Sunshine had mentioned elf artifacts and weapons. I didn’t know much about elven magic—as elves had been long dead, they were not on the slayer list of ‘foes to learn and be prepared to face’.
However, an elven holy sword had been used in an attack on the Magiford Curia Cloisters about two years ago. It had done major damage, and even I knew that it was just one of the many types of weapons the elves had created.
Tutu’s was pretty much the only storage solution for artifacts and weapons like that if the owners didn’t want to risk personally holding onto them, and the Magiford branch was the only one in the Midwest. If anyone in the area owned weapons and magic like that, they were stored here.
Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with what Orrin was trying to steal.
It was possible the dragon shifter even had elven spells on the place—elven magic could still be purchased on the black market; a few elven spells had recently surfaced in Magiford. Maybe the 29.5 days referred to when the spell was weakest on Tutu’s?
Wait… if Orrin was trying to break in or bust up Tutu’s on a specific day in the lunar cycle… and it’s been twenty-nine days since then…
I released my seatbelt and violently kicked my car door open. “Sarge!” I spun in a circle, looking for him.
I hope I’m not too late!
He was standing with Captain Reese next to the SUV Captain Reese had arrived in. The pirate-dressed vampire was in the driver’s seat and had the car on idle.
“Sarge!” I yelled.
Sarge turned around, his silvery hair gleaming golden from all the car headlights. “Something wrong, Blood?”
“Tutu’s—twenty-nine days!” I babbled incoherently, trying to organize my thoughts into the fewest number of words possible as I sprinted down the street towards him.
I skid to a stop just short of the SUV and bowed to both Sarge and Captain Reese. “Sunshine said a lunar cycle is 29.5 days and that some elven magic will use a lunar cycle to model a spell’s or artifact’s power cycle. It’s probable Tutu’s either contains artifacts with such a power cycle, or even has protective spells on it that use that kind of magic,” I said, my words coming too fast for me to stumble over them. “The night we arrested Orrin he said he had to finish it. And it’s beentwenty-nine dayssince we arrested him!”
Sarge rotated to peer at Captain Reese, who was rubbing her chin. “It could be coincidence. Orrin could have meant he had to finish it because Gisila would be leaving. Not to mention this timing is the worst—we’ve got to get the Telliers hauled in front of the Regional Committee tonight. But…”
“Better to be safe and check on Tutu’s?” Sarge guessed.
Captain Reese’s wolfish smile was back. “Absolutely.” She turned around to bark at the team. “Tetiana! Brody! You’re going on a fieldtrip with April and Blood!”
When April pulledonto Goldstein Street, the road was empty. No one walked the sidewalks thanks to the late hour, and there wasn’t a single car parked on the side of the road. Everything was absolutely still.
Maybe I was off base, and I’ve dragged us out here for nothing…
I waited until April parked the car before I got out, turning in a circle to inspect the street.
It was extra windy tonight, and the icy wind smashed my mask against my face, but at least the sky was clear.
Brody and Tetiana piled out of the car as April shut it off.
Tetiana rested her hands on her hips as she peered at Tutu’s quaint brick storefront. “Tutu’s looks undisturbed, so that’s a promising start.”
“The day shift set up surveillance equipment on Tutu’s, didn’t they?” April climbed out of the car and bumped the door with her hip, shutting it. “Maybe we should check on it.”
April and Tetiana started to cross the street, heading towards a large bush planted on a curb where I knew at least one camera was secured.
I studied the skyline, looking for any intruders on the rooftops. “Brody.”
Brody had been scratching the back of his neck and staring up at Tutu’s, his eyebrows bunching together, but he turned around when I called his name. “Yeah?”
I felt the hot then cold sensation of wizard magic in my mind, but it was just April—she’d created a blue-flamed fireball to cast light on the bush she and Tetiana were rustling around in. I watched for a moment before resuming scanning the rooftops. “Can you scent anything out—any particularly fresh trails?”
“Oh, right!” Brody snapped his fingers, then hopped the curb so he stood on the sidewalk in front of Tutu’s. “There’s a lot here, but most of it I can tell is from a few hours ago. As for fresh scents…” He walked back and forth in front of the storefront, his nostrils flaring.
“Bad news—the camera is gone,” April called from across the street. I couldn’t see her through the bush, but I saw the blue light her flames cast.
“Maybe the day shift decided the threat was gone, and they picked it up?” Brody asked.
