“Could always be worse, Shawn. Imagine how bad it would be if Xavier hadn’t found this stuff?” Hebert punctuated the statement with three rapid shots from his paintball gun that took down the last of the violent drug users tearing up the bar.

  “Well, they need ta cut it out. I’m out of potion balls.”

  “Mike’s getting more. He said he’d call when he gets back and pop them over to us wherever we are.”

  “How’d he manage to pull that off anyway?” Maxwell leaned against a bar stool, catching his breath.

  “Pull what off?” Hebert questioned.

  “Lining up a supply of these things. Xavier said you could only get the stuff to make them on Oriceran. How is it that Mike managed to find a ready supply in a few days?”

  “Magic, dumbass. How’d you think?” Hebert quipped.

  Wyatt shook his head and laughed. “You guys don’t listen for shit. Mike has connections. He told us that the day he showed up with the first batch. You do remember he was a big shot in the magic police like Matt, right?”

  Maxwell absently scratched his scalp. “When did he say that?”

  “Last week.”

  “Well, no wonder I don’t remember. Hell, I’m doing good to remember my name with all the tweakers that were freaking out on that fucking poison the past week.”

  “No shit. I don’t think I’ve slept in three days,” Hebert groused.

  Wyatt started to answer when a call over the radio interrupted.

  “MAS One to all MAS units. Report to HQ as soon as you finish whatever you’re on. Break. MAS One headquarters, all MAS units are standing down. Give the drug goon calls to patrol. Their supervisors have the antidotes and are passing them out now. Any large outbreaks call the SWAT boys and girls. They’re already loaded up and ready to roll.”

  “Wonder what that’s about,” Wyatt mused.

  “No tellin’, but I bet it ain’t good,” Maxwell answered.

  “Only one way to find out. We’re done here, so let’s head in and see what new shitshow the world has sent our way.” Hebert headed for the vehicle.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Ft. Walton Beach, Florida

  Matt stepped out onto the balcony of the sixth-floor condo, and the gentle breeze over the emerald water brought a salty tang to his nose. Natalia stood at the rail gazing out across the quiet beach, enjoying the moment of calm. After four days, she knew the sounds of shrieking children would soon fill the air as families converged onto the white sand to play in the warm water and soak up the sun.

  Matt passed her a steaming cup, and she smiled as she brought it to her nose.

  “Mmmm, this isn’t the same stuff we had yesterday. Where did you get this?”

  “This mornin’ before you woke up. I popped over ta New Orleans and picked it up.”

  She took a sip and sighed contently. “I do love me some Cajun coffee. Since you turned me on to this, I can hardly stand that bland stuff other places serve.”

  “I know what ya mean. Nothin’ beats a good dark roast with a pinch of chicory.”

  “How are things at home? Ramy hasn’t burned the place down, has he?”

  “Nah, all good. After da plumbin’ fiasco, Rose is keepin’ things low-key. I think she’s still afraid I’m gonna throw ’em out.”

  “You should talk to her. It was an accident, and the poor girl doesn’t need to walk on eggshells around the place. It’s their house, too.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe a little fear isn’t such a bad thing.” Matt chuckled. “It could keep them from doin’ somethin’ worse next time.”

  “Matt! That’s mean. You know she’s already out of her element in the city. Give her a break. She left her home and family to be with Ramy and needs all the support we can give her.”

  Matt held his hands up, palm out. “Hey, I’m only kiddin’. I know it was an accident, and I ain’t mad. She’s got a place as long as she wants.”

  “You need to tell her that. I heard her talking to Ramy about moving into the garden before we left.”

  “Why? I told them it was okay before we left.”

  “The swamp pixies are an unforgiving bunch. She told Ramy about a cousin the elders banished for letting a fire get away from her. They didn’t care that a sudden storm blew the embers onto a bush, and the fire didn’t damage the nest before it started raining.”

  “Damn, that’s harsh. I’ll talk to her soon as we get back.”

  “Speaking of getting back, how much longer do you plan to hang out at the beach? Not that I don’t appreciate it. I was going nuts bouncing around inside the house, but I feel better.”

