~ MARIE ~

For breakfast, they went to a small cafe on the fifth floor. Only five tables were inside the main area with another three out on the balcony overlooking the garden. They were seated at a table on the edge of the balcony. She would have enjoyed the scenery more if she wasn’t focused on not making a mess of her dress. Adrian had ordered her something called eggs benedict. It tasted alright but the egg yolk dripped all over the place and her mood wasn’t helped by having to drink Rose Red on top of that. The drink coated her tongue making everything taste sweet. She grimaced briefly as she took another sip. Adrian was looking down at his food so she felt safe making faces.

[Could you protect our conversation?] Marie wrote on the table so that Adrian could see it for himself. Once she was done, she filled the spell with magic.

“I have two meetings coming up. The first meeting should be exactly like you’ve experienced up to this point.” He frowned as he leaned forward. “The second meeting will be different. You won’t be allowed inside. The vampire dislikes humans. You can either wait outside until I’m done or you can wait in our room.” Marie leaned back and thought over the choices. It would be easier for him to go straight to the meeting instead of being forced to take her all the way back to their room.

“Will it be a long meeting?” If it was then she might as well stay in the room. That way she could finish reading her book.

“No. I don’t know how long it will be for sure but it shouldn’t take too long. Maybe half an hour at most.”

If it was just half an hour then she could wait. Marie opened her mouth to reply when she felt something hit her spell. Whoever it was hadn’t made a serious attempt to listen in on their conversation. This was meant to get her attention. The magic had come from the upper right. She scanned the area. A woman with tattoos was staring right at her. The woman smiled and waved. “What is it?”

“That woman messed with my spell.” He straightened up as his eyes narrowed.

“Which one?”

“The one leaving right now. She has script tattoos on her arms and back.” Adrian turned in time to see the woman leave along with the man she’d been sitting with. Marie studied the woman as she walked out of sight.

“Do you know her?”

“No. I’ve never seen her before.” She knew she’d heard of something related to tattoos. What was it?

“Is her magic the same as the one we’ve been chasing?”

“No. It’s different.” Marie remembered where she’d heard of her before. “There were reports of a woman with tattoos. She’s wanted by the Order for crimes in several territories.”

“Like the sorcerer?” His body went tense as he glared at the last place the woman had been. She shook her head.

“She’s a thief who steals magical items.” She tried to think back to the file she’d read. Had there been any casualties? “I don’t think she’s harmed anyone permanently but one of the items she stole belonged to a Guardian.”

“The tattoos glowed.”

“Her tattoos are basically multi-use talismans. She can activate them whenever she wants, as many times as she wants.” He crossed his arms as he frowned.

“Can anyone get these tattoos?”

“You’d need to go to someone who specialized in magical tattoos. A special tool and ink is required to imbue a tattoo with the properties needed for them to act like talismans.” He nodded.

“Why do you think she messed with your spell?” She shrugged.

“I don’t know but it’s possible she knows I’m a Guardian. This hotel is still a part of my territory.” Adrian leaned back with a pensive look on his face. The attempt hadn’t been serious but why get the attention of a Guardian? The woman should be trying to avoid her. He sighed before he stood up.

“We’ll discuss this later. We need to go before I’m late.”

Adrian led them to a room that was located at the end of a hall and knocked on the door. They were let in and took their seats. This meeting went on just like all the others. They were served refreshments and Adrian spoke to the other vampire about his business. Nothing unusual. Marie slowly sipped Rose Red as she waited for the meeting to end. No magic was detected in the room and none was activated while they were there.

On the way to the elevator, he stopped and looked at her.

[Are you sure you want to wait outside?]

[I’m fine with waiting.] He nodded before he pressed the button to call for the elevator. They got off on the tenth floor. They stopped in front of a door and Marie moved to one side. Adrian raised his hand to knock when he stopped with his fist in the air. He stared at her for several moments before he knocked on the door. The door opened and Adrian went in, closing the door behind him.

