Mob Sorcery 5 - Ch18

“The whole house is soundproofed, but none of the rooms are,” the agent explained. “Except the atelier. It’s basically a void. Maybe don’t test it with that dragon I’ve seen on the news, though. Upgrading the bedrooms might be a bigger upgrade than Lady Lionetti had in mind, though. It would take time.”

Vince leaned against the railing on the second story of the house he was inspecting. True to Alessia’s word, she’d hooked him up with a buyer’s agent who sent him a list of houses in Albion and north-western Aulfair to look at. After laying low for a few days, he’d begun house-hunting. Today was Tuesday, and Vince kept at it.

The agent was almost a stereotype. Flash navy suit, Rolex, slicked back hair, designer sunglasses plastered to his head, and he drove a Lamborghini. If he weren’t an Italian-American wolffolk, Vince would wonder what Alessia was thinking. Instead, he realized this was probably the guy who bought property for the mob, and was exceedingly good at it.

“I’m pretty sure she’s mostly concerned with security,” Vince said. “The places you’ve shown me have privacy. Like the eight-foot hedge around this place. But my old apartment complex had stronger barriers.”

He stared over the railing at the open plan living space below. The house was loft-like, with a palatial main room that combined the kitchen, dining, and living rooms, and the bedrooms tucked away on the second story. It wasn’t a match for the multi-million-dollar mansion Arnulfo had lived in, but it could easily fit Vince, Nina, and Nicki with room to spare.

Whether it was “the one” was another matter. Vince wasn’t sure what he was even looking for, as he’d never gone house-hunting. He’d dealt with the aches and pains of his apartment because it had been the only option. Getting to pick from a selection of mansions was silly.

This place had underfloor heating, back and front yards, two bathrooms and a separate toilet, a personal atelier, and adjustable heating and cooling in each room.

Yet from the look on Pola’s face, she appeared disappointed with it. His billionaire girlfriend insisted on joining him today and mostly tutted at the houses.

Following his gaze, the agent straightened his tie. “It’s not just security. This house is nearly new. The owner’s daughter lived here for a year with her first child, and now it’s empty. But they don’t build ‘em like they used to. Lots of little issues here and in the other places. Cracked tiles, gaps in the kitchen cabinetry, peeling paint, probably some water issues—everywhere has water problems these days.”

“You’re not exactly selling me on the place,” Vince drawled.

“No shit,” Gabriela chimed in from the bedroom as she walked out. “I figured the rich bastards who built this place would be on the builder’s ass over that stuff.”

The agent smiled in that annoyingly greasy way shady salespeople had mastered. “It’s more money and effort than it’s worth to fight stubborn tradespeople to get them to do their jobs properly, especially when you’ll flip the house before anyone notices the problems. What I’m selling you on is that they can be easily fixed.” He winked at Vince. “The thing about buying through the mafia is that those stubborn tradespeople become a lot friendlier. The Lionettis aren’t in construction anymore, but only an idiot screws up a job for the mafia.”

“Can you get electricity hooked up outside?” Gaby said. “Seems crazy you can’t plug anything in outside. What’s the point of the lawn and patio if you can’t use it after dark? It’s fucking winter.”

The unicorn had switched back to “dumb Gaby” mode in public, emphasizing her slight Mexican accent.

“Sure. If you or your… uh, pride?” The agent smiled quizzically at Vince and he nodded. “If any of you don’t like something, it can be fixed. So long as it’s not so big it requires ripping out the walls or roof. If it can be done alongside the security upgrades, it’s easy to toss in. New paint, new carpet, replacement tiles, full clean. The works. You just need to find the right home. There’s still plenty more.”

There were, indeed, plenty more. Vince wasn’t sure what to think of the fact there were nearly twenty empty mini-mansions that met Alessia’s standards available for purchase in the middle of winter.

Then again, when he checked online by himself, he found only a fraction of them. How many of these houses were for short-term rentals and only available to buy because Alessia could front up whatever obscene price the owner wanted?