  Matt wrapped an arm around her waist. “I ain’t in no hurry. I kinda like da smell of salt in da air and that breeze blowin’ all da time. Not that I don’t love da city, but sometimes ya need to take a step back and realize there’s more ta life than chasin’ down criminals.”

  Natalia laid her head against his arm and sighed. “This has been great, but I can’t help but think the longer we stay here playing on the beach, the better the chance of someone getting hurt.”

  “Cher, one of da first things Regus taught me was I can’t save everyone. Bad folks are gonna do bad things, and innocent folks are gonna get hurt. It’s been that way since Cain killed Abel. If you blame yourself for all da bad shit, it’ll drive you crazy.

  “Help da ones you can, but understand you can’t save da world. Most folks who get caught up in da bad stuff bring it on themselves as it is. If they paid attention to what was goin’ on around ’em, they’d know to get out before things went south.”

  Natalia considered his words. “What about those kids Jerold and Kamis kidnapped?”

  Matt snorted. “Da folks who thought it was a good idea ta slip out into da middle of da swamp for a weekend of hard partying? Not da smartest thing if you ask me. What did they expect out in da middle of nowhere and not in control of their faculties? They’re lucky da gators or cottonmouths didn’t get ’em first.”

  “What about the pack? They were snatched from their lives and turned into monsters.”

  Matt nodded. “True, but before we met them, did you have any idea they even existed? Did you have anythin’ to do with what happened to them?”

  “Well, no, but—”

  “Not your fault,” Matt interrupted. “You’re not all-knowin’ and aren’t responsible for what folks do to each other.”

  “They can’t hurt anyone after we catch them.”

  Matt pulled his phone from a pocket and opened the bounty app. “Cher, there are over six hundred active bounties listed now. That’s over one hundred bounties for each of da licensed hunters. There’s no way we can get all of ’em, and new ones get added daily.”

  He tapped the screen several times and spun the phone so Natalia could see. “We have two level one bounties listed in this area. One uses magic to boost cars, and da other is a thief who robs people's houses. If da car thief is takin’ a car now, is it our fault?”

  “Umm, no?”

  “That’s right. We didn’t know he was around until now, and even if we did, we’re not responsible for what he decides to do. That’s all on him.”

  Matt bit his lower lip, then added, “Look at it this way. These guys are low-level because they haven’t hurt anybody yet or pissed off da wrong politician. Say da car thief gets hemmed up by da police tomorrow and hurts one of them. Is it our fault for not taking time to chase down what’s so far been a nonviolent thief?”

  “Of course not. That’s stupid.”

  “Exactly.” He manipulated the phone and held it out.

  “Take this guy. He’s a level six. Da highest they get. Says here he killed fifteen people when he collapsed a buildin’. What it doesn’t say is he did it gettin’ away from a hunter tryin’ to collect his bounty. Was that da hunter’s fault?”

  “Well, no.”

  “Why not? Some folks could say that wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t after da guy.”

  “That’s crazy. The criminal did it, not the hunter.”

  “Yeah, but some folks still tried to blame him for it. He would have had a bounty on him if there hadn’t been a surveillance camera that caught it all. As it was, some of da families sued him, and he had to pay out a few million to settle it.”

  “I assume you have a point in all this,” Natalia quipped.

  “The point is we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. Everybody wants somebody else to chase da monsters, but they’ll turn on us in a heartbeat under da right circumstances.

  “No matter what we do or how many of these bastards we take down, there will always be another, and da general public is fickle on a good day. I won’t let you risk your life goin’ after a bounty when you’re not at one hundred percent.”

  “That’s a bit jaded, don’t you think?”

  Matt shook his head. “I’ve been doin’ this for a lot of years, and it’s only gotten worse. I’ve done a lot of thinkin’ about things da past week and ain’t sure I want to keep doin’ this. Hell, it’s not like I ever needed da money to begin with. Between what I have saved and da family businesses, we don’t need ta risk our lives chasin’ criminals.”

