Extraits

CHAPTER 1

Avery glanced up at me several times, the last for a few seconds longer and with a flick of irritation that I would dare to ask him to work at a job he believed was a punishment and his uncle considered repayment for damaging his car. Although there was just a vague physical family resemblance between nephew and uncle, they were practically twins in their characteristic obstinacy. Uncle Gareth had perfected his over decades, and his position as head of the Supernatural Guild only reinforced it. Avery had spent only eighteen years on his.

“Is your uncle in his office?” I blew out a sigh of exasperation as he returned to his phone, sending a text.

“I don’t know.”

I looked for Beth, who usually worked the reception desk of the SG. The kind fae knew her job and did it well.

“Isn’t it your job to know where he is?” I asked, frowning.

He placed his phone on the desk, leaned forward, and gave me the sad puppy-dog eyes that Gareth accused him of using on his mother to get away with virtually everything. While they were widened into his impression of a male Blythe doll, I momentarily found myself looking past his mussed man bun and his overly casual dress of t-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops that I became aware of when he propped them on the desk.

“I’m indentured. I can’t do anything, and I go to school in a couple of weeks.”

“Aw. I would feel really sorry for you if you were actually doing your job and the big, mean lion was being unreasonable. Have you ever thought about actually doing the job really well and seeing if he’d let you off easy for good behavior?”

He made a face as he considered my suggestion but gave it just a few seconds of his time. “Doesn’t seem to have worked for you.” Then he gave me another sly smile. Even if it had worked for me, I suspected he would have ignored my suggestion. Avery and Gareth seemed to be embroiled in a subtle battle of dominance and stubbornness. Based on what I’d seen of Gareth, I was going to put my money on him. Avery wasn’t his uncle’s equal, and with all his years of dealing with him, he should have figured that out. He picked up the desk phone, dialed a number, and listened for a while. “He’s not in his office. He was in one of his moods this morning. When he’s like that, he’s usually trotting about the city in his animal form or taking it out on anyone stupid enough to spar with him. People around here are pretty smart now.” He shrugged. “I’d check the gym.” He reached into a drawer, pulled out a visitor’s badge, scanned it, and then handed it to me. He wasn’t incompetent, he just wanted everyone to think he was.

The mage and the witch had those objects in hand, and Harra had a dagger, my dagger, a Legacy dagger. It was a Necro-spear.

Gareth glared at the weapon. He knew it was more dangerous tan anything else that they were using to do the spell. If by some chance it was ever embedded in him he would lose the ability to change and his immunity to magic would be nullified. But Harrah appeared less concerned with him and more absorbed in getting the words of the spell out. The trio's lips moved fervently.