Vince would curse the state of America’s housing market, but he was about to join it. What sort of capitalist would he be if he didn’t start singing its praises the moment he got a foot on the ladder?

They did a final walk around the house, interior and exterior, and Vince made some notes. He posted them in a group chat with Nicki and Nina, along with photos he took, so they could offer their opinion on the place. Although Alessia was technically buying the place for him, they’d be moving in immediately and he wasn’t going to leave them out of it.

Both women had come along at first, but it became easier for the girls to rotate with Vince each day. Recent events meant he needed strong escorts. Gaby had received a cryptic warning from an anonymous source to be careful around him, and Kiyoko had discovered several foxes from the Yakuza had arrived in Aulfair, unbeknownst to Knightsgate. Somebody—probably Mei—was on the move.

The agent drove off in his Lambo and the rest of them milled about beneath the leafy trees that dominated Albion’s richer districts. A team of Lionetti bodyguards vaped outside several massive Benz SUVs. Gaby had left her Indian behind without an argument.

“Missing your bike?” Vince asked as they stepped up to one of the SUVs.

The door opened automatically as Pola got close, thanks to the driver inside. Pola waved at Vince and Gaby with a bright smile, gesturing them inside.

Gaby shrugged. “A little, but it would have attracted too much attention. The cops are looking for trouble. Some of them, anyway. If driving around in luxury keeps life easier for you, I’ll deal with it.” Her horn pulsed gold, almost as if she was casting a spell, but he knew it was related to her emotions.

“Thanks,” he said.

Her horn shimmered like the rainbow for a second and she shot him a smile. She wrapped her arms around his, leaning against him like Nina did—albeit without the massive breasts pressed against his side—and waltzed the two of them over to the SUV.

Pola glowered at them. “No fair.”

“Chiquita, you ride him like I ride my bike several times a week,” Gaby said drily. “You can handle watching me hug him. Plus, he has two arms.”

“Thanks,” Vince said again, this time without the sincerity, as he watched Pola’s face light up at the suggestion she cling to his other side.

Getting inside the SUV proved difficult with two women hanging onto him. It was huge, but not three-people-abreast-huge.

“Cling to me inside, not out,” he said, and shook his girlfriends off. Or whatever Gaby counted as.

Well, Gaby probably was his girlfriend. He was going on his first date with her in a few days, assuming today didn’t count.

They settled inside the spacious interior. It wasn’t as luxurious as the pocket dimension Alessia drove around in, but he bet the girls preferred this. They could cuddle up to him with a single large back seat, instead of the individual recliners. A mini-fridge provided alcohol and other refreshments, while a TV ensured they could entertain themselves or watch where they were going.

For now, they didn’t have a destination. Vince had business to take care of shortly, and then lunch with Kiho.

He flipped out his phone while Pola opened an unlabeled bottle of amber booze. At least, Vince assumed it was booze from the smell of whiskey that escaped it when she popped the cork. It looked like someone had poured a cocktail inside an old liter bottle of spirits.

“Wow. It’s not even lunch,” Gaby said, even as she grabbed three rocks glasses from a cabinet beside the fridge. “Keep Vince’s pour small.”

“Is that thing pure alcohol?” he asked Pola.

Her single ear lowered as she stared at the bottle. “Um… maybe? I got Liz to batch a Godfather, as Alessia finally lifted her ban on it.”

“It’s pure alcohol,” Gaby drawled. “I can smell the smoky scotch. Islay, if I don’t miss my mark. Got served more than a few drams of it during trips to Britain in the academy.”

“Wouldn’t you have been underage?” he asked.

“When you’re being indoctrinated to be life-long servants of a magical dictator, people tend to care a lot less about things like the legal drinking age.”

Fair point.

“Make my drink small,” he said.

He’d been hitting the liquor before noon way too often lately. Damn immortals and demihumans and their high alcohol tolerance. They treated it like water.

Checking his secure messaging app, he saw what he expected. An update from his contact.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite what he wanted to see. The contact he’d labelled “College Source” had been provided to him by Salome, supposedly by Bastet as an apology for leaning on her regarding Vince.

