He bent over at the waist, sweeping his arm out to the side in a bow from his seat. “I live to serve. One little thing though...”
“What?”
“It’s kind of hard to find his place.”
“How hard could it be?”
Chapter Ten
It is damn hard to find this place. Of course. It’s magic.
Shay hopped off the escalator. Her search of the first floor of the old mall netted nothing but annoyance and frustration. She passed the Yankee Candle store again, a waft of a mixture of strong flowery scents hitting her in the face.
Onto the second floor… The Gnome’s shop is in here somewhere. That much I know for sure.
Peyton said his shop was located in the mall, but he couldn’t give a more specific location than that. She needed to examine each shop and concentrate on the idea of finding the Gnome’s shop if she were to have any hope of locating it. There was some sort of protective spell on it.
Yeah, this isn’t fucking annoying at all. This goes well beyond just not having a web site, asshole.
Shay passed the CVS and stopped, doubling back. In the window were small, wind up toys floating midway up the window, walking on air. Magic… Shay took a deep breath and let her shoulders relax. Be the Gnome. Fuck, that’s not it. Find the Gnome.
Nothing. Shay tried it again but still nothing. No wavy air or sudden portal or a new storefront appearing out of thin air. She walked on, looking for signs, wondering if there would even be magical clues left behind.
Magic infused Earth now. And in a city like L.A. there were more than a few magical criminals prowling around looking for easy targets.
Even if it was annoying, Shay got it. The Gnome was keeping a low profile and had found a clever way to sort out intention before his shop became visible. Smart.
Hell, she wasn’t a magical being, and she’d kept herself cloaked in the shadows of society. Though she would have never concealed herself inside a shopping mall. Just the right combination of brilliance and insanity.
Gah, weren’t malls supposed to be dead a long time ago? Like some damned vampires.
A trio of college boys passed by her egging each other on with an elbow to the ribs and whispers. One turned his head back and let out a low whistle. She rolled her eyes and ignored them.
Yeah, keep dreaming.
Her mouth twitched as she navigated her way through the crowds, her heart thumping harder than normal. A tall Elf passed her, a small troll sitting on his shoulder. Still not used to that.
Her gaze continued to flick from person to person and store to store.
She wasn’t worried about finding the Gnome. He might have used magic to hide his shop, but she’d find it. The problem was everyone else.
Too many people meant too many targets to track. She’d killed more than a few people in the middle of malls and shopping centers in her old job. The marks never saw it coming. No one could keep track of everyone in the middle of a mall.
She wasn’t meant to die in a kitchen, but in a mall. Shay shook her head, letting the thought go.
She continued to circulate around the second floor looking for the shop, grateful the mall only had two floors.
Wait, what was that? On her third loop, she saw it.
At first, her gaze slid across the entrance like it wasn’t even there, but if she focused just off to the side, not looking at the opening directly she could make out the small gaming shop. There it was… a narrow door. A stylized cyan sign read, Prophecy Gaming and hung above the entrance.
Even after spotting it, Shay had trouble concentrating on perceiving the interior of the shop. Her eyes kept wanting to look everywhere but straight ahead.
Stop fucking with my mind.
Shay walked toward the door, keeping her focus off to the left. Her stomach felt like she was at the top of a roller coaster about to go over the edge. She stepped through the glamour and as her head cleared she could look straight ahead again. On either side of her were shelves to the ceiling filled with elaborate board and card games.
Why do you bother with all these if you make it so hard to find you to begin with? You could just be sitting in a room naked and no one would notice.
A short balding middle-aged man stood behind a counter, reading a book. Game of Nations.
Into thrillers… Odd choice for the proprietor of a gaming shop or a magic shop.
She eyed the man behind the counter and waited for him to look up from his book. He didn’t stir as she loudly cleared her throat. The man looked up at her with total disinterest before returning his attention to his book.
“Good book?”
“Let’s just say I can understand the power of obsession,” the man replied, his gaze fixed on the book. “I can relate to George Clemente. Wallis might have had it coming.”
“I’m here to see a Gnome.”
“No Gnome works here. They can do better than minimum-wage retail. Anyone with the slightest bit of magic has better things to do.”
Shay put both her hands on the counter and leaned forward. “No, he’s here. Tubal-Cain. I know he’s here.” Peyton had given her the right name to use.
Still the man didn’t blink. “You think a Gnome works in a random game shop in a mall?”
“This isn’t a random game shop in a mall. It’s protected by a glamour. I’m here aren’t I? I want to see Tubal-Cain.”
Tubal-Cain was the name of an ancient biblical blacksmith. She couldn’t be certain he wasn’t the same little dude mentioned in the Old Testament. A few spells would make it easy to convince bronze-age humans that you were one of them.
The man stared at her before setting his book
