “Only three suspects?” He nodded at Izzie. “She felt more traces than that. It’s hard to tell with the glasses, so I wasn’t sure.”

Izzie had no reason to doubt Katya’s careful analysis. The witch could be cold at times, but she’d never been incompetent.

Katya nodded at her computer. “I didn’t say we found three magical signatures. I said three magical suspects. Given what else we picked up, the evidence points to multiple independently produced artifacts also being used during the attack.

“Their general magical signatures didn’t match any of the other signatures, so I’m about ninety-five percent sure that the suspects didn’t have a significant role in creating the artifacts. It takes a tremendous amount of dedicated effort to produce a magical artifact with your magic and end up with a different signature. I have a hard time believing someone would go through that much trouble and could maintain that level of precision for throwaway artifacts.”

“You were onto something at the scene, Izzie.” Rafe considered that. “They would also have no reason to hide that, given that they left their magical signatures.”

“Exactly. I’m dubious of someone being so brilliant and idiotic simultaneously.” Katya nodded. “It’s not impossible, yet there’s also no reason to entertain that they went out of their way to annoy themselves only to make our jobs more complicated without obfuscating their identity in any efficient way.”

Izzie didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. The suspects’ attack on a guarded convoy equipped with anti-magic weaponry indicated trained skill and combat experience. Battle magic’s necessities often clashed with those of magicals more interested in avoiding detection. The PDA might be able to exploit that. They often had in the past.

She frowned, thinking back to Xelius. His unfamiliarity with modern technomagic had played a key role in the PDA tracking him down. The convoy robbers demonstrated all too well how much they understood technomagic.

Katya frowned at her computer and returned to pounding on the keyboard. “For the record, it’s difficult to determine what was an artifact and what wasn’t for the most part. I’m mostly relying on experience that suggests the major, more stable magical signatures are more likely to be from actual living magic users than independent artifacts.”

She stopped typing. “Incidentally, whatever enchantments were used on the drone involved a combination of signatures. To be clear, the drone that appeared after the destruction of the convoy’s drones was almost certainly a case of self-destruction.”

Izzie folded her arms as her worry grew. “These guys are too smart, and I doubt this is a bunch of inversion glyph work. Damn. I hoped we could find and grab them today before having to beg for more information from the company.” She glanced at a chunk of concrete sitting on a nearby lab bench. “Is that from the bridge? Is it from one of the concrete automatons?”

“That particular sample, yes.” Katya stood and went to the lab bench. “We have samples from the summoned constructs, the damage sites, and all over the place being examined in case we missed another signature. It’s unlikely, but you can’t find what you’re not looking for.”

“Then it sounds like we have plenty of magical signatures to hand over to field support,” Doubt filled Rafe’s tone. “Having too much evidence is rarely a problem. I can’t think of a case I’ve ever worked where I felt it was.

“That’s the more annoying part,” Katya answered. “I already sent the signatures to field support.” She nodded toward her monitor. “Right before you walked in, they sent me a request for additional signature information, including any alternate signatures I can pull off any evidence.”

Izzie didn’t like where this was going. Field support didn’t tend to update the investigating agents until there was a change in the situation or if the agents were actively pursuing a target. Their request for more information from Katya could only mean one thing.

“Don’t tell me we can’t track these guys despite having all that evidence.”

She already knew it was true as she said it. Xelius had been far from the only case in her career where straightforward tracking had failed.

The more criminals learned about the modern capabilities of the PDA, the more they countered them. The brief window where technomagic made a mockery of traditional anti-track magical techniques was already over.

Izzie was all too familiar with the techniques. She’d used a combination of active spells and anti-tracking artifacts when she’d been on the run from the Seventh Order after recovering her memories and learning the dark wizard group had been hunting her.

Those techniques had allowed her to avoid the murderous organization for years. She tried to tell herself that avoiding a small dark wizard organization was different than avoiding the entire PDA, but deep down, she knew that wasn’t true.

Most people on the run got caught because they weren’t willing to stay away from the people and places they cared about. Her erased memories had made that not much of an issue during her teen years at the School of Necessary Magic. Her dogged determination and stubbornness had done the same during her early adulthood.

“I’m not going to suggest it’s impossible to track them,” Katya replied. “It’s theoretically possible.” She shrugged. “But I’m going to suggest that as likely professional criminals, they knew to make sure they weren’t in town or anywhere easily detectable by drone soon after their vicious crime. They had to know the authorities would come looking as soon as possible, and it’s always the ones causing trouble who know how to stay under the radar.”

“This is exactly what I was afraid of. I tried to talk myself out of it, but I was right.” Izzie scrubbed her hand down her face, wondering how she could have been so naïve when she entered the lab.

“The robbers knew right away to take out the security team’s drones to avoid the team knowing the position of all the attackers and to stop them from being followed. They might have gone to ground right after they got off the boat.” She stuck up a finger, then a second. “The witnesses only reported two people on the boat.”

“Yes,” Rafe interjected. “What about it?”

“Where was the third suspect? Katya’s analysis indicates three suspects. And that’s what I figured on scene.”

“The third suspect could have been in a car or positioned nearby. Witnesses reported that the suspect who retrieved the cargo appeared out of nowhere. The others must have used invisibility spells.” Rafe shrugged. “We can have field support scour the area with the drone and look for other magical signatures.”

“Maybe a single drone,” Izzie concluded. “Anyone smart enough not to show themselves wouldn’t leave much more evidence, and we likely already have their magical signature anyway from what forensics found.” She frowned. “They had the guy on the boat, our guy on the bridge, and whoever else nearby could be under the bridge or a little farther out on either side.”

A hungry grin spread with rising, aggressive hope. She could still salvage the situation and track down the criminals. “You tagged distinct signatures you believe are from artifacts too, right, Katya? I understood you correctly?”

Katya nodded. “Yes. That was the less annoying news. There’s little chance of tracking them without their active use, and that’s assuming they have any of the artifacts or similar ones still left on them.”

“No, it’s the good news,” Izzie countered. “Your thoroughness is giving us solid leads. We’ve got this. Thanks.”

“I am rather good at what I do.” Katya sounded matter-of-fact.

“All we need to do is match those signatures to the artifact signatures.”

Katya tilted her head and stared at Izzie with a perplexed expression. “I just explained the issue with that. You don’t normally need additional explanations for these types of issues.”

Rafe looked worried. “She’s right. It will be hard to track the artifacts unless we catch them in use. Why would the suspects go around town flashing their artifacts when they know the PDA is looking for them versus throwing them in the river?”

“Sure. I know.” Izzie shook her head. “That’s not what I’m talking about. I doubt the team that struck the bridge is still in town. However, there’s a chance they got their supplies in town if they were trying to avoid anything too specific that would let the PDA pinpoint where they’re from. We can follow that path and hope it takes us to them or anyone who might have hired them.”

Rafe smiled as understanding dawned on his face. “Local artifacts mean a better chance of tracing them locally. We need to talk to somebody who has a better chance of knowing where we can find whoever made the local artifacts.”

“Exactly!”

Katya looked between them and frowned. “Then you should do that. I have work to do. I’ll let you know if I can come up with anything else. So far, we have no grand surprises or anything to contradict the witness testimony. But I am curious who you think can offer this great insight into the artifacts.”

Rafe and Izzie looked at each other for a few seconds. “Dax,” they chorused.

“Oh. The gnome.” Katya sighed. “He does possess a small measure of talent in certain areas. I’ll admit that.”

Izzie looked at Katya. “I’ll need those signature crystals.”

“Feel free.” Katya nodded at a pile of crystals on a nearby shelf.

“Great work as usual, Katya. We’ll take it from here.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Running around Austin and following up on the initial evidence burned away most of Izzie’s day. The sun hung low on the horizon, ready to set as she and Rafe arrived at Dax’s place in north Austin. They parked outside the small, pleasant-looking red brick bicycle shop that served as his workshop and home. Izzie was recharged with vague hope the PDA could handle the entire case without relying on the reluctant CEO of NGMR to give her information he likely believed would doom his company.

Dax had run the children’s bike shop for years, even before the gates reopened. He had used illusion magic to conceal his appearance and kept quirky, irregular hours to cover his visits to a kemana to recharge his magic. Despite the return of magic flows to Earth and the lack of a need to hide or worry about recharging his magic, he still kept quirky, irregular hours.

The locals were proud of their long-term gnome resident and his involvement with multiple generations of bicyclists. A neighborhood association had given him an award declaring him a “vital resident of the neighborhood.”

Izzie walked up to the door, wondering how she would handle anyone offering her a similar award and doubting it would ever happen. The way her apartment complex acted, it was like they expected her to get in a fight with a troll in the parking lot and wreck everyone’s cars. She wasn’t sure if that was because she was a magical or a PDA agent.

She chuckled. It was hard to complain about being a woman who didn’t fit in. Her father had told her stories about how it was a bizarre, often ridiculously alien experience when he first came to Earth. That included trying to wrap his elven brain around the true nature of peculiar human experiences such as trips to Costco.

Her mother had to deal with the same in reverse, going from thinking she was a normal human cop to finding out she had a grand magical heritage obscured under family claims of insanity. Not many people had to rescue their grandmother from the World In Between.

Izzie frowned. The unique complementary nature that had brought her parents together had made them all, particularly their child, a target of dark wizards seeking to use their power against them. The Seventh Order craved the Berens women’s power. Ironically, they’d hunted Izzie until she’d turned and destroyed them all.

She scoffed. Power for its own sake always destroyed its seekers. She’d learned that as a girl. Every day on her job in the PDA reinforced it.

“What is it?” Rafe asked.

“Nothing. Just thinking too much.”

Rafe stared at her. “Okay, I remember you mentioning weird vibes about dark magic during the Xelius incident, but we haven’t found any dark magic yet in this case.”

“I wasn’t thinking about that.” Izzie sighed. “Not right then. Am I really that predictable?”

Rafe laughed. “Only because I’m your friend and you’ve had your brooding look on since the bridge.”

“Brooding look?” Izzie grimaced. “Now you make me sound like Alison. Berens don’t brood. We glare at the world in a defiant way and challenge it to take us on.” She scrubbed a hand down her face. “I don’t have a brooding look.”

“Whatever you say, Izzie.” Rafe whistled innocently. “Don’t worry. Dax will help cure your brooding.”

The lights inside were off. The sign read CLOSED. She knocked. They had called ahead, and Dax offered a terse comment that he was a little busy and they could come over as long as they didn’t expect too much. That was almost an invitation to a drunken party by Dax standards.

The door swung open by itself, and the lights turned on. Old and newer bicycles hung from the walls. A bike missing its wheels stood upside down by a nearby wooden bench. A small counter sat in the corner of the room. Photos hung all over the wall of Dax with happy customers, older images from when he was disguised as a shorter human, and pictures from more recent decades where he proudly posed with his true gnome appearance.

“You really think he can help?” Rafe asked. “I have nothing against Dax, but I think we pissed Katya off a little.”

“If he can’t, then he can point us to someone who can,” Izzie replied. “And he’s officially listed in the expert contacts database. She knows that. She’s a big girl.”

“If you say so. The last thing I want to do is alienate the head of forensics.”

Izzie led Rafe past the counter to a gray metal door in the back. The door swung open into a garage filled with tools all over the wall, ranging from normal to devices radiating magic.

A socket wrench set hung beside rune-covered spikes and sigil-inscribed thin metal sheets. Crystals and striated metals filled different bins labeled in an inscrutable gnomish script. Dax sat in a chair in front of a workbench with a soldering iron in hand. He ran it over a circuit board filled with embedded crystals and lines of gold, silver, and copper. Loud rock music played from a speaker in the corner.

Dax was the same as ever. He wore an old-fashioned miner’s helmet with a lantern on top. Izzie had never seen him without the helmet, and he refused to answer questions about it for whatever reason. Even in old pictures of his human disguise, he’d used an illusion to turn the helmet into a Longhorns’ baseball cap.

He turned off his soldering iron and set the tool in a tray. He ran his finger along a rune-covered bronze bracer over his right arm, which he always referred to as his universal remote. The music stopped.

Dax looked at them with a smile and scratched his chin. “It’s been too long. Too bad you only ever show up when you need something. You never want to hang out.”

Izzie winced. “If it makes you feel any better, my job’s my life.”

“It’s true,” Rafe confirmed. “Our boss has to order her to stay home when she’s hurt. You know how she is. It’s why she doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

Izzie elbowed Rafe in the side. “You don’t have a girlfriend, either.”

She was annoyed, although she’d barely talked with Rafe about her past, including Luke, the man she’d left behind after reconnecting with him following the defeat of the Seventh Order. Rafe couldn’t avoid what he didn’t know about.

Dax laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I’m only joking. I get that you’re running around trying to stop people who get out of hand. Somebody has to do it, and I’m glad it’s not me.”

He smiled at the circuit board. “Curiosity can get the better of anyone. Without people like you around, we’d have more trouble. Somebody would have blown up this planet by now, and I’m only partially certain it wouldn’t have been a gnome.”

“We’re not talking about curiosity this time.” Izzie frowned. “We’re talking about murderers and thieves. These aren’t people I can let get away with what they did.”

“Dark wizards?” Dax asked. “More of that Arcane Syndicate you’re looking for?”

Izzie shook her head. “Not in terms of dark magic, but still violence and murder.”

Dax stopped smiling and sighed. “The bridge incident. It’s a shame. NGMR has been doing interesting research. They’ve got a good balance in understanding that advancing technomagic doesn’t have to mean abandoning everything traditional. A fusion of techniques will push everyone forward.”

Izzie reached into her pocket and pulled out several crystals. “We have signatures Katya pulled from on-scene samples. Field support is looking around, but we don’t have a ton of hope we’ll find anything. We know the suspects used artifacts, including technomagical artifacts, and we hoped you might have a little insight into where they came from.”

“Oh?” Dax’s brow lifted. “You don’t think forensics can get you there?”

“If we had any reason to believe the artifacts were sourced using completely legal channels, we’d be more confident forensics could get us there. This isn’t a slight on Katya or field support. This is something we hope you can help us with given your unique relationships in the city.”

“I dabble on the edge, but I avoid any real dark magic types, you know,” Dax replied. “I might not be able to help you. Even if these men didn’t use dark magic for the attack, they’re the type of people I like to avoid.” He tapped the side of his head. “Curiosity doesn’t excuse hurting other people.”

“All we’re asking is for you to take a look. If you can’t find anything, you can’t find anything. No one’s going to blame you.”

Dax hopped off his chair and walked over to scoop the crystals out of Izzie’s hand. He eyed the crystals with a frown. “I can look at them. I can’t give you any guarantees.”

“I know.”

“It’ll take me until tomorrow, at least, to come up with anything. I know you want to chase these guys down faster, but I can’t do much more.”

“That works.” Izzie smiled. “I’ll put in to get you compensation, even if you can’t uncover anything.”

He shook his head. “No results, no pay. That’s the Dax way.” He lifted a crystal to the light and squinted at it. “I’m surprised NGMR is working on anything that would attract this type of attention.”

“We’re looking into that, too. We’ll leave you alone for now. Thanks again.”

Dax smiled. “Next time your boss makes you stay home, you should call. We could go out and have a drink.”

“You sure you want to be seen with me around town? Especially after that Xelius case, I know the local underworld is leery of me. I don’t know how much of that is Arcane Syndicate influence, and we still don’t know how much they’ve penetrated the city.”

“Dancing on the edge of the underworld doesn’t make me true underworld. I don’t mind anyone knowing I’m Izzie Berens’ friend.” He smiled. “Screw them if they mind.”

“Then we’ll have to get that drink after this is all over.”

Driving away from Dax’s place, Izzie returned to worrying that the suspects were so long gone they might be in North Korea or on a remote island in the Pacific hiding the last of the Nereids. She told herself she and Rafe still had the NGMR CEO’s meeting the next day, and if Dax could point her toward someone in the underground who might have helped the suspects, they could keep the forward momentum on the investigation.

Despite all the conspiracies her paranoid mind conjured, the hard statistical truth was that most paranormal crimes in Austin, in her experience, involved local interests on some level. All the PDA needed to do was keep pushing until they found somebody responsible for the trouble.

“I can never figure that guy out,” Rafe commented from the passenger’s seat.

“Dax?” Izzie shrugged. “What’s to figure out? He’s a gnome. He likes technomagic tinkering and rock music. He’s not that complicated a guy.”

“He’s always so nice and cooperative. He likes building bikes for neighborhood kids. But he also knows major scum.”

Izzie snickered. “You could say the same thing about us.”

“But we’re PDA agents. We have a reason to know these people. Do you trust him?”

“I do. He’s had plenty of opportunities to screw me over and not taken them. At the end of the day, it’s like he said. He might stick his foot in the gray zone, but when he goes to sleep at night, he’s on our side.”

Rafe shook his head. “It’s not like with Pearl. She likes to mess around, but the dark types are afraid of her, and they know she’s on our side. She’s gothic, not dark. If you know what I mean.”

Izzie glanced at him. It was rare for Rafe to stick up for Pearl, although she had noticed a slight change in his attitude toward her and vice versa since the Xelius case. That was a mystery she could solve another time.

“The thing to always keep in mind about Dax is it comes down to his curiosity. He’s a good guy, but his burning curiosity always pushes him to the edge, which means sometimes he’ll dance a little too far and fall off. But the risk is always to himself, never others.”

She shook her head. “He told me once that he always wants to know more, push more. We should be glad he’s fonder of technomagic than traditional magic. That makes it easier for him to satisfy his curiosity without messing around as much with dark magic. There are more unknown areas.”

“I just don’t know how much I trust him,” Rafe replied. “You’ve only known him for a few years.”

“When it comes down to it, Dax will do the right thing. He saved my life when I first met him. Remember?”

“Of course I do.” Rafe frowned. “But that was before you joined the PDA, right?” He adopted a mocking, over-dramatic tone. “You got jumped by some dark wizard dead-ender trying to make a name for himself by taking down the daughter of the glorious Oriceran Fixer Correk and Leira Berens, the greatest original paranormal bounty hunter of Earth.”

“Yes. I love my parents, but living in their shadow even with my restored memories can be hard.” Izzie groaned. “That incident was one of the few times I wasn’t being paranoid and ready. Dax happened to be there and blinded the guy with a light ray, which let me take him out. I’ll never forget what he said when I asked him why he helped me.”

“‘That guy didn’t look as curious as you,’” Rafe quoted.

“Have I really told this story that much?” Izzie laughed.

“Does a hundred times count as much?” Rafe smiled. “I hope you tell everyone about all the times I’ve saved your life.”

“You need more cool lines when you do it.” Izzie smiled. “Something like, ‘Time to get Martinezed.’”

Rafe snickered. “I knew you’d say something like that, but I’d never say something that cheesy.”

“Anyway, we have Dax checking into the signatures, and the CEO is half-willing to cooperate.” Izzie shook her head. “We can get back whatever they stole and shake people down once we’ve cornered them. I’d like more leads, but I can’t complain.”

“It’s not a Xelius situation,” Rafe noted.

“I know. I learned my lesson about being overly political and caring too much about what the magical community thinks. No matter what, we’ll catch whoever was behind all this.”

When Izzie and Rafe returned to Brandon Brundle’s office the next morning, he didn’t have a glass of gin in hand. He sat behind his desk, not red-faced and offering a far more serious expression than the day before. They took seats in front of him.

“Thank you for allowing me time to wrap my mind around the situation,” Brandon began. “I understand the importance of your investigation and the time sensitivity, and I hope you, in turn, understand the various factors restricting our more open cooperation in this matter.”

Rafe glanced at Izzie. She nodded. This wasn’t a situation where her background or magical nature would help much.

“We’re continuing our full investigation,” Rafe explained. “But we’ve been unable to track down any suspects based on magical signature as of yet. That’s not unusual in our investigations, but conventional investigation techniques become more important than ever when that happens. That involves looking into means, motive, and opportunity. Knowing what they stole will help us with that.”

Brandon stared forward for a long while before sighing. “I contacted the Department of Defense and explained our position and your position on the matter as I understood it. I also asked for their advice on how to proceed on this matter.”

“What did they say?” Izzie asked, trying to sound more eager than angry.

“They offered general clearance for me to share with you certain key pieces of information about our work in hopes of expediting the recovery of the relevant stolen item.”

Izzie nodded. “That’s helpful.”

“Yes.” Brandon reached into his desk and pulled out a small crystal and thumb drive. “That clearance includes the missing item’s magical signature for tracking purposes. My security chief will send you information about the exact nature of the tools we used to transport and protect the item to help facilitate your search.” He slid the crystal and the thumb drive toward Izzie. “This should help get you started.”

“Thank you.” Rafe picked up the items and stuck them in a coat pocket. “This will be very helpful in aiding our field support staff in attempting to track the item.”

Izzie appreciated his cooperation. Yet he was still reluctant. She could see it in his face. He needed to understand a magical signature and basic information about anti-tracking magic wasn’t enough.

“There’s no guarantee our people will be able to find it through signature tracking,” Izzie cautioned. “Or direct tracking methods without further assistance, such as items or people with relationships to your item, so we could attempt traditional magic-based sympathetic tracking.”

“I understand.” Brandon shook his head. “We’ve already attempted those methods. We haven’t succeeded. I’ll have my security chief send you a detailed description of the appearance and abilities of the outer container and the enchanted briefcase we used to transport the items. Still, our anti-tracking efforts are probably working against us in this matter.” He let out a rueful chuckle.

“Then the suspects could have transported it out of town already,” Izzie continued. “This is why it’s all the more important that we know what it was and try to focus on different non-magical investigation angles. Even if we can’t follow up here, we can work with other PDA offices and the FBI to track the item. We once caught a smuggler who fled to Malayasia through careful interagency cooperation. So we need you to tell us what you can.”

“I understand.” Brandon leaned back in his seat and frowned. “We’re participating in a research project with the Department of Defense, codenamed Project Smothering Swarm.”

Izzie laughed despite the situation. “Please tell me you didn’t come up with that yourself.”

Brandon’s face reddened. “The DOD came up with the project name. They haven’t authorized a complete briefing on Smothering Swarm. I’m allowed to share that the stolen cargo was an enchanted artifact, a diadem. It was being studied as a baseline for a technomagical control system, specifically a magical energy modulation and control device for the project.”

He sighed. “Right now, the DOD wants this handled quietly. They’ve indicated that your investigation, as long as it’s conducted with caution and under normal PDA restrictions, will be the best way to achieve it given the local PDA’s reputation and your reputations as agents.”

Izzie couldn’t prevent a little smile. She didn’t realize anyone outside the underworld was paying that much attention. It was nice to have someone compliment her outside the agency for a change.

“I also didn’t realize you were the daughter of magical celebrities,” Brandon added. “Of course, now it makes perfect sense. Berens isn’t that common a name.”

Izzie frowned. “I’ve made my own way. To be clear, my family doesn’t take part in my investigations.”

“I’m not saying any of this to insult you. Realizing that your magical background is so distinguished makes me more comfortable, and I better understand why the Department of Defense is amenable to having you involved.”

Izzie wanted to explain that her great magical background got her mind wiped of all knowledge of her parents for years and chased across the world by assassins for half her life. She held back.

She frowned. Then again, she couldn’t be sure there wasn’t a dark wizard’s touch in the Department of Defense. She couldn’t discount anything. For now, she would take whatever helped her keep working on the case.

“As long as they told you to cooperate, I have no complaints.”

Brandon took a deep breath. “In addition, while I can’t tell you many details about the diadem beyond giving you the signature crystal, the DOD has encouraged me to cooperate with your investigation otherwise.”

Izzie frowned. “Okay, that all sounds good. What do you mean exactly by a magical energy control device?”

“What I’ve told you is all I’ve been cleared to offer. They’ll verify my compliance through truth spell-enhanced polygraphs. The DOD has been very aggressive in adopting magic to help them.”

“Fine. And this can’t be turned into a weapon? You guarantee that?”

Brandon shrugged. “Anything can be turned into a weapon with enough effort, Agent Berens, but we weren’t attempting to build a weapon. We were attempting to understand…”

He sighed. “We were attempting to understand the interface between magical energy and non-lethal body control. That’s all I can say. Again, we’ll offer resources and help as needed. The DOD agrees that retrieving the diadem is our primary goal, and you have the best chance of doing that. I’ll also get you a photo of the diadem.”

“Good. I wish you had been as forthcoming yesterday, and I hope it’s not too late.”

CHAPTER SIX

“This isn’t right.” Izzie stared at her computer with a frown. “We’re losing momentum. It should be the opposite.”

After leaving NGMR and a failed tracking spell attempt, Izzie and Rafe dropped off the new signature crystal with field support. Unsurprisingly, the PDA drones still weren’t picking up any relevant signatures. It was hard to be too disappointed by something so expected.

Setting aside the anti-tracking efforts of the original packaging, tracking one individual artifact in a city with a good magical population was always a hard task. Background magic interference was always a problem and would only increase over time.

It was ironic. After years of foolish resistance, law enforcement gave up on turning their back on magic, going so far as to automate tracking spells through drone signature analysis. Conversely, the more magic and magicals that came to the city, the harder it was for the PDA to do their jobs. A truly balanced magical and non-magical society would make magical signature tracking a hellish task outside specific situations.

With little left to follow up on that lead and waiting on Dax, Izzie resorted to skimming reports from the forensics team at her computer the next morning. She was looking for any small piece of evidence that would offer her a new path forward.

The jeweled diadem was pretty but generic. Every search brought up an overwhelming plethora of artifacts that might match the diadem in the photo.

“We have plenty of momentum,” Rafe responded after finishing skimming a page. “We have multiple lines of evidence, a semi-cooperative victim, and everyone eager to solve the case.”

“Magical energy and body control. That sounds like a weapon to me. Smothering Swarm? Come on. It’s a weapon of mass destruction, and Brundle is not telling us that because a bigwig at the Department of Defense is threatening him.”

“If it were a WMD, I think the military would be freaking out more rather than leaving it to us, even with our reputation. If anything, I’d think it’d be the opposite.”

Izzie considered Rafe’s suggestion. His logic was sound no matter how much her dark conspiracy paranoia wanted to say it was someone targeting them. The higher-up parts of the government were cooperating, in their way, while keeping their involvement out of the news.

“It means this artifact is important enough that they don’t want NGMR talking about it, but not inherently dangerous enough for an all hands on deck investigation,” Izzie concluded.

She tried to think through different artifact identities. Everything kept pointing back to something dangerous enough to kill for. Yet that forced her to reconsider why the military was acting the way they were beyond simple bureaucratic stubbornness.

She wanted to believe they trusted the Austin PDA that much. That was a hard stretch, but Bill had also confirmed the DOD had called him to lay down the ground rules. The most important was minimum media reports about the artifact without their explicit permission.

Rafe looked around from his computer. “I think what Brundle was getting at is that whatever they’re working on is non-lethal. The military would love it if they could throw out a magical field that put everyone in a building or on a battlefield to sleep.”

“Or it could smother them all?” Izzie raised an eyebrow.

“It would be non-lethal as long as they turned it off after a couple of minutes or so.” Rafe sounded unsure.

“I better not wake up to Austin smothering tomorrow, or I’ll march straight to the Pentagon and demand answers.”

Rafe laughed. “I’d love to see that. For right now, we have the company’s general cooperation. No reason to get too nasty.”

He gestured at his screen. “We push our luck on this, and we might lose access to NGMR without way more annoying court orders. That would do nothing but slow us down when we need to keep moving on this.” He made a circle in the air with his finger. “It’s like you said. Momentum.”

“I didn’t want to alienate him after he agreed to cooperate,” Izzie replied. “But I couldn’t get past the fact he was still holding back on us. I get the military is holding his leash, but he could do more without getting in trouble.” She glared at her monitor. “His people were killed. His artifact was stolen, and he wants to play all these secret games?”

“He’s not holding back because he wanted to, but because he had no choice, more than you think. We know what we’re looking for, even if we’re a little fuzzy on what it does. On top of that, he didn’t act like it would blow up if we found it, which makes it better than our last big artifact case.”

“Xelius.” Izzie stopped herself from hissing in annoyance when she said the name. “I can’t be comfortable if magical criminals have something that can put large numbers of people to sleep or make them pass out.”

“We don’t know that.” Rafe shook his head. “I was offering a theoretical example of a system that controls people’s bodies without hurting them.”

“That’s not exactly great, either. Plus…”

“What is it?”

“I feel like we’re all missing something big.”

“We might be. But the only way to figure that out is to investigate the evidence we have and see where it goes. We can complain about the incomplete paths later when we run out of solid leads.”

“My instincts are calling to me.”

Rafe’s brow lifted. “What instincts? When I asked you about dark magic, you said it didn’t feel like that.”

“I stand by that, but it only applies to the specific guys on the bridge.” Izzie thought over everything she’d felt on the bridge. “The instincts that tell me there’s more here. Something way more. You don’t hire a group of pros like that to steal a glorified area sleep spell. Come on. Think about it.”

“Then what do you think is going on? We have a high-powered magical artifact that a technomagical research company was studying on behalf of the Department of Defense. Are you suggesting this is foreign espionage? Depending on the country, that doesn’t make it any better than dark magical organizations.”

“Foreign?” Izzie leaned back in her chair. “That’s such a funny word at this point when I’m part-elf. I’d be relieved if it was another government that hired spies to steal it. At least then, I know there’s no crazy megalomaniac Oriceran dragon cult or dark wizard society at the heart of the robbery.”

Rafe laughed. “You think an Oriceran group is behind this?”

“Hey, remember that thing with Alison’s little brother I told you about?” Izzie raised an eyebrow.

“Half of what you told me about the Brownstone family makes me wonder if they’re on every watchlist our government has. I’m scared to ever meet them. That family is cursed.”

Izzie snickered. “You could say the same thing about my family.”

“Okay, fair. Using how much trouble the Berens family has run into isn’t a good baseline. You’re like the champions of family trouble.”

“I know.” Izzie shrugged. “My point is Oriceran’s far from being done and over, and there are tons of ancient beings over there who love to stir up trouble. It’s not always about good versus evil. People like us don’t have the same perspective on society and everything that’s going on as, you know, ancient crazy magical beings who have lived for thousands of years.”

“Sure, all that’s true, but I’m willing to play the probabilities. I’ve worked a ton of cases, and I’ve yet to face off against a truly ancient otherworldly being involved behind the scenes. That might be luck, but it feels like since the start of the gates opening, most local trouble on Earth is caused by local Earth magicals.”

He smiled. “From what you’ve told me about your time at the School of Necessary Magic and your father, magicals fresher from Oriceran aren’t going to be able to hide that well in the modern world.”

“You’re still not getting it.” Izzie shook her head, trying to figure out how to express herself. “It’s simpler than that. The company still won’t level with us completely, which means this diadem is more dangerous than they’re letting on.

“I think the Department of Defense is gambling that we can find it before things get out of hand, and they’re only not being more aggressive because of our recent high-profile takedown of Xelius. After all, he’s linked to the Arcane Syndicate, and Bill had to jump through hoops to even learn about them, meaning it was either intelligence agencies or the military that knew about them first.”

“The bottom line is the military trusts the PDA enough to recover it,” Rafe pointed out. “That means something, and we should believe in us if they believe in us.”

“It only means we’ve proven our effectiveness at dealing with trouble.” Izzie frowned at a picture of a concrete chunk from the forensics report on her screen. “If it is foreign spies, the diadem’s already gone. They don’t need advanced portal magic or magic vehicles to put something on a jet and fly it across the world.”

“In that case, we don’t have to care about the diadem anymore other than collecting all the evidence we can to pass on to somebody else.” Rafe shrugged. “If it’s left the country, it becomes a CIA, DIA, or FBI problem, not ours. Maybe even a Silver Griffins problem.”

Izzie frowned again. “This happened in our city, so it’s our problem. We ignore this, and the next thing we know, we could have half the city falling asleep and never waking up, or all choking with no real reason.”

She opened her mouth to offer a third example, but her chiming phone interrupted the rant. She picked up the phone from her desk to check her message. “Huh. Dax has something for us.”

“Then let’s cancel naptime with the Great Diadem of Mass Sleep,” Rafe quipped.

“I’ve circled back to it smothering everybody.”

Rafe grimaced. “I really hope Dax has something good.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

This time the main shop was open by the time of their arrival. When they stepped inside, Dax was working on repairing a bicycle and carving tiny wards into its body. His toolbelt was off and spread along the floor.

“Do those last long?” Rafe gestured at the bicycle. “I noticed glyphs before, and I was curious. The average human kid can’t feed them magic.”

Dax shook his head. “They’re more for free. My average customer can’t afford a real artifact bicycle, and it would take a long time. I explain that, but people like the idea of having a bike that’s enchanted even if it lasts for only a little bit. It’s a mark of coolness in the neighborhood.”

“I never did understand why you do this type of work.” Rafe peered at the bike. “I mean, you can make real technomagical gadgets. Why bother with mechanical bicycles for kids? They’re getting increasingly rare even when not made by gnomes.”

Dax looked up. “Why? Because it’s fun. Some people like gardening. I like fixing bikes in between my other tinkering, and it’s expected of me. Sometimes a gnome has to do what’s expected of him, so I am.”

“Expected?” Rafe looked confused. “People expect gnomes to fix their bikes?”

“Here, yes, they do.” Dax stood and wiped his hands with a nearby rag. “People in the neighborhood were always nice and kind to me before they knew I was a gnome. I thought about shutting this place down once magic returned to Earth, and I almost did, wondering if it was time to move on now that everything was different.”

“Why didn’t you?” Rafe asked.

“Because a local man came to me. He bought a bike from me when he was a kid and wanted his kid to buy his bike from me. He was thrilled at the idea that I’d been a gnome all along.” Dax smiled. “Before I knew it, I’d become a neighborhood institution.” He laughed. “It helps that I can sell them cheaply since the bikes are more of a hobby for me.”

“I didn’t know you planned on closing this place down,” Izzie remarked. “You never told me that before.”

“It didn’t come up.” Dax ran his finger along his bracer. “And you’re busy being a workaholic. You’d have trouble relating even if I did tell you.”

“Technically, aren’t you a workaholic, too?”

“You know what they say. When you love what you do, it’s not work.” Dax smiled. “We both know you are dedicated to your job, but that’s not the same thing as loving it like I love mine. I don’t blame you. Swimming in the darkness all the while must be exhausting. I make children happy. It’s an unfair contest.”

Izzie frowned. “That’s one way to look at things. I prefer to think of myself as helping everyone swim in less darkness.”

Dax ran his finger over his bracer again. The open sign flipped to closed and the door locked. All the blinds closed.

“You didn’t come here to ask me about bicycles or my career plans,” Dax added. “Nor did you come here so I could pester you about your career choices. One moment.” He went into the back for a minute and stepped back with the magical signature crystals in one hand.

He handed them to Izzie. “Your bridge robbers were using local disposable artifacts. I can guarantee you that. I won’t testify to it in court or sign an affidavit, but I’ll tell you here and now. There was a unique signature on them, one I’ve seen before and recognized.”

Izzie frowned. “Katya didn’t mention any of that.”

“Because she didn’t know to look for it. Even I would have missed it if I didn’t know to look for it because it’s a subtle way that a certain local black market artifact dealer marks his goods. Ego trumps caution in so many people.” He shrugged when Rafe frowned at him. “We’ve had dealings in the past.”

“Dealings?” Rafe’s brow lifted. “Meaning what exactly?”

“Exactly what I said, dealings. Some good. Some bad. I don’t want to say anything that would put either of you in a tight spot if you decide to talk to him.” He went to his toolbelt and pulled out a small business card containing only an address. “I’d never do anything that put this city in danger. That’s not the same as saying I’ll never break human rules.”

“Isn’t that you admitting to breaking the law?” Rafe asked.

Dax smiled. “Do you follow every rule and regulation when you’re running around chasing down deadly dark wizards and artifacts that threaten the city? I know Izzie too well and know that’s not the case.”

Rafe looked away. “It’s not the same thing.”

Dax offered the card to Rafe. “I’ve had dealings with all manner of questionable beings throughout my long life. That’s not going to end any time soon.”

He shook his head. “DeKyle, though, he’s not a man I ever want to deal with again if I can avoid it. There are fuzzy lines and there are solid lines that no one should cross. He believes all lines are fuzzy.”

“DeKyle.” Izzie bounced the name around in her head. “I’ve heard that name before.” Her heart kicked up. “The PDA was investigating him a while back for smuggling dangerous artifacts from Oriceran. We never could get the charges to stick.”

“That sounds like DeKyle.” Dax shook his head. “He’s a slippery guy. He has a good thing going, too, because he’s far more tolerant of technomagic than a lot of the other underworld old guard in Austin. That’s given him an advantage and a foothold. I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes a major player over the long haul.”

He headed to a cabinet and opened it. After pushing a couple of small boxes around, he grabbed a small plastic case.

“You think he stole the artifact?” Rafe asked.

“No. It’s not his style to do anything that draws too much attention to himself. That’s one of the reasons he’s lasted so long without drawing PDA or FBI attention until recently. Organizing a robbery against NGMR that earned PDA attention is too much trouble for him. He doesn’t mind supplying anyone who can pay him, though.”

He held up the case. “This is a little something I have sitting around.”

He handed the plastic case to Izzie. She set it on the counter and opened it. Six silver bumblebees sat nestled inside foam padding beside a circuit board with a sigil soldered over the center. The bumblebees and circuit boards all radiated a small amount of magic.

“What are these?” Izzie looked between the bees and Dax.

“They are a little project I worked on a while back. I was trying to make a magical drone system that could directly interface with existing technology-based feeds with minimal magical power maintenance. It turns out they require too much magic for any lengthy loitering time.”

He plucked a bee out of the case. “They’re still great if you want a small drone that won’t stand out among the average background magic levels and don’t care if they only last a few minutes.”

“Why are you giving these to me?” Izzie asked.

Dax placed the bee in the case. “Because DeKyle doesn’t do anything without getting paid, and he’s wanted these from me for a while. This project is no longer of interest to me, so it’s not a big loss.”

Rafe eyed the case. “In other words, you want us to bribe a scum black market smuggler with something he’s going to sell to somebody to cause trouble in the future?”

Dax winked. “Yes, but I’m also going to give you all the magical signature info you need in case these bees are ever used.”

“Won’t that get you in trouble with DeKyle?”

“Not if he doesn’t know, and I never promised him I wouldn’t do anything like that.” Dax motioned at the case. “You say the PDA has dealt with him before. Then you should know his personality.”

“We didn’t work the case,” Izzie replied. “All I know is he was difficult, and the PDA decided it was more trouble than it was worth to keep pursuing the case given our resource constraints.”

“Threatening him won’t work. He’s stubborn and brave in his way. His other redeeming quality is also his worst depending on the situation. He doesn’t discriminate. DeKyle will get anything for anyone as long as he gets paid.”

Rafe inspected the business card with a look of grim acceptance. “Do we call ahead?”