Need to change meeting location. An archmeister got suspicious when I looked up the info, College Source said in the message. Can’t meet too close to the college. How’s Rosewinter Park in the north-east?

“I’m not too familiar with the north-east, but Rosewinter Park is in Houou’s territory, right?” Vince said aloud.

Pola froze and nearly overfilled a glass with the cocktail. She squawked, her tail flailing about the cabin.

“That’s the one named after a founder, right? Then, yeah,” Gaby said, golden eyes narrowing while her horn lost its light. “That sounds bad.”

“Could be. The mage’s college sits on the eastern border of Albion.” Vince knew he was trying to convince himself. “I’ll accept, but let the others know. He’s the first chance we’ve gotten at information on Juliet. I don’t think Bastet would have thrown us to the wolves.”

“I don’t think the succubus is the problem.”

He nodded.

Amid the house-hunting, Vince needed to keep the plans to deal with Mei moving. That also meant defending himself from a hit. Juliet remained one of the most dangerous enforcers at large, and one with a vendetta against him. If Houou was offering two million dollars for his head, she might leap at the chance to make up for what she lost in her failed jobs against him and the Lionettis.

Salome had provided a contact, and Vince had organized to meet him. Standard practice, apparently. Mages meeting openly with succubi caused shit. The colleges needed to maintain neutrality with the conglomerates, and nobody trusted Immanuel’s succubi to follow the rules. Especially when it came to information the vampires didn’t want anyone else to have. Juliet’s backer had stonewalled every attempt to get info on the shitty little minx. Until now.

Which only made Vince more suspicious.

“I’ve let Nina, Fia, and Kiyoko know,” he said. Then he frowned. “We’ll be too far from our original meeting spot with Kiho.”

“Ask her to find a new one,” Gaby said. “I bet she knows Houou’s territory better than us.”

He glared at her, and the unicorn shrugged.

“I’m not saying she’s betraying us, V. But foxes live for ages, and she clearly has old friends she’d meet. Let her pick the café or diner,” she said.

“Fine.” He couldn’t hide the gruffness from his voice and Gaby pouted at him.

She settled in on the plush seats, firmly pressed against him with two glasses in her hands. Pola eyed them, then decided to sit opposite.

“I won’t bite.” Gaby smiled at the wolfgirl.

“You’re going to have a special moment and chat,” Pola said. “Your horn is glowing.”

Gaby’s eyes widened and she raised the glasses for a second before stopping herself. If she hadn’t been holding them, Vince knew she’d have clutched her horn with her hands.

He chuckled and took the smaller glass off her. “Thanks. Pola, tell the driver to take us to Rosewinter Park.”

The convoy of SUVs took off after a moment, and Vince let Gaby draw a circle on his thigh. Pola tried not to stare.

“You doing alright?” he asked her.

“You’re asking me, Mr. Grumpy?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m the one pushing you out of your comfort zone. Making you leave your bike behind, come look at ritzy houses with me, spend time with the mafia instead of your gang…” He grimaced as Pola’s tail and ear lowered. “Sorry, but uh… I get the feeling your lifestyle and Gaby’s ideals don’t match-up.”

Gaby threw her head back and laughed. “My ideals? You make me sound like some college firebrand throwing up posters around campus, demanding that we rise up and seize the means of production. Where’d you get that idea, V?”

“A vibe,” he said, being intentionally evasive.

During his time around her, she’d expressed a generalized dislike of the police and corporations. Combined with running around with the cartel, smashing stuff up, and her active dislike of the way Britain acted, he suspected the Lionettis ran counter to how she preferred the world to work.

When she looked at him, he shrugged. “You don’t like being gifted everything, and actively fight to prove yourself. Trying to make something of your own. You’re almost embarrassed of who you are at times. Like your intelligence or the wealth your family gained thanks to you. The Lionettis own who and what they are, to a very overbearing extent.”

“Overbearing?” Pola repeated with a confused pout.

Whereas Gaby’s face lit up bright red and her horn flickered an odd violet color. She cleared her throat a couple of times and looked away.

