Shay pulled away and smiled. “Leave the stone-faced attitude for Brownstone. You’ll have years to learn to bottle up all your emotions in a screwed-up way like the rest of us. For now, revel in the fact you’re still allowed to feel.”
The sadness vanished on Alison’s face, replaced by fiery anger.
Shay blinked, wondering if she’d said something to piss the girl off. Normally, she didn’t care, but kicking a grieving kid while she was down wasn’t her style.
“I wish he wouldn’t have let him go.” Alison sat up straighter.
“What are you talking about?”
“Mr. Brownstone. He let my dad go. He’ll come back for me.”
Shay gave a satisfied smile. “Don’t worry about your dad. James made sure that your dad would never come after you again.”
Alison looked up, a question on her face, but none emerged from her mouth. The girl exhaled softly and nodded.
Be glad you’re not asking, kid. Sometimes it’s better not to know for sure.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Shay frowned as she rolled up to Alison’s former home. A rusty van sat parked in the driveway, and the front door was open.
Alison was still at Brownstone’s place and would stay there for a while. The bounty hunter had tracked down a magic school that she could attend, but for the moment, she would relax with her foster father. He still needed to research the school and make sure it was safe for the girl.
Someone was there who shouldn’t be inside. Shay sighed. She’d come over to look through a few things and help the girl get an idea on what she might want to keep.
Seriously? Looting their house already? What a shitty neighborhood.
Shay threw open her car door and marched up to the house. No one was in the living room. She stepped inside and leaned against the wall. Someone was chatting with someone else in a nearby bedroom. Shay continued to wait.
Two skinny punks stepped out of the bedroom, both with pillow cases. The pillow cases were misshapen and straining with the items they’d already collected.
Shay laughed. “You’re robbing my niece’s place, and you’re using pillow cases? Pathetic. I’m fucking insulted.”
The men dropped their loot and both pulled out knives.
“Better run now, bitch, if you know what’s good for you.” The wiry kid snarled at her, curling his lip to show a gold crown.
Shay shook her head. “I’ve had an annoying time of it lately. A friend of mine had to go through stuff, cobra tried to eat me, you know the usual.”
The men blinked and exchanged glances.
Shay whipped her gun out in one fluid motion. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try and piss me off even more, assholes.”
The men dropped their knives and lifted their hands. “Hey, hey, hey. Chill. We were just messing around, you know?”
Shay stepped away from the front door and motioned toward it with her free hand. “Get the fuck out. If you come back, I’ll shoot you in the balls and let you suffer for five minutes before I shoot you in the head. Do you understand me?”
“Yeah, yeah. Yes, ma’am.”
The men sprinted for the door, their faces ashen.
Shay slammed the door shut with her boot and holstered her weapon. “Time to look around.”
Shay had developed an eye for unusual hiding spots. She was a tomb raider and a paranoid ex-killer who liked to hide things from her enemies. She found the electronic wall safe hidden behind a false panel in the master bedroom closet in no time.
Shay tapped Alison’s birthday into the numeric keypad. The safe clicked open. Nicole might have been a centuries-old magical princess and living WMD, but she wasn’t all that different from many other parents.
Several small items sat inside the case. There was a multi-colored shell, a large tooth, a bone ocarina, among others. Every tomb raider instinct in Shay screamed they were magical artifacts.
“Looks like I have a little research to do for Alison.”
Shay returned to her car to pull out a box from the passenger seat. She headed back into the bedroom to load up the artifacts. It was time for a little trip to Warehouse Five.
Her phone rang.
“What, Peyton? I told you I’d be busy for a few hours.”
“Yeah, yeah. Look, just come to your… third place as soon as you can. A time-sensitive job opportunity came up. Like you need to leave tonight time-sensitive.”
Shay sighed. “Okay, fine. I have to go do something first. I’ll be there in about an hour and a half.”
Shay secured all the doors. She wasn’t sure if the looters would come back, but after her display with her gun, they’d stay away at least for a couple of days.
Probably nothing here as important as the artifacts.
Shay’s gaze froze on a picture of Nicole hugging Alison. Her skin tone was lighter and her hair darker. The picture didn’t look that old, maybe a couple of years. She tossed it in the box.
No, there’s a lot of stuff here as important as the artifact. Don’t worry, Alison. I’ll help you get what you need.
Shay sipped her beer as Brownstone sat across from her gobbling down ribs. She liked barbecue well enough, and it’d be a long while before she would prefer the food over pizza, but she’d figured the bounty hunter would be more comfortable this way.
She patted the box next to her. She’d not dare leave it in her car. Replacing a sports car was easy. Artifacts not so much, but she planned to stop off at Warehouse Five after talking with Peyton.
“She’s adjusting better than I thought she would.” Brownstone gnawed on a bone. “Considering everything that’s happened.”
“Well, she can see souls. She knows there’s people who give a shit about her and are willing to take care of her.”
“Yeah. You think I’m doing the right thing with this School of Necessary Magic?”
Shay shrugged. “What the fuck do I know about raising kids? I’ll tell you this,
