Yeah, by watching our every move. “Happened to be left over,” my left ass-cheek. You put them here on purpose, Levi. Your poker face needs work, pal.
“I might have offered more of our people,” he went on, “but you are not the only ones dealing with the endeavors of Katherine Shipton.”
“What do you mean?” I asked sharply.
“It seems her influence is spreading. In the larger picture, these children pale into insignificance.” He glowered at me. “There have been several thefts across the country.”
“The break-ins at the Magical Artifact Armory at Fort Knox?” Alton gasped.
“Among others. These attempts at theft are taking up many of our resources. We are trying to stay one step ahead of Katherine Shipton and determine her next target. As you can imagine, it leaves us with little force to spare for something as trifling as a handful of missing kids. The Bestiary is different, as that affects us all. Two soldiers of the LA Coven will be more than enough for this task.”
I gawked at him. “Katherine Shipton is stealing magical artifacts, and nobody thought to say anything? Plus, I don’t think the abduction of children is ‘insignificant.’ Maybe to you, but to us they’re innocent lives, and they’re at stake here. Aren’t we supposed to protect all magicals, adults and children alike?”
“She hasn’t managed to steal anything yet, Miss Merlin,” Leonidas snapped. “Our repeated attempts to stop her are what’s been keeping us otherwise engaged. And I would ask that you don’t twist my words. Children are, of course, important. I simply meant that we have other things on our minds. Matters of national security, rather than regional.”
“Of course we’ll welcome Miss Chang and Mr. Madison, Director Waterhouse, Mage Levi,” Wade interjected, shooting me a look that said, “Calm the hell down.” Was I the only one who felt completely freaked out by the idea that Katherine was trying to get her hands on powerful stuff?
“Is there anything we can do to help with the robbery attempts?” I pressed.
Leonidas snorted. “No. Our people are dealing with it. You would only get in the way. Now, please do as Crowley suggested and get better acquainted with your new team members. I have had quite enough of the SDC and its… quirks for one day.”
Leonidas Levi was certainly full of himself, and then some. Refusing our help in such a stinging fashion was downright rude, and we deserved a little more respect than that. On the other hand, they probably had their most skilled folks dealing with this. They wouldn’t sit on their asses while Katherine tries to mug them. Fine, Levi. Have it your way.
I hung back as introductions were made. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how to feel about these newcomers. It was bad enough that we already had a mole inside the SDC. A thousand uncertainties haunted these hallways even without two complete strangers being added to the mix.
I glowered at Leonidas, who glowered back. Not that he scared me. I wasn’t one to fall for his intimidation tactics. He could bring in all the hawks, if he wanted. He wasn’t going to see us slip up. All this did was strengthen my resolve to catch my crazy-ass aunt and find those kids. And when we do that, it’s going to be sooooo satisfying to watch you struggle to apologize to all of us, Levi.
Frankly, I didn’t know which I was looking forward to more—stopping Katherine or hearing Levi’s future apology.
Four
Harley
Eventually, I had to bite the bullet and introduce myself to Stella and Channing. I almost had to check to see if they had rods up their backs; they were standing so freaking straight the whole time.
“Harley Merlin, pleased to meet you,” I said, offering out my hand for them to shake. I went to Stella first, figuring she was the less intimidating of the two.
“We’re aware of who you are,” she replied curtly. Hmm… maybe not the less intimidating.
“Well, glad to have you helping us out.”
“It’s our duty to obey the California Mage Council’s orders,” was all she said. It was like squeezing blood out of a particularly stubborn stone.
I moved on to Captain Beefcake. “Nice to meet you, Channing.”
“Yes, it is.” His voice came out practically robotic. I scanned his eyes to make sure there weren’t two tiny, orb-shaped computers staring out. Maybe there’s a reset button and we can get the fun version to come out.
“I… hope you like it here in San Diego.”
He didn’t respond, his gaze dead ahead.
“At ease, soldier,” I teased, garnering a cold look from his gray eyes. “We don’t really go in for the whole GI Joe thing here.”
“No, I can see that you’re less disciplined.”
Was he throwing shade at me? I frowned and stepped back, letting Wade attempt to break through the icy façades of our new teammates.