“For a guy who styles himself as a big, dumb bruiser, you read people way too damn well,” Gaby mumbled.

“Isn’t that part of being a good enforcer?” he asked. “Everyone bluffs and lies. If I’d been a better judge of character, I’d have better understood what Mei was up to—beyond just being generally shady and likely to betray us—and pulled us out of that mess.”

“Maybe. But you pinned me down,” she said, playing with her ivory hair. She slugged back an unhealthy amount of her cocktail. “I guess you’re not wrong, but I don’t dislike the mafia. They’re… complicated. Everything in Aulfair is. Same with America, I guess. I can’t get upset about their wealth or arrogance. Fuck, V, the cartel is backed by a dragon who scams billions off people and has an inferiority complex so large it can be seen from the multiverse.”

Pola snorted. “He is a prick. Met him once. Never again.” Her shudder suggested that wasn’t a meeting Vince wanted to see repeated.

Gaby’s scowl echoed his own emotions. “Yeah, sometimes the people we deal with are just shit, rather than hot shit.” She shot him a look. “But why the mafia in particular?”

“They run everything the opposite to how you do,” he said. “Alessia’s will is unquestioned, and it arguably mirrors the way Britain works. Just with less indoctrination and no harem.”

At least, Alessia didn’t keep one. Her old man might have. He at least had a mistress or two before he’d been taken out.

“Wow. I almost want to take back my earlier compliment.” She smirked at Vince. “That’s way too simple. The mafia’s just bigger, and kept that structure even as they’ve shrunk again. Even I run a tight ship inside the gang. You think I accept some random dipshit questioning me and undermining my authority?”

“Doesn’t seem like your style,” he said, then regretted it. “But I guess I haven’t seen you in action as a leader.”

“Guess not. Look, everyone has to slam down the iron fist sometimes. The boss gives orders, and people can give ideas, sure. But when you, as the boss, say this is how things are, they either need to accept it or fuck off.” Gaby paused. “In the old days, they either accepted it or slept with the fishes, but I don’t think anyone does that anymore. Or else there wouldn’t a ton of old wolffolk enforcers who bailed on the mafia during their darkest hour.” Her tone darkened during that last sentence.

Yeah, Vince had definitely misread Gaby’s opinion on the Lionetti sisters. Perhaps she viewed them as fighting for their place, just as much as she had. At the very least, she held a strong negative opinion of the enforcers who left the Lionettis after Houou took out Alessia’s father.

“It’s a lovely dream to think we can let every random asshole spout bullshit at us, and just take it,” Gaby continued. “But lives are at risk on enforcer jobs. If people don’t trust me, they’ll die. The rookie with a head the size of the moon who thinks he’s never wrong and I’m just a stubborn old coot stuck in her ways won’t take responsibility. Hell, imagine a company doing the same thing. If a CEO brought up some junior accountant to a shareholder meeting and told them ‘this guy is why we missed earnings’ he’d be fired. For good cause. The boss wears the shit, so he has to steer the ship.”

“And deal with the ones who can’t accept what we say,” Pola said, glaring into her drink. “If there’s anything worse than those who leave you when you need them, it’s those who leave and then betray you. They go out and say and do the most awful things. Even Vanna didn’t do that, and I expected that from her after everything she’d done to undermine me and Sis.”

“You learn the true colors of people when you pull them into line,” Gaby said. “Everyone has shit they bitch about when it comes to work and their boss. But I’ve learned the hard way to test my girls before I give them a shot at being an officer. If they can’t take heat from me, then they have no business being in charge of anything more important than a Vespa.”

Pola frowned. “Why a Vespa?”

“It’s, uh, a really shitty scooter. A figure of speech because we all ride bikes and, uh…” The unicorn scratched the back of her head, her horse ears dropping as she looked at Vince.

“It’s a metaphor to say they don’t belong in her gang, Pola,” Vince said.

Pola nodded. “Oh. I wonder how I’d say it in the mafia.” She screwed up her face in concentration.

