“Make sure no one follows you home.”
“I have my own style of transportation. Portals cut down on tails. Was there much trouble retrieving it?”
“You could say that. A small army of mercenaries showed up, armed for a war. Want to tell me how they got tipped off?”
“Same way we did, I imagine. Confidential informant playing both sides of the street. Don’t worry, he’s being dealt with. My partner is paying him a visit.”
“Your partner cleans up after you?”
“Not so much. She’s a bounty hunter, and it was her informant. He’ll be sorry he crossed her. Won’t happen again.” He took an oversized bite of the biscuit.
“Did you want to order more?”
Samuel looked up and smiled, the biscuit bulging in his cheek. “No, I’m good. Money’s in your account. You do good work. Wasn’t sure you could pull off this one and you came away without a scratch.”
“I had help… an assistant.”
“That Brownstone guy?”
“No, he’s more of a partner. A young gray elf. I’m training her.”
“Smart. I’ve found it useful to go into battle next to an ally or two.”
“Let’s keep that between us for now.”
Samuel stopped chewing and looked at her, narrowing his eyes. “Tell no one, got it.”
“I appreciate it.”
“No problem. You’re sorting things out, I get it. Till we meet again.” Samuel wiped his hands on the napkin and picked up the bag, heading for the men’s room.
“You sure you should take that with you to the bathroom? I’ll watch it for you.”
“I’m making my exit back there,” he said, smiling. “Less of an audience. I already took care of the bill.”
Shay watched him stride back to the men’s room and heard the sound of sparks as the light elf quickly made his departure. She hit the app on her phone and checked her bank account, quickly moving the money into one of her other accounts. Business was picking up and business was good.
Shay rolled into the warehouse long enough to pick up Lily and roll her eyes at Peyton’s outfit. He was dressed all in white in celebration of some rock star’s annual white party. “I may not be able to go this year, since I’m supposed to be dead, but I can still celebrate,” he had said.
As they pulled out, Lily started to put her feet on Shay’s dashboard until she saw the withering look.
“This one’s not a rental. Feet on the ground.”
“What did he mean he’s supposed to be dead?”
“Long story. He’s not very popular with his family of origin.”
“A lot of that going around.” Lily looked down at her hands. Shay couldn’t help thinking of Alison. They were about the same age.
“It’s not my business, but why do you want to take out the Ice Witch for ratting out your father? I got the impression he wasn’t the nicest guy.”
“It’s complicated and he stuck by me all those years after my mother bailed.”
“I think that’s called parenting. It’s what you do.”
“Well, he did it half-assed a lot of the time, but he was trying. More than most got who live in that tunnel. The bitch had no right to take him from me.”
“He must have gotten in her way.”
“Something like that. Where are we headed? Gold’s Gym?”
Shay knew Lily was changing the subject but let it go. “Not even. It’s something I put together in another warehouse.”
“Another warehouse? Tomb raiding must be paying off for you.”
“I’ve been an entrepreneur of sorts for years.”
“Of sorts… I know what that means. Never mind, I know when to not ask questions.”
“That’s a relief. Peyton doesn’t possess that off switch.”
“I noticed. I think it’s his secret weapon. He flies so many questions at you, you answer them and before you know it, he’s got what he came for.”
“He is clever in a beady-eyed costumed sort of way.”
Shay stopped for coffee on the way, introducing Lily to a proper roast and a good doughnut, reminding herself that this was not Alison. She didn’t know anything about her. Still, Brownstone had taken the same chance at just the right moment for the Drow Princess and look what happened. Shay shook her head. Slow down Carson.
She rolled into the warehouse and waited for the door to shut before showing Lily where she could change. “There should be something in there that will fit you. We’ll take it easy today and let you get acclimated.”
Lily walked toward the changing room, her head tilted back, staring at the obstacle course spread out around the large warehouse.
She came back out minutes later in a tight black tank top and black pants with an orange stripe down the side, and bare feet.
“None of the shoes back there fit you? We can fix that later.”
“Don’t need them. I do better in bare feet.”
“Suit yourself. Let’s find out what you can do. Where do you want to start?”
Shay was pleasantly surprised when Lily grabbed onto one of the long, thick ropes and easily shimmied up midway, reaching out for a ring and swinging hand over hand, ring to ring to the climbing wall. It had taken Shay at least a week to master the same move.
“Twitch muscles,” Shay muttered, watching Lily scramble higher on the wall without a harness. She reached out for a bar, her hand slipping for a moment and she reflexively put out her other hand, saving herself from falling a long way to the surface below.
Shay felt herself take in a sharp intake of breath but didn’t move, waiting to see what Lily would do next. She pulled herself over to the jumping spider walls, firmly suspended from the ceiling. Her hands and feet were spread out between the thick plexiglass, pulling herself toward the top.
Lily stopped halfway and even from the floor Shay could see how hard she was breathing.
This may be a short experiment, thought Shay. Should have known better. Strong willed teenager plus high-end gym. Not a good match.
Lily’s arms were shaking, and she gritted her teeth. She let out
