It was probably best if I pretended that I didn’t recognize him—I wanted him to underestimate me and my abilities.
“Hello. I’m with the Curia Cloister’s Magic Response Task Force. May I ask who I’m speaking with?” My slayer training that had focused on fooling and distracting vampires kicked in, and my voice came out much smoother than when I’d talked to Gail the librarian.
The wizard looked me up and down, wariness oozing off him. “I’m Gideon Tellier—Heir to House Tellier.”
Internally, I was chuffed. This was a unique opportunity to enact April’s advice and, hopefully, lower Gideon’s guard. Externally, I kept my body language bland and unconcerned.
“Heir Gideon,” I began, keeping my voice light. “I wanted to thank you for your heroic actions at the fire by the Magiford Public Library last night.”
Gideon leaned against the doorframe, scrunching his mouth shut like a drawstring bag, but I saw his eyes widen with something like greed. “Oh? Yeah, we were pretty awesome.”
April was right!
“I happened to be there with several members of my team,” I said, pitching my voice higher as I settled into my role. “It was so impressive to see how the House Tellier wizards worked together to control the fire.”
It was almost annoying that I could settle into a role so easily and how smoothly I could talk if it was for work, while in my normal life I was as good at communicating as a burnt-out lightbulb.
Gideon’s chest swelled, and he grinned—smiling so big I could see his gums. “Yeah, House Tellier wizards are just that strong and talented,” he said. “Saving the library was no big deal.”
“How did you hear about the fire?” Since I was wearing my mask, I had to put a lot of awe in my voice to make up for the lack of facial expression.
I was worried I had overdone it, but Gideon just held a hand over his heart. “We heard the firetrucks and decided to follow in case we could help. As wizards, we have domain over fire. If there was a fire, they’d need our help.”
“Oh, wow—so it was an impulse decision? How brave of you!” I paused for a second, trying to pick out the best way to phrase my second question so Gideon wouldn’t realize I was questioning him. “Where were you when you heard the trucks? You arrived so quickly, I hate to think what would have happened if you’d been far away and hadn’t arrived in time!”
“Oh, we were just a few blocks away. There’s a park near the library—I was hanging out with my friends there.”
“That’s lucky,” I said.
And illegal. All the city parks close at sunset. But that’s a human law, and not something that concerns the task force.
What bothered me most was the timeline. I knew the park they were talking about. There was no possible way it had taken House Tellier wizards more time to get from that park to the library than it had taken my team to go from downtown to the library.
“Did you have to do anything special to put out the fire?” I asked. “It must have taken a lot of power since the human firemen couldn’t contain it!”
Up went Gideon’s chin as I got to watch him visibly inflate with his ego. “Oh, no, nothing special. We House Tellier wizards are just that skilled. I happen to be particularly good with understanding fire, and I have a lot of magic.”
The size of his wizard’s tattoo said otherwise but with him rattling on and so deeply immersed in his own greatness, I could take a risk and look back at the sidewalk.
Binx and April were still there—leaning against our car as they watched. I was touched to see Binx had her radio out and ready, and I thought April was holding her cellphone. I couldn’t look long enough to confirm as I had to make sure the Heir thought he had my total attention and admiration.
I whipped back around to face Gideon again, hoping he hadn’t noticed my peek. “Wow,” I said, dragging the word out for emphasis.
Gideon started gesturing with his hands as he kept talking. “Human capabilities can’t possibly measure up to House Tellier, so it’s no surprise it wasn’t until we arrived to help that the fire was put out. I suppose you could say it was a lucky thing for the humans we’re that skilled!”
Yeah, there’s no way a wizard who was genuinely concerned about humans would talk like this. This whole thing is sketchier than my baking, which raises a few more questions about their recent activities.
My vampire slayer abilities kicked in, sputtering to life as I felt the presence of a vampire.
The sensation was close enough that I tried to casually look around the porch and even glance back at the street again, but I didn’t see anyone there besides Binx and April.
Maybe a vampire is passing through a nearby street? Vamps don’t usually hang out in this part of town, though.
While I did my visual check, I made sure to compliment Gideon. “That’s so cool. You’re so great.” I sounded like an inspirational poster, but Gideon was so full of it that he didn’t even notice how fake my praise was.
“I am great,” Gideon acknowledged, nodding sagely.
Binx was probably gagging back on the sidewalk—able to hear thanks to her shifter hearing—but I wanted to extra butter Gideon up before I risked asking my next question.
“You know, I was at the supernatural fall market in September,” I said. “I saw the House Tellier wizards use their magic to put out the burning fireworks display.”
“Really?” Gideon asked, his chin came down so he could study me. “You were there?”
Ah, so he’s not as stupid as he might come off because this made him wary.
“Yeah,” I said. “Everyone was panicking—it could have turned into a stampede. The humans were lucky House Tellier was there to put the fire out.”
“Yes.” Gideon nodded, and some of the tension in his stance melted away. He was relaxed, but that sharpness was back in his eyes—I’d touched a nerve somehow. “That was a little trickier since it involved explosives instead of a regular fire.”
“But you wizards handled it in minutes. It was very impressive.” Although my voice was adoring, I watched Gideon with an intensity he hopefully didn’t feel since my face was hidden by my mask. I took in the steadiness of his breath, the way he casually leaned against the door, and the way he looked back inside his House.
He’s growing bored. I’m going to lose him soon. I better wrap this up fast.
I could still also faintly feel the vampiric presence, which I wanted to check out.
“I saw the fireworks were sponsored by House Tellier—that was so generous!” I chattered, squeezing my words tight so I could get more out. “The library also mentioned House Tellier donated a statue to the library earlier in the season—when they were fundraising for the garden. That was really kind of House Tellier, and it set such a great example for supernaturals. The generosity is absolutely inspiring!”
I didn’t know what to expect—maybe more puffed-up pride about House Tellier’s apparent wealth or maybe some posturing about humans needing all kinds of help, including financial, because they were so helpless. What I got, however, was a frown and furrowed brows.