“He doesn’t do appointments. I also wouldn’t show up at night. The real trouble shows up at night. It never hurts to be too safe.”

“We’ll see you get your consulting fee,” Rafe offered.

“That’s okay.” Dax frowned at the case. “This is getting him off my back too since he’s been after those bees for a while. I’ll consider us even.”

Izzie grabbed the case. “Thanks, Dax. This helps.”

“Don’t thank me until you find your robbers.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

The address on the card took Izzie and Rafe deep into the Magical District in east Austin. That didn’t surprise Izzie given who and what they were trying to find. Rolling up to the final building and finding an old laundromat did.

“This is the smuggler’s big hideout?” She shook her head. “It’s not like I expected an evil lair, but a laundromat? He could have done a restaurant. That’s classic. A bowling alley?” She shrugged. “Am I crazy?”

“No, I’m asking, ‘Why not a laundromat?’ myself.” Rafe opened the passenger’s side door with a chuckle and grabbed the case from the back. “Although to be fair, nobody would suspect it from the outside. You heard Dax. This DeKyle is a clever guy. We need to be careful.”

Izzie narrowed her eyes and glanced around at the unassuming laundromat. Nobody was inside, but she saw machines spinning through the window. Even in the district’s heavy background magic, she could feel the powerful magic radiating off the laundromat, including dark magic.

She frowned. The dark magic was far more subtle than she expected from a scum smuggler, but for the first time since dealing with the Xelius case, traces of an uncomfortable familiarity tugged at her soul. Telling Rafe wouldn’t help. She couldn’t fully articulate to herself what she felt. Self-deception, especially for something so subtle, remained a strong possibility.

Izzie glared at the door. Sometimes she was convinced that on a deep level, she didn’t want to be happy. She’d even given up on Luke after being able to be with him again. It had been a few years now. Maybe it was time to move on, including in her personal life.

She recalled something she’d told her friend Alison once about him and why they couldn’t work out together. The girl he fell in love with died a long time ago. Her memories live on in here, but she’s gone, replaced by a hard woman who looks back at those memories with fondness but also knows she can’t walk back into a life stolen from her.

Izzie didn’t blame her parents. They did what they had to do to protect her. At the same time, she woke up some mornings questioning who the real Izzie Berens was. Having her recovered memories didn’t change the fact she’d gone through so much.

A sense of distance remained between her and her parents. She loved them, but they also hadn’t been part of her life for a long time.

Izzie let out an annoyed chuckle. She wished she could bring the Order back to crush them again. Maybe that’s why she was obsessed with the Arcane Syndicate and dark magic. Any dark organization could serve as a target for her frustration.

Rafe looked at her with concern. “Are you okay, Izzie?”

“We should be careful. I sense dark magic.”

“Of course. Even if you didn’t, I’d still want to be careful of this guy. I’m sure he’d love to earn the favor of the underworld by messing with us.”

“He shouldn’t. It’s not a good day for that.”

She walked up to the front door and grabbed the handle. It was locked.

“What if I need to wash my clothes?” Izzie scoffed.

She gestured for Rafe to move closer. He walked over to her and held up the case containing the bees.

“We come bearing gifts,” Rafe said. “We know a man like you knows who we are, but all we want to do is talk. You know we wouldn’t come after someone like you without tactical support backing us.”

Izzie snickered. Rafe could flatter informants and contacts in the most insidious ways. She didn’t care as long as it worked.

The door clicked open. After exchanging looks, the agents stepped into the laundromat. As Izzie crossed the threshold, a man appeared out of nowhere farther inside. His hands were in his pockets, and he looked more bored and annoyed than angry, so Izzie didn’t react other than to offer him a polite nod. He nodded back.

The otherwise plain-looking man’s pink pastel suit and open collar with golden chains gave him a vintage look that amused Izzie. She would have recognized DeKyle from his fashion sense alone. It had made it into PDA reports.

She surveyed the room, trying to sense any other concentrations of magic, especially dark magic. The dark magic she’d sensed before remained present, but it felt like mere traces rather than an active spell. None of it came from the man.

A previous customer, perhaps. Izzie knew there was no way she’d get a man like DeKyle to cough up the identity of his other customers. At the same time, the traces of magic offered more proof that she wasn’t as paranoid as she feared. Assuming those magical traces had something to do with the Arcane Syndicate, they were still in town corrupting the city with their touch.

Izzie slowly reached into her jacket to pull out her badge. “I’m guessing you already know, but let’s make this official. I’m Special Agent Izzie Berens.” She nodded at Rafe. “This is my partner, Special Agent Rafael Martinez.”

“You’re right.” DeKyle folded his arms and jumped on top of a washer. “I know who you are. What I’m more interested in is why I should give two shits?” He smiled. “You have nothing on me. As far as I know, you people haven’t even been sniffing around me lately, which makes me wonder why you’re here.”

“Rafe, show him.”

He set the case on top of an inactive washer and opened it. “We were told you were interested in these.”

“So we purchased them,” Izzie lied. She didn’t want DeKyle to suspect Dax. “We might be willing to part with them if we like what we hear.”

“Now you have my attention.” DeKyle eyed the silver bees. “I appreciate you didn’t insult me by showing up and threatening to arrest me. Respect takes you far in my world. Keep that in mind.”

Izzie looked around the room again, still wondering if there was anyone else hidden by magic. “I’m sure somebody will arrest you someday, but we’re far less interested in whatever you’ve got going on than your connection to the Congress Avenue Bridge robbery.”

“I wasn’t there.” DeKyle smirked. “Use whatever spell you want to test that. I can guarantee I wasn’t there or close to that place. I don’t do petty robberies. In my heart, I’m not a violent man. Violence is bad for business.”

“We know you weren’t there.” Izzie resisted the urge to threaten him with arrest. “We want the people who were there. We know you sold them gear or sold gear to somebody who gave it to them. Normally, we’d want to bring you in for that.”

She took a deep breath and decided to gamble. “I’ll level with you, DeKyle. Time’s not on our side, and we have way more important targets we want to take down. If you cooperate, we’ll give you these nice little bees, and we can work out immunity if your information leads us to the people responsible and the missing cargo. We don’t want you today. We want those people and the cargo they took.”

“That sounds too good to be true.”

“Consider it your lucky day. As far I know, you’re a black market smuggler, not a ruthless killer. It’s like you told me. Violence is bad for business. That makes you someone I can talk to without throwing up from the stench.”

DeKyle smiled. “I would bet you they’re long gone. I can’t help you there, Agent Berens.”

Izzie frowned. “How do you know they’re gone?”

“Because they were, and I’m only saying this is hypothetically what I’ve heard, out-of-towners to begin with. Not much reason for them to stick around after they’ve done their job.”

Rafe closed the case. “Then you have nothing useful for us.”

“I’m curious, agents, about what you care most about. Is it about catching those guys? Because guys like that, they’ll do enough jobs to get caught eventually or die on one. Or do you care more about what they stole from NGMR?”

“You know they went after NGMR?” Izzie stepped away from the washing machine, still scanning the room with a frown.

“It’s not a secret.” DeKyle laughed and motioned at a television hanging on the wall. “It’s been all over the news that NGMR got robbed blind.” He stopped laughing. “Give me the bees, and I’ll tell you where to find what you want.”

Izzie narrowed her eyes. “Isn’t that going to piss people off?”

“Not if you don’t tell them. I’m guessing you won’t. Because there’s no merit in screwing me over.” He grinned. “You want people like me who can be reasonable and know when to cut their losses.”

Izzie considered telling him to go to hell and arresting him despite his earlier comments. She recalled the previous investigation and their failures. The PDA needed to decide what their immediate goals and strategies should be based on their available evidence and the greatest likelihood of success.

“Do you know what they look like?” she asked.

DeKyle shook his head. “Pros like them know not to trust guys like me for anything other than delivery for payment. Even if you sat me down, tortured me, mind-controlled me, you wouldn’t be able to figure out who those robbers were.” He shrugged. “Some fights you can’t win, Agent Berens. You might as well focus on the ones you can. That’s how I make it through life.”

Rafe reopened the case. “You need to give us something we can use. Otherwise, what’s the point of us paying you for anything? Telling us you don’t know who they are and that they’re gone is convenient for you. I believe you’re telling us the truth. That doesn’t make it any less useless.”

Izzie frowned at DeKyle. “If you know where the stolen cargo is, tell us.”

“I don’t know where what they stole is. I don’t even know what it was. Do you?”

“Yes.” Izzie glared at him. “But you were the one acting like you know. If you have nothing, I guess we’re done here. Come on, Agent Martinez.”

Rafe closed the case and picked it up. The agents turned and headed toward the door. Izzie wasn’t going to sit there and let scum play games with her. He was wasting her time.

“Wait,” DeKyle called. “I wasn’t lying. I don’t know where it is.”

Izzie stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Yes?”

“What if I could tell you where it was going to be?” DeKyle motioned at the case. “Could we make a deal then?”

“We’re listening.” Izzie turned.

“There’s going to be a black market auction soon. All kinds of people who don’t walk on the lighter sides of magic. It’s a roaming auction that changes location every time. I can give you the time and place for the latest session.” He gestured at the case. “You trade me the bees, and we’ll call it a fee for services rendered.”

Rafe looked suspicious. “Aren’t you worried about us raiding the entire place?”

DeKyle laughed. “It’s early tomorrow morning. You won’t have enough time to set up something like that. Even if you did, it would be a bloodbath. The security has to worry about the FBI, PDA, and other underworld types raiding them, which means they’re well prepared.”

He snickered at Rafe. “Go ahead and try to raid them. That means there would be fewer PDA agents sniffing around the city. I’m handing you anything but the location of the cargo stolen the other day. I know it’ll be sold there, but even I don’t know what it is. You claim you do. I’ll let you figure how important it is to raid that place versus figuring something else out.”

He gestured at the top of a washing machine. “A deal’s a deal, right?”

Izzie nodded at Rafe. He set the case on the washing machine.

“Now tell us.”

“First things first. You’ll need natural diamonds to bid. They don’t exactly take credit cards and cash at this auction.” DeKyle smiled. “It’s also invite-only. Lucky for you, I have a little invite I didn’t want to use. I think six silver bees is a fair trade for one little magical chess piece, don’t you?”

CHAPTER NINE

On their way back to the PDA, Izzie held the chess piece in her palm and stared at it. “An auction? I didn’t see that coming.”

“At least we know where it’s going to be,” Rafe replied from the driver’s seat. “That means we can come up with a plan. We can grab it.”

Izzie shook her head. “DeKyle seemed confident that raids wouldn’t work. He wouldn’t tell us about the place unless he believed that, and he’s right. Anything complicated and dangerous would require more than a day of lead time.”

Her phone buzzed. She pulled it out. “It turns out we don’t need to track our suspects anymore.”

Izzie watched as the morgue tech opened the three mortuary cabinets and pulled out the charred remains of three bodies. She grimaced. There wasn’t much left. She could recognize them as belonging to humanoids but not much else.

Rafe sucked in a breath. “Do we have identification?”

The morgue tech nodded. “Yes, Agent Martinez. Despite the level of damage, we got internal DNA samples. All three were German nationals. Interpol already wanted these three for similar robberies in France, Germany, and Poland. Forensics pulled enough of their magical signatures off to link them to the bridge attack despite the contamination of the magical signature used in their executions.”

Izzie frowned. The unmistakable trace of that quasi-familiar dark magic lingered on the bodies.

“Somebody wanted to make sure they couldn’t be traced.” She gestured at the bodies. “There’s enough magical residue here that field support should be able to trace it.”

“You’d have to take that up with them, Agent Berens,” the tech replied. “All we can tell you is that they were definitely killed with magic.”

Izzie sighed. “Okay, we’ll check with Katya and field support and see what they can get us.”

An hour later, Izzie sat in her chair with her arms folded and her face red. “We have three dead guys, and somebody killed them, somebody who I believe is linked to the Arcane Syndicate.”

Rafe sighed. “Katya and field support agree that there might be a link between the dark magical signatures in the Xelius case and the signature attached to whatever magic fried those robbers. However, it doesn’t tell us much. The dark magical residue is so minor that it’s been hard for them to detect.”

“It tells us the Arcane Syndicate is involved.” Izzie squeezed her hands into fists. “I can’t get over this sense of familiarity.”

Rafe gave her a questioning look. “Are you sure you’re not seeing something that’s not there?”

“I might be, but I keep running into it.” Izzie shook her head. “There’s a key I’m missing, but it’s enough now that we know this is a big deal.”

“Field support’s coming up empty. Whoever did this is covering their tracks. You said it yourself. There’s barely any sensation you’re picking up on. We could be talking everything from inversion glyphs to anti-tracking artifacts. There’s no guarantee we’ll be able to track this back to anyone.”

“I know, which is why we need to get that diadem back tomorrow, no matter what.” She stared at him. “There’s only one practical option left, and I need you to back me on this. It’s going to sound a little off the wall.”

“I’ve always got your back. You’re my partner.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Bill grunted. “This is one of your craziest plans yet.”

“We don’t have a choice, Bill,” Izzie countered. “We have three dead robbers and somebody who killed them and covered up their tracks. That means we need to get this diadem, and now we know where it’s going to be. Our plan is the safest and most practical.”

Bill scoffed. “The safest and most practical? Are you listening to yourself? You want us to let the diadem be auctioned off?”

His Resting Boss Face shifted into a true, deep scowl once Izzie and Rafe delivered the summary of their initial investigation efforts to him in his office. Field support’s drones continued to turn nothing up on the artifact or the magical signature associated with the dead bodies. Although they had identified the stolen artifact and knew where it was likely to be, the problem was the short turnaround time. That constrained their ability to come up with careful plans, so they’d offered a bold one.

The auction would be held a few hours before dawn. That didn’t leave much time to arrange a major raid of a place coated in magical defenses and filled with dangerous underworld figures. As tempting as going after and sweeping up a huge number of underworld magical people might be, bodies would stack up quickly on both sides. Even if the PDA had weeks to plan, attacking a heavily fortified place like that with so many powerful magicals likely in attendance would always be dangerous.

A heist ran into the same problems of timeline and logistics. To Izzie, the remaining solution was obvious. Infiltration.

Bill grunted again as he processed the report. “Right now, you’re saying we either get a bunch of people killed during a slapped-together raid, or we let the diadem get sold to any random piece of garbage in the local underworld or who happens to be visiting. Then we hope and pray we can find it even though these guys have already been running circles around our tracking. And based on what forensics and you are telling me, the Arcane Syndicate might be involved.”

“With the signature data, we might be able to wait near the location and track the diadem,” Rafe replied. “But that presumes they don’t have any kind of anti-tracking setup or spells on the object. I wouldn’t bet on it.” He shrugged. “You’re right. If it were that easy, field support would have found it already, and we could have gotten it before it ended up in an underworld auction.”

“Then what’s your backup plan?” Bill asked. “I assume you didn’t come in here just tell me we’re screwed and we should give up after telling me the Syndicate could be behind it.”

Izzie nervously shifted in her seat. She’d spent thirty minutes in her office talking her new plan over with Rafe and coming up with ways to improve it. They bounced around suggestions and could only come up with one practical idea that could be pulled off on such short notice and with minimal risk of a major battle breaking out.

“We’ll infiltrate the auction undercover and outbid the other bidders,” Izzie replied. “That’s the safest and most practical version of any plan where we end up with the diadem given the timeline, location, and likely threat.”

“Huh?” Bill’s brow lifted. “Did you hit your head on the way here, Berens? How can you be sure you’ll have enough to outbid anyone? And where are we supposed to get that many diamonds at this short notice?”

“We can set up a sympathetic resonance tracking spell. As long as someone handles the diamonds before we give them up, and we send somebody after them right away, they can be intercepted and tracked. Another team can track the diamonds while we focus on the diadem without getting close enough to set off suspicion. If we set up the case properly with enough wards, that can help conceal the spell.”

Bill squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “Let me get this right. You want to take a case of diamonds to an underground auction and bid for the diadem. This plan risks a pile of diamonds and two of my best agents’ lives in the middle of a bunch of murderous scum who’d kill them without a second thought.

“Further, this is all based on the word of an amoral piece of crap smuggler and artifact trafficker we’ve tried and failed to bring down before. Oh, and we know whoever hired those freelancers to steal the diadem had no problem brutally murdering them to cover their tracks. Does that about sum it up?”

Izzie shrugged. “Pretty much.”

Rafe nodded. “I know it’s risky, Bill, but it’s a better plan than us trying to steal the diadem and fight to get out of there. DeKyle knows if he tips them off about us, we’ll fight our way out and that the PDA would do everything they could to bring him down. He told us because he got artifacts out of it and because he doesn’t think we can do anything about it anyway. But he was wrong.”

“No, he was right,” Bill countered. “Where are you going to get the money? It’ll take too long for me to get that amount of operation money authorized. I don’t know if I could get enough money approved.” He shook his head. “We’re talking probably, what, five or ten million.”

Izzie nodded. “It’s hard to say, but artifacts at these types of auctions often go for that much.”

“That amount is way higher than used in the average local PDA or FBI bait operation.” His frown deepened so much he looked like he was in pain. “Do you happen to have a pile of diamonds lying around you’ve been hoarding in case we needed to infiltrate an underworld auction, Berens and Martinez?”

Izzie was ready for this question. Her brainstorming with Rafe had paid off.

“No, but I have a suggestion,” Izzie replied. “After all, it’s NGMR’s missing artifact. As their CEO said, he makes the rules. We’ll ask them to help put up the money, clearly explaining the risks along the way.”

Bill glanced at the time on his phone. “You don’t have much time to figure this out and get it working. Plus, if I agree to this, I want that artifact here at the PDA first so we can do a full forensics analysis on it before we hand it over to them.”

“We know, and I agree with that. But this is our best bet to get our hands on that artifact. You’re right. We won’t have time to pull together the diamonds otherwise.”

Bill pinched the bridge of his nose, looking defeated. “Talk to NGMR and see what they think. I’ll see what I can do about bait money, but I can already tell you it won’t happen via the PDA or FBI on that timeline.”

“We’ll get something working, Bill. If not, we’ll figure out another plan.”

“Clock’s a-ticking, Berens. Make every second count.”

CHAPTER TEN

“And that’s where we’re at, Brandon,” Izzie reported. “The PDA doesn’t have the time to put together our diamonds to bid. If we don’t get the diadem at that auction, there’s a good chance we’ll never see it again.”

Izzie and Rafe sat on a couch in Brandon Brundle’s office, facing Brandon and Jason West. The agents had explained the basic plan, along with the principles of how they intended to recover the diamonds with the help of another PDA team and how it was their best bet to recover the diadem without massive casualties.

When Izzie explained the plan to Bill, she felt far more confident. Staring a civilian down and asking him to cough up millions for diamonds she planned to hand over to underworld scum made for a harder conversation. Brandon listened quietly and attentively, only asking a handful of questions.

West cleared his throat. “Sir, we could whip up a trackable case by tonight with secondary hard-to-detect trackers and the like. It would work as long as we don’t expect it to last long and we overwhelm the case with other wards to help conceal the spells.”

He frowned. “To be honest, I don’t even know if they’ll be suspicious. Wanting to track a large sum of money or gems isn’t weird. The major risk is they switch the container. If you leave the recovery of the diamonds to an internal team, I guarantee my team will bring them back. That way the PDA can focus on the primary task of recovering the diadem.”

Izzie hadn’t requested NGMR security’s help. She said nothing, unsure if this would help the plan go forward. Stopping the underworld from getting the diadem was worth taking a few chances.

Brandon cupped his chin, lost in thought. “Is the raid option not available because of personnel strength? We could commit all our security team if that’s the case.”

Izzie shook her head. “It’s still a bad idea. I’m sure you’ve hardened this place more than a little, so you’ll understand. It doesn’t matter if we throw the entire PDA and your security team at it. Trying a quick raid when the targets are in a warded and protected area and waiting for it is asking for massive death and destruction. And on all nights, they’ll be ready for us.”

She motioned to Brandon. “If we were able to track the diadem directly, we’d be more comfortable with trying to raid and capture the final buyer. We haven’t been able to pick up any trace since the attack, and we have evidence that whoever is involved is good at disrupting tracking attempts.”

“She’s right, sir,” West added. “A raid like this, we’d want a good week or two for planning, equipping, and recon. We rush this place without being ready and knowing what we’re up against, and it’ll make the bridge look like a slap fight, not to mention all the collateral damage to the area.”

“What about the military?” Brandon asked. “They can commit troops quickly. It’s a DOD project. If I reach out to them, I’m sure we can get as much firepower as we need.”

“The use of military forces in law enforcement actions is heavily limited within the United States’ borders,” Izzie explained. “Even with the FMIA passed, that’s a fundamental restriction. Realistically, we’d need a state of emergency before we could ask for their help, and I doubt you’ll get the governor to declare one for a single raid in east Austin.”

Rafe cleared his throat. “Also, do we really want to turn Austin into a war zone to recover one artifact? Think about the implications if the destruction ends up linked to NGMR in the media.”

Brandon grimaced. “I see. You both raise good points.”

“I agree with them, sir,” West added. “It’s not ideal. The timeline makes everything problematic.”

“What happens if you can’t outbid the other bidders?” Brandon sounded calm but grew paler with each new revelation and suggestion.

Izzie replied, “We can still make a play for the diadem anyway, depending on the situation on the ground. Although the goal is to get the diadem without causing trouble. In that scenario, we guarantee you’ll get your artifact back after we put it through forensics analysis. Then it would be about criminals trying to raid our hardened location.”

“I can have the diamonds for you by tonight,” Brandon stated. “I already have an estimate of the likely value to underworld brokers. That’ll make it easier to know how much to send with you for the auction.”

“You have an estimate?” Izzie frowned. “I see. In other words, you were planning for this scenario before we showed up.”

“It’s not exactly like that.” Brandon took a deep breath. Color was returning to his face. “My only stipulation to agreeing to this plan is to send along a specialist to escort the payment. My people will take responsibility for marking and preparing the security of the case and diamonds. They’ll also take responsibility for recovery.”

Izzie shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. We can put together a PDA team. That was part of our original plan.”

“I must insist. Doing it purely with NGMR will help facilitate smoother recovery and your focus on the diadem, which I hope we all agree is more important than the diamonds.”

Izzie looked at Rafe. He shrugged with surprise and confusion clear on his face.

Brandon reached into his pocket and pulled out two small moon pendants. “You’ll need these so my specialist can confirm it’s you. He’ll use a challenge and response code phrase to confirm your identities and you, his. If he gets it right, the pendants will change color.”

“I see.” Izzie accepted the pendants and handed one to Rafe. “You always carry something like this around? And why do you have an estimate of the likely top bids? What were you planning before we called you?”

Brandon smiled without it reaching his eyes. “We were looking into attempting to bargain directly with underworld brokers to recover the artifact. My people have contacts among the less scrupulous locals. We all understand how time-sensitive these matters can be.”

“What?” Izzie stared at him. “Are you serious?”

“We need that diadem back no matter what.” Brandon looked unapologetic. “The company needs it, and Project Smothering Swarm needs it. Of course we’ve been taking measures while you worked on things.

“It’s not enough that the men involved are already dead. My employees will have died for nothing if we don’t recover the diadem. Our goals have converged, so we can work together in a way that both sides can concentrate on tasks that best match their skill sets.”

Izzie sighed and took a deep breath. She should have known a billionaire wouldn’t be content to allow a government law enforcement team to handle everything and call all the shots. As annoying as she found Brandon and his security chief playing around behind her back, he’d made the entire plan more viable and seemed ready for it. That worked to her overall advantage.

“I’ll need to contact my superior to get permission. Otherwise, we’re in.”

West leaned forward. “Okay, here’s how our contact will identify himself.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Izzie used a one-way window tinting spell that kept her and Rafe’s faces hidden and watched the entrance to the private east Austin art gallery across the street. People had been flowing through the glass double doors past large men with glowing eyes and obvious holsters.

The auction wasn’t scheduled to start for another hour. Izzie and Rafe had been waiting for their contact and the diamonds to show up. That case would make the difference between a tense plan and an insane, desperate grab.

Izzie had sensed plenty of magic since their arrival, including the occasional flitter of dark magic. Worse than that, her terrible, foreboding sense of familiarity returned.

“They’re here,” Izzie muttered, coming to the obvious conclusion. “The Arcane Syndicate.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Rafe replied. “They must have gotten tired of playing defense. The only thing I don’t get is why the magic you’ve sensed feels familiar. That implies you’ve run into the Arcane Syndicate before Xelius.”

“It does,” Izzie admitted. “But even I can’t place it. I’m sure now that I sense something real.”

Rafe frowned. “If we’re dealing with someone you’ve run into before, that means they’re dangerous. They know what you can do.”

“I can’t deny that. I’ve pissed off tons of dark wizards and witches in my life. It’s hard to keep track.” She took a deep breath. “It doesn’t change anything. We need to be careful either way.”

She wanted to dismiss the sensation as stress-feeding paranoia. That would be welcome rather than the nagging sensation that something far more dangerous was going on.

It didn’t matter for the moment. She knew driving to the gallery that she would be dealing with the dregs of local magical society. That could be enough to explain the sensation. She doubted it though and circled back to her original conclusion. Somewhere in that building, there were likely Arcane Syndicate magicals.

Rafe stared into the rearview mirror, tilting his head. “I don’t recognize me. I look good, but I prefer my real face.”

“That’s the point.” Before arrival, Izzie cast an illusion spell to alter his face, changing the shape, eye color, and complexion. She didn’t try to alter this entire body since maintaining the spell for a lengthy period would be draining, especially combined with her efforts, which was why she’d waited on her disguise.

“Remember, you have to stay close to me, or the spell won’t last that long,” Izzie warned.

“Understood.” Rafe frowned. “You better get going on your disguise before someone sees you.”

Izzie took a deep breath and slowly let it out before raising her hands and chanting a spell. Her face warped, her skin darkened, and her hair turned white. Her ears extended to points. She killed the tinting spell on her windows.

“A drow?” Rafe raised an eyebrow. “That’s a bold choice.”

“I don’t look like me. That’s what’s important.” Izzie shrugged. “Most magicals won’t want to talk to me because of the complexities of drow politics these last few years and not knowing the loyalties of any given drow they run into.” She smiled. “I’ve picked up enough here and there from chatting with Alison that I can fake someone out for a little while.”

“What happens if we run into an actual drow?”

“We won’t.”

“Sure.” Rafe looked down at her body-hugging blue dress. “Speaking of something that definitely doesn’t look like you.”

“You look like a lounge singer in that tuxedo.” Izzie rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t be throwing too many stones.”

“Hey, I’m saying you look good. And lounge singer?” Rafe laughed. “Then I know what career I should take up if I ever leave the PDA. I can become the reincarnation of El Puma.”

“Who?”

“An old singer my abuela loved. She listened to him in heavy rotation when I used to visit.” He slipped on his sunglasses. “Although these kill the illusion when combined with the tux.” He lowered them. “Seriously, it is weird seeing you in a dress. I don’t know if I have before.”

Izzie thought it over before grimacing. She hadn’t worn anything nice since she broke up with her fiancé Luke a while before moving to Austin. They had a great final night together. Then she told him they couldn’t be together.

Luke was shocked. He felt betrayed, like she’d ambushed him with the news. She couldn’t blame him. No matter how she looked at it, she had ambushed him.

Her leftover paranoia over dark wizards destroyed her old interrupted but restarted relationship. Not many people’s relationships could take one person running off for years and hunting and being hunted by dark wizards, even when that couple included two magicals who had already faced dark wizards. She half-wondered if ignoring her social life and not trying to look for anyone else was her way of punishing herself for hurting Luke.

Once in a while she thought about looking for someone. She didn’t know who. She didn’t like Rafe that way and preferred a friendly, professional relationship for her job.

Rafe looked worried. “Is something wrong?”

“Just remembering good old times and bad old times. Nothing important.”

“You sure? You can talk to me.”

“I’m sure.” Izzie shook her head. She needed to focus on the job. “I can’t believe Bill agreed to this. I was half-convinced he’d laugh us away from this plan, and we’d have to get him to allow a two-person raid.”

“He’s agreed to us doing crazier stunts than this. Magical crime isn’t like normal crime. Sometimes you need to think outside the box to take on the bad guys.” He frowned and nodded toward the window. “Who’s that?”

A handsome, broad-shouldered, dark-haired man in a stylish tuxedo carrying a rune-covered briefcase radiating strong magic strolled toward the car. Another simpler, unadorned briefcase presented weaker magic.

Rafe lifted and tapped on the side of his glasses. “Either a magical or wearing a magical suit.”

“Both, probably.” Izzie raised her palm and lowered the window as the handsome man finished his approach. “Nice and slow. Can I help you?”

“A drow, huh?” The man grinned. “I don’t mean you any harm.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“I can prove I’m a good guy. I need to be able to reach into my jacket to do that.”

“Then do it slowly. Or I will shove a spell into your face. We both know nobody here will care if I put you down.”

“Better the face than the rented tux.”

He set down one of his briefcases and reached into his pocket. The background sound disappeared. He picked up his second briefcase.

His dark eyes glanced back and forth between Rafe and Izzie before lingering on Izzie. “It’s my understanding that you’re in the market for insurance.”

“Only term life insurance,” Izzie answered. The agreed-upon code offered by Brandon embarrassed her for reasons she couldn’t articulate. However, she couldn’t think of any code phrase exchange that wouldn’t sound corny and embarrassing.

“Term life insurance?” the man echoed. “Then you should consider the plan I’m selling. We have special rates if you buy now.”

Izzie’s pendant darkened. Rafe’s did a moment later. They both pulled them off, their function complete.

“You can call me Caden.” He smiled and gestured at the back of the car. “Now that we’ve handled this. May I get in?”

“Please do,” Izzie agreed.

Caden opened the back door and slipped into the car. He set his second briefcase on the far side of the back seat. “Mr. Brundle and Chief West send their regards. They also sent me with a little bling.”

Izzie frowned and gestured at the second briefcase. “What’s in there?”

Caden grinned. He leaned down and opened the case. Pistol magazines, all inscribed with arcane symbols, lay stuffed inside, covering a couple of other small items, including odd-looking pens.

“It pays to be prepared for trouble.” He closed the second briefcase. “But we’re not here for trouble. We’re here for an auction.”

Caden pulled a small keycard out of a jacket pocket. His brief movement revealed a well-concealed shoulder holster. He slid the card into a slot on the front of the briefcase. The case clicked open, and he pulled open the lid to reveal piles of diamonds in smaller bags secured in cushioned slots.

Rafe whistled. “I don’t think I’ve been so close to that many diamonds before in my life.”

“I’ll be sticking around to track the diamonds after the auction.” Caden closed the case. “We hope all the security wards on the case will help anyone overlook the tracking wards. There are a couple of other tricks, but that won’t do any good if they move them out of the case. We’ll have to play it by ear.”

“Understood.” Izzie eyed more people entering the gallery.

“By the way, Mr. Brundle wanted me to stress that these diamonds are my responsibility. We won’t hold you or the PDA responsible for their loss should that occur.” Caden narrowed his eyes. “He also made it clear that losing the diadem is unacceptable, no matter what.”

“We agree with you there. Do you know what it does?”

“I’m here to help watch diamonds and ensure the diadem is retrieved,” Caden replied coolly. “I don’t care what the diadem does. It’s not my job to care.”

Rafe chuckled. “You NGMR security types do love your plausible deniability.”

Caden glanced Rafe’s way, his mouth twitching into a devilish smirk that somehow managed not to annoy Izzie despite the implied arrogance. “Does it matter what it does?”

“It might not be your job to care, but it is our job,” Izzie replied. “It does matter. Your CEO was willing to agree to a dangerous and expensive plan to get it back, and I don’t think that’s only because he’s worried about government contracts.”

Caden smiled. “Once we get it back, it won’t matter anymore. Whatever it does, the men and women of the underworld won’t have it.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out an opaque solid white mask that looked only big enough for a small doll.

He pressed the mask against his face. After a pulse of magic, the mask cracked and stretched to flow around his features to form a full mold. It thickened and shifted here and there until Izzie saw a different man, although one with the same hair and eye color.

Izzie’s brow lifted. “That’s handy.”

“You’re using a traditional illusion spell?” Caden looked Izzie over with a hint of disdain. “A whole-body spell?”

“Nobody will be that suspicious of a whole-body spell in there. I’m sure half of the people in there are disguising themselves. Also, it’s not technically full-body. The dress isn’t an illusion, and I’m not changing my proportions.”

Caden shrugged with a little smile. “I’m not saying anyone will be suspicious. It’s just not the most efficient use of magic. I was a little surprised. Then again, I’ve heard you’re a powerhouse when it comes to magical capacity.” His gaze shifted to Rafe. “Did you tell him to stay close?”

“I’m aware of the limits of her external illusions,” Rafe answered. “We should get going. We’ll want good seats.”

Caden opened the back door, only holding the briefcase with the diamonds. He handed the case to Rafe. “Lead on.”

Izzie and Rafe exited the car. Caden offered his arm to Izzie, and after a confused look at Rafe, she took it.

“Nice dress, by the way,” Caden commented.

“Uh, thanks,” Izzie replied. “Nice tux.”

“You said earlier you didn’t use the spell to alter your body?”

“Yes, why?”

Caden grinned. “No reason. Just didn’t expect you to look so good.”

Izzie forced a smile, not wanting anyone nearby to see her glaring at somebody in their group. “Remember why we’re here.”

“Of course.”

They walked toward the front doors with Rafe trailing close. With his tense manner and scanning gaze, anyone seeing them probably assumed he was there as a bodyguard for the couple in front.

One of the guards with glowing eyes stopped and blocked the door. “Invitation,” he rumbled, his voice so low and grinding it sounded inhuman.

Izzie nodded at Rafe. He made a show of reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small glass chess piece, a rook.

The guard took the chess piece and brought it closer to his eyes. The piece glowed and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Izzie kept her expression blank, but she hadn’t seen that when watching from across the street. She, Rafe, and Caden weren’t the only ones playing around with illusions.

“Show me the inside of the case.” The guard grunted.

Caden nodded at Rafe. He returned it with an expression so smug Izzie was convinced he had practiced in the mirror for this exact situation. Caden retrieved the card and handed it to Rafe, who unlocked the case and showed the diamonds.

The guard lifted his hand and chanted. A small white orb appeared over the diamonds. They all twinkled in the light. When the guard lowered his hand, the orb disappeared.

“Close it. Please enjoy the auction,” he appended in his grinding monotone.

Rafe closed the case and stuck the card in his pocket. He nodded at Izzie and Caden. “Ma’am, sir.”

“Come on, sweetie,” Caden urged with a bright smile. “I’m sure there’s something in there I can get you’ll like.

“Y-yes.” Izzie batted her eyelashes, wondering when they’d agreed to play these types of characters for the infiltration. “I want something way better than what you got me the other week, baby.”

Caden’s brow lifted. His mouth twitched. She could tell he was trying not to laugh.

The guard grunted and nodded toward the door. They were holding up the line.

Izzie was amused at how quickly they’d fallen into roles. She didn’t have much to say in defense of her poor acting.

The mirth fled when they stepped through the door. Heavy magic flowed all around them, including more faint dark magic. The incessant and nagging sense of familiarity only grew and prickled the back of her mind.

They had infiltrated the auction. Izzie got the feeling this would be the easiest part of the night.

CHAPTER TWELVE

The gallery didn’t look like a den of evil or Arcane Syndicate headquarters. Abstract paintings hung from the walls. Rows of comfortable chairs filled most of the main gallery floor space. More guards with glowing eyes watched from corners while people wandered around the gallery. All were in clothes Izzie couldn’t afford on a government salary.

Caden stayed close to her, holding her arm. She was far too aware of his presence, body heat, and his woodsy cologne. She reflexively tugged away from his arm, earning an amused smile for her efforts.

“Sassy tonight, aren’t we?” he asked.

“Of course, babe. You know me.” Izzie rolled her eyes.

A female staff member in a black domino mask and an elegant black dress with a plunging neckline and modesty-challenging hem approached the trio. She looked among the three before handing Caden a thin gold card covered in arcane symbols and the far less exotic number sixty-two etched on it.

“Please enjoy the auction, sir.” The staffer bowed her head and stepped away.

“I will.” Caden offered a lazy smile.

“You seem like you’re used to this type of thing,” Izzie murmured.

“It’s not my first time in a room with these types of people, no.”

Dozens of people milled around in chairs or lingered near paintings, chatting quietly or accepting hors d'oeuvres from the circulating mask-wearing waitstaff. A small, raised podium stood at the far end of the room in front of a wall with no painting. Floating images of a half-dozen objects circled the podium, including the diadem.

“It’s here,” Izzie remarked.

“That it is,” Caden agreed.

“At least we know we’re not wasting our time,” Rafe added.

“It’s not all that’s here,” Izzie pointed out.

She frowned and spotted a bearded wizard in a forest-green robe holding a large staff. She recognized him as Talaron, a dangerous wizard of interest to the PDA wanted for questioning in a suspicious arson six months prior and rumored to be an underworld property destruction specialist.

He wasn’t the only troublemaker there. A Wood Elf dressed in a dark suit out of a Regency period drama, complete with a cravat tied around his neck, sat near the back of the chairs. That sense of style made it easy to identify him as the assassin “Elegance” Larim.

Izzie was glad her team used their disguises. She doubted Talaron and Larim were the only dangerous underworld figures in the crowd. The fact that the wizard and the Wood Elf were willing to show their faces spoke to their confidence.

Caden leaned close to whisper. His sudden voice and the heat of his breath made Izzie tense. “Friends of yours?”

“No,” she whispered. “I don’t know them. I only know of them.”

“You anticipate them making a scene?”

“No.” Izzie forced a smile to imply Caden was whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

Many in the crowd wore masks or hid their faces under spells that bent and scrambled the light. One robed man’s face kept shifting between different smiling visages. Many people in the crowd also stood by attendants holding bags, briefcases, or other containers likely laden with diamonds.

Caden straightened and rested his hand on her back in a possessive manner. She thought his acting was a little over the top.

It was hard to judge, especially with Rafe trying to contain his snickers. Izzie’s past solution to infiltrating troublesome spots involved blowing open the wall first and telling everyone to get on the ground before she threw a spell at them. Izzie leaned in when Caden crooked a finger.

“Nobody in this crowd will think anything about privacy spells.” Caden winked.

He reached into his jacket. A small cone-shaped area covering their upper bodies distorted and the background conversation around them disappeared.

“To be clear, Caden, I’ve spotted two known cases of bad news,” Izzie warned. “Both dangerous men willing to kill without a thought.”

Caden nodded. “I figured as much. I was told to defer to your expertise and judgment, but I’ve done a general background check on the worst locals. I haven’t memorized all their faces yet.”

“Are you talking about Larim and Talaron?” Rafe asked.

Izzie nodded. “You see anybody else we know?”

