the guy’s family is seekin’ retribution.”
“So does that mean you want to kill the orc?”
“Nah. I don’t go in with the intent to kill, at least not usually. If I can apprehend my mark, all the better. Sometimes that choice is taken away from me.”
“Yeah, same with working for BCA.”
“Do you like workin’ there?”
I saw him shrug out of the corner of my eye. “Mostly. I like when I’m working with Jorah or Thayer better than all this solo shit Alec’s been giving me, but he keeps saying the three of us make too much of a mess, so he’s separated us the past few months.”
“You miss them.” It wasn’t a question.
He sighed. “I do. We weren’t meant to be spread out so far. Our magic is connected, and when we’re too far apart or go too long without being near, it’s like… it’s like the magic becomes sad or something. It makes us feel off.”
I didn’t understand how that felt at all, but I thought I got what he meant. “Have you told Alec this?”
He shook his head and shrugged. “I’ve reminded him a few times, but he’s been blowing me off.”
That made me frown. “Why?”
“My sister’s pregnant again, and he’s freaking out about it. He’s taking it out on me because I’m family, so he can.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
He shrugged. “It’s fine. Once they have the baby, he’ll calm down a little.”
“Maybe you should talk to him before then.”
He waved me off. “It’s fine. Jorah and Thayer already said they want the three of us to start meeting up for lunch on work days so we can get the magic to chill the fuck out. We’re figuring it out.”
Tryin’ to remember everything he’d told me about this magic so far, I asked, “Does this mean… you’ll have to go to Faela sooner, though?”
“Maybe. Nik and Talon will check us more often once we tell them. So far, we’re fine in that sense.”
“Nik and Talon are your guardians?”
“They’re the guardians of the Three, yeah. They’re both fae, so they can sense the magic, and because of their connection with us, they can tell when we need to go back to Faela to purify it.”
“How do they test it?” A small growl came out with my words.
Basil turned in his seat, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “Jealous, are we?”
“Nah.”
“Mhm.” He snickered. “They touch us and feel the magic.”
“Touch you?” My voice was deeper than usual.
“Ha! You are jealous.” He snorted. “Don’t worry, dimples, they only have to touch our foreheads.” He chuckled at my answering grunt.
“Can I veto this ‘dimples’ thing that’s happenin’ right now?”
“Nope.”
I snorted. “Didn’t think so.”
He laughed. “Anyway, back to this orc. Can I read the file you have?”
“Yeah, it’s on the back seat.”
He twisted in his seat and grabbed the file before settling back and reading through it. After a few minutes, he grumbled, “This guy’s disgusting. What he did to that incubus is horrific.”
I wrinkled my nose thinkin’ about the pictures of the incubus’s body that were included in the file. The orc was sick, and I couldn’t imagine how horrible the incubus’s last moments were.
Basil said, “No wonder his family is seeking revenge. I would, too.”
I nodded in agreement.
“So you want me to distract the orc’s family so you can go in and get him?”
“Distract them how? There’s at least ten of ‘em.” Orcs traveled in herds, and while this herd was rather small, ten orcs against one hunter and one witch were not good odds.
“I’ll create a storm outside their camp. The sound will cover up your movements, and if I show myself and strike one of their tents or whatever with lightning, they’ll come out to stop me from destroying their stuff. You can sneak around and pick the guy off.”
“Assuming he’s on the edge.”
He closed the folder. “Eh, I can use some wind magic to push him back away from the others.”
“I’m gonna have to use a dart to knock him out, so I’ll probably only be able to pull him back a few feet.” Orcs were big as hell, so tryin’ to carry one wasn’t an option.
“I’ll make the others come after me to give you more space and time to get situated.”
That didn’t exactly help with carrying him, but… “And once I have him, how will you get away?”
I saw him grin. “My shadow magic is pretty handy when I’m trying to be sneaky. I can get away and sneak back to you. Once