sorts of people wander around this area before setting foot on Ivy House property. How do I pinpoint what’s actually dangerous?”
“Remember that spell you learned for sussing out weapons and dangerous things?” Sebastian asked lightly, looking the other way, as though envisioning the possibilities.
“Yes.”
“And a tripwire. I’m sure you know how to do a tripwire?”
“Yes.”
“So…” Sebastian looked straight ahead again.
“So I tie those two spells together and voila.” I shook my head, annoyed at myself. I should’ve been able to deduce that.
“I have a couple of spells that might work better, though,” he said as we reached the end of the street and turned toward downtown. “They are advanced, but with practice, you should be able to get them. Then we need to get into elixirs and potions. Believe it or not, potions are much harder than spells. They are an art form. If you get good at potions, the world is your oyster. You can make a living wherever you go. A good living, too. You won’t have a care in the world. Well…” He shrugged his left shoulder. “Except for being killed by a rival organization trying to cripple the organization you’re working for.”
“That’s a thing?” I asked.
“Of course that’s a thing. To have power in the magical world is to accept danger. The people who want it will kill to get it, and the people who have it will kill to keep it. Everyone else is in the crosshairs. But if you are a master at spells or potions, you can protect yourself. Master both, and you are someone to be reckoned with.”
“Are you someone to be reckoned with?”
“Yes. When I want to be. Which isn’t often. It’s tedious. I much prefer working in my lab with my head down, creating new spells and potions.”
I bit my lip. It really did sound like he planned to stay.
I took a chance. “You’ll need a lab, then. And a paycheck.” I ran my fingers through my hair as we neared the downtown area. “I’m sorry, I’ve been distracted with my visitor. I lost track of time.”
“So far you’ve paid me in other ways. We’ll figure it out. But yes, a lab would be nice.”
I almost asked what other ways he was referring to, and if that meant he was for sure staying, but I wasn’t in a great frame of mind right now. So instead I just nodded and let silence settle over the group. I’d add a serious sit-down with Sebastian to the growing list of things I needed to accomplish tomorrow.
A few streets over from the main drag, a hard-faced shifter I didn’t recognize walked down the sidewalk toward us. Tall and broad, he had a gently lined face that showed his years, mid-forties, and eyes the color of onyx. He glided like the lethal killer he likely was, his gaze passing through our crew quickly but efficiently, showing experience. Shoulders back and limbs loose, his confidence was no small thing.
I gulped. This had to be one of the shifters Austin’s brother had brought in. He wasn’t here to cause trouble or challenge for a place in the pack. He was here to keep order and establish a presence. Given the sudden coiling of my body—half of me wanting to laugh manically and then sprint away, and the other half wanting to laugh manically, brandish Cheryl, and sprint toward him—he was damned good at his job.
“Time check,” I said, the shifter’s eyes coming to rest on me. I made myself keep walking, swinging my lead feet, tamping down that maniacal laughter. My small hairs stood on end, as though a battle drew near.
“You have five minutes, miss,” Mr. Tom said. “You might as well start now. That horrible little man is probably already in place. He has been a cheat for as long as I’ve known him.”
I expected the shifter to continue walking down the center of the sidewalk, a bit of posturing that would force us to either step aside or fight. I expected to play chicken with his barrel chest and thick, muscular body, using magic to ensure he lost. I would not be pushed around in my town. Not by someone I knew, and especially not by an outsider. I knew enough about the magical world to know you couldn’t always be polite, and you shouldn’t always take the higher ground. Sometimes you had to fight for your place.
Surprisingly, though, he slowed and stepped to the side, taking the curb so we didn’t have