“Not yet. But too many masks and illusions. I’m guessing half these people here would be of interest to the agency.”

Caden smiled. “We’re not here to worry about which criminals are here. Assume everybody here’s a criminal. It’ll make it easier to focus on what we came here to do. Remember the job. We’re here to get the diadem. Everything else is irrelevant.”

“Knowing the environment will help with safety and getting out of here without dying,” Izzie countered.

“I wanted to discuss bidding limits before the auction started,” Caden announced. “That’s more important.”

Izzie nodded. “Okay, what about bidding?”

“We can go up to a hundred million with those diamonds.”

Rafe stared at him, slack-jawed. “That high?”

Izzie grimaced, associating the value with the danger. “That’s how much the diadem is worth?”

“Our contacts weren’t sure.” Caden frowned. “Mr. Brundle wanted to be sure we got the diadem, no matter what, so he authorized a high amount. Otherwise, we’ll have to take extreme actions I’m sure we’d all rather avoid.”

“Which is why you brought a case filled with enchanted ammo.”

“Yep. Do you agree we can’t let that diadem out of here?” Caden asked.

“Agreed. Whatever happens, we can’t let any of these people grab it,” Izzie confirmed. “For now, let’s listen in to what we can and see if we can scoop up any useful info.”

She nodded at Rafe. “As long as you’re in this room, I should be able to keep feeding magic to your disguise. Anyone watching magical traces will realize I’m feeding you magic, but I’m sure half the room looks like that, so I don’t see why anyone would care. They’ll assume you’re a guard or our attendant.”

“Makes sense.”

“Okay, let’s circulate a little.”

Caden reached into his jacket. The sound of the crowd returned, and the privacy cone disappeared. Izzie nodded at Caden and Rafe, more concerned about picking up intelligence on the diadem than anything else.

“I’m going to check out the paintings, babe.” Izzie tried her best to sound seductive, but her voice came out more threatening. “I might want you to buy one.”

“Sure.” Caden winked. “You do what you need until the auction starts.”

Brundle and his people told her she wasn’t responsible for the diamonds. Caden had only reinforced that upon arrival. That didn’t make Izzie feel much better, but she didn’t have the energy to focus on the diamonds. They didn’t present an immediate threat to her city.

Izzie slipped away from Rafe and Caden to look around the room. None of the six items displayed above the podium belonged in the hands of anyone like Larim or Talaron. However, she didn’t have the resources, time, or permission to take care of anything but the diadem.

A seated wizard, complete with a rather thick robe decorated with elaborate astrological patterns, sat near the front. He frowned at the podium.

“They claim it can amplify dark magic,” the wizard commented to a man in a dark suit beside him with slicked-backed hair who looked more like a mobster than a magical. “I’m curious about that.”

“I don’t know about that,” the slick man replied. “You really believe NGMR would be working on a dark magic amplifier? That’s a little risky for a company that’s been playing it all nice and legal. I should know. They’ve rebuffed previous requests for partnership from my people.”

“They were keeping it secret. They still are.” The wizard scoffed. “It wouldn’t be the first time a human government has toyed around with dark magic.”

“Are you going to bid?” the slick man asked.

The wizard scoffed again. “I have no need of such toys. Any magical who’d rely on such cheap tricks is weak. True power comes from within.”

Izzie wandered to a different painting. Two older women stood near it having a silent conversation, their mouths moving at random with no audible sound emerging.

Caden was right. Nobody in this room trusted anyone enough to believe anti-spying spells were inappropriate or paid much attention to people using them.

Izzie grabbed a glass of wine from a roving domino-masked waiter to have something to do with her hands and look more natural without taking a sip. She made her way to a new painting of brightly colored geometric squares marked by black perpendicular lines.

A short woman with black and white streaked hair stood near the painting. She wore a dark dress and a dark veil covering her face.

The veiled woman turned Izzie’s way. Although the veil hid her face, something about the woman’s attention made Izzie’s skin crawl. It took her a moment to figure out the intensity of the dark magic she’d felt was stronger now, along with a heightened sense of recognition, as if the dark magic wanted Izzie to feel it. She might be face-to-face with a member of the Arcane Syndicate or someone far worse.

Izzie’s gaze dropped to a wand of twisted dark wood that hung from the woman’s belt. She didn’t recognize the wand. That only frustrated her more. She stood in front of someone who might have tried to kill her before, but she couldn’t do anything about it and didn’t recognize her for a follow-up investigation.

“Do you like Mondrian?” the veiled witch asked.

The witch sounded younger than Izzie expected, but her voice and appearance meant nothing in a room full of people hiding the truth with complicated illusions and privacy spells. That included Izzie.

“I don’t know who Mondrian is,” Izzie admitted.

The veiled witch laughed. “It’s ironic.” She gestured at the painting. “It’s the name of the artist who painted this work. I’m sorry. I don’t know much about drow artwork or what your people favor.” She kept a pleasant tone despite her next words. “I’ve had poor experiences with drow and their allies in the past. I don’t hold that against all of your people, though.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t spend much time with my kind.” Izzie glanced at Rafe and Caden. “Also, I didn’t come here for art.”

The witch sighed. “Of course you didn’t. There’s nothing wrong with appreciating art in the meantime while we’re waiting for the auction.” She folded her hands in front of her skirt. “You keep looking at those two men. I saw you come in with them. Are you one of the guards?” She tilted her head. “Or a trophy?”

“I’m both,” Izzie lied. “I’m watching them because I can’t let my guard down in a place of dangerous men and women.”

“I suppose I can’t blame you for that. I’ve never gotten used to this crowd despite sharing superficial interests.” She nodded toward the painting. “I’ve always enjoyed pure artistic expression. It’s a magic of its own when you think about it.

“Mondrian painted these works, and they continue to have an influence long after his death. No power. No spells. Just the true power to touch one’s soul. That’s why it moves me so much.”

Izzie studied the painting. It looked like nothing more than lots of colored squares to her. “I don’t really get it. Sorry.”

“There’s no reason to apologize. Abstract art can be difficult to parse even for people raised in its original cultural context. I’m sure I couldn’t begin to understand all the subtleties of drow art.”

The witch sighed. “He was a utopian, the painter Mondrian. There’s a quote of his I adore.

“‘Art is higher than reality and has no direct relation to reality. To approach the spiritual in art, one will make as little use as possible of reality because reality is opposed to the spiritual. We find ourselves in the presence of abstract art. Art should be above reality, otherwise it would have no value for man.’”

Izzie thought it over before admitting, “I prefer my art more representational of reality.”

“Many people do, regardless of species.” The veiled witch watched the painting. “There are times I believe he was onto something more fundamental. The limits of what people claim is reality have expanded on both sides of the gates.” She gestured at Izzie. “I appreciate Mondrian’s attention to the fundamental spiritual value of art. It’s something I think about with my magic at times. What’s the goal I should pursue in using my craft?”

Izzie stared at the painting, trying to find anything spiritual about the colored squares. “That’s something you think you can find in a place like this? In this darkness?”

“Darkness, hmm? I would have thought a drow of all species could appreciate the value of darkness, metaphorical and real. Isn’t that your people’s specialty?”

“Drow shadow magic isn’t the same as dark magic.” The words came out harsh and defensive. Izzie remembered where she was and added, “Although there are those among my people who experiment with dark magic, too.”

The veiled witch turned back toward the painting. “This is a gallery of paintings and people, my dear drow friend. Everyone here is pushing the limits of a certain type of reality. The problem is many of them are doing it for the wrong reasons.”

“Are you doing it for the right reasons?” Izzie burned to ask about the Arcane Syndicate but was worried about blowing her cover.

The witch quietly laughed. “We shall see.” She glanced across the room. “You must excuse me. There’s something I need to handle.” She nodded and walked away.

Izzie almost asked the woman’s name before stopping herself. Nobody at a black market underground auction in an almost opaque veil was there to make new friends. Any chance of talking her into admitting the existence of the Arcane Syndicate was a nonsensical dream.

Izzie watched the woman until she disappeared around a corner, unsure what the veiled witch was saying earlier. There was something unsettling about the pleasantness of the conversation in a room filled with people like Larim and Talaron.

A shiver ran through Izzie’s body. She still could sense nearby dark magic, but it was weaker. With the veiled witch’s departure, Izzie realized how natural it felt to talk to her, like they’d met somewhere before and known each other for years. At the same time, the woman’s departure left Izzie more comfortable. Whoever the woman was, her power was steeped in a dark magic that Izzie’s soul recognized.

Izzie waited a few minutes for the veiled witch to return. When she didn’t, Izzie made her way to Rafe and Caden, who sat at the back. She frowned at the image of the diadem, worried about the idea of it being a dark magic amplifier.

“We need to win this auction,” she declared.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Despite the sudden silence and visual distortions accompanying Izzie closing in on Rafe and Caden, she cast an additional privacy spell to cut out sounds before sitting beside them. Extra safety was a plus in a den of killers and dark magic.

She looked around the room again for the veiled witch. Whoever the woman was, she hadn’t returned from her errand.

Izzie took a deep breath. It was time to refocus.

Even by the PDA’s standards, this entire case was bizarre. Izzie was chasing down an artifact linked to a secretive government project and walking around with a group hauling millions in diamonds. She was disguised as a drow in the center of a room filled with underworld figures.

“I wasn’t able to find out much,” Izzie reported. “What little I heard about the diadem suggested it might be a dark magic amplifier.”

“I heard everything from that to mind control,” Rafe replied. “One person claimed it’s an Atlantean artifact that will give you permanent controllable head tentacles.”

“Again, it doesn’t matter,” Caden stated. “We’ll win the auction, and that’ll be that.”

“There’s a good chance the Arcane Syndicate is here,” Izzie added.

Rafe’s brow lifted. “What?”

“There was this witch…” Izzie shook her head. “It’s hard to tell. I’m not sure, but she took off. I think she’s running things here or related to those running things here.”

Caden frowned. “You think the Arcane Syndicate is behind the auctions?”

“Oh, you know about them?” Izzie was surprised that corporate security knew about the Syndicate.

“It’s part of my job to stay informed about local threats.”

“Why would the Arcane Syndicate hire someone to steal a powerful magical artifact and let it go?” Rafe asked.

Izzie shook her head. “I don’t know. They might need resources and contacts more than artifacts as they move into the area.”

“Or there’s something else going on.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Caden repeated. “It could be anyone selling the diadem. We need to get the diadem. Whoever’s behind it can be handled later.”

“Maybe.” Izzie locked eyes with Caden. “If we investigate and find out the diadem is a more dangerous object than we were told, NGMR will have to deal with us.”

Caden smiled. “You do what you need to do. First, we get the diadem out of here.”

Izzie didn’t like how convincing he sounded when he said that. The pendants handed over by Brandon and Jason West confirmed Caden worked for NGMR. They didn’t prove that NGMR wouldn’t try to make off with the artifact.

“Caden gave this to me.” Rafe indicated the card in his hand. He gestured at a small symbol on the bottom.

“A staff member explained this to me while you were walking around. We bid using this card. I press the symbol, and the bid goes up in whatever increment they use for the auction. I can press it as many times as I want to increase the amount I’m bidding, but there’s no direct way to specify the amount other than the predetermined increment.”

“We can’t do the old ‘their bid plus one dollar’ strategy in the last ten seconds?” Izzie smiled.

Rafe chuckled. “Nope.”

“Let the room bid a little in the beginning,” Caden suggested. “They put in an initial bid. Once we’ve pushed away most of the competition, finish the competition with a big bid, say, five million to put them all in their place.”

Rafe’s brow lifted. “You sure about that?”

“You focus on winning. Remember, your role and my role are different.” He grinned at Izzie. “Don’t get any violent ideas. You’re not here to capture criminals or go after the Arcane Syndicate. You’re here to get the diadem. If the Syndicate is involved, grabbing the diadem will help draw them out. Winning this auction will help both our organizations.”

Izzie frowned at Caden. “You don’t give us orders. Just because we’re working with Brandon Brundle doesn’t mean we work for him.”

Caden looked away. “All I’m suggesting is that you keep your focus. I understand your reputation and power, but if you start anything here, there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to win.”

“You’ve got me there. I couldn’t begin to guess at all the magic in play here. I can’t walk a step without sensing a major source of magic.”

“Which is why any aggressive plans would have failed.” Caden smiled. “From what I was told, you were the ones who showed up at NGMR to explain that to Mr. Brundle and Chief West.”

Izzie sighed. “True.”

“I’m glad you’ve been reasonable, and I hope you continue to be reasonable.”

Izzie scowled. “What are you getting at? Why are you so convinced I’m itching to fight?”

“I’m aware of your reputation. You have a great reputation for getting things done and solving difficult magical problems, but you’re not renowned for your subtle, careful approach to problem-solving.”

“I do what I need to do to protect people. I’m not ashamed of that. My job isn’t playing cleanup for a billionaire, unlike yours.”

Caden frowned and looked away. It was the first time she’d seen him look upset. “You don’t know everything.”

Rafe sighed. “Come on. We’re all on the same team tonight. We can save all the insults for later.”

Caden snickered. “The careful, precise application of force is almost always superior to its blunt alternative. I’ll stop with that.”

“I wish you had stopped earlier.”

Izzie let the insult go. She wasn’t there to argue with a corporate mercenary security wizard. Whatever his background, Brandon Brundle trusted Caden enough to send him to recover an important artifact for a government project and carry around a hundred million in diamonds. That meant he had skills.

Izzie crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap. She dropped her spell. “Time to listen.”

Rafe nodded. “We have a plan to win. Time to execute. We’ve got this.”

Caden reached into his jacket. A moment later the din of the room returned, and the distortion vanished. “We do.”

Most of the crowd shuffled toward their chairs. It was almost time for the auction to begin. The din grew louder as other magicals lowered their privacy spells.

The team settled in to wait for the start of the auction. They didn’t have to wait long.

“Good evening,” a smooth, low, masculine voice boomed from the front with no obvious source. There was a vaguely inhuman timbre to the voice reminiscent in a distant way of the door guard’s voice. “As always, we appreciate your patronage, clients both new and old. I’ll be your auctioneer for this event.”

Izzie didn’t know much about the auction other than what DeKyle told the agents, but she doubted the Arcane Syndicate played a major role despite what she’d felt. The way DeKyle acted, the auctions weren’t that new, yet the influence of the Syndicate over Austin’s underworld was. The veiled witch might have shown up to deliver one of the artifacts.

The general chatter in the room died down. The people still standing made their way to their seats and readied their bidding cards.

“Thank you for coming,” the auctioneer continued. “We have six items up for auction. Our employees trust that everyone with a bidding card is now familiar with the rules of this event. If you’re not, we ask you not to participate.

“Also, there has already been one unfortunate incident. As a reminder, any violence is forbidden inside the gallery and will be met with force, up to and including lethal force if necessary. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.”

Izzie glanced around the room. She hadn’t heard anything unusual or felt an uptick in magic. A handful of faces in the crowd showed nervous looks. The glowing-eyed security didn’t approach anyone. She doubted anyone from law enforcement other than the PDA was there.

Larim and Talaron sat far apart in the crowd. They had escaped the mysterious incident.

Izzie wondered if the veiled witch worked for the underground auction staff beyond any possible role in the Arcane Syndicate. That might explain why she had to depart. Before Izzie could fall into a deep hole of overthinking, the images floating above the podium brightened and forced her full attention.

The podium images shifted and rotated until a dragon skull hovered above the center. The other objects shrank and disappeared while the skull expanded until it filled most of the front of the room and reached almost to the front row.

“This is the actual size of the skull of the elder dragon Karaltagoz,” the auctioneer announced with reverence. “Slain over half a millennia ago during the razing of the dwarf kingdom of Alliron during the so-called Sky and Iron Conflict. The skull remains imbued with the terrible and awe-inspiring magic power that made Karaltagoz such a danger during the heyday of his terror. A must-have item for any collector of fine trophies or those interested in harvesting this unique item for use in powerful rituals. We will start the bidding at one million. The bidding increment for this item will be 250,000.”

Caden looked at Izzie. “No matter what else they say or sell, we’re here for the one item. Agreed?”

“I know that. Agreed.”

“Good. Sometimes one’s options are constrained no matter one’s motives.”

“We have our first bid for this gorgeous dragon skull,” the announcer declared. “One million. Do we have another bid? Yes. We have one and a half million. Wait, two million.”

Izzie took a deep breath. They carried a hundred million in diamonds to bid for the diadem. That had to be enough. Brandon’s people had done the research. Otherwise she, Caden, and Rafe would somehow have to steal the diadem from under the noses of a room filled with dangerous magicals or pull off their version of the bridge robbery against staff already on alert.

She leaned back and took a deep breath. Somebody else could stress out about winning a dead dragon’s skull.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The first five items all sold for millions. Nobody departed the gallery during any of the short breaks between auction rounds. Izzie was surprised. With the tens of millions already being flung around and five different winners, she assumed that all the big bidders were strapped for money.

She realized it was a self-serving hope, not a truth reached through dispassionate analysis. The lack of departures increased the chance that more people had come for the diadem. She’d also been disappointed that the diadem wasn’t on the block until the sixth auction.

Every second that ticked by with her maintaining illusions on her and Rafe meant she drained away more magic power. She’d gotten so used to how quickly the average fight ended that she’d forgotten how tiring it could be to support longer-term spells. Even their battle against Xelius at Pearl’s house had taken a fraction of the time she’d been sitting in the gallery.

When the diadem image grew larger, the crowd offered scattered applause. Everyone leaned forward to get a better look. Izzie’s stomach tightened. It was the worst-case scenario. Too many people wanted the diadem.

“Here we go.” Caden rubbed his hands and nodded at Rafe. “I’m counting on you.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Rafe replied.

“Our last item for tonight is an ancient diadem of power with a mysterious history,” the auctioneer announced. “Although its exact functions haven’t been verified, it’s believed to amplify magical power, especially dark magical power. Until recently, it was key to a major project being run by a prominent technomagical research company backed by the US military, proof of its usefulness in ancient and modern styles of magic.”

Izzie frowned. The underworld knew far too much about the diadem, yet not enough. She’d half-hoped they would lay out the exact verified abilities of the diadem. She didn’t deceive herself by believing the loose information would be enough to put people off from bidding.

The auctioneer continued. “As our headlining item tonight, this item will begin bidding at ten million. The bid increments for this final auction will be one million.”

Izzie squeezed her hand until it hurt to distract herself and avoid any scoffs and laughs about the insane amounts of money flying around. The auctioneer’s brazenness surprised her. They were demanding a premium for the diadem while admitting they only knew it had any value because they had stolen it from someone using it for unknown reasons.

She could see how invoking the shadow of the military and NGMR would persuade people of the diadem’s value. That was a different take on historical artifact provenance.

Six security guards and three robbers already died for the diadem. Underworld scum might accept their deaths as proof of provenance.

It also wasn’t the first time she’d encountered that type of attitude in the underworld. Many thieves only cared about what other people valued.

“We have our first bid,” the auctioneer confirmed. “Ten million. And our second bid. Eleven million. Is anyone willing to go up to twelve million?”

Rafe’s hand shook as he pressed the symbol. Despite his tux and polished appearance, his body language could only do so much to sell the illusion of a wealthy underworld figure. A single bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

“Twelve million,” the auctioneer announced. The hype of true excitement filtered into his voice. “And we have thirteen million. Fourteen million. Fifteen million! Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen!”

Caden’s ever-present smile disappeared. He stared at the diadem’s image, his jaw tight.

Izzie watched Rafe. He shrugged and bid again. Her heart raced. She’d almost rather have tried to take it by force. She would be in more familiar territory.

“Nineteen million.” The auctioneer was close to shouting. “What untold power lies in this artifact? Ask yourself, our treasured guests, what the person who has bid nineteen million knows that you don’t. Will you regret not having this artifact tomorrow?”

The auctioneer would push them to the limit with his crap. Izzie wanted to tell him to shut up.

“We have more bids,” he declared. “Twenty million. Twenty-two million. Everyone’s not willing to let this special item get away.”

A murmur of excitement swept over the crowd with sprinkled annoyed grunts and grumbling. Izzie noticed a handful of men and women scowling. Certain bidders were hitting their limits.

“We are at twenty-two million,” the auctioneer announced. “Do I hear twenty-three? Twenty-two million going once. Twenty-two million going twice.”

Izzie grinned. She’d worried over nothing. They weren’t anywhere near their limit and were in control. She nodded at Rafe.

Rafe closed his eyes and bid again. He whispered something under his breath. All Izzie could make out was something about, “God help me.”

“Twenty-five million!” the auctioneer shouted. He gasped. “And we have twenty-seven million. Again, twenty-seven million. Do we have another bid for an item so dangerous that an elite team was dispatched to transport it? We do! Thirty million. Any more bids? Do we have any more bids? Thirty million going once. Thirty million going twice.”

Caden leaned over to whisper into Rafe’s ear. He grimaced and tapped on his card. Izzie didn’t have to wait long to figure out what Caden said.

“The bid is now forty million!” the auctioneer shouted. “Someone in our audience understands the true power of this artifact! Again, all of you should ask yourselves, what do they know that you don’t? How much are you willing to sacrifice for a power that could make the strongest, most ancient being a mere child before you? Isn’t that worth more than mere temporary wealth? Yes. We have a forty-three million bid!”

Izzie’s stomach churned. Their plan to escalate backfired. She started gaming scenarios in her head about how to grab the diadem and run without getting killed.

The main problem was she had no idea where the artifact was in the building. She knew it had to be close by. No underground black market auction winner would be content with waiting to collect their treasure on a different day.

“Forty-five, fifty, fifty-five, sixty million!” the auctioneer shouted. “Sixty million going once. Sixty million going twice.” The auctioneer took a slow, deep breath before offering a breathy, “Seventy-five million for this ancient diadem.”

Rafe’s face was pale. His hands clamped around his bidding card in a death grip. Izzie felt bad for him and wanted to remind him he was bidding using Brandon Brundle’s money, not his own.

Bill had been right. There was no way the PDA could have come up with a hundred million in diamonds no matter how many tracking spells they put on the case and bags.

“Does anyone dare challenge seventy-five million?” the auctioneer asked. “Does wealth mean anything before true magical power? Someone dares! Eighty million. Eighty-five million. Ninety million!”

Izzie’s heart thundered. Her hands turned clammy. She’d never imagined that a hundred million wouldn’t be enough. They couldn’t let the diadem get away.

Her mind raced with more emergency plans. Attacking the auction house would be suicidal. Going after the winner might be more practical. They would need to engage the target away from the auction house but somehow surprise them without bringing nearby auction house security.

They’d also need the winner to identify themselves somehow. She tried to scan the crowd with subtle looks, focusing on anyone looking too excited or frustrated. Talaron glared at the podium, scarlet-faced.

“Ninety-five million, ninety-six, one hundred million!” the auctioneer shouted. “One hundred million. Who will challenge this outstanding bid? One hundred million going once, one hundred million going twice. Does anyone want to top this bid?”

Izzie checked on Rafe. He stared at the diadem’s image in pure determination. He’d set the card in his lap. There was nothing more they could do. They were at their limit.

“Sold for one hundred million!” the auctioneer declared. “To bidder number sixty-two.”

Izzie closed her eyes and sighed in relief. They had pushed the bid to the absolute limit, but they’d won.

“That concludes this auction session,” the auctioneer declared. “All winners, please wait for a staff member to lead you into the back for payment and pickup. We thank all our guests and customers, old and new. We look forward to your future patronage.”

When Izzie opened her eyes, people stared and glared at her, Rafe, and the stern-faced Caden. She wasn’t sure if her loud sigh of relief or Rafe’s huge grin had drawn their attention. Illusions and masks were only one part of going undercover.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Most of the crowd shuffled out of the gallery by the time one of the women in the domino masks approached Caden and gestured toward a hallway leading out of the main gallery floor. “Please come with me, sir.”

Izzie remained tense as she stood with Caden and Rafe. The staffer didn’t react to them following him. That was a good start, but Izzie couldn’t dismiss the glares from half the crowd, including Talaron. In the unlikely event she attended another underground auction, she would need to practice her poker face.

She was grateful for the auctioneer’s earlier warning about violence. That would help keep trouble at bay until they’d escaped the area.

The staff member led them around a corner. Izzie sensed heavy wards every few steps and spotted an increasing number of obvious guards, including the men with glowing eyes and others openly armed with guns or blades. The gallery’s modest size meant it didn’t take long before they ended up in a small office, empty and featureless except for all the strong magic surrounding them and a single table.

The staffer gestured at the table. “Please place the case there and open it. We’ll first need to confirm payment before proceeding. We’re aware that your diamonds were checked upon entry. This secondary check is required to finalize your bid.”

Caden cleared his throat. “Of course. I understand.” He nodded at Rafe. “Show them.”

Rafe looked intense as he set the case down and pulled out the keycard. He swiped open the case and lifted the lid with a defiant, challenging expression for the staff member.

The masked woman tilted her head and raised her hand. A white orb appeared like the entrance guard’s inspection, and the diamonds twinkled under its light.

The woman nodded, stepped backward, and reached toward the wall. A panel slid open, and she pulled a briefcase out and offered it to Caden.

He took it with a relaxed smile. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

Izzie narrowed her eyes. The briefcase didn’t match the description NGMR gave her. “Babe,” she murmured, trying to stay in character. “That doesn’t match the description of what was taken from the bridge.”

“Is there a problem?” the staffer asked.

“We need to make sure we got what we’re paying for,” Caden asserted.

The staffer nodded. “Of course we’ll allow you to confirm your item before departure. We value the satisfaction of all customers and guests.”

Caden set the case on the table and looked at the masked staffer. “Are there any special procedures to open this?”

“No. Per our normal policy, we offer no special protection once it leaves our temporary auction house. However, the briefcase will help suppress the artifact’s magical signature and includes complimentary anti-tracking spells. We recommend that all customers use additional enchantments for their safety. We aren’t responsible for what happens to you once you leave our auction site.”

Izzie would have to examine the case later. She couldn’t trust random underground auction brokers not to set up a similar trap as Brandon, Caden, and West had set up with the diamonds.

Rafe looked at Caden and smiled. “Sir?”

“Go ahead and open it.” Caden’s voice was a little deeper than normal.

Izzie wouldn’t begrudge him a little self-indulgence. She watched the masked woman for any signs of quick movements. They were alone in a room away from anyone else. This would be the perfect time for an ambush.

She had talked to the veiled witch for a while. The woman never returned to the gallery floor. The witch might have suspected something about Izzie’s true nature. It was hard to know for sure.

Rafe opened the briefcase without summoning an ambush. Izzie shivered at the obvious dark magical power flowing off the jeweled diadem. It was not the chilling and more familiar dark magic she’d sensed earlier. Nor had she sensed anything when entering the room until the case opened.

This wasn’t an artifact NGMR should have been playing around with, and she fully intended to send a complaint up the PDA to the Department of Defense about their involvement in a dark magic project. For now, she only cared about getting the diadem away from the auction house and securing it deep in one of the PDA’s anti-magic vaults.

Rafe looked at her. She nodded.

“Close the case,” Caden ordered. “I’m satisfied.”

Rafe closed the case, picked it up, and handed it to Izzie. She took it with a nod of understanding. She was playing Caden’s girlfriend, and Caden would need to be cargo-free after they left to execute his secondary diamond recovery plan.

Izzie would have worried more, but it wasn’t her responsibility. Caden and Brandon had made that clear. She wouldn’t have been surprised if they gave up on the plan and billed the Department of Defense for the cost of the diamonds. A hundred million to recover a dangerous dark magic artifact was a bargain.

“Thank you,” Caden told the employee. “We’ll take our leave now.”

“Let me show you to our private exit.” The masked woman’s voice was almost a purr. “Again, we thank you for your patronage and hope you consider coming to our next auction. Your next invitation token and the next auction’s location will be sent to you soon.”

The woman led the group out of the room and down another long, windowless hallway. They arrived at a back door, and she walked up and placed her palm on a small rectangle covered with arcane symbols on the wall. The door clicked open, and she motioned outside into a small staff parking lot.

“If you want to return to the front of the gallery, take two rights,” she explained. “Please consider us again for all your auction needs, including sales.”

“I will.” Caden offered a bright smile.

Izzie, Rafe, and Caden stepped out into the night. The staff member closed the door.

Caden reached into his jacket and activated a sound inverter. They made their first turn into a nearby narrow alley.

“I’ll walk you to your car, then I’ll need to follow the diamonds. There’s not much I can do until they leave the building. It’s too well-protected. If we take them at their word, they probably killed somebody while we were in there.”

Izzie nodded. “You do what you need to do. We’ll secure the diadem at the PDA and run our tests before handing it over to the company, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have concerns and questions.” She frowned. “If this is a dark magic amplifier, it’s not something NGMR should have.”

“Those questions aren’t mine to answer, although I get what you’re saying. I’ve never been that close to the diadem, so I didn’t know what it felt like.” Caden eyed the briefcase. “A hundred million exactly. I suppose all’s well that ends well, but it ended up a far closer shave than I would have liked. To play devil’s advocate, it’s not as if dark magic in and of itself is illegal.”

Izzie scoffed. “You really want to have this discussion right now?”

“Just putting that out there.” Caden winked. “I’ll let you argue it with Mr. Brundle and the Department of Defense.”

“I will.” Izzie frowned at him, not feeling as playful about the issue.

They made their next turn into a wider alley marked by large metal dumpsters on alternating sides of the street. The configuration only offered slight mercy to whatever person, automated truck, or drone was tasked with emptying them.

Caden’s phone buzzed inside his jacket. He pulled out the device, skimmed a message, and scowled.

“Is something wrong?” Rafe asked.

Caden averted his eyes. “It was a warning from…” He hesitated and slowed. For the first time tonight, his voice held true doubt. “I don’t think I can tell you. I’m sorry.”

Izzie stepped in front of Caden and stopped. “You don’t think you can tell us about a warning when we’ve just finished a dangerous undercover auction infiltration? You’re kidding, right?”

Caden nodded. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Does it have anything to do with the diadem?”

Caden kept looking away. “It might be better if you take the diadem directly to NGMR.”

“Why?” Izzie frowned. “NGMR hasn’t demonstrated they can protect it. We also made our terms clear to your boss when we all agreed to this plan. He doesn’t get to change the rules now.”

“It won’t be transported again using the same methods and won’t be moved for a while. You’ll still have a chance to examine it. I can promise you that.”

Rafe shook his head and looked around. “Izzie’s right. When our boss agreed to this plan, part of the agreement was that we’d take it to the PDA for forensics analysis first.”

“They can do that analysis at NGMR.” Caden scoffed. “If anything, they probably have better equipment than you do in your forensics lab.”

Izzie stared at Caden, trying to pull hidden meaning from his annoyed expression. “No. Absolutely not. We had an agreement with your boss for this, and he confirmed that we could do our analysis first. End of story.” She narrowed her eyes. “Unless NGMR is trying to hide something more than the fact they were messing around with dark magic.”

“That’s not illegal under current US law. Only questionable and inadvisable under most circumstances.” Caden put his phone in its pocket. “It’s also inadvisable to take that diadem to the PDA.”

“Why?” Izzie demanded. “You tell me right now, and I’ll consider it if you have a good reason.”

He shook his head. “You want to know what I just found out? Internal security investigations into how the robbers knew to target the shipment strongly indicate it’s most likely a government leak and not an internal company breach involved with the attack.”

“That’s a pathetic cover-up there.” Izzie scoffed. “Oh, it’s not your security’s fault. It’s the government. Good old NGMR couldn’t possibly have screwed up. Is that right?”

“It’s a government project.” Caden’s concern showed on his face. “They were involved at all levels. It would be far simpler if this was a corporate screwup. We could clean up the problem without as much trouble.”

He frowned. “But you’re also right that we can’t dismiss an internal leak. Right now, the major evidence is on the government.”

Rafe gestured at the briefcase. “The PDA wasn’t involved. We didn’t know about this cargo until we started our investigation.”

“The PDA is a federal agency,” Caden replied. “There’s too big a chance that someone locally could have their…”

Izzie sensed a pulse of magic passing through her. She looked at Caden. “Did you feel that?”

Caden frowned and nodded. He reached into his jacket with a deep scowl. “I did.”

“What’s wrong?” Rafe looked around and reached into his jacket.

“I just felt magic,” Izzie noted. “It had to be strong or nearby for me to sense it with all the other magic coming off that building nearby.”

“We need to get the diadem moving.” Caden canceled the sound inverter and tilted his head to listen. “And our earlier conversation isn’t done.” He pulled out his phone and typed a message before shoving it back into his pocket.

“Who are you texting?” Izzie asked.

“I’m pushing full responsibility for my original diamond recovery job to a secondary team. Given the circumstances, I can’t let the diadem out of my sight now.”

Izzie stopped and raised her hands. She took a moment to layer a shield spell over Rafe and another over herself. The strain of maintaining the shield and illusion spells pushed her a little, but she wasn’t ready to drop her drow disguise.

She nodded down the alley. “You can tag along for now, but no matter what, we’re not going to NGMR.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

They made it halfway through the alley before men in suits with eerie horned red demon masks stepped around the corner. All held thin wands, confirming they were wizards. Footsteps sounded behind, and a group of similar men cut off the group’s escape.

Izzie hissed and ducked behind a dumpster, annoyed yet also unsurprised. They should have run to the car. Rafe and Caden followed her.

She’d never been happier that she wore flats instead of heels, despite Rafe suggesting they would help with her disguise. Any fight in heels would have been a pain. She had thought about using the illusion magic to turn her suit into a dress but was grateful she hadn’t wasted that much magic.

Her big question was whether the auction team set them up or if they were dealing with angry bidders more interested in stealing than winning the diadem. She’d noticed the staff's warnings only mentioned attacking people in the building. The wording struck her as overly precise, but she let it go, thinking the magical underworld wouldn’t want people to get that out of control. She didn’t recognize the masks from experience or PDA briefings.

Rafe drew his pistol. Caden yanked a large handgun covered with runes from his well-concealed holster. Complicated sigils covered the barrel and the grip, which also featured several small switches near the top.

Caden turned and kept the rear enemies covered. The rear wizards stopped their advance and took cover behind dumpsters. The main group at the front hadn’t taken cover. They lifted their wands and formed a line, ready to attack.

Without confirmation of the enemy's nature, Izzie was reduced to fishing for information. No one opened fire. That allowed her to prove she could get out of the situation without using battle magic.

“Don’t you think it’ll be bad for future business if anyone realizes the auction house attacks its customers?” Izzie called in a calm voice.

“We aren’t with the auction house,” one of the wizards responded. “You’re right, of course. That would be a terrible business practice.”

“Then do you really want to do this so close to the auction house? You don’t want to end up banned from future auctions.”

“We’re not in their building.” The wizard waved his wand. “It’s no longer their problem, and they won’t care.”

He chuckled. “You must be new and foolish. Or beyond arrogant. You people shouldn’t have made it obvious that you won. This would never have happened otherwise.”

He scoffed. “I don’t know how you people got an invitation. This isn’t a game where you dip your toes into the darkness and pretend you can leave unscathed, drow.”

Izzie offered the case to Rafe. He could shoot one-handed easier than she could cast all the spells she needed one-handed. Her attempts to bluff and manipulate had fallen flat. Violence was closing in as the solution.

“Do you really believe the kind of people who can spend that much on an auction for a dark magic amplifier can’t defend themselves?” Izzie asked.

“That auctioneer was right,” the wizard called. “Money’s value is a relative thing.”

“You try taking this, and you’ll get yourself hurt or killed. I have no reason to hold back on you, wizard.”

“You’re outnumbered.” The wizard snickered. “I see now you’re the one in charge, drow. I wasn’t sure in the gallery. Did you bring the humans because you were worried people wouldn’t trust you? Are you a traitor to your two queens?” He laughed. “Why not just shapeshift into a human form? Are you fresh through the gates?”

Izzie had almost forgotten she was maintaining the illusion spell despite the magic she’d been draining for hours. Maybe she could still talk her way out of this.

“If you know anything about drow, wizard, you know every drow is a warrior,” Izzie shouted. “We don’t fear your kind.”

“Slide the case toward our men in the back.” The wizard sneered. “Walk slowly toward the front, and we’ll clear the way and let you go. It’s not worth dying over, and believe it or not, we’re businessmen. There’s little profit in killing you and setting ourselves up for a cycle of revenge.”

“Again, that sounds like something you need to understand, not us.” Izzie tried to think more like a criminal. “You’re not the only one who is here on business. My employer won’t have much use for keeping me alive if I don’t bring him the diadem.”

“He sounds like a terrible boss. If you’re so worried, why not give us the case and consider talking to our employer for a new job? He’s always looking for flexible thinkers, and a drow could be useful in a number of ways. Your friends are wizards, I take it? We could always use more men who know how to stay calm in difficult situations.”

Caden scoffed and murmured, “I’d prefer if they tried to rush us rather than recruit us.”

Izzie considered dropping her disguise and admitting she was PDA with the hope of throwing them off before deciding against that plan. They would have even less reason to let the infamous Agent Berens leave with a powerful artifact sought by enough people in the local magical underworld that they’d bid it up to a hundred million dollars.

The fact they were willing to risk alienating someone they didn’t know, let alone a drow, only proved their commitment. Bluffing their way out with threats remained the best strategy.

“I’m already loaded with anti-magic bullets,” Rafe whispered. “I’ll follow your lead.”

“What about your other team, Caden?” Izzie asked.

Caden shook his head. “They’re not on site yet.”

“I’m going to count down from ten,” the wizard called. “If you haven’t set the case on the ground, we’ll have to kill you. Ten, nine…”

Izzie ground her teeth and tried to think of more options. Enemies with unknown capabilities and skills outnumbered them. The wands marked them as traditionalist wizards, but that didn’t tell her anything about their combat experience and training. They could be bluffing as much as she had been.

“Eight, seven…”

“We can pay you to back off.” Izzie hoped a different bluff would get them in a better position. “If that’s what this is about.”

The masked wizard stopped and considered it. He shook his head. “We’re already paid to do our jobs. Now where was I? Six…”

“Get ready to close your eyes,” Izzie whispered. “I’m going to borrow a little inspiration from the last major criminal we fought and blind them. We’ll make a push forward to get to our car.”

“Five…” the wizard called.

Rafe nodded. “Okay, I’ve got your back.”

“Four…”

“Get us out of here,” Caden urged. “We can figure out everything else after that.”

Izzie released the magic fueling her and Rafe’s disguises. Her time as a drow was over. She ducked and chanted under her breath while running her hands through careful, precise movements. A bright ball grew between her hands.

“She’s trying something!” a masked wizard called from the back. “Wait. She’s not a drow! She’s a witch!”

“I’m not a witch!” Izzie thrust her arms up. “And you’re too late!”

The huge sphere of light shot halfway into the air before exploding in an eye-searing flash for anyone stupid enough to have their eyes open. Caden opened his eyes and fired as the light disappeared. His first round exploded in an impressive fireball against the chest of a masked wizard and sent his target to the ground. The wounded wizard groaned and clutched his charred chest through the hole in his clothes.

