Page 24 of Magic Betrayed

He didn’t argue, just pulled out his phone, hit a number, and handed it to me.

Thankfully, Faris didn’t seem to be in the middle of anything, because he answered almost immediately.

“What did you find?” His voice was even more growly than usual.

“Nothing,” I responded. “The scent trail ended at the curb. Faris, did you call in an electrician last night to deal with the outage?”

“Emberly did.”

“Who did she hire?” I needed a name.

“I don’t know, but she told me they called this morning and left a message. The power was already back on when they got there.”

Bingo. “Thanks, Faris.”

“You know something,” he rumbled threateningly. “What is it?”

He had more than enough to deal with, so I wasn’t going to say anything until I was sure. “Just a hunch,” I replied evasively. “I’ll let you know when we have more.”

“Raine…”

I hung up. Stared at Callum out of wide, startled eyes. “I just hung up on my boss.”

“I recall you doing considerably worse to me.” He quirked one teasing eyebrow. “Apparently you’re a lot more terrified of elementals than you are of dragons.”

Weirdly, it was true. For some reason, I’d never managed to be properly afraid ofthisdragon.

His expression sobered. “What did you find?”

“One of my attackers was hiding in the utility room last night. I followed his trail, picked up hints of Logan and Kes, but those may have been old. I don’t have enough experience to know for sure. The thing is, the scent of my attacker ended at the curb. No sign of it on the other side.”

“So he—or she—got into a vehicle,” he surmised.

I nodded. “There was a van parked out there when I got here last night, with the name of an electrician on the side. The power came back on while I was here, and then the van was gone, so I didn’t think anything of it. But Faris just told me the emergency technician they called never actually did anything—the power was already on when they arrived.”

His amber eyes went sharp and hot, a glow sparking in their depths. “Who was it? Can you remember the name?”

I wished now that I’d paid more attention. But I’d been tired and thinking about the bounty Shane reported. Wondering how to keep our apartment secure, not realizing it had already been compromised.

My eyes shut. I could do this. Back when I’d been held captive by the fae, they’d been trying to train me for some nefarious purpose—to turn me into someone they could use. Assassin, soldier, spy… I’d never been quite sure. I also hadn’t cooperated very well, but part of the process had been memory training. I almost hated to acknowledge that those years had given me anything good, but if it could help me find my family…

I rewound the scenes in my head, past the shift, past the waking up at Callum’s apartment, past the pain and the blood and the cold, past the attack… Everything flowed backwards in a jumble of silent images until I reached the point I was looking for.

There, in the glow of the streetlights, sat a white van—a windowless cliché, with an empty roof-rack. The license plate was blue, with the familiar white silhouette of a scissor-tailed flycatcher. Could be stolen, but at least it was registered in Oklahoma. And on the side of the van…

Four colored triangles, bases touching at the corners, pointing out to form a star shape. Each triangle contained a basic image—a light bulb, a lightning bolt, a power plug, and a… maybe a screwdriver? It looked like clip art. And at the center of the four was a white square containing two letters. Possibly an R and an E? There were words below, but they were blurred, as if I hadn’t truly seen them.

It would have to be enough.

My eyes snapped open. “I think I have enough to go on.”

Callum eyed me thoughtfully before responding with a nod. “Okay. Faris’s security cameras may have been tampered with, but there should be others in the area that weren’t. Draven has a connection with someone—probably on the wrong side of both human and Idrian law—who can retrieve that kind of information, given the right monetary motivation. If you can describe the van, he might be able to tell us both who got into it and where it went.”

Hope surged until I realized what he’d said. Monetary motivation… My heart dropped with what might have been an audible thud. “Callum, I have about three dollars to my name.”

He regarded me steadily. “I already told you I consider myself in breach of my promise to you. I swore that your family would be safe, and they aren’t. As far as I’m concerned, that’s more than enough cause for me to assume financial responsibility for this, but…” His gaze sharpened. “Only if you agree. The last thing I want is to create an imbalance of power, or for you to feel indebted in any way that might affect the choices you feel that you have.”

None of this was his fault. But it wasn’t mine either—at least, not as far as I knew. And I didn’t have the luxury of noble principles that would allow me to reject his offer. Would I regret this later? Maybe. But I could worry about the price when Logan, Ari, and Kes were safe.

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