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He raised the chain over his head and handed it to me. The charm’s warmth sank into my palm as I lifted it to my nose and inhaled. All the while, I summoned my intuitive magic.
After all, this wasn’t about tracking. This was about sensing his connection to the attacks with my intuition. But I wasn’t ready for him to ask more questions about my powers, so for this test, he’d only think I was using my super smell to track him.
The bee zipped away, and he watched it mournfully.
My intuition wasn’t easily directed. If ‘tracking’ was a dog ready to zoom to my side at the slightest command, then ‘intuition’ was a cat that slunk forward when she felt like it. After her nap.
Sometimes, intuition rose up unexpectedly. Sometimes, she came the moment I needed her most. She usually saved my ass when I was in trouble. However, when I was feeling insecure and inadequate like I was now, I had to coax her out.
But one thing still confused me. If Razai had been wearing the protective talisman, how had I been able to track him before?
Razai looked off in the distance as the breeze widened the gape of his shirt.
Gods, I’m a perv.
The silence stretched on between us.
Time to settle the truth.
Shutting my eyes should help, right? Against the darkness of my lids, I thought about Razai and the attacks. My intuition emerged without a fight, actually. But no matter how hard I pushed, she didn’t register Razai as anything interesting. Nothing that indicated he’d been the one attacking the students.
It was more than a relief.
When I opened my eyes, Razai gazed wistfully into the distance as if waiting for the bee to return. “Glad I passed the test. Oh, and before you sink into useless apologies, no need to explain yourself. You’re doing your job, and I hired you to do it well. It’s admirable that you thought to consider me at all. No one else has.”
“I wasn’t going to apologize, and you should have probably been my first suspect,” I dismissed, striding past him. “Let’s keep going.”
“You only used one power,” he stated.
My feet shuffled to a stop. “Yeah.”
“Amateur.”
By the time I turned on him, a retort on my lips, he was already running his mouth. “Magic 101. Scent is the easiest to trick. There are charms to confuse the trail. Plus, what if I’d been lying to you about that being my only charm? What if I had another one hidden in my pocket or around my ankle? I don’t, by the way, but you’re more than welcome to check me in private,” he ended with a suggestive drop in his voice.
Despite everything, heat fluttered down my middle. I quashed the feeling easily and opened my mouth, ready to spit fire and tell this arrogant shit how much he didn’t know about my magic.
He held up a finger, drawing an invisible number one and cutting me off. “That’s your first mistake. The second was that you failed to test your other abilities on me while you had the chance. If you’re going to use all your magic to catch the killer, why wouldn’t you take advantage of my vulnerable state?”
He finished painting a number two in the air and strode forward, pinning me with his stare. “Thoroughness is the mother of success, Detective. And you are about to be disowned.”
This close to him, just inches away, I noticed the deeper currents beneath the surface of that mocking smile. Those snarky quips. The expressive boasts and quick banter. Beneath all of that lay steadiness. Patience. Razai truly wanted me to succeed, and he was more than willing to help.
It surprised me. And… pleased me. Another unexpected turn of events. There wasn’t any response besides, “Well, shit.”
He backed up and leaned against the railing, chin lifted in challenge. “What else you got? Come on. You can do it.”
I rose above the obvious attempt to goad me into anger. Charm still in hand, I pulled at the essence within it. Easily enough, a silver thread wove itself into view, connecting the charm to Razai.
Score, bitch. Looks like my magic works on you just fine.
He studied me while I worked, in a strange kind of a standoff. Like we were both here to prove something for our pride. But while I was here to validate the strength of my mind and magic, I couldn’t pinpoint Razai.
What was his angle? What was he trying to prove?
“You’re taking rather long, Detective,” he said softly.
“I’m already finished.” I examined the charm. “So. This is the way of the ruling class. Mage charms and fuckery that’s already messing with my skills.”