  Natalia was silent for several moments as she leaned against the rail and watched a mother and her young son walk along the surf, picking up seashells. She took another sip of coffee and faced him.

  “Matt, I grew up rich. I lived in a mansion on a horse farm in Kentucky when I wasn’t away at some expensive school. Roving guards, cameras, and loyal staff made sure nothing bad could ever bother me. It sounds like the perfect life, but it was a lie.

  “Until my father died, I never wanted for anything and was a typical rich kid. After Dad died, I discovered all the security in the world couldn’t shield me from people worse than any I could ever imagine. What’s sad is those people should have been the ones who protected me the most, my family.”

  She paused and took another sip from the cup. “When I finally accepted no prince was riding in on a white horse to save me, I took matters into my own hands and ran. My brother was the one mother sent to find me with instructions to kill me if I wouldn’t come home. In my darkest moment, when I thought all was lost, I still didn’t get the white horse.”

  She put her cup down and wrapped her arms around him. “I got the leather jacket-wearing bounty hunter with a big black motorcycle and a bigger truck. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if you hadn’t been there for a bounty. I never knew there was so much evil in the world until I met you.”

  Matt tensed, and Natalia quickly pressed on. “I didn’t know about the evil, but I also didn’t know families like the one you have in New Orleans existed. A collection of people united by love instead of blood. A former Silver Griffin strike team leader and one of the scariest dark witches I’ve ever met, treat me like I’m family because you went after that bounty.

  “Now I live in a home with the most wonderful man in the world instead of a big house with no love because he decided to go after one crook as a favor, not because of the money but because it needed doing.

  “That’s why I want to get back to work. I know there is no way to save everyone, but I can hope that taking down a dangerous magic user might let someone like them have more chances to enjoy that.” She nodded toward the mother and son on the beach. “It’s hard to explain, but I feel like I need to give something back for all the good in my life now. Can you understand that?”

  Matt pursed his lips and nodded. “Cher, I understand, but it’s too dangerous until we figure out what your mother did to your magic. You almost died last week. After you passed out your body was still tryin’ ta pull magic and was eatin’ itself up. If Marie hadn’t had a potion to put you into a magically induced coma, it would have burned you out if it didn’t kill you.”

  Natalia’s eyes widened at Matt’s admission.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “We didn’t want ta freak you out too much until you got back on your feet.”

  “We?”

  “Well, Granmama and Marie,” Matt admitted. “They said if you got caught up dwellin’ on how bad it was it would slow your recovery. That’s why I suggested we come here for da week. Nobody but Granmama and Marie know we’re not at home. That’s some of why I’ve popped back to da house like I have. If anybody’s watchin’, they’ve had a chance to see me every day. Ramy and Rose are turnin’ lights and stuff on like we’re home to add to da charade.”

  “How bad was it?”

  Matt closed his eyes and shuddered. “Bad. After you passed out, you started drawin’ in power. By da time Marie realized what was goin’ on you had so much built up we were afraid you wouldn’t be able to hold it in. If all that had come out at once it woulda been like a bomb goin’ off.”

  Natalia slumped into a chair and shook as the seriousness of her ailment sank in. Each time she used advanced defensive spells, the fallout progressively worsened. Considering how bad this time had turned out, she was afraid she might not survive if she did it again.

  She closed her eyes and concentrated on slowing her breathing as she realized it was coming in short gasps. Once she got that under control Natalia thought of ways to overcome whatever was causing the adverse effects each time she used the spells. She sat silent for several minutes as she weighed and discarded multiple options.

  Finally, her lips curled into a half-smile. She wanted to kick herself for not realizing the solution sooner.

  “Cher, where you at?” Matt pulled her out of her reverie.

  Natalia drew a settling breath and opened her eyes. “We need to go to Wizard’s Rest.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana

  “Here comes one, Huey.”

  “Nah, Mickey. That dude don’t got nothin’ worth our time. See that watch, it looks good but judging by those dollar-store shoes and that fake leather jacket it’s probably a cheap knock-off.

