Page 34 of Tested
Chapter Ten
Connor
Too many balls in the air, MacPherson. I berate myself, aware of my own inconsistencies. I ask David for help, tease him with the offer of a partnership in my new project, then leave him with no real explanation.
But I have to find the princess, and if I’m going to be keeping secrets from Trajan, I might as well keep them from David, too. It’s not fair to ask him to deal with my bullshit.
My first stop is Mr. Goldsmith’s back yard, to make sure the damned revenant is staying dead. Everything looks calm, so I’m in and out before the dogs wake up to yell about it.
I’d learned more from Stone than just the name of that marginally cooperative guy in the bookstore. He’d connected me to an elf named Sam Kowalski. Sent the dude a text, even, so he’s expecting me. I might have met Kowalski the last time I had this case, but I’d been more focused on finding a connection between Betancourt, Brendan Collins, and stolen magical materials. Now it’s all-princess-all-the-time, and I need to make nice.
I’m later than I’d intended – damned murder screwed with my schedule – but Kowalski is still awake and willing to talk to me.
We meet at a twenty-four hour diner on Main Street in downtown LA. The awning in front advertises “kickin’ hot fried chicken”, and all of a sudden I’m hungry. I order food, but Kowalski just gets coffee. He watches me eat, his eyes following my hand to my mouth as if he regrets his decision.
We’re at a table that’s a couple inches too small for the pair of us. He’s as tall as I am and wiry, with red hair and the kind of freckles that all blend into one. His aura stands out, too, a mellow bronze against the diner’s black and white color scheme. I worked with a few elves on the Elites. They have kind of an attitude, but if I’m going into a fight, I want them on my side.
“So Stone says you’re a private investigator.” Kowalski sounds bored with the whole thing. Maybe he gets called to late-night meetings all the time. I don’t know.
“I am now, yeah.”
“Now? What were you yesterday?” He’s got what David would callresting smirk face, which’ll get under my skin if I let it.
“I was with the Elites until last June.”Huh. Resting smirk face can be overcome by surprise. Good to know. I give him a moment to digest that information, then move on. “I’m also looking into the disappearance of Tatiana Ivanova.”The elven princess.
His expression shuts down completely and for a moment I’m worried that he’s pondering the best way of taking me out without causing a ruckus. I wish I were armed; that was another change from my days with the Elites. No toys, no weapons, and no backup.
“Lady Tatiana has been missing for over two years. Who hired you to find her at this late date?”
I suppress a snort of laughter. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.”
He’s done playing around, and so am I. “Ananda Pendragon, the Morrigan.”
Expression unchanged, he rests his right hand on the table.
His right hand and the pistol he’s holding.
My muscles coil on instinct, ready to spring out of the way. Spikes of red disrupt his aura. Anger. We’re sitting so close together, I’m unlikely to get far if he decides to shoot. The best I can hope for is avoiding a kill shot. I could shift, but the sudden appearance of a horse in a diner would be strange, even by LA’s standards. A horse, or a dog, or…a shadowy thing I both fear and hate. I’d only made that shift once and vowed never to do it again.
Wishing I had something more concrete to defend myself with, a taser even, I feel my way through my next words.
“The thing I can’t figure out, though, is why she cares.”
His eyes narrow but he’s otherwise still.
“Stone told me you’re attached to the Princess’s household, so I figure that gives you insights others might not have.”
“I’m Lady Tatiana’s cousin, and your Morrigan is the personification of evil.” His hand still hasn’t moved, though his glare is a tactile thing, a blast of heat against my skin. “If your intent is to find the Princess for that bitch Morrigan, I will not help you.”
What the hell?“How about if I’m trying to find the Lady Tatiana because it’s wrong when royalty goes missing?”
He tenses, and so do I.
“Why should I trust you?” His words land between us like darts.
I lean toward him, even though it’s a risk. “Because your princess’s disappearance has turned into a cold case and I’m willing to reopen it, and because finding her was on my radar two years ago and I really hate leaving a job undone, and because the idea that she’s been missing all this time offends me.”
