Chapter 4

G oing back to the office felt like the first day back at school, except my twin buffers, Nyx and Quinn, wouldn’t be waiting for me on the front steps ready to help me through the term.

Ordell brought Betsy to a smooth halt outside the building but didn’t release the locks to let me out. Instead, we sat with the engine idling, silence stretching between us waiting eagerly to be filled with words.

It was early. Too early for anyone to be here, but the Order van was parked outside the building, which meant the team was already here. I’d hoped for a little time to myself before they arrived, but it looked like it wasn’t meant to be.

“Nothing will change,” Ordell said. “Not really. Hem and I will still be at the chapter house most nights, at least one of us will. The only thing that will change is your part in Ezekiel’s reformation.” Who was he trying to convince? Me or himself?

The bitter thought floated across my mind, leaving me irritated with myself for entertaining it. None of this was his fault, nor was it Hem’s. This was all Loviator, the bitch. Her and fate.

So I fixed a convincing smile on my face, forced it to light up my eyes, and aimed it at him like a weapon. “I know, and I’m fine. Really.” I reached for the door. “I’ll see you tonight.”

The look he gave me said he saw straight through me, and for a moment, I thought he’d refuse to let me out and hold me hostage until I confessed how much this fucking hurt, but he took mercy on me, disengaging the central locking with a weary smile.

“I’ll see you back at the house later,” he said.

“Later.”

I hopped out and hurried through the doors, making sure that I didn’t look back because I didn’t want to see him driving away.

The tinkle of the bell announced my arrival, and I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t the sound of raised voices coming from the office, namely Padma’s voice irate and bordering on angry.

“I’m not making this up. It happened,” Padma said.

“But you said it broke the teapot,” Edwin said. “But it’s fine. Look.”

The teapot? My teapot? I hurried into the room.

“You’re back!” Merry rushed over to envelop me in a hug. I hugged her back, my gaze traveling across the occupants of the room, noting the tension in everyone’s faces until I settled on Padma. She stood behind her desk, fingertips pressed to the wood, body stiff as a board, while Edwin stood across from her holding up my teapot.

My clean and shiny teapot.

“What the heck is going on here?”

“Padma was attacked last night,” Merry said. “By something that came out of the teapot.”

Holly appeared in the doorway behind us. “I’ve got it.” She held up her wrist to show us her copper bracelet. “It’s all charged and ready.”

“Ready for what?” I was so confused.

“Holly’s going to check for arcane influences in the room,” Merry said.

“What Padma described would leave an arcane imprint,” Holly said. “This should detect it by vibrating.” She entered the room, arm held up. “Where was the purple smoke?”

“There.” Padma pointed at the spot between her desk and mine.

Holly stood in the spot and waved her arm about.

“Anything?” Edwin asked.

Holly shook her head. “Not even a buzz.”

Padma exhaled in exasperation. “Are you saying I made this up? That I’m lying?”

“No!” Merry cried looking distraught at the very thought.

“Padma,” Edwin said softly. “Maybe we should consider the possibility that what you saw might have been part of the?—”

“Don’t say it,” Padma said. “Don’t you dare say it.”

“What’s going on?” Holly asked. “I can’t help you if I don’t know everything.”

“You don’t need to know everything,” Padma snapped. “You’re only here for the tracker case. You’re not part of the team.”

Holly flinched, and her expression smoothed out. “In that case, seeing as the missing persons cases have been a bust, I’ll pack up my stuff and head back to the city.”

“No!” Merry cried. “We still need you.”

“We do.” I gave Padma a pointed look. “You’re invaluable to the team.”

Padma’s shoulders dropped. “I’m sorry, Holly. That was uncalled for. I appreciate your help, we all do, I just…I’m not myself right now.”

The tightness around Holly’s eyes softened a little. “Apology accepted, but I’ll still take the day off, if that’s all right with all of you.”

I dropped her a nod. “That’s fine. I need to get caught up on what I missed anyway.”

She grabbed her jacket and keys and headed out.

“I’m sorry,” Edwin said to Padma. “I forgot she was here.”

“It’s all right.” Padma dropped into her seat. “It’s been a trying few days.”

