Black and White (3 page)

“If he doesn’t have one, he wants to start one. Fortunately, I have put a flea in his ear and he is targeting me now.” Ty smiled brightly.

Tamora rubbed her forehead. “What did you do?”

Al chuckled. “She bit him and broke his crush box.”

Ty gave a happy smile to her dispatcher. “I got him good, too. I will be able to tell him by taste even if a glamour is involved.”

Her friend held up the image and called in her receptionist. “Take copies of it, scan it and send it to the guild and council heads. Let them know that we have a collector on the loose and he may have friends.”

The receptionist nodded briskly and headed off to make copies.

Tamora leaned forward again. “Now, what aren’t you telling me?”

Tyanna sipped her coffee and smiled in relief. She had been awake for a while.

“I can’t speak for Al, but I got the impression that this was a well-rehearsed choreography. They mentioned offering us to Algar first. That implies that there were others waiting in the wings. If the fey have started collecting shifters, we might have a problem.”

Tamora got to her feet. “Give me a minute.”

Alatas looked over at Ty. “I wonder what we are about to learn?”

“I don’t know. So, how have you been keeping?”

He smiled brightly, his teeth white in his tanned face. His body said Pacific Islander, and his features had the sharp exotic cast of a blended heritage. The thick waves of dark hair were very fetching, and he smelled like popcorn no matter what he was shaped like.

She smiled. “I have been busy. Yesterday was supposed to be my day off, but Tamora left a message and here I am. Were you in search of Wax?”

“Jeremy Wax? Yes. I got the same information you did. He was long gone by the time I got to the bar, but now that we are aware the bartender is in on the kidnappings, I think we might have been misled as to the truth of the situation.”

Ty had a thought. “Do you think that he could have been grabbed by the mages as well? I mean, if it was the last place he was seen, it could have been where he disappeared, too.”

Alatas nodded. “It could have been. I still don’t understand why the mages guild doesn’t know about this.”

Tamora came back in. “They do now. You two are scheduled for a complete debriefing with the Guild Master in half an hour. Tyanna, can you draw a picture of the two human mages?”

She nodded. “Bring the sketchbook back and I will get to it.”

Tamora retrieved the book and handed it back.

Ty started to draw the young man first.

“When did you start to draw?”

She flicked a gaze at Alatas and smiled, “You may as well ask,
when did I start to breathe
, it is the same thing. When I was little, my mother gave me a pencil and paper to keep me quiet. I never let it go. When I need to calm down, I draw. When I need to think, I draw. And when I need to make an image of a backstabbing human, I draw.”

Tamora laughed and went to fetch more coffee.

Ty watched the face appear under her pencil. When she was staring at the man she wanted to claw into a bloody heap, she flipped the page and went to work on his sister.

Her hand blurred across the paper and she sketched the woman. When it was finished, she rubbed her hands together and reached for her cool coffee.

Al took the sketchbook and he nodded. “That is amazing. I mean, I knew that you could draw people, but I have never seen it before.”

“I only need to do it in situations like these, when taking a snapshot would have gotten us killed. I had my phone with me, but I didn’t think that taking a picture was a good idea.”

He chuckled. “I was thinking the same thing. Mind you, I was still struggling with that drug. How did you avoid it?”

“I was a sissy. I told them that I didn’t like the taste, and they swapped it into my normal cheap beer selection. I had to drink some, but then, I went to the ladies’ room and puked it up then flushed it with half a litre of water.”

He winced. “That sounds unpleasant, but I am glad you did it, because with her pinning me to the back of the booth, I didn’t have a chance to dodge.”

She cocked her head. “Are you still seeing that skunk?”

Tamora laughed.

Al blinked. “Um, no. She headed to the Crossroads a year ago when it was obvious that I wasn’t interested in making our relationship permanent.”

“Ouch. Well, that certainly sends a signal. Nothing like going off to the Crossroads to let a guy know that she doesn’t consider him mate material.”

He shrugged. “We weren’t right for each other. We both knew it.”

Tyanna grinned and finished her coffee. “At least you figured it out on your own.”

