StrategicLust (9 page)

While he was not near the limits of his magical energy, it
was taxing physically and spiritually to continually use his magic. “Burning
out” was not just a euphemism but a reality when it came to magical energies.
Josh had to focus and concentrate before he unleashed his magic, determined to
not let too little or too much free at a time.

When he was prepared, he scanned the list of names and
biographies they had collated. Josh slowly scrolled through page after page,
letting his magic and subconscious roam at will. Attempting to see the millions
of threads of Strategy binding each witch to the three Tribunal members they
had earmarked, Josh felt rather like a puzzle master attempting to search for
one specific piece among a five-thousand-strong box, all seeming identical.

Toward the end of their list, Josh’s heart had grown heavy.
Nothing had popped out for him and his initial optimism was beginning to take a
dive. Astonishingly, toward the last few pages of the collection he paused on
one specific witch who grabbed his attention. At first he couldn’t understand
why this witch stood out to him. The last few pages had been blonde witches of
the right age and talents but with no clear connection to any of the three
Tribunal members.

Sharni Culter zinged on his magical radar. His Strategic
talent had never led him wrong, though often it took a while to work out
exactly why something grabbed his attention. Josh thought hard as he enlarged
her data while pushing back his magic.

“She’s not directly connected to any of our three,” Josh
began hesitantly, “though she
has
worked in the past for the Tribunal as
a group. I believe that’s why we added her to the list.”

“She’s thirty-four,” Kate picked up with only a slight hint
of uncertainty in her tone. “Blonde hair, brown eyes. Failed the entrance tests
to become an Assassin and defaulted back into the Enforcers. Had a year as a
Special Ops agent…and it doesn’t explain what she does now, how she moved up to
Special Ops, what she did or even why—or if—she left.”

“Let’s check her out,” Josh said eagerly. For the first time
since waking up, he felt almost as if they might have a chance of really
progressing with their search.

Ten minutes later, however, Josh handed the laptop back to
Kate and swore as he paced up and down the room.

“Nothing. Not a fucking thing,” he complained. “There are no
photos less than five years old, so she could look like anyone. No records of
her in any of the databases we can log into. The Enforcers file on her is a
joke. Someone has cleaned up after this witch.”

“Absolutely,” Kate agreed idly as she tried to finesse her
way into a back entrance on a mid-level secure server in the Special Operatives
database.

“I’m tempted to leave it as this. I mean, the fact alone that
she’s been so whitewashed and there is so little available data on her means
she’s connected to something. Whether it’s that she’s being used as a Tribunal
member’s personal Assassin or something else is anyone’s guess,” she continued.
The faintly vague tone of her voice alerted Josh to the fact her mind was focused
on what she was doing on the computer and not really on what they were discussing.
He smiled, not minding in the least.

“I’d be happier if we could find an even halfway decent
photo of her that wasn’t taken of the back of her head almost a decade ago,”
Josh replied firmly. “I hate the thought of drawing the witch to Melissa and
Daniel’s attention if she’s got nothing to do with any of this. Especially if
it means they’ll look under rocks we can’t access and that dirties her name or—”

Kate cut him off. “They won’t be able to access anything. Look
at this, Josh.”

Josh paused in his pacing and turned to glance at the laptop
screen as Kate swung it around. There was the faintest of flickers, which
caused Josh to smile slightly. A quick glance at his watch showed they had only
been working on the instrument an hour and a half and already their combined
energies were causing the computer distress.

Magical energy did not mix well with technology. Extended
exposure frequently caused even the most advanced of technologies to fry and
react strangely. Interestingly enough, Josh had always found that the older and
less technical the item, the better and hardier it appeared to be when
surrounded for protracted periods of time by magical energies.

When the screen cleared, Josh’s jaw gaped. A privacy seal,
one so complex and highly placed he’d never seen the like, barred them from accessing
the data behind it.

“Well now,
there
is reasonable cause,” Josh replied.
“Whose authority is that seal? I’ve never seen one of these before. I would
guess an elder level of the Special Ops. Am I right?”

