“Is she freezing the building?”
“Cecelia needs class to control ice,” Olga said, upset. “Ice everywhere. Her teacher needs to teach. Buildink is not frozen, but ice everywhere…everywhere, Stronk.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. The last thing I needed was an out-of-control ice mage freezing everything, especially when her teacher was currently MIA.
“As soon as I speak to Monty, I’ll make sure he knows.”
“This one,” Olga said, looking at Jessikah, “is police?”
“Not really,” I said. “She’s more like…”
“Chernaya Orkhideya,” Olga finished. “Black Orchid…yes?”
Jessikah looked at Olga with an expression of mild surprise.
“Da,” Jessikah answered with a slight nod. “Ochen priyatno. A pleasure.”
“You are the KGB of mages,” Olga said, her words laced with venom. “You are here as his guest.” She pointed at me with her chin. “Do not bring trouble to my home. If you do, I will blame him, but punish you. Ponimayesh?”
“I understand,” Jessikah replied. “Thank you.”
Jessikah opened the passenger side and sat quickly in the Dark Goat, closing the door and ending any further conversation.
Olga looked at me for a few, long seconds.
“Black Orchid is dangerous, Stronk. Not good…ever,” she said, shaking her head and looking off to the side. “They only destroy and kill. This one,”—she glanced down at where Jessikah was sitting—“will bring you problems. Rezh—cut from her, before too late.”
“Working on it,” I said, opening the suicide door for my hellhound, Sprawly McSprawl. “Inside.”
Peaches bounded in and took up the entire backseat with a masterful extension of fore and back legs. Then the ham gave Olga the biggest of puppy-dog eyes, complete with a hellhound grin of terror. Olga’s expression softened and she rubbed his head behind the ears.
“Persiki is growing,” she said, as she kept rubbing his head. “If Black Orchid misbehaves, you bite hard, Persiki.”
Peaches chuffed and pushed his head farther into her hand, milking the rubs for all he was worth.
“Good boy,” she said, turning to look at me as she hardened her expression again. It hovered somewhere between frozen tundra and glacial frost. “Stronk”—I was beginning to think she enjoyed mangling my name—“find teacher, bring home to teach. Soon.”
“I will,” I said, getting behind the wheel. “Tell Cece not to use any of her ability until Monty gets back.”
Olga nodded as I backed out of the parking space and drove out of the garage.
<You are shameless.>
<She rubs my head nice. I like the ice lady. She is like the cold girl. The cold girl is my friend.>
<I know. You’ll get to spend some time over there soon. Right after we find Monty.>
<Is he lost?>
<Can you smell him?>
Peaches sniffed the air and gave off a low rumble.
<I can’t smell him. You still smell bad, but the angry man has no smell.>
<Thanks, I’ll work on fixing my smell.>
<If you ate more meat, your smell would be better.>
<Doubt it, but thanks.>
“She’s intense,” Jessikah said once we left the Moscow. “Who is she?”
“She owns the building,” I said. “She seemed to know you, or at least she knew about your sect.”
“The KGB of mages,” Jessikah said, repeating Olga’s words. “Not exactly the most popular sect, no.”
“No one likes IA or MPs, but someone has to police those with power and responsibility,” I said. “Means you won’t be popular or liked, but you knew this.”
“She does know it’s the FSB now, right?” Jessikah asked. “The KGB has been gone for years.”
“Would you like to explain that to her?”
“No, thanks,” Jessikah replied quickly. “She wants to call the Black Orchid the KGB of mages, she’s entitled to her opinion.”
“Good call,” I said. “Olga is…”
“Dangerous,” Jessikah finished.
“Complicated,” I said. “Let’s just say I’d rather not have to face her in combat…ever.”
“That’s a good call,” Jessikah added, before looking down at the purring Ink. “I’ll tell him, but I’m sure he knows.”
“I know what?”
“Ink says your energy signature is depraved.”
“Excuse me?” I asked. “My energy signature is what?”
“Oh, sorry,” Jessikah said, holding up a hand. “Sometimes things get lost in translation. I’m still new to this communication. He says your energy signature is on a degrade. It’s…compost?”
“My energy signature is compost?” I asked, confused. “What kind of medication is Ink on? And maybe you should consider lowering the dose.”
Ink growled at Jessikah.
“Oh, I apologize. He means it’s decomposing,” she said, then looked shocked. “Decomposing? Your energy signature is decomposing?”
“Something like that,” I said. “Decomposing sounds a little extreme. Better than depraved compost, but not by much.”
“I’ve never heard of an energy signature decomposing,” Jessikah said. “For that to happen, you should be…”
“Dead,” I said. “I know. I’m a mystery.”
“What are you?” she asked, staring at me. “You’re not a mage, but you’re bonded to a hellhound. You clearly move in our world, but you don’t possess any abilities?”
“I’m complicated, too,” I said. “What is a farsight?”
“Do you usually answer a question with a question?”
“Only when I want to avoid giving an answer,” I said, swerving to avoid traffic. “Does farsight mean you can see into the distance…like you have eagle vision or something? Is that what your sect trains?”
Jessikah laughed and placed a hand on Inkling as she looked out of the window.
“Not really, no,” she answered with a short laugh. “Farsight means I can see probabilities.”
“Probabilities?” I asked. “You can see the future?”
“No,” she said. “Seeing probabilities means I can see possible outcomes of any situation. I can see three seconds forward from any fixed point in time.”
“Basically, you can see three seconds into the future,” I said.
“The key is from a fixed point,” Jessikah answered, still rubbing Ink. “It’s more of a curse than a gift right now.”
“That must come in handy in a fight,” I said. “No one can sneak up on you.”
“Not really,” Jessikah answered, still looking out of the window. “A fight is not a fixed point. It’s fluid, in flux, constantly changing and shifting, moment to moment. Three seconds of farsight isn’t much help in a fight—everything is moving too quickly.”
“So, not seeing into the future?”
“Farsight allows me to see probabilities,” Jessikah explained. “Not certainties. When I use it,
