Page 20 of Wicked Deeds

Lizzie joined me, scanning the shelves quickly. “Huh.”

“That’s a lot of candles and salt,” I said. And herbs and other powders and liquids in clear glass jars.

“Sure is,” Lizzie said. Her fingers tapped out a slow rhythm against her thigh as she studied the collection.

Callum peered over my shoulder. “Human magic.”

Fae magic didn’t require any assistance. They grabbed the energy they wanted and made it do as it was told. Of course, it helped that the realm was swimming in magical energy.

“No one’s used any of it in a while,” I said, swallowing, still scanning the shelves. Candles and salt. Which suggested protective spells or…a summoning. And so far everything I’d learned about witchcraft told me nothing good ever came from a summoning.

“Right,” Lizzie said. “Let’s speed this up. I want to clear the upstairs, then we’ll call Cassandra.” She waved her hand at the pantry. “I can’t see anything obviously illegal, but we’ll need to work out what’s inside all those jars. But upstairs first.”

My pulse rang in my ears as we climbed the stairs. My hand kept straying to my gun. I had to force it back. With Lizzie in front of me, pulling a gun was a dumb idea.

“Breathe.” Callum said gently. “Focus on that. Clear your mind.”

Great, he could tell how nervous I was. I obeyed orders and slowed my breathing, trying to clear my head. A pantry full of magical supplies was strange, but not an immediate threat.

The stairs led to a small open area. There was another monitor on the wall and a leather recliner positioned in front of it. Stacked on a small table against the wall was a viddeck and two headsets.

I stopped at the sight of them. I knew the model of the deck. It was a few years old now, but had been expensive when it first came on the market, one of the earliest home models with a chip connection. My former best friend, Nat, had had it on her wish list.

“Are you sure there’s no vidlink?” I asked Lizzie.

“I’m sure. Why?” She looked puzzled.

“This is a couple of thousand dollars’ worth of gear.” I put my hands behind my back, not wanting to touch it. “It’s one thingto leave appliances behind, but this deck is a lot of money for someone to give up. If we had a link, we could find the ID on the system.”

“Later,” Lizzie said. “Let’s finish the rooms first.”

The first door we tried led to a bedroom. At first glance, it was the same as the other rooms—dusty and unused. The closet was empty except for a pair of black sneakers and a black raincoat shoved on the shelf above the hanging space.

The queen-size bed was made up with a dark gray jersey comforter. It gave me a ‘male who wants something cheap and easy’ vibe. I made my way around to the nightstand on the side closest to the windows and pulled open the top drawer. A bottle of ibuprofen lay on its side next to a box of Kleenex.

I pulled the box forward gingerly, hoping whoever had stashed it there had allergies rather than having another reason for wanting Kleenex at close hand in their bedroom. Behind the box was a familiar looking badge, lying face down.

A rectangle with angled corners. Matte black with white around the edge. I froze, trying to tell myself I was wrong, but I knew I was right.

If I turned it over, it would have a name. Or an initial and a surname. Next to a Riley Arts logo. On campus, most of the Riley Arts security team wore their uniform, but those who were on an assignment that required them to wear civilian clothes—like, say, escorting Damon to a function during the day—wore name badges. A visible symbol so if something happened and the security team member gave orders, they were followed, no arguments.

In a company as huge as Righteous, no one knew everyone’s faces. And yes, the staff wore ident tags, but in an emergency the badge was quicker.

I reached for the badge, but I already half expected what I’d see when I turned it over.

And I was right.

I straightened, turning to hold the badge out toward Lizzie with trembling fingers.

“Maggie?” she said. “What is that?”

“It’s a Riley Arts security team badge,” I said. “And it belonged to Ajax Fields.”

Chapter Six

For a long second,Lizzie just stared at me. I saw the moment when her brain made the connection. She went very still.

AjaxfuckingFields.

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