Lily let out a snort. “I can make it around the obstacle course without stopping and I flattened your sparring partner. He said you owe him extra.”
“How are you at taking direction?” There was a silence on the phone.
“Getting better at that one.”
“I know what you’re getting at, and yes, I’ll take you out on a job. Soon. But, see if you can take direction from Peyton.”
Lily let out a groan and Shay could hear Peyton in the background. “What? What? Has something gone wrong?”
Shay had to suppress a laugh. “If you can follow Peyton’s directions without shortcuts then I’ll know you’re ready.”
“That’s harder than dangling from the warehouse ceiling, but I’ll do it.”
“Do what?” asked Peyton. “Give me the phone. Finally! Hey, Shay. Everything still okay?”
“Yeah. I’m still figuring out if I’m gonna stick around Mexico for a day or two.”
“You really think that’s a good idea? You’re in Nuevo Gulf Cartel territory.”
Shay snorted. “I’m okay. It’s not a big deal.”
A distinct meow sounded over the line.
“What the hell was that?” Shay inquired.
“What?”
“That noise.”
“What noise?”
Shay groaned. “Are you fucking with me? The meowing noise.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She rubbed the bridge of her nose. It wasn’t worth fighting about.
“You at the warehouse right now, correct?”
Peyton laughed. “Come on. I don’t always have to be at the warehouse.”
“But I’m on a job, and I might need support.”
“You already got the artifact, so you’re done with the job. And I don’t like working from home.”
Shay frowned. “Whatever. Fine. Why did you even call?”
Did Peyton have a cat? Brownstone’s experience with pets had convinced Shay they were a bad idea, but she wasn’t going to bust Peyton’s balls over a cat, especially since he was training Lily and keeping the complaining to a minimum. Then again, hiding the animal was suspicious—unless it wasn’t a cat.
“Anyway,” Peyton continued, breaking Shay out of her thoughts. “I was just checking on some stuff, and since you’re already down there I thought you might want to check into some strange rumors.”
“Rumors?”
“Yeah, a lot of buzz on some of the tomb raider forums. There’s a small village in the mountains just north of Cabo. Rumor is that a tomb raider disappeared there last week, and he was supposed to have been tracking some big artifact. A lot of people just found out about this today because some of his people are reaching out.”
“Huh. What artifact was he tracking?”
Peyton sighed. “No one seems to know. The thing is, people are on the move. If you head out right now, you might be able to find out what’s going on and grab it before anyone else shows up. I’m thinking you’ve got less than a day before other people show up.”
“Give me the coordinates and I’ll look into it first thing in the morning. Can’t hurt to check.”
Peyton laughed. “Famous last words.”
“Don’t worry, I’m on a roll.”
Shay might respect Brownstone, but she didn’t need the man. The morning jaunt to the village would prove that. Scoring an artifact with no client attached would be a major coup.
She had her knives, but otherwise not a lot in the way of personally useful magical weaponry. Given that she was increasingly running into wizards, witches, and strange monsters, she should be better prepared. She needed a magical arsenal as big as her conventional one. That’s where Lily might come in handy, too.
The job should be easy. She’d sweep into town, throw some money around, and get someone to admit where the tomb raider had slunk off to. She wasn’t above stealing the artifact from the villagers if they’d stolen it from the tomb raider. This wasn’t about the honor of her profession, just risk evaluation.
She chuckled at the thought as she pulled into the village…and slammed on the brakes.
Bodies littered the street, some torn limb from limb. Vultures picked at the corpses, and the state of decay made it obvious they’d been dead for a few days.
“Guess the villagers didn’t steal shit from the tomb raider,” she muttered.
Shay threw open her door and stepped out. She grabbed her tactical harness from the passenger seat and slipped it on.
Something awful had happened in the village. No, not just something awful—something supernatural. Cartel assholes might chop a person’s head off, but they didn’t rip bodies apart and leave them in the middle of the village. They weren’t strong enough for that.
She shook her head. Whatever had happened in the village, it must have gone down fast enough that no one could get out a call for help.
Shay sucked in a breath. A drone survey or an AR goggle sweep might be in order. Given what she’d dealt with in Ohio recently, she couldn’t assume that she could spot her enemy without assistance.
No sooner had that thought crossed her mind when a flicker of movement caught her eye. Something human, or at least human-shaped.
Well, at least I can see it this time.
Shay pulled out her pistol and headed closer to one of the rows of brightly-painted adobe houses lining the sides of the main dirt road leading through the village. Caution kept a person alive whether it was a normal or a magical fight.
The tomb raider edged to the corner where she’d seen the movement and waited. She counted to three, then spun, her gun raised.
A tall pale bald man stared back at her. Intricate curving patterns had been etched all over his body, made evident by his lack of clothing other than a loose rope belt connected to a large leather pouch. His pointed ears registered after a second.
Shay kept her gun pointed at the elf. “You’re gonna tell me what the fuck happened here and you’re gonna give me a good answer, or I’m gonna put you down.”
The elf stared at her. His eyes were solid black. Not exactly standard, even on his kind.
“Why?” he croaked back. His deep and booming voice was not what she’d expected.
“Because there’s a whole fucking village of dead people here, asshole, and you’re Suspect
