If she hadn’t been concentrating, she might have missed the faint purple pulse. They still needed to figure out a way to perform the magolocation without it being visible, but in a crowded and raucous place like the mall, no one noticed anyway.
The tomb raider continued scanning the thronging humanity. She could never get over how so much had changed but also so little had changed at the same time. Despite the powerful magic now pouring into the world, the only difference someone might see at the mall was the occasional non-human customer, like a trio of elven women strolling out of an aromatherapy shop across the way.
Is this what culture does? Just keeps flowing in the rut it’s in? We get magic back, and mostly we get criminals and terrorists with magic or an elf who cooks barbeque. Don’t know if that’s comforting or scary.
White hair emerged from the crowd. Alison glided between the crowds to the bench. She sat beside Shay, a triumphant smile on her face.
Shay nodded, giving the girl an answering smile. “All the way from the car to this fountain, and much better time than without the pulses. Still have some tweaking to do.”
“Did you see the pulse I did just before I sat down?”
“Yeah. Like I said, some tweaking.”
“It’ll take a while to get used to, but I still think it’s useful.” Alison shrugged. “Not going to complain if you can get me the artifact to help me see more, though, and I’ll keep trying to figure out a way to do it without it being so obvious.”
Shay smiled. “Sounds like a good plan, and I’ll definitely get that artifact for you. I’d like to give you a particular date, but my gnome friend isn’t the kind of guy who responds well to deadlines.”
Alison sighed. “Don’t get me wrong. All this training you and Dad have given me means a lot, and if I went back to school today, I’d go back feeling more confident.” The teen smiled softly. “I know I bitched in the beginning, but I really do get it now.”
Shay nodded. “Good. That’s what practice and training do; they give you confidence. Did you see what I had in my lap with your last pulse?”
“Some sort of bag.”
The tomb raider lifted the bag and held it out. Alison grabbed it with no hesitation. Even without the pulse, it seemed like her ability to judge item distances based on life energy from limbs had improved in recent weeks.
“What’s in here?” Alison asked. “Even with the pulse, it’s hard for me to tell. Small boxes. I’m assuming something inside them.”
“Diamond earrings. Studs,” Shay explained.
“That’s nice, Aunt Shay, but I don’t worry about jewelry much.” Alison laughed. “Even with the pulse, it’s not like I can see it. I do appreciate the thought though.”
“I know. Just wanted to get you something nice. James gave you that pendant, which is pretty and functional, so I can at least give you something nice to remind you of me when you’re at school. I don’t know how long it’ll take to get the artifact ready.” Shay rubbed the back of her neck. “If I’d been thinking ahead, I would have scored you some lesser artifact jewelry.”
“It’s not a competition, Aunt Shay. I love you both.” The girl fingered the chain of the Aegis Pendant. “And you don’t have to give me things for me to think about you at school.”
Shay looked away, her face burning. The girl’s comment struck her heart more than she’d expected. “Well, you can always just loan the earrings to a roommate then. Everyone likes a generous roommate.”
Alison laughed. “Maybe I’ll do that.” Her smile faded a second later. “I just…don’t get one thing, Aunt Shay. I didn’t want to bring it up, but I guess now is as good a time as any.”
“What’s that?”
The girl looked down and frowned. “Not saying no one should have secrets, and I know a lot of the stuff with your job you try to keep quiet to keep things safer, but I still...” She sighed again.
Shay frowned. “What? Are you worried about me being a tomb raider? Not to brag, but I’m pretty damned good at my job. I know what I’m doing at this point, and now I typically even have Peyton supporting me. It’s not like when I first started.”
“It’s not that.”
“What is it, then?”
Alison shook her head. “I don’t get why you’ve been hiding Lily from Dad and me.”
The tomb raider sucked in a breath. Trying to deny the existence of the other girl was pointless since she was sitting in front of a half-Drow lie detector. Shay took a long, deep breath. “How did you know?”
“Peyton told me.”
Shay frowned.
That son of a bitch. It wasn’t his secret to share.
Alison shook her head. “I can see the anger in your energy, Aunt Shay, but he told me to tell you that it’s not a state secret, so don’t threaten him with firearms.” She smiled as she said it. “And I think he was right to tell me.”
Shay took a few deep, cleansing breaths. Peyton did have a point. Alison and James knew about multiple warehouses and her tomb raiding career. Both knew how to keep secrets, and Lily’s existence paled in comparison to things like James controlling a wish on Alison’s behalf or James knowing Shay used to be a vicious professional killer.
The tomb raider scrubbed a hand down her face and blew out a breath. “It’s not like I never planned to tell you or him. It was just hard to figure out how to do it. Like I told you the other day, the way I’ve handled all this stuff is by compartmentalizing my life. Everyone has their little boxes. I thought that would make it easier, not just for me
