Dugan’s glare should have seared Falin’s flesh. I sighed.
“What if you could have privacy to say your piece without Falin leaving?”
Dugan’s brows knit together. “And how would that be accomplished?”
I glanced down at the charm bracelet on my wrist. “I have a privacy charm.” I’d ruined most of my personal charms recently, but that was one I’d recast already. It tended to come in handy.
Dugan looked perplexed, but Falin shook his head. “No.”
“It’s just a sound bubble. You would be able to see everything and there is no barrier to cross.” The only downside was, I was rather terrible when it came to crafting spells, so the size of that bubble was limited. It was slightly larger than the last one I had made, but not by a lot.
Dugan was obviously interested, though not convinced. “And this charm blocks all words? You are certain of it?”
Instead of answering, I pushed away from my desk and stood. I considered walking to the wall, but the amount of space the charm protected was small enough that they were both outside that bubble already. I channeled a small amount of Aetheric energy into the charm. Magic buzzed across my skin as the spell took effect, and since the sound bubble went both ways, silence fell around me.
“Hello,” I said, waving.
Both men stared at me blankly. I screamed at the top of my lungs, lifting the charm as I did. In the middle of the scream, I pulled the magic back out of the spell, canceling the effect. The confused look on Dugan’s face turned into the smallest cringe as the last part of my scream cut through the air. Stunned silence fell over the room when I finished.
I smiled. “No sound escapes.”
“You could have just said that. I would have taken you at your word.”
Of course he would have. I was fae. I couldn’t lie. The demonstration had been a little more satisfying, though, and it also proved to Falin that he wouldn’t have to be far to be outside the privacy bubble. I looked to the Winter Knight. He was still scowling, but he gave a very small nod, indicating he’d be okay with this plan.
I walked around my desk and pulled the other client chair closer to Dugan’s. He lifted a dark eyebrow, watching me as I sat on the edge of the seat, my knees all but brushing his. I didn’t like the proximity, but my spell covered very little area. I activated the charm and let my senses stretch, feeling for the edge of the bubble. Dugan was right on the edge of the effect. If he stirred or breathed too deeply while he spoke, every few words would escape. I scooted my chair even closer, and I could feel the chill of Falin’s stare as I had to angle my hips to keep my legs from touching Dugan’s. But he was safely inside the privacy bubble now.
“So, tell me about the case,” I said, trying not to squirm in my seat. I would have liked to sit back, but the bubble of privacy was centered on me and any comfortable position would have put Dugan too close to the edge.
He gave one sideways glance toward Falin, and then turned partially away from him—not so that the other man was at his back, but so that he didn’t have a clear view of his face, and I guessed, his lips. I had no idea if Falin could read lips, but whatever the prince wanted to discuss, he certainly was concerned about keeping it secret. Of course, the shadow court was also known as the court of secrets, so maybe it was just his nature.
“What I and the shadow court need to hire you for is very delicate. Yes, we need you to raise a shade, but if possible, we need you to examine the scene. To document any evidence the same way you would for a mortal court of law.”
I held up a hand. “I’m an investigator, but I don’t solve murders. That is a task for the police.”
“I believe you have been instrumental in solving several murder cases of late.”
That was true, but I hadn’t walked into any of those cases planning to investigate murder. And I definitely didn’t work cases in such a way that they could be presented before a judge and jury. Heck, in most of those previous cases, once I’d finally tracked down the killer, they’d ended