Gaby giggled. “Anyway, don’t worry about today, V. I’ll let you know if I have things I find… disagreeable. You think a girl that walked away from a cushy life in the Unicorn Knights will be a doormat?”

“No, but…” He frowned. “I worry about the whole…” Vince reached out and tried to stroke her horn to make his point.

His fingers had barely touched the side of her horn when Gaby shrieked, her face turning tomato red, and she slammed into the side of the car. The entire vehicle jerked to the side and the driver cursed loud enough to penetrate the soundproofing.

“Chingados! Fucking shit, V, warn me next time,” Gaby spluttered, eyes wide and horn shining solid gold. “I’m a sensitive girl, you know?”

He stared at her, then at his fingers. “Is, uh, your horn like your tits?”

She glowered at him, then pouted at the drink she’d spilled over the floor of the vehicle. Magic had already activated within the cabin to clean it up. Pola filled her up while grinning.

“No, but yes,” the unicorn said. “I’m not going to lose my virginity because you touch my horn, so it’s safe. But…” She looked away. “It felt special. I’ve heard that it becomes like this when your loved one touches it.”

“Okay. So I’ll find some time to give you a reward, given we can do this without binding you to me,” he said.

She coughed and sputtered at him, and Pola took that as the opportunity to sit next to him.

Rosewinter Park turned out to be quiet. Skyscrapers and fancy apartments surrounded a walled park a half-dozen city blocks in length. Once Vince, Gaby, and Pola stepped past the boundary, the sound of the city vanished. Aural barriers in the wall turned the park into a serene retreat in the middle of Aulfair.

He suspected it would grow much busier shortly, as lunch rapidly approached. Families walked along the paved pathways, but only dirt paths led into the thick trees on one side. His contact had said he’d be in there.

A familiar black figure circled above. Kiyoko had found the time to come here, just in case it turned out to be an ambush. Fia couldn’t respond, as she figured the Lionetti convoy would be trouble enough in Houou’s territory. Meanwhile, he hadn’t heard from Nina or Nicki. They were training in an atelier today and likely wouldn’t check their phones until lunch. Worst case, Fia knew how to contact them in an emergency and the bodyguards could call her.

Vince saw nothing even as he went deeper into the woods. Then he crossed an invisible boundary and a portly man wearing an old-fashioned suit and tailcoat appeared. The sorcerer leaned on a gnarled wooden scepter, roughly the length of Vince’s cane, with a fist-sized metal cube attached to its end.

The sorcerer’s knuckles tightened the moment Vince and the girls appeared. “Vincent Keys?”

“Do I look different in-person than on TV?” Vince asked. “But, yes, it’s me. Brad Fage?”

The sorcerer, Brad, nodded. “Yes. We shouldn’t use our names more than necessary. I prefer it when these transactions take place with the college’s blessing, and I question how neutral we’re truly being that it can’t.” He shook his head. “No matter. You understand the price, correct?”

“The Lionettis will transfer the agreed amount for knowledge on Juliet Forest,” Vince said. “Payment is separate for the method to bind her and kill her. There’s a separate payment if you know when and where she’s born.”

When Brad grimaced, Vince knew they wouldn’t be getting everything. Gaby and Pola glanced around the forest. They’d both come prepared for a fight. Pola’s rapier hung at her waist, while Gaby had thrown on her fur-lined jacket.

“We don’t know how to kill her,” Brad said. “It should be in our college’s archive, where I work, but I suspect an archmeister or higher was paid to erase it. I know her background, but…” He shifted nervously. “If the vampires have the pull to tamper with the archives and get away with it, I’m not touching that. Once you know her origin, it’s not too hard to go international. But I’ll be the one turned into a husk.”

“But you do know it,” Vince said.

“I’m not saying anything.” Brad stared him in the face. “I’ll sell Juliet’s binding method. If you need information from the archives in the future, I hope you’ll reach out to me. But I need to be alive to help you. And to help myself.”

Vince waited a few seconds, then sighed. “I’m not going to ask you to throw away your life for this.”