“No, but you’re close,” Kate replied smugly, as she clearly knew
the answer and felt proud of it. “It’s the Tribunal’s special seal. I’ve only
come across one before.”

“Well, shit. Sharni Cutler just went to the head of the list
in my book,” Josh replied with slight surprise as he leaned forward to study
the seal more closely. He knew the chances of him ever seeing such a rare seal
again were slim, but he’d be a fool if he didn’t make sure he could recognize
it next time.

Mostly Josh didn’t come into contact with documents
requiring a high enough level of clearance to need to recognize the Tribunal’s
private seal. If nothing else, it would be something to boast of to Kiera when
their lives returned to their normal level of madness instead of this
heightened one.

“Let me get a closer look at this thing,” Josh mumbled
mostly to himself as he flexed his fingers. A part of his very male ego felt
the thrill of the hunt. He wondered if he could crack the seal. Damn, now
wouldn’t
that
be a coup to brag of to a few select, closely trusted
friends?

“We have, what…twenty minutes before we have to leave to
meet Melissa and Daniel?” Josh checked. He cast a brief glance at Kate, who
nodded with a small frown. Josh beamed.

“Excellent,” he crowed, and sat directly in front of the
laptop and began to finesse around the seal. “I’m not sure that will be enough
time, but I bet—”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Kate hissed at
him. Josh paused and shot a perplexed glance at her, though his fingers still
hovered above the keys.

“What?” he stammered, lost and slightly surprised by the
vehemence of Kate’s response. “I’m going to get around this seal—what do you
think I’m doing?”

“You’re out of your mind,” Kate said flatly as she nudged
his hands away from the keyboard. “Hackers have been trying—and failing, I
might add—to crack this seal forever. The Tribunal have their smartest, most
next-gen coders working on this thing. Hell, we’ve probably left a trail
directly to my laptop just by bumping into the seal. I don’t even want to think
of the penalties we’d attract by trying to get around it.”

Josh furrowed his brow and had to severely resist the
impulse to cling childishly to the laptop as Kate began to save and close down
their windows.

“Do you really think they’d be able to trace us just coming
across it?” Josh replied rather forlornly. “I bet if I could work our way even
just slightly around it we could—”

“Not a chance, hotshot,” Kate replied with a small grin. She
powered down the laptop, closed the screen and placed it in the heavy-duty
carry case.

Josh eyed the case one last time before heaving a sigh and
capitulating.

“Okay,” he agreed reluctantly. “I suppose we should thank
Aubury and say our goodbyes.”

“No need, young man,” Aubury replied as he came into the
room. He limped on his cane and carried a vacuum flask in his hand.

“I do realize you’re not my charge anymore,” Aubury directed
this to Kate with a paternal smile, “but I had this tin of soup just lying
about and you’re such a skinny thing…”

Kate smiled and stood up to cross the room and hug the
elderly wizard. Josh couldn’t help but smile, touched by the evident love and
respect they shared. Kate took the thermos from Aubury’s hands and unscrewed
the tightly sealed lid. The scent of rich minestrone soup filled the room and
despite their late brunch Josh’s mouth watered at the herb-filled aromas
wafting toward him.

“Your homemade minestrone,” Kate replied happily. “This
isn’t your last batch, is it, Aubury? I know you practically live on this in
between big projects.”

“No, Katie, don’t even think about it,” Aubury protested
gruffly with a wave of his hand and a slight thump of his walking stick. “I
know how you get when you’re working. I am charging you, young man, with making
sure Kate eats decently, particularly once the worst of this is over.”

This last comment was directed at Josh, and he nodded in
compliance.

“Of course,” he promised faithfully. “I’m not certain how
much she’ll let me pamper her—Kate takes pretty good care of herself. But I
will certainly do my part, you have my word.”

“Excellent,” Aubury nodded and slowly led them both to the
front door. Kate exchanged one last kiss with the wizard. Aubury and Josh shook
hands firmly and then followed Kate back toward her car.

They waved as Kate pulled away from the curb and began to
head back into the city proper for their meeting with Melissa and Daniel.

“I like him,” Josh replied as they crawled into the city and
kept their eyes peeled for a parking lot. “Aubury, I mean. I really like him.”

