Actually, I hadn’t thought of that and gave the idea the credit it deserved. “Good idea. I’ll mention that. I’d only planned on waiting until you left, but then, I’m not a mage. I like the full-body binding, though. Do those come in a charm disk?”
He pursed his lips. “Dunno. I’d imagine I could come up with something.” He grinned again. “But it’ll cost you.”
The muscles in my stomach were loosening a little as I let out a small chuckle. Either he was a consummate actor or his story was true. I was going with my gut. I hoped I wouldn’t regret it. Bubba still looked embarrassed at being so effusive, but he was easing down a little, too. “Just make sure you’re not the first person I’ll have to use it on.” Creede didn’t respond, but his eyes were twinkling. “Obviously, I’ll need to talk to the others and will have to find out from Dawna where she keeps the sample leases with the terms and house rules.”
“Dawna’s your secretary? I think I met her at the wake.”
Bubba said, “Yeah, that’s her,” and shook his head. “Poor kid.” Dawna wasn’t exactly a kid, but his sympathy was well placed. He paused for a moment, then grinned and said, “My vote is to let him take it.”
I gave Bubba a return smile. “I could use the rent to pay for Dottie’s salary and Dawna’s raise.”
“You’re givin’ her a raise?” Bubba was obviously shocked. He’d probably expected me to vote for firing her for not showing up.
“Guilt money,” I admitted. “The bat that got her was after me. I’d do more if she’d let me, but she’s too damned proud.”
Bubba nodded. He was a tenant in the building before any of the rest of us ever got here. He’d known Dawna a long time.
“That’s nice.” Creede sounded shocked and gave me a startled look.
“I can be nice,” I answered, more than a little insulted by the implication.
He raised both hands in surrender and started to apologize. “Sorry. I’d just heard you were a stone-cold bitch. It’s sort of one of the reasons I considered you for the business. I need someone tough.”
I could just bet where he’d heard that from: Vicki’s mom. Damn it.
“Celia’s all right,” Bubba rose to my defense. “She’s only a bitch if you really deserve it. Act decent and she’s cool. But don’t make the mistake of thinking she can’t be a bitch.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Do.” The growl that escaped me along with the word surprised us all. Apparently, Creede had dug deeper than I realized. I’d get over my annoyance faster if I wasn’t in the same room with him, so I turned my back on them and walked to my office.
I unlocked the door and stepped over the threshold, feeling the buzz of power. Last time Bruno visited, he’d put a new set of wards on the doorway. He hadn’t bothered to ask if I wanted them. He’s sweet like that—he knows I’m always in favor of more security. But it was a damned good thing the vampire bite hadn’t affected me to the point where I set them off. That would be so embarrassing. And painful. Judging from the amount of buzz I was getting, very painful.
I set the box with the Wadjeti on the desk and opened the safe. I got less of a buzz from it than from the doorway. Not because these wards were less powerful but because the safe had been made for me and was keyed to my DNA. I’d had to reset it postattack, but now that it “knew” the vampire and siren me, it was good. I was just hoping it wouldn’t weird out again eight months from now. The safe thinks I’m pregnant. That’s how we got it to accept my altered DNA.
I set the Wadjeti onto the shelf next to the box with my knives. They both started to glow, each reacting to the magic of the other. A soft, gentle hum filled the metal enclosure. I stared in pleased awe at the beautiful rainbow of colors—my own private aurora borealis that pulsed and danced inches away. How pretty.
That emotion lasted for about a second and a half before it occurred to me to shut the safe door in case I was in for more than a light show. Eek. I slammed it closed with a little more force than was probably necessary, just as I heard the gentle tap of knuckles against my office door.
“Yes?”
“It’s John Creede. Can I come in?”
I didn’t really want him to. But if he was going to be a tenant and on the same floor, I should probably be nice. “Sure.”
He opened the door, then reached out a hand to touch the invisible line of power with a smile. He glanced over at me. “DeLuca?”
I nodded.
“He does damned fine work.” Creede’s expression darkened to a scowl as he visibly “swam” through the ward on the door. When he emerged inside the room, he rubbed his arms like they stung. “It just kills me that I may have recruited him to work for George.”
“He hasn’t said yes yet, has he?” I honestly didn’t know, since I hadn’t talked to him.
Creede sighed, as if I were being a fool and he was losing patience with it. “He might not have signed the contract yet, but you haven’t seen the package we negotiated. For some reason he really wants to move to this coast, but he’s a tough one to please.” Creede said it drily and raised one brow. We both knew why Bruno wanted to move. I couldn’t wait until he got out here and wished he’d call me back. I was going to be annoyed if he didn’t get my message until after I was locked up again.
I wanted to hear his voice and definitely wanted to tell him about this situation. It was going to be damned awkward if I wound up partnering with Creede and Bruno was working for the competition. Because Bruno is the best. And the clients would know it.
“So, what just happened?” Creede asked. “I felt . . . something in this room, big enough to cause my hairs to stand up even through the wards.”
“I put something new in the safe and the things I had in there already reacted,” I explained.
“Reacted how?” He didn’t bother to hide his concern. I couldn’t blame him. Magic is dangerous and this was powerful stuff. I wasn’t nearly as worried now that the safe door was closed and I had thick steel protecting me.
I shrugged, not to make light of it, but I was confident about the safe. Bruno did the original work, but I had a company that came in on a regular basis to recharge and layer the protections. “Put on a light show. Shot rainbows around the room, hummed a little bit.”
“Did the things vibrate? Was the light red, green, what? Did the objects get hot or cold?” Creede fired the questions at me like bullets.
“No vibration, no temperature change, and literally rainbows,” I answered, “just colored light. It was really pretty. But I decided I’d better shut the safe door just in case.”
“Rainbows.” He shook his head and scowled. “And they reacted to each other. What the hell do you have in there and how did you get it?”
I liked Creede well enough. But I like my secrets, too. The knives Bruno made for me are valuable enough that there are people who would literally kill to get their hands on them. Even people I’ve known for years have no idea they exist. And if what El Jefe said about the Wadjeti was true, it was basically priceless. So I just smiled sweetly and said, “Gifts from friends.”
“You must have some powerful friends.”
I thought about the demon that almost killed me and the woman who set him onto me. He was banished, but you can’t kill a greater demon, and she got away. I was pretty sure Kevin was hunting her, but she was definitely going to be a hard target. Was that what Ivan had been contacting me about? I wished I knew. “I’m just hoping they’re as powerful as my enemies.”