“No. We’re lucky there’s any security. Albert Hamilton is a black market dealer who’s a constant pain in Valen’s ass.”
“Like Hexx?”
Peri snorted. “Hamilton only deals with the most rare and expensive artifacts. He probably makes more in a day than Hexx has earned in his entire lifetime.”
Maya believed her friend. The gallery looked expensive. Clearly she would have to personally investigate the claims of illegal magical items once this was over. For now, she was more interested in the woman who’d so easily penetrated her defenses.
There was nothing but the coat to reveal this was the same person, but Maya was confident that they’d found the thief. It was in the proud tilt of her head and her swagger as she entered the building. Whoever she was, she didn’t lack in confidence.
Focused on the thief, Maya didn’t pay much attention to the demon. He had a deep crimson aura, but he was no stronger than a dozen others in the city. New York had become an epicenter of power over the past two centuries, attracting demons who could claim the purest bloodlines.
It wasn’t until three guards appeared from the shadows to surround the thief that she realized this wasn’t a simple exchange of stolen goods for cash. The woman was jumping to her feet as the demon reached out to grab her. The next thing that happened was the demon was flying through the air and crashing into one of the display cases.
“She’s not making many friends in town,” Maya muttered, her unease intensifying.
The stranger had to be a mage, right? How else could she have tossed the demon around like he was a twig? And not just a mage. But one of the most powerful magic users that Maya hadever encountered. So why hadn’t she been able to sense the woman’s magic when she was standing a few feet away from her?
Maya’s thoughts were distracted as there was a movement behind the woman. Maya squinted. Was that a man? It was hard to see more than a fuzzy outline.
“Who’s that?” She pointed at the screen. “And why is he out of focus?”
“I asked one of Valen’s security men to look at the footage. His opinion was the male’s aura is screwing with the camera.”
“A demon?”
“If it is, then his powers are off the charts.”
“Crap.”
“Wait. It gets worse.”
“Of course it does,” Maya muttered, preparing herself for an explosion or earthquake or incoming meteorite. If Peri said something was getting worse, then it had to be really, really bad.
The video continued, revealing a battle between the fuzzy male form and the demons. He was clearly the superior fighter, as he easily overpowered the guards, but even as they prepared to leave, the thief was pointing toward the guard who was rising to his feet and shuffling toward them with weird, jerky movements. As if he wasn’t in control of his body. And there was something wrong with his face...
“Wait,” she breathed, her gaze shifting to study the other guards, who were moving with the same strange jerks. “Are those demons glowing?”
“That’s what it looks like,” Peri agreed.
Maya furrowed her brow. “A spell? A curse?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“This is the only video available?”
“Unfortunately.” Peri pressed her finger against the screen, freezing the action. “This is what I wanted you to see.”
She zoomed the image until it revealed the thief’s hand reaching toward a slender rod. The video was too grainy to make out the exact designs on the metal object, but Maya guessed that it was a fey lightning rod. Not an illegal relic, but they were frowned on by the Cabal.
“We already knew the thief has a habit of taking things that don’t belong to her,” she said, not sure what Peri wanted her to see.
Peri pointed to the woman’s hand. “She’s not stealing the rod. She’s draining the magic.”
Maya leaned closer, barely able to make out the shimmering threads of magic that connected the rod to the thief’s open palm.
“She’s a Void,” she breathed.
“What does that mean?”