“Almost everyone does,” Kate replied with a small laugh. “He
can be a bit gruff and blunt at times, but he has a genuine heart of gold, that
wizard. I can’t imagine anyone honestly
not
liking him.”

A comfortable silence fell between them again as Kate waited
behind the line of cars for a light to turn in their favor. After another
moment, Josh tilted his head thoughtfully and turned to look at Kate.

“Should we go with our instincts and tell Melissa and Daniel
about Sharni Cutler?” he asked curiously. “I’d like to hear their thoughts on
what we’ve found before we try to confront her.”

“Confront her?” Kate repeated, her voice half a tone higher
in surprise. She stole a quick glance at him, presumably to see if he was
kidding. Her eyebrows rose when Josh met her glance seriously and waited.

“Are you insane?” Kate continued. “Let’s assume we’re right
and this is the witch who has a connection somewhere within the Tribunal—who
wants to see you dead, let’s not forget that bit. Sharni is presumably
unscrupulous enough—or maybe desperate enough—that she was willing to shoot you
full of a paralyzing toxin,
kill
me and kidnap you. Once they had
everything they needed from you, I wouldn’t bet a single penny on them having
just let you live and cast you off somewhere. You’d be just as dead as I would
have been. And you want to
confront
the crazy bitch?”

Josh shifted uncomfortably on his seat.

“You make it sound so much less rational than it is in my
mind,” he finally said reluctantly. “How else are we to discover who the
Tribunal traitor is? Not to mention she’s still out there. Sharni Cutler—or
whomever attacked us earlier—is still out there on the streets and at large and
more than willing to, yes, kill us both. If we talk to her, reason with her—”

“Then we’ll both more than likely die or be seriously hurt,”
Kate finished grimly. Not since their first acquaintance had Josh heard such
firmness and resolve in Kate’s tone. It was that of a parent swearing an oath
in blood to their child, with hidden promises of serious ramifications if
further disobedience followed.

“Let’s discuss a different plan with Melissa and Daniel
before we have our first real argument,” Kate suggested calmly. “I don’t think
confronting Sharni is the most idiotic idea of all time just as your Guardian,
but also as your lover and hopefully your
friend
. Coming face to face
with one’s enemy never ends in less than bloodshed. Of late I seem to have
become particularly fond of all your body parts in their rightful places and in
proper working order.”

Josh beamed, but was then thrown against the window when
Kate spotted a parking space and hastily swung into it without any warning or
indication. Pressed against the glass, he pushed himself upright and snorted with
laughter, more than able to see the humor in the situation.

Kate twisted the key in the ignition and the engine fell
silent. Josh unsnapped his seatbelt but Kate turned in her seat and faced him
with a deadly serious look on her face.

“Now, I know underneath your charismatic, playboy exterior
you actually have the soul of a white knight,” Kate began as she finger-combed
her soft red hair back from her face and twisted the silky mass into a knot.
Josh watched her, entranced, before he caught her meaning and held up his hand
placatingly.

“I totally understand,” he insisted. “No hero acts. No
rescuing damsels being beaten up, no detours through the side streets, no
saving the kittens from the tree or helping little old ladies across the
street. I promise.”

“I can’t believe how unprofessional I was,” Kate grumbled as
she snapped the release on her safety belt. “I swear you’re making me lose my
mind. No heroics this time. We go in, we should be perfectly safe in such a
busy, open area with Melissa and Daniel, and then we come straight back to the
car. No detours.”

“I promise,” Josh agreed. He reached out and took Kate’s
hand. Their fingers twined together intimately and he gently squeezed her palm.

Exchanging a private smile with each Kate, Josh debated the
wisdom of leaning in to steal a brief kiss, when she cleared her throat and
opened her car door. Their hands fell apart and, with only the tiniest of sighs
for a lost moment, Josh turned to open his door and step out onto the busy
inner-city street.

The sidewalks were crammed with busy commuters, mostly with
their heads tilted down to focus on how quickly they could dodge, duck and
weave their way through the busy foot traffic on their way home. The bookstore
was only a few hundred feet away but even so it took a moment for Kate and Josh
to create space for themselves side by side on the footpath.

