“You know you love my outfits.”
Shay snorted. “Only because they keep you from being naked.”
She exited the roundabout and did a quick one-handed pat-down, as if her gear might spontaneously teleport while she was driving. Pistol and mags, check. Adamantine knives, check. Low-power frequency jammer, check.
A magical lockpick would have been useful just in case, but the Professor’s insistence that she leave all but immediately had prevented her from checking in with Tubal-Cain and informing him about the gnome colony in Iowa.
I’ll worry about that after I’ve grabbed the wand. I bet it’ll blow his little gnome mind that we found his cousin so quickly.
Shay turned onto a narrow tree-lined street. It’d be so easy to take out a car with an RPG or fireball on a street like that. Every time she came to Paris, she marveled at all the wonderful ambush locations the city presented. She’d taken advantage of several in her old career.
Guess it’s a good thing they don’t know I’m coming, so I’ll be the only one getting the drop on people.
Shay slowed the car, taking in the view of a tall church in the distance. “The Professor’s incident list is from all over Paris, both tourist and non-tourist places. Our wand-wielder sure gets around.”
Peyton’s keyboard-pounding was perfectly audible over the comm. “One second,” he muttered. “Just let me re-check this list and the times of the events. Maybe I can see something you didn’t.”
“Not like I’ve got anywhere else to be.”
Shay pulled into a small parking lot outside a café and idled while she waited. A few teenagers sauntered by but didn’t even bother to glance her way.
It’s the car. It’s too damned boring. Sorry, guys.
“No pattern,” Peyton offered after a few minutes. “But some of this stuff was close together and some across town. I mean, like our wizard or witch was across town minutes after doing something.”
Shay drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “Which means she’s got mobility. Flight, maybe teleportation. Fuck, super-speed walking. None of the shit the Professor told me about indicates any of that. You’d think people would notice a flying person or someone zooming through the city.”
“She might be able to turn invisible.”
The tomb raider groaned. “That would be annoying.” She glanced in the back at a box of equipment. “Don’t know if infrared on the AR goggles will spot all types of invisibility, but it’s at least worth a shot if it comes down to it.”
Peyton laughed. “I’m so damned good.”
“I think you’re getting a little too excited about your invisibility theory.”
“No, no. Nothing to do with that. I’m monitoring all sorts of sources for strange events. Just got a hit.”
Shay pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the street. “Where and what?”
“Some chatter on social media about a ghost sighting in District One.” Peyton rattled off the address.
Shay’s heart raced, and she grinned.
Just like old times. Maybe I shouldn’t like hunting someone down so much.
“On my way.”
Shay pulled up to the address. A crowd of curious people with their phones out surrounded a floating apparition of a young girl in a raggedy dress.
The girl floated back and forth, mouthing words silently.
“Wonder if this is an actual ghost or just an illusion?” Shay mused.
“Got another hit. Police reported a woman claiming that…” He laughed.
“What?” Shay snapped.
“She claims an anvil appeared out of nowhere and fell on her car.”
“An anvil? As in a blacksmith’s anvil?”
“Yep. In District 20.” Peyton rattled off the address.
“Fuck, that’s across town.”
Peyton laughed. “You better get going, then.”
Shay stood in front of her car and stared at the huge iron anvil now embedded in the hood of the very angry woman’s car. The woman gesticulated wildly in front of a tired and confused-looking police officer. He looked like he wanted to retreat home and down a bottle of wine.
The tomb raider shook her head and slipped back into the driver’s seat of her rental.
An hour later had brought with it several more incidents. No injuries, but definite damage, including a suspicious lightning strike.
“This shit is so random,” Shay commented.
“Maybe they are just trying to see what they can do?” Peyton suggested.
“That’s assuming they are actually planning any of this, and it isn’t all weird side effects.” Shay shook her head. “But we need to get ahead of this somehow. I can’t just drive around the city all night.”
“One sec. Let me check something.”
Shay started the car back up and pulled into the street.
“I’ve got an idea,” Peyton announced after a couple minutes.
“About?”
“I was looking at the earlier incidents, and I think I’ve figured out a pattern. It’s not that your target is bouncing around randomly. It’s not always even far away, relatively speaking. I think what they’re doing is bouncing between high and low district numbers.”
Shay blinked. “Okay. So our wand wielder is familiar with the layout of Paris, so probably a local. If that pattern is true, what’s the next district.”
“It should be something in District 8. I’ve got my drone on the way.”
“And so am I.”
“Got another hit,” Peyton shouted.
“Tone it down, you’re right in my ear.”
“Sorry. The Fountain du Cirque in Jardin des Champs-Élysées is filling with blood, according to a panicky old lady. My drone is a few minutes out.”
Shay grinned. “I know exactly where that is, and I’m damned close.” She pressed the pedal to the floor.
I’ve got you now, asshole.
Chapter Eleven
“I’ve tagged our target with the drone,” Peyton announced. “Unless somebody else is carrying around a golden rod topped with a bird. Looks like a woman in a dress, from what I can tell at this distance. Also, uh, she shouldn’t be hard to spot since she’s glowing.”
“Glowing?”
“Yeah. Glowing blue.”
“You’d think people would have reported that shit.”
Peyton laughed. “There aren’t a huge number of people on the street, but I swear, most people she’s running past are barely paying any attention. These Parisians have taken jaded to a whole new level. I think even in New York