Marie examined the door. How did he know this was the right one? Nothing stood out to her even with her this close. She frowned. Was it something that only vampires could see? She studied the door for a few more moments. No marks on the knob or door itself. Nothing over the door or on the wall either.

She gave up and leaned against the wall. A quick check of the room behind her told her there was no magic inside. A couple came down the hall and she quickly looked down. They didn’t even look at her as they passed her. The couple stopped at a door further down and went inside. She stopped looking down. Not that much time had passed but she was already thinking about sitting on the ground. She sighed. There was probably a rule against it.

There was a flash of magic.

It was gone quickly but she knew it was the same magic signature. She scanned both sides of the hallway.

The killer was here.

There was another flash of magic and she immediately rushed towards it.

The magic pulsed, almost like a heartbeat. No spell that she knew of was like that. This felt more like a gesture of impatience. Adrian was definitely going to be angry with her but she wasn’t going to let this chance pass her by. Marie hit the end of the hallway and waited for the magic to flash again before she turned right and went down another hallway. She had to backtrack several times when she felt the magic moving further away rather than closer.

At first, she thought it was due to the fact that sensing magic didn’t really tell her exactly where someone was, only a general idea but that wasn’t it. Whoever this was kept moving around.

The signal stopped.

Marie stretched her senses out but couldn’t feel any magic beyond what was being used inside the rooms. Did they realize she was following them? She continued walking down the hallway but she didn’t see anyone. Marie stopped at the intersection and stopped. Still nothing. They’d stopped using magic. She frowned. There was another problem she needed to deal with.

She was lost.

There was no way to distinguish the doors and she didn’t remember how many hallways she went down or what direction she’d gone in. Should she stay in one spot? Adrian would be able to find her as soon as he left the meeting. But how long would that be? Teleporting back to the room was another option. There wasn’t anyone in the hallway as far as she could tell. Now might be her best chance to teleport.

A vampire turned down the hall and spotted her. His mouth curved into a sneer. Not good. Marie looked to her left and noticed the door to the stairwell. That might be her best chance. She walked quickly towards it but the vampire beat her to it. He leaned against the door and tilted his head to the side. His smile widened as he stalked towards her. Should she just shock him? Marie backed up as she tried to make up her mind.

He backed her up and she hit a wall. The man had backed her into a corner. He continued to walk towards her. The vampire lightly touched her skin as he moved his hand from her wrist to her arm. Up his hand went, caressing the skin on her shoulder before resting his hand on her neck. It looked like she would have no choice but to shock him. If she erased his memory afterward, there shouldn’t be any problems.

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“I would appreciate it if you would unhand my companion.” Adrian’s voice was almost pleasant but she didn’t need to look at his face to know he was angry. The vampire tightened his grip on her neck before throwing her forward. She hit her hands and knees hard against the ground.

[Don’t move.]

“You should control your companion better.” The man walked past her but she waited for Adrian to tell her she could move. “If you don’t teach her, someone else will.”

[You can get up.] Marie could feel her dress sticking to her knees. She must have scraped them. Adrian watched her for a moment. [We’re going back.] He didn’t wait for her to follow him as he led the way back to the elevator. Marie kept the dress away from her legs as she followed him. There was no one else in the hallways so she didn’t have to look down. Adrian stayed silent the entire way back.

He held the room door open for her. She walked to the sofa while he closed the door behind them. She held the dress in one hand, away from her knees, as she sat down.

“Heal yourself.” Marie closed her eyes and healed the scrapes on her knees as well as her hands. She cleaned the blood off her dress and opened her eyes. Adrian sat across from her.

“Why did you decide to wander around by yourself?”

“I was following the magic signal— ”

“You know companions are turning up dead. We still don’t know who’s doing it. And on top of that, you seem to have forgotten that the vampires here will only see you as food.” Marie stayed quiet. Nothing she said would make him less angry. He glared at her. “Do not go wandering around on your own. This is an order.” Marie nodded. Adrian exhaled and shook his head with a deep frown before looking back at her. “Did you at least figure something out?”