Rafe opened fire at almost the same time and sprayed anti-magic rounds down the alley. He nailed one of the wizards next to the masked leader.

Izzie ran forward with her arm outstretched and launched a light bolt. She darted across the alley to the next dumpster while laying out a stream of light bolts toward the front group of attackers. One bolt struck a wizard along with Rafe’s bullet and sent the man to the ground screaming.

Small fireballs tore from enemy wands on both sides. The spells flew in every direction, the wizards’ aim still off from their tortured eyes. Fireballs struck dumpsters and walls, flinging singed and smoking bits of wood, brick, and plastic all over the alley. Izzie, Rafe, and Caden continued firing. Their enemies were easy to pick off in their half-blind state.

Caden followed Rafe as he sprinted to the next dumpster before Izzie charged forward again. He swept the back of the alley with a trio of magical explosive bullets. The blasts silenced the rear enemies. He ejected his magazine and loaded a new glyph-marked magazine from a pocket, wearing a little self-satisfied smirk.

The masked leader grunted as a light bolt struck an invisible shield covering him. He threw himself behind a wall and escaped a combined volley from Caden, Izzie, and Rafe.

One of the wizards tried to copy Izzie’s strategy. He sprinted for the cover of the closest dumpster. Two of Izzie’s light bolts struck the running man, weakening his shield spell before Rafe’s anti-magic bullets tore through the final layer of magical protection and hit him in the chest.

With their rear secured, Caden swept from left to right while spitting out four fireball rounds. More wizards went down screaming, except the leader, who finished chanting a spell and spun to point his wand high.

Izzie underestimated him by relying on him still having poor aim from her earlier flash spell. A huge chunk of a nearby wall tore from its building and flew toward Izzie and the men.

She screamed a spell and shoved her arms to the side as she ran. An invisible push shoved the huge chunk away. The debris cleared the group and smashed into pieces against the alley’s hard concrete.

The masked leader sniped the distracted Izzie with a beam of light. She hissed in pain as the focused spell cut through her shield and burned deep into her chest. She stumbled in agony and fell behind a dumpster.

Caden forced the wizard back into cover with another magazine’s worth of fireball bullets before spinning behind the dumpster and reloading. “I only have one more on me after this. The rest are in my case in the car. I can still shoot without the fresh magazines but at way less power. My other combat spells aren’t that great.”

“I’m not doing great on ammo either,” Rafe admitted.

Izzie gritted her teeth and eyed her wound. “We’ve downed his buddies. We can win this.”

“One more push should get us to the street,” Caden encouraged. “Thankfully, you parked on the street.”

“We have to get there first.” Izzie panted from the pain.

Rafe laid down cover fire to keep the masked wizard pinned behind a wall. “You okay, Izzie?”

She took a deep breath before murmuring the chant for a healing spell. Her wound faded as another bright beam tore through the dumpster, leaving a glowing, molten hole and missing Rafe’s head by an inch.

“We can’t wait here for him to pick us off.” Izzie layered a new shield spell over her body. “I’m good now. We make a hard push with me out front. On three, two, one!”

Shedding her cover, she blasted a fireball from her left hand and a light bolt from her right. Caden joined with another fireball bullet and Rafe with an anti-magic bullet. The wizards’ leader pulled more asphalt from the alley with a spell to form a makeshift tower shield with a thick handle. The spells exploded against his shield and the bullets bounced off with impressive sparks.

Izzie charged and kept a steady stream of light bolts whittling away at the asphalt shield. She wasn’t sure how long she could keep up the intense rate of fire after using a good amount of magic to maintain their disguises for so long and in the rest of the battle, but her attack forced the leader to be more careful. Rafe only took shots when the leader tried to pop his head out from cover.

Caden tossed his pistol into his left hand before yanking out a small ballpoint pen and slamming the button against his shoulder. Bright glyphs appeared all over the pen, and he flung it toward the asphalt shield. The pen struck it and blew apart, spewing a corrosive black liquid all over the makeshift cover. The smoking, bubbling liquid ate through the asphalt within seconds.

The surprised wizard shuffled backward and let out another tight, powerful beam that tore through Caden’s chest. Caden pitched forward and hit the ground, groaning and holding his wound.

Without his cover, the wizard didn’t have much chance to stay conscious after the combined pummeling of Izzie’s light bolts and Rafe’s anti-magic bullets ripped into him. He cried out with each hit until he fell on his face and dropped his wand.

“That hurt.” Caden rolled onto his back while coughing up blood. His body shook as he shoved his hand into his jacket and pulled out a small, stoppered vial—a potion. He tried to pull the top off, but his hand shook too much. “A-A little help, please.”

Izzie knelt by Caden, opened the vial, and poured the potion down his throat.

A few seconds later, Caden sighed in relief, and the hole in his upper chest closed. He sat up and took slow, deep breaths. “Thanks. That was a little closer than I would have liked. I’m terrible at healing spells.”

Shouts sounded in the distance. Izzie didn’t want to chance fighting reinforcements or another group of underworld magicals deciding they wanted the diadem.

“Can you walk?” she asked Caden.

Caden stood. “I’m fine now, thanks to you.”

Izzie surveyed the front of the alley. Dead and wounded masked wizards lay all over. One groaning wizard tried to reach for his wand.

She kicked it away. “None of that, please.”

His fall to the ground cracked his mask. She didn’t recognize him, but more importantly, he didn’t have glowing eyes, confirming he didn’t work at the auction house.

“Now’s our chance,” Izzie told Rafe and Caden. “We’ll run for the car and get the hell out of here.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Izzie and the others ran to the end of the alley. She sensed magic and threw her arm up to stop Rafe before they cleared the last dumpster. A crackling electrical bolt shot across the entrance.

“Good reflexes,” a man around the corner called.

She knelt and peeked around the corner. A wizard in a green robe marched down the street. Shining orbs swirled in front of him in a triple layer. It was Talaron from the auction. He pointed his staff in front of him, his face the perfect demonstration of sneering contempt.

“I, for one, wouldn’t want to mess with people who’d left a pile of bodies,” Izzie called. “I’m not in the mood to be nice.”

Caden frowned and watched their rear for reinforcements. Rafe stayed close to Izzie.

“Give it here, woman!” Talaron shouted. “Or die. The choice is simple. Don’t assume I’m as weak as those trash disposable wizards you laid out.”

“Nobody’s bringing up the rear,” Caden whispered.

Two nearby trees ripped their roots out of the ground and slithered toward the alley. Izzie wasn’t surprised to see “Elegance” Larim moving close behind the walking plants. That didn’t make it any less annoying.

She groaned. “More of them? I don’t get this. There’s no way this much trouble happens every time they have one of these auctions. The PDA would have caught wind of the auctions by now.”

Talaron glared at Larim. “Back off, elf. The diadem is mine.”

“I’d offer the same warning to you, wizard.” Larim narrowed his eyes and turned back toward the alley. “It seems the information was true. She’s not a drow.”

“Shouldn’t you two have a discussion first about who gets it?” Izzie replied. “Why don’t you fight it out? Then we’ll continue this chat.”

Larim and Talaron exchanged wary glances before turning to watch the alley. They both stopped advancing.

“We can come to terms,” Larim told the wizard. “I have access to materials you need. I’d rather not fight you, especially if that woman is who we suspect.”

Talaron’s brow lifted. “You’ve been resistant to helping me before.”

“I need this artifact. We’ll come to terms favorable to you. I swear it on my honor, and you know from experience what that means.”

Talaron grinned at Izzie. “There you have it.”

“Oh, great, now the underworld scum has decided to cooperate.” Izzie rolled her eyes.

“Did you really think you could come to a place like this, Izzie Berens, and steal that diadem out from under us?” Talaron asked. “What arrogance.”

Izzie frowned, unsure if he’d recognized her from his glimpse in the dim illumination of the streetlights or had been tipped off. “Whoever you think I am, last time I checked, we had the highest bid. That’s how auctions work. You should have listened to the part in the beginning where the auctioneer said not to participate if you didn’t know the rules.”

Talaron scoffed. “We know it’s you. It’s just as she told us, that the great Izzie Berens was here and looking to take what was ours.”

“Who told you that?” Izzie no longer cared about pretending she wasn’t who she was. She had dropped her illusion earlier. There wasn’t much point. “Who are you talking about?”

Her heart thundered. Caden had warned them about a leak. She didn’t want to believe him, thinking it was only an excuse to get the diadem back to the PDA. The stacked ambushes along with the latest revelations added credibility to his claims.

Larim added, “If you fear for your life, Berens, you need not. As annoying as your PDA can prove, I have no current antagonism toward you.” He bowed over his arm. “I must insist you hand over the diadem. Do that, and on my honor, I swear I’ll allow you and your companions to leave this place unharmed.”

Izzie ducked back into the alley and strengthened the shields around her and Rafe. She eyed Caden. “Can you still fight? We have two different magicals attacking us, and one of them is weaponizing trees. I don’t think they care about fighting among themselves until we’re finished off.”

“I’m good.” Caden reached down and ran a hand over his belt. A visible shimmering field appeared. “This can be a little draining, so I avoided it before, but it’s sturdy.”

“I’m on my last magazine,” Rafe whispered.

“Me, too,” Caden added. “I have a couple of other tricks, but not enough for an extended fight.”

Talaron shouted, “Even if she hadn’t told us the truth, I would have known who you are. I wondered why I hadn’t heard about any drow coming to town. Their current rulers have them on such a short leash.”

He growled. “Or is there something missing in our understanding? Did they put you up to this, Izzie Berens? Is the PDA working with the drow through their rulers? Is this a message?”

Izzie rolled her eyes, surprised to find someone who managed to be more paranoid than her. “We could use this,” she whispered.

“Don’t inadvertently start a war against the drow,” Rafe replied. “I don’t think certain friends of yours would appreciate it.”

“Probably not.” Izzie gestured at the road and whispered, “The car is across the road and to the right. If we can get inside and pull away, we’ll be good. That means we throw down enough power straight away to neutralize these guys.”

“I can protect the car while you’re driving.” Caden checked his gun. “At least long enough to get us away from these fools. I’ll lay down covering fire, and you push for the car. I’ll cover your escape.”

Rafe frowned. “You want us to leave you here and outnumbered?”

“I want you to secure the diadem. Don’t worry about me. I can get away, and I have a backup team on the way.”

“I don’t like this,” Izzie protested. “We can fight them together.”

Caden shook his head. “My job is to make sure the diadem is recovered, even if I don’t have hands on it. The longer⁠—”

Another lightning blast tore through the pre-dawn darkness and struck near the front of the alley. Izzie jumped backward and hissed.

“Now that I know it’s you, we don’t have to do this the hard way,” Talaron called. “I’m tired of hearing about you, Berens. Everyone talks about you and your family like you’re these powerful, ancient entities hunting down everyone who goes against so-called good.”

He grunted. “And the Seventh Order? Nothing but rabble, four families who somehow managed to be more arrogant than yours. Their defeat was nothing but luck, and everyone knows you had help. It’s the same with your mother and all her efforts.

“I’m going to kill you now and become legendary. I’ll prove that we have nothing to fear from Berens women.”

“What about that, Larim?” Izzie asked. “What about your honor?”

“If you surrender the diadem, I’m willing to speak to him on your behalf. Otherwise, why should I care?”

“If you both recognize me, you have to understand that killing a PDA agent is a big deal, no matter who their family is. Now let us pass before I have to send you to join the Seventh Order.”

“I have no desire to slay a PDA agent, but I can’t let that diadem go, not with the power it possesses.” Larim clucked his tongue. “You people showed up and bid so high for it. That proves its power. It ends any doubts I had left.”

The first walking tree slithered into sight from the alley’s mouth. The scratching of the second grew closer. A wrenching, cracking sound signaled the creation of more walking trees. Izzie felt bad for the city’s planters.

“We don’t have time to debate this, Agent Berens,” Caden prodded. “The longer we wait, the greater the chance of another group of scumbags coming after us.”

He lifted his gun. “You heard them both. Somebody sent them out here. They might have heard from the leak, or they might have been watching the earlier fight. The result’s the same.”

“You’re coming with us,” Izzie declared. “Your backup team is responsible for the diamonds, your own words, so I’ll cover everybody. You and Rafe head for the car. Make your move when I make mine.” When Caden tried to say something, she snapped, “Debate over.”

She spun around the corner and flung a fireball toward Larim and a light bolt at Talaron. Despite their earlier confidence, they both jumped out of the way of the attacks.

A moving tree scuttled toward the alley. Rafe fired a couple of times but gave up after the futility of putting bullets, even anti-magic rounds, into a tree became clear. Whatever he accomplished by blasting chunks of bark onto the street didn’t destroy the overall enchantment.

Caden fiddled with a few switches on his gun and aimed toward the closer tree’s lower trunk. He pulled the trigger. His round struck the tree and crumpled. The impact released a dark blue energy disc that sliced through the trunk and sent the main portion crashing to the ground. The tentacle-like roots collapsed.

Rafe turned to Caden in surprise before smiling. “That’ll do.”

“I have tricks up my sleeve.” Caden grinned.

Izzie flung another fireball down the street. She started chanting before a lightning bolt slammed into her doubled shield, ripping it down in a flash without reaching her body. She finished her chant and thrust her palms forward. A spiral of bright light appeared in the center of the street and spat out light bolts in rapid succession. The deadly bolts flew in different directions, striking the surviving crawling trees, Larim, and Talaron.

Caden rushed around the corner to cut down the remaining walking trees with shots from his adjusted enchanted gun. The road and parking lot turned into a magical logging camp with trunk after trunk falling.

Rafe alternated firing at Larim, who crouched behind a fallen tree closer to their car, and Talaron, who marched down the street behind his orbs. Izzie’s automatic light bolt death spiral kept firing, offering more suppressive than destructive fire.

Rafe put two rounds through the elf’s shield and got one into his shoulder. Larim grunted and ducked. His form shimmered and faded until he was only an outline in the dim light.

Izzie jogged toward the car, taking a moment to reconjure her shield and feed it more power. She added fireballs to supplement the spiral stream of light bolts.

Talaron’s orbs kept absorbing the light bolts from Izzie’s death spiral. Rafe shifted from shooting at the invisible Larim toward Talaron. The bullets slowed as they passed through the first couple of layers of orbs, but one clipped the green-robed wizard in the arm. He jerked backward and grimaced.

“Insolence!” he yelled before ducking behind another car, dripping blood.

Caden flipped more switches on his gun and fired in a sweeping arc toward where Larim had disappeared. Each round blew apart in a small popping blast that pulled a couple of grunts from their invisible enemy. Izzie noticed the explosions were far weaker than before.

“I’m out of my main ammo,” Caden muttered as if reading Izzie’s mind. “I can keep fighting, but like I said earlier, I’ll have to feed magic to make the bullets now, too.”

“Keep advancing!” Izzie gestured at her stream of spirals laying down cover fire. She tried to ignore how every second she maintained the spell, the more exhaustion crept up on her.

No one else was out in the parking lot. That struck Izzie as noteworthy. Although her group was the last to pick up their item, other guests lingered in the main gallery when Izzie and her friends left that room.

Glowing-eyed guards poured out of the nearby gallery as she noticed that, offering a final explanation and confirmation of the dark truth about the so-called noninterference the criminals alluded to during their threats. Whatever confidence Izzie had in their noninterference had vanished with Talaron and Larim recognizing her. Everyone in that building had a reason not to want the PDA sniffing around.

Setting aside the current case, Izzie gathered solid evidence of the types of artifacts going into the underworld and the location of a major underworld auction site. The diadem investigation would weaken the local underworld auction scene regardless of whether she found the robbers.

An explosive bullet from Caden pulled a genuine scream from Larim. He reappeared lying on the ground, burned and bloodied.

The fall of the trees and their Wood Elf master ended with more of Izzie’s spiral light bolts flying toward Talaron. His orbs started disappearing, and he grimaced and backed toward an alley, holding his wounded arm and body. Rafe kept up the pressure and managed to wing him again.

Their reinforcements stayed closer to the door, eyeing the spiral in concern. Izzie wasn’t about to inform them the spell would only fire at Larim, Talaron, or their creations.

“Now’s our chance!” she shouted. “Get to the car!”

Izzie, Rafe, and Caden rushed toward their car. She threw open the door, grateful for the reliability of her key fob and her lack of obsession over magical spell locks. Rafe ran around the front while Caden sprayed a couple of weakened explosive rounds at Talaron’s feet to push him farther back.

Caden jumped into the back of the car and grabbed the second briefcase. He yanked it open and pulled out a small penlight. He rotated the top, and a wavering field grew until it surrounded the entire car.

Talaron’s eyes were wild as he pointed his staff at the car. A massive lightning bolt shot out and struck the shield. The glowing-eyed guards all pulled out guns and opened fire. Their bullets bounced off the shield, but the combined impacts rattled the vehicle.

“It won’t last forever!” Caden shouted.

Izzie pushed down the accelerator and whipped the wheel to avoid smashing into a parked SUV. The car shot down the street.

Her next challenge came from the downed trees in the road. Not sure how much Caden’s shield would protect the team, she challenged her inner racing driver with quick wheel adjustments to swerve around the trees until they were all in the rearview mirror and camera.

The veiled witch stepped out of the gallery. She was a good distance away, but a massive flare of dark magic with an unsettling, familiar tinge passed through Izzie.

Izzie shivered. “Did you feel that?”

“Yes.” Caden looked over his shoulder.

“She must be more important than we realize.”

Rafe checked the rearview camera. “Nobody’s following us.”

Izzie took a hard turn onto a side street. “They were prepared for a major direct raid, not for somebody to go in there and snatch it out from under them.” She scoffed. “It’s hard to plan for everything.”

Caden twisted the flashlight and killed the shield. He brushed the dust off his ripped and burned tuxedo with a smile. “The important thing is that we escaped with the diadem. We accomplished the primary objective.”

“What about the diamonds?” Rafe wiped the sweat from his brow. “Won’t it be harder for your backup team?”

“That’s not your problem anymore. Considering the pain and confusion we inflicted, it could be easier for them to get them. For now, we’ll let them worry about the diamonds, and we’ll worry about us.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Even with the distance Izzie put between their car and the auction house, her heart still pounded. “Is everybody okay?”

“As you might have noticed, I rely more on artifacts and technomagic,” Caden replied. He grabbed his face and pulled. His skin stretched until the mask popped off, revealing his true, equally handsome face. The mask reverted to its smaller and inactive opaque form.

“It gives me certain advantages in that I don’t need to feed as much magic to my attacks and defenses, but in this case, it’s also cost me half my ammo and one of my two complete healing potions.” He poked the hole in his suit. “Almost dying sucks.”

“I can imagine.”

“I’m basically out,” Rafe reported. “Other than what we have in the trunk.”

“You both did great out there,” Izzie replied. “That could have ended much worse, especially with that witch involved.”

“The one who walked out at the last second?” Rafe asked. “Is that the one you think is with the Syndicate?”

Izzie nodded. “She’s choking on dark magic, and there’s something about her. Being with the Arcane Syndicate isn’t impossible.”

“That explains a lot.” Rafe shook his head. “Damn.”

Caden frowned. “We need to put together a real plan based on the facts on the ground, not assumption and guesswork.”

“What are you getting at?” Rafe asked.

“We have to protect the diadem at all costs. If your partner’s right and the Arcane Syndicate is involved, it complicates matters.” He looked at Izzie. “We’re both low. What about you?”

Izzie checked her mirrors and cameras before swerving around a corner far too fast, not sure where she was driving other than away from the auction house. “I drained a ton of magic. If they corner us again soon, it’ll be a problem.”

“Taking on half of the underworld magicals and their armies wasn’t part of the plan,” Rafe observed. “We need to go to the PDA and secure the diadem. We can let Bill know about the dangers and reinforce security.”

“No.” Caden shook his head. “We can’t do that. They called your partner’s name back there. That means the entire underworld will soon know Agent Izzie Berens of the PDA has the diadem if they don’t know already. They’ll be waiting for us along the way to the PDA.”

“What’s your grand plan?” Izzie shot back. “Take it back to NGMR?”

“Yes. It makes the best sense when you consider all the information. There are ways to arrange drop-offs without going to the main building.” Caden took a moment to load a fresh magazine from his second briefcase into his gun.

“Weren’t you listening earlier? Our investigation pointed to a leak in the government, not in NGMR. If we take it to the PDA, there’s a good chance that diadem will end up back in the underworld even if we don’t get jumped along the way. I didn’t go through all of that to hand the diadem back over to scum.”

Izzie glared at him in the rearview mirror. “You have no solid proof that the PDA is insecure. All you have are vague rumors from internal investigations.”

“Can you guarantee me to the tune of a hundred million dollars that I’m wrong?” Caden challenged. “Are you willing to gamble on the chance of an artifact that might be a dark magic amplifier getting into the hands of the criminal underworld?”

“I’d personally vouch for every PDA agent in this city.” Anger built in Izzie’s voice. “I know them, and I’ve worked with them.”

Caden took a deep breath. He was turning red. “I’m not only talking about your agents. I’m also talking about every support staffer, clerk, and intern throughout that building. Every janitor. Didn’t you work a case a few months ago where a shapeshifter infiltrated the government as part of his scheme?”

“A city maintenance position isn’t the same thing as infiltrating the PDA building and getting anywhere near the secure vaults.” Izzie was annoyed.

Caden narrowed his eyes. “It’s not always the obvious people you have to watch. As a company representative, I can’t agree to hand over the diadem to the PDA without proof it’ll be secure, and as somebody who doesn’t want to see people hurt, I also object.”

Izzie scoffed. “We have the right to secure evidence in matters of paranormal crime.”

“You made assurances to NGMR,” Caden asserted in a chilly voice. “I don’t give a crap about your agency pride right now. Can you stop being stubborn and listen to me?”

Izzie grunted before slapping the steering wheel with her palms. “Damn it. Rafe, what do you think? Am I the weird one here?”

He sighed. “I don’t believe he’s right, Izzie, but if there’s even a five percent chance of the leak being on the government side, taking it to the PDA could be a huge risk. We won’t get another chance at an auction. They’ll tighten security for months after that debacle.”

“I can’t believe you’re agreeing with him.” Izzie’s hands tightened around the wheel. “You think we should take it to NGMR?”

Rafe shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea either.”

Caden looked at Rafe. He frowned but didn’t say anything.

“I believe in you and the PDA, Izzie,” Rafe continued. “But anything important enough that half the people in the underworld are willing to kill PDA agents isn’t something we can risk getting into their hands. We don’t know what it is for certain other than maybe a dark magic amplifier.” He patted the briefcase containing the dangerous artifact.

“That’s true. We still don’t know what we have in that case.” She glanced over her shoulder at Caden. “Any insight into that or Project Smothering Swarm? You’re the one who’s insisting we take it to NGMR. You need to sell the plan better.”

“It’s not my—” Caden began.

“Your job to know,” Izzie interrupted. “You keep going on about shady government leaks, but you don’t know what your bosses were up to. Give me a freaking break.”

“It’s all supervised by the Department of Defense. If you’re implying fundamental corruption, the ball returns to your side of the court, Agent Berens.”

Izzie wanted to whip the car around, head back to the auction house, and demand answers from all the criminals, most of all the veiled witch. Despite doing her best not to end up in a situation like she had with the shapeshifter, everyone was so busy covering their asses, she’d almost died defending an artifact she knew far too little about.

“Aren’t you a little curious?” Izzie asked. “Doesn’t almost dying for something and not knowing why bother you?”

Caden half-closed his eyes and rested his head on the seat. “Of course it bothers me. I’m loyal, but I’m also not an idiot. I’m aware risks remain concerning the company.”

“The last time I assumed a victim had nothing to do with a big investigation, I almost got killed,” Izzie replied. “You’re telling me not to go to the PDA, but you can’t look me in the eye and tell me NGMR is any safer.” She sighed. “I’m going to lay it out for you. There’s no way I’m taking that diadem to NGMR.”

Caden managed a weak smile and opened his eyes. “I admire your dedication, Agent Berens. That puts us in the same predicament as before. I don’t believe it’s safe to take it back to the PDA, and, on some level, I think you know that, too.”

Izzie ground her teeth, trying to think of what they should do. Caden was right. She didn’t know what to do. There were too many variables and not enough information.

Rafe cleared his throat. “What about a third option?”

“I’d love a third option,” Izzie replied.

“We should lie low at a safe house. We need a secure place to hide and regroup, somewhere we know they’ll have trouble getting to us. The less time we spend on the road, the less opportunity we give crazy Wood Elf cosplayers and angry old wizards a chance to ambush us.”

Caden leaned forward with growing interest and excitement on his face. “That’s a good plan, but it can’t be anywhere the PDA or NGMR would know about. Do you have a safe house you could go to that’s not official?” He chuckled. “Before you ask me, the closest I know is hundreds of miles away, and the last thing we should do right now is take a road trip with the diadem.”

Izzie sighed. “I’d suggest my friend Pearl’s place, but I can’t justify putting her through such a risk without asking her first. Just driving there might mean pointing enemies at her. All our PDA safehouses are at risk, too. If there is a leak in the PDA or a sister agency, the underworld will know where to look.”

Rafe eyed the briefcase. “How confident are we about the anti-tracking spells on this thing?”

“We can work more when we get somewhere. The case is suppressing most of the artifact’s magical aura. I can’t feel the dark magic even when it’s this close. That’s a good sign.”

“Then all we need is a safe house that doesn’t involve Pearl, but the PDA doesn’t know about,” Rafe concluded. “We can catch our breath and figure out our next move.” He nodded at Caden and Izzie. “You both can have time to recover magic.”

Izzie turned onto a new street. Despite having no firm destination, she was making her way toward the PDA office until they decided otherwise.

“Do you know of such a convenient place, Agent Martinez?” Caden asked.

“Good question,” Izzie added.

“The active safe house list is redone once a year. Did you know that, Izzie?”

“Huh?” Izzie didn’t have time for trivia. “How does that help us?”

“I’ve read deep into the regulations. The list gets redone once a year, but it’s not like they blow up the building if a safe house falls off it.” Rafe patted the briefcase. “They simply flag it so it doesn’t show in the database as active unless you have high enough access and you’re doing a special search. The only other time it becomes relevant is during that annual review. It can take several years before a place is sold and the supplies recovered.”

Caden grinned. “Good call, Agent Martinez. I’m beginning to like you.”

“I do come up with good ideas now and again.”

Izzie’s eyes widened. “You’re saying there’s a safe house that people won’t know about unless they really go looking?”

“I’m gambling a little,” Rafe admitted. “But I believe if there is a leak on the government end of things, it won’t be someone high up at the PDA if it is the PDA. That means all we need to do is go to a safe house that’s slid off the list without querying the database and drawing anyone’s attention. With our current restrictions, this is the best plan.”

Izzie nodded. “Then the real question is do you know a place.”

Rafe smiled. “I happen to know a place.”

“Then here’s the plan. We’ll go to that safe house and secure it as much as we can with wards. Before we go there, we’ll get a burner phone and call Bill to explain what’s up. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

Caden sighed. “I get we’re not taking this to NGMR, but are you sure about calling your boss?”

“We’re not doing this without letting Bill know. Anyone who shows up at that safe house without us contacting them will be considered a threat.”

“The important thing is the artifact,” Caden conceded. “Everything else is negotiable.”

“Time to find a burner and make a call.”

“We better buy a bunch of burners,” Rafe corrected. “We don’t know how long this will take.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Bill let out an audible growl over the phone. “All we have to go on for this leak is what this security specialist for the company says?”

“Yes,” Izzie confirmed. She stood outside a convenience store near a trash can. She’d driven in the opposite direction of the safe house before grabbing a burner phone from a store. “I’m not sure if I believe him or trust the NGMR internal probe, but if he’s right, we could put this in the PDA building and find it missing the next day.”

She glanced at the car. “Something else bothers me, too. The dark magicals at the auction acted like they knew I’d be there or they’d figured out who we were despite us being in disguise. I can’t be sure our plan wasn’t leaked because they were ready and willing to jump the winner of an underworld auction right next to the auction house.”

“Scum are scum,” Bill replied. “That’s not news.”

“There was a witch there. She wore a veil so I couldn’t see her face, but she was an obvious dark magic user. She might be Arcane Syndicate given what I felt off her, but I’m not sure because she could be something else.”

“That’s wonderfully and annoyingly unclear, Berens.”

“There’s something recognizable about the dark magic the woman gave off,” Izzie explained. “But I can’t put my finger on it. The same feeling came up in the Xelius investigation, but I felt like it was already familiar before I knew about the Arcane Syndicate.”

“I see.” Bill didn’t speak for a few seconds. “I don’t know what we can make of that, so we’ll file it under the Arcane Syndicate might be involved this time. As for the rest, we can figure that out after we handle this diadem situation.”

“You order me to come in, I will. I don’t trust Caden, but I do trust Rafe’s judgment. If he feels off about this, I say we back his play until we have more we can work with.”

“Do what you need. I’ll try to flush out any trouble or leaks on my end. I can give you seventy-two hours. After that, you need to come in. This won’t be the first time you’ve had to do your little fake rogue act.”

“Understood. We’ll get it figured out.”

“Are you sure about this Caden guy?” Bill asked. “NGMR vouches for him, but if they’re trying to hide something from the government, things could get messier than we planned. Whatever else, watch your back.”

“I won’t let him get the drop on me. I can promise you that.” She glanced at the car with a frown. “Seventy-two hours. We’ll disable our phones and leave them at one of our drops so no one can track us until then, along with using temp plates.”

“Good plan. I’m serious. Be careful, Berens. Don’t do anything too reckless. You can’t save the city if you’re dead.”

“Sure. I won’t do anything too reckless.”

Izzie ran her finger along an empty bookshelf. A thick coat of dust covered it and everything else in the small three-bedroom house in a quiet, half-empty north Austin neighborhood. The musty smell only reaffirmed that nobody had been here for months if not a year. She’d never thought an unpleasant odor would smell so much like safety.

“At least the last team to use this place didn’t leave any garbage to rot.” She scanned the furniture. The couches and chairs looked older than she was. The thought brought a welcome chuckle.

Caden sat on the edge of the couch, frowning at the diadem case. They’d set it on the scratched old coffee table in front of the sofa.

Looking at him was strange. They’d only met him before he put on his disguise mask, and now it was hard to shake the feeling that a stranger sat there.

Izzie didn’t know what to make of the man. Her suspicion lingered over his relationship with NGMR, but she trusted that he wanted to protect the diadem. He had plenty of opportunities to shoot her and Rafe in the back during the fight outside the gallery.

He’d been brave and steady under fire when she needed him. She could respect that.

“We need to make practical plans,” Caden urged. “Among other things, we need clothes other than our messed-up fancy wear.” He smiled. His expression was more disarming than Izzie expected.

He gestured at his burned, torn, and dirty tuxedo. “This looks like someone mugged me downtown.”

“You still look good,” Izzie joked. “You know, for a guy in a messed-up tux.”

Caden grinned. “You look good in that dress.”

Izzie blinked. “Uh. Sure.”

She wasn’t sure if he was flirting with her or trying to kill the tension. It had been so long since she thought about her social life outside of grabbing drinks with Rafe or Pearl that she didn’t know how to respond. Being on the run from the underworld only made it worse.

Rafe emerged from a hallway leading to the bedrooms, holding a Cowboys T-shirt and smiling. “It’s not exactly my style, but it’ll do. There are women’s jeans, T-shirts, and low-key jackets in there, along with more men’s clothes.”

He looked at Caden. “You look like you’re about my size. Most of the stuff in there is close to it. Lucky for us.”

Caden grimaced. “I’m not really the T-shirt…” He laughed. “What am I saying? It’s either that or go around town in this tux.”

“Exactly.” Rafe patted his chest. “Cowboys and Longhorns wear around here is like camouflage.”

“I get that, even if I’m not from around here.”

Izzie smiled at Caden. “What do you normally wear when you’re not chasing around deadly artifacts for NGMR?”

“A little more stylish stuff.” Caden shrugged. “I don’t consider it vanity to want to look good.”

Izzie laughed. “Rafe’s not normally the sports T-shirt type of guy, either.”

“Guilty as charged.” Rafe smiled.

All the tension from the auction, fight, and escape had drained away since their arrival at the safe house. In the back of her mind, Izzie expected another ambush. Their successful entry without trouble let her accept they’d escaped for a few hours.

Joking around with her partner and Caden was a welcome relief. That didn’t mean they could let their guard down.

“We’ll have to send someone to grab food later.” Izzie went to the kitchen. “No deliveries.” She looked at Caden. “I’ll start setting up wards soon. Is that something you can help me with?”

Caden opened his second briefcase on the coffee table and pulled out a sheet of silver QR code stickers. “I have just the thing.”

Rafe draped a T-shirt over the arm of a chair. “We can pull the rest of the ammo and gear from the car, including the stuff I grabbed from my apartment, but we’re not talking a huge amount. We won’t be ready to fight off waves of enemies.”

“The point isn’t to have to take on another army of killers.” Izzie shook her head. “We’re lucky we survived that as it is. You’re both solid in a fight, but I don’t want to make another bet that we’ll survive.”

Caden folded his arms. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but it would be safer at NGMR.”

Izzie scoffed, disappointed after believing they had reached an understanding. “You’re the one who insisted there’s a leak.”

“A government leak,” Caden noted.

“Which still got your security team ambushed, and there’s no way I’m handing this over to the company without informing the PDA.”

Caden frowned. “Agent Berens, I’d take personal responsibility for securing that diadem. It wouldn’t be the same as before.”

“I get that, and I trust you.”

His brow lifted. “You do?”

“You didn’t try to kill us when you had the obvious chance.”

Caden chuckled. “Does this mean you’ve been watching and waiting to see if I would jump you?”

“Yes.” Izzie shrugged. “A woman doesn’t spend years on the run from dark wizards without picking up a few survival tricks.”

“I…” Caden’s smile widened. “You know what? There’s nothing wrong with a little paranoia in our lines of work.”

Rafe groaned. “Careful, you’re feeding a monster there.”

“Quiet, you.” Izzie pointed at the case. “Bottom line, that’s not going anywhere until we have a better idea of who we can trust. Full disclosure, that doesn’t mean I trust you completely, Caden. If I’m not awake, the diadem case is either with Rafe or I’m sleeping right next to it with alarm wards.”

Caden smirked. “Ouch. I figured after all that, we’d gotten somewhere.”

“I thought you liked my paranoia.” Izzie smirked. “I don’t know you. We just met, and you work for NGMR. We have overlapping goals, but that doesn’t mean we have all the same goals.”

“You said it yourself. If I was going to mess with you, wouldn’t I have taken the chance at the auction house or on the way here?”

“Maybe. It could be that you’re waiting for your chance. I’m not claiming you’re working for any of those underground criminals. You needed us to get the diadem and get it out of there, so excuse me if I’m not going to blindly trust a man I met a few hours ago. As it is, my instincts more than your insistence on a leak made me decide to come here.”

She sighed and softened her tone. “I’m not saying I think you’re with the criminals. I’m only saying I need to be careful until I’m sure about everything and everyone. There’s too much on the line.”

Caden and Izzie stared at each other in tense silence before Caden looked away. “You’re right. I can’t blame you. You have no reason to trust me. I’d feel the same way if the situation were reversed.”

Rafe sat in a comfy-looking chair featuring an unfortunately hideous shade of orange. “The real question is how we’re supposed to move forward. Being safe is one thing. Figuring out everything else is another.” He gestured at the case. “There’s not much we can do about tracking down leaks while we’re in a safe house. Bill and NGMR can work things all they want, but there’s no guarantee they’ll find anything.”

“Like you said earlier, having time to catch our breath will help,” Izzie replied. “Magic isn’t endless. Once we’re rested, we’ll be ready to go back on offense. I also feel pretty secure at this point.”

Caden nodded. “If it were easy to track this case and diadem, you would have found it before the auction.”

Izzie frowned at the case. “We’ll need to examine it to make sure nothing might lead anyone here. That veiled witch still makes me nervous. I wouldn’t have put it past her to figure out I wasn’t drow and spin up Larim and Talaron.”

“Agreed.”

Rafe frowned at the diadem’s case. “How about this, then? Why don’t I grab food for us while you two examine the case and start laying down wards? I’ll grab enough that we can hunker down for a few days. There should be an open store in the area by now. The sun’s up.”

Caden glanced at the blinds blocking the front window. “What happens after a few days? What if we hit your boss’ seventy-two-hour time limit and don’t know anything more than we already did?”

“Then we go to the PDA. Per our boss’ orders. You should be happy he greenlit this much.”

“I’m impressed,” Caden admitted. “It shows how much he trusts both of you.”

“We get results, and we always remember we’re in this job to protect people.”

Izzie wasn’t sure if leaving was safe for Rafe. She also wasn’t sure if being anywhere was safe for any of them. “Make your shopping run quick. We’ll hold off on the case until you’re back. We need to ward this place first anyway.”

“Okay.” Rafe grabbed the T-shirt. “I’ll finish changing and head out.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Izzie lowered her hands as she finished layering another ward on the front door. She watched Caden out of the corner of her eye as the grinning technowizard slapped a sticker on a wall and pulsed invisible magical power into the sticker to fuel a new ward.

He looked like he was enjoying himself. For that matter, he’d looked like he was enjoying himself during most of the auction and afterward. She couldn’t begrudge a man with a positive attitude, yet she wasn’t sure whether that intrigued or annoyed her.

Caden looked her way. “What is it, Agent Berens? Did you need something?”

“Nothing. I…” She chuckled. “For a man stuck in an off-the-books safe house guarding a dangerous dark magical artifact with two agents who don’t trust him, you seem like you’re in a good mood. For that matter, you got hit earlier.”

“Any fight you can walk away is always a good one. It’s not my first time fighting people trying to kill me.”

“Working corporate security?”

“Among other jobs.” Caden moved a few yards to put up another sticker. “I’m not a danger junkie if that’s what you’re implying. I know my capabilities, and I’m grateful when I don’t die. I never go looking for a fight.”

Variations of dangerous tracking scenarios kept flowing through Izzie’s mind, but they wouldn’t find out anything staring at the case. She hadn’t felt any dark magic from Caden, let alone any familiar dark magic like she had with the veiled witch.

Izzie frowned at that memory. Whoever the witch was, she was dangerous. That much was clear. Izzie wanted to dismiss the woman’s connection to anything that happened, but the final flares of dark magic before their escape and her showing up on the street suggested otherwise.

“I’m on your side, you know.” Caden pressed another sticker beside a window. “I get that you have reasons to distrust me, but I want you to understand that.”

Izzie shrugged and walked to a wall. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You keep glaring and scowling,” Caden said. “You’ve been doing it more since your partner left. I’m serious. Don’t you think I would have taken my shot if I was what you think?”

