Cold Burn of Magic
Page 58
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“I want to check on something. Are you going to help me or not?”
“All right, all right,” Felix said, putting his arm around my waist.
He helped me over to the man who had attacked me, the one who’d had a speed Talent, the one Devon had commanded. I sat down on the floor beside the dead man. Felix rolled him over, and I pulled the guy’s wallet out of his back pocket. But he didn’t have any ID on him, no driver’s license or credit cards, so I threw the wallet aside in disgust and patted down the rest of his pockets. Along with some crumpled bills, which I kept for myself, I found a pack of gum, a small comb, and one very interesting thing—a silver cuff with a wolf ’s head stamped on it.
The Volkov Family crest.
I showed the cuff to Felix. He went over to a couple of the other dead guys, and sure enough, they all had a similar cuff tucked into their pockets.
Felix shook his head. “I can’t believe that they’re all Volkov guards.”
“Why not?”
“Because it doesn’t make any sense. We don’t have any major problems with the Volkovs. Besides, the Itos were the ones who probably attacked and killed Lawrence. So why would Volkov guards attack us tonight? Why not some of the Itos instead?”
I turned the Volkov cuff around and around in my hand, watching the silver gleam underneath the lights. Felix was right. It didn’t make sense, that one Family would be responsible for the first attack on Devon and Lawrence and a different Family for the one here in the library. There had to be something that tied them all together—or someone.
Maybe this wasn’t about the Families so much as it was about the mystery man. But surely, he had to be working for someone in order to have hired that much muscle. Either that, or he was independently wealthy. But even then, someone should know something about him.
“But let’s say that the Volkovs were behind the attack tonight,” Felix said. “How did they even know Devon was here? Nobody saw us leave the mansion. Even if they did, they couldn’t have possibly known we would wind up here.”
“Someone knew,” I pointed out. “Because the mystery man was here, just like he was in the pawnshop. He was the one who attacked Devon.”
“But how?”
I shrugged. I didn’t know the answer. If I did, I’d probably know who the mystery man was and what he really wanted from Devon. Actually, I had that last part figured out already.
A few more guards entered the library. Reginald and Grant turned to them, and Claudia stopped her conversation with Devon to listen as well.
“Anything?” Grant asked.
One of the guards shook his head. “There’s no trace of anyone around the building. Sorry.”
Claudia pressed her lips together, then her eyes cut to me. Her worry squeezed my heart.
“We’ll talk more about this at the mansion,” she snapped. “We’re leaving. Now.”
Felix started to help me up, but Devon hurried over and stepped in front of him.
“I’ve got Lila,” he said.
Devon’s voice didn’t crackle with magic, not like it had before, but it was a clear command all the same. Felix nodded and moved off to grab my suitcases, which had somehow made it through the fight unscathed.
Devon helped me to my feet and wrapped his arm around my waist. Despite the blood that covered both of us, he still smelled fresh and clean. I breathed in his scent, letting that sharp tang of pine wash away the coppery stench of blood—my blood.
I did that over and over again, desperately trying not to notice how gentle and considerate he was being with me, or how warm and hard the muscles of his chest were pressed up against my side.
Devon guided me to one of the black SUVs sitting at the curb outside the library. Claudia walked along behind us. She didn’t say anything, but I could feel her icy gaze boring into the back of my skull, and the sharp snap-snap-snap of her stilettos on the sidewalk seemed to echo her displeasure. She didn’t like her son helping me, and I liked it more than I should have. Neither one of us was happy.
Devon slid in the back beside me, while Felix put my suitcases in the rear, then got in on my other side. Reginald drove, while Claudia took the front passenger’s seat. Grant was in another car, the one he’d driven me to the Razzle Dazzle in, with the guards following him in two more vehicles.
Nobody said anything on the ride back to the mansion, but Claudia kept glancing over her shoulder and frowning, clearly pissed at me. She thought that I’d put her son in danger.
She was right about that.
Because the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that Devon and Felix weren’t the only ones who’d been following me. Someone had to have seen me leave the Razzle Dazzle and take the trolley over to the library. That was the only way someone could have possibly been at the library to see Devon and Felix go inside. But who would want to follow me? And why would he or she think that I’d lead them to Devon?
I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes, trying to puzzle it out. Trying to get all the tumblers to fall into the right spots so the lock would pop open, then I would know how the attack at the Razzle Dazzle fit in with what had happened tonight. My thoughts kept going back to the mystery man. He was at the center of this whole thing, like a blinking red alarm that I needed to disable before it went off and gave me away—or got me killed.
If I found the mystery man, I’d learn the answers to everything else.
Thirty minutes later, Reginald steered the SUV onto the grounds of the Sinclair mansion. Ten minutes after that I was in a room down the hall from the greenlab, lying on a hospital bed with the leg of my cargo pants cut open, trying not to wince as Felix and Angelo poked and prodded at my wound.
