Dirty Magic (22 page)

“Nothing,” I said. “We’re leaving.”

Volos held up a hand. “Not so fast. We need to talk about this misguided investigation—”

“Oh good, so you’re ready to confess?” Morales cocked his head to the side.

Volos shot him an eat-shit-and-die look. “Confess what, exactly?”

“Cut the crap,” I said. “You know how all this looks.”

“You should understand more than most how dangerous assumptions can be.” He moved in closer, trying to establish intimacy. I stepped back to let him know it wasn’t welcome. He absorbed the rebuff smoothly and continued, “Use your logic. What would I possibly gain by cooking a potion that turns men into monsters?”

“What’s your game here, Volos?” Morales demanded.

“No games,” he said. “I’m just protecting my interests.”

“You mean like having snitches killed?” I asked.

His expression hardened. “You’re grasping and you know it. Do yourself a favor and start looking into Bane.”

“Or we could call the state attorney and get a warrant for your warehouses.”

“An empty threat,” Volos said dismissively.

Morales held up a hand. “Actually, it’s not. We have manifests from the port authority that prove your import company received a shipment of oil of rose quartz just last week.”

Volos smiled. “Let me ask you a question, Agent—”

Drew clenched his jaw. “Special Agent Morales.”

Volos nodded. “If I were importing materials to create an illicit potion, don’t you think I’d have those ingredients smuggled in and kept off the radar?”

“The more important question is, What possible use would you have for twenty barrels of oil of rose quartz?” I shot back.

“If you want the answer to that you will definitely need to charge me with something or get a warrant. If not, I’ll kindly ask you to leave because I have a meeting with the city council about the community center.”

Morales snorted. “Yeah, you’re a real humanitarian, right?”

“Some say so. I just try to do what’s best for the city.”

“Only if it’s in your best interests, though,” Morales challenged.

“That doesn’t negate the benefits to the people of Babylon.” He shrugged.

I’d heard enough. I marched over to the windows and rapped against the glass. Danny turned away from the railing he’d been sulking at and glared. I held up my watch. “Time to go,” I mouthed. His shoulders drooped, but he started for the doors anyway.

I marched back over to where Volos and Morales were standing. “You know what?” I said to Volos. “If you’re telling the truth about Bane and you really cared about this community as much as you claim, you would postpone plans for that community center.”

Volos raised a brow. “Are you claiming you’re not using this situation to advance your own ambitions, Officer Prospero?”

“Fuck you,” I said, stepping up to him.

“Kate,” Morales said in a warning tone.

Volos flicked an amused glance at Morales before aiming that knowing gaze back at me. “Truth hurts, doesn’t it, Kate?”

“It might,” I said, “if I believed for a second you knew how to tell it.”

“Kate?” Danny said in a small voice from the door.

I forced myself to relax and turn toward him, forcing a reassuring smile. “It’s all right, Danny.” I motioned to Morales. “Let’s go.”

Morales led the way with me behind.

“Bye, John,” Danny called as I dragged him in my wake.

“See ya, kid,” he said with a warm smile that made my skin turn cold. “If you can’t convince her to teach you, give me a call. Maybe we can work something out after all.”

I froze and turned, pushing Danny behind me. The speculative gleam I saw in Volos’s eyes scared me. “Over my dead body.”

He smiled sadly. “I sincerely hope it doesn’t come to that.”

D
anny wasn’t speaking to me. Again. This time it was fine because I didn’t trust myself to speak to him, either.

Morales kept stealing glances at the two of us like we were bombs about to go off. Finally, he cleared his throat. “So I talked to Gardner.”

I jerked my gaze from the window I’d been glaring at. “And?”

“She wants us to meet her at the gym.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“Mez found something from those samples we got at the morgue.”

My eyebrows popped up. “Good news?”

“She wouldn’t say.” He glanced over his shoulder at my pouting brother. “What do you want to do?”

I shot a look at Danny, too. The last thing I wanted to do was let him out of my sight. But the alternative was to take him to work, which didn’t sit well with me, either. Still, I was pretty sure Gardner would be more annoyed by a delay than showing up with the kid.

I sighed. “Go to the gym.”

“You’re sure?”

I looked at Danny as I spoke. “He’ll be on his best behavior,” I said in an
or-else
tone.

Danny rolled his eyes but didn’t comment.

“Yes, ma’am,” Morales said.

About five minutes later, I realized he was headed in the wrong direction. “You should have turned right back there.”

He glanced at me with mischief in his gaze. “Figured a little detour wouldn’t hurt.” He pulled to a halt at a stoplight. On one corner of the intersection, a man huddled against a trash can. His skin was blue. Not a subtle tint, like Mr. Callahan’s jaundiced skin at group. No, this was deep indigo.

“What’s that guy’s deal?” Danny asked suddenly.

Morales winked at me. I nodded, catching on. He’d taken us to one of the worst parts of the Cauldron to help drive home my point about magic for Danny. Guess my partner finally realized Danny’s interest in magic was a big deal after all. “He’s hooked on an antidepression potion.” I kept my tone casual. “From the looks of it, he’s been using for a while. Before long, the addiction will drive him to commit suicide.”

“Wh-why would he do that?”

“That’s how addiction works,” Morales said. “After a while the potion stops being effective, so the user has to go to more and more extreme measures for relief. In the case of the antidepression potion, it makes him more deeply depressed until he can’t stand to live anymore.”

“Why is he so blue?”

“Because when you use them a long time they change you at a cellular level.”

“But that’s just dirty magic, right? Clean magic is safe.”

I turned fully and shook my head. “Danny, no. Magic is magic, and it all changes you. It’s just that clean magic companies use safer ingredients and are more controlled. There are still side effects.”

Danny crossed his arms. “Hmm.”

