“Hey, Olivia—you’re there, right?”
She waited, frowned. There was a clatter on the other line. Her heart was heavy, fingers clammy. She swiped them along her pants, pacing, waiting, bracing herself. The pressure built, built; she knew this feeling. The stones in her stomach, the pain along her skull, the discomfort of herself in her own flesh, her skin.
Something bad was going to happen.
Or was it? Jacinta’s extrasensory perception was off. Sometimes something as bad as when she stubbed her tone made her an anxious mess hours before. Or the lack of feeling, of intuition, before the time when she was cornered in the street, nearly—
Focus. Olivia. Facetime. She clicked. The image expanded.
“Ohmygosh, sis. Yes. Look.” Olivia rolled her eyes, sighing, striding forward. She was clearly in Emmy’s family’s home; Long Island, large space, yard. Jacinta saw a glimpse of Aquaman in the back—and a few others. Fresh-faced, young, happy. Olivia threw her hands into the air, spinning in a circle. “Home. Want me to spell it out for you, Mom?”
She sighed in relief, taking a step back, leaning against a streetlamp for support. The others behind Olivia chuckled. Jacinta was too relieved to be angry at the ‘mom’ comment—and she was proud of her. Olivia stayed home for her.
“I’m sorry. I just—”
“You’ll tell me later.” Olivia said, nodding, before looking back, mouthing something to her friends. “I’ll send you photos of Snoopy later. I have, like, a bajillion of them. Bye, love you!”
Olivia hung up. Jacinta stared down at the screen, her reflection: the scowl, the worried knot at her brow. She stared, waited. Her fingers quavered, grip sliding along the phone. Maybe Olivia was being broken up with later. Or…whatever. But she’d just…check in. Constantly.
Her blood singed beneath her skin, but she just shook it out, twisted her head up to the starless sky, stared, breathed—in, out, again—and faced the restaurant.
Olivia was safe.
Maybe the bad feeling involved Silas? Maybe it was a trap…
Jacinta stared around again, gnawing on her lip, squinting. She’d need glasses to see clearly, right…but no. Nothing, nobody. Alright. She was fine. It was nothing. Just in case, she texted Gregory again, hoping he was okay, before re-entering the restaurant. A few untouched appetizers were scattered across the table; Silas was reading something on his phone. He stared up, raised a brow.
“I thought you chickened out.”
Jacinta sat, raking back her hair with her hands. “Fortunately, or unfortunately…no. Sorry to disappoint.”
Silas chuckled, sizing her up. She could feel the burning brush of his eyes along her, trying to see if anything had changed. Any magic, probably—
“I didn’t cast a hex on you, or anything protective on myself, if you’re thinking. I had to make sure my sister was alright. She’s staying with a friend…” She’d spare the details.
“Lucky. I’m an only child.” Silas took what looked like a taro chip that was piled with ahi tuna, biting into it. She followed suit, pulling a chip off the plate, studying it. Micro greens…always micro greens.
“I can tell.” Jacinta noted after swallowing.
“Oh? Tell me how. Are you psychic too?”
“No. You just seem independent—and you expect things to go your way. Plus, if so many people are expecting greatness…they’re not sharing those expectations or care across other siblings.” She explained, taking another chip. Ahi was delicious; she loved sushi, poke—but she could only have it sparingly. Stupid, delicious, pricey fish. “I’ll assume you have a set of parents that love you very much, or something.”
Silas’s lips quirked. He pocketed his phone and took a sip of his beer, careful to not get any on his top lip. “Maybe.”
“So, this…deal. What kind of info would you need from me?” Jacinta asked, quick to move on from the topic of family.
“Places you guys frequent. Any names, important figures.”
Jacinta’s brows rose. “So you want me to be a rat?”
Silas shrugged. “I guess, yeah.”