  “Besides that he’s packin’.”

  “How you know that?”

  “See how his hand keeps brushin’ against the front of the coat every time he meets somebody? He’s scared and has to touch his piece to make sure it’s there. Nothin' he’s got is worth gettin' shot over.”

  Mickey watched as his intended victim passed a group of men leaning against a vacant storefront. When he got close, his hand slipped inside the jacket at his waist and remained there until he was well past the group.

  “Damn, how did you spot that?”

  “Experience. I been boostin' shit from tourists here since I was ten. You gotta learn to tell the marks from the locals if you want to survive in New Orleans. Most of the locals are strapped and will bust a cap in your ass if you look at them stupid. You get shot at a few times, and you learn the difference real quick.”

  Mickey shook his head and eyed his former cellmate and current partner with new respect. He’d been a petty thief since childhood but always limited his crimes to burglary and the occasional car theft. He’d always been too scared to try robbery. Especially on a city street with others around.

  Meeting Huey when he did a stint in Angola after getting caught with a load of Mexican brown on Interstate 20 was a stroke of luck. Huey took a liking to him and when he got out, offered him a place to stay and an education in crime.

  “Look, comin’ here. That guy walkin’ with the lady in the white dress. Check how he’s lookin’ in all the shops and ain’t payin’ attention to nothin’ goin’ on around him. Now check her shoes. Those heels are for show and ain’t worth a fuck for walkin’ around the Quarter.”

  Mickey nodded as he watched the pair stop and look inside a shop that sold voodoo dolls and cheap T-shirts.

  “Now check out the ice around her neck and in her ears. That’s probably a few carats of stones on a gold chain.

  “Now watch her man. He keeps pattin’ his front pocket. I’ll bet you a beer he has a wallet full of cash and credit cards there. Typical tourist and easy marks.”

  “You want to hit them?”

  “Yeah, but we gotta be smart how we do it. You head down the street in front of them, and I’ll bring up the rear when they pass. When you get to the spot down the block where that restaurant burned last week, stop there. The city ain’t fixed the street light the fire took out yet so that’s where we hit them.”

  Mickey nodded and stepped onto the sidewalk, heading in the direction Huey told him. He barely kept from looking back at the pair. The first time they tried to rob a pair near Pirates Alley, Mickey had scared them off by constantly checking their progress. Huey patiently explained afterward that even a clueless drunk would sense someone watching them and go in a different direction if you looked at them long enough.

  Mickey went to the boarded-up storefront and knelt to tie his shoe. He cast a covert glance behind him and grinned when he saw the couple approaching, still clueless as to what was about to happen.

  When the pair were a few steps away, Mickey stood and shoved a hand into his hoodie pocket.

  “Y’all hand over your stuff, and nobody has to get hurt,” he menaced.

  The woman squealed and grabbed her man’s arm, tangling him up where he couldn’t effectively fight.

  “Get away from us.” The man shoved his hand in a pocket and glared.

  “Don’t make me have to hurt you,” Mickey sneered as he pushed the hoodie pocket out threateningly.

  Huey stood behind the pair and shook his head. Mickey was taking too long and needed to get control of the situation. As Huey drew back his fist to knock the man to the ground, the mark snatched a knife from his pocket and advanced toward Mickey.

  Mickey put both hands out palms up and backed away as his intended victim continued to advance toward him.

  Huey pulled a crystal rod from inside his jacket without a second thought and pointed it at the pair. The rod turned cold in his hand, and a plume of white fog shot out, engulfing the couple in a dense cloud.

  When the cloud dissipated, the victims stood like statues coated in thick ice.

  “What the fuck, Huey!” Mickey yelled as he backpedaled with a layer of frost coating his upper body. Huey stared wide-eyed at the unexpected results of using the magic device he’d purchased a few days earlier from an old acquaintance. The thug told him it would freeze a person in their tracks, but Huey didn’t know he meant that in the literal sense. He’d expected it to immobilize them temporarily, not turn them into frozen corpsicles.

 

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