Page 1137 of One More Kiss

His brows pinched together, and a frown settled onto his face when he remembered that I'd been working a case and the perp had gotten away.

"I'm sorry you lost the wand maker."

"It's mostly not your fault. Besides, I could use a vacation anyway." I would have preferred a paid vacation but when life gives you lemons - buy vodka.

"I don't suppose you'd want to finish this conversation over a drink at the Emporium?" Griffin winced, as if the question pained him and he regretted asking.

"It's going to cost you more than drinks, Griffin Wilde." I informed him, as we stepped off the curb and crossed the street, heading for the bar at the bottom of the hill. "I'm talking appetizers, entree and dessert."

"Is that—."

"Orly," I answered before Griffin could finish the question. The Goddess works in mysterious ways.

The scraggly wand maker's horrible sense of direction and unreliable magic led him right back to us.

Orly stood in the middle of the street slewing curses that would make a bridge troll blush. He tried to blast us with another spell, but the wand misfired. Orly snapped the bum wand in half and tossed the pieces on the ground. He pulled a replacement from the inside pocket of his trench coat, extended his arm shoulder high, and took the shot.

So did I.

I unholstered and fired my modified Umarex Brodax faster than a gunslinger in a high noon quick draw. Orly went down from an immobility charm with the first shot.

The wand maker refused to give in but the more he struggled, the tighter the spell wrapped around him. He lost his balance and hit the sidewalk, unable to move his limbs.

It was a shame his mouth still had full range of motion.

Orly shouted a colorful variety of hexes and curses, my personal favorite being perpetually lukewarm coffee. My cup would never be hot and never be iced.

The man was loud enough to wake the dead. Dogs and cats from the apartments above the stores took position at their windows and erupted into an unholy chorus, alerting the locals to our presence. Light flicked on in the third story of the building across the street.

"I need to call this in before some townie stumbles on to us." I reached into my coat pocket for my cell and walked over to Orly as I dialed the number for the Arcane Magical Authority.

Dispatch picked up after the first ring. "AMA. What's your emergency?"

"This is Byrnes. I need a ride."

"And how many people are in your party?" The Authority's operators were trained to keep the calls short and sweet. No idle chitchat.

"Just one. Jacob Orly."

"We have your location, Agent Byrnes. A car is in route." Dispatch ended the call. Back up was on the way.

"Your new friends will be here to pick you in a couple of minutes. If you play nice with them, they'll play nice with you." I bent down to check the magical netting, slipped the Brodax out of its holster and removed a charm from the chamber.

Orly muttered one last curse in my ear.

"Well, that was naughty, Jacob. What did I just say?" I squeezed the BB hard enough to pop the plastic shell and let the charmed liquid inside drip out onto Orly's chest.

Agents were immune to the spell, a safeguard in the event we were overpowered and lost our weapon. We were immune to hexes, too. Something I took pleasure in explaining to Jacob Orly.

"You can't hex your way out of this, wand maker." I pulled back my onyx locks, revealing a protective ward tattooed behind my ear. "Good thing too, because that coffee one.... That was straight up diabolical."

Griffin waited by the streetlight, staying out of the way until the other officers arrived and stuffed Orly into the backseat. When the taillights blinked out of sight, he made his way up the cobbled brick sidewalk, falling in step beside me.

One down, one to go.

I yanked another black magic dealer off the streets and closed another case but my night was far from over. I still had unfinished business with the warlock who crashed my collar.

"You know, I happen to be in the market for a partner." Griffin draped his arm over my shoulder and tucked me against his side.

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