As a set of lights changed and the flow of human traffic
moved inexorably forward with glacial slowness, Kate managed to guide Josh with
a few touches to his shoulder. They reached the stoop of the bookstore with
relief, and Josh held the door open for Kate to enter.

They were a few minutes early but as Josh wound his way
through the large shelves and toward the espresso machine, Kate again nudged
Josh and he saw that Melissa and Daniel had already arrived. Kate caught
Melissa’s eye and with the faintest of tilts of her head she acknowledged them.

They congregated around two small padded benches where
patrons could sit and read, and they commandeered the seats. Kate and Josh sat
down together on one bench, Melissa and Daniel on the other.

“We’ve had a productive day,” Kate greeted the two
Assassins.

“As have we,” Daniel replied with the faintest of smiles
tilting the corner of his mouth. “Would you like to go first?”

“No, please,” Kate insisted with a small wave of her hand.
“What did you discover?”

“Elijah Cunningham was one of the Enforcers’ most elite
Trackers,” Daniel began in a soft monotone, as if he had made thousands of
reports just such as this in the past, and would make thousands more in the
future. “Until seven years ago his partner, supposedly one of the most powerful
Retrievers to have graduated the Academy in over a decade, was murdered in an
ambush. Elijah was not under suspicion at all—indeed he apparently fell to
pieces after she was killed.”

“Elijah traveled a lot,” Melissa continued as Daniel paused.
“From what we could piece together and what a few of our acquaintances informed
us of, reliably but privately, he picked up some unusual skills and even more
unsavory ‘friends’. To all intents and purposes the trail on him stops with
remarkable swiftness right about then.”

“An unusual place for a wizard’s history to stop,” Kate
commented dryly. Melissa shone a beautiful smile upon the witch, white teeth
showing through the razor-sharp grin.

“Isn’t it just?” She laughed lightly. Melissa picked up
where she’d left off.

“Being such an insatiably curious girl, I dug a little
deeper and you won’t believe what Daniel and I stumbled upon.”

Josh didn’t need to have his magic jacked up to take the
leap and make the intelligent guess.

“A Tribunal seal?” he suggested. “A block on any further
details and a security device that would alert, flag and trace anyone who broke
it?”

Melissa pouted and cast a semi-accusing glance at Daniel.
The icy-cool Assassin shrugged blandly, indicated with raised palms that he hadn’t
said a word to spoil the supposed surprise.

“How the hell did you guess?” Melissa asked, still clearly
annoyed that her big reveal had been ruined. Josh smiled in apology and Kate
stepped in hastily.

“We came across a similar seal,” she explained. In concise
terms, not unlike Daniel’s brief and official-sounding report, Kate summarized
what had occurred on their way back to the car and the search they had
performed that afternoon on her laptop.

“Kate was the one who recognized the seal,” Josh finished
with more than a small hint of pride in his tone. He glanced at his lover and
felt his chest swell with love and delight at this amazing, gorgeous witch.

“And Josh was the one who wanted to try to hack it,” Kate
teased in return.

“You didn’t?” Daniel replied curtly.

Josh wrinkled his nose and shrugged. “I wanted to, Kate
insisted otherwise, however.”

“Ah, at least one of you has a brain,” Daniel rejoined,
though the tension in his shoulders abated at this admission. “Those seals are
not to be fooled with. The Tribunal might have their fingers up their asses
over a lot of things—the security of those whom they want to disappear,
however, is
not
something they pontificate over or toy with.”

“So now we’ve all proved how wonderful we are,” Melissa
finished with a faint grin, her English accent returning as she scanned the
faces of those around them, “what do we do now?”

Josh glanced at Kate. Josh wasn’t sure whether it was the
faint crackles of magical energy that hummed around them or some inner human
instinct, but no one had come even remotely near enough to overhear their soft
conversation. Kate, far from trusting others’ instincts, had been keeping a
critically close eye on their surroundings throughout the conversation.

