Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong Read Free Book Online Page A

lesson by giving me one of his own. That’s what he was doing one summer afternoon. He had an important business dinner at eight, so he’d bumped our appointment up to four. He’d walked in and said, “I hear Lavina wants to wrest control of Dhamphir from the Granville family. I suppose she expects your help with that.”
    Dhamphir was a black-market magic shop that fronted as a nightclub, and both incarnations were very successful. I didn’t ask how Nast heard that. I wasn’t surprised, though. He was like the lion sunning himself on the highest rock, watching all the lesser beasts scamper around the water hole. He never involved himself in their daily business, but no part of it escaped his notice.
    “It goes above and beyond your contract with her,” he said.
    “I know. She said it’d be a separate job. Paid employment.”
    “Good. And the job itself?”
    “I don’t know enough about Dhamphir yet to agree. It sounds easy. The Granvilles aren’t what you’d call a force to be reckoned with, which makes me wonder why someone hasn’t wrested control from them yet. I’m guessing there’s more to it.”
    “You’d be guessing right. The Granvilles are backed by another investor. You’d have to dig hard to find it, though. The Cortez Corporation.”
    “Ah. That makes sense, then. If the Cortez Cabal is bankrolling Dhamphir, I don’t want anything to do with—”
    Nast’s pager beeped. He checked the message and got up so fast, I jumped.
    “I need to take this,” he said, and strode into the bedroom.
    I helped myself to the room service he’d ordered and tried not to eavesdrop on his conversation.
    When he came out, he headed straight for his coat.
    “I’ll be missing my lesson today,” he said. “The payment is yours, of course.”
    “We can reschedule for tomorrow. I’m free.”
    “I’m heading home immediately. One of my sons was in an accident.”
    “Shit. Is he okay?” I grabbed his briefcase for him as he looked around, distracted. “No, I guess that’s a dumb question if you’re blowing off the meeting to get back there.”
    “No, it’s not— He had a game this afternoon and was hit in the head with a baseball. A possible concussion, but nothing serious. I just…I should be there.”
    He started for the door, then stopped. “My car. I need to page—”
    “A taxi will be faster. I’ll call one. You head down.”
    He nodded, got halfway out the door, then glanced back. “Thank you, Eve.”
    “Go.” I shooed him out and went for the phone.
    In all the time I’d been training Kristof Nast, I’d never stopped seeing him as a Cabal sorcerer. He was a means to an end, nothing more. But when he tore out that door to fly to his son’s side, he became something more. He became a person, maybe even someone I wanted to know better.
    Nast called me the next day to reschedule. His son was fine. Just a bad headache.
    “Do you remember the brew for that?” I said. “We went over it last month, or I could send you some.”
    “I’d appreciate it. I don’t think I’ll get a chance to pick up the ingredients. You can courier it to the L.A. office.”
    “I’ll put Lavina’s name on it as the return address. Will that work?”
    “Yes, thank you. As for our next lesson, I’ll be in town next week for that meeting I missed.”
    He gave me the details and asked if that would work. I said it would. As he was about to hang up, I said, “Kristof?”
    “Hmm?”
    “About your sons. That’s why you want the healing and protection magic, isn’t it? For them.”
    I swore the line frosted in the silence that followed.
    “I’m not prying,” I said. “I’m only asking because there are other spells I can teach you. Other potions, too. Specifically for children, childhood illnesses and whatnot. Some of the others might be a little strong. If that’s why you want them, we should discuss that.”
    “It is.”
    “Good. I’ll go make a batch of headache brew and send it out.”
    A week