Chapter 1
I paused to pat myself on the back for a job well done. I tucked a long curl back into my high ponytail and leaned against an empty portion of wall for a moment.
A black feather, my calling card, was now on the display stand in the other room, and the priceless Jewel of LaCrane that I had liberated sat safe and secure in my pocket. I softly patted the front of my jacket and sighed with pleasure.
As a thief, I was the best.
Wren Cooper, the queen of heists.
I was a witch, too, which added to my repertoire of abilities. My abilities made me able to imbue artifacts, like swords, tokens, or jewelry, with magic. My hand-flower bracers allowed me to control sounds around me, and the diadem circlet that I wore on my head gave me specialized visual abilities as well as vivid recall.
Oh, and I could cloak myself, making me invisible. It was pretty easy to sneak around when you couldn’t be seen. That particular skill wasn’t due to a spell or potion, though. It was just something I’d always been able to do for as long as I could remember.
It was a natural ability.
The first time I’d looked at myself in the mirror while cloaked, when I was maybe around seven, I’d freaked out a little at the look of my eyes. Other people couldn’t see me when I was cloaked, but I could see myself, and what I saw was white eyes.
My usual baby blues were bright white while cloaked.
“How’re we looking out there?” I asked Rico, my familiar, sort of. He happened to be a grumpy old crow—literally. It was probably more fitting to define him as a bird with whom I could speak telepathically, look through his eyes, and allow him to look through mine. But there was more to it than that. There was a kinship, even if he was a pain in the ass most of the time. “Everything okay?”
Luckily, since our connection was telepathic, I didn’t have to make any noise while checking in with my counterpart on the outside. Making noise when trying to be stealthy kind of negated the stealth part.
“Everything looks fine,” he replied, sounding bored. “How much longer are you going to be? I thought we’d be gone by now. I’m tired, and hungry.” There was a slight pause. “Oh, and sore. I can’t figure out why, though. I don’t suppose you might have any idea why that might be?” His voice was edgy. “You know…some reason that I’m sore?”
I rolled my eyes at his response. No, he couldn’t see me, but that didn’t stop my natural reaction.
“Are we really going to have this discussion again?” I moaned. “Now?”
“Why can’t your calling card be something off you next time? Why does it have to be from me?”
“Stop whining. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“I might be bleeding,” he added dramatically. “I feel weak.”
“Rico, seriously. Just…watch for trouble. Let me know if you see anything.”
The deep shadows crept along beside me in the cluttered, narrow hallway, keeping me company as I headed toward my planned route.
But instead of a quick and easy exit, I found paint cans, boxes, and more supplies littering the floor. Scaffolding, ladders, and other evidence of construction were also blocking some of the additional halls and exits. To make matters worse, in the dark shadows, it was difficult to see where I was going, even with my imbued jewelry to aid me.
I could have headed out the same way I came in, but that was a no-no. It lacked a certain panache, spelling that you were a hack. I was an artist. Smash-and-grab jobs were all the rage when I’d started, but those were a bit beneath me at this point.
Besides, I was robbing from a proper museum.
The job deserved a little class.
That said, I couldn’t have known that they’d be doing construction on this side of the building.
Sure, I’d scoped the place out ahead of time. I would have been a fool not to have done that. But I couldn’t get through to all the rooms and hallways during the day, and that meant I was unaware of the construction ahead of time.
It didn’t matter.
If anything, it added to the rush.
If it were too easy, it would be boring.
The building’s blueprint shimmered in my memory and I enhanced it to see my current location more closely. There was a door at the end of this hall that led to a storeroom, which led to a larger loading dock out back.
Keeping to the deeper shadows, I hurried down the hall, ready to put my feet up and bask in the take.
I could picture its gleaming emerald beauty sitting alongside my other conquests.
I didn’t steal for the money; I did it to make fools of the owners. They were all targeted carefully, too. I never messed with people who were decent and kind, but if you were an asshole, I’d end up swiping from you eventually.
And I was damn good at it.
My collection demonstrated that.
“I’m gonna take a nap,” Rico chirped, interrupting my reverie. “Wake me up when you decide to come out.”
This time I didn’t bother to give him a response, deciding just to be done with this latest quest and get on with it.
I picked up the pace and turned the corner, slipping on something and slamming into the wall with a thud.
On impulse, I brought up my hands and activated the bracers I wore. This dampened the sound as much as possible, but it was still loud.
Too loud.
I cringed, expecting lights to come on and security to come bounding out of the shadows, but…nothing.
Today was obviously my lucky day.
I was free, and Joe Lowry, president of J. Lowry Enterprises, would look the fool when he came to open the show in the morning. Being the guest of honor at the unveiling of his prize donation, the beautiful Jewel of LaCrane, would be met instead with the uncovering of a grumpy black crow’s feather.
That would certainly not be a highlight in Mr. Lowry’s storied history.
A grin formed at that thought as I entered the delivery area, sprinted across the floor, and paused just before hitting the button to unlock the back door.
So far, everything had gone my way—save for the slip-n-slide episode.
I didn’t want to jinx my good luck now by doing something stupid.
Instead of the obvious door, which could easily have an alarm set, I turned to the window. There were no alarm mechanisms around the frame that I could see, nor were there any runes.
Stupid.
Tentatively, I reached up and unlocked the lever and gently pulled it open, rewarded by silence.
I threw it open and jumped through to the loading dock’s deck, the hot and humid night air greeting me like a sloppy kiss from a Great Dane.
I stood up and brushed myself off.
And that’s when it happened.
Flood lights came on and they were trained right on me.
Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw that there were dozens of New Orleans Paranormal Police Department’s finest, including some mages.
I hoped none of them had the ability to see through my cloak, but those lights were pointing directly at me, so…
I scanned the area and spotted multiple runes. This had been a pretty hefty setup. I’d bet that even the construction I’d seen was meant to steer me toward the loading dock.
Clever.
“Hey, um, Rico?” I said calmly, staying perfectly still. “Did you happen to notice anything off?”
“I already told you, no,” he said, clearly irritated.
“And, um, where are you, exactly?”
“At the front. Same place you went in, as was the plan.”
That time it sounded like he was rolling his beady little eyes.
“And at any time while you were out there, napping,” I pressed, “did you think to maybe check out the perimeter?”
“Why? It was clear when we got here.”
“You’re such a lazy, good-for-nothing—”
“What’s with the name-calling?” he squawked. “I’m the one who’s been injured. I should be calling you names.”
“Yeah?” I rasped. “Well, you can start with ‘inmate’.”
“Huh?”
“I’m currently surrounded by a bunch of cops, out back.”
I didn’t add, “and they’re all looking directly at me,” but they were all looking directly at me.
“Why are you out back?” Rico asked. “You entered the door on the front right of the museum. The plan was to come out the door on the left.”
“True, but sometimes plans can’t be followed so you make a new plan.”
“Don’t you think it would have been a good idea to inform me of this new plan?”
“I didn’t think I’d have to school my look-out on how to be a look-out,” I said with a grunt.
“What’s that have to do with you changing plans and not telling me about it?”
“Whatever,” I hissed. “Your job is to make sure the entire area is clear, in the event of an emergency.”
“Maybe if I had one more feather—”
I shut the connection and focused on my current situation.
A man who was somewhere in his thirties stepped forward from the throng of cops, looking calm, confident and poised. He was tall, with an athletic, strong build, and he sported a smooth, bald head that was covered in colorful tattoos.
He was a dijin, and he was staring straight at me.
“Stay where you are, Miss Cooper,” came his authoritative command. “Your cloak is pointless due to the fine work of my mages here.” I glanced around and saw that they were casting some sort of spell at me. “I’m Chief Lambert, and by order of the New Orleans PPD, I hereby place you under arrest. We have you surrounded, so make this easy on all of us and put your hands up.”
Busted.
Chapter 2
After a lengthy processing procedure, which included handing over the Jewel of LaCrane to be stored away as evidence, I was escorted into the bowels of the precinct by two of Lambert’s lackeys.
The police station smelled musty and old, and the window-unit air conditioner had obviously seen better days. Anyone near it trying to have a conversation would have to shout just to be heard above its shrieking motor. The area around it was mostly empty, except for a bucket strategically placed beneath it to catch the dripping condensation.
Why this place was such a dump was beyond me. I would have assumed the Paranormal Police Department had enough dough for a better facility. Apparently not…or maybe they chose to spend their money elsewhere. One thing was for sure, it wasn’t a great first impression for my first time at the New Orleans PPD.
But it was hopefully my last time at the New Orleans PPD.
"Hey, baby," said a burly looking cop who was sitting to my left. He had leaned back in his chair and had his arms behind his head, giving me a look of desire. "Why don't you dump those two and let me show you around the place."
I merely gave him a squinting look that registered I found him rather disgusting. That didn't seem to bother him. His smile only grew larger.
Just as I was about to say something, Lambert stepped out of his office.
“Give it a rest, Watson, and get back to work."
The guy cleared his throat and sat up straight. “Yes, sir."
I smirked at Watson and continued my way to Lambert's office. The officers with me bowed and stepped away as Lambert waved me inside.
As the door was closing, I heard a woman’s voice nearby saying, “Why do you have to be such a pig?”
I looked over and saw that it was a younger officer who apparently had my back. There was something about her body language, though, that said she was more jealous of the attention he’d given me than she was irritated at him being a pig. That wasn’t good considering her build was one that made it clear she could easily snap me in two.
"Have a seat," said Lambert in a gruff voice as he sat in his chair behind the desk.
I sat down opposite him and gave him a hard look. There was something familiar about him, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. It could have just been the fact that his demeanor was familiar. I had a tendency of dating strong men, after all. Again, I liked challenges.
"Do you recognize me?" he asked as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
"Should I?" I replied, keeping my cards close to my chest.
For all I knew, he was just another cop in a sea of many—except better-looking. But since he obviously knew me, it was clear that I should know him. I dug a little deeper into my memory, but nothing came up.
"Let's just say that you spent a fair amount of time in New York City," Lambert said with a heavy look. "For ten years I tried to figure out who you were. I studied every clue, case, and everything I could to get to you, but came up short time and again.” He didn’t look angry as much as he looked intrigued. I could work with intrigued. “You're definitely a slippery one, Miss Cooper.”
“Thank you?”
“But I kept case files on you,” he continued, “because I knew that one day I was going to nab you. Oh, it would take a lot of planning on my part, to be sure.” He leaned in a bit. “And it did take a lot of planning, Miss Cooper. But here we are, aren’t we?”
"New York City?” I said, squinting, fixating on that part of his diatribe. "I don't remember any officer named Lambert in New York City.” I tapped my chin. “I do, however, remember a number of thefts in New York."
“As do I, Miss Cooper,” Lambert replied, not unkindly. It was like he was playing the good-cop/bad-cop game all on his own, except it was more like good-cop/frustrated-cop. Well, clearly that frustration could now be put to rest. “I swore I’d get you one day,” he said, looking suddenly satisfied. “It took a little longer than I had expected, but, again, here we are.“
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