Al sighed. “Yes. I believe she married a badger. They were a much better fit.”

Tamora was watching them with a soft expression on her features. Her phone rang and she jerked upright. “He’s here? Right. We are on our way.”

She hung up and the slight crest of hair was smoothed down with her practiced hand.

As Tyanna got to her feet, she realized that she had never considered a cockatoo as a boss, but Tamora was ideal. Her hair standing in a crest when she was startled never failed to be funny.

Ty had never seen her fully transformed, but the crest that emerged was bright blue against her dark hair and deep chestnut skin. It stood out.

Al stood next to her and she noted that he was quite a bit bigger than she was in human form. It always amused her that when they shifted, they switched physical advantage. He was swaying a little so she was guessing that he wasn’t as clear of the effect as he tried to pretend.

With the sketchbook back in hand, she moved with her little group to one of the large conference rooms where a tired-looking mage sat talking to the equally rumpled council member.

“Tyanna, Alatas, this is Mage Guild Master Tobias Orcross. We are waiting for the fey representative, but they said they were on the way.” Tamora smiled brightly.

Ty felt the change in the local atmosphere. “The fey is here.”

Master Tobias gave her a strange look. “You look familiar.”

She stepped forward and gave a short bow. “We have met before. Tyanna Willow Wu, at your service.”

“Ah, the bear that was raised by Ekiadu.”

She didn’t correct him with details. “Yes.”

He extended his hand. “I am pleased to meet you formally. I have heard excellent things about your adventures.”

Tyanna shook his hand and felt the exploration of power run up her arm. It was a common mage’s trick. She looked him in the eye, and his expression was one of surprise as she used her beast to roll his magic down her arm and up his hand. She released her grip and gave him a pleasant nod.

His look was one of grudging respect.

The fey representative sailed through the door. “I had to take the elevator, can you believe it?”

Ty felt another surge of recognition, which followed instinctive joy. “Lady Liahan. It is good to see you again.”

The woman smiled and opened her arms for a hug. “Ty-Wi-Wu! How lovely!”

Tyanna rolled her eyes but went forward for the hug. The clash of fey and shifter magic nearly caused sparks, but it was a familiar feel. “Hello, Aunty.”

She heard Al and Tamora behind her. “Aunty?”

The smell of rosemary, roses and honey wrapped around her. It was a great smell.

“I don’t care, honey, but your folk are staring and I was called here for a reason. We can talk later.”

Liahan Green Willow was right. With one sharp inhalation, Tyanna backed off. She returned to Tamora and Alatas, ignoring their shocked looks.

Lady Liahan greeted the other two representatives and took a seat. “Now, why don’t you tell me why I am here?”

Tamora explained the situation and Alatas’s and Tyanna’s roles in the events. Liahan was irritated when she heard that human mages had kidnapped Ty, but when she heard that an elf had been involved, she was furious. Her hair glowed white and crackled with energy.

“They tried to put you in a crush box?” Liahan was on her feet with her fists clenched.

“I am fine, Aunty. Please, sit and we will show you the image.”

She opened the sketchbook and showed Liahan the picture. “He was identified as Lord Kamian Algar.”

She tore the image out of the book and handed it over to Liahan for examination.

She tore out the other two pictures and handed them to Tobias. “These were the mages. The girl was blonde and the male was probably as well, though he had dyed his hair brown.”

He looked at the images and he jolted. “Siblings you say?”

She nodded. “There is no mistaking it. I mean unless they changed their faces to match for some peculiar reason.”

He tapped the face of the young woman. “She is familiar. I will have to take a copy of this to run through the guild. I am not very good with faces. Power signatures, yes, but not faces.”

Ty bit her lip. “How do you identify the signatures? Colour or scent?”

Liahan was still angry but she smiled. “Tell her, Tobias. She can help jog your memory.”

“Colours. I identify energy in colours.”

Ty decided to test him. “What colours am I?”

He narrowed his gaze. “Black and white.”

He was right. She smiled and closed her eyes. “The man’s signature is green, swirls of rust, hints of smoke grey. The girl’s is the same but with blue-green, rust and grey.”

