“That’s why I didn’t call him out on it. Kingsley bought the story without batting an eye.”
“And Tristan thinks ye did, too?”
“I made sure he had no reason not to.”
“But ye haven’t let it go.”
He gave her a glance that said she shouldn’t have wasted the breath to ask.
“I had a look around,” he said, “and caught a whiff of Tristan’s scent in a room we don’t typically use. Before checking it out, I asked Sebastian for something that would deaden my scent. He took me down here, and…” Austin Steele stepped around a box and lifted the lid. Two potions were missing from the interior. “This makes people invisible,” he said, indicating one of the empty spaces and then shifting his finger to another. “And this deadens their sound. They could scream all they wanted and no one would hear.”
“Except for the man who isn’t affected by magic,” Niamh said.
“Correct.”
“Did the weird mage get suspicious when he noticed they were missing?”
“No. He’s so exhausted all the time that he thought he’d just been confused. Anyway, he gave me a potion to deaden scent, and I checked out the area where I caught Tristan’s scent. I found this under the couch.”
Austin Steele pulled his phone from his pocket and showed Niamh a picture of a pack. Inside were various items of a suspicious nature—little glass bottles, rags, rope. He put the phone away and opened a nondescript box on one of the shelves. Inside were a couple of vials, each with a tiny bit of
liquid in the bottom.
“I took samples of a few. The bottles weren’t marked in any way, so I’m hoping he doesn’t notice a bit of the contents gone. Can you find someone to analyze these and maybe figure out what they are?
Someone we can trust or blackmail into silence?”
Niamh tsked, feeling a smile grow. “By jaysus, Austin Steele. I believe ye’ve crossed over to the dark side.”
“I now appreciate how easy it is to deal with shifters. A show of strength and an ability to lead is basically all you need. Dealing with mages, though, and now dealing with…whatever Tristan actually is… I’m getting an education. In order to effectively protect Jess and my people, I’m going to have to get my hands dirty. I’ve realized that.”
“Fair play to ya. Yeah, I reckon I can find someone to look at this. Not around here, though. This isn’t urgent, right? What he did was for the greater good, ultimately. I don’t think he’s against us.”
“No, I don’t think he is. He’s loyal, he’s just…not ready to share his origins, I think.” He put the samples he’d collected back. “We can bring them back with us when we leave.”
Assuming they’d be leaving this place, sure.
“Did Nessa get a line on those magical guns?” Niamh asked, climbing the stairs after him.
Austin Steele sighed as they entered the main level of the house. “She’s had problems getting the supply we need.” He walked them into the kitchen, where Nessa had her head in the fridge. “Nessa, what’s the latest on the blasters?”
“Hello?” She straightened up, one hand still on the door and the other leaning against the fridge.
Her face was slightly drawn and her eyes puffy. She’d been pulling late nights trying to get more information from her network. Her days were spent training the garhettes, teaching them to use knives or the couple of blasters （what they were calling the magical guns to help the garhettes understand that they were more like pew-pew-pew than bang）。 “Oh. Hey. Are you guys hungry? I’m starving. I was going to make something easy.”
“Here.” Austin Steele put his hand on her shoulder and gently nudged her away from the fridge.
He reached in, coming back with a fruit tray and some cold cuts. “Why don’t you have a snack for now? I’ll make something when I’m out of the shower, okay? Take a break. You’ve been going steady with those garhettes.”
She sighed as she lowered onto the cushioned bench by the windows. “Except you’ve also been going steady, too, training and trying to get everyone to work together. You and Jessie are pulling double time.”
“No, she’s pulling double time. As are you. I don’t do magic or work with networks in the evening,” Austin Steele said, setting the plate of snacks next to her. “You girls are pulling the load.
I’m just doing long days. Chill out for a moment. Should we bring Indigo in to help you? Or Jess will be home pretty soon, I think.”