Page 104 of The Shade of Things
The pair opened and closed their mouths, their throats working. They were trying to obey but all that was coming out were strained, garbled moans.
“They work for the Consortium running the Human Race,” I said.
Zev crossed his arms, his foot tapping. “Your employers’ names. Now.”
Their jaws starting flapping at crazy speeds, their eyes rolled back into their heads, and their bodies convulsed.
“I think they have a counter spell on them that’s keeping them from speaking,” I said.
“Yes, thank you for that very elementary observation.”
I totally would have made a snarky face except Zev muttered he didn’t have time for this and snapped both their necks in a blink.
My swallowed gasp became a cough that I fought to get under control.
The vampire snapped his fingers at a passing Ohrist employee. “Clean this up,” he said. “As for you, Ms. Feldman. Let’s talk.”
Moments later, I sat down at the bar in the small private sake club while Zev perused bottles. He was impeccably turned out, nary a wrinkle to be found, but he seemed… I frowned, trying to pinpoint it. Threadbare. Like one good crack would shatter him as easily as the delicately wrought sake cups he set out.
I licked my lips. I’d developed a taste for the drink since he drank only the finest brands. However, it was not to be.
He poured only for himself before setting the bottle next to him.
Subtle, dude.
“Can we add this Consortium to the list of people you’ll protect me from?” I said.
The vampire sipped the sake, making a humming sound of pleasure.
My smile may have grown a tad sharp because his lips quirked up.
“I suppose we must, though you do have a knack for making yourself unpopular. I’ll discreetly spread the word about you being under my protection. Did your visit yield anything useful?”
“Two things. First, either the Ascendant is weaker than people believe it to be or the Consortium didn’t know how to use it properly.”
Zev stroked his goatee. “I wasn’t aware its use had specific requirements.” He poured me a drink. Score! “What was the second thing?”
“The Consortium were definitely the last ones to have it before Tatiana stole it from them on behalf of her client Arlo Garcia.” I savored a taste of the bold, earthy alcohol. How it paid to be on Zev BatKian’s good side. “When pressed about the Shakespeare quote, my quarry tied it again to the Woods Bank. I know you asked them, but I doubt that Arlo lied. Is there any way the owners of the Woods Bank might not know they have the Ascendant?”
He drummed his fingers on the counter, then ceased. “The Ascendant isn’t really there.” He smiled meanly. “However, someone wants us to believe that it is. They’ll have a silent snitch alarm on the contents and come running.” Off my confused look, he added, “A snitch alarm notifies the owner that someone is interested in their item, allowing them to learn that party’s identity. However, the reverse is also true. You will go and set off the alarm.”
He rattled off the location of the trees outside a village in France.
A physical location, not a hidden space.
“Isn’t everyone using the Woods Bank going to be paranoid?” I said. “Doesn’t every client alarm the contents wanting to know who’s after their stuff? Also, how does anyone come running to France?”
“Part of the family magic allows the renter of a particular tree to access it day or night,” Zev said. He didn’t elaborate further. “As for the alarms, most items won’t have one. They trust the Woodses’ magic to keep people out of the trees since there hasn’t been a break-in in three hundred years. Also, snitch alarms are magic. Place one on another magic item and it wreaks havoc. The tree in question will have a nonmagic item inside it.”
“I can’t tell what’s magic and what isn’t.”
“Fortunately, I know of a device that can.”
“That’s useful, but the trees have magic on them too.”
“Which is why you’ll need to use the Kefitzat Haderech to get inside each tree and check the contents individually using this device. I advise you stay cloaked the entire time.”
I planted my hands on my hips. “Are you kidding me? There could be dozens of trees there. Hundreds even. For that plan to work, I’d have to go through and check every single one.”
