Page 16 of Guild Boss

“Maybe. When did you want to leave to go after the thief?”

“The sooner the better,” Gabriel said. He seemed to relax a little. “This afternoon.”

“Sorry, that’s impossible. I’ve got an engagement party this evening. It’s the Covenant Marriage season, remember? Lots of weddings and formal engagements.”

Gabriel looked like a man who had just run straight into a quartz wall. Staggered.

“You’re getting engaged?” he said, his voice rasping a little.

“No, my ex is. To a friend of mine. It is a Covenant Marriage engagement. You know what that means: big, formal event.”

“Let me get this straight,” Gabriel said. “Your ex’s engagement party is more important than recovering a priceless artifact and the opportunity to recover your reputation?”

“That artifact is priceless only to the Arcane Society, which, I assume, is paying the Guild a lot of money to find it. The relic doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. And as for my reputation, one job in the Ghost City may not be enough to get me back into the game.” She stopped as a thought struck her. “You called the artifact priceless, but it sounds like just another Old World antique. There are a lot of those floating around. Are you a member of the Arcane Society? Is that why you’re so eager to find the thing?”

“The Jones family has always had a strong connection to Arcane. The organization was founded by a Jones back on Earth. You could say I was born into the Society. The relic isn’t of any special interest to me, but it is apparently quite dangerous, and this is Guild territory now—my territory. I’m responsible for managing security issues in the Underworld. We’ve only just begun to explore and chart the tunnels down below. The Ghost City is almost entirely unmapped, and no one knows what the hell happened in the aboveground ruins here.”

His eyes sparked with energy. The man was definitely mission-driven, Lucy thought. But then, she had already guessed that much about him. He was the type who put his dedication to his job ahead of everything else, including personal relationships. His private life was probably a hot mess, or maybe simply nonexistent. He was not good husband material, because his work would always come first.

Not that she cared about whether he would make a good husband. Not that she even knew what good husband material looked like. For a time she had believed that Tony was good husband material.

“I appreciate the offer of a contract,” she said. “But if you feel you must begin the search for the thief this afternoon, you’ll have to find another channeler.”

“I want the best. I’ll wait.”

“Fine. Where do I meet you tomorrow?”

“I’ll pick you up in the morning.”

“No, I’ll meet you somewhere. GPS and the mapping programs don’t work in the Dark Zone. You’ll never be able to find my address.”

Gabriel gave her a slow, cold smile. “The first thing a new Guild boss does is become familiar with his territory. I know where you live.”

She tensed. “Is that supposed to be a joke?”

“No, it’s the truth. How do you think I found you today? I stopped by your apartment building. Your landlady told me you were working here.”

Lucy groaned. “Mrs. Briggs. Of course she told you where I was.”

Few people said no to a Guild boss.

“I’ll pick you up at five,” Gabriel said.

“Are you kidding? I told you, I’m going to a full Covenant Marriage engagement ball. I won’t be getting home until two or three in the morning.”

“Five a.m. if you want the job.”

She tapped one finger against the steering wheel. Okay, the bottom line was that she really, really wanted the job. Maybe there was a slimchance that she could somehow recover from the career disaster. It was a long shot, but at least it offered a spark of hope. She did not want to spend the rest of her days driving tourists around the Storm Zone. The only other alternative was going back to Resonance as a failure.

“All right, five o’clock,” she agreed.

She could slip out of the party early. No one would notice. She would get her gear together and maybe grab a few hours of sleep before Gabriel Jones showed up at the door.

In spite of her mood, she was aware of a little thrill of excitement. She was going back into the Underworld. The Ghost City was riddled with wild paranormal weather. She would have an opportunity to employ her talent for something more challenging than navigating the Storm Zone.

“I’ll have to notify Luxton, the owner of this operation, that I won’t be in tomorrow,” she said. “He won’t like it.”

“He didn’t raise any objections when I told him the Guild would be grateful if he would let me borrow you for a couple of days.”

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