“Kid, you may have really found your calling.”
Shay pushed into the main room of Warehouse Five, the lights above clicking on in succession. She passed through several shelves filled with random knick-knacks, most of which were of no value. Many were holdovers from when she’d first purchased the place, and she’d kept them to act as decoys for anyone who penetrated the warehouse.
A random warehouse invader might, for example, mistake a Franklin Mint Civil War Chess Set for a magical artifact, or commemorative plates from the 2028 election. She passed a stack of bright children’s books with stylized images of elves, dwarves, gnomes, and something that looked like a walking giant rat. A Willen, if she remembered correctly. She’d never actually seen one.
Shay checked the title. Our New Friends from Oriceran: A Kid’s Guide to our Magical Neighbors.
She snickered.
Friends? Even most humans aren’t friends of other humans.
Shay continued toward a wall in the back and ignored the other decoy items, including several shelves of translucent crystals and strange weathered brass contraptions she’d purchased from a local artist.
It wasn’t paranoia; it was practicality. The contents of Warehouses One through Three would be expensive to replace, but it’d at least be possible. The rare book collection of Warehouse Four and the artifacts stored in Warehouse Five could be lost forever if she weren’t careful. She hadn’t even told Peyton the locations of Warehouses Four and Five.
Peyton thought he was being clever and had narrowed down the possible locations of the high-value book and artifact warehouses, but the man had no clue where they really were, and as much as the tomb raider had come to trust him, that was how she intended to keep it. He was smart and resourceful, but he’d crack like an egg under torture.
People could say what they wanted, but sometimes security by obscurity was a good strategy.
Lily on the other hand, she was another story. If she wanted to, she could follow the trail a retrieved artifact left and find Warehouse Five. Still, the way she’d kept the hidden part of the Annex to herself and didn’t tell Peyton was impressive.
A non-descript wall stopped Shay’s movement, and she placed her palm on a hidden pad near the center. She hissed at the burn of the DNA scan, then leaned forward for the retinal one. A keypad popped up and she tapped in her passphrase.
The wall parted with a loud groan, revealing a large hidden chamber with floor-to-ceiling gray metal shelving on one side and dark wooden shelving on the other. One could never know how a magical artifact might react to its environment.
Nothing looked disturbed. If Lily had been there to take a look around, she was careful not to move anything.
A small case filled with the magical artifacts Shay had found at Alison’s house when she was helping clean it out sat near the entrance. The girl didn’t want them for now, so Shay was content to let them sit and gather dust. They weren’t hers to use, and she hadn’t even bothered doing much in the way of research on them.
A velvet-and-wood case containing a set of porcelain cups whose cracks had been repaired with gold rested on one of the wooden shelves. They were magical kintsugi cups that could filter poison from drinks. Not exactly something that was all that tactically useful, but she didn’t feel the need to sell them, either.
Her alien stone from Mexico lay comfortably in a small glass case near the cups.
Past the shelves, a rack for clothes stood next to a weapons rack. Shay lacked any current magical outfits, but a long, curved sword hung from the latter, a Masamune tachi. The enchanted blade was powerful enough to get through even Brownstone’s amulet-enhanced skin, though not small enough for easy concealment. She’d save it for when she knew she’d be going up against someone powerful and magical.
Someone like Yulia Solokova. Shay still owed the witch for Antarctica and for Lily’s father. She ground her teeth at the memory of her icy humiliation.
Whatever. We’ll both get our chance eventually.
Shay pulled the gnome’s orb from her pocket and laid it on a soft cushion. It’d be safe in her vault until she could return it. The gnome was out of town for a while. She hadn’t dared ask him where he might be going.
The artifact had made her entrance and escape from Grayson’s mansion easy. Depending on some strange gnome to help her, or even Peyton or Lily, still sat a bit uneasily on her stomach, but the little adventure’s success proved why it was a good idea.
I might be good, but I know when to bring in help.
Shay blew out a breath. She’d taken care of one part of her new family in protecting Alison, and soon it’d be time to look into the girl’s soon-to-be adoptive father. She still had a lot of questions about Brownstone, including the nature of his amulet.
The tomb raider let out a quiet snicker. Between Brownstone and the weird alien crap, she was surrounded by mysteries that didn’t look profitable.
So much for my original life plan.
Chapter Two
Shay was clicking away on the computer in the Warehouse Two office when Peyton rolled in, right on time. She had already dropped Lily off at Warehouse One for a workout to give her a chance to talk to Peyton, alone.
There were a few things he needed to be aware of, and it was as good a time as any to talk to him about them. She’d hoped Brownstone could stay out of trouble, but just in the days since her little adventure at Grayson’s house things had grown more complicated.
All of these distractions were keeping her from her commitments at the college. It had been well over a month since she’d stepped into her role as an adjunct professor and given a lecture.
No time at all to even research any history