“It would be nice if somebody could fight back against the vampires,” Pola said. “The colleges have a very selective interpretation of their neutrality.”

“Maybe, but I’m just a meister who happens to work in the college’s archive,” Brad said. “I don’t even study vampires. My field is in the relationship between the physical and magical laws of reality.”

“That’s a… complicated field of study,” Vince had to admit. Then frowned. “Wouldn’t that relate to vampires? They absolutely bend the two.”

Brad nodded readily. “There’s a tangential relationship. All immortals blur the two, thanks to being magical beings that exist physically. Vampires are especially strange, as they’re arguably a divine being and…” He abruptly cleared his throat. “Sorry, got carried away. I’m working on a paper about divinity. It’s, uh, the main reason I wanted to do this transaction despite the risks.”

For some reason, Gaby shot Vince a grin.

“Really?” Vince asked. “Not the money.”

“I won’t say no,” the mage admitted. “But I wanted to ask you about one of your meister-tier spells. If what I’ve heard is correct, it displays magical properties that are unusual for an offensive spell.”

“Uh, sure. So long as you tell us clearly how to deal with Juliet.” Vince almost wanted to push the mage for more info, given he knew Juliet’s background.

But Brad was right that he had value as a contact. Nina’s old contact had moved to Europe after Davis got elected, and Salome had spent months searching for anyone willing to help before Bastet found Brad. Vince needed a friend, or close enough, within the mage colleges.

“Great.” Brad smiled, and looked Vince’s age for a second as he finally relaxed. “It’s a fairly simple method, like most vampiric bindings. This one should immobilize her.” The mage pulled out a scrap of parchment and read it aloud. “You need a hand-woven burlap sack. Rub the interior with dried hops, the variety doesn’t matter. Once placed over the vampire’s head, she will be immobilized so long as the sack remains in contact with her skin. A rope to tighten the sack is recommended, but the rope cannot come in contact with her skin.”

Vince stared at him, even as he and Gaby both tapped the details down into their phones.

“Hand-woven?” he clarified.

“Genuinely handmade,” Brad said. “The material needs to match the time period she came from. The arguably divine nature of vampires means you need to be specific. A sack made using a sewing machine or other modern instrument will fail. I doubt the jute—that’s the name of the plant that turns into burlap—needs to be hand-processed, but you likely need to use an old-fashioned loom.”

Vince doubted he could simply go on Etsy and ask for a burlap sack made by hand. He’d need help acquiring something this specific. Perhaps even buy the jute himself and have somebody make it.

Was he a bad man for immediately thinking of Ally sewing the sack?

“What’s up with the rope?” Gaby asked.

“I suspect if the rope is made from modern materials or not handmade, it will break the binding weakness,” Brad explained. “So you’ll need a way to tighten the sack without it touching her.”

“And to get the sack around her head, but that’s our problem,” he said.

Vince slid his phone into his pocket, then blinked as Brad practically teleported across the clearing.

“So, can I ask you about your spell?” the mage asked, eyes wide.

“Sure.” Vince took a step back. “The dragon, right?”

“Of course not. While it is impressive to look at, a mobile domain spell has been recorded in the archive multiple times. The fundamentals are well established.”

Vince tried not to look annoyed, then he frowned. “Wait, almost nobody knows about my other meister-tier spell.”

“I know. It’s all rumor. There are some distant videos of the fire tornado from Christmas, as well as discussion within the college that you used it during the dispute two weeks ago with Houou and the Yakuza.” Brad pressed his fingers against an invisible pair of glasses. “While it did damage the mansion in Albion, police records and magical auguring suggest it was orders of magnitude weaker than the destructive fire spell it appeared to be. Yet the power detected at the time, as well as the way it blocked scrying spells, suggest it contained immense magical power. That suggests you were actively controlling magic within an area, but using ordinary elemental magic. I can’t find any non-mythical examples of this in history.”

