Page 62 of Ancient Magic

Maya narrowed her gaze. Enough was enough. “Tell me, Hexx. Do I look stupid?”

“No.”

She pointed a finger at the center of his face. “Do you think I won’t turn you into a hamster?”

He blinked, his mouth falling open at the threat. “You can do that?”

She released a trickle of magic. Just enough to make his greasy hair float on an invisible breeze.

“Let’s find out, shall we?”

“No! Wait!”

“Talk,” Maya commanded, emphasizing her request with a sharp yank on his hair.

Hexx’s face paled to a pasty gray. “Okay, okay. Earlier today I got a text telling me to have two disguise amulets in a bag and to be waiting by the curb at noon for someone to pick them up.”

“Who sent the text?”

“I don’t know.”

Maya clicked her tongue. It was like dealing with a five-year-old. “You honestly expect me to believe you received a random text telling you to prepare two disguise amulets that are not only forbidden in Valen’s territory but extremely expensive and then to stand next to the curb to hand them over to a stranger? And you thought...yes, that’s a fantastic idea?”

“I was going to delete the text,” Hexx protested. “I get all sorts of crazy messages. Some dude last week came in looking for a corpse. What kind of shop does he think this is?”

Maya deliberately glanced toward the stack of crates shoved against the back wall. A few of them had a familiar logo stamped on the side.

“One that sells black-market magical items,” she stated the obvious. “No doubt you also dabble in illegal drugs, including dragon scale—”

“Well I don’t trade in dead bodies,” he interrupted. As if that excused his criminal behavior.

“Who sent the text?” she pressed.

“I truly don’t know.” His expression tightened, the muscles of his neck bulging as if he was struggling against her spell. When he failed, he sent her a glare of frustration. “Look, I was going to delete the text but a second later I got an alert from my bank showing a very large amount of money was just deposited into my account. The sort of money that was as good as a threat. Whoever sent it didn’t intend to take no for an answer.”

Maya believed he’d gotten a large sum deposited in his account. Whoever was funding the attack on the Cabal wasn’t counting pennies. But she didn’t believe he’d felt threatened. At least, not by taking the money. He most certainly was terrified to reveal who had deposited it.

“Was anyone with Long Jong when he stopped to get the amulets?”

“Not unless he had someone hidden in the trunk.”

“Did he say anything?”

“Nope. He rolled down his window and I threw the bag to him. End of transaction.”

Maya lowered her hand and stepped back. She was wasting her time. Hexx was obviously nothing more than a pawn. He didn’t have the information she needed. Her only hope was that he could lead her to someone who knew what was going on. And where she could find Skye.

“I won’t turn you into a hamster. At least not tonight.” She sent him a warning frown. “But I will be back to discuss your habit of selling black-market items.”

“No discussion needed,” Hexx stammered, torn between relief he wasn’t going to suffer any immediate repercussions and fear that she might destroy his lucrative trade. “I’m sure all of this can be cleaned out.”

“I’ll be back,” she insisted.

“Okay, yeah, sure. Gotcha.” He forced a stiff smile. “Now if you can just... Hey, wait!” His voice cracked with fear as Maya turned on her high heels and headed for the door. “You have to release me.”

“The spell will fade.” Maya halted at the door to give him a finger wave. “Eventually.”

His loud pleas followed her through the shop that was now empty after his young employee wisely decided to bolt, but Maya didn’t slow her steady march until she was out of the building and halfway down the street. Only then did she step behind a lamppost and turn back toward the pawnshop. She was betting that Hexx was going to scurry to his employer’s lair and warn them that a powerful mage was asking uncomfortable questions. And plead for mercy at having revealed his connection to Long Jong.

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