Page 19 of Magic Betrayed

Humans and Idrians did frequent many of the same businesses—particularly in a place like Oklahoma City where there were no official enclaves—but in Faris’s case, the liquors he sold could be dangerous for humans to consume. Thanks to the glamour anchored on the trees along the curb, the front door and windows of The Portal appeared to always be dark. There was a “Closed for Renovation” sign on the door, and only the local Idrian community knew what actually went on inside.

Without the glamour, anyone walking by could see the bar, the stage, the dance floor, and the customers, many of whom wore no glamour of their own on the average night.

This was going to be a genuine headache for Faris—and yet another thing we had to thank Blake for.

“So, what did you find?” I probably sounded rude, but my family… I might not be able to breathe again until I knew they were safe.

Faris let out a deep breath and visibly reined in his annoyance. “It’s more what Ididn’tfind, but I needed you to come down here to confirm it.” He gestured in an expansive circle. “I initially assumed this was either a case of your friend Kes panicking when someone broke in, or a contract kidnapping, connected to your role in the final hours of the Symposium. Carried out by some idiot mercenary or bounty hunter who thought they could collect on my territory.”

A small part of my tension eased as I realized Shane hadn’t shared his warning with Faris.

The elemental’s glower turned puzzled. “But there’s no evidence of magic anywhere. Just a lot of pieces that suggest this was done by someone with a strong grasp of human technology. The electricity was shut off at the main breaker. The security cameras have battery backup, but they show nothing out of the ordinary which means someone must have tampered remotely with the recording system. Even the door locks were compromised but not broken, and there’s no sign that the intruders even tried to search once they were in here. No sign of any foul play, other than the break-in, and this…”

My heart sank as he held up the missing phone—clearly smashed beyond all possibility of repair. But who had done it and when? There was no way to know.

“They attacked me with some kind of clubs or batons,” I reminded him. “They hit hard, and they hit fast, so they may have smashed the phone to keep me from calling for help. And the others…” I swallowed my panic. “If Kes and the kids were still here when the apartment was broken into, they would have had no real defenses. Ari has no defensive magic other than teleporting. Logan still needs physical contact to manipulate earth, so he would be helpless up here on the fourth floor, and Kes…”

Neither Faris nor Callum knew the full truth about Kes yet, and I wanted to keep it that way. There was no telling how they would react if they knew it was her magic that had enabled Elayara’s experiments. Her particular “gift” that stole others’ magic and created artifacts using that power. Not by choice—never by choice—but because the fae queen had used everyone Kes loved against her.

“Kes would have had no way to defend herself either.” Not against humans. Her only magical ability was taking away the magic of others. Ironically, if she were attacked by Idrians, she would have a better chance.

Faris shot me a look that suggested he knew I was hiding something, but did not pursue it. I suspected most of his people had secrets, so he was probably used to ignoring small omissions like this.

“Just in case we missed something,” he rumbled, “I wanted a shifter in here to sniff out any hints of magic.”

So he’d called for a dragon and… me.

Yes, technically, I had shifter magic—I could turn into a tiny, fluffy white fox. But I’d only done it once, and I had no idea if I could do it again, or even how to use my shifter senses properly once I was in my other shape.

Callum, on the other hand, could shift just fine, but if he tried it in my apartment, he would destroy the whole building and everything in it.

Some team we were.

“Evidence or not, I’m not letting this go, so you two see what you can figure out,” Faris ordered, while heading for the door. “And keep me updated on your progress. Whatever you need in order to find whoever did this, you’ll have it. And I’ll get my people in here to replace the lock with something more secure.”

“Faris?”

He looked back over his shoulder.

“Thank you.”

He gave me a nod.

“I know you’re busy with the wedding, so don’t feel like you have to keep checking in. I can handle this. Just… I don’t know how long it will be. So if you need to hire someone to take my place, I understand.”

The look he shot me mingled long-suffering and annoyance with a flash of sympathy, just before he turned his attention to Callum.

“Don’t let her out of your sight if you can help it,” he suggested. “I don’t want her going off and getting herself killed before she figures it out.”

That stung a little. Figured outwhat? All I could sense for sure was the growing weight of a debt I could never repay. Faris said I was one of his people, and I was thankful for his acceptance. But what had I contributed to his court except enemies, destruction, a troubled teen elemental, and a distressing number of broken cocktail glasses?

“We’re fine,” Callum promised. “Go put out fires.”

With one last grunt, Faris disappeared, and I shifted my narrowed gaze to my former employer.

“What was he talking about?”

“I will explain it…afterwe search the apartment,” Callum countered stubbornly.

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