“Non-mythical…” Vince nodded. “Hence the divine link. You’re not suggesting—”

“Hardly. Humans can’t control the divine, whatever it may be,” Brad said dismissively. “Although my theory, and that of many sorcerers, is that divinity is merely a placeholder explanation for what we can’t explain. It’s the magical version of dark matter. We know that gods and immortals exist, and they break the laws of magic in consistent ways that we have termed divinity.”

“I thought the point of divinity was that it’s unexplainable,” Gaby said.

Brad scoffed. “Hardly. Its source is unexplainable, but its effects aren’t. Hence why my field of research often touches on it, as mortal magic can recreate anything considered ‘divine’… Or so I believe. Your fire tornado may be proof of that.”

Vince shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t like giving away too much knowledge about my spells. They’re kind of important, and few living people know much about this one.”

“I’m not interested in how it works, just the fundamentals,” Brad said. “How are you blocking scrying spells with fire magic? What are you doing with the magic you’re manipulating? What about Manus’s law?”

“I don’t know what that is,” Vince said.

Brad frowned. “Oh, right. You’re an enforcer.” Then his eyes widened. “You’re self-taught?”

“Yes…?”

“I’m going about this all wrong. I’ll need to rethink my questions. Next time you contact me, I’ll have them ready.” The sorcerer slid the parchment back into his suit. “Make sure there is a next time.”

With that, Brad left the forest. No sign of a trap.

Had his story about the archmeister been true? Or perhaps something else had happened?

Gaby crossed her arms as she stood next to Vince. “I wonder if we got to him first.”

He looked up at her. “What?”

“He gave up on getting information about your fire tornado too quickly. Sure, he sounded interested, but it felt like cover. Something spooked him, and I don’t think he completely lied, but I can’t help but feel he wouldn’t even tell us Juliet’s binding weakness if he feared for his life.”

Pola nodded. “Wouldn’t that be traced back to him, too? But then…” She scowled. “Somebody wanted us to know it, but not how to kill Juliet.”

“Yeah. Another mage can likely determine her origin from her binding weakness, so I’m confused, but this feels like a way to help us against Juliet without letting us easily kill her,” Gaby said. “I’d almost take this as a warning, V.”

“Noted.” His phone buzzed. “Kiho’s waiting nearby. Just across from the park, actually.”

Pola nodded with a smile. “She’s looking out for us.”

He wasn’t so sure. Kiho seemed like the sort to actively avoid combat, given her husband’s links to the Yakuza and the politics involved.

They made their way through the park. Vince let Kiyoko and the others know the deal had gone through without a hitch, and passed on the binding weakness information. Fia said she’d begin looking into the burlap sack.

By the time they reached the other side of the park, the Lionetti bodyguards had brought around the SUVs to park there. Numerous cafes, coffee shops, and restaurants lined the ground level of the towers with a small army of suited businessmen and women trooping between them.

Kiho had picked out an upmarket restaurant that Vince couldn’t pin down the vibe of, other than bougie and expensive. It was two stories, had a bar, somehow looked both modern and kitschy at the same time, and featured a big signboard out front advertising fish and oysters alongside cheap lunch specials for the office workers. A huge L-shaped bar with shining metal surfaces and craft beer taps stood in front of the open kitchen.

By contrast, the booths by the old arched windows looked fifty years old, except clean and reupholstered. Kiho sat at one with a cup of coffee. She wore a floral-patterned V-neck shirt which clashed with her black suit jacket and pants. Numerous bracelets wrapped around her wrists, and she now wore a single jade stud in her right ear. She usually looked like Ally, but with more tails and a bigger chest.

Today, she looked like Ally, if the small mystic fox became a dangerous gangster.

“Expecting trouble?” Vince asked as they took a seat.

He sat opposite her. Gaby slid in beside him, while Pola happily sat next to Kiho.

The fox sipped her coffee before answering with a smile. “Tensions are much higher than before. Kazuo had some… strong words for me over the weekend when I returned home. Word has reached him about Mei, despite my best efforts. So I’m being wise and taking precautions. Much as you are.”