“I’m not scowling at you. Not mostly, anyway.”

Caden’s brow lifted. “What does that mean?”

“We’re in a secret safe house because we got ambushed and you claimed we can’t trust anyone. Isn’t that enough reason to be annoyed?” She gestured at the case. “If you want me to trust you, tell me what that is and stop holding out on me.”

“I told you I don’t know.”

“I don’t believe you.” Izzie shook her head. “I don’t believe that for a second. I think you know more than you’re letting on, but you’re so convinced that this will end smoothly for NGMR that you don’t want little old PDA agents to know your corporate secrets.”

Caden stepped away from the wall. “Why do you believe that? I know I said I admired a little paranoia earlier, but you’re taking it a bit far.”

“It’s kept me and my partner alive.” Izzie tapped the side of her head. “I’m a powerful magical, but using magic when the people hunting you also have magic means throwing up a flare for them. I spent a long time being hunted when I was younger, often unsure who I could trust other than those closest to me. I had to learn when and when not to use magic.”

Caden stared at her with a sympathetic expression. “I know a little about your background and that dark wizard group, the Seventh Order they mentioned at the gallery. Is that what you’re talking about?”

“Yes.” Izzie frowned. “Partially.”

Talking about her past always annoyed her. Because of her parents, and to a lesser extent her friendships with people like Alison Brownstone, far too many magical people knew about her background. However, not having to hide anymore was nice.

“It goes beyond that.” Her voice softened. She looked into Caden’s eyes. There was something there, understanding, maybe. “When you’re on the run, dangerous people get good at sensing your paranoia and discomfort. They try to take advantage of you, whether magical or non-magical, using your defense mechanisms against you.”

“You think I’m doing that to you?” Caden murmured.

She went to him. “One of the reasons I’m good at my job is all those skills I honed running away from the Seventh Order turned out to be equally useful as a PDA agent. Battle magic, investigation, protecting one’s self and knowing when people are lying to you.” She offered him a thin smile. “If the word lying is too strong, let’s say I’m good at telling when people are holding back.”

Caden folded his arms and looked away. “You don’t know me. You don’t know my story. I’d be careful about assuming you can predict my behavior.”

“I know enough.” Izzie pointed at the diadem’s case. “Did you know that was a dark magic amplifier?”

Caden’s tone turned strident. “It’s not a dark magic amplifier.”

“How are you so sure? Because we felt dark magic before. Don’t feed me that plausible deniability garbage, either. You know more than you’re letting on, and if we’re going to survive this, you need to start sharing the truth. I’ve done that. Rafe’s done that. Your turn.”

She gestured at the case. “Trust is earned, not given.”

Caden eyed the case with a slight frown. “As far as I know, it’s fundamentally a magical control artifact.” He looked uncertain and paused. “The diadem was supposed to mostly serve as a baseline because of its strong ability to draw and recirculate certain types of magical power.”

He sighed. “Yes, including dark magic, but not exclusively dark magic. That’s what I was told. No one mentioned it being an amplifier.”

Izzie searched the man’s face for deception and only found more uncertainty. “The government shouldn’t be messing around with dark magic. Even ignoring that, do you believe it’s that simple? You don’t think something more is going on?”

“If there was a big conspiracy at NGMR, it would be simpler for them to handle it without bringing in underworld robbers, don’t you think? I don’t know how you handle things at the PDA, but I’ve found that the simpler explanation best applies even when magic is involved.”

“You have all the answers.” Izzie scoffed and folded her arms.

Caden shook his head. “Intelligent beings, especially humans, whatever their heritage, aren’t that fundamentally different in their motivations and behaviors. That’s my observation, anyway. Because of that, I don’t tend to worry about elaborate conspiracies.”

Izzie nodded at the case before raising her hands to lay down another ward. “People tried to kill us, and we’re in a safe house because you say there’s a leak. There’s a conspiracy.”

“Sure.” Caden laughed. “You’re missing my point, Agent Berens. It’s not that there aren’t conspiracies. Three guys get together at a bar. Somebody’s going to conspire to screw the fourth guy who couldn’t show up.

“I’m talking about elaborate conspiracies. The thing about those is they’re too complicated. They shake themselves apart. Evil is like most things in life. The simpler, the better.”

Izzie stared at Caden and burst out laughing. “And people call me paranoid.”

Caden offered her a lopsided grin. “My point is I believe bad people are conspiring to steal that diadem. I don’t believe the highest levels of NGMR are involved because it would be easier for them to steal it from within rather than arrange for it to be stolen.”

“Experiments can get out of hand. I’ve seen it before. I’ve even seen it in recent cases. Well-meaning people end up involved in something far more dangerous than they anticipated. By the time they understand how badly they’re in trouble, they don’t see a way out. They start making stupid mistakes.”

“I’ll level with you, Agent Berens. I’ve seen footage of a couple of experiments with the diadem. None involved anyone trying to modify it or build any technomagical direct equivalents. A wizard or a witch specialist goes and handles it a little, and the researchers monitor output. It’s all rather boring and mundane.”

“Why would your boss be willing to risk a hundred million for the diadem? You keep trying to convince me it’s no big deal. I’d believe you except for all the people who tried to murder us over this a few hours ago.”

“Like I said, the diadem possesses a surprisingly strong ability to control different types of magic very efficiently. The company is far more interested in that than the diadem itself. Perhaps if they understood it had that much value, they would have taken even more extreme measures to guard it.” He frowned and looked away. “Mistakes were made. Nobody denies that.”

Izzie shook her head. “I hate it when people say, ‘Mistakes were made.’ It’s all passive. It implies nobody was responsible for making those mistakes, like they happened by themselves.” She scoffed. “Somebody screwed up here, and despite all your paranoia about government leaks, the reality is even your security guards wondered about internal leaks.” She softened her tone. “There’s something in the way you looked just now that makes me wonder…”

Caden stared at the briefcase. “The diadem was purchased for far less than the amount we bid from a reputable source. That was before NGMR earned the government contract based on its known ability to modulate and redirect magical energy. They’ve had it for six months. I…”

He scoffed. “They were shipping it to a DOD site for more secure testing when it was stolen. Without the diadem, they’ll need another artifact, if not several artifacts, that will let them modulate specific magical energy flows in the same way to continue their research. That might explain why they’re so desperate. The entire project could fall apart, and all their investment and time before now would be a huge waste.”

Izzie wasn’t convinced. “You’re saying it’s nothing sinister?”

Caden looked up. “You also have to understand how competitive contracts in this area are. The government barely trusts magic and barely trusts private companies to do research on it. Their trust lost on this even once could be enough to doom a company to never getting another government contract.”

“Is that everything you know?” Izzie cared less about the fear over contracts than the new information about the shipping plans for the diadem. “Why did NGMR suddenly need a more secure testing site? Did something happen?”

Caden looked away. “I…”

Izzie spun away from the wall she’d been preparing to ward. “If you know something, tell me. You want me to trust you? Start trusting me, damn it.”

“Something happened during a recent testing session. Nobody was hurt. All I know is something unusual happened, and they no longer felt the artifact was secure at NGMR.”

“Thank you for telling me that. I’m not being sarcastic. That’s useful to know.”

Caden shook his head and grabbed another ward sticker. “Is it, though?”

Izzie processed everything she’d learned. Something didn’t add up despite Caden’s newfound honesty. Despite her hatred of dark magic, everyone’s constant reminders that the research and use of dark magic wasn’t technically illegal in the country were true. The government only discouraged it because of the types of sinister spells it tended to fuel.

In many cases, the government had attempted to handle that by passing relevant laws against mind control, unwilling life force donation, and the like. Simply banning dark magic would have been far more effective than trying to nibble away at the dark well fed by its practitioners. Still, no one in power would ever unilaterally set aside anything they might need in their back pocket as a weapon.

The level of secrecy involved in the project smelled of something far more sinister than trying to avoid a PR disaster. Brandon Brundle wanted the truth buried. Izzie wasn’t sure whether Caden knew the complete truth, but this case wouldn’t end until Izzie uncovered it.

“What is Project Smothering Swarm? Do you know?”

Caden smiled. Izzie had never seen a faker yet more handsome smile. She sighed with true and deep disappointment.

“I don’t know.”

“Because you’re not paid to know?” Izzie shook her head. “Whatever you’re hiding from me, I’ll find out soon anyway. All you’re doing is wasting our time.” She nodded at the case. “Because we’re going to take a close look at that diadem, and we’ll find out its real deal.”

“Believe what you want, Agent Berens. That doesn’t change the fact we’re on the same side. I only hope you’ll believe that by the time this is all over.”

“We’re on the same side for now. I think you’re still holding back. At the same time, I want to trust you.”

“Then build on that. No matter how powerful you are, you can’t do this alone.” Caden nodded at the door. “Agent Martinez is a good partner, but he’s not a magical. Having another magical to have your back will keep you alive.”

Izzie motioned to the kitchen. “I’ll trust you to put up wards.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

By the time Rafe returned, Izzie’s accumulated exhaustion weighted every step despite the brightening daylight. Her lingering paranoia wasn’t enough to offset all the magic she’d burned from their first arrival at the galley through fortifying the safe house. That included setting up all the wards and defensive spells, plus additional containment and anti-tracking wards around the case. She’d need to rest soon or fall over, but they still had an important clue to examine.

She said nothing until they’d brought in the last grocery bag. Everyone needed time to decompress without their loyalty or minds being challenged. She understood that despite clinging to doubts about Caden.

His tendency to flash a disarming smile didn’t sell corporate security. There was something more there, and he was far more than he appeared. Only the total lack of dark magic from him kept Izzie from freaking out too much.

After putting the groceries away, Izzie sat on the couch in front of the case. She kept going over what Caden mentioned about the diadem suddenly being shipped to a more secure location and the implications.

She spared a glance at Caden. Like Izzie, the technowizard had changed out of his formal wear and into jeans and a T-shirt. Izzie thought he looked pretty good despite his earlier fashion complaints. There was still something about him, an intensity and almost sleek, feline quality in the way he moved, that left her uneasy.

Caden moved like a dangerous man. He’d proven in the alley that he could be one. The question was whether he was a danger to her and Rafe.

She couldn’t blame him too much. She was a dangerous woman. That was why she knew to be careful.

“Everyone ready?” Izzie indicated the case.

“It’s not like it’s going to blow up.” Caden chuckled. “We opened it at the gallery without any trouble.”

“They could have trapped the case somehow. There’s still too much we don’t understand about the diadem. This will be the first step to figuring it out.”

“I’m ready,” Rafe replied.

“Me, too,” Caden added.

Izzie raised her palm and whispered a spell. A shimmering containment dome appeared over the case. She reached for the case and opened it.

Magical energy flowed off the diadem, including the unmistakable sensation of dark magic. It didn’t invoke the déjà vu-like sensation she’d experienced at the gallery near the veiled witch. As Caden had alluded, plenty of non-dark magic poured off the artifact. So far, everything was similar to what she’d sensed before.

Rafe crouched on the other side of the coffee table and peered at the diadem. “What does it feel like?”

“Trouble,” Izzie muttered.

“I agree,” Caden replied.

Rafe put on his sunglasses and tapped the side to activate magical flow visualization mode. “Huh. Have you looked at the flows coming out of the thing, not just sensed them?”

Izzie frowned. She glanced at Caden, who watched Rafe with a stunned look. Taking that as an invitation, Izzie raised her hand and murmured a new spell, accompanying it with the appropriate movements. The magical energy lit up before her, including the mottled and more sinister dark magic flows.

Beyond the additional confirmation of the strong presence of dark magic, the flows looped back on the diadem in a series of overlapping dense ribbons. They presented a noticeable gap around Rafe. Izzie didn’t know what that meant, but she hadn’t seen anything similar outside of anti-magic fields.

“Those aren’t anti-magic clothes, are they?” Izzie gestured at his T-shirt.

Rafe laughed. “It would be great if they had anti-magic T-shirts and jeans. As far as I know, nobody’s achieved that yet.”

“What do you think?” Izzie indicated the diadem.

“I’ve read about magical artifacts that don’t work for people who can’t initiate a connection with their magic.” Rafe tapped the side of his glasses to take pictures. “This seems like something different.”

“It is. Even if you don’t have your magic to draw on, it’s not like the old days now that the gates are cracked open.”

“No need to go to kemanas to recharge,” Rafe noted.

“Exactly.” Izzie leaned closer to the diadem. “There’s always a little magic in the background. Give it a few millennia, and everywhere will be like the Magical District.”

Caden leaned forward. His contacts lit up with faint blue light. “This is interesting. I didn’t hear about this.” He looked at Rafe. “You sure you don’t have anything anti-magical on you?”

Rafe shook his head. “I wish. I put the backpack emitter in the bedroom, along with my boxes of anti-magic bullets and grenades from the trunk. That’s all I have.”

“I don’t understand these flows.” Caden frowned. “I don’t understand what they mean.”

Izzie instructed, “Reach toward the diadem, Rafe. But don’t touch it.”

“Hey.” Caden shook his head. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I don’t think it’s going to hurt him if that’s what you’re saying. If being near it would hurt him, he’d already be showing signs.”

“I’m fine.” Rafe stretched his arm toward the diadem and stopped an inch short. “I don’t feel any different.”

The magic flows adjusted to curve around him. Izzie reached for the diadem. The magic flows didn’t change.

“Is there something you need to tell me about your partner, Izzie?” Caden narrowed his eyes at Rafe. “And what he is?”

“I’m right here.” Rafe patted his chest. “You can talk to me, Caden.”

“I’ve never seen anything react like this to him,” Izzie replied. “Which means there’s nothing I need to tell you about him because it’s not Rafe that’s special here. It’s the diadem.”

Rafe chuckled. “Ouch. You went right there, Izzie. My mom always says I’m special.”

Izzie risked poking the diadem. Nothing much happened. She felt the artifact’s power. The flows fluctuated for a brief flicker before returning to their previous pattern.

She looked at Caden. “Do you know anything about the artifact’s handling procedures?”

“NGMR maintained it in a warded and reinforced chamber at all times.”

Izzie raised an eyebrow. “See? It’s not so hard to tell us what we need to know.”

“We weren’t supposed to be sitting in a safe house with this artifact after winning it. Everything about this mission has gone tits up.” Caden frowned. “That doesn’t change the fact that I’m supposed to bring it back to NGMR. Cooperating with you will help with that.”

Izzie gestured at the diadem. “Go ahead and touch it.”

“Why?”

“Because it didn’t blow up, and I’m trying to see how it reacts to different people. The flows aren’t avoiding you. They’re passing through like they are me.” She shrugged. “I didn’t blow up, so you won’t blow up. Whoever moved the diadem to this new case didn’t blow up.”

Caden toward the diadem. He stopped, took a deep breath, and tapped it with the tip of his pinkie. The magical flow fluctuation was no different than when Izzie touched it.

“Okay.” Izzie cracked her knuckles. “That’s all in line with it controlling magic. It’s a diadem, so I’m betting it doesn’t amplify anything unless you wear it.” She looked at Rafe, who looked too excited. “Don’t worry. Nobody’s wearing it.”

“Ah.” Rafe grinned. “I hoped to get promoted from magical underworld gangster to king.”

Izzie poked the diadem again. “I’m curious what would happen if you touched it.”

“No!” Caden shouted.

Izzie jerked her head toward him. “Why?”

“It’s dangerous.” Caden shook his head. “We can all see the strange flows around him. I would think you’d be more respectful of your partner’s life, Agent Berens.”

“I’m fine with it.” Rafe narrowed his eyes.

“Those strange flows make me think it’s less dangerous to him,” Izzie observed. “Unless you know something else you’d like to share with us.”

Caden stared at the diadem. His jaw was tight. Izzie didn’t need to develop spontaneous telepathy or use clever magic to know the man was still holding back on them.

“Tell me now. I won’t ask again. If you don’t tell me the damned truth right now, we’re getting in that car, driving straight to the PDA, and locking this thing up.”

“Any non-magical handling the diadem risks destroying its magical modulation ability.” Caden’s shoulders slumped. “And no, I don’t know much more than that. It’s something that was mentioned during the tests. They were very careful to only have actively magical personnel handle it, even going so far as to note that any researchers who couldn’t produce active spells should never touch it.”

Izzie snatched the diadem and tossed it to Rafe. “Catch.”

He grabbed it and stared at it. “I don’t feel anything, but do you see what I see?”

Izzie nodded. “The flows are no longer going around you. They’re going through you like you’d expect… Damn. I hoped it would lose its abilities.”

Magical energy pulsed off the diadem. Rafe took a picture with his sunglasses before he dropped the diadem in the case and backed away. Izzie and Caden backed away, too. More magic poured off the diadem in strong waves before the flows returned to normal and avoided Rafe.

“Anything, Rafe?” Izzie asked.

“Fine. I don’t feel anything. If I didn’t have the glasses on, I wouldn’t have thought to put it back in the case.”

Caden stared at Izzie. “Are you insane, Agent Berens? Are you purposefully trying to destroy…” He paused for a moment as if searching for the perfect words. “Company property?”

“It was an experiment. If I have to destroy company property to save lives, I will.”

Izzie was trying to investigate a crime. She didn’t care if she destroyed a dangerous magical artifact along the way. It would be one less threat in the world. Every revelation about the diadem convinced her that Brandon Brundle and NGMR had been playing with a dangerous tool like it was a toy.

“I…” she began and stopped as a strange song came from the diadem, like a choir singing mixed with instruments yet not quite that. “Is that…light elven?” After a moment, the sounds didn’t change, yet the meaning of the words burrowed into her consciousness.

When true night falls, the light, dark, and the rest will flow together. An army will rise. An army already defeated.

The darkness will come after the day. The gates will reopen. He has foreseen it. His army will rise in a land of magnificent strangeness. There he will take his power.

Rafe blinked several times. “I understood that. Should I have understood it? I don’t know light elven.”

“We all understood,” Izzie observed. “There’s an inherent translation spell in the diadem.” She stared at the artifact. “I get it. The non-magical touching the diadem and destroying it warning was a lie, a cover-up to ensure no one triggered this prophecy.”

“But why would somebody put a prophecy into a magical artifact that only triggers when a non-magical touches it?” Caden’s surprise appeared genuine.

“Because somebody wanted to make sure it ended up on Earth.”

“It goes beyond that.” Rafe hopped to his feet and pointed. “I know that exact prophecy. I’ve heard it before.”

Caden’s eyes widened. “What? You couldn’t have. Are you saying you’re familiar with this artifact?”

“I’ve never seen it before we started this investigation. It was that line about the magnificent strangeness. It’s really specific and stuck with me. There was a period last year where I was trying to look for any prophecies associated with Austin, you see, because of all the magical events that have happened here.”

“Prophecies aren’t always reliable,” Izzie countered. “I’d go so far as to say most aren’t. The future isn’t fixed. Prophecies are like the magical version of those news articles that give an alarming statistic and say, ‘If trends continue, this will happen.’”

“It’s not like they’re always wrong either.” Rafe shrugged. “The important thing is in doing that research, I learned the name Austin can mean great or magnificent. I mean, come on, a land of magnificent strangeness? That has to refer to Austin.”

“This is the other thing I hate about prophecies. They’re far too open to interpretation.” Izzie poked the diadem. Nothing happened. “You’re telling me this diadem was set up with a specific prophecy about armies of darkness that are supposed to come to Austin? An old faction defeated that will rise again and come here?”

Rafe shook his head. “I don’t know. It mentions the gates. That means the prophecy has to be at least a few decades old.”

Caden groaned. He hadn’t recovered his standard cool, detached calm. “Aren’t you two jumping the gun? Just because there’s a random weird spell on it doesn’t mean it’s a prophecy.”

“Then what do you think it is?” Izzie asked. “It’s interesting that NGMR was so specific about non-magicals handling the diadem.” She scoffed. “They lied, like I said before. Someone there knew that if a non-magical handled the diadem, that prophecy would pop out. Then they’d have to answer questions about how safe this diadem was when it predicted the return of an army.”

Caden stared at the diadem with a frown. “I’m beginning to think you might be onto something, Agent Berens. For full disclosure, nobody informed me about any prophecies in relation to this artifact.”

“An army will rise,” Rafe quoted. “An army already defeated, and even if we know where they’re coming from, we can’t be sure about their source. I don’t like the sound of that.” He grimaced. “What if it’s something worse than we think? What if someone like Rhazdon is coming back? You know…again.”

The name invoked a shiver in Izzie. Her mother had helped face down the threat of the dark Atlantean decades ago. Rhazdon represented the first major magical threat of the new era. There was one detail that convinced her Rafe’s interpretation was wrong.

Izzie shook her head. “The prophecy said, ‘His army will rise.’”

“But maybe the person who set the prophecy didn’t know the truth about Rhazdon,” Rafe suggested.

Red-faced, Caden walked over and slammed the case closed. “This diadem has nothing to do with crazy Atlantean maniacs who are gone. We have zero proof there’s any accuracy to it either.”

“For someone who doesn’t believe the prophecy, you seem really worked up all of a sudden,” Izzie replied.

“We shouldn’t be messing around with the diadem. We don’t know what it can do. You’re the one who’s convinced it’s so dangerous. That’s all the more reason to leave it alone.” He took a deep breath and spoke more calmly. “I understand we need to investigate the diadem. At the same time, we need to be careful we don’t cause the trouble we’re trying to avoid.”

Rafe dropped into his chair with a thoughtful look. “Assuming it is accurate, maybe the prophecy’s already been fulfilled? We keep assuming it’s referencing the future, but the more I think about it, the more I realize all kinds of dark armies have come and gone since the gates started reopening. Rhazdon, the Galbrathians…” He looked at Izzie and shrugged. “The Seventh Order. That’s only the start of a long list.”

“But if your theory about magnificent strangeness is right, it cuts down on the explanations,” Izzie countered. “The threat would have had to be something that came to Austin, not an army of dark magic-using magicals to show up on Earth or Oriceran in the last few decades.”

She shivered. She tried to remind herself that the Seventh Order was destroyed far from Austin. They’d been annihilated. She was free.

Caden took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I still don’t get how you knew about the prophecy.” He held his hands up in a placating gesture. “No offense, but you’re not a magical.”

“I consider myself a fine amateur scholar of magical history,” Rafe replied. “It’s been helpful in this job.” He pulled out his burner phone and tapped around before typing more freely. “Who would have thought?”

“What now?” Izzie asked.

“It’s not that obscure a prophecy since it came up in a basic web search.” Rafe laughed. “I get it now. No wonder I’d heard it before. I remember the book I read it from. It was in a book called Gates in Transition: A Prophetic Perspective.”

“Sounds a little boring,” Izzie replied in a moment of brutal honesty.

Rafe shrugged with a faint smile. “I was really into prophecies for a while, but I was disappointed to see how even on Oriceran, most don’t lead to anything useful that people wouldn’t have figured out otherwise.”

He gestured at his phone. “Here’s the interesting part. The prophecy we heard has been mentioned before, although the original source wasn’t recorded. It was paired with another prophecy that only came down in history in pieces. There’s one clear line that translates as ‘The balance can be altered by concentrating the power taken from another.’

“Some theories say this is about threatening to awaken an ancient evil and that kind of thing, but there’s no clear evidence of it. And there’s no extant prophecy text that can be linked directly to the other prophecy.”

Izzie frowned at the case. “I had a bad feeling about all this from the beginning, but now I really have a bad feeling. We’ve gone from this diadem allegedly being safe to dangerous prophecies about ancient evils.”

Caden looked between the case and Rafe. “Assuming any of this wild interpretation and guesswork is right, that doesn’t change anything right away.” He nodded toward the front door. “If anything, it makes not doing anything hasty more important than before because it means the leak is a major threat.”

“Bill is working the leaks on his end,” Izzie noted. “But I’m not sure that’s enough.”

“We could sit tight,” Rafe suggested. “Bill knows better than we do who to bring in from the PDA and FBI to investigate that kind of thing.”

Izzie frowned. “But we have no idea if this thing will activate if it’s not in a more secure environment. I’d like tons of layers of anti-magic over it to feel safe.”

Caden was paler than before as he narrowed his eyes at the case. “Before we commit to any course of action, there’s one important thing we need to figure out.” He nodded at the case. “We need to know if that’s an immediate threat. That’ll change the calculations for all of this.”

“You finally understand that corporate profit isn’t the only consideration?” Izzie was a little surprised.

“I always understood that, Agent Berens.” Caden offered a weak smile. “There’s also the chance you’re completely wrong about this.”

“Sure, bad guys robbed a heavily guarded convoy and dark wizards and evil elves tried to steal this thing because they needed a fashionable accessory.” Izzie patted the case. “We need to figure out what we can do until the leak is sealed.” She pulled out her burner phone. “Step one, hit the ’net. You’d be surprised how much info is out there.”

“Actually, I wouldn’t.”

Caden reached into the second briefcase and pulled out a thin roll of tape. Izzie squinted and leaned forward. A mix of QR codes and glyphs covered it.

“I should have used that before Agent Martinez started his search.” Caden nodded at Rafe. “This will help defeat magical and conventional computer tracking. It’ll darken and vaporize when it runs out of power.”

“You can call me Rafe,” he said. “Calling us by our last names when we’re all hiding out together in a safe house feels weird.”

Caden smiled. “Okay. Rafe it is.”

“You can call me by my first name if you want,” Izzie added. “Rafe’s right. We’re working together now.”

“I thought you didn’t trust me.” He grinned and added, “Izzie.”

“I trust you more now that I see you understand the big picture and what’s important. Plus, Rafe and I need all the help we can get investigating the diadem.” She gave Caden an expectant look. “To be clear, if you know anything else about it, you should tell us now.”

Caden shook his head. “I’ve told you what I know. I was called in from out of town and briefed on what they thought I needed to know. It’s clear now that NGMR held back certain pieces of information.”

He pulled out a burner phone. “I’ll use one of these later to send a message to people I trust and dump the phone. I think I can help push the leak investigation from a different end.”

“You’ll let me see that before you do, won’t you?” Izzie kept her tone polite. She couldn’t help the lingering paranoia.

“That’s fair. I’ll do that.”

“Okay. Then you’ll send the message and throw the phone immediately. It’s risky as it is. Remember, we’re only in this safe house because you insist there’s a government leak.”

Caden’s subtle shift in attitude was welcome. Learning that his boss might have been messing around with a dangerous artifact didn’t guarantee he wouldn’t grab the artifact and run if concerns over corporate loyalty outweighed his conscience.

Rafe held out his phone. “Tape me up, Caden. It’s time for a little online research.”

“You do that,” Izzie agreed. “Caden and I will strengthen the wards. I think we’ll need all of Bill’s seventy-two hours.” She frowned. “By the way, is Caden your real name?”

Caden laughed. “Yes. Caden. Caden Sonnell.”

“Welcome to the right side, Caden Sonnell.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Rafe shook his head and held up his phone. “The problem with magical libraries and resources is they don’t get that people might need to read something without going to the physical library. Welcome to the twenty-first century, people. Why can’t everyone be with it like infomancers?”

Izzie stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room. Her body and eyelids were heavy with exhaustion. She wasn’t satisfied with the safe house’s current ward and defense levels.

It had been over two hours since they checked the artifact. They had kept the diadem’s case closed since then. The lack of assassins or murderous concrete men suggested nobody knew where they were. Either that or their enemies were polite enough to let them get some rest before trying to murder them.

“I keep thinking about the veiled woman at the gallery,” Izzie mused.

Rafe looked up from his phone. “She had the streaked hair, right?”

Izzie nodded. “Yes, her.”

“That doesn’t sound like anyone you can remember?”

“Not offhand, but that could be something she was doing for the auction. I have no idea what she really looks like.”

Rafe nodded. “What about her? Do you think she’s Arcane Syndicate?”

“I don’t know.” Izzie shrugged. “We talked briefly, and she walked away. She might have been staff for the auction, or one of the main leaders. She’s the one who came outside right before we got away. I have a hard time believing that was a coincidence.”

“Did she say anything important that you can remember?” Rafe watched Izzie with obvious concern. “I know she wouldn’t admit to being the Queen of All Evil, but maybe something that sounds more sinister in retrospect than it did at the time.”

“We mostly talked about one of the weird paintings.” Izzie frowned. “Uh, the Mondrian.”

“The what?”

“He’s an abstract painter. One of his paintings was there. Little colored squares and lines.”

“Oh.” Rafe frowned. “Art history is a weakness of mine. So, she’s an Evil Queen of Darkness who likes abstract paintings?”

Izzie snickered. “She was really into the spiritual value of art and thought I was a drow at the time. I don’t know if she was trying to defend human art to an elf or if she was trying to test me and see through my disguise.”

“She didn’t say anything about the auction?”

Izzie thought back and shook her head. “Not that I can remember. I sensed dark magic from her, similar to what I’ve been telling you. A little familiar, but nothing concrete. It’s so weird. It’s driving me crazy.”

Rafe narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think it’s crazy for us to assume she’s a member of the Syndicate.”

Izzie nodded. “A vague sensation isn’t much evidence, even by my paranoid standards. It’s hard to tell how much of it is real and my perception. That also doesn’t explain why I feel like I encountered it before the Syndicate, but we can always catch her and ask.”

“The Syndicate wanting a powerful, dangerous artifact makes sense.” Rafe glanced at his phone. “Based on what we know from Xelius and what’s happened since that incident, it would make sense that they’d operate through third parties, which would explain why we haven’t run into your mystery feeling since Xelius.”

“Like I said, this goes beyond them,” Izzie repeated. “Even when I sensed the semi-familiar dark magic during that case…” She sighed. “That’s the thing, Rafe. I don’t like the idea there’s something I’m missing.”

Rafe nodded. “You mentioned that before, but I didn’t know what to make of it. I can see magical flows with my PDA glasses, but I’m not a magical. It’s like trying to describe a painting to someone who has never had any sight.”

He smiled. “I trust your instincts on this, Izzie, and I think it’s a good thing we decided to hit a safe house. We’ve already seen how careful the Arcane Syndicate can be. We’ll have to match that caution to beat them.”

“I don’t know if anything real is there,” Izzie stressed. “That’s why I haven’t pushed these feelings much with Bill, but now I have a direct person to associate with them, which makes me feel more and less paranoid at the same time.”

“We know a dark witch is involved.” Rafe shrugged. “I’ll chalk it up to more dangerous people being involved, but this is all the more reason for us to figure out more information about the diadem and prophecy.” He frowned at his phone. “That’s the problem. I’m not so sure we’ll be able to do that from here.”

Caden emerged shirtless from the hallway and yawned. “I keep wondering if the team recovered the diamonds.” He chuckled and sat on the couch. “You should have let me check earlier when I sent that message.”

Izzie shook her head. “I’m not taking any chances. You’re the one who convinced us of a leak.”

“I applaud your dedication and focus.” Caden yawned again, this time far longer, and put his hands behind his head, highlighting his arm and shoulder muscles. “You really are living up to your reputation.”

Izzie motioned at him. “Shouldn’t you have a shirt on?”

“I was sleeping.” Caden grinned. “Why?”

“If you have to jump to avoid a spell or bullet, it’s nice to have a little protection for your skin.” Izzie didn’t want to admit it was distracting.

Caden’s grin shifted to a smirk. “Oh. I see.”

“I’m still not convinced hiding with the diadem’s the best bet.” Izzie motioned at the case. “It’s dangerous. Come on, you understand that now, right? They didn’t tell you everything because they didn’t want you to know everything, which means we could have leaks and trouble on both sides.”

“I accept all that.” Defeat and annoyance edged Caden’s voice. “That only makes it more dangerous to take it to the PDA or anyone connected to the government until your boss can find the leakers. NGMR security isn’t the only one who can be ambushed.”

“Any leaks will talk about NGMR, too.”

Caden waved his hands in front of her. “Calm down, Izzie. I’m not saying we take the diadem anywhere yet.”

“Me, neither. I just…” Izzie glared at the briefcase. “We need a real plan other than searching our phones for bits and pieces of whatever somebody decided to upload to the Internet. We won’t figure out who the leak is from here, and I hate leaving it all up to Bill.”

“I’ve been thinking more about this. Only a handful of people could have known the cargo was the diadem. If there’s a government leak, it’s most likely in the Department of Defense. That makes this more complicated because it means even if we could establish NGMR and the PDA are safe, the diadem’s still at risk without knowing who in the DOD might be a problem.”

“Which pushes us back to our original problem. We’re stuck in a safe house using burner phones and don’t have most of our normal resources.”

Rafe threw up a hand in disgust and glared at his phone. “Come on, people.” He groaned. “You’d think magical libraries could use spells to auto transcribe this stuff so somebody could upload it somewhere for review. I’m finding references to books, scrolls, and even the Tablet of Many Changes, whatever that is, but everything with the actual details isn’t online.”

He shook his head. “You’re right, Izzie. This isn’t going to work.”

Izzie tried to placate him with a sympathetic smile. “You can’t be that surprised. I’d say at least half our cases involve us ending in a musty old magical library somewhere and probably will for the next twenty years.”

“We need to know more about the diadem before we make our next move, right? That means we need to get to a magical library. Everyone agrees we’re stuck here, and we can keep going round and round about what we should do, but we need to know what the diadem is capable of to weigh the risks properly.”

Izzie’s smile disappeared. “I know, but two PDA agents showing up at any of the local magical libraries will draw attention. Even if we don’t make a big show, many of the staff will recognize us. The next thing we know, magical underworld assassins will show up looking for the diadem and innocent people will get hurt.”

Caden folded his arms. “I have an idea that might help.”

“I’m willing to listen to anything that doesn’t involve another fight.”

“I know a place you could go. A magical library where the staff won’t immediately recognize you, especially if you use a disguise. It’s a private facility with minimal traffic, so there’s less chance of somebody watching it and waiting for you.”

Izzie groaned. “Why did you have to put more paranoid thoughts into my head? Besides, nobody’s going to let us look through their private magical materials if they don’t know who we are.”

“The place is often empty or mostly empty.” Caden nodded toward the hallway. “You see, I have a security pass that could get us into a private magical library maintained by NGMR. It shouldn’t raise too many questions, although I suggest we both use disguises on the off chance someone is there.”

“Isn’t the pass associated with you already? Won’t they be confused about why a stranger is using it?”

Caden shook his head. “I was brought in from outside of town. The pass is temporary, but there’s still a chance it will get flagged in the system if someone is specifically looking for me and puts two and two together. It’s a good risk versus reward strategy for getting more information. At this point, we have to take risks.”

Rafe looked hopeful. “I doubt the bad guys will look for library access when they’re hunting for the diadem. I found tons of references that might relate to the diadem, but they’re all dead-ending online. We need real library access.”

Izzie eyed the case. “We can’t remove that artifact from this safe house until we’re moving it somewhere we know we can trust, and there’s no way I’m leaving it unguarded.”

“I could give you my pass,” Caden offered. “All you’ll need is the code to go with it. I can…” He stared at Izzie. “You still don’t trust me.”

“Not entirely, no.” She shrugged. “Sorry.”

“It’s not because I don’t have a shirt on, is it?”

Izzie rolled her eyes. “That only contributes to about ten percent of my issue right now.”

Caden laughed. “If I’m out to get you, why haven’t I called a strike team in?”

“I’m not saying you’re working with the underworld. I also haven’t sensed any dark magic from you. That doesn’t change the fact you’re not working for the PDA, and you still have a professional interest in your company getting that diadem back.”

She sighed. “I…want to trust you completely. I really do, but I’m also operating away from the PDA in an off-the-books safe house. I need to be more careful than normal.”

Caden looked disappointed. “I thought we’d come to an understanding. What if I allowed you to do a truth spell on me? You can check as much as you want to make sure I’m not using an artifact or a counterspell. I reserve the right not to answer everything.”

“You don’t have to lie to screw us over.” Izzie shook her head. “You might change your mind while we’re at the library. I can’t take that chance.”

“You are one of the most paranoid people I’ve ever met.” Caden chuckled. “That’s saying something in my line of work. You shouldn’t be working for the PDA. You should be working for someone like the CIA.”

Izzie harumphed. “We have a dangerous artifact of unknown capability and a weird prophecy attached that mentioned an army. In my experience in that type of situation, a little paranoia is justified.”

“There’s always a threat like that out there, you know.” Caden’s tone was breezier, and all the tension and hurt had left his expression. “There are always prophecies and dark conspiracies. I’m not saying you should ignore them, but you’ll burn yourself out if you stay this tightly wound over every little incident.”

Rafe frowned at Caden. “With all due respect, Izzie has dealt with this since she was a kid. She has more insight than the average magical.”

Izzie was surprised to hear him talk like that. He was normally the one arguing she was too paranoid and seeing imaginary assassins in every shadow. Getting ambushed in the alley must have focused his concern.

Caden’s look turned contemplative. “Experience does come in different forms. I’ll be the first to admit that.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and yawned again. “We’re all exhausted, and our magic is low. Going out in public anytime soon is a bad idea, so how about an alternative?”

“Does it get us the information we need?” Izzie asked.

“It should.” Caden gestured at Rafe. “First, he gets a little rest, and later, he stays and guards the case while you and I go to the library, Izzie. He can give you the references he found, and we can see what we can find there. That way we split the work, you can keep an eye on the suspicious shirtless technowizard, and we both know the diadem’s being watched by a trustworthy person. Sound fair?”

“We do need more information, Izzie.” Rafe shook his phone. “Two of you there will make it go faster. If I so much as spot a weird sparkle, I’ll call you right away.”

“I presume you plan to wear a shirt in the library,” Izzie muttered.

“Maybe.” Caden smiled.

Izzie thought the plan over. She needed to know the diadem’s true nature and more about the prophecy before risking exposing the artifact to the underworld again. In the best-case scenario, Bill’s pressure would help find and plug the leak. Then they could take the diadem to the PDA building for protection and storage while they figured out everything else.

Lingering concern about the dark magic she’d felt at the galley nagged her. She wasn’t sure if it was relevant to the case. It could be nothing more than enchantments from a dangerous veiled witch with a hidden role in the underworld, annoyed that a PDA agent infiltrated her auction.

“Okay.” Izzie looked at Caden. “Thanks. When this is all over and we have the diadem secure, we can all go out and have a drink together, something to prove I trust you. I know you think I’m a crazy, paranoid woman, but I won’t take any risks with this city I’m sworn to protect.”

“A drink?” Caden grinned. “Now I’m motivated.”

Izzie opened her mouth, intending to clarify that she meant a drink with Rafe and her. “Whatever gets you to do a good job.”

Rafe’s brow lifted. He smiled, and Izzie had never been so happy that her partner didn’t say something.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The car rumbled along the side streets of Austin. The afternoon traffic wasn’t too bad. A solid rest, bolstered by the contentment of sleeping with the case in her arms, left Izzie’s muscles and magic ready for more trouble. Still, like Caden in the driver’s seat, she sported bags under her eyes. Fighting evil wasn’t always a nine-to-five job.

