Frostbite (Modern Knights Book 1) by Joshua Bader Read Free Book Online Page B

I believe the archaic term suits her better: she is my seneschal.”
    We sat in silence after that. My breakfast arrived and I began to eat. I could tell Lucien was waiting for something, but I didn’t have a clue what. So I attended to what I did understand: blueberry syrup atop hot golden pancakes.
    I was four or five bites in when Lucien started to laugh. “I give up, Mr. Fisher. I’ve had twelve other personal wizards before you. Most were con artists or one-trick ponies. Near worthless. But I think I like you.”
    I had enough etiquette to swallow before replying. “Why’s that?”
    “You’re not trying to impress me. No dire prophecies of doom or demonstrations of power. You don’t need to. That’s the sign of real power, isn’t it? When you don’t feel the need to show it off, it means you really have it.”
    “I know a little,” I confessed. “Enough to know that I’m not the biggest fish in the sea. But my luck and love spells pack a mean punch.” My last luck spell, in fact, had accidentally killed its recipient. He won a quarter million dollars on the roulette wheel before karma straightened itself out in the form of a speeding bus. After that, I was very careful to limit my scope when I tinkered with probability. None of that seemed particularly interview-relevant, however. Scratch that. It probably was interview-relevant, but I suddenly wanted to get this job and thought that anecdote might sour the deal.
    “Ooh, ooh, tell him about the couple on their honeymoon you put in the nuthouse. I love that story.”
    “Hmm.” He proceeded. “What about curses? Do you know how to break them?”
    “Depends on how it got there in the first place. It can be as simple as getting the person who placed it to unspeak the curse or as complex as paying reparations.” All of which I understood in theory. I was well read in virtually every field of magic. In practice, however, I had never seen a real curse in action. From what I had studied, that was part of how curses operated: they blended into the background, subtly tilting reality toward their destination.
    “This one is not simple, but perhaps some form of reparations could be made. I’m afraid I don’t know who placed it on me.”
    “I see.” I chewed it over, along with a mouthful of egg. “I’d have to study it, then. How do you know you’ve been cursed?”
    He held up a hand. “We’ll get to that, if I hire you. Breaking it will be your first professional duty. Could you do it?”
    I should have insisted on more details or revealed my inexperience in the curse-breaking arena. But the truth was I was enjoying eating in restaurants, sleeping in hotels, and not worrying about how to pay for it. I was a good vagabond, but I knew I couldn’t live that life forever. So I lied. “Of course I can.”
    “Sure, you’ll lie to a murderous, powerful lord of capitalism, but not to the FBI about a little thing like murder.”
    His steely blue eyes dug into me. After a minute, he leaned back in his seat. “I think you can. I really do.”
    “Is this the part of the interview where I ask what your company does and what my responsibilities will be?”
    “Valente International maintains form and balance in a world determined to plunge into chaos. It makes me money in the process, but I assure you it also serves humanitarian interests, the greater good. I’m what you might call the Devil You Know. I may be evil, but I keep much worse things at bay. I make sure there’s a food store and coffee shop every other block. I don’t like it when people disappear or families get slaughtered in their homes, because the dead and the abducted can’t spend money or work jobs. I want you to know that up front, Colin Fisher. I am evil, but I’m your evil. I uphold society and, in turn, society upholds me.”
    “Your honesty is refreshing.” I tried not to shudder. “Drugs? The meth they found on the clerk, he was selling that for you?”
    “A subsidiary of a