“Very well.” Augustine pulled the keyboard to him, tapped the keys, routing the call through a series of scramblers, and typed in the number.
A dial tone sounded from the speaker. One, two…
“Yes?” The voice had a deep rasp to it.
He dialed up his magic and spoke in a bright soprano. “I have a client who wishes to meet. Two women, standard split, double rate.”
“When?”
“In an hour.”
“Fine.”
Augustine hung up.
“Where are we going?” Diana asked.
“To visit the underbelly of Houston.” He pushed the chair back and got to his feet.
“Oh. How exciting.”
Diana stood up, her lips curved in a soft smile. Next to her, the Doberman rose, too, her mouth opened in an identical excited grin.
[ 3 ]
Augustine changed lanes, avoiding a slow-moving truck with landscaping equipment in the back. He’d selected a black Mercedes GLC for this trip. It was a reliable car that handled well and looked like every other crossover SUV on the road.
Diana sat in the passenger seat, calmly watching Houston roll past the window. She was carrying a small purse with her, containing her wallet and a pouch of the tigrionex milk. The dog, whose name was Lila, lay on the back seat, her head resting on her big paws. He requested to put one of their rune collars on her, and Diana agreed. The collars were the latest gadget to come out of the MII’s Research and Development. The sigils inscribed on them retained a small magic charge, allowing him to affix an illusion to it. It only lasted for six minutes, but that would be long enough.
Three minutes into the drive, it occurred to him that he had talked way too much during their conversation in the office. He had told her about his sister. He had explained the particulars of illusion magic, which was the kind of proprietary knowledge any sane mage would have kept to himself. He had even disclosedthe identities of his agents. She had watched him and listened, and he had just kept talking and talking.
Blah-blah-blah. Why am I chattering?
No distractions, he reminded himself. This was a job, and he was bringing a client along, a client whom he would have to protect. While Lila was a biological weapon, she was still only a dog.
The traffic on 288 was surprisingly light. Their destination lay in Pearland, about fifteen miles south of Downtown, a large suburban city within the metro. Safe, convenient, lots of restaurants, schools, and box stores.
His car chimed, announcing an incoming call. He glanced at the number and sighed.
“Yes?”
Arabella’s light voice came out of the speakers. “Finished the Dunwoody thing. It’s in your inbox.”
“Did you find Phillip?”
“I did.”
That was quick. “Where was he?”
“Stuffed into a cistern in a barn.”
What? “Is he alive?”
“Yes. He had a fight with his girlfriend, was a total ass about it, and when she broke up with him, he decided to use his ice magic to keep her from leaving. She yeeted him into a cistern and then bounced. I’m surprised she was that chill about it. She showed a lot of restraint.”
“Stuffing a 16-year-old into a cistern and leaving him there for two days hardly qualifies as restraint.”
“It does if your last name is Madero.”