“They’re getting impatient.”

“What do you mean?” She explained what had happened and how they had been using the magic. “You took a risk going after them.”

“I had a chance to catch them.” Adrian’s eyes narrowed for a moment but he didn’t repeat his order. He looked away as his jaw tightened. Adrian finally exhaled in frustration before he looked back at her.

“I wanted to ask about the woman from earlier. Did you recognize the man with her?”

“No. From what I remember, she supposedly works alone but she’s never been caught in the act so it isn’t confirmed.” Marie didn’t really have too much information on the woman since she was good at what she did. There was one thing that worried her. “She might make things difficult.”

“How?”

“Depending on who she’s stealing from, there will likely be an increase in security. Rare items are normally owned by someone with connections and power.”

“The increase in security might frighten the killer off before we can identify them.” She nodded. “What else do you know about her?”

“She uses calling cards to inform her victim of the impending theft. She sends them about a day in advance then leaves a card behind in place of the missing item.”

“Anything else?” Marie shook her head. Beyond the description of her tattoos and possible magic skills, there wasn’t much else on the woman. The appearance was easy to change with regular means so it couldn’t be counted on. The thief would likely change her appearance again once she was done here since Marie had seen her. Though the woman couldn’t change everything. It was good that the thief was arrogant enough to use magic in her presence. She’d be able to locate her the next time she used it, no matter what she looked like.

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Adrian stood up and went to the door. He came back with a thoughtful look on his face as he handed a card over to Marie.

“Something like this?”

“I have something you want. You have something I need.” Below the message was a picture of a four-leaf clover done in metallic ink. This was indeed the calling card for the thief. At the very bottom, there were three numbers printed in that same metallic ink. “A room number?” Adrian took the card from her and looked at it.

“What would we want from a thief?”

“She could have plans for the building. Any secret passages, private exits, and anything concerning the item or items she wishes to steal.” He looked interested in that.

“What would we have that she would want?” Marie shrugged. She had no magic items or any knowledge concerning the whereabouts of any items.

“You?” Adrian shook his head. “Since there wasn’t a time listed, I assume she wants to meet now.” He frowned as he stared down at the card. Marie waited. She had no way to get to the room herself and given what just happened, there was no way he was going to let her out of his sight.

“Let’s see what this thief wants.”

*~*~*~*~*

Adrian turned to her with a frown.

[Even if she is wanted by the Order, you can’t act recklessly. She’s here with someone and therefore under his protection.] She nodded. [We’ll play it by ear. If anything is off, anything at all, let me know.] He made her use the communication spell before they left the room. It would last about three hours on its own, five if she fed it more magic. Adrian glanced at the door before staring at her.

He turned back to the door and knocked. A woman opened the door wide. They walked inside. The woman smirked at her before she closed the door. The tattoos were easier to read now that she was this close but parts of the spell were covered by the dress. The woman passed them and stood next to the man Marie had seen before. His blond hair was cut short and didn’t reach his ice-blue eyes. He smiled and nodded to Adrian before speaking.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Luke and this is my companion Grace.” Adrian followed up with his own introduction. “Before we sit, I was wondering if we could have the companions go into the room next door.” He gestured to the door to his left.

[Do you recognize the man?]

[No.]

[Let me know what goes on in the other room.] “That’s fine.” Marie followed Grace into the other room as Adrian went to the sofa. Just as the door closed behind her, a talisman activated. Marie put up a barrier but nothing happened. [Marie?]

“Relax. It’s to keep our conversation private.” Grace pointed to the talisman in the middle of the table. Marie quickly read the talisman. It was designed to keep the sound from escaping the area and that was it. She did a quick sweep of the room with her senses. There was no other magic active.

