Page 19 of A Subtle Scar
Well, Julia wasn’t Lucifer, but she was the devil. “I was just in the area and wanted to stop by my office real quick,” I said and did my utmost with a dazzling smile.
Dustin hooked his thumbs into his beltloops. “She said you’d try something like that but to stay firm. Look, I’m sorry about this, Agent Chandler, but Julia threatened to put me on the early shifts each Monday for a year, and, uhm, those aren’t my favorite shifts.”
The other two security people were looking at how Dustin was handling the situation. I wasn’t sure what Julia had bribed them with—blackmailed them with—but I doubted Dustin was the only line of defense. Meant to keep me from simply going into my office. HR had files on people, so gods knew what these poor folks would have to face if they let me through. Was there such a thing as disciplinary vacation time?
I considered simply magicking my way inside, but the FIS had excellent wards, and I really wasn’t that desperate. I could handle three days. And the weekend. That was totally doable.
I sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll leave. Any chance you won’t tell Julia I tried to get inside?”
Dustin’s eyes widened, and I had my answer right there.
“Never mind.” I gave Dustin a nod of understanding and waved at the other two guards. They waved back, seeming relieved about my leaving. Bad Julia. I turned and headed toward the exit.
“Oh, Agent Chandler,” Dustin said, jogging after me. “There was a guy here earlier. Blond, broad, swarthy. Sort of model looking, and he wanted to know where your office was. Anyone you know, or do you have a stalker?”
I was confused about who wanted to see me that urgently for two whole seconds. Then I thought about the text exchange I’d just had with Lionel.
“I’m not sure,” I said. Because what on earth could some immortals want with me? “What did you tell the guy?”
Dustin shrugged. “That we do not give out personal information for our agents. He said he didn’t have an appointment, and he was a little…” Dustin looked over his shoulder at one of the female guards.
“Hot and horny, and working hard to show it,” Paula, the guard in question, said.
Dustin cleared his throat. “I would have said charming, but there you go.”
Paula snorted, and I nodded, easily hiding my grin. “Well, let me know if he shows up here again. And thank you for handling it.”
Paula gave me a thumbs-up, and Dustin nodded.
Five minutes later I was back in the car and searching for farmers’ markets in the area because if I was going to spend some time in the kitchen, I might as well, and also, the weather was nice.
Apparently, I’d lived in the city for over a decade and throughout all that time, I’d managed to miss the farmers’ market on the Common Green, the park right near Chymical Street. I started the engine and headed that way.
I was painfully overdressed for a casual stroll in the park, a fact I was going to blame on Julia, who took overtime much too seriously. The car I had to leave two blocks away from the park, but I didn’t really mind getting a bit of exercise. On top of that, I hadn’t visited Chymical Street much in all my time here because as a mage, I didn’t need talismans or herbs, not really.
Chymical Street, here and in other cities, was all about tradition. About magical tradition. New Cassel’s city seal was a shield with seven silver clovers on it, and each little shop on Chymical Street had that next to or above their store entrance, and almost all of the magic trades’ flags had incorporated it as well. For the psychics, the seal was next to the psychic eye on their flags, on the background of whatever color represented their flavor of psychic workings. The healers had the seal in front of their three waves, and the casters had their triangle superimposed on the seal.
All the designs showed off how the magic users and the city had always walked hand in hand, which was an ongoing political effort here and elsewhere. It did not reflect all the small ways in which regular people looked at magic users and saw something different. And not everyone liked different.
As I walked toward the Common Green, I wasn’t sure how much had changed in the neighborhood, but the changes brought on by spring were evident. Tea shops and cafés had tables out front, and the herbalists weren’t the only ones who had spring flowers out in planters.
As I walked, I shifted back and forth between my mage sight to check if there were any immortals out to stalk me, but all the auras I caught were human. Or canine, in cases where the human was walking said canine.
The farmers’ market was packed, and to my surprise, it wasn’t just local farmers. If the flags were anything to go by, several shop owners from Chymical Street had either partnered with artisanal bakers and glassblowers or were selling their own wares. It was nice to see the magic users included here.
I walked up to a smith, an older, ginger-haired woman with a pixie cut. She had everything from earrings to security pins on display, also some talismans.
“Anything I can help you with?” she asked.
“Just browsing,” I said. “And surprised. These are all…hardly magical, right?” I lifted a ring up to examine it.
“Well, that one is practical magic, but I do have talismans if you need them. That one adjusts its ring size. Very popular with non-magical folk who are looking for an engagement ring.”
I chuckled. “Right, that makes sense. And I don’t need the talismans, but that’s fine.”
She crossed her arms, and I knew what was coming. “Young man, we all need our talismans, and it’s irresponsible not to use them. Did no one teach you properly?”
“They did, but they taught me all the things mages need to know. Sorry, I didn’t mean to mislead you.” I put the ring back down again.