She took a slow sip of the beer, thinking. Her gaze flicked back to the phone—no calls, no texts. Back at him. “And in return…”
“I’ll clear Doña’s case, as well as any records of you and your friend. You’d be smart to say yes to this, Jacinta…the other guys that were there with me, they knew I saw you. I’d be able to pick you out of a lineup.”
She sucked in a breath. “But you wouldn’t.”
Silas chuckled and tilted his head to the side. “Oh? Why wouldn’t I? It’s my job, Jacinta. Me going out to dinner with a suspect doesn’t clear her of the crime.”
Jacinta looked around. Nobody was listening, it seemed—young twenty and thirtysomethings were all enjoying themselves. Date night, mostly; made sense, Friday night. She faced him again and leaned forward, eyes narrowing. “What crime did I do?!”
“Uh, let’s see. Run from us. Then attack us. And use C-class magic in your case; for your friend, he was using B- and even A-class magic. And I mean—I’ll respect your First Amendment rights…but my buddies don’t. Being rude to us? Tick. Breaking my nose? Big tick. It’s a long list of crimes.”
“You all seemed like you were going to capture us from the start! We were literally just there. And anyway, we didn’t kill Doña; she—”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Disappeared. Look.” Silas combed back a curl of hair, sighing, leaning forward. “Magical crimes are decided by us humans. Do I think it’s fair? No, obviously not; I don’t know shit about magic, not like you and your witch buddy. But is that the way it works? Yeah. Francesca poofs out of thin air like a magic act, no trace; you both, two witches, one of who has really strong magic, the kind that’ll make a person disappear, are there in that moment, quick to flee. So that looks really suspicious, doesn’t it?”
Jacinta’s jaw tightened. She shook her head and leaned back, sinking in her seat.
“Magic circumvents the natural order of things. People don’t just…go poof.”
She glared at him. “Says the guy who shot me into another universe where we were fucking reborn. You’re a traitor to your own gang’s ethos.”
“SEE’s not a gang, Jac—”
“I said what I said.” Jacinta’s tone was poison. Her eyes, ink. She swallowed bile, exhaled; the blood sizzled beneath her body, bones shaking softly. She drank cool water, crunched on the ice—Silas just shook his head, sighing. They both remained seated, tense; the air sizzled electric around them. The glass beneath Jacinta’s fingertips was hot.
“It’s complicated.” Silas sighed. “Just…trust me on that.”
Jacinta was gnawing on her lip. She took the last piece of their appetized and faced away, scowling. No texts from anyone. Phone dark.
The food came out. Some truffle-buttered steaks. Jacinta stared at it for a moment. Truffles—something she’d always wanted, never had. Earthy and warm…
“I brought the steakhouse to us…if you don’t want it, I can ask for something diff—”
“No. It’s good.” Jacinta grabbed the fork and knife. She wouldn’t apologize; she’d just…move on from the thorn in their conversation. “It smells great.”
They both ate. Steak was medium-rare; perfect. Once she was mostly through the meal, she began to speak again: “Deal, by the way. On…this…arrangement. I give you info; you clear me and the others…and give me everything you know on Francesca.”
Did the Atlas record memories, moments?
Recording started.
That answered her question. Good. Weird…especially if it were to become a commercial product, all the opportunities, possibilities—
She shuddered at the potential negatives. Focus. She held out a hand to shake, waiting.
Silas took her hand, nodding, lips curled in satisfaction. “Glad to have you onboard, Jacinta. Now. We each have enough dirt on each other…so if one of us decides to take advantage of this agreement…well—we’re both screwed. So I think our insurance is already in-place.” He grabbed the napkin, dotting it over his lips, before taking a sip of the second glass of beer. “I’ll clear you and your friend first, and drop the case on Francesca. You’ll get all the information we have on Francesca once you supply me with yours.”
Jacinta saw a flash of light on the phone—she picked it up. Just an email; she huffed, set it down.