She looked pointedly at the Lionetti bodyguards milling about the SUVs. They’d grabbed some hot dogs and drinks from somewhere and chowed down while leaning against the park’s wall. If any passersby disagreed with their presence, they kept it to themselves.

“Kazuo’s your husband?” Gaby asked. “Uh, I’m Gabriela—”

“Gabriela Vargas, a notorious truant from Aulfair’s unicorn academy,” Kiho said, pursing her lips. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I looked into everyone Vince is having relations with. For Ally’s sake. Also to anticipate Kazuo’s concerns. And yes, he’s my husband.”

“He’s not visiting Aulfair, right?” Vince asked, feeling a chill creep up his spine.

The fox laughed and her six red tails danced behind her. “Of course not. You’d know if he was. Although it did take a reminder that Ally would be very, very grumpy if he showed up without very good reason. Mei is trouble, but Kazuo’s already been told by his contacts to steer clear. He’s been assured that nothing will happen to Ally.” Darkness overcame Kiho’s face. “I’m less convinced. Based on what you’ve told me, Knightsgate had to know what Mei was doing all along. But if it keeps the Golden Hurricane at bay, I’ll play along.”

Gaby’s face paled. “The Golden Hurricane?” She looked between everyone, jaw ajar. “Ally’s father is the most famous Yakuza in the USA? She talks about him like a doting father.”

“He is,” Vince said drily, and Kiho nodded.

“Can’t he be both?” Pola asked. “Papa could be terrifying when it came to the mafia, but he loved me and Sis.”

For some reason, Kiho placed a hand on the wolfgirl’s shoulder and squeezed. “Kazuo is only the doting father these days. I’d prefer if he stayed that way. His time as the fearsome Golden Hurricane is long over.”

“I see.” Vince nodded. “I wanted to catch up with you last week, after the incident with the Miuras. But—”

Both Pola and Kiho tensed, and he stopped speaking. When Kiho inclined her head, he continued, but changed the subject to something innocuous.

“What’s good here?” he asked. “This place has a bit of everything. Fresh seafood, burgers, chowder, and even ramen.”

“The Japanese food feels a bit like an intrusion, especially if it’s not using local ingredients,” Kiho said.

He narrowed his eyes. That sounded like code. Surely he could see what bothered her.

Then he spotted the huge reflective metal surfaces of the bar. Sure enough, big fluffy tails bounced in them from the direction of the entrance.

Mystic foxes. Could just be office workers from Houou, given their proximity. That would explain Pola’s reaction.

But Kiho’s? Odds were she knew…

He bit back a curse. She’d just told him these foxes weren’t from Houou using code. She recognized a lot of foxes thanks to her history, and appeared to recognize these foxes as Yakuza. Hence they were Japanese and not local “ingredients.”

“If you’re not a fan, should we go elsewhere?” he asked.

“No need to cause a fuss, but—” Kiho began to say.

“Down!” Gaby roared.

The unicorn shot upward, slamming a boot onto the table. Something flashed outside the window, from the direction of the park. Screams echoed from both outside and inside, and plates and glasses exploded as people panicked.

Golden light burst from Gaby’s hand as she thrust her arm outward, projecting a barrier. The wall and window exploded. Vince felt the building shake.

His barrier snapped up around him as he gripped his cane and began casting his dragon without hesitation.

Within a couple of seconds, the dust cleared to reveal two barriers around the table. Gaby’s golden one acted as a wall over the window, while a bubble of transparent white light hovered around the entire booth.

Huge, shadowy wolf heads slammed against the barriers again. They exploded on contact this time, but sent out an explosive wave that shattered every window of the restaurant and flipped cars. Vince recognized the spell on sight.

Kiho’s tails hummed with white light as she stood and glanced at him. “It appears we have some unwelcome company. I didn’t think I’d ever get to fight alongside my future son-in-law.”

Vince nodded, even as his eyes locked onto the black-clad figure standing atop the park wall across the street.

A scantily clad woman with rainbow highlights, a cape, and a complete lack of a chest. Juliet.

And based on the foxes inside the restaurant, she’d made some nasty friends.