“We should be able to fairly easily track down a contact
address for Sharni,” Kate insisted. “I have someone in Records who owes me a
huge favor. As long as her address isn’t behind one of those blasted Tribunal
seals, we should be fine.”

“And I have a close friend who works in the Archives,” Melissa
added. “Under similar circumstances—barring a Tribunal seal, I mean—we should
be able to track down Elijah.”

“What are we to do with him when we find him?” Daniel asked,
his voice chilly. Josh had to remind himself not to shiver. Daniel asked as if
he were requesting the time and date of a next meeting or ordering a pizza to
go, not vaguely considering whether he should hurt, main or even potentially
kill another living creature.

“I think answers would be good,” Kate replied smoothly, not
seeming at all ruffled by Daniel’s tone of voice or the hidden meaning.
“Ideally the identity of the Tribunal betrayer would be perfect, but whatever
they can tell us would at least be more evidence we could bring to each other
and Morgan.”

“We could discuss matters with Isacar as well,” Melissa said
with a quick look at Daniel. Her lover nodded his head briefly and she
reciprocated the gesture. “Yes, definitely keeping Isacar updated would be a
good idea. Indeed, I don’t see him breaking the Tribunal seal unless we have
significant evidence. A confession or corroborating witness might be enough to
convince him.”

“As with Morgan,” Josh agreed. “I think he is already half-convinced
someone within their numbers is playing fast and loose with their policies. A
bit of irrefutable evidence might be enough for him to start digging around.”

“It’s settled, then,” Daniel replied with a quick, icy-cold
glance around the room before he stood. Daniel waited patiently while Melissa
grinned, shook hands with Josh and Kate and then stood as well. Daniel placed a
hand lightly at the base of her back, the gesture intimate, possessive and
protective all at the same time. The wizard was suave and yet somehow
simultaneously dangerous. The man oozed calm, collected menace that was barely
leashed.

Josh stood, Kate only a second behind him. Their shoulders
touched, brushed each other in a subtle and completely unconscious show of
solidarity.

“Do you have a cell?” Josh asked, curious whether this would
be the end of their collaboration. Daniel paused a pace or two away, his head
tilted toward Melissa in silent query. Melissa nodded slightly, a subtle
gesture Josh might not have noticed had he not been watching them both so
carefully.

Daniel recited the numbers softly. Josh repeated them
silently to himself twice before he was certain he had them memorized. Kate
stated her number in turn and, with hardly a muscle twitching on his face,
Daniel paused for a second then nodded to indicate he had it.

“We’ll be in touch,” the icy wizard said. With the faintest
of smiles, he added, “Try to not break any seals or get yourself killed in the
meantime. Hayden is fond of you and I have high respect for that wizard. It
might be nice to get to know you a bit better once this is all over.”

Josh snorted and shook his head self-deprecatingly. “Hayden
is more than a little fond of my best friend and partner, Kiera,” he replied
with brutal honesty. “While I’m sure he doesn’t mind me, I wouldn’t go getting
your expectations up. Hayden would put up with a gibbering fool if it meant
keeping Kiera happy.”

Daniel snorted in what Josh was fairly certain for the
Assassin actually passed for a laugh.

“Nice,” Daniel commented. “I look forward to seeing you
around, Josh. Kate.”

They exchanged hasty farewells and Melissa and Daniel worked
their way out of the bookstore in a circuitous, meandering manner. Despite the
apparent laziness of their movements, Josh didn’t doubt for a second that both
Assassins had thoroughly glanced at every patron, all the exits and passing
pedestrians, and possibly memorized more than a few of their faces.

“While we’re out here, should we try to find a public phone
and contact Morgan?” Josh asked Kate, wondering what was weighing so heavily on
her mind. She appeared deep in thought and it was only after a good few seconds
had passed that her soft blue-green eyes returned to his face.

“Hmm? Oh.” Kate blinked rapidly as she seemed to mentally calculate
something. After a moment she nodded briskly. “Yes, yes, that would probably be
better than waiting until we get back to the motel. Let’s go get the laptop
first, though—you can call Morgan while I use some of the bandwidth here and we
can multitask.”