A few days later, Shay found herself sitting across from the Professor in the Leanan Sídhe. Even if she’d taken a little vacation, she wasn’t going to say no when the man called her and offered her a job.
“It’s a lovely evening, isn’t it, Miz Carson?” The Professor was even rosier cheeked than usual. Father O’Banion might already be in control, which would be rare for a briefing.
“It’s okay.” Shay shrugged. “No one tried to kill me today. That’s always a plus.”
The older man shook his head. “What a sad, low bar both you and James set for your lives. I pity you at times.”
“And what about you? What’s a good day to Doctor F.J. Smite-Williams?”
“Any day I’m still breathing.” He sipped some beer. “I should have been dead years ago. I’ve lived ten men’s lives, and the fact that I continue to exist is a miracle in of itself.” He held up the glass. “It’s the alcohol. It’s like ambrosia to the ancient Olympian gods.”
“Maybe, but you’re a careful guy.”
He winked. “Well, it doesn’t hurt to create your own miracles.”
Shay chuckled. “Your text said you had a job for me. I liked the amount of money you mentioned, so I’m here.”
He took a gulp of his drink and set it down. “Aye, Miz Carson. Are you familiar with the Ainu?”
“They were the native inhabitants of northern Japan. Same story as elsewhere—the new guys showed up, took control, and tried to erase the culture. Same song, different verse, et cetera. Not many of them left.”
“True. The artifact I’m interested in is an Ainu sacred carving of a bear. It has come to my attention that it may be at an abandoned Shinto shrine in Hokkaido.”
Shay frowned. “Wait, I thought Shinto wasn’t an Ainu thing?”
“Traditionally, no, but it’s flexibly syncretic belief system. Besides, I don’t know the complete history of the artifact, only that it may be at this shrine. I want it, and as I mentioned in the message, I’m willing to pay handsomely for it.”
“What’s it do?”
The Professor smiled. “It’s a type of magic modulator.”
“Modulator?”
“It allows otherwise incompatible types of magic to be mixed. More importantly, it’s incredibly dangerous in its present state, and I’ll be loaning you a special pouch to contain it. Once you locate it, get it into the pouch as soon as possible.”
“Or what?”
Smite-Williams lifted his hands, made fists, then stretched out all his fingers at once. “Boom. At least if you try to transport it without the pouch for too long a distance. If that energy is released, unusual magic can happen.”
Shay nodded. “Duly noted. Now, who else is coming for it, and do they have magic anti-nuke bags?”
“That’s the question now, isn’t it? At least one other group of less-than-reputable tomb raiders is interested, but I’m more concerned about something else.”
Shay frowned. “Other than the fact it might blow up?”
“Aye. I’ve been trying to track this artifact for some time. Without giving too much away, let’s just say that I’m surprised to see it pop up, as it were, so recently.”
“What do you think that means?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m hiring you to go and find it.”
Shay stared at the Professor for a moment. “I’m surprised you don’t want me to bring Brownstone.”
He shrugged. “Some jobs require a hammer, others require a scalpel. I have the utmost confidence that you’ll be able to handle this without additional aid. This is a situation where I’d prefer less violence.”
“No guarantees.”
The Professor smiled. “Just saying that James has a way of escalating situations.”
“True enough.” Shay nodded. “Okay, then, Professor, I’ll go find you a bear carving.”
Chapter Thirteen
Shay’s car rumbled along the dirt road. According to the GPS, it would still be about thirty more minutes before she arrived at the temple. She couldn’t complain too much, considering the job didn’t involve her having to go to the middle of Antarctica or swim into a maze of unstable logs.
Her phone rang and she glanced down at the caller ID. Peyton.
“What’s up?” she answered.
“I can barely hear you,” he responded, static crowding the line.
“You’re not so great yourself. Huh, surprised I’m having trouble. I mean, I’m a little off the beaten path, but not that far. I’d have expected a better signal in the satellite mode. Anyway, what’s up, Peyton? Lily okay?”
I’m actually worrying about her. Maybe I should send the kid to the same school as Alison. Would she even go?
“Lily’s fine. She doesn’t want me to tell you that she’s been working out. Ow!”
“I don’t think you’re supposed to rat somebody out while they’re standing next to you.”
“That’s the only righteous way to do it. Ow! Hit me again, you one-armed bandit and I’ll hit you back. I mean it!”
Shay rolled her eyes. “I’m hanging up now.”
“No wait, don’t! I had a reason for calling. A very good one. I figured I should pass something along to you. I was poking around on some dark web forums, and, I, uh…I spotted something nasty.”
Shay laughed. “Hey, everybody has their own fetishes. We shouldn’t judge.” She stopped the car. It was hard enough to hear her assistant over the crap connection without the rumble of the road noise.
Peyton groaned. “Not nasty as in porn.”
“What then?”
“Somebody’s making a big move on Brownstone.”
“Define big.”
“A half-million general bounty available to anyone who kills him. Some sites are mentioning that a million might even be on the table.”
Shay whistled. “Shit, really?”
“Uh-huh. They want him dead in a big way.”
Shay sucked in a breath and slowly let it out. “That’s a lot of money. It’s gonna bring every wannabe out of the shadows, let alone the pros. Fuck, I’d take a whack at him for that much if I was still in the biz.”
“What are we going to do about it?”
“I’m in the middle of a raid so I can’t break and run for Brownstone, but the least I can do is let him know what’s coming.”
“Maybe I should.”
“No,” Shay responded. “For now, Brownstone doesn’t need to know all of