Days that I’d missed because I’d been in a healing sleep. Days that I needed to be filled in on. “Can someone please tell me exactly what happened with the teapot?”

Edwin set the teapot on my desk. “How about I make coffee and then Padma can tell you what she told us?”

He left, and I shrugged off my coat and took my seat. There was something different about the teapot now. Not just the fact that it was clean, but more the lack of a draw. I didn’t feel like I wanted to pick it up. Like it was…important. It was just a teapot now.

“What is it?” Padma asked.

I shook my head. “It feels different now.”

“You don’t have the urge to touch it now, do you?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Because the thing that was inside is gone now,” she said. “I’m telling you that?—”

Edwin returned with a tray of coffee mugs. “Start from the beginning, Padma.”

Padma cradled her mug in her hands, fingers tapping against the ceramic, clearly agitated. “I was here last night. Working. I decided to clean your teapot for you, and as soon as it was clean, purple smoke appeared out of nowhere, and a man stepped out of the smoke. He attacked me and…” She chewed on her bottom lip.

“And?” I sat forward. “Did he hurt you?”

“No, he um…I think he wanted to kiss me.”

Edwin choked on his coffee. “You didn’t tell us that part.”

Her cheeks grew pink, eyes bright with annoyance. “Yeah, well, I’m telling you now. Anyway, when he leaned in to…His grip loosened, so I managed to break free and grab my sword. I hit him on the head with the hilt, and then he…he vanished.”

But Holly hadn’t detected anything to indicate that something arcane had occurred in this room.

I could understand Edwin’s doubts now. If Padma hadn’t been infected, if she hadn’t been changing into something we didn’t understand, then this story, however crazy, would have been easily believed. But the fact was she was infected, and we had no idea what effects the mullo infection was having on her mind. What she saw could have been a hallucination.

But this was Padma. Pragmatic, logical, get-shit-done Padma. We owed it to her to consider the possibility that what she was telling us had truly happened.

And I couldn’t discount my reaction, or lack thereof, to the teapot. I’d felt protective of it, and now I didn’t.

“Say something,” Padma said to me. “Do you think I’m going mad? That this is all in my head?”

“No. I think there was something in that teapot. I think I sensed it somehow, which is why it was so attractive to me, but that feeling…that possessiveness is gone now.”

Padma stared at me. “Because the thing inside is gone.”

“Yes.” I pulled my dead mobile phone out of my pocket and stuck it on charge on my desk.

Edwin looked from me to Padma. “So what do we do now?”

“Nothing.” I sat back and sipped my coffee.

“Nothing?” Edwin looked scandalized. “If there’s a…a thing on the loose, then surely we need to catch it? It attacked Padma.”

“And tried to kiss her,” Merry pointed out.

Edwin pursed his lips. “We need to kill it.”

“We don’t know it’s a threat,” Merry said.

“You think it will come back?” Padma asked me.

“Yep, I do. And when it does, then we’ll be ready.”

“How?” Merry asked.

“We have a mageri on our team, and I’m sure Holly can come up with a way to trap this thing. Whatever it is.”

Padma groaned and covered her face with her hands. “I was horrible to her.”

“I’m sure she understands,” Merry said.

“You were upset,” Edwin added. “Give yourself a break.” His jaw worked. “I should apologize for questioning your account. I trust you, Padma. You know that, right?” He sat forward in his seat, his expression earnest.

Padma lowered her hands and smiled weakly. “Course I do.”

“Good.”

“I’ll speak to Holly later,” Padma said. “Apologize again.”

In the meantime, I needed a debriefing. “What else did I miss?”

It was time to step into Order work mode, because being busy was the only thing that was going to save my sanity now.

My phone began to buzz, several times in succession, indicating text messages as they came through now that the thing had enough charge.

I plucked it off my desk to see four messages, all from Kaster Black over the course of the past week.

I know you probably won’t see this until you’re back on your feet, but I want you to know I’m thinking of you and I would be there if I could.

They tell me you’re healing well. You have no idea how relieved I am.

There’s a new restaurant opening next month. We should go.

I wish you were awake so I could get your opinion on color schemes for my new apartment. In fact, I’m going to wait until you’re better. Hopefully soon.

A smile tugged at my lips. Maybe work wasn’t the only thing to look forward to…