Izzie let Caden drive because he knew the way, and riding as a passenger left Izzie’s hands free for any spells she might need to cast should her trust in Caden prove misplaced.

Caden remarked, “If I were going to kill or betray you, wouldn’t I have done it by now?”

Izzie looked at him. “Where did that come from?”

“I can tell. You’re watching me out of the corner of your eye.” Caden smiled. “And you keep one palm pointed at me at all times. I saw you fight in the alley, remember? I know you can cast fireballs and light bolts without incantations and do it damned fast. You’re a magical machine gun.”

“I’ve had a lot of practice.”

“I can imagine.”

“Good awareness,” Izzie added. “I’m impressed. I can tell you’ve been in plenty of fights yourself. I didn’t know what to think when the company mentioned sending someone. I expected…someone more corporate and less skilled.”

“I’m glad I have your approval. A woman with your experience and reputation can be hard to impress. Normally, that wouldn’t be a big problem, but I wouldn’t be in an off-the-books safe house with two random PDA agents convinced I’m suspicious.”

Izzie chuckled, imagining how crazy the situation was from Caden’s perspective. “You took a nasty hit in that fight and didn’t let it shake you up. That was far from your first nailbiter.”

“I know my way around a fight.” Caden glanced into the rearview mirror. “Man, I look like crap.” He scratched the corner of his eye. “I’m going to sleep for a week after this is all done.”

“Same here. I wasn’t well-rested before hitting the bridge that first day.”

Prior to that conversation, they hadn’t spoken much since leaving the safe house. Izzie checked her burner phone every couple of minutes to ensure she hadn’t accidentally missed a message from Rafe. Every mile they drove, she thought about calling Bill and asking for a tactical support escort back to the PDA building. Then her lingering concern about a traitorous operator stealing the diadem squashed the idea.

She trusted and believed in Bill. If he told her they’d found the leak and to come back in, she would do it without question. Meanwhile, she needed to figure out what they’d grabbed from underneath the noses of the magical underworld.

“I hope this library can deliver,” Izzie mused.

“I hope so too, but I also can’t offer you any guarantees. You’re lucky I know about the library. They happened to give me a pass in case I needed to check on background information, but I’m not normally the research type, and I don’t lean as much into traditional magic, so…” He shrugged. “Consider yourself lucky. Or consider it fate as part of the prophecy.”

“Fate cuts both ways.” Izzie shook her head. “We’re not lucky. We have a leak and can’t bring in our support teams. The diadem is a dangerous artifact linked to a prophecy, and there’s far too much we don’t know about it.”

Caden burst out laughing.

Izzie frowned and glared at him. “What’s so funny?”

“This entire situation. I’m not like you. Fate and prophecy aren’t part of my family history. I don’t come from this big special family lineage of magicals. Sure, there was magic in my family in the distant past, but it had been nothing but family legends about hedge magic during frontier days.”

He smiled. “When the gates started reopening, things changed, and that old magical potential flared up. My mother wasn’t interested, but by the time I was old enough to understand I also had the power, I was.”

“That’s not so different from my family. My mom didn’t know about her magical heritage at first, and… The point is I have relatives who suffered for claiming magic was real until not all that long ago, too.”

Caden glanced at Izzie before turning onto a new street. “Even with how things have changed, your father’s an important man. Excuse me, important elf. Correk, the Fixer. His name still carries a ton of weight on Earth and Oriceran. Same thing with Leira Berens. It’s interesting that you ended up in the PDA instead of hanging out with the Griffins or a group like them. Given your family history, it’s a little surprising.”

“Why do you say that?”

“More rules chaining you down at the PDA.”

“More rules aren’t always bad.” Izzie scoffed. “You know a lot about me.”

“It’s my job to know who I’m working with. It’s not like that information is secret, or not anymore.”

“I’m not my parents. I love them and respect them for their contributions to keeping the balance between the magical and non-magical worlds, but I…wanted something different.”

“From them?”

Izzie thought it over, surprised that Caden cared so much. “I spent too many years in the shadows, hiding from dark wizards. I spent too many years not knowing who and what I truly was. Even when I did, I didn’t have a real life because the Seventh Order was hunting me. When I finally got free of that…” She shook her head. “It’s hard to explain.”

“You wanted more revenge?”

Izzie shook her head. “It’s not like that. Even when I was at the School of Necessary Magic, they were still coming for me. After I took them down, I wanted to make sure I’d never hide again, and nobody else would have to hide. I got involved in the PDA because it’s not a semi-hidden organization protecting from the shadows.”

She smiled. “They’re bold, in public, and ready to get in the face of anyone who uses magic to hurt others. I wanted to do my part to make sure all those who abuse magic have to hide, not their victims.” She shook her head. “I don’t want revenge. I want justice.”

Caden’s brow lifted. His voice grew quiet. “You’re more intense than I realized. More real, too.”

“I care about my job and protecting people. I don’t know if that’s being intense and real.” She checked her phone again. “What about you? How did you end up at NGMR?”

“Oh, it’s nothing as interesting as your story. My magical potential was identified. I was less interested in going to one of those Oriceran-style magical schools, so I sniffed around until I could get someone more interested in the technomagic style to help train me. That lent itself to different job opportunities, and I pursued one that suited my skills.”

He shrugged. “Not everyone wants to be a hero, Izzie. Some of us are just trying to make it through the day.”

“It’s not about being a hero. It’s about making sure other people aren’t victims.”

He grinned. “Where I come from, that’s being a hero.”

Izzie smiled. “If you say so.”

Caden turned into the parking lot of a nondescript office complex. Signs identified a half-dozen companies, but Izzie didn’t see any mention of NGMR.

After maneuvering through the parking lot, Caden pulled into another parking lot in front of a windowless building labeled only with the address. A sturdy door with a keycard lock covered the front. Even from a distance, Izzie sensed magic radiating from the building.

“Why is the library here? Rather than the NGMR building?”

“NGMR acquired the library. Part of the deal was that the library’s collection remained at this location. My understanding is that it had something to do with the enchantments and wards.”

He reached into the back seat to grab the same mask he wore at the gallery. His face and hair grew paler, and the angle of his chin and cheeks adjusted.

The change was eerie. In process, it didn’t look like Caden changed that much, but the result was a different man. Izzie cast her illusion spell, opting for a slightly older face with lighter hair.

Caden and Izzie stepped out of the car. Once they reached the front door, Izzie winced at how their current matching casual jeans and T-shirt vibe made them stand out as Caden ran his keycard through the lock.

Magic pulsed from the door, and it unlocked with a deep clank. The rest of the area around them darkened. Ambient noise from the road disappeared.

“Anyone watching us will only see us opening a normal door,” Caden explained. “It’s a nice little security spell.”

“I need one of these doors and that spell for my apartment,” Izzie joked.

“They didn’t put a lightness enchantment on it.” Caden grunted and pushed open the door, his movement revealing it was a good six inches of solid metal. “See?”

“You managed.”

Caden snickered. “Next time you get to open the door.”

He led Izzie into a narrow white hallway. The bright strip lighting and white tile floor gave the entire area an industrial vibe.

Despite all the heavy magic permeating the area, Izzie didn’t see anything obvious. Most importantly, she didn’t sense any dark magic, which was her main concern.

Caden led her down the hallway, where they encountered another door with a keycard lock. He swiped his card, and the door slid open with a hiss.

Dissonance struck Izzie, as it often did when she transitioned between more banal non-magical settings and more traditionalist approaches. The sanitized industrial tile look gave way to cozy bookshelves marked with categories. The shelves filled a small warehouse-sized chamber lit by what appeared to be oil lanterns all along the walls. Stepladders stood scattered around the room. A small number of tables and desks filled one corner of the sprawling library.

“Isn’t there someone we need to check in with?” Izzie looked around.

“We have the card. That’s enough. There are…librarians here sometimes, but even when they’re here, they prefer not to interact with people. I understand it originally used to be a Silver Griffins location.”

“The Griffins connection makes sense.” Izzie surveyed the room. “This isn’t what I expected from an NGMR library.”

A weird look appeared on Caden’s face. “Isn’t that the case with all magical places? It’s hard to know these days.” He pulled out his current burner phone. “I figure you start from the top of Rafe’s list, and I start from the bottom, and we see what we can find.”

“Ah, yes, reading old magical tomes.” Izzie snickered. “My least favorite part of the job.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Izzie would always be the first to admit Rafe was better at basic library research than she was. Given Caden’s occasional mutter of annoyance over the hours they spent thumbing through old books and scrolls, he also preferred a more action-oriented approach to magical problem-solving.

They had lost track of time and burned off magic with hours of translation spells when Izzie approached the end of skimming another thick book on legends concerning magic-amplifying artifacts.

She jumped up from her chair, knocking dust off the wall. Her heart pounded. “I think I’ve got something.”

Caden yawned and looked up from his book. “You do? Good. All I’ve been able to find is the same references to the damned prophecy and the occasional reference to it being linked to a diadem, but it’s like this thing was erased from history on purpose.” He winced. “When I say that aloud, it makes all this sound worse.”

“It’s here.” Izzie jabbed her finger at the page open in front of her. “This book has a section on the so-called Diadem of the Beyond, which they say was ‘A dark artifact best left to the ashes of the past that authorities have often attempted to conceal because of its dangerous history.’”

“In other words, they made our job harder for us but didn’t get rid of the artifact for whatever reasons.”

“That covers it. Most of this chapter traces the artifact’s ownership. Listen to this.

“‘The diadem came into the possession of a light elf warrior of renown who thought to use its power against dark forces conspiring against his liege. Madness took the warrior, and he drove his blade through the heart of his liege not long after, claiming dark forces corrupted his superior. His fellow guards slew him for his efforts. Many blamed the diadem. Others claimed it could be explained as nothing more than common, wicked ambition.’”

Caden groaned. “Oh, Brandon, what did you get yourself into?”

“It gets better. And by better, I mean terrible.” Izzie put her hand to her mouth and cleared her throat.

“‘In earlier years, the diadem was controlled by a great witch known for her pleasant demeanor and generosity. She claimed she could use this tool of darkness to heal a broken land, yet the only product of her promise was the creation of a deadly plague that ravaged her country and soon took her life as well. The diadem was lost for decades after vengeful survivors pillaged her estate. When it next arose, more tragedy followed.’”

Caden sighed. “The diadem’s bad news. I get it already.”

“It’s bad news with a one hundred percent batting average. From what I can tell, every owner who used that diadem ended up driven mad by power and met a tragic end.” She gestured at the book. “All the way back to the original creator, a powerful wizard whose name was lost with time. They only refer to him as the Endless One in this book.”

“What was his deal?”

“He created the diadem as part of an obsession with being able to control life and death. He wanted to go beyond the ‘limits of necromancy’ and thought the basic solution was more magical power.” Izzie shook her head. “I haven’t been able to find anything exactly on the mechanism of how the diadem’s supposed to work.”

Caden grimaced. “It specifically said he wanted to go beyond the limits of necromancy?”

Izzie nodded. “Yes. What about it? I’m not surprised somebody interested in that type of dark magic made the diadem.”

“Remember the prophecy’s reference to the armies?”

“An army already defeated,” Izzie quoted. She winced with understanding. “And a powerful necromancer. Great. Perfect. Yeah. Undead.”

She shook a finger at the book and walked to Caden, locking eyes with the man. “I won’t let that diadem go back to NGMR now, no matter what. I want the clear.”

She frowned. “I don’t know if your boss and his people didn’t do their due diligence, but the diadem is too dangerous to experiment on. This is the exact damned reason the government shouldn’t mess around with dark magic.” She nodded at the history book. “Are we going to have a problem when it’s time to take it back to the PDA?”

Caden shook his head. “No. I agree. NGMR stepped in a deep pile this time. Once we know it’s safe, we should take it to the PDA.”

“Good.” Izzie headed back to the book. “We now have a name, or at least a title, the Endless One and the Diadem of the Beyond. It would be nice if we could find a way to destroy the thing before we left.”

Caden’s brow rose. “You’d destroy it?”

Izzie smiled. “I already tried, remember?”

“That’s right. With Rafe.” Caden nodded. “I’m with you this time, Izzie. Some things shouldn’t exist.”

“Izzie!” Caden called.

She jerked her head up from the latest agonizing paragraph in the history book she’d been perusing. She’d lost track of time, although she hadn’t found anything new about the Endless One or any way to destroy the diadem. Newer sources strongly implied their only hope might be sending the diadem to the World In Between. Given her family history with a relative trapped there, she refused to mess with the place.

She also didn’t understand why the prophecy had been high-profile enough that Rafe’s casual scholarship led him to hear of it. Yet the details of the Endless One were scattered and barely mentioned other than his creation of the Diadem of Beyond and his eventual death. More annoyingly, she couldn’t find any specific details about how he’d died.

“What is it?” Izzie yawned.

“Come over here.”

Izzie stood and stretched. She wandered to Caden’s desk, where a fat tome lay open.

“You have something?” Izzie rubbed her eyes.

“Listen to this.” Caden cleared his throat and leaned over to quote the page. “‘When the Endless One fell, many worried that his apprentice, a Wood Elf of questionable character named Marlik would take up his cause by using the diadem's power. Yet Marlik abandoned his master’s place of power, claiming no right to the diadem and doing nothing when the powers of light and life approached to lay claim to it.

“‘Rather than risk its dark power overflowing, they used Marlik’s uncovered notes to develop a ritual to contain the diadem’s power. Marlik encouraged their use of the ritual with a cryptic note informing the warriors of light that ‘Such power was not meant for Oriceran or any other world.’ It was only when the diadem passed to a new owner that it again became a threat.’”

“A containment ritual, huh? That beats trying to risk opening a portal to the World In Between.” Izzie looked around the library, wondering if one of the books or scrolls contained the ritual. She’d prefer to suppress its power completely in case they had trouble before handing it over to the PDA.

Something else nagged at her, too. “Marlik? That name sounds very familiar. Why does it sound so familiar?”

Caden’s smile turned a little sinister. “It’s not just me, then.”

“You know the name?”

He nodded. “As part of my background research for this area, I tried to identify people of interest in the community who could either be assets to the company or threats.” He tapped the page. “Yes, before you ask, your name came up, so I knew about you before we met. More importantly, I highly doubt it’s a coincidence that there’s a Wood Elf named Marlik in the same area at the same time as the diadem.”

Izzie frowned. “You think he’s trying to pick up where his master left off? The book says he didn’t want the diadem.”

“I’m not going to pretend to know how an ancient Wood Elf thinks. He hasn’t been flagged for any associations with known magical underworld figures in the area, and as far as I know, he’s been here since right after the gates opened. That’s a long time to wait.”

“In other words, it’s convenient timing in a grand sense, not an immediate sense.” Izzie gestured at the book. “Are a few decades really that long a wait for an elf, though?”

“I don’t know. I’m not an elf.”

Izzie nodded. “We’ll tuck that note away. We should get back to Rafe and plan our next move together. I have a feeling we need to visit Marlik.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The sun was setting when Izzie and Caden returned to the safe house. Already exhausted, they’d burned off the first full day of Bill’s three-day limit.

Izzie didn’t know how to feel. She had confirmed the diadem was far more dangerous than she expected. When she stepped into the living room and saw Rafe sitting in his chair scrolling the Internet on his phone with the diadem’s briefcase in his lap, she only felt relief. That was despite him wearing a tactical vest filled with magazines and having his shotgun nearby. Nobody had come for the diadem.

Rafe didn’t look up when Izzie and Caden entered. He kept staring at his phone and swiping. Izzie questioned who had the more boring day.

She waited for Caden to close the door before heading to the couch and taking a seat. “The Diadem of Beyond was created by a necromancer named the Endless One. We have an elf who might be a suspect, or at minimum, knows about the diadem. More importantly, this elf might know a containment ritual.”

Rafe stared at his phone, not acknowledging Izzie. He muttered under his breath.

“Rafe?” Izzie frowned. “Are you listening? This is important.”

He blinked and lowered his phone. “Oh, you’re back. Yeah. Yeah.” He shook his head. “Evil necromancer. Got it.”

He leaned forward and set the case on the coffee table. “Now we know this thing is super-dangerous. Not that we didn’t know before.” He scoffed. “Going to the library was a waste of time.”

Izzie frowned in surprise. Even when information wasn’t helpful for a case, Rafe enjoyed learning more about the magical world. “We were following up on your work.”

“We knew it was trouble.” Rafe shrugged. “Does the type of trouble matter?”

“Yes, it does.”

Caden eyed the case, then Rafe with a frown. “We couldn’t find out much about how it’s supposed to work other than being a power source. I told Izzie I support you two taking it to the PDA once we know it’s safe to do so. It’s obvious there were issues with due diligence in the NGMR project.”

Rafe looked at Caden. “Are we sure that’s a good idea?”

“You want to take it to NGMR?”

“No.” Rafe shook his head. “If you guys found a mention of a ritual, it might make more sense to perform it before we do anything with the diadem.”

“I considered that,” Izzie admitted. “But we don’t have information unless we talk to this elf Marlik, who might have been an apprentice of the Endless One.”

“Marlik’s in Austin?” Rafe sounded surprised.

Izzie shrugged. “He’s in Austin.”

“Are we sure he didn’t supply the diadem to NGMR?” Rafe glanced at the case. “Maybe he wanted somebody else to take on the danger of messing with the diadem.”

“No, we’re not sure of that.” Izzie looked at Caden. “Do you know? You said before that you did background research on this area.”

“My information only notes that the diadem was sourced from a reputable third-party artifacts dealer.” Caden’s doubt was thick in his voice. “That’s what the official company records say, and there’s no mention of dealing with Marlik. That’s also what the documentation they provided to the Department of Defense showed.”

“It would have been nice if someone, somewhere along the line, took a moment to question if people should be running experiments on a dark artifact they didn’t completely understand.” Izzie shook her head. “I can’t believe NGMR, and I can’t believe the Defense Department.”

Rafe tilted his head and stared at the case. “Brandon Brundle isn’t a magical. Despite all the arrivals coming over from Oriceran in recent decades, the average person on Earth isn’t a magical.”

“Yes, and…”

“It can be hard for non-magicals. Technomagic devices will bridge the gap, but I think a man like that…” He rubbed his eyes.

“I was reading about Brundle and the founding of NGMR earlier. You can’t know for sure based on what someone says in interviews, but everything he mentioned involved the idea of equalizing opportunities for magicals and non-magicals. That had been his dream since he first heard about the return of magic. He wanted true access to it without a magical mediating the spells for him.”

Izzie remembered Rafe mentioning growing up with a similar idea. Her entire life had been dominated by magical conspiracy and the consequences, so she couldn’t sympathize that much.

She thought through everything she learned about the diadem’s history and everything they’d gone through to get it. From what she could tell, the diadem was a problem when people tried to use it. That constrained their immediate issues.

Izzie cleared her throat. “Setting that all aside, we don’t know enough about Marlik. He’s ambiguous even in the Oriceran history books we found. I think our best bet is to keep an eye on the diadem and wait until Bill and whoever he’s dragged in from the FBI can find the leaker. Then, we can contain the diadem using our methods without worrying about learning a ritual from a former necromancer’s apprentice.”

She motioned at the case. “It’s stable. I don’t want to mess that up, and what we found suggests it won’t blow up as long as we leave it alone.”

Caden nodded. “If it was unstable, we’d have seen something by now.”

Rafe lifted his hand and looked at it. “Unless taking the diadem away from NGMR has made it less stable.”

“The auction containment case is good,” Izzie insisted. “There are too many dangers if we try to mess around with this from a different angle. We know we can’t let anyone get their hands on this, and our hands are tied until Bill can clean up on the far end. Caden and I will continue to reinforce the containment, and we’ll wait it out.”

“Okay. Then it sounds like we have a solid plan.” Rafe stood and stretched. “I’m a little on edge from guarding that case while you two were gone. I’m going to go lie down for a bit.”

“That’s fine. I’ll grab something to eat. Then maybe we can take shifts, resting and guarding the case.”

Caden’s brow lifted. “All of us?”

Izzie nodded. “All of us. We all know the stakes now.”

He grinned. “So you trust me?”

“You didn’t try to murder me in the library with a candlestick.” Izzie winked. “It’s a good step to building a trusting relationship.”

Izzie’s eyes shot open. She jerked upright, her skin crawling in the bedroom’s darkness. She jumped out of bed and turned on the light.

There was nothing there. She was still in her jeans from when she laid down to get more rest after Rafe woke from his nap.

No. There was something there, but not something obvious. Odd waves of magic mixed with but not overwhelmed with dark magic flowed through the area. Her stomach twisted, and she felt vaguely dizzy. She rubbed her shoulders and opened the door.

Izzie stepped into the hallway while murmuring a spell and pushing her hand through the intricate motions to visualize the flows of magic. The heavily warded hallways lit up, marking her and Caden’s earlier enchantments.

She gasped, better understanding her discomfort. Small streams of magic flowed away from her body and her enchantments. The flows drifted into the living room, where someone muttered.

Izzie layered a shield spell over her body before creeping into the living room. Rafe sat in the chair in front of the open case, wearing his PDA sunglasses. All the magical flows converged on the diadem, which was near-blinding from the spells and magic around the artifact.

“We can’t trust anyone,” Rafe muttered. “There are traitors, but how can I know the traitors? We can’t trust anyone. They’ll come for it. They’ll take it and hurt people. We have to stop them before it’s too late.”

Izzie gritted her teeth. “You can see it, can’t you? You understand that diadem’s collecting magical power from all around.”

Rafe turned toward her. “I can almost feel it, Izzie. With a little more power, maybe I could.”

“You need to close the case, Rafe.” Izzie raised her palm. Her heart pounded. “You should have told me before you opened it.”

“You aren’t the only one trying to save the world.” Rafe frowned. “I’m your partner. Don’t you trust me? Or has that pretty boy corporate security guard poisoned you against me?”

Izzie scoffed. “What the hell are you talking about? Of course I trust you.” She tried to stifle her anger over the ridiculous accusation. “That’s why I left you here to guard the case while I researched with Caden. I’m sure if you were there, you could have found everything ten times as fast. If I trusted you less, I would have brought you instead of him.”

Rafe narrowed his eyes. He glanced at the shotgun on the edge of the coffee table. “Why are you aiming at me? Are you going to hurt me?”

Izzie’s heart pounded. Rafe should have waited for her. He was dangerous and playing with an artifact that was draining magic from the area and her.

He also wasn’t himself. Rafe wasn’t a petty, angry man ready to lash out. He was the emotional anchor in their partnership. He’d also acted strange earlier when they returned from the library.

“You can see it, Rafe.” Her voice rose. “You know what it’s doing. It’s weakening our defenses and wards. It’s weakening us.”

Caden walked into the living room frowning and rubbing his eyes. “What’s going on?” He looked between the two of them. “We should have all agreed on the plan.” Anger filled his voice. “You shouldn’t be messing with us just because you think you’re better than me because you’re PDA agents.”

“It’s better to be a PDA agent than working cleanup for a greedy bastard who’s put an entire city at risk!” Izzie shouted. All her suppressed anger bled out. Her earlier thought about Rafe’s behavior became a distant concern.

Her pulse pounded in her ears, and she ground her teeth. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so angry. How dare Caden question her? How dare Rafe open the case?

No. It was all NGMR’s fault. They’d screwed up everything. Everything started with their garbage security.

Izzie blinked and lowered her palm. She shook her head. “This isn’t right. This isn’t us. Rafe, close that case. We told you about what we found. Everyone who had the diadem came to a bad end. It’s messed up somehow. Cursed. It must be affecting us.”

Rafe sneered. “Maybe you misunderstood what you were reading.”

“Close the damned case!” Izzie screamed. She scrubbed her hand down her face, trying to push away the anger flooding through her. “It’s messing with our emotions.”

Caden lifted his fists. “Close the case, Rafe. Or I’ll make you close it.”

“Don’t you threaten him, asshole,” Izzie shouted.

“We’re under attack, Izzie. That attack will be limited if the case is closed.”

“You going to kill me without your gun?” Rafe indicated his shotgun before glaring at Caden. He knelt by the case. “Or I can let this go until it drains all your magic.” He chuckled. “Maybe that’s the big secret of how non-magicals can become magicals.”

Izzie trembled with rage as she tried to fight her clouded thoughts. It took all her concentration not to blast Rafe with a spell. “Close it before one of us does something we regret.”

“Regret?” Rafe’s lip quivered. He jerked his head to the side and gritted his teeth. “Screw this! Damned necromancers!”

He slammed the case shut. The local magical flows returned to normal. Izzie’s discomfort vanished.

Caden lowered his hands and let out a sigh of relief. “I’m still…off. Not emotionally, but magically.”

Izzie fell to her knees and took deep, cleansing breaths. “Me, too.”

Rafe groaned. He backed away from the case. “I don’t remember when I opened it, and honestly, I still…” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t say I didn’t know what I was doing. I knew. It just felt right. I felt justified.”

“Same here. But now I don’t feel the same way.”

“We need to give him a longer break,” Caden warned. “We all need a longer break without close exposure to that diadem. Whatever was happening woke me up, but it wasn’t until I got closer that I felt off in my head. I only felt it in my body before.”

“It was draining our magic somehow,” Izzie replied. “Control and modulation of magical power, huh?” She sighed. “That means the case is good enough, along with our spells, to contain it if we keep our distance. Otherwise, you’re right. It’s a matter of limiting close-range exposure.”

Rafe continued backing away until he passed Izzie. “Then the only real plan is to put it as far as we can from the bedrooms and let everyone rest without being close to the case.”

“I agree.” Caden sighed. “You can set up alarm wards around the case if you’re paranoid.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m paranoid in this case, given what just happened,” Izzie countered. “It’s still a good idea. We can get rest, and now we know we have to limit our direct exposure.”

Caden shook his head. “This proves we need better containment. If we can’t wait for your people to find the leak, we need to look into Marlik and learn the ritual. I can use a burner to get his address.”

“From NGMR?” Izzie scoffed. “No way. There’s too great a chance of a kill team showing up when we talk to him.”

“I have another source not connected with NGMR. I can get his address from them.”

“Aren’t you worried about leaks?”

Caden shook his head. “This is someone outside the company I can trust with my life.”

Izzie watched the case, half-worried it would open itself and start issuing threats in a low, evil voice. “That diadem is a serial killer. Somebody needs to get the containment ritual, and that means talking to Marlik.”

Rafe rubbed his temples. “If we’re wrong about Marlik, isn’t it too dangerous to go straight to him?”

“It’s a calculated risk. At the same time, we can’t leave the diadem behind with any one person. That’s too big a risk.” She folded her arms. “We’ll secure the artifact for the rest of tonight, and Caden can get the address tomorrow morning. I’ll go by myself to talk to Marlik. That way we don’t risk exposing the artifact to him.”

Rafe shook his head. “That’s too dangerous.”

“This artifact getting into the hands of the underworld is too dangerous. Even if they don’t use it, we’ll end up with a string of bodies without better containment. Having you two here will make sure neither does anything stupid if we’re wrong about the diadem’s level of influence.”

She collected the case and nodded toward the kitchen. “Judging by what Caden and I felt earlier, there’s a definite limit to the influence range when it’s in the case. The point farthest from the bedrooms but still in the house is in the kitchen. Let’s set up the alarm wards in there and put it there.”

Caden looked uneasy. “Are you sure about all this?”

Izzie thought it over. Everything they learned about the diadem only heightened the implied risk of the artifact being anywhere but deep underground and secure. The only small bit of hope she found was the dark magic from earlier didn’t feel like the dark magic she’d felt from the veiled witch. She laughed harshly. “Am I sure? No, but I’m not sure about anything anymore.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

When the touch of sunlight opened Izzie’s eyes the next day, she wanted to shut them right away. She’d barely slept since her concerns made her restless. That left her exhausted. However, she didn’t feel any of the burning anger that almost led her to attack her partner.

She took a moment to pull on her clothes before heading into the hallway. No strange magical flows disoriented her. Her stomach growled when the scent of bacon tickled her nose.

Izzie made her way into the living room. Caden stood in the kitchen making eggs and bacon. Her heart kicked up when she didn’t see the briefcase there. She jerked her head back and forth.

Rafe waved from the couch and nodded toward the front door. The briefcase sat there. “Caden disabled the wards earlier and moved it.”

“I didn’t want to worry about an evil diadem turning me toward murder when I was trying to make breakfast,” Caden explained with a soft smile.

His ease of disabling the alarm wards worried Izzie. He had also proved he wasn’t there to steal it for the company. He’d done everything a man could do to earn her trust.

“I feel better than last night,” Izzie admitted.

“Me, too.” Rafe’s smile faltered. “But it won’t last.”

“Bacon will solve all the problems,” Caden called from the kitchen. “Bacon is delicious, full of protein, and probably anti-magic.”

Izzie laughed. “I’ve never encountered any anti-magic bacon.”

Rafe smiled. “I love bacon. Maybe that’s why I’ve done so well at the PDA. All that anti-magical power.” He let the mood settle into pleasant silence except for the sizzle of bacon and eggs from the kitchen.

Caden broke the silence. “Do you still plan to visit Marlik by yourself?”

“Yes,” Izzie replied. “It’s the best use of resources. Since we’re all going semi-radio silent, I can’t say what else is happening with any investigations. I know everyone here can be trusted, especially after we managed not to kill each other last night when we were under that twisted-ass evil diadem’s malign influence.”

Caden watched her. He looked more uncertain than Izzie had seen him since their first meeting. “What if Marlik can’t help?”

“Then we’ll wait for our seventy-two hours and hope Bill has smoked out the leak. All we can do is proceed based on the information we have.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed, Izzie.” Caden stepped into the living room with two plates filled with bacon and eggs. “You can’t keep trying to take on the entire magical underworld by yourself.” He offered plates to Rafe and Izzie.

Rafe gave Caden a sympathetic look after taking his plate. “You’re not telling her anything I haven’t told her a hundred times. I don’t know if being so stubborn is a Berens trait or if that comes from Izzie being Izzie.”

She took her offered plate and gobbled half a piece of bacon before responding, “Yet you keep helping me out, Rafe. Doesn’t that make you just as self-destructive? Or does that make you an enabler?”

He shrugged. “We take down plenty of bad guys together. I can’t complain. I joined the PDA to help protect people. If I wanted a safer, well-paying job, I would have gone to dental school like my mom wanted. She still tells me I’m not too old to go.”

While Izzie and Rafe scarfed down their eggs and bacon, Caden returned to the kitchen to serve himself. He stepped into the living room with half a strip of bacon hanging from his mouth.

“I’m beginning to understand why you two have a good reputation for clearing cases,” he murmured around the bacon. “I’m going to get that information about Marlik now. To be safe, I’ll make the call a few miles from here. You never know. Somebody might have wired up a missile to look for us.”

Rafe chuckled. “Keep thinking positive.”

“I’ll be ready to go once you get back,” Izzie replied.

She eyed the briefcase. As much as she didn’t want to risk talking to anyone, they were running out of options. She couldn’t live with herself if she hurt somebody under the diadem’s influence.

A half-hour later, Izzie unlocked the door for Caden. He stepped inside the living room with a relieved expression. He looked into the corner where the case was before Izzie explained, “I moved it to the other side of the house. Less exposure that way.”

“That makes sense.” Caden closed and locked the door. “It took a little longer than I planned because I needed to get another burner. It’s easy to keep your head down except when you need to avoid the government.”

“Did you get an address?” Rafe asked from his chair.

“Yes. Not just an address. I also got useful information about Marlik.”

“Is he going to be trouble?” Izzie asked. “It’s not worth it if he is. He’s an ancient Wood Elf. That could be too much to handle.”

Caden shook his head. “He shouldn’t be a problem. My contact confirmed that although he’s on strained relations with Oriceran authorities and banned from returning there without risking imprisonment, there’s zero evidence he’s caused any trouble since coming to Earth. There’s also zero evidence of any direct contact with the dark magical underworld.”

Izzie thought that over and nodded. “Then he’s behaving because he’s basically half in exile and half on probation?”

“As far as my contact could tell me. Asking too many questions and taking too long asking them would have been dangerous, given our current situation.”

“It’ll have to do. If you haven’t heard from me in two hours, assume this place is compromised.”

“You sure about going by yourself?” Rafe asked.

Izzie smiled. “After hearing Caden’s info, I am. I doubt this guy’s been hiding on Earth for decades, waiting for his chance to kill Izzie Berens. I doubt there’s a cool prophecy about the coming of me.”

“What about Leira Berens or Correk?”

Izzie’s smile faded. “You’re the one who’s supposed to be keeping me grounded, Rafe. If I have to worry about watching out for my parents’ enemies, I won’t be able to get out of bed in the morning.”

“I’m just saying be careful.”

Izzie patted him on the shoulder. “I’m not going down easy, no matter what happens.”

“Izzie,” Caden called as she headed for the door.

She turned. “What?”

“Thanks for finally trusting me. I just wanted you to know that.”

“Thanks for earning that trust.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Izzie wasn’t sure what she’d expected when Caden gave her the address. She was too busy worrying about whether the diadem would corrupt her associates while she was gone. It didn’t register until she arrived at the tiny, unassuming forested park nestled away in Pleasant Valley that Marlik’s situation might prove more complicated than she expected.

She parked her car along the street and looked at various signs mentioning taking care of the park and avoiding littering. There was no mention of the park’s actual name, which also didn’t show on GPS. Heavy magic flowed through the entire area. An eerie silence clung to the surroundings.

She remembered field support mentioning the area as a part of town they needed to account for during calibration that wasn’t in the Magical District. Simple heavy magic concentration wasn’t grounds for PDA investigation without another piece of evidence. It wasn’t the only place like that in the greater metro area, so she’d never looked into it.

Trusting Caden but trusting simple precautions more, Izzie took a moment to layer a shield spell over her body before she stepped out of the car. According to her directions, she was supposed to follow the road until a cul-de-sac and take the first path on the left. She headed toward a thin dirt walking trail cutting through the trees and low-hanging branches, tensing when the air shimmered with her passage a few yards along the path.

The quiet gave way to an almost soothing cacophony. Birds appeared out of nowhere, sitting on branches. Many chirped or sang. Others watched her in silence with unsettlingly focused attention. Branches and undergrowth shifted and twitched with the passage of small animals, their flickers of movement all but concealed by their size.

Izzie took a deep breath and layered another shield over her first. All Caden provided was a location. It wasn’t like Izzie had any ability to call ahead. Marlik’s good behavior might only extend to not going out of his way to look for trouble. Some people, whether old humans in the mountains or Wood Elves in Austin, wanted to be left alone in their hidden magical bird sanctuaries.

Leaves and fallen branches crunched under Izzie’s shoes. After ten minutes of walking, she regretted not having boots. She hadn’t expected so much hiking to find a contact.

Rafe’s always warning me about risking too much and being a martyr, but I better not get killed by a flock of birds in a creepy, hidden magical park.

The dirt trail widened. More birds, many of them colorful and tropical, sat on branches or flew overhead. The constant sound of birdsong joined with the cawing of sleek ravens and the loud cries of birds of prey.

Izzie slowed and turned when she sensed a powerful concentration of magic nearby that stood out from the intense background magic all around her. She kept her hands at her sides. “I’m not here for trouble. I only want to talk.”

A shadow stepped out from behind a tree. Izzie blinked a couple of times and realized the shadow was a tan Wood Elf with a craggy, weathered face and wild, long, dark hair. The barefoot elf’s coarse tunic blended with the nearby undergrowth so well that Izzie wasn’t sure if he was using camouflage or the tunic was made from local plants.

The Wood Elf stared at her with a sad look in his eyes. “Are you here to kill me? I was curious when I sensed a being of strong magical power passing through the barrier.”

Curiosity got to Izzie before suspicion. “Doesn’t anyone ever wander here by accident?”

“Without strong enough magic, the barrier redirects them without them knowing. I take it you’re not here to kill me. You would know about that if you were.”

Izzie shook her head. “I don’t make a habit of killing people I don’t know.”

“I am known by many names,” the elf quietly replied. “The one most in this area would know is Marlik.”

Izzie wanted to note that he didn’t seem to be known by many names according to her research. It wasn’t the time to show off her efforts, and Marlik didn’t start the discussion by threatening her or trying to kill her. Given his history and the uncertainty surrounding the diadem, she wasn’t sure their first encounter would go so well.

“You’re who I’m looking for,” Izzie said. “I’m⁠—”

“Izzie Berens,” he interrupted. “Daughter of Leira Berens, daughter of the current Fixer, Correk. I’ve met him before. Briefly. I have nothing but respect for him, and he showed me great respect and kindness despite my dark history. He understands repentance, and I appreciate that.”

“For a guy who doesn’t look like he gets out much, you’re doing pretty good at knowing what’s up.” Izzie chuckled. She released the magic fueling her shields after concentrating and not sensing any dark magic nearby.

“You’re right. I don’t, as you said, get out much.” Marlik smiled. “One could say that I haven’t left this sanctuary since coming to this world. Before that, I was restricted to another sanctuary on Oriceran. I expected to die there.”

“I’m also a member of the PDA. If that’s relevant.”

Marlik kept his soft, warm smile. “The magical control organizations of this world come and go too much for me to keep track. I used to know members of the Silver Griffins. Then they were destroyed, but now I understand they are back. I’ve had people in your government come and talk to me in the past, but since I don’t leave this place, my involvement with the magical affairs of this world remains small.”

He lifted his hand. Vines and twigs grew and twisted to form two small chairs, one near him and one near Izzie. “Please sit. It’s been a while since I’ve had a guest other than my birds.”

Izzie eyed the mishmash of leaves, wood, and flowers before shrugging and sitting. The greenery chair proved surprisingly comfortable with good lumbar support. She needed to get one for her living room.

Marlik took a seat. “I suspect I know why you’ve come. It’s why everyone comes to see me eventually. It’s why I will continue to live in penitence for the mistakes and arrogance of my youth.”

Izzie didn’t respond right away. She tried to decide on the best method of engaging him before choosing a straightforward approach.

“My research indicates you can offer clues about how to contain the power of the Diadem of Beyond. Is that why you’re here in Austin? Because you knew the diadem was here or coming here because of a prophecy?”

Marlik sighed. His dark eyes managed to look young and ancient at the same time. “Prophecy is a fickle, dangerous tool, but it would be disingenuous to ignore the role the prophecies about the Diadem of Beyond played in bringing me here.”

He raised a palm and a perfect image of the diadem appeared above his hand. “I hadn’t thought about it in centuries. You see, it’s a cursed thing that warps people’s minds and souls. It’s something that never should have been made.”

“So I’ve learned. Did it warp the Endless One?”

Marlik let out a bitter chuckle. “Those who seek power warp themselves. As I did in seeking his insight into life and death, hoping to become the master of all in my foolish, younger quest for perfection in living form.” He lowered his hand, and the image vanished.

“I took far too long to understand the unnaturalness of my quest and the costs of my master’s. It is both a mercy and a punishment that I’m allowed to live. Even the centuries I spent attempting to make up for what I did in anonymity feel shallow and self-serving.”