He opened his eyes wide. “Did they mention picking you because you were exotics?”

Al nodded. “Yes. She mentioned it over and over again.”

To Tyanna’s surprise, Liahan was growling. “Tubrin. Elegar Tubrin is the fey in this picture. He has a lot of money but no social standing. Collecting shifters is right up his alley, and the more exotic the better. The problem is if he is doing it, then his social circle would have been involved in the same practice.”

Tobias turned to her. “How many fey are we talking about?”

Liahan shrugged. “Nine to twenty depending on how much fun they are having.”

Tobias grunted. “Right. Eleanor and Wilfred Banks. They match the power signature that you referenced. The blue-green and green are identifier talent markers. The smoke grey is the ability to cast a shield.”

Liahan nodded. “I will help you find them, and hopefully, we will get Elegar in the process. The public may know about elves, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t have to monitor our behaviour.”

Ty smiled and then swayed. She was rather tired even after all the coffee. “Pardon me, but I need to park myself.”

She staggered over to a chair and sat down.

Al was at her side and looking at her with concern. “Is there anything I can do?”

She shook her head.

Liahan extended a goblet of cold sparkling water. “Here, cub. Drink this. I suspect I know what they used on you, and the effects can vary.”

Ty guzzled the goblet and sighed, leaning back. “Thanks, Aunty.”

Liahan smiled and took the empty cup back, sending it into the vapours from which it sprang. Solid light was her skill, and she was very good at it.

Liahan patted her shoulder. “Pixie dust can mess with shifters. It can send you into unexpected shifts or block you from shifting at all. How did you chase them off?”

Al snorted. “They put her in the crush box, and she used the power of her beast to break it to pieces before they could start. That spooked them into running and disappearing, respectively.”

Liahan tsked and stroked her hair. “Tyanna never did like the crush box. That wasn’t the first one she destroyed. It was how we met, actually. A mage with issues about her being raised by a master mage decided to have some fun at her expense.”

Ty sat up. “I don’t think that anyone needs the lecture about my destructive habits, Aunty.”

Her aunty sighed. “Right. Anyway. You were most likely dosed with pixie dust. It is a concoction of herbs, sugar and magic. The effects wear off in a few hours, but you will feel rough until they do.”

“Oh, goody.”

Tobias and the Shifter Councilmember were in conference.

Ty looked at Liahan. “I will be fine, Aunty. Go and join the conversation. Someone has to pin that weasel down.”

Tamora came over. “That reminds me. We had a tracking flicker on Jeremy Wax. He has just been transported to the Crossroads. If you two can sleep off the pixie dust, you can go after him.”

Ty looked at Al, and he looked back with wry amusement.

She asked Tamora, “We don’t have to adhere to the rules of the Crossroads, do we?”

Her dispatcher chuckled. “No. I am sure that an exception can be made. We need you to find Wax before he hooks another shifter into this mess.”

Ty nodded. “Right. Let’s go. I can rest there as easily as I can here.”

Alatas helped her to her feet. “You are not going there alone, so I agree. We can sleep there.”

Tobias stood up. “I can send you now. It will not be as smooth as a transporter’s work, but I can get you there.”

It was funny to be in a room where no conversation was private, but it did make things easier for all concerned.

Ty stood with Al’s arm around her. “I will have to buy what I need when I get there.”

Tobias smiled. “Teal and Tony will sort you out. Hold on.”

A flare of darkness and a twist of the ground under them and they were in the middle of a peacefully landscaped garden.

A woman with white hair appeared with a smile. “Hunters, welcome to the Crossroads.”

The Open Heart Bed and Breakfast was delightful and the beds were soft and thick.

Teebie had delivered a simple day dress and clean underwear while she slept. She had even added a set of low-heeled shoes to the pile. After a long and exceptionally hot shower, Tyanna almost felt normal again. She got dressed and headed downstairs with her hair in its normal black braid.

The small bracelet on her wrist felt odd, but Teal assured her that it would be unusual for her to not be wearing one. Alatas had been tagged as well and he had been just as impressed. They had parted ways in the bed and breakfast and now daylight was about to reunite them.