“All right, all right,” Felix said, putting his arm around my waist.
He helped me over to the man who had attacked me, the one who’d had a speed Talent, the one Devon had commanded. I sat down on the floor beside the dead man. Felix rolled him over, and I pulled the guy’s wallet out of his back pocket. But he didn’t have any ID on him, no driver’s license or credit cards, so I threw the wallet aside in disgust and patted down the rest of his pockets. Along with some crumpled bills, which I kept for myself, I found a pack of gum, a small comb, and one very interesting thing—a silver cuff with a wolf ’s head stamped on it.
The Volkov Family crest.
I showed the cuff to Felix. He went over to a couple of the other dead guys, and sure enough, they all had a similar cuff tucked into their pockets.
Felix shook his head. “I can’t believe that they’re all Volkov guards.”
“Why not?”
“Because it doesn’t make any sense. We don’t have any major problems with the Volkovs. Besides, the Itos were the ones who probably attacked and killed Lawrence. So why would Volkov guards attack us tonight? Why not some of the Itos instead?”
I turned the Volkov cuff around and around in my hand, watching the silver gleam underneath the lights. Felix was right. It didn’t make sense, that one Family would be responsible for the first attack on Devon and Lawrence and a different Family for the one here in the library. There had to be something that tied them all together—or someone.
Maybe this wasn’t about the Families so much as it was about the mystery man. But surely, he had to be working for someone in order to have hired that much muscle. Either that, or he was independently wealthy. But even then, someone should know something about him.
“But let’s say that the Volkovs were behind the attack tonight,” Felix said. “How did they even know Devon was here? Nobody saw us leave the mansion. Even if they did, they couldn’t have possibly known we would wind up here.”
“Someone knew,” I pointed out. “Because the mystery man was here, just like he was in the pawnshop. He was the one who attacked Devon.”
“But how?”
I shrugged. I didn’t know the answer. If I did, I’d probably know who the mystery man was and what he really wanted from Devon. Actually, I had that last part figured out already.
A few more guards entered the library. Reginald and Grant turned to them, and Claudia stopped her conversation with Devon to listen as well.
“Anything?” Grant asked.
One of the guards shook his head. “There’s no trace of anyone around the building. Sorry.”
Claudia pressed her lips together, then her eyes cut to me. Her worry squeezed my heart.
“We’ll talk more about this at the mansion,” she snapped. “We’re leaving. Now.”
Felix started to help me up, but Devon hurried over and stepped in front of him.
“I’ve got Lila,” he said.
Devon’s voice didn’t crackle with magic, not like it had before, but it was a clear command all the same. Felix nodded and moved off to grab my suitcases, which had somehow made it through the fight unscathed.
Devon helped me to my feet and wrapped his arm around my waist. Despite the blood that covered both of us, he still smelled fresh and clean. I breathed in his scent, letting that sharp tang of pine wash away the coppery stench of blood—my blood.
I did that over and over again, desperately trying not to notice how gentle and considerate he was being with me, or how warm and hard the muscles of his chest were pressed up against my side.
Devon guided me to one of the black SUVs sitting at the curb outside the library. Claudia walked along behind us. She didn’t say anything, but I could feel her icy gaze boring into the back of my skull, and the sharp snap-snap-snap of her stilettos on the sidewalk seemed to echo her displeasure. She didn’t like her son helping me, and I liked it more than I should have. Neither one of us was happy.
Devon slid in the back beside me, while Felix put my suitcases in the rear, then got in on my other side. Reginald drove, while Claudia took the front passenger’s seat. Grant was in another car, the one he’d driven me to the Razzle Dazzle in, with the guards following him in two more vehicles.
Nobody said anything on the ride back to the mansion, but Claudia kept glancing over her shoulder and frowning, clearly pissed at me. She thought that I’d put her son in danger.
She was right about that.
Because the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that Devon and Felix weren’t the only ones who’d been following me. Someone had to have seen me leave the Razzle Dazzle and take the trolley over to the library. That was the only way someone could have possibly been at the library to see Devon and Felix go inside. But who would want to follow me? And why would he or she think that I’d lead them to Devon?
I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes, trying to puzzle it out. Trying to get all the tumblers to fall into the right spots so the lock would pop open, then I would know how the attack at the Razzle Dazzle fit in with what had happened tonight. My thoughts kept going back to the mystery man. He was at the center of this whole thing, like a blinking red alarm that I needed to disable before it went off and gave me away—or got me killed.
If I found the mystery man, I’d learn the answers to everything else.
Thirty minutes later, Reginald steered the SUV onto the grounds of the Sinclair mansion. Ten minutes after that I was in a room down the hall from the greenlab, lying on a hospital bed with the leg of my cargo pants cut open, trying not to wince as Felix and Angelo poked and prodded at my wound.