“So you did come here because of the diadem,” Izzie pressed.

“Prophecies and less grand clues led me to this city and place. I was far too early. I couldn’t sense the diadem when I arrived, but months ago, perhaps a half-year, my soul stirred and cried out, and my ancient link to my master’s most terrible creation filled me with dread. I knew it had come back, and I knew in time, someone would seek me out. Such is my fate.”

Izzie frowned. “You could have contacted someone.”

“All things must wait for their proper time, young Berens. Such is the pain of dealing with prophecy. I was supposed to live long enough to correct the mistakes of the past. I needed to be careful in how I did that so no more would suffer because of my mistakes.”

Izzie looked away for a moment to take a deep breath. She wanted to dress the man down for his flippant attitude, but thinking of his behavior that way was simplistic and misleading. He’d been sitting mostly alone in a hidden magical park for decades, waiting for the evil artifact to pop up because of his sins from centuries ago. That was about as far from flippant as she could imagine. He was the model of responsibility and rehabilitation.

“The Diadem of Beyond can drain magic from people. And use it to do what…more necromancy?”

“Among other abominations of magic,” Marlik replied wearily. “It is also the key to unlocking a powerful and ancient magical force. The True Spirit of Death, my master called it, a vile spell he believed would grant him fundamental control over all manner of creatures that walk beyond the shadows of normal life and death.”

“That sounds beyond terrible. If the diadem is locked away, would it be safe and stable? Say, in a place with anti-magic fields and no contact with living people, magical or otherwise?”

Marlik raised a finger. A small songbird fluttered down from a branch and landed on his finger.

“It would be going too far to say the diadem seeks power for itself.” He stared at the bird with a sad expression. “Others have sought to contain it without the full ritual in the past, and it only led to temporary relief. Its power needs a full ritual to eliminate all risk. Only then can people be safe.”

“What about destruction?”

“Destroying the diadem would unleash horrible power that would scour the land and risk sprouting an army of the dead. It was my master’s final plan should he fail.”

Izzie sighed. “Okay, no destroying it. You’re sure there’s no way to contain it without using the full ritual?”

“There could be, but I can’t be certain, and I will not risk innocents ever again.” Marlik smiled.

“But you are sure the ritual will work?”

“Young Berens, I’ve been thinking about that diadem for centuries. There is nothing I’m surer of other than the importance and power of the ritual for containing the Diadem of Beyond.”

“I knew you’d say that.” Izzie took a deep breath. “Fine. I’m happy to do whatever ritual you’ve developed.” She hopped out of her seat. “You know what? Why don’t we do this the easiest way? You can advise us on a location, we’ll get everything set up, and you can help us with the ritual.”

Marlik shook his head. “I’m sorry I haven’t been clearer. It isn’t that I choose to stay in this sanctuary. It is that I can’t leave this sanctuary. I’m bound to it by deep magics that stop me from taking my own life and also from ever leaving this place.

“Those who punished me wanted me to live and reflect on the lives I helped take for as long as possible. I agreed with them and contributed to the binding rituals.”

“I’m…” Izzie looked away. “I’m not qualified to judge you, and honestly, when and where you did your crimes is way out of my jurisdiction.” She reestablished eye contact. “I get that you want to make up for what you did. That’s good, too. I’ll take notes on the ritual and do it myself with the help of my friends. In the end, you’ll help save tons of people in this city.”

Marlik reached for a nearby tree trunk. His hand sank into the bark with no resistance before he pulled it out holding a small bone key. “I will teach you the ritual and pray that you end the diadem’s threat before another succumbs to its madness. Before you can conduct the ritual, you will need certain items I brought to Earth to neutralize the diadem.”

Izzie took the key and tucked it in a pocket. “That’s great. Lead on to the magical closet filled with anti-diadem goodness.”

Marlik’s smile turned sad. “Those who oversaw this punishment and allowed my coming to the world didn’t trust me to have direct access to them. They were wise. Temptation is the first step on the path of self-destruction. When you’ve completed the ritual, you should seal these items away, too. They aren’t as dangerous, but that doesn’t mean they’re safe.”

“I’m happy to lock them up and throw away the key.”

Marlik reached into the trunk again and pulled out a small wooden cup. Water flowed into the cup from nowhere, and a splinter tore itself off from the side of the cup and floated on the surface.

“This will lead you to the vault that contains the necessary items. You must be cautious and brave. The key will get you inside, but those who oversee me also wanted to ensure that only those who could never exploit the diadem’s power could gain access. That’s what they told me.”

“They didn’t trust you enough to let you have the items, but they gave you the key?”

Marlik smiled and held out the cup. “I believe it’s part of my punishment. They didn’t want to have the responsibility yet accepted that I would protect the key with my life if someone unworthy came for it.”

Izzie accepted the cup with a tight smile. “Is there any way I could call these people and maybe expedite them shutting down the security spells, considering we’re talking about containing the Diadem of the Beyond?”

She doubted whoever might be leaking information about the diadem was involved in watching a centuries-old prisoner from Oriceran.

“They visit me every year on the summer solstice. Alas.” He gestured at the sky. “It is September.”

“I don’t have most of the year I can wait.”

“Then you must challenge the vault, young Berens. Before it’s too late.”

Izzie eyed the cup. “At least this tracker looks like it’ll fit in my cupholder.”

“Prove to me that you’re worthy by recovering the items first. Then I’ll teach the ritual.”

“Okay, fair enough. What exactly are the items?”

Marlik sighed. “There are three things you need to recover…”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Izzie didn’t want to risk talking about the vault over the phone, so she headed to the safe house. Despite what Rafe and Caden kept saying, she understood that she couldn’t be a one-woman army regarding the diadem.

She paced in the living room while providing the highlights of what Marlik told her and her plan for the next obvious step. “Caden will stay here and guard the case while Rafe and I hit the vault to grab the items.” She nodded at Rafe. “These magical vaults can be annoying when their creators decide to get clever.”

Rafe smiled. “You’re worried about puzzles and traps?”

“I am. If it’s not a straightforward spell, it’s not always something I’ll anticipate. You’re the best bet. You have the lateral thinking to complement my tendency to bulldoze straight ahead.”

Caden watched the conversation unfold between the two partners with a soft smile. “You’re not worried I’ll run to NGMR the second you turn your back?”

Izzie scoffed. “I’m way past worrying about that, Caden. I’m not going to claim I have great insight into people, but I don’t believe you’re the type of man who’s ready to screw over us and this entire city to kiss the asses of your bosses.”

She frowned. “You should quit after this is all over. That company is irresponsible at best.”

“I’ve been thinking about my future career plans during all of this.” Caden grinned. “Thanks again for trusting me.” His grin faded into a stone-faced look of pure determination. “I won’t let anyone get this case while you’re gone, not while I’m breathing.”

“I know you won’t.” Izzie pointed toward a bedroom. “Rafe, grab your gear. I hope this is all Trivial Pursuit about dragon skulls, but we might need to kick a statue’s ass along the way.”

“It’s definitely that building.” Rafe clutched Marlik’s water compass tracker with his attention locked on the floating splinter needle. “The needle kept shifting as we drove around it.”

Izzie pulled off the street into the parking lot of an abandoned gas station that lay deep in the Magical District. She had driven by the gas station before but never put much thought into it. Not every old station had been converted into something newer over the past few decades, but that was far rarer inside the city than along the highway.

Rafe set the tracking cup on the dashboard and took a moment to double-check his tactical vest and magazines. “Did Marlik give you any insight into the vault?”

Izzie shook her head. “He only said to be careful and that they had ensured only someone who could never exploit the diadem’s power would reach the items. Whatever that means.”

“Sometimes I love magic. Sometimes it’s just annoying and persnickety.”

“I feel that. But persnickety? Are you an ancient elf in disguise?”

“Maybe.” Rafe chuckled.

Izzie opened the car door and looked around. She hadn’t paid much attention while driving, but oddly tall trees for the area lined the other sides of the nearby streets. They formed a wall blocking easy sight of the gas station.

Rafe stepped out of the car with the cup in hand. He pointed toward the main building. Despite the emptiness and the cracked pavement around the building, there was no sign of damage to the windows or graffiti.

Izzie advanced toward the door. She layered a shield over herself before grabbing the handle. To her surprise, the door opened without any resistance. She held the door open and motioned for Rafe to come, unsure if the door would open as easily for a non-magical.

Rafe surveyed the bare shelves and thick dust inside before walking to the front counter. He set the cup down and put on his sunglasses. After tapping the side, he pointed at the floor behind the counter. “There are strange flows over here. It looks like a door.”

Izzie looked out the windows. Nobody watched nearby. She walked around the back of the counter, pulled out the bone key, then knelt and held it close to the floor. A small keyhole opened with a hum. She stuck the key into the hole and turned.

A slight surge of magic filled the area. Izzie backed away. The floor slid open and revealed a stairwell lit by white strips running down the wall on either side.

“How do you want to play this?” Rafe asked.

“I’ll go first. You stay close.”

She waited until Rafe joined her behind the counter to take the first step. She crept down the stairs, surprised by the lack of dust.

Rafe pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head. “It’s too much. There are flows everywhere.”

“I figured. I didn’t think it would be as simple as spotting traps with magic. It never is.”

Their confidence built with each step until they arrived at the bottom of the stairs. A large chamber held an entire wall filled with small, locked drawers reminiscent of safety deposit boxes except for the arcane glyphs covering them. The drawers all featured a small keyhole the exact size of the one the bone key unlocked above.

Izzie stepped toward the wall of locked drawers with a frown. “Am I supposed to open them all?”

“Did Marlik say anything about this?” Rafe looked around.

“No.” Izzie frowned. “He didn’t know much other than what he told me.”

She surveyed the drawers, looking for any differences, but didn’t see any. She raised her hands and murmured an incantation to shield Rafe before advancing toward the highest and farthest left drawer.

“I’m protecting us both with a shield spell, but be ready.” She pushed the key toward the hole. “I hope this is enough.”

Rafe backed away from the drawers. Izzie shoved the key in and tried to open the lock. A deafening boom rang through the room. Izzie and Rafe fell to their knees, clutching their ears.

The entire room shook. Flaming arrows shot from the walls in three quick volleys. The fiery barrage struck the intruders and bounced off their shields. By the last barrage, Izzie’s spells failed.

She gritted her teeth, waiting for a final deadly volley. The seconds ticked by without another assault. They were safe for the moment.

Izzie stood and recast the shield spells. “Okay, so it’s not in that box.”

Rafe looked annoyed. “We can’t do this by process of elimination. The traps could get worse. Even if they’re only as bad as the first trap, we’ll burn off all your magic by the time we find everything.”

“We need the three items for the ritual. If I have to sacrifice all my magic to find them, I will.”

Rafe frowned. “That reminds me. I was so obsessed with the idea of the ritual that I didn’t think to ask you what the items were.”

She grimaced. “A shard of the Endless One’s skull, a piece of his rib, and a finger bone.”

“I should have seen that coming.” Rafe shivered. “It’s like the twisted, evil version of holy relics.”

Izzie stared at the wall of drawers. “We need to get those bones for the diadem’s containment ritual. So, it’s brute-forcing our way through selection or finding a way to identify the specific drawers we need to open. I’m open to any ideas that don’t involve us dying.”

Rafe walked closer to the drawers and peered at them. “If you went and got the diadem, you could set up a resonance tracking spell, couldn’t you? There has to be a strong connection between the diadem and the Endless One’s bones.”

“In theory, yes, I could do that.” Izzie shook her head. “But it might not work unless we do it here, and it’s risky to expose the diadem until we’re ready to do the ritual. We know from experience that our containment spells aren’t keeping the diadem completely under control. That means there could be more dark organizations out there looking for it and knowing how to look for it once we take it out of the safe house.”

“If they know what to look for, they’ll head to the safehouse.”

“If they could detect it there, they would have made their move already. I’m not sure about everything. I am sure about that.” She pointed at the drawers. “We’re taking the bones to the diadem, not the other way around. Give me another idea.”

Rafe glanced at the stairs. “I’m going to grab the cup. Maybe it’ll work as a secondary tracker when we get it close.”

“You do that.”

Rafe darted up the stairs. He descended far slower, holding the cup with both hands with an almost reverent expression. Once he made it to the bottom, he hurried toward the drawers.

He sighed and shook his head. “It’s pointing back toward the stairs.”

“It was worth a shot.” Izzie tried to think of what type of spell she knew that might be useful. She knew spells for detecting living beings, but she didn’t know a detect bone spell offhand.

Rafe held out his hand. “Give me the key.”

“Why?”

“A non-magical touching the diadem activated the prophecy. What if a non-magical is the solution to this as well?”

Izzie shook her head. “Why would they do that?”

“Remember what Marlik told you?” Rafe smiled, looking far too satisfied. “His jailers wanted to make sure that anyone who could access the diadem wouldn’t be able to use it. There’s only one way to assure that.”

Izzie laughed. “It still affects non-magicals, but they can’t use it. Rafe, have I called you a genius lately?”

“Not enough. Magicals, especially those who practice more traditional magic, don’t often think about how non-magicals could help them in rituals and spells outside of things like harvesting lifeforce.” He walked closer to the drawers and held up the key. “The people who made this vault knew the type of dark wizards and other beings who would want the diadem would never think about trusting true non-magicals.”

Once Rafe moved closer, three of the drawers lit up. They were all far apart from one another.

Rafe went to the first drawer, unlocked it, and pulled it open. A small cloth bag lay inside. He tugged the bag open and shivered. “This is the fingerbone.” He tucked the bag into a vest pocket. “I wish they had cremated this guy.”

He hurried to the next two glowing drawers and found two more small cloth bags with bone fragments. Once he removed all the bags, the drawers stopped glowing.

“Let’s get out of here.” Izzie jogged toward the stairs. “We’ll head back to the safe house to ensure the diadem hasn’t messed with Caden’s mind. After that, we go to that old elf and have him teach us the ritual.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Izzie, Rafe, and Caden stood together in the living room near the farthest wall away from the coffee table. It held the diadem’s case and the three cloth bags containing the bone fragments of the Endless One. Izzie never thought she’d end up in this situation, despite her job and history with dark wizards.

“It’s straightforward,” Caden stated. “Izzie can return with the bones to convince Marlik to teach her the ritual. Rafe and I can keep an eye on the case. Until we know more about the specifics of the ritual, we can’t do much.”

Izzie was about to agree with his plan when a shiver racked her body. Powerful dark magic was heading her way.

Caden jerked his head toward the case. “Did you feel it, too?”

“Dark magic. But…” She shook her head. “It doesn’t feel like it’s coming from the case.”

Rafe looked around with a frown. “What do you mean? Where else would it be coming from?” He eyed Caden.

“Not him, either.” Izzie took a deep breath and backed toward the door. “It feels like it’s getting closer…” She lowered her gaze and stared at the floor. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. It’s coming from underneath us.”

Rafe followed her gaze. “The wards aren’t going to offer much protection in that direction, are they?”

Izzie shook her head. “Not the way we set them up.”

Caden sprinted into the hallway. “I’m arming up.”

Rafe pulled his gun and backed toward the kitchen. “How did they find us and why now?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Izzie asked. “Damn it. We should have brought Caden and the case with us. They must have found us when we looked for the vault and tracked us back here somehow.”

The magical pressure grew stronger below the living room floor. Izzie shielded herself and Rafe. Caden jogged down the hallway wearing a tactical vest filled with magazines and holding his enchanted pistol. The only positive Izzie could take from the situation was that the dark magic she felt resembled the magic coming out of the diadem. It wasn’t the haunting, familiar dark magic she associated with the veiled witch and the Arcane Syndicate.

Izzie swallowed and pointed her palm toward the living room floor. Scratching noises sounded from below, building in volume with each passing second until most of the living room floor exploded in a cloud of dirt, concrete, and wood.

Hooded, robed men and women jumped out of three small tunnels. Izzie flung a light bolt and knocked an attacker stumbling into an ally. The ally shoved him out of the way without a thought. All the robed attackers held knives covered with runes.

Caden opened fire. His first few rounds were powerful explosive bullets that flung bodies in different directions and left them burning. Rafe put a single anti-magic bullet through the chest of each robed attacker.

Izzie kept up alternating light bolt fire from her hands. The attackers' lack of defensive spells or enchantments surprised her, but she reconsidered her opinion when the earliest wounded attackers pushed themselves up.

Rafe finished a recovering robed attacker with a headshot before shifting to others. Izzie watched the downed man while spraying light bolts. He didn’t get back up. Several of Caden’s burn victims did, still on fire.

“Shoot them through the head,” Izzie shouted.

She took a moment to concentrate her power near the front for her next light bolt, with her intention focused on greater penetration. She flung the bolt at the head of an attacker. The spell tore into his head, and he spun and collapsed.

Caden ejected his magazine and loaded a new one. He adjusted a few switches on his pistol and swept gunfire across the attackers, putting single bullets through the heads of the robed men and women. Rafe matched him.

Izzie couldn’t keep up the same pace she had before when generating piercing attacks. Instead, she added enough light bolts into the mix to ensure none of the attackers boiling out of the tunnels lasted long on their feet.

The overlapping deafening sound of the guns firing and the thud of bodies covered up anything else Izzie could hear. The robed attackers kept coming out of the tunnels as the bodies of their allies piled up around them. She couldn’t understand their sheer dedication since they hadn’t wounded Izzie, Rafe, or Caden. After what felt like an endless few minutes, the attackers dwindled to a trickle, then a final moaning woman.

“Surrender!” Izzie shouted. “We can guarantee your⁠—”

The woman lunged for Izzie with her knife. Caden and Rafe both shot her in the head at the same time. Her body slumped to the floor.

Everyone panted with exertion. The heavy, suffocating dark magic faded.

“What the hell was that?” Izzie lowered her arm and shook out her cramped wrist. “Those people just threw themselves at us like they didn’t care about their lives.”

Caden crouched near a body and pulled back a hood. He winced. “I have a theory about that. Look at this.”

“Is this what I think it is?” Izzie’s stomach churned.

She didn’t take much pride in the hole she’d burned through the killer’s head with her light bolt, but that wasn’t what bothered her. The man’s skin was gray, cracked, and dried. His eyes were a milky white with no pupils.

Rafe pulled back more hoods and pointed at the bullet hole in the head of another body. “You notice something else?” He gestured around the charnel house that had once been the living room. “Something missing you wouldn’t expect after that many people died?”

Izzie narrowed her eyes. “You two shot tons of people, and there’s no blood anywhere.”

Caden yanked up the sleeve of another dead attacker. Dark glyphs covered the arm. “I’m no expert on these types of glyphs, and some of these are unlike any glyphs I’ve ever seen, but there’s enough here to make an educated guess.”

Rafe made the sign of the cross. “Necromancy. These bodies were already dead before they attacked us.”

Izzie gasped and looked around for the case and bags containing the Endless One’s bones. She spotted them in the corner of the room under the cracked wood of what had once been the coffee table. “Grab whatever you need. We’re heading to Marlik together. We can’t let that case out of sight until we’ve completed the containment ritual.”

Caden frowned. “You went and talked to that guy, then grabbed the items from the vault, and the next thing you know, zombies, and let’s be real, that’s what they are, showed up and attacked us.”

“That’s why we’re all going. I don’t know if I can take the guy by myself if it comes down to it, especially on his home turf.” She frowned. “Rafe, you’ll drive, and we’ll put the case in the trunk. Caden and I will talk to Marlik. If you don’t hear from us within thirty minutes after we enter his little sanctuary, call Bill and clue him in. We won’t have any other choice, then.”

Izzie took one last look at the bodies littering the floor. She wasn’t sure if the dark magic she’d felt was from the necromancy animating the bodies or someone else. Maybe she’d been wrong about every move she’d made since the beginning.

The earliest bodies crumbled into dust. Izzie whipped her arm up, ready for more battle. More and more bodies turned into dust.

“Okay, didn’t expect that.” Izzie shook her head. “This is unpleasant. We need to get this diadem situation under control.”

All they could do was try to figure out the source of the zombies and whoever was targeting the diadem. She frowned, pulled out her phone, and took a picture of the glyphs on a zombie before it turned to dust.

“We’re not coming back to this place,” Izzie warned. “Get what you need right now. We’re rolling out in fifteen minutes max.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

Izzie pulled out her phone after she stepped through the barrier of Marlik’s sanctuary with Caden behind her. She dialed Rafe and waited until the call connected to speak. “Can you hear me?”

“I can hear you,” Rafe replied. “It’s a little fuzzy, but not that bad.”

“Okay, call me right away if you have any trouble. We’ll be out soon if all goes well. If not, stick to the plan.” Izzie ended the call and stomped down the path. “Marlik!” she shouted. “We need to talk to you.”

A mound grew in the nearby undergrowth before reforming into Marlik. He glanced between Izzie and Caden. “You brought a friend.”

“Did you send zombies to attack us?” Izzie wasn’t in the mood to dance around the most important information.

“Zombies?” Marlik’s eyes widened. “You were attacked by necromantic creations?”

“A bunch of them.” Izzie brought up the picture of the glyphs and showed them to Marlik. “Recognize these?”

Marlik put his hand over his heart and looked down. He teared up. “This can’t be. No. We’ve all tried too hard and for too long.”

“I don’t mean to be a bitch, but I don’t like the idea of zombie hordes tunneling around Austin to launch sneak attacks. It’s not lost on me that the Diadem of Beyond is a necromantic artifact. I need to know what you know about these zombies and glyphs.” She tried to pull the anger out of her voice, but it lingered. “Since your first response wasn’t to threaten us with more zombies, I’m inclined to believe you weren’t involved.”

Caden looked around. “I doubt he’s involved, Izzie.” He gestured toward a tree. “You can feel all this barrier power.”

“I’m not saying he’s controlling the zombies. But he is a necromancer’s former apprentice. He knows something useful he can tell us.”

Marlik fell to his knees as tears streamed down his face. “That evil was supposed to be sealed long before the diadem.” He looked up. “All other apprentices of the Endless One have long since met their deserved fates. They have experienced the true and lasting death.”

He gestured at her phone. “There are features on these glyphs that only someone trained by the Endless One would know or dare use.”

“Okay, so you’re saying another apprentice is involved?” Izzie frowned. “They must have gotten wind of the diadem the same as you. Maybe they had better timing.”

Marlik shook his head. “If only it were that simple. There are glyphs in your picture that even the other apprentices didn’t know. I was always first among his students. Perhaps he gained insight into the future and knew he would fall, so he passed on a small portion of his darkness—the most forbidden knowledge—to me.”

He stood, still tearing up. “These dark glyphs are his signature, his greatest prize. They let him conjure soulless corpses built of pure magic rather than being reliant on infusing true corpses with his magic.”

Izzie shuddered at the implications. “Are you telling me the damned Endless One is back? He’s supposed to be dead, like perma-dead. We have pieces of his skeleton!”

Marlik shook his head. “He had long since mastered spells to move his soul into other bodies. It was one of his greatest masterworks, his specialty of immortality. We all thought he was dead and destroyed, but we should have known better.” He wiped his eyes. “Although even I find it hard to believe he could remain hidden for centuries.”

“Are you so sure of that?” Caden asked. “You’ve remained hidden for centuries.”

“Out of penance. He had long since left behind any such petty emotional concerns. He only craved power.”

Izzie examined the glyphs in the photo. “He might have been asleep or something. He might have been waiting for the diadem. Who knows?”

Marlik took a deep breath. “This changes everything. I wasn’t as concerned about the ritual’s timing before, but if my old master has returned, it’s vital that you contain the power of the diadem right away. Doing so will make it more difficult for him to unlock its power. You don’t have much time.”

“What do you mean by right away?”

“The ritual can only be conducted on the first night of a full moon,” Marlik explained. “If you don’t complete the ritual tonight, you’ll have to wait until the next first night of a full moon while the Endless One hunts you and his prize.”

“You could have told us that before.”

“I didn’t think it would be of such concern. I didn’t think he’d be back. I was prepared to teach you a weaker version of the containment spell should you not be ready, one that would work regardless of the timing. That won’t be sufficient with his return.”

Izzie couldn’t blame Marlik too much. When she approached him, he had no way of knowing about the robbery, the auction house ambush, or the leak. As far as he knew, a PDA agent had shown up to ask questions about an item he’d been waiting decades for it to appear. He was an elf who barely paid attention to the passage of time.

She took a deep breath. Sometimes it felt like fate was choosing to mess with her for fun.

“Then you need to teach us the permanent ritual now. We’ll get it done tonight, no matter what.”

Marlik offered her a solemn nod. “There are other preparations you’ll need to consider. You can’t take the diadem too far from where there are many people.”

Caden frowned. “Why?”

“That helps with its general stability. The diadem seeks to control magic, life, and souls. The greatest sources are concentrations of populations in cities.” He shuddered and looked past them. “It’s close, isn’t it? I can almost feel it.”

“A friend is guarding it. We couldn’t leave it in a place that a zombie horde had attacked.”

“I understand.” Marlik looked up at what little sky peeked through the forest canopy. “You’ll also need a non-magical participant. It would take a long time to explain the magical theory behind it, but it’s a critical part of the ritual. It won’t work without one.”

Izzie dialed Rafe. “One second, Marlik.” Once Rafe connected, she put the phone on speaker. “Rafe, this is Izzie. I’m talking to Marlik. He says they need a non-magical as part of the containment ritual. Also, we’re probably up against the Endless One.”

“Oh. What does that role involve?”

“You will have to allow the power of the ritual to flow through you.” Marlik looked at the phone. “It’s not a sacrificial role, yet it’s not without risks. I can’t guarantee you won’t be injured or killed. You will experience tremendous pain.”

Rafe laughed. “You make it sound so attractive.”

“Are you sure it can’t be a magical?” Caden asked.

Marlik nodded. “The resonant power buildup that would occur with an active magic practitioner, regardless of their background, would cause the ritual to fail and almost certainly kill them.”

“I volunteer,” Rafe declared. “If doing this ritual means putting the diadem out of commission, I’m all for it. I’m betting if the Endless One gets his hands on the diadem, it would be your typical city-ending stuff we try to avoid.”

“With the diadem’s power, the Endless One could easily drain the life forces and magic of thousands.” Marlik’s voice cracked. “If not more so. The artifact is an abomination. In his hands, it is nothing but a grandiose tragedy waiting to happen.”

Izzie glared at Caden. “When this is all over, NGMR has a lot to answer for. Ignorance is no excuse for playing around with something that dangerous.”

“I agree,” Caden replied.

Izzie looked at Marlik. “What else do we need for the ritual?”

“A good number of trees that have soaked in the moonlight along with enough space for easy flow and preparation of the glyphs. A clearing surrounded by enough trees that can’t see anything other than the trees would be ideal.”

“But we also have to be close to the city.” Rafe’s voice crackled over the line. “Because that’s the only way we’ll be close to a large number of people.”

“Yes.” Marlik nodded. “It’s also important to be some distance away from the main population.” He took a deep breath. “The diadem’s dark magic will pour out during the containment ritual to be cleansed and dispersed as normal magic. If what I suspect is true, that the Endless One has returned, he’ll be attracted to the diadem and the dark magic.”

Izzie tried to collate all the information and run through possibilities. “Okay, there are plenty of parks in the greater Austin area. We can work that part out, especially if we use PDA emergency authority to clear a place for a day.”

“Wouldn’t that require breaking your radio silence?” Caden asked.

“Not necessarily. We’ll throw up signs around the area without asking for official permission. Bill can yell at me later. We’ll need to be ready for an attack by a powerful necromancer who can make zombies without needing bodies first, which means we’ll need reinforcements.” She gritted her teeth. “This is going to be tough.”

Rafe cleared his throat over the line to get everyone’s attention. “I know where we can do it. I’m checking the satellite images. Plenty of locations in Barton Creek Wilderness Park look good.”

Izzie pulled up a map of Austin on her phone and navigated to the indicated area. “I see what you mean. Okay, we have a place. We have the bones. We have the diadem. All we need now is the actual ritual.”

Marlik bowed his head. “I’ll teach you the incantations, glyphs, and proper placements now. The ritual is simple but tedious in portions, and once the final incantations are said, it will continue without your active need to influence it. You can start earlier than midnight, but you can’t complete the incantations before then.”

Izzie lifted her phone and started recording. “Okay, give us the specific details to conduct the ritual.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Izzie drove about five minutes away from Marlik’s sanctuary in tense silence. Rafe and Caden stared out the windows, lost in thought about the dangerous diadem in the car and the ritual’s unfortunate timing requirements.

“We’re screwed,” she muttered.

Caden let out a dark chuckle. “No positive thoughts? We have the ritual and the items we need to pull it off. We have a good location. I thought you’d be happy we have a concrete plan to finish this.”

“We also have a near-guarantee of an undead army attacking us. Rafe will be too busy being a magical lightning rod to help, which means it’ll be two of us against whatever horrors the Endless One shows up with.” She shook her head. “You heard Marlik. His mentor doesn’t need fresh bodies to make monsters.”

Rafe grimaced. “Can we avoid using the term magical lightning rod?”

“Okay, magical…” Izzie shrugged. “The point is you won’t be able to fight during the ritual. This is way beyond what was supposed to happen. We’re going to need help from the PDA. We need tactical support squads.”

Caden frowned. “Nothing I said before changes. You contact them, and it ends up leaked, then we have the Endless One and underworld assassins showing up.”

“Don’t you get it?” Izzie’s voice rose to a near shout. “This isn’t going to be a small group tunneling at us. The Endless One will sense the diadem’s power and throw everything he has at us. We won’t have time to mess around with warding an entire forest, especially when we know we need to save magic power to fight off an incoming attack.”

“Then we need reinforcements we can trust.”

“Exactly. And the only way we can get that is to call the PDA to get tactical support to back us up.” She frowned. “I could ask Pearl and Dax, but they’re under no obligation to agree.”

“The witch and the gnome who are your friends, right? They have a vested interest in not having their magic, life, and souls sucked out. That could motivate them.”

“That’s still only four magicals against an army. Whatever the Endless One can bring to the party, he’ll throw at us.”

Caden took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I want you to remain calm.”

“I am calm. I’m pissed but still calm.”

“That doesn’t… Never mind. I meant I want you to stay calm after you hear what I’m about to say.”

Izzie narrowed her eyes. “Please don’t make me regret trusting you. I already have major trust issues.”

“As you suspected, I’ve left certain information out in my explanations.”

Izzie slammed on the brakes and jerked the wheel to take the car into a nearby parking lot. She clipped a curb, bouncing the vehicle before it squealed to a stop. She threw up her palm and pointed it at Caden’s face. “Start talking and don’t try anything.”

Rafe didn’t draw his gun. He watched Caden with suspicion.

“Did you call NGMR?” Izzie asked. “Is that how the Endless One found us?”

Caden shook his head. He raised his hands in front of his chest. “No. Everything I said about leaks is true. You need to understand that although I was sent to NGMR as an outside security specialist, I am an undercover agent of a certain unnamed federal agency.

“Our agency had concerns that NGMR was involved in inappropriate research and oversight failures. The Department of Defense personnel overseeing Project Smothering Swarm previously insisted nothing like that was happening. This required us to take a more aggressive approach to checking on things.”

“Rafe, cover him for a second,” Izzie barked.

Rafe drew his gun and set it in his lap without pointing it at Caden. “Don’t try anything stupid, please.”

“Oh, I’m already doing that by admitting all this,” Caden replied.

Izzie chanted a spell and pushed her hands through intricate movements. A small white orb appeared. “Are you familiar with this type of truth spell?”

“If I lie, it turns dark. If I tell the truth, it stays light.”

Izzie nodded. “Exactly.”

“I could have a counterspell up.” Caden smiled. “Isn’t that why you didn’t try it before?”

“Among other reasons. These spells are great when it’s a simple yes or no question. Otherwise, there are too many problems. We’ll test it to be sure. Lie.”

“My name is Izzie Berens.”

The orb turned dark. Rafe’s brow lifted.

“Do you work for the Arcane Syndicate in any capacity, directly or indirectly?” Izzie asked.

Caden’s mouth twitched. “Now that’s a difficul⁠—”

Izzie shoved her palm forward again. “Yes or no.”

“No.”

The orb brightened. Caden sighed in relief.

“Why were you so worried about that question?” Rafe’s hand was still on his pistol.

“Because it’s all a matter of interpretation. I’m doing undercover work. I’ve never knowingly aided the Arcane Syndicate, but…”

He shrugged. “One of the big reasons I was sent here is that my organization is concerned about Arcane Syndicate involvement with the NGMR project.” He laughed. “Then it was perfect. You two got assigned to the case, so I thought I’d hit the jackpot.”

“Is Caden Sonnell your actual name?” Izzie asked.

“It is.” Caden smiled. “It’s easy to do what I do with my real name because I have an extensive, well-established cover as a well-respected security contractor with ties to different companies and the government.”

Izzie lowered her arm. She stopped feeding magic into the truth spell. The orb dissipated. Rafe sighed in relief and put his gun in his shoulder holster.

“You’ve insisted we take the diadem back to NGMR from the beginning. Why?”

“Technically, I was trying to get control of the diadem. I was going to hold onto it while finishing my investigation of NGMR and the leaks.” He ran his hand through his hair.

“The DOD wants this whole thing to go away. From what we already know, it looks like a high-ranking officer has been pushing the entire project without proper clearance and approval from the top-level authorities. The military is desperate to play catch-up when it comes to magic and technomagic. Plenty of people in positions of influence still understand how it can turn bad and that magic isn’t just another technology.”

He shook his head. “The original plan, even before the theft, was to cancel the project before it drew too much attention. That was my understanding.”

Izzie glared at Caden. “You should have told us all this from the beginning.”

“I wasn’t cleared to do that. Not without a good reason.”

“Will you get in trouble for telling us now?” Rafe asked.

Caden shook his head. “I was given field authority to pass along information on a need-to-know basis to relevant personnel that I find vital to the mission's success. It includes any situation where escalation of general risk to the public is involved, especially regarding significant loss of human life.”

“Anything else you’d like to share?” Izzie asked. “While we’re being all honest with one another.”

His expression hardened. “Project Smothering Swarm was originally called Project Ten Thousand. Allegedly, the old stories of the ancient Persian unit, the Immortals, inspired it.” He waved to stop any outbursts.

“Before you jump to any conclusions, the Persian Immortals weren’t actual immortals. The idea was more that they were always ten thousand strong. When the unit took losses, new men would be added so it would never waver in strength. The unit would be immortal.”

Izzie nodded. “What does any of that have to do with the diadem and the current project?”

“This project was pitched to the DOD top brass as being about developing a powerful technomagic control system that could control autonomous weapons. Especially armed technomagical drones. That’s how the officers and staff involved sold it. That’s how NGMR sold it. They would have an easy-to-control army of easily replaceable autonomous soldiers that wouldn’t risk anyone’s life.”

He shook his head. “I suspect somebody in the DOD or NGMR understood exactly what they had their hands on once the research advanced. I don’t know how the hell they planned to pull this over the finish line. Maybe they figured if they stuck uniforms and armor on corpses, nobody would ask too many questions, or the higher-ups wouldn’t mind as long as it worked.”

Izzie stared at him. “Would they?”

“I don’t know. All I know is I got sent in to look into what was really going on because of the corruption on the private and governmental sides.”

“I get it.” Rafe narrowed his eyes. “You’re DIA, aren’t you? I was thinking FBI or CIA, but given what’s going on, DIA makes more sense.”

Caden grinned. “You should have kept the truth spell.”

“You’ve gone this far.” Izzie shrugged. “What’s one more little truth?”

“Yes, I am an agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency,” Caden stated with obvious pride. “And yes, this situation blew up way past what I or my superiors anticipated. The last thing the government needs is another incident involving anything that smells like it can drain and redirect magic power.

“The incidents with Derek Chesterton and your friend Alison raised tons of tension and destabilized many high-level discussions in the government with different magical factions. It set back non-magical and magical relations by years.” He frowned. “Many people in the magical community, good or bad, are convinced that non-magicals are plotting against them. This might come off that way.”

Izzie scoffed. “You could have saved us tons of time if you told the truth from the beginning.”

“I didn’t know if I could trust you. You have a reputation for solving problems. You’re also a woman who all but disappeared from the world for years and swam in the darkest parts of the magical underworld hunting your enemies. More than a few people in the intelligence world would look at that background and see a turned asset or a sleeper agent.”

“I can’t argue when other people are as paranoid as I am.” Izzie sighed. “You said the Arcane Syndicate might have something to do with this?”

“We had loose intel they might be interested, but nothing directly actionable.” Caden shrugged.

“What about that veiled witch? Do you know who she is?”

Caden shook his head. “I wish I did. But this all circles back to the original issue. There’s corruption on both sides in this case. Although I trust you, I honestly can’t trust the PDA as an entity. Given everything on the line, I think it’s too dangerous to call them in to help.”

Izzie frowned. “Then we’re back to stopping the Endless One with two or four magicals and hoping Rafe doesn’t die in the process, too.”

“I told you everything because I wasn’t sent here alone. I have a couple of assault squads who can help. I know these people and have worked with them before. I trust them with my life.”

Izzie faced front and drove the car out of the parking lot. She took a couple of deep breaths and tried to process everything she’d heard.

“Where are we going now?” Caden asked.

“To Pearl’s place. Then we’ll swing by Dax’s and see if he wants to help. You go ahead and call your buddies. We don’t have much time to set this up.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

The bright moon was high in its arc. A circle of floodlights did the rest of the illumination work for the clearing where Izzie’s team gathered. A squad of four DIA agents in exoskeletons armed with railguns and grenade launchers patrolled the clearing’s edges. A larger squad of men and women in tactical vests with enchanted rifles and grenades had broken into two smaller sub-squads. Caden was kitted out and chatted quietly with one sub-squad, gesturing at the nearby trees.

Izzie finished carving a glyph in the clearing’s grass with a jet of flame from her hand. “How are you doing over there?” she called.

Nearby, Pearl carved a different glyph in the ground with a flame shooting from the tip of her thin black wand. Her full black dress made it easier for her to blend with the shadows, giving her an eerie look that reminded Izzie a little too much of the veiled witch. “The last time we talked, I said we should hang out more. I never imagined that meant agreeing to help you with something so ludicrous.”

Dax hummed a rock song as he walked along the edge of the clearing, pulling small black pyramids from his backpack and setting them on the ground. He’d explained earlier that they were explosive traps, but he wasn’t sure if they could take out zombies. He carried a rifle over his shoulder. Dense glyph work covered the barrel.

Rafe wandered over to Pearl and Izzie. “Is there something else I should be doing?”

Pearl frowned. “I’m rather upset with you, Rafe. I would have thought you, of all people, would have more sense than to volunteer for something so foolish.”

He smiled. “I can’t let Izzie always take the fun of being at the center of an insane idea for saving the city.”

