“Really cold.” I tossed the crystal at him, and he caught it.
“Huh.” He held it with the fingertips of one hand, and traded off when he couldn’t stand the cold any longer, studying it and holding it up to the light. Then he placed it on a clear space on the counter.
I swear I heard the crackling of ice. I looked at the crystal.
Yep. Froze the countertop out in a foot circle.
“Is this something new Beckstrom Enterprises is developing?” Stotts asked.
“It’s something we’ve looked into. I haven’t gotten reports of its viability in terms of development, manufacturing, or marketing yet.” See, I could lie in business-speak when I had to.
Stotts gave me a funny look. “You have a crystal that acts like a battery for magic, and you’re trying to decide if it’s a good idea to market?”
“It’s the paperwork I hate.”
The ice seemed to be melting some, and I thought the crystal looked a little less white and a little more pink.
That was good enough for me.
“I’m going to take this,” I said.
Stotts raised one eyebrow. “Why?”
“It is legally my property,” I said.
“True. Property you didn’t know was here until a few minutes ago.”
“Let me put it this way-I’m not leaving it here. I don’t want anyone to break in and take it, and since it wasn’t involved in the crime, I don’t see any reason why the police would have claims to it.”
“And you’re keeping it because?”
“I want it?” He didn’t believe me, and I didn’t care. “Listen, I used all the magic in it. I don’t know how to recharge it with magic, don’t even know if it can be recharged. But I want to keep it. If it’s Violet’s, I’ll return it to her.”
Stotts sniffed and looked down at his shoe. Man had a mess of problems to deal with right now and me pitching a fit over a pretty rock did not rank up there on his list of traumas he had to plow through. Not with magic out. Not with the backups about to go down.
“Do you know why someone would want to take the disks?” he asked.
“They were filled with magic,” I said. “All of them.”
“And anyone can access that magic?”
“Yes.”
He looked at me and I looked at him. In a city suddenly empty of magic, both of us were probably coming up with a thousand horrific things someone would want to do with a hundred disks full of power.
“I still think a storm, a wild-magic storm, is going to hit,” I said. “Maybe it will kick-start magic again.”
Stotts grunted and shoved both his hands in his coat pockets, shifting his shoulders as if carrying a new ache. “Interesting theory.”
“Do you need me for anything else?” I asked before he came up with questions I didn’t want to answer.
Stotts shook his head. “If I do, I’ll call.” He walked me to the door of the room. “I’ll let you know if I find out anything more.”
I pocketed the crystal and started down the hall.
“Allie?”
I slowed and glanced over my shoulder at him.
“Whatever it is that you’re thinking of doing. Don’t. We’ll handle it.”
I wondered what he saw in me. Was it my anger? My fear? Or did I just have a bad reputation for doing stupid things when magic was screwing with the people I loved?
I didn’t answer. I didn’t have to. Stotts and I were enough alike, we both knew that when people I cared about were hurt, there was no way in hell I was going to just stand aside and let other people handle the problem.
Chapter Seventeen
It was colder now and darker outside the lab, but at least it wasn’t raining.
“Want a lift?” Shame stood on one side of the police tape. Even though he had no magic, he still managed to blend in and look like he was just another citizen out ogling the police and pony show.
I strode down the walk toward him and didn’t stop. “Where’d you park?”
“Up a block. What’s the hurry?”
I had to press my lips together to keep from yelling. I shook my head.
He got the hint and paced me, then unlocked the car so I could get in. Shame got in the driver’s side, which was fine with me. Even though Shame still looked like death on a low simmer, I was angry. And I didn’t want to kill us on the highway.
As soon as Shame started the car, a coo called out from the backseat.
I knew that coo.
“Stone!” I unbuckled so I could sit up on my knees and reach back for him. “Where’d you find him?”
“He found me,” Shame said.
Stone filled the entire backseat; his head rested on his outstretched arms like he was really tired. But at the sound of my voice, his ears pricked up into sharp triangles and his wings shifted against his muscled back. He tipped his head enough he could look at me and gave me a toothy smile.
“I missed you, boy.” I reached back and petted his head.
Three things sank in: one, Stone was cool, not cold, but not his usual cozy temperature. Two, he wasn’t moving as fluidly as he should, his motions catching like he was full of gears that had rusted up. Three, his eyes were different. Usually his eyes shone with a sweet kind of intelligence. Right now they were dull, like someone had taken a sandblaster to them and left behind clouds.
“Hey, boy,” I said more gently. “Who’s my good boy? Who’s my big hunter gargoyle? That’s right, that’s you. You’re a good boy.” I rubbed his head and scratched behind his ears. He angled his head for a better scratching, but did it slowly. His coo and his happy marble sound were too soft, like all he had left in him was a whisper.
“Stay there, boy, okay? Sleep time.”
He gave me a rock-garbled reply and dropped his head back down to rest on his forearms.
“He’s not moving very well.” I don’t know why I said it. It was obvious. Shame knew it. I knew it.
“I’m amazed he’s still moving at all,” Shame said. “Maybe he has his own backup spell battery in that belly of his.”
“Is there anything we can do to help him?” I asked.
“Besides getting magic up and running again?”
“What happens if he runs out before then?” I asked.
Shame just shrugged. “You tell me. No one’s been able to pull off an Animate this big for years.”
I rubbed at my forehead. I had no idea what would happen. I didn’t want to think about it.
“At least we know where he is,” Shame said.
True. I could probably get him up into my apartment if I had to. And if he ran out of magic there, at least I’d know someone wasn’t breaking him up into gravel or turning him into a table or something.
“You want to tell me where I’m driving?” Shame asked.
“Legacy Emanuel. Someone broke in and stole all the disks.”
“All?”
“Hundreds. Charged with magic.”
Shame’s eyebrows shot up. Yeah, it freaked me out too.
Then he started laughing. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Now? Really? Hundreds of disks on the loose with a goddamn storm bearing down on the city? Perfect. Just perfect.”