[I’m fine.] She wasn’t going to drop her barrier. Better to keep it up until she knew what Grace wanted.

[What happened?]

[She activated a talisman to protect the conversation.]

[Alright. Let me know if anything changes.] Marie examined the room but the only things in here were the table and chairs. The rest of the room was empty. The only other notable feature was the door on the opposite side of the room.

“Want to play a game?” Grace sat down at the table and gestured to the other chair.

“Game?” Marie sat down but she didn’t push the chair in.

“To determine a winner.”

“The bet?”

“Don’t want to know what kind of game it is?” Grace looked smug but Marie was confident she wouldn’t lose in a contest of magic. “Very well. If you win, I’ll give you this.” Grace pulled an envelope out from underneath the table. “This is all the information I could find on the building. I think this would be a big help for whatever you’re investigating.” The woman waved the envelope around before putting it down on the table.

“And what do you want?” Grace smiled and leaned forward.

“I want a divination.” Marie could feel herself tense before she forced herself to relax.

“How did you hear about that?” The thief shrugged.

“Are you going to play?” Marie nodded. Grace stood up and went through the other door. The woman was back in seconds, carrying a bottle filled with red liquid and two glasses. Tsk. It was the bottle Marie had seen her win back at the treasure hunt. Grace placed the bottle of Rose Red on the table as she placed a glass on either side. The thief grabbed the bottle and popped it open. “Let’s get started.”

The game was simple. The first person to either forfeit or pass out would lose. Since they were both magic users, Grace chose a game that would prove which of them had the greater amount of magic. That’s what the bottle of Rose Red was for. A higher amount of magic meant a person could tolerate more of the liquid.

But there was a catch.

The amount of liquid a person could tolerate would change depending on how much Rose Red was in the bottle. Pink Rose Red only had about fifteen percent of the ingredient that affected magic users. This bottle on the other hand had about thirty-five percent. Was Grace that confident in her abilities?

Four glasses in and the outcome was starting to become obvious. Grace leaned forward, barely keeping her drink in her glass as she tipped it forward.

“Come on. Just a hint. I want to know.” The woman had been speaking non-stop since the game began but it had gotten worse the more she drank.

“I don’t talk about my investigations.”

“Come oooon.” Grace stretched the last word out as she leaned back in her chair. Marie just finished her glass and remained silent. “You’re no fun.” The thief pouted as she looked into her glass. The woman chugged down the last of it before she put it down. Marie took the bottle and poured it into the thief’s first before pouring it into her own. This was how they kept things fair. They would take turns pouring. Marie wasn’t really paying attention to whether the glasses were even or not. As long as they were about the same, with hers usually having more than Grace’s, she was fine. Marie already knew she wouldn't lose.

She gazed into her glass before chugging it. She really hated the taste. It was way too sweet. Anything she ate or drank afterward would be affected by the taste. Why did this have to be here anyway? It was a disgusting drink that only reminded her of a disgusting place.

[Marie?] She snapped out of her thoughts and looked around. Grace was still trying to finish her glass but her arms didn’t seem to be cooperating.

[What?]

[What’s going on?]

[Talking. What’s going on over there?]

[Small talk.] There was a short pause and she hoped he’d stop talking but she had no such luck. [You’re just talking? Nothing else?] He sounded like he didn’t believe her. Marie watched as Grace nearly dropped her glass. This was taking too long.

[Why?] She needed to end this now before Adrian came. Marie grabbed the bottle and chugged what was left. She even did a quick fire spell to show that she was still fine. Marie closed her fist around the flame snuffing it out. Grace looked shocked at first before she frowned and slid the envelope over. The door to the left opened just as she grabbed the envelope. Luke entered first with Adrian right behind him.

“Goodbye, Guardian.” The vampire gave her a quick bow before he picked up Grace and took her through the other door. Adrian picked her up while she was still staring at the closed door. Her eyelids began to droop as she leaned against his chest.