“I see.” Pearl approached Rafe and leaned closer to whisper something in his ear.

His eyes widened, and he backed away. “Are you serious? Or is this another one of your little games?”

Pearl smiled. “Why would I joke about something like that?” She turned and sashayed toward a nearby tree. “I want to create a helper, so I’ll have to take my leave, but remember what I said.”

Izzie finished burning her glyph and jogged to Rafe. “What was that about?” she murmured.

“Pearl told me if I survive, she wants me to take her out to a nice dinner sometime.” Rafe watched Pearl march to a tree and wave her wand. “She’s messing with me, right?”

Izzie shook her head with a smile. “I’ve always thought she kind of liked you.”

“I honestly didn’t think she did.”

“Do you like her?”

“I find her attractive and interesting.” Rafe blinked. “I guess I do like her.”

“Then all the more reason to stay alive.” Izzie grinned. “You can brag about how much better your social life is than mine.”

Caden headed their way. His magazines rattled in his vest. “Are we on schedule for the ritual?”

Izzie nodded. “All the glyph work is done. All we need to do now is put the artifacts down and go through the incantations.”

Caden checked his watch. “From what Marlik said, it will take a good twenty minutes of incantations to get the ritual going.”

“What about it?”

“Nothing wrong with starting at 2340 hours, then,” he concluded. “As long as you don’t finish before midnight.”

Izzie pulled out her phone and checked the time. “Start in forty minutes, then? Okay. I’ll chat with Pearl about it. Having her to split the incantation work will make it easier.”

Rafe turned and stared at the small lawn chair in the center of the clearing. “I can’t believe I’m going to sit in a lawn chair during this whole thing.”

Caden slapped him on the back. “What? You wanted a throne?” He glanced between Dax and Pearl. “I hate to say this, but you only have two magicals in this entire city you trust with your lives?”

Izzie shrugged. “You insisted we not get the PDA involved. Rafe knows mostly non-magicals outside of work, and I’m…” She considered the wording before admitting, “Antisocial.”

“So I’ve noticed.” Caden rubbed his hands together. “Don’t worry. We’ve got this. Even if the Endless One picks up on what we’re doing, it’ll take him too long to get here and do anything about it. We’ll seal the diadem’s power. Then we can find him and finish him off.”

He toggled the tactical team’s comm and warned, “We’re starting at 2340 hours, people. Get yourselves ready before then.”

A tree wrenched itself free of the ground and raised its branches. Izzie’s heart rate kicked up, thinking Larim had found them before she spotted Pearl near the tree, tracing intricate patterns with her wand.

“Careful about messing with the trees too much, Pearl,” Izzie cautioned. “I’ll get screamed at later by Bill, and I don’t want a bunch of people from the parks department screaming at me, too.”

“I’m only doing one. I’d rather save my magic for other surprises during the battle.” Pearl wrinkled her nose. “Necromancers. They’re such uninteresting boors.”

Dax finished setting his traps. He pulled a silver ball from his backpack, pressed a button on the top, and flung it into the air. The ball opened into a small mechanical bird and flew away. He repeated this with three other balls thrown in different directions.

He strolled toward Izzie and pulled his rifle down. The barrel extended. “Were you able to confirm anything else about how much damage the zombies could take?”

“Just stick to headshots, and you’ll be fine,” Caden replied.

Rafe gave the gnome an odd look. “I thought you didn’t do stuff without getting paid.”

“Not dying and keeping my soul is a good payment,” Dax pointed out. “I don’t like necromancers anyway. Some curiosities should never be satisfied. They give the rest of us curious people a bad reputation.”

Caden nodded. “This is a good crew. We can win this.”

“We don’t have much choice,” Izzie stated. “We screw up here, then tons of people are going to die.”

Izzie stood across from Pearl in the center of a glyph. They were both ready to begin their incantations in a few minutes. The cry of a hawk overhead set everyone’s nerves on edge. The soldiers raised their weapons.

“Wait,” Izzie called and tilted her head. “I swear I recognize that bird.”

The hawk circled overhead before diving toward Izzie.

“Izzie, watch out!” Rafe and Caden shouted.

She didn’t move. Instead, she stuck out her arm, and the hawk slowed with mighty flaps of its wings and landed there.

The hawk opened its mouth, and Marlik’s quiet, haggard voice came out between pants and coughs. “I…apologize, young Berens.”

“Marlik, is that you?” Izzie asked. “Are you this hawk?”

“It is me, but no, I’m not this bird. I’m linked to him and don’t have much time.” The hawk coughed like a human. “The Endless One came to the sanctuary. I recognized my old master even in a different form. I tried to hold out against his power, but he was too much for me even without the diadem.”

Izzie exchanged worried looks with Caden, Pearl, and Rafe. “What did he want?”

“The diadem. He’d come close, he said, but you were too ready for him. He knew somehow that you visited me.” He coughed more. “I held out as long as possible, but his power was too great once I died. He compelled me to tell him what you were planning, and well.”

“I… Wait.” Izzie’s heart rate kicked up. “Once you…died? How are you talking to us if you’re dead?” She grimaced. “Necromancy. Is he controlling you right now?”

“I took precautions long before. Some part of me always knew this was how my life would end. I knew I could keep my soul in my body long enough to help one last time and make up for my past mistakes. This is my final penitence for failing again.”

He coughed. “He knows where you are. He’s coming for you. But you have a chance. He doesn’t understand how much I know. His soul connection to his latest body is weak. His control and connection to the diadem is unstable. He will use much of his power to stop you.”

A fit of coughing interrupted his continuing words. “That means he…will…I…you have a chance. I’m…sorry. I…should…have…done…more. I’m…sorry. There’s nothing more I can do. It’s…too…late.”

The hawk uttered another loud, keening cry and leapt away from Izzie. He flapped his wings hard and disappeared into the sky.

There was no time to mourn the sacrifice of a complicated elf’s legacy. Millions of lives were on the line.

“The Endless One already knows our location!” Izzie shouted. “He could be here any minute. We’re starting the ritual now. Everyone to your positions!”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Twenty minutes later, the glyphs burned into the ground glowed with a bright but eerie sparkling light. A column of light swirled around Rafe at the center of the glyph formation. He gritted his teeth but didn’t show much pain except occasional grunts.

Visible darker-colored energy flows passed from the diadem lying a few yards away from Rafe and sitting above another glyph. The flows shifted color and turned bright once they joined the column encasing him.

Izzie finished the final incantation and spun toward Rafe. “You hanging in there?”

“It kind of feels like I’m getting low-level shocked.” He grimaced. “Not great, but not terrible.”

Pearl shot him a worried look. “The ritual should be self-sustaining now, provided you don’t leave that spot.”

“We’re past midnight,” Caden confirmed. “Good job.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Rafe patted the side of the chair. “After all, I have this awesome plastic lawn chair to sit in. Such style.”

Dax walked Izzie’s way. At some point, he’d strapped on dark goggles. He raised his voice. “I spotted large groups of hooded men and women armed with knives heading this way. They’re in two distinct groups coming from the north and east.”

“You heard him,” Caden communicated to the tac teams via comm. “Everyone get ready. All our intel says these will be non-living animate targets. Don’t hold back. Blow them back to hell.”

Dax frowned and reached up to twist the front lenses of his goggles. “Skeletons are coming from the west and north.” He looked at Caden. “Can you kill skeletons with headshots, too?”

“I suppose we’re about to find out. Everyone spread out to cover every direction. This Endless One isn’t playing around, so we should repay him with a proper ass-kicking.”

Another bird flapped above, circling the column of light shooting into the sky while carefully avoiding it. Izzie assumed it was another hawk from Marlik before she lifted her head and saw that the owl circling above them had a huge hole through its chest, exposing its ribcage. It was missing half its feathers.

A booming voice came from the owl, speaking in a harsh, dissonant, and unrecognizable language before shifting to English with a slight delay. “I am the Endless One, the greatest of Oriceran necromancers and the final master of life and death.

“This gathering of pitiful children has no chance of defeating my power, but I am a merciful god of death. I will allow you to surrender what is rightfully mine in exchange for your lives. Give me the Diadem of the Beyond and leave this place if you value your lives, for it will soon be at the heart of my kingdom of the dead.”

Izzie cleared her throat. “I am Special Agent Izzie Berens of the United States Paranormal Defense Agency,” she shouted. “I don’t feel I should have to explain that you’re in violation of numerous laws and treaties right now.”

“You are the daughter of the Fixer,” the Endless One shouted through his puppet. He expressed his disdain in a near growl. “His kind are always shortsighted and foolish. His predecessor once disrupted my plans.”

“That might be true, but he isn’t here. I am. Are you here on behalf of the Arcane Syndicate?”

Every second she could stall the Endless One meant an additional second for the ritual to complete. There was no reason not to try dragging information out of the Endless One.

The Endless One laughed. The sight of the twisted, undead owl convulsing made it that much worse. “The Arcane Syndicate? They are nothing more than a tool to a god.

“They understand their place in the order of things. They found what I needed. We had intended to use the auction winners as my first tools. Little did we know that someone like you would get involved. You’ve made the recovery of my beloved diadem complicated, child.”

Izzie smiled, having confirmed part of her suspicions. “Oh. Sorry to mess up your big plan. Isn’t it a little petty of a god of death to worry about stuff like conning people into paying for something, then killing them anyway?”

“You will be a useful experimental subject, Izzie Berens. Nothing has changed from my original goals. They were wise to seek me out and bring me here. You have unusual power in you. I will keep your soul in your body, and you will come to serve me with that power but as a new immortal servant. Once I retrieve the diadem, I’ll be able to master control of death.”

“You mean you want to bring me back as a walking corpse.” Izzie snorted. “No thanks.”

“Cast aside your outdated understanding of life and death. You can’t win against a god. There is only serving the god.”

“I’m here, and I’m going to shred whatever army you’ve brought with you, then track you down and make sure you’re locked up for a thousand years. Your stupid diadem has gotten people killed in my city, and you had no reason to kill Marlik. Unlike you, he was trying to make up for what he’d done.”

“Traitors should die. Most cultures share that belief.” The owl did a couple of loops. “What of the rest of you? Will you die because the daughter of the Fixer tells you to do so? Don’t be tools of those myopic light elf fools.”

Pearl scoffed. “She’s my friend. That’s enough for me.”

“Some lines shouldn’t be crossed,” Dax added. “You’ve leapt well past them.”

Caden drew his gun. “Didn’t you hear her the first time, you dead asshole? She’s here representing the PDA, and I’m here representing the DIA. That means this isn’t about whatever crap you did on Oriceran. This is about you launching a major attack on the United States of America, and it’s our job to defend this country.”

“Your land will become dust,” the Endless One’s owl puppet bellowed. “Your people will serve as nothing more than the expression of my will on this backw⁠—”

A loud gunshot echoed among the trees. The bullet struck the owl and blew it apart in a bright blue flash.

“Sorry,” Dax commented. “He was annoying me.”

Caden grinned. “That conversation wasn’t going anywhere.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Rustling leaves and cracking branches sounded from all directions. Shadowy figures marched through the trees. Robed zombies with enchanted knives and skeletons also carrying knives advanced toward the clearing.

The negotiation portion of the evening had failed. Only battle remained.

Massive blasts ripped apart the zombies and skeletons as they met the outer line of Dax’s traps. His earlier question about damage levels was answered by the failure of zombies that had lost their heads to rise again. Piles of bones from the blown-apart skeletons rained down. More blasts ripped through the front lines of the advancing enemy and threw up thick smoke, hiding the advance of their following allies.

The earlier fight at the safe house didn’t give a good feel for how fast the zombies could move. They couldn’t sprint, but they poured out of the smoke at a quick jog. Their skeletal allies advanced at a more measured walk.

DIA exoskeleton railguns and grenade launchers came alive. A railgun sheared off the arms and half the ribs of a skeleton. It wasn’t until a shot severed its spine that the skeleton collapsed into a pile of bones.

The non-exoskeleton-piloting DIA agents opened fire with their weapons. Like before, anti-magic bullet headshots took a zombie down with ease. Shots through the skulls of skeletons only slowed them. Spine-severing and decapitation strikes worked on the skeletons.

Izzie raised her palm and fed the stronger, penetrating light bolt she’d used at the safe house. She released her first bolt, which tore through a zombie’s head.

Pearl’s tree advanced toward a group of zombies rushing out of the smoke and bashed away with low-hanging branches. They swarmed the tree and started hacking.

Dax unleashed more of his blue blast rounds into an approaching group of zombies. He took deliberate, well-aimed shots rather than spraying round after round. Conversely, Caden sent so many explosive bullets into a skeleton wave that he was bouncing bones before they hit the ground.

Fluttering shadows filled the air as a group of undead birds in various states of decay circled the area. Half of the exoskeletons and the other DIA agents switched to firing into the air before the birds divebombed the clearing. The heavy rounds tore the birds apart, but the distraction allowed more zombies and skeletons to advance.

The zombies swarming Pearl’s tree continued hacking away before a pair of zombies abruptly blew up in a bright blast and tore the tree in half. Now Izzie understood what had happened at the safe house.

“Don’t let them get close,” she shouted. “Some of them can explode.”

As she finished yelling, an undead bird dropped toward Izzie and blew up. The blast was smaller than the tree-killers, but the shockwave broke through her shield spell and knocked her to the ground. DIA agents screamed and fell to other kamikaze death birds.

“Cover me! I’ll handle the birds!” Izzie brushed blood out of her eyes and thrust her arms up. She chanted a spell and cut through the air with sharp motions.

Undead birds dropped toward her. Dax and Caden took them out before they got close. Pearl reached into a pouch, flung seeds into the air, and waved her wand. A web of green tendrils shot from the seeds and snagged many of the attacking birds. The tendrils squeezed until the dead bird puppets blew apart.

Under the continuous crack of heavy gunfire, the whine of railguns, and her friends covering for her, Izzie finished her chant and flung a massive orb of light into the sky. The orb shattered and sent out a shockwave that fried the surviving aerial threats.

A group of zombies made it through the killing zone and leapt onto one of the exoskeletons. The pilot jerked back and forth, trying to shake them off. The zombie self-destructed, and the exoskeleton tumbled to the ground as a burning metal coffin.

Izzie looked around, trying to figure out if the enemy numbers were thinning. The Endless One’s power might free him from needing fresh corpses, but that didn’t mean he had infinite magical power. There had to be a limit.

Another DIA agent went down with a scream as skeletons stabbed through her tactical vest and into her chest. Her nearby squad mates avenged her with quick bursts before being forced to back up from a surge of skeletons.

A tall, thin, robed figure floated above the trees. His hood covered his face, but dark green glowing eyes marked his position. A dark, translucent orb protected him. Izzie launched a fireball and a light bolt at him. Both bounced off his shield.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” Izzie called to the figure. “The Endless One has come to play.”

“This is your last chance,” he replied. “Surrender, and you can keep your souls. Keep fighting, and you’ll be nothing more than another puppet member of my dead legions.”

“I’ll handle this guy,” Izzie shouted and re-upped her shield spell. “Keep the zombies and skeletons back.”

Dax gave a thumbs-up before a trio of zombies leapt on him and took him to the ground. A blue energy wave blasted them back but left the gnome bloodied and prone. A skeleton stabbed Pearl in the side, and she grimaced before knocking it back with a wave of her wand.

The column of light surrounding Rafe widened. He let out a piercing scream.

“Rafe!” Izzie shouted and jogged toward him.

He continued screaming and thrashing in the chair. “I can do this! Don’t worry about me!”

The Endless One swept his arm toward Izzie. A wave of inky-black arrows materialized and shot toward her. She jumped backward, avoiding most of them. The handful of arrows that struck her shield destroyed her protection with ease. Another shadow arrow barrage forced Izzie to concentrate on running. She only threw the occasional light bolt into the air.

More DIA agents went down under the stabs and slashes of skeletons. Caden flung a grenade that blasted a white shockwave and tore the skeletons apart.

Izzie had been so busy concentrating on her battle that she hadn’t noticed how badly the tide had turned against her team. Only one member of the exoskeleton squad remained. Dax limped backward while blasting advancing zombies and skeletons. Only a handful of other DIA personnel survived, including Caden.

A wall of thick tendrils shot up under the direction of Pearl’s wand to form a wall blocking half the clearing. She grimaced and clutched her bleeding side, taking a moment to heal her wounds. A group of exploding zombies tore through her plant wall in her moment of respite.

The Endless One floated toward the diadem, content to ignore the ineffectual light bolts bouncing off his shield. Izzie stayed patient despite her falling friends and flooded power into a lance of light magic. She flung the lance toward the orb, and the spell tore through and into the necromancer's chest. He fell in the clearing, landing on one knee.

“You took me too lightly,” Izzie said. “Now you’re going to pay for that. This is for everyone who’s died in this city because of you.”

She alternated hands and pumped out light bolts as fast as she could manage. Her spells pounded the Endless One and burned through his robe and dried, withered skin, but he didn’t go down.

The final exoskeleton fell to a horde of exploding zombies and stabbing skeletons. Izzie could only rely on the sound of guns firing and explosions to know if any of the DIA team had survived. She continued her withering assault against the Endless One. He lifted his palm and conjured a small ball of pure darkness that sucked in the nearby light.

“Cease your futile resistance, child,” the Endless One yelled before flicking his wrist and shooting the ball toward Izzie.

She turned but knew it was too late. She hadn’t restored her fallen shield.

Out of nowhere, Caden leapt in front of her. The Endless One’s ball struck his chest and vaporized his flesh, leaving a deep hole. He fell while managing to fire two explosive bullets into the Endless One’s neck to blow off the necromancer’s head.

Izzie rushed to Caden and rolled him onto his back. She placed her hands on his chest and chanted a healing spell. The wound wouldn’t close.

“Don’t worry about me.” Caden gritted his teeth. “Protect Rafe. All we need to do is last until the ritual is done to save the city. After that, everything’s a bonus.”

“Surviving the fight isn’t a bonus.” Izzie grabbed one of his healing potions and made him drink it. The wound still didn’t close. “Damn it. There has to be something I can do.”

“You think your feeble healing can reverse what I’ve done so easily?” the Endless One asked. “You think my true necrosis can be stopped so easily?”

Izzie turned her head. Her eyes widened. His head lay on the ground, the dried gray skin around his mouth making his manic grin all the more deranged. His body leaned down to pick up the head, which kept speaking.

“Do you understand yet what you face, child? I am beyond life and death. I am forever.”

“You’re nothing but a freak too afraid to die!” Izzie shouted.

She flung a fireball and a light bolt. She switched to two light bolts, then two fireballs. Her spells pelted the Endless One, only slowing him as he reconnected his head to his body with a quick twist and an awful squelch.

Zombies and skeletons surged toward the clearing’s center from all sides. Izzie charged the Endless One, continuing her onslaught of quick-cast magic, desperate to do anything to slow him. He threw another of his true necrosis spheres. She twisted and avoided the hit before shoving another fireball into his face.

Her continued brutal assaults burned away most of his robe, revealing more of the withered husk of a body underneath. All the burns and cuts didn’t seem to hurt him as he took step after horrifying step toward the diadem.

Izzie quickly chanted a spell to summon a gust of air and jumped. The spell tossed her over the Endless One. She landed in front of the diadem in a rough crouch that twisted her ankle.

She forced herself to stand and took a moment to layer a shield over herself before shoving magic into a long light spear. The Endless One cast another true necrosis spell and sent the dark sphere at her heart. She ignored the attack and used that last second to feed more magic into her spear.

The Endless One’s attack brought down her shield. She threw her spear. The spell flew away and impaled the Endless One through the chest.

He stopped and looked down as the spell's energy dissipated, leaving a huge hole. “You’re too used to fighting the living, child. That’s your fundamental failure. I expected more.”

Izzie lifted her hands. “You’re not getting past me until I’m dead.”

“Don’t worry. Soon, you will be. I am the Endless One. I am eternal, forever and undying. You think you and your pathetic group of children will be able to defeat me when so many have tried throughout the centuries? I am a god of death. I am a force of nature. I cannot be stopped.”

Izzie blasted a fireball into his face. “There’s a first time for everything.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

The waves and flows of intense background magic were much like a loud, constant noise. Izzie could ignore both once she got used to them. Their sudden absence was also immediately noticeable. Such was the case when the thrum of dark magic from the diadem stopped.

The Endless One stopped moving and fell to his knees. “Impossible.”

Izzie spun toward the diadem and Rafe. The column of light was gone. The magical transfer from the diadem into the environment had finished. The diadem crumbled into burning ashes.

“That must have been what Marlik was trying to say before he died,” Izzie remarked. “That’s why you were so desperate and sloppy.” She faced the Endless One. “You were vulnerable. For whatever reason, you were vulnerable.” She laughed. “Enjoy permanent death, Endless One. I’m sure you’ll find it interesting.”

Rafe groaned in his chair. “That…sucked. If being a magical means having to do that more often, I’m glad I’m not a magical.”

Izzie sighed in relief at her partner before shaking her head and returning to the Endless One. The end of the diadem didn’t end the battle against the Endless One’s creations.

Rather, she didn’t expect it to. The Endless One’s body crumbled into dust, leaving only scraps of his robe. All the zombies and skeletons around him fell and joined their creator in becoming piles of dust. A chance gust spread the undead dust across the clearing. Izzie held her breath to avoid breathing it.

Pearl groaned and sat up. She pulled out a healing potion and downed it. Dax did the same.

Izzie limped to Caden’s side. She pulled a stoppered vial from his belt and helped him drink the potion. This time, the gaping hole in his chest healed.

“Call it a death aura or whatever you want,” Izzie said. “That bastard’s power made it impossible to heal you.”

Caden sat up and groaned. He looked around the battlefield at the scorched exoskeletons and the dead agents. “We won, but it cost too many good people.”

Izzie limped to the next nearest downed DIA agent. She tried a healing spell and closed some wounds, but the agent’s heart didn’t restart. “They all saved millions of lives today.” She frowned. “But it shouldn’t have happened. People were only in danger because of greedy bastards.”

“Don’t worry.” Caden frowned. “All the people responsible will go down, if only to pay back the men and women who gave their lives today. I guarantee that.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Afew days later, Izzie sat in Bill’s office. Rafe remained at the hospital. He claimed he felt fine, but everyone thought monitoring him for a few days was best since non-magicals acting as special magical grounding rods for complicated rituals wasn’t an everyday occurrence.

“You could have taken another day off, Berens,” Bill remarked. “You pushed yourself hard this week. I didn’t need you to come back right away. We were handling things.”

“You know me. I prefer to keep busy. It’s like someone told me recently. There’s always something out there threatening the city.”

Bill grunted. “Ain’t that the truth. You’ll be glad to know we found the leakers while you and Rafe were out running around playing hero and superspy with that DIA agent.”

“Leakers? As in plural?”

“Yes.” Bill nodded. “There was a high-level Department of Defense contractor who’d been taking bribes, and it gets worse. The security chief at NGMR was also indirectly involved. He broke down and admitted he hadn’t handled certain security schedule communications according to secure procedure during messages with the contractor.” He frowned. “West ended up confessing yesterday morning out of the blue.”

“Interesting timing. Somebody was getting close?”

Bill nodded. “I’d say the FBI was getting close, but it’s hard to say how much of it was his idea and some of it the result of him having been exposed to the diadem too much. He claims there are irregularities in his behavior he couldn’t understand when he was asked about the side effects of exposure. A few people around him have corroborated that already.”

Izzie raised one eyebrow. “Is that defense going to fly? ‘You can’t blame me. The evil artifact made me do it.’”

Bill shook his head. “If he can prove clear mind control from a magical, that would be one thing. He’s trying to cooperate, so there’s talk of a reduced sentence.” He grunted. “Who knows? The guy screwed up and got people killed. As far as the FBI can tell, nobody paid him anything extra for it, so it doesn’t look like he did it with greed or malice.”

“So Caden was right about the government leak. I don’t know what would have happened if we brought the diadem here like I wanted to in the beginning.”

“We can’t say. The contractor had a high-level security clearance and access to government systems. There’s a good chance he could have compromised us here.” He leaned back in his seat. “The DOD is launching a major internal investigation into this project and anything related to the people involved. I’m sure heads will roll there, but that’s not our responsibility anymore.”

“What about NGMR? Are they going to dump all this on Chief West? He might have screwed up with the schedule, willingly or not, but he wasn’t the one who greenlit bringing in that diadem.”

“Brundle admitted he knew the artifact was more dangerous than it might have appeared, but he passed truth spells and polygraphs to prove he didn’t realize how dangerous.” Bill shook his head. “Everyone believes he depended on that ignorance to shield him. He resigned, and his board of directors will replace him as CEO.

“We’re working with the FBI to figure out who will charge Brundle with what exact crimes. The truth is, he’ll probably get a slap on the wrist if he cooperates, but no company he runs will ever get a magical government research contract. That’s a small comfort to the dead security from his company. Their families might be able to sue him for wrongful death, too.”

Izzie nodded. “The Department of Defense and the company can clean up their own houses. I’m more worried about the Arcane Syndicate. The Endless One said they were involved. That marks two major incidents in as many months they’ve been involved in, and I’m convinced the veiled witch I mentioned is one of them.”

“Assuming we can locate anyone matching that description, you’ll be the first to know, Berens. I believe you, and I believe the Arcane Syndicate was involved. Brundle admitted to not doing a deep investigation of the diadem’s background when his people heard about the artifact.”

He frowned. “It also gets suspicious—quickly—when you look into the diadem’s most recent background. Did anyone talk to you about this?”

Izzie frowned. “No, they didn’t. All I know is what I found out during our time away from the PDA.”

“People were trying to give you time to rest. I had other agents track down the original third-party artifact dealer, and it’s clear from interviews that his memory was altered. The agents involved and forensics went over the dealer’s home and shop with their permission, and there were minor traces of dark magic. This dealer also had previous friendly dealings with Thaddeus Blackstone.”

“Really?” Izzie frowned. “That bastard Xelius didn’t warn us about any of this.”

“It’s possible the Arcane Syndicate had Xelius kill him to cover up not only their immediate plan but other long-term plans he didn’t know about.”

“That means they’ve been ahead of us this entire time?” Izzie’s hands curled into fists. “Damn it.”

Bill’s frown deepened. “Our working theory is the Arcane Syndicate or another group supplied the diadem to the dealer to get it into the hands of NGMR. What I don’t get is why the Arcane Syndicate, if they were involved, would supply the artifact to NGMR instead of using it themselves.”

Izzie thought that over. “It depends on their goals. It’s almost like they’re more interested in targeting Austin for whatever reason than accruing slow influence.” She frowned. “We have to be perfect every time, or tons of people will die.”

“Then the solution is easy. We’ll just keep being perfect.”

“That witch might be the key to all of it.” Izzie shook her head. “Has anyone checked out the gallery?”

Bill looked annoyed. “I didn’t want to bother you with this either. The gallery burned down, and yes, we have magical and regular forensics going over it.”

Izzie snorted. “The Syndicate’s covering their tracks well.”

“Not well enough. You’ve stopped them twice now. Be happy, Berens. It might not always feel like it, but the good guys are winning.”

Izzie was lying on the couch and watching the news that evening when she felt the subtle tug from her proximity wards and jumped to her feet. She had already visited Rafe in the hospital. She had also run by Pearl’s place two days before to check on her and hung out with Dax yesterday in gratitude. No one was supposed to show up at her apartment that evening.

She crept to the front door and turned on the doorbell camera. No masked wizard or hungry zombie waited for her. It was Caden in dress slacks and a nice polo shirt.

Izzie raised her palm before whispering an incantation to disable her primary wards and opened the door. “I didn’t expect to see you again.”

“May I come in?” Caden smiled.

Izzie motioned inside. “I guess. It’s a little messy. I wasn’t expecting guests.”

Caden entered the apartment and closed the door. He reached into his pocket. The pulse of magic and the disappearance of the TV’s noise signaled the use of a sound inverter.

Izzie raised an eyebrow. “Is there trouble?”

Caden shook his head. “Not exactly, but you’re a popular woman with scummy people. It never hurts to make sure nobody’s listening.”

“I have anti-spying wards up already.” She gestured at his pocket. “No need for the toy.”

Caden laughed. “Oh. I forgot. The Empress of Paranoia reigns supreme.”

“What are you doing here, Caden? Shouldn’t you be back at DIA headquarters waterboarding dwarven arms dealers?”

“I’ve been reassigned.” Caden broke into a huge smile. “Technically, the paperwork hasn’t gone through yet, but the DIA is concerned about the multiple high-threat magical incidents that have occurred in Austin in recent months. They believe it would be useful to have someone here full-time who can liaise with the PDA and FBI and help them as necessary.” He pointed at his chest. “That’s me.”

Izzie stared at him. “We have the PDA here. We don’t need spook babysitters looking over our shoulders during investigations.”

Caden chuckled. “It’s nothing like that. I’m not coming with a huge team. I’m just here to provide an extra resource for the PDA and FBI. If necessary, I can request tactical field operators.” His smile faded. “For extreme situations like what happened with the Endless One. Mostly, I’m here to keep an eye on things and let people back in DC know if they should be worried.”

“Were you the people who initially identified the Arcane Syndicate as a threat?”

“Yes. We’d found evidence of their involvement in helping magical terrorist groups. We tried to keep a light touch with looking for them, but they’ve upped their game in Austin in particular for whatever reasons.”

“Then you can help me find the veiled witch. I have a feeling she’s a major player in their organization.”

“One thing at a time there, Izzie.” Caden shrugged. “I’ll use what resources I can to look into her, but I won’t officially be reassigned for a few weeks.”

“I’ll try to send you a list of the different dark wizards and witches I’ve tangled with throughout the years. There’s a familiarity with the dark magic I felt around her at the gallery that might be linked to the Arcane Syndicate. It’s like I know her somehow, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

“You do that.” Caden smiled. “But there’s nothing I can do about it tonight. I came here with another idea.”

“What?” Izzie stared at him, confused.

“You promised me we could go out for a drink once this was all over.” Caden waggled his eyebrows. “It’s all over. I’m thirsty.”

“A drink?” Izzie kept staring at him, her brain trying to catch up with the reality unfolding in front of her. “Like you and me, going out for a drink?”

“I wouldn’t have come to your place if I wanted to have a drink with anyone else.”

Izzie laughed. “Sure, but I look like crap. I’m not exactly dressed to go out.”

“Nope. I disagree. You look fine.” Caden nodded toward the door. “I’m sure you know a casual place where a guy in a polo shirt and a woman who doesn’t look like trash but thinks she does can have a drink together and chat about anything but work.”

“That sounds suspiciously like a date.”

Caden laughed. “You caught me there, Agent Berens. Do you need to interrogate me with another truth spell first?”

Izzie opened her mouth to tell him she didn’t date. Something else came out instead.

“A drink sounds fun.” Izzie smiled. “At least let me change out of my comfy pants into actual jeans.”

“Your call. Don’t worry, Izzie. Tonight we’re going to have a fun time, and the only thing we’ll kill is your boredom.”

THE STORY CONTINUES

The story continues with book three, THE HIDDEN THREAT, coming soon to Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.

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AUTHOR NOTES - MARTHA CARR

MAY 27, 2024

The Weight of Determination (and Dumbbells)

There’s something about working out at the crack of dawn that makes you feel like a superhero—or maybe just mildly insane. The world is quiet, the sun is still contemplating whether to rise, and there I am, stumbling into the YMCA for my early-morning weightlifting class, trying not to trip over my shoelaces.

It wasn’t always this way. For years, my relationship with exercise was, shall we say, complicated. I’d try running, only to stop when life got too busy, or it rained or got above 100 degrees. I’d flirt with yoga, but my mind wandered halfway through every pose. Then came the weights. It was love at first deadlift—well, maybe not love. More like mutual respect. The kind you feel when you realize something is hard, but worth it.

My weightlifting class is a motley crew of early risers, ranging from retirees who could bench-press a Buick to first-timers wondering why they signed up. The instructor, a chipper force of nature who somehow thrives at 6:30 a.m., keeps us motivated with a mix of encouragement and the occasional reminder to "engage your core!" (I’m still not entirely sure where my core is, but I nod along anyway.)

The first few weeks were rough. My muscles ached in places I didn’t know existed, and there was one memorable morning when I nearly dropped a dumbbell on my foot. But as the weeks turned into months, something amazing happened: I got stronger. Not just physically, but mentally. There’s something empowering about lifting a weight you couldn’t manage before, about proving to yourself that you’re capable of more than you thought.

And then there’s running. Oh, running. For years, it was my nemesis. My knees had a way of reminding me, loudly and painfully, that they weren’t on board with my dreams of long-distance glory. But after months of strengthening, stretching, and wearing the best knee brace money can buy, I decided it was time to give running another shot.

Chicago 2025 is the goal. The marathon. Twenty-six-point-two miles of determination, sweat, and possibly a few tears. Why Chicago? Because it’s flat, and I’m a firm believer in making life as easy as possible when tackling something hard.

Starting to run again has been humbling. The first time I laced up my shoes and hit the pavement, it felt like my legs were made of lead. But as I shuffled along, something surprising happened: I smiled. There’s a freedom in running, even when you’re slow. It’s just you, the road, and the rhythm of your feet.

The Y has been my training ground, with its indoor track and forgiving treadmills. There’s a camaraderie among the early-morning runners, an unspoken understanding that we’re all chasing something, whether it’s fitness, sanity, or a sense of accomplishment. And let me tell you, nothing bonds you with a stranger quite like the shared grimace of sprinting the final lap.

Of course, training for a marathon isn’t just about running. It’s about balancing cardio with strength, endurance with recovery. My weightlifting class has been a lifesaver. Squats, lunges, and deadlifts have become my secret weapons, building the kind of strength that makes running easier—and keeps my knees happy.

There are days when it’s tough to stay motivated. Days when the alarm goes off, and I stare at the ceiling, wondering if it’s too late to take up knitting instead. But then I think about that finish line, about the sense of pride I’ll feel when I cross it, and I drag myself out of bed.

What I’ve learned along the way is that working out isn’t about perfection. It’s about showing up, even when it’s hard. It’s about finding joy in the process, whether it’s the endorphin rush of a good run or the satisfaction of nailing a clean-and-press in class.

It’s also about community. The folks at the Y, with their encouraging smiles and occasional grunts of effort, remind me that I’m not in this alone. And the good dog, Lois Lane, who sits patiently by the door while I lace up my running shoes, is my biggest cheerleader, even if she has no idea what a marathon is.

As I train, I’m reminded of how far I’ve come. A year ago, the idea of running a marathon felt like a distant dream. Now, it’s a goal within reach, one step at a time. And the best part? It’s not just about the race. It’s about everything I’ve gained along the way—strength, confidence, and a newfound appreciation for what my body can do.

Here’s to early mornings, heavy weights, and long runs. Here’s to embracing the challenge, to pushing through the tough days, and to celebrating every small victory. Because in the end, it’s not just about the destination—it’s about the journey. And this one? It’s shaping up to be pretty incredible. More adventures to follow

AUTHOR NOTES - MICHAEL ANDERLE

JANUARY 2, 2025

First, thank you for picking up this story and venturing all the way to the back of the book to see what thoughts I cooked up this time.

Have you ever wondered sometimes what collaborative authors argue about?

Oh, the list can be long, my friends—everything from how to name a fictional planet to whether the correct phrase is “trash can” or “trash bin.” (Don’t get me started on the tomato/tomahto fiasco!) But I’m going to spill a particular set of beans you might find amusing.

All the way back at the dawn of time—okay, maybe not that far, but it feels epic when you think about how stories get built—Martha and I got into a back-and-forth on how to spell Izzie’s mom’s name. I know, truly life-altering stuff, right?

Here’s the short version: Should it be LIERA or LEIRA? I’d swear we spent more time fussing about those vowels than we spent deciding whether unknown creatures would plop out of a dimensional rift in the living room. And it’s funny what sticks in your memory.

Each time Leira appears on the page, I’m instantly transported back to when I was living in Trophy Club (yes, this exact spot), about two houses ago. I could practically point out the table in my old kitchen nook where I was standing when Martha and I batted around name spellings like a tennis match.

For those who don’t know, Trophy Club is a stone’s throw north of Fort Worth—which might just be a fancy way of saying we’ve got more than our fair share of tumbleweeds and the occasional curious critter wandering into the backyard. 

(Not even close to true, at least the tumbleweeds part and when we left there was a lot of building, so short of critters, as well.)

If my memory serves (and I would never claim infallibility on that front), we finished right back where we started. LEIRA. And it might’ve been Martha’s sly patience, letting me run laps around the idea until I realized that the original was the best. After all, as a collaborator, you learn to smile, nod, and say, “Sure, go ahead,” while quietly waiting for your partner to come to their senses.

That’s the rumor, anyway.

But that’s collaboration in a nutshell—two people brainstorming, occasionally butting heads over something tiny, only to come back and see that the first spark was the right one all along. Before there was ever a daughter in the picture—before so many aspects of the story came to life—it was just two authors clasping our mugs of coffee, weighing a single letter transposition in a name as though the fate of the galaxy hung on it.

And there you have it. A nugget of trivia from behind the scenes, courtesy of my “Yes, we really do debate weird things” category.

Thanks for taking a pit stop in these author notes. I hope it made you chuckle (or at least smile in that “Oh, those authors” sort of way). More importantly, I hope you’re enjoying the story to the point where you roll your eyes at me but keep on reading anyway.

Until then, here’s to the character-building moments that surface in the most unexpected ways. May they keep us all enthralled!

Ad Aeternitatem,

Michael Anderle

P.S. If you enjoyed this random tidbit, I’d love to hear from you—maybe share your vote on correct name spellings or the best vantage point for rummaging over creative dilemmas. (Hint: It’s Coke in hand, near a window, in my experience.)

P.S.S. Don’t forget to subscribe to the MORE STORIES with Michael newsletter (https://michael.beehiiv.com/) for future updates, sneak peeks, and the occasional gem of authorly weirdness. Thanks again, and see you in the next adventure!

BOOKS BY MARTHA CARR

THE LEIRA CHRONICLES

CASE FILES OF AN URBAN WITCH

THE EVERMORES CHRONICLES

CHRONICLES OF WINLAND UNDERWOOD

SOUL STONE MAGE

THE KACY CHRONICLES

MIDWEST MAGIC CHRONICLES

THE FAIRHAVEN CHRONICLES

DIARY OF A DARK MONSTER

I FEAR NO EVIL

THE DANIEL CODEX SERIES

SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC

SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC: RAINE CAMPBELL

ALISON BROWNSTONE

FEDERAL AGENTS OF MAGIC

SCIONS OF MAGIC

THE UNBELIEVABLE MR. BROWNSTONE

DWARF BOUNTY HUNTER

ACADEMY OF NECESSARY MAGIC

MAGIC CITY CHRONICLES

ROGUE AGENTS OF MAGIC

WITCH WARRIOR

THE AGENT OPERATIVE

BIG EASY BOUNTY HUNTER

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