“And usually, you gotta take more potions to mask the side effects.” I added, “It becomes a vicious cycle, and before you know it, you’re on ten potions for that one defect you were trying to treat.”

“From the looks of that guy,” Morales added, “he’s been hooked for several years.”

I turned to see that Danny’s complexion had gone paper-white. “Can’t someone help him?”

“There are antipotions, but they’re too expensive for most potion freaks to afford since their addictions probably got them fired from their jobs. Some have success with recovery programs.”

“You mean like the group you and Pen go to?” Danny asked.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Morales’s head swivel toward me with a speculative gaze. I ignored him and spoke to Danny. “Something like that, but usually they have to go through a really painful detox period. Some people don’t survive that part. But before any of that, the addict has to want to stop.”

“If it makes him that sad, wouldn’t he want to quit?”

“Potions change a person’s brain chemistry, Danny,” I said. “He’s not thinking rationally. The addiction is controlling his decisions.”

The light turned green and Morales slowly pulled forward. As he drove, we passed more addicts. I pointed them out as we went. “That girl over there? With the lips that look like two sausages on her face? She’s addicted to a vanity potion.” I pointed to the other side of the street. “He’s probably hooked on a strength potion.”

“How can you tell?” Danny asked, almost grudgingly.

“No human can gain that kind of muscle mass without chemicals,” Morales said. “Soon his body won’t be able to carry all that extra weight and he’ll either have a heart attack or an aneurysm.”

“Oh, look at that one,” I began, “she’s definitely on a—”

“Stop,” Danny whispered. “I get it, okay? Becoming addicted to magic is dangerous. Just say no, blah, blah, blah.”

I turned fully in my seat. “No, you don’t get it. I’m not worried you’ll become an addict.”

“What then?” He set his jaw in a stubborn line.

“You need to see that there’s a very real human cost to the potion game. The Adepts who cook and sell potions are profiting off people’s misery and desperation. And in the process, they’re ruining lives.”

“Kate, I don’t want to sell potions. I just want to learn how magic works.”

“To what end, Danny?”

He sighed and leaned back with his arms crossed. The pleading vanished and a ruthless glare replaced it. It was an expression I’d seen on Uncle Abe’s face more times than I could count, and seeing it on Danny made me go cold. “Maybe you’re just afraid I’ll be better at it than you.”

“You know what? I bet you would be.” I shook my head sadly. “In fact, I’m sure of it.” Danny was a lot smarter than I was as a kid.

He paused, as if sensing a trap. “Really?”

I nodded. “Which is why I’m terrified to let you try. If you show talent, it will only be a matter of time before the covens come calling.”

For a moment the only sound in the car was the echo of the wheels slapping pavement. Morales kept his eyes on the road, but I could feel the tension coming off him as if he was holding himself back from jumping into the argument. Part of me was embarrassed for him to see this personal drama at all, but making Danny see was more important than my pride.

“You know what your problem is, Kate?” Danny said quietly.

“No, but I’m sure you’ll tell me.”

“You assume everyone’s like you.” He speared me with a look. “Just because you couldn’t handle your power doesn’t mean I can’t.”

“That’s not fair.”

“You know what’s not fair?” he shot back. “The fact that I’ve done nothing but follow your rules, but you still treat me like I’m a criminal.”

I felt like he’d punched me. I opened my mouth to say—I don’t know what, but he turned away, as though he couldn’t stand to look at me.

Morales, whose presence I’d forgotten, cleared his throat. “We’re here.”

* * *

When we got back to the office, the entire team was waiting for us with grim expressions. Needless to say, when Gardner saw me leading my sulky teenaged brother behind me on the stairs, her expression did not improve.

“Who’s the kid?” she snapped.

After shooting Danny a warning look, I walked over and pulled her aside. “That’s Danny, my little brother.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why isn’t he in school?”

“Look, I could bullshit you, but the truth is he ran away from school to go see John Volos.”

Gardner’s eyes widened.

“He’s been wanting to learn magic—Danny, that is,” I rushed ahead. “When I told him I wouldn’t teach him he decided to go see John.” She blinked. “Sir, I know how this looks, but Danny had no idea we were investigating Volos. He thought he was just going to see an old friend to ask for a favor. Obviously I shut that option down,” I said quickly. “Anyway, I brought him here because it’s too late in the day to go back to school and I don’t trust him home alone given the circumstances.” I would have called Baba to help, but it was Bingo Day at the senior center and she wouldn’t be home for at least another hour.

Gardner looked as if she could chew through nails. “When I brought you on this team I thought your connections would help our case, but all they’ve done is complicate the shit out of it.”

“The case was already complicated without my help, sir.”

Her lip quirked. “Ain’t that the damned truth?” She sighed. “All right, he can stay but keep him out of the way.”

I nodded eagerly. “No problem.”

By the time we’d rejoined the others, Morales had already introduced Danny around. When I returned, Mez—today in red dreads pulled back into a thick ponytail—was giving my brother a tour of the lab. Danny’s eyes were huge as he took in all the beakers and burners and gadgets. When Mez spoke, the kid looked at him as if he were his own personal Jesus. Crap. I rushed forward to intervene. “All right, kid,” I said in a forced cheery voice, “we need to get to work. Why don’t you go play one of your games at my desk?”

Danny looked at me like I’d just walked in with shit on my shoe. “I want to hear the meeting.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Since when did you get interested in my work?”

“Since Mez here told me how much he loves being a wizard for the MEA.”

The look I shot the wiz made him freeze. “I just, uh, meant—why are you looking at me like that?”

Danny rolled his eyes. “She’s got a bug up her butt because she doesn’t want me to learn to cook.”

“What? That’s”—Mez glanced at me and cringed—“probably for the best. This job is, uh, superboring.”

“But you just said—” Danny started to protest.