Ruby Fever (Hidden Legacy, #6)(29)

“No, I wouldn’t have.”

“If Linus were here, he would have stopped you, too.”

“Linus isn’t here, because she hurt him.”

He dipped his head to look at me. “This is not like you.”

This was not like me.

That thought spun my mind around. The surge of magic inside me died.

I had endangered the investigation. If he hadn’t taken my hand, Kaylee and I would be locked in a mental duel right now. She was untrained, but she was freakishly powerful.

I’d come within a hair of singing. Not only had I almost jeopardized the search for Linus’ assassin, but I would have put the lives of everyone in that room in danger. This didn’t happen to me. I’d been controlling my magic and my emotions since early childhood, but an untrained mental mage had managed to rile me up to the point of nearly losing it.

It wasn’t Kaylee. It was Linus. He was still unconscious, and it was seriously messing with my head. I needed to get a grip right now, because if I spun out of control, I wouldn’t be able to undo what would happen.

“Thank you for stopping me,” I told him.

“Any time,” he said.

Agent Garcia marched back to us. We started walking toward her at the same time. The more distance was between us and the watchful eyes inside the house, the better.

We met halfway.

“She attacked a federal agent and the two of you just sat there,” Agent Garcia growled. “Tell me why I shouldn’t get a strike team down here right now and take her into custody. Alive or dead, I don’t care.”

That would be a nightmare. I turned my back to the security camera, pointed at it, hiding the gesture with my body, and lowered my voice.

“You’re not wrong,” I said. “And your anger is justified. However, she has done much worse than that. I want to nail her to the wall, but she’s involved in a much larger scheme, and I don’t exactly know how. I don’t know what will happen if we bring her in. Please give me time.”

“Promise me you won’t sweep this under the rug,” Agent Garcia said. “I want your word that this doesn’t become one of those House politics secrets.”

“I won’t and you have it.”

“Seventy-two hours,” Agent Garcia ground out.

“The Office of the Warden appreciates your patience,” Alessandro said.

Agent Garcia squeezed her hand into a fist and relaxed it. “I’ll tell you one thing. That girl is no halcyon. Her magic tastes like jagged glass.”

She marched around the car, got into the driver’s seat, drove off, with Wahl still unconscious, and almost collided with an armored gunmetal grey Dodge as it turned into the driveway. For a moment the two cars were at a standoff, then the Dodge reversed, giving Agent Garcia room. She peeled out of the driveway.

Alessandro frowned.

The grey Dodge slid to a stop in front of us. The driver’s window rolled down, revealing a tan man in his late twenties, with light brown hair and grey eyes behind large round glasses. I’d seen him before. He was one of Lenora Jordan’s Assistant DAs. Matt Something.

“No,” Alessandro said.

Matt gave us an apologetic wave with his hand. “I’m merely the messenger.”

Cornelius appeared at the mouth of the driveway, Gus on a leash next to him. He saw us and waved. His car was nowhere in sight. He must’ve walked from Linus’ house.

I waved back.

“We lost Dag Gunderson,” Matt said.

“How, Matt?” Alessandro growled. “I left him at your doorstep.”

“Gross incompetence,” Matt said cheerfully. “He’s been spotted near St. Agnes Academy. We’re reasonably sure he’s going to bomb it. I’ll fill you in on the way.”

Alessandro’s tone was cold. “I’m busy.”

It was my turn to be reasonable. I took his hand and squeezed it. He gave me an outraged look.

“Lenora personally asked for you,” Matt said. “She said she would consider it a favor.”

There were a handful of people in Houston not even the strongest Houses cared to provoke. The Harris County DA was one of them. More importantly, hundreds of children were about to experience a magic meteor shower that would explode on impact.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “Go.”

He shook his head.

“She sent a car,” I told him. “I won’t do anything rash without you. I promise. Look, Cornelius is over there. I’ll pick him up, check on Bern and Runa, and we’ll go straight home.”

Alessandro swore again.

“It’s fine,” I told him. “There are hundreds of children in St. Agnes.”

He exhaled and got into the SUV. “Drive fast, Matt.”

“Always.” Matt smiled at me. “Thank you for your understanding, Ms. Baylor.”

The window rolled back up. The Dodge reversed and sped away.

I forgot to tell him about Konstantin. Well, crap. Not that it would change anything. He would still have had to go to apprehend Dag Gunderson. I would wait to interview the prince until he returned home.

I got into Rhino and drove it to the mouth of the driveway, where Cornelius stood.

“Would you like a lift?”

“Yes, thank you.”