Peyton ran his hands through his hair. “Look, not saying he was a great guy. Just, it’s a shock, you know?”
“What happened?”
“From what I can tell, some hitman said he set them up and got several of them killed. They took him out in revenge.”
Shay clucked her tongue. “This is the problem when amateurs start rolling around in this shit. They don’t know who they’re dealing with, and they end up dead because they think they are big men.”
“And you had nothing to do with this?”
She snorted. “I don’t need hitmen to kill people for me. If I were gonna kill your brother, I would have walked up to him and stabbed him in the throat with a fucking knife. Being all cute about it is for pussies.”
Peyton locked eyes with the tomb raider. Something about the whole thing smelled off. He wouldn’t put it past Shay to set up his brother, but on the other hand, pursuing it wouldn’t do any good. Randy was dead, and that was that.
Probably better that I don’t know the total truth.
He blew out a breath. “I guess that’s it, then. He’s dead, and it’s all over.”
Shay nodded. “Yeah. This means you can start taking your life back. Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
She grinned. “Right now, we still have those files to discuss.”
Shay frowned as she took a corner in her Fiat.
Peyton’s initial dive into Dr. Weber’s files coupled with her efforts didn’t reveal the kind of treasure she’d expect gang members to care about. They were typical archaeology papers, just with a few fanciful conclusions about the possible meanings of certain symbols and chemical analyses on the site. The only thing that stood out to Shay were some specific coordinates mentioned as possible portal entry-to-exit points.
Why the fuck would the Demon Generals give a shit about some old archaeology site? Even if there were artifacts there, it’s not like they would be able to recover them, and they’ve never, ever shown interest in anything but petty street hustles and thug shit before.
Still, she didn’t want to let it go. Despite what a lot of people thought, most criminals were both logical and lazy at the same time, especially common thugs. If the gang members were sniffing around Dr. Weber, it meant that for whatever reason, they thought there was something there of value.
Shay’s phone rang, and she glanced at the screen in the middle of her dashboard. The miracle of Bluetooth pairing. She blinked at the number. Lily.
She switched to speakerphone as she stopped at a red light. “Lily?”
Someone panted at the other end, not talking.
“Lily, is that you?”
“It’s me, Shay,” the girl finally responded. “Sorry, I just had to catch my breath.” There was some scratching, and when she next spoke, she sounded distant. “Is Casey okay? What? Use the potion then. Yeah, I know how expensive it is, but she might not make it if we take her to a hospital.”
The light turned green, and Shay accelerated with a frown. “What the hell is going on?”
“Sorry, we were attacked. They came out of nowhere. We were barely able to hold them off, and a lot of people got hurt.” Lily took a deep breath. “I need your help, Shay.” Her voice trembled with rage.
Shay took a hard turn at the next intersection. She was going the wrong way if she had to go to the main nuclear tunnels entrance. “Was anybody killed?”
“No, a couple of people were banged up pretty badly, but everyone’s alive. Casey took a bullet to the stomach, but it looks like the potion’s working.” She sighed. “I had a vision a minute before the attack, so we weren’t taken totally by surprise, but it was too late to escape.”
“Who were they?”
Lily sighed. “Don’t know. They had all these stupid masks on, like Halloween masks.”
Shay pulled onto an onramp. She needed to get to
the tunnels faster than surface streets would allow. “What did they want?”
“Artifacts.” Lily’s breathing picked up. “They took my father’s artifact from me, those sons of bitches. And a couple other things from other people.”
“Shit. Okay, wizards then?”
“I don’t think so. Didn’t see any wands. A few of them had artifacts, like little things. One fired out little blue bolts, another was a ring with shields, but most of them just used guns, knives, or were punching and kicking people.” Lily sucked in a deep breath. “I can’t lose my father’s artifact, not again. I don’t care who they are. If I faced the witch, I can face these guys. I’ll kill them if I have to.”
Shay sighed. It wasn’t all that long ago that some random homeless teens getting attacked wouldn’t have fazed her. She would have pushed it away as not her business, but now there was only one response she could offer.
“I’ll be right there, Lily. I’ll help you find those assholes. We’ll get your father’s artifact back, and we’ll make them pay, but don’t do anything yourself. If you’re dealing with violent thugs, you need a professional ass-kicker, and I just happen to know one who will be willing to help you for free.”
Shay moved into the passing lane and accelerated. Too many things were unraveling at once. It was time for some situational triage.
She had no idea why the Demon Generals were poking around the college, but they’d failed to get what they wanted. The department head would be safe for a few days. The Anzick mystery would just have to wait until she helped her friend.
Huh. Yeah, that’s what this is, helping a friend. It’s a normal thing for most people, but still weird for me to wrap my mind around.
Chapter Fourteen
Shay stepped into the Great Treaty and made her way to the bar, ignoring the menagerie of Oricerans filling the bar and the bizarre layered dissonant chords coming over the speakers. The three-legged, three-armed creatures on the dance floor seemed to be enjoying the hell out of the song, though.
She was there for business. At this point in
