looking over everything clinically. “They must have had a tinker to seal the wounds so he wouldn’t bleed out and die before they got what they were looking for. Presupposing it’s his blood.” He looked at me. “Did he have another girlfriend?”
“I don’t know,” I said, my lips wooden. My stomach churned as I thought of Taylor. What if she’d been here? Would they have cut her? Killed her? My hand clenched.
“What can you see?” he asked me.
I gave him a confused look and then opened myself to the trace. I could have kicked myself. I should have begun scanning the minute I walked into the condo. Being personally involved was totally throwing me off my game. I couldn’t afford it. I had to focus. For Josh, for Taylor, and for me.
I could see a weaving of old trace. Most were Josh and Taylor, though it looked like she didn’t come in here all that often. I had a feeling the bedroom would tell a different story.
There were three new tracks overlaid on the old. I crouched and reached through the dimensional plane to touch them. I hissed and jerked erect.
“What is it?”
I didn’t hesitate to lie. Well, not so much lie as withhold some important truth. “There’s no trace of anyone but Josh, Taylor, and three others. One of them is a tinker,” I said, since he’d already figured that out.
The other two were haunters. Haunters were rare enough that most of them worked for one of the Tyet factions. If I told Price they’d been here, he’d be just as likely to protect them than not, and block me from finding Josh. But why the hell had they come after my almost brother-in-law in the first place? I couldn’t begin to imagine what had been worth sending a tinker and two haunters.
Tinkers weren’t as versatile or powerful in the world of magic as the main five abilities—tracer, traveller, maker, dreamer, and binder. But they could be nasty all the same. They, as their name implied, tinkered with things. They had the ability to make small things move. Not exactly teleportation, more like bending, breaking, mending, and so on. A lot of them were doctors. My bet is this one had been responsible for torturing Josh and making sure he didn’t bleed to death. His track said he was strong.
The haunters were another story. They were a little like dreamers, in that they could mess around in your mind. But mostly they picked up on emotions and could amplify them. They could find your nightmares and make you live them like they were real. They could trap you in a nightmare for a little while. The good thing was that their magic wore off faster than most. Haunters weren’t that powerful, but with two of them keeping a regular vigil, they could’ve driven Josh to insanity pretty damned quick.
“One tinker? The other two weren’t magic users?” Price asked.
“Not that I could tell,” I said, and the lie rolled off my tongue easily.
“And there was no one else?”
“That’s what I said.” It annoyed me that he seemed to doubt me. I know I was pretending to be a hack, but I wasn’t supposed to be that bad.
He nodded thoughtfully. “So they don’t have a second hostage. That’s good. If he can hold off talking, it will give us time to find him.”
Taylor could have been here. She could have walked right into it, and they’d have used her to make him tell them what they wanted to know. Then they’d have killed her.
I turned away so that Price wouldn’t see my reaction. A second later I felt his hand on my back. He turned me to face him.
“Are you okay?”
His dark sapphire eyes roamed over my face, and there was a gentleness to them that warmed the ice running through my veins. But it wasn’t about me. It was habit. He was a cop, and he was just reassuring the witness. Okay, I wasn’t a witness, but close enough.
I stepped away. “Taylor could have been here.”
He nodded understanding.
I heard the bathroom door open and went to find my sister. She stood in the hallway, arms wrapped
“I don’t know,” I said, my lips wooden. My stomach churned as I thought of Taylor. What if she’d been here? Would they have cut her? Killed her? My hand clenched.
“What can you see?” he asked me.
I gave him a confused look and then opened myself to the trace. I could have kicked myself. I should have begun scanning the minute I walked into the condo. Being personally involved was totally throwing me off my game. I couldn’t afford it. I had to focus. For Josh, for Taylor, and for me.
I could see a weaving of old trace. Most were Josh and Taylor, though it looked like she didn’t come in here all that often. I had a feeling the bedroom would tell a different story.
There were three new tracks overlaid on the old. I crouched and reached through the dimensional plane to touch them. I hissed and jerked erect.
“What is it?”
I didn’t hesitate to lie. Well, not so much lie as withhold some important truth. “There’s no trace of anyone but Josh, Taylor, and three others. One of them is a tinker,” I said, since he’d already figured that out.
The other two were haunters. Haunters were rare enough that most of them worked for one of the Tyet factions. If I told Price they’d been here, he’d be just as likely to protect them than not, and block me from finding Josh. But why the hell had they come after my almost brother-in-law in the first place? I couldn’t begin to imagine what had been worth sending a tinker and two haunters.
Tinkers weren’t as versatile or powerful in the world of magic as the main five abilities—tracer, traveller, maker, dreamer, and binder. But they could be nasty all the same. They, as their name implied, tinkered with things. They had the ability to make small things move. Not exactly teleportation, more like bending, breaking, mending, and so on. A lot of them were doctors. My bet is this one had been responsible for torturing Josh and making sure he didn’t bleed to death. His track said he was strong.
The haunters were another story. They were a little like dreamers, in that they could mess around in your mind. But mostly they picked up on emotions and could amplify them. They could find your nightmares and make you live them like they were real. They could trap you in a nightmare for a little while. The good thing was that their magic wore off faster than most. Haunters weren’t that powerful, but with two of them keeping a regular vigil, they could’ve driven Josh to insanity pretty damned quick.
“One tinker? The other two weren’t magic users?” Price asked.
“Not that I could tell,” I said, and the lie rolled off my tongue easily.
“And there was no one else?”
“That’s what I said.” It annoyed me that he seemed to doubt me. I know I was pretending to be a hack, but I wasn’t supposed to be that bad.
He nodded thoughtfully. “So they don’t have a second hostage. That’s good. If he can hold off talking, it will give us time to find him.”
Taylor could have been here. She could have walked right into it, and they’d have used her to make him tell them what they wanted to know. Then they’d have killed her.
I turned away so that Price wouldn’t see my reaction. A second later I felt his hand on my back. He turned me to face him.
“Are you okay?”
His dark sapphire eyes roamed over my face, and there was a gentleness to them that warmed the ice running through my veins. But it wasn’t about me. It was habit. He was a cop, and he was just reassuring the witness. Okay, I wasn’t a witness, but close enough.
I stepped away. “Taylor could have been here.”
He nodded understanding.
I heard the bathroom door open and went to find my sister. She stood in the hallway, arms wrapped
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