Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
“As Laz so eloquently put in the Heist Group Chat,” Graves deadpanned before whispering under his breath, “I can’t believe I even said that out loud—the details are incoming. Shall you explain yourself?”
Laz laughed as he rose to his feet. “I can’t believe I got you to say it. Epic.” He gestured to Schwartz as he turned serious. “Schwartz and I have been on assignment investigating female warlocks with the ability to locate other magical users. Kierse gave us information that a female warlock was using those abilities to locate the Fae and relay that to the Fae Killer to perpetuate part of the genocide against her people.”
“And through the female warlock,” Schwartz said, “we hope to be able to finally locate the Fae Killer.”
Gen squeezed Kierse’s hand while Kierse held her breath in anticipation.
The Fae Killer had destroyed her entire race. He’d had help from an unknown woman with the ability to track magical users. She’d tracked Kierse’s parents to their apartment in New York City and led the Fae Killer there.
They’d died because of this woman.
Kierse had been orphaned because of her.
And they were one step closer to catching her.
“We got a tip on a magic user and followed it to Vegas. Apparently, there’s an internal security figure at the Bellagio who is known for being able to catch anyone who cheats. Schwartz located a person who admitted it was a warlock who could see magic.” Laz pointed at Walter, who turned around a computer monitor to splash up a photograph of a young woman.
“This is our suspect, Dallas Llewellyn,” Schwartz said.
Kierse leaned forward to take in the features of the woman. She was pale and lightly freckled with dark hair shaved short on the sides with bangs falling forward into her misty, dark-gray eyes. There was something missing in her look. Like when someone ate goblin fruit and all they could think about was their next fix until it consumed them.
“That can’t be right,” Graves said. “You didn’t say it was Dallas.”
Laz shrugged. “We only just got confirmation from one of Schwartz’s security contacts that she can see people with magic.”
“Fuck,” Graves said, leaning back onto the table and taking another long drink.
“What?” Kierse asked. “You know her?”
“She’s one of Kingston’s apprentices.”
“Oh,” she whispered.
“And that’s not her magic,” Graves added, dropping the empty glass onto the table. “She’s a telepath.”
“Like you?” Gen asked hesitantly.
“No,” he said gruffly. “Not like me at all. She heard other people’s voices in her head at a young age with no ability to differentiate them or pick and choose. It was a constant cacophony in her mind and affected her deeply. Sometime after I moved to New York, she was admitted to a women’s home in Wales before Kingston found her and realized what she was.”
Kierse frowned. “A women’s home?”
“A psych ward,” Niamh said through gritted teeth, “is what he means.”
“Oh no,” Gen whispered.
“How terrible,” Kierse said.
“It was common at the time. An atrocious practice,” Graves agreed.
“And Kingston trained her?” Kierse asked.
“Well, I told him he either had to train her or kill her,” Graves said bluntly.
“That’s so you, Graves,” Niamh growled. “As if there’s no third option.”
He shrugged. “At the time, I didn’t see one. We didn’t know about mental health the way we do now, and her magic was likely to kill her if she went untrained.”
“More common than you know,” Niamh said. “Magic is volatile.”
Graves nodded his head. “He told me he helped her quiet her mind for the telepathy and sent her on her way.”
“Why would Kingston lie about something like that?” Kierse asked.
“That’s a question,” Graves said.
“So we go find out,” Laz said. “We have the team back together.”
Graves slid his hands into his pockets, which meant business. “All right. I’ll bite. You think we should move on her now?”
“Why not?” Laz asked. “That’s why we came. We had the in.”
“Schwartz, you’re comfortable joining the security unit?” Graves asked.
Schwartz saluted. “Already in.”
“Walter, I’ll need you to break into their security system.”
“Sure thing,” Walter said, typing away at his computer.
“Laz, we’ll need a blueprint for the building and what obstacles we’re going to come up against.”
“Done,” Laz said.
“Kierse and I will be the assault team,” Graves said, his eyes flickering to her. “We’re the only ones who can keep people out of our heads.”
With her absorption up, she should be able to keep anyone out of her head. Except Lorcan, of course.
“I don’t think it’d be a good idea for me to leave the city,” Niamh said. “The Druids have been unsettled in the last three months. We’ve had a slew of…defections.”
Niamh and Graves exchanged a weighted look.
“As fun as this all sounds, my priority is here.”
“Agreed,” Graves said slowly. “We do not want to leave the Oak Throne undefended. That would likely be a mistake.”
Because then Lorcan would have free access to the throne. After what he had said to her at the sushi shop, he first and foremost wanted to get his people and his throne back. She was the easiest object of interest in the otherwise larger picture related to the Druids.