Page 105 of The Shade of Things
“Exactly so.” He won our stare down. “Shake any item without magic to set off the snitch alarm. Take photos of whomever shows up and bring them to me immediately. I’ll narrow it down from there.”
The door opened and I flinched, not up to seeing his friend Yoshi, since our last visit had ended with that ancient vamp feeding off me, but it was Rodrigo, who whispered something in Zev’s ear.
He was sending me off alone to search, which meant there’d be no way for him to know when I found the Ascendant. Could I hide it in the KH and say that Smoky had destroyed it? I couldn’t hand it over until I was clear on what Zev planned to use it for. Beyond that, I didn’t want him to create rifts to anywhere that monsters lived.
Zev frowned and stood up abruptly, pulling out his phone. “We’re done. It will take me some time to procure this item, so I expect you to be ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
I made puppy dog eyes at the rest of my delicious sake, but Rodrigo was already marching me to the door. “Sure thing,” I said.
There was a slight downtick in Zev’s mouth, all his attention now on his screen. I’d been forgotten.
* * *
Eli and Sadie invited me to go out for a family dinner, so I changed into something less formal. My red skirt and shirt were wrinkled, and there was no way I was wearing anything other than sandals. Besides, we were just walking down Main Street to our favorite sushi place.
I looped my arms through theirs, feeling lighter than I had in a long time. Saying that I’d appreciate every day after surviving that game was a nice thought, but realistically, gripes and petty complaints would filter back in.
Right now, however, I was just going to enjoy life to the fullest.
Laurent and I had had a major breakthrough, this job of Zev’s would soon be over, leaving me free to tell Tatiana about my parents, and once I got the puzzle box open, I’d destroy the Human Race. The game, I mentally amended, not wanting to tempt fate.
The restaurant owners called out ohayou in greeting when we entered. As both Eli and I had been eating here for years, they motioned for us to grab a table.
My mood grew even better when Eli told me Juliette had given him and Deputy Chief Constable Esposito an update that physically Teresa and Okeyo were fine, and although healing would take time, they were strong mentally as well.
I thanked our server for the green tea and menus. We tended to rotate through the same favorite dishes, but I’d decided to try something new today.
Eli and Sadie placed their orders, and I chose the seared tuna belly as it was one of the few things I hadn’t tasted on the menu.
“What about Daw?” Sadie said, breaking her chopsticks apart.
I nodded, wondering the same thing.
“Juliette is hopeful that in time Daw will recover. A healer from Bangkok is flying over to take her home and continue her treatment.” Eli poured soya sauce into the small dish.
“Good,” Sadie said. “That’s over then.”
Eli shot me a look. Ah. He knew it wasn’t quite over yet. Not for me.
“Guess what?” my daughter said.
“What?” I snagged the bottle of soya sauce.
“Nessa and I had our first self-defense training session with Dad.” She flexed her biceps and winced. “He’s a hard-ass.”
Eli cracked his knuckles. “By the time I’m finished with the girls, no one will dare mess with them.”
“How sweet,” I said. “We’ll have to coordinate with Laurent about more specific training so Sadie can protect herself from Ohrists.”
The server brought out the first few dishes.
Eli dumped wasabi into his soya sauce and stabbed at it with a chopstick to dissolve it. “Speaking of the guy, where’s my hockey shirt? I bet he burned it.”
I stuffed a piece of sushi in my mouth, chewing so I wouldn’t laugh, and shrugged.
Dinner was a lighthearted affair, and we stuffed ourselves so full that we took the scenic route home, wandering through the neighborhood to help us digest.
We’d cut through a nearby park, Sadie angling for cupcakes, when the wind picked up.
