Page 91 of That Mafioso Magic
He shook his head. “The fire ball I sent after him was extremely powerful. More than I thought it was. It totally disintegrated him. He was nothing but ash by the time I got to him. It was through her blood that I know the Worchester Clan has been after us. That a woman named Olga Ferry told them about you coming by her store yesterday afternoon and that you seemed stronger in your magic, even though no birthmark had been visible. Seems she was working with them.”
“Son of a bitch,” I growled, because I thought we were friends. Turns out, that bitch was just a plant. It stung to have been betrayed by someone I trusted.
Sage pulled out his cell and called another one of his people to come get us. “She owned a magic shop. I have to give them credit. I mean, if you’re looking to track down mages, being the place they needed to go for supplies is just smart.”
“How did you know they were there?” I asked.
“The magic they used on that bullet. I think it left its signature in me. I just sensed them. Sensed them using that same magic. It’s one of the reasons why I wanted to try that spell while I still had the link in my blood. I was going to tell you about it once we finished saving Lacey. One battle at a time, right?” Sage said.
I nodded. “Well, thank God you did. No telling what that first blast of power would have done to the car or us.”
“Probably annihilate it. They wanted to make sure to use a spell that would kill us. Fire might do the trick. Not sure, I haven’t set myself on fire, but the fact that I can control it makes me wonder if it will affect me. Still, I’d hate to be the only survivor,” Sage said.
“And if that was magical fire, maybe you wouldn’t be,” I pointed out.
“That too. Best not find out. She’s alive for now, like I said. But I will kill her. You understand this, right?” Sage asked me. “I can’t let her live. I can’t let any of them live. Not when they are a threat to not only me, but now they are a threat to you.”
I licked my lips and nodded. “I know. But maybe there is another way. I heard about the council of mages.”
Sage snorted. “The Echelon Imperial?”
“Yes. Them. I mean, don’t they police the supernal?”
“According to the rumors, they fancy themselves the overlords of us. I’ve never personally had any run-ins with them, so I can’t tell you if they’re real or not. As far as I know, we all police our own,” Sage said. “I’ve been handling my business my entire life. You don’t have to be a part of what I’ll do to this clan—”
“Like I’m going to let you risk your life to take them on without me. Like you said, they’re trying to kill me too. And we’re… we’re partners.”
“Is that all we are?” he asked.
I licked my lips and looked away. “Not even close,” I said before turning to look at him. “But let’s hold that for another discussion. I just want to get to the police station, then home to sleep for a thousand years.” Sage and I were waiting in the mouth of an alley for our ride to pick us up and I hoped it wouldn’t take too much longer.
“Fair enough,” Sage agreed.
It wasn’t much longer before one of his people pulled up in a Mercedes. We got in and went straight to the precinct, with the incapacitated body of a mage in the trunk of the automobile. Sage had bound her hands, feet, and mouth with tape, and then casted a spell over that to keep it in place. Basically, even if our captive did wake up and had the strength after being drained of her blood, she still wasn’t going anywhere. I casted a spell over her to block her clan from locating her. Last thing we needed was a full-on assault right now. If they searched for her, the spell would be erratic, not giving them a location. I hoped that would hold off any further attacks.
When the car pulled up in front of the precinct, I climbed out. Xavier and Jewel were already inside talking with Brad Torelli when I got clearance to join them and fill in the blanks. Well, as much as I could.
“Do you know who had her?” Brad asked. “These two couldn’t tell me anything.”
I shrugged. “Whoever took her, I didn’t stick around to see if they would return. I’m just a private eye, ya know.” I didn’t tell them we had found Lacey in Florida. The last thing I needed was Brad asking me questions about jurisdiction and all that shit. I gave him the address of one of the stores I’d been standing next to waiting for our ride. It seemed like as good a place as any for them to launch an investigation. And if they found the DNA of our mage, let them plant it on her. Not like she was going to live to face trial if Sage had his way.
“I found her dehydrated and not remembering what had happened to her,” I said.
“How did you find her though?” Brad asked me.
“Doing good old detective work,” I said. “Look Torelli, it’s late as fuck and I’m tired as hell. Can I come by tomorrow and give you a full record of what I did? Just let me get some sleep, I can hardly think straight right now. I just wanted to get Lacey to you, so you can call her auntie and reunite them,” I said.
Brad sat back in his chair and sighed. He ran his hand through his salt and pepper hair. He was in his mid-forties and rather handsome. Once or twice, I might have jerked off to a fantasy or two about him. But he was all business as always, so as a private eye, he didn’t particularly care that I stepped on his toes from time to time. He still knew I was useful.
“Fine. But you better have your ass here tomorrow so I can finish my report on how you found Lacey. Her kidnapper and her parents’ killer is still out there. I want to make sure they don’t destroy another family,” Brad said.
“Me too. Don’t worry, I’ll give you everything I know.”
He nodded. “You can leave Lacey here with me. I’ve already contacted her auntie and they’re on their way here. Should get here in an hour or so.”
“So soon? I thought they were in Connecticut?” I asked.
“They were, but they said they got an anonymous call telling them that their niece was found and to head to Chicago tonight,” Brad said. “Was it you?”