“What kind of places and people are you looking for, specifically?” She asked, cutting a slice of the filet, dragging it across the truffle butter.
“You know the kind. Passage portals to those supernatural-only parts of the city. As far as people go…the more powerful they are among your community, the better.” He paused, frowned. “How do you all communicate, anyway? Passenger pigeon?”
Jacinta snorted, chewing the steak. Tender, rich. “That wasn’t a part of our agreement.”
In truth…she hardly knew. She’d only recently let Gregory introduce her to the magic world beyond Doña’s weird stories and her grimoire.
Silas finished off his steak and patted his lips again, frowning. “I looked you up—”
“Stalker.” Jacinta shot, frowning.
Silas’s cheeks warmed. His glare only deepened. “Not in that way. And anyway…privacy’s a farce, unless you’re not on social media.”
“Which I’m not.” Jacinta mumbled. It was true. It was too much of a risk for her to be found through there. No digital footprint. VPNs, work was paid under the table; Banu had the apartment lease—she unofficially sublet part of it out to her. Jacinta was a ghost.
“You don’t exist.” Silas noted, frowning. “That’s…it happens more often with supernaturals—and illegal immigrants, of course, but we should just have it be easier for them to enter the country—”
“Thank you.” Jacinta mumbled in agreement, rolling her eyes. At least they had common ground there.
“But…you’re, what, early twenties? It’s nearly impossible to fully live off the radar now. How…?”
“Not a part of our agreement.” Jacinta’s tone dropped. She finished her meal and set her hands on the table.
Silas huffed. Swirled the glass. Leaned forward. “I can see what I can do, about getting you some kind of ID.”
“What, and put me on all of SEE’s damn lists?”
“No. As a human. Of course, it’d be a different name; with all the facial recognition software at crucial—have you ever flown?” He suddenly asked, frowning.
Jacinta eyed the phone. Nothing. She looked back at him, shaking her head. “Born and raised here in the city all my life. Furthest I’ve gone is…D.C.” She struggled to remember. It was once. She was a kid—twelve, probably; back when her dad was in the picture. That she knew, but anything beyond it—absent. She might’ve been a ghost, but he was a shadow—an absence, cut from her mind with serrated scissors. She could never imagine anything beyond his strong, cruel hands.
Again: she looked at the phone.
Nothing.
“That’s sad.” Silas noted.
Jacinta shrugged. The city was adventure enough for her. He was offering her something more, though—a chance to be a person. Join the system.
Exist.
“I’ll need to put a pin in that. I feel like I’m making deals with the fucking devil.” She hissed. Still recording. Good.
Silas laughed at that. “And here I am, talking with a ‘Satan-worshipper.’” He air-quoted it. “I know you’re not. At least, not all of you. As for adding you to our system…fine.”
“Question for you. How the hell do you have the chance to make me legal? Are you not some SEE grunt? You’re young…”
“Twenty-five.” Silas snorted. “At least, that’s what my birth certificate shows for this realm. And it’s what I feel. But…” He cleared his throat, “not a part of the agreement."
She wanted to smack the smirk off his face. Just a little…
Her gaze fell to the phone. The waiter returned—dessert? Silas eyed Jacinta expectantly; she said anything chocolate would be fine, or anything in general. The waiter nodded. She wasn’t listening; she moved to call Olivia, but held herself. No. Olivia was good. She had friends there. She was really, really good. She listened to Jacinta’s weirdness and it’d be fine and—
Sis pls pick up 911
Her phone lit with a text. Jacinta cursed, pulled it to her chest, shooting to her feet. The dim lights in the restaurant flickered. Her blood boiled once more. Instead of shaky hands, the quake returned to her bones. Shit, shit, shit—
Incoming call: Olivia.
She set the phone against her ear, turning to try and find the fastest exit. She’d take out her wand, teleport there. She’d do it.
Why was Olivia calling?
She wasn’t picking up? No, she just called. What...
No. No.
No.