I could see that Channing and Stella came from a very different type of organization than the one we had going here in San Diego. For starters, we were all dressed casually in jeans and t-shirts, except for Wade, in a suit vest from his endless wardrobe, while they were rocking full-on military uniforms, complete with what looked like medal-ribbons on their chests. San Diego loved its rules and regulations, for sure, but these guys were something else—they gave off strict, army-like vibes.
“I never thought I’d say this, but San Diego is practically horizontal compared to these guys,” I whispered to Santana, who nodded discreetly.
“They make us look like amateurs,” she whispered back. “Even Wade looks unprofessional compared to these two.”
I looked at him to see what she meant. Wade was a head shorter than Channing and nowhere near as broad or muscular. That wasn’t what set them apart, though. The way the two newcomers held themselves was totally different. They looked serious, like they meant business. We looked like we were just in this for the giggles, all of us running around playing at being magical investigators.
“It’s okay, we don’t bite,” Wade joked. “No fangs here. Well, unless you check the Bestiary.”
“There’s no need for us to check the Bestiary. We have our best officers stationed there for the safety of this coven. Security has been lax and insufficient, considering the threat level,” Channing replied abruptly. “Have we established a plan of action for seeking the swift return of these missing children?”
The Rag Team looked at one another in complete disbelief.
“We were in the middle of planning when you came in,” Wade replied coolly.
“It seems a bit late in the day,” Channing remarked. “I would’ve thought there’d already be a plan in place.”
“Nope, but we’re getting to it,” I chimed in, backing Wade up. These two acted like they were the epitome of what it meant to be a coven agent. Personally, I saw two uptight snobs who were more than happy to look down on us without bothering to get to know us.
Stella cast an assertive glance across everyone. “No matter. We’re here now to improve the efficiency of this… group. I’m sure we can work together toward a suitable conclusion.”
Channing smirked. “There’s no point trying to befriend the locals, Stella. They wouldn’t know how to run an investigation. San Diego is known for its slackness; I just didn’t realize how bad it was. We’re working with a bunch of amateurs here.” I noticed he kept his voice low so Alton wouldn’t hear. He was standing to one side, in deep conversation with the Mage Council. I guessed they were talking about the robberies. The news had freaked Alton right out.
Wade scowled at my side. “Might I remind you that you are guests of the SDC,” he said. “You might think we’re ‘lax’ or inferior in some way, but it wasn’t the LA Coven who thwarted the first wave of Katherine Shipton’s plans, was it? Agreed, there have been a few bumps in the road, but we’ve successfully disposed of the Ryder twins and stopped Finch Shipton from causing mass chaos. Pretty good for a bunch of ‘slackers,’ if I do say so myself.”
Stella smiled unexpectedly. “He has a point, Channing.” Her eyes lingered on Wade’s face. “Wade, right?”
“Right.”
“Did you lead the investigative team that brought down Finch and the Ryder twins?”
He shrugged. “I had a part to play in it, sure.”
“That must have been dangerous, taking on such powerful people,” she said. Her dark eyes glittered as they held Wade’s gaze. “I’d like to hear more about it, if you have a moment to spare sometime? It’s always a good idea to get to know your enemy."
“You think I’m your enemy?”
She laughed. “No, I meant Katherine Shipton. I’ve read the reports, but it would be nice to hear what happened directly from the horse’s mouth.”
I stared at Wade, who seemed to have forgotten the rest of us were there. He smiled back at Stella and folded his arms across his chest. A flutter of self-gratification moved through me, flowing from Wade. He was flattered by Stella’s attention. Irritation smothered the flattery, though the annoyance was all my own. Stella’s little coven buddy had just called us all inferior amateurs, and here Wade was, enjoying her pandering.
Men.
Alton stepped forward, breaking my irritation. “Well, now that you’re all suitably introduced, maybe we should get to the task at hand? This entire endeavor is of the utmost urgency.” His face turned solemn. “Those children are out there, and we have to get them back. We’ve made promises to the parents who remain, foster and magical alike, and we’ve made promises to ourselves. We’ll bring them into our family, where we can protect them.”
“Because you did such a good job the last time?” Leonidas grumbled.
“If memory serves, you were the ones who told us to keep the children at their homes,” Alton shot back. “I suggested bringing them all here to the coven, where we could better protect them, but you wanted to use them as bait. It backfired, and now we’re cleaning up that mess before anyone else gets killed.”