Tubal-Cain held up the photo and pointed to a gnome sitting at the end of a long table. “That’s Bosvid right there. Looks exactly the same as the last time I saw him.” He set the picture down, an odd look in his eyes. “I have to say I’m rather impressed, Miz Carson.”
“I’m not exactly a rookie, Tubal-Cain.” Shay snorted, imagining Durand sitting in the chair for a moment.
“Oh, by my standards, you’re too inexperienced to even be worthy of a title like ‘rookie.’”
Shay snorted. “Finding things is my business. You didn’t think I was gonna be able to find the adamantine, and I did.”
“True. I should stop underestimating you, human.”
“Yeah, you should.”
His gaze dropped to the photo. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you found Bosvid when I couldn’t.”
Shay allowed herself a smirk. “Yeah, I did.”
“You have my respect for that, Miz Carson. It couldn’t have been easy.”
Well, easy for me. I just told Peyton to do it.
“We discussed a little additional compensation.”
The gnome nodded. “Yes, I believe we did.”
Tubal-Cain stood and reached behind his back. He slowly pulled a velvet bag in front of him.
Shay blinked. “Where the hell did that come from?”
“Somewhere.” He tossed the bag to her.
The tomb raider snatched the bag out of the air and looked inside. She blinked. “Uh, a paperclip? Seriously?”
Tubal-Cain cackled. “It’s a magical lockpick. Bet you didn’t think I could do it.”
Shay shrugged. She didn’t have doubts about his capabilities, but if the gnome wanted to think he was unpredictable, it wouldn’t hurt to let him go on believing that.
He pointed toward the bag. “Simply unbend it and stick it in the lock. Say the incantation three times.”
“Is this another weird gnome thing I have to memorize?”
“No. It’s in your language this time. ‘Open through will, open through heart, open through belief.’ Do I need to write it down?”
“Might as well. Don’t want to wake up tomorrow with a worthless magical lockpick.” Shay smiled. “I appreciate this, Tubal-Cain. It will come in very handy on a lot of my jobs.”
“Oh, I’m sure it will.” He waggled a finger. “But I must warn you, Miz Carson…”
“What? Don’t get it wet after midnight or something like that?”
The gnome shook his head. “This is a more powerful magical artifact than you realize. All magic is fickle and has rules. This is no exception.”
“But you already told me the rules. Unbend it and use the incantation. What’s the big deal?”
“No, that’s how to use it. Those aren’t the rules.”
Why does magic have to be so fucking annoying? Living on Oriceran must be a nightmare.
Shay frowned. “What are the rules, then?”
“You’ll find out, but the most important one is to remember that misuse has consequences. Use this item for darkness, and it will turn dark and eventually fail you.”
“And turn me into a bird,” Shay muttered, looking down.
“A bird? Maybe. Odd things happen, at least by human standards, when powerful magical artifacts are misused.”
Shay sighed and looked back up. “But how will I know if I’ve…offended the lockpick? Do I chat with it or something?”
“You’ll know. It’ll tell you one way or the other.” The gnome reached into his pocket and produced a handwritten note with the activation incantation. “Thank you, Miz Carson. I’m sure we’ll have reason to do business again.”
“I never doubted it.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
The next morning Shay stopped for coffee at a small shop tucked next to her favorite old book store. There was a line, but it was steadily moving. Most people in line just wanted a large cup of black coffee so they could get back on the road.
Shay stood in line, not making eye contact with anyone in particular, doing a routine check of the crowd, inside and out. Just as she turned her head to the right she caught a glimpse of someone staring right at her before he quickly ducked out of view.
“Shit,” she muttered, drawing a bored look from the man behind her. She immediately abandoned her place in line and rolled out of the shop, searching the street.
She had spotted a former New York City connection, an old rival who had almost as many professional kills as Shay, till she was presumed dead.
He had been close enough to get a good look at her face and she saw the recognition in his eyes. She had to find him fast.
Shay glanced up at the windows above her and looked around as much as she dared, glancing down alleys. She saw him turning a corner at the end of an alley and she hesitated. It occurred to her he may be drawing her in further.
Make the kill, then let everyone know she had still been alive. Think Shay, use your old skills. What would you do if you were the hunter instead of the prey?
She peered out from the corner slowly, and as predicted a bullet whizzed too close to her head, barely making a noise. She pulled out her gun and tried again, getting off a shot before ducking back.
There wasn’t a lot of time before someone would notice a gun battle between two well-dressed people with no camera crew in sight and call the cops. She turned around, ready to retreat and figure out a different option when she saw two thugs approaching from the other end. He had friends with him.
“Fuck me. I picked a bad moment to get stupid.” A straight alley with only a few doors. She had to pray one of them was unlocked or that her parkour skills were greatly improved. and she could scale a building in a skirt.
Shay rolled to her right as the two men calmly raised their guns and she neatly picked off the one on the right, catching him in the shoulder and disabling his arm. Good enough for now. The other ducked behind a dumpster giving Shay a chance to look for an exit.
She pulled at the first door she
