{"id":5240,"date":"2026-01-04T01:14:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/the-painter-mage-03-painter-for-hire-holmberg-d-k\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T01:14:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:14:05","slug":"the-painter-mage-03-painter-for-hire-holmberg-d-k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/the-painter-mage-03-painter-for-hire-holmberg-d-k\/","title":{"rendered":"The Painter Mage 03 – Painter For Hire – Holmberg, D K"},"content":{"rendered":"
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1<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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M<\/span><\/span>usic thumped<\/span> out of the old-fashioned jukebox set along the wall of the diner, stuffed between two empty booths that let the music echo off it. The mix of new hip-hop didn\u2019t fit the neon lights that swirled around the outside of the machine, or the rest of the diner. The Rooster had a row of booths along the front bank of windows, salt and pepper shakers at each table, tucked neatly against the wall, arranged between plastic bottles of ketchup and mustard. A long counter ran across the back of the diner, and vinyl-covered stools were pushed under the ledge. The diner could have fit right into the sixties; most of the decorations looked like they came from that era.<\/p>\n

Devan tapped something on the front of the jukebox, and the song changed, slipping to an older Michael Jackson song. At least I knew this one. She stomped her feet a few times as she flashed me a smile and arched her eyebrows at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that some sort of message to me?\u201d I asked her when she came back to the counter to the sounds of \u201cBeat It.\u201d I worked the fry I was eating through a dollop of ketchup, smearing it into a pattern along the plate. Habit, I guess. As a painter, able to use colors and patterns to focus power, I was always making different patterns like that. Ketchup might not make a great ink, but the color worked for me. I didn\u2019t bother trying to infuse power into the ketchup. I didn\u2019t want to create any more of a scene than Devan\u2019s dancing already was.<\/p>\n

She flopped onto her stool, slid back on the vinyl and reached for the massive burger on the chipped plate in front of her. Were she any other woman, I might question whether she could finish the burger. Devan is petite. I mean, seriously tiny. She stands maybe five feet tall and can\u2019t weigh any more than one hundred pounds fully dressed\u2014and that includes the hiking boots she preferred and even her pockets full of her favorite metallic figurines. Devan is one of the Te\u2019alan, what most people would call elves or fairies. She even wears her black hair pulled around in a pixie sort of look that frames her oval face.<\/p>\n

\u201cTypical, Ollie. You think everything is about you,\u201d she mumbled as she took a big bite out of the burger. She wiped her arm across her chin as she chewed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNice look. I know that\u2019s<\/i> not for me, though your boyfriend might actually be turned on seeing you eat like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She spun and looked around the diner, but Jakes wasn\u2019t here. No one was, really. It was early in the day, but usually, the Rooster had a couple of people sitting in booths or along the counter. Now that I knew what kind of place it was, I felt even more compelled to swing by than I ever had before. It helped that the owner, a tagger by the name of Tom Brindle, used the Rooster as some sort of magical diner. I still didn\u2019t really know what that meant for Conlin, only that the town I\u2019d grown up in\u2014the town I thought I knew when I still lived here\u2014was much different from anything I had ever suspected.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I don\u2019t always think everything is about me,\u201d I said. \u201cIt\u2019s just, you know, that it usually is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devan shook her head as she took another bite. A little dribble of juice squirted out the front of the burger and dripped onto her plate. Ketchup plopped next to it. \u201cYou\u2019re an idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n

I tossed the fry into my mouth. \u201cYou should take a look at yourself sometime.\u201d<\/p>\n

She grinned at me, somehow stuffing another bite in before the last was swallowed. \u201cSo you\u2019re really planning on taking her back there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI told her I would. We got delayed the last time we tried to go, but I need to get her away from all the temptation around here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the delay was my fault?\u201d<\/p>\n

I arched a brow at her. \u201cYeah. I mean, who lets herself get taken by a deranged painter determined to drag her across the Threshold to marry the Druist Mage?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot my fault he was a shifter. You know I can\u2019t sense that kind of power.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow you\u2019re blaming your boyfriend?\u201d<\/p>\n

She finished the burger\u2014I have to admit the speed at which she ate was impressive\u2014and slapped her hands down on the counter. She might be small, but she\u2019s strong. The counter rattled, and Kacey, a mousy-looking woman working at the end of the counter, glanced over at her and smiled. Kacey was a shifter, just like Jakes. I still wasn\u2019t sure if they were related or just part of the same pack.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not <\/i>my boyfriend.\u201d Her face flushed as she dragged her arm across her chin, smearing a trail of juice as she did.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot yet, but you keep making those sexy faces at him, and he might be.\u201d I grabbed a napkin and wiped her face clean. She glared at me as I did but didn\u2019t pull away. \u201cI didn\u2019t want him to see that and be tempted to lick it off. Besides, he might end up biting your face off. That would end up really pissing off your father.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time, she punched me on the shoulder and I winced. As I said, she\u2019s strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what\u2019s she up to today?\u201d Devan asked.<\/p>\n

I smirked at how she changed the subject away from Jakes. \u201cNot really sure. She said she wanted to wander Conlin. Thought she\u2019d check it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody wants to do that. Conlin is meant to be boring,\u201d Devan said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the charms, if you ask me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know. Gives me a chance to catch up on movies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devan shook her head. \u201cYou\u2019ve been watching far too many since we\u2019ve returned. Isn\u2019t doing that supposed to melt your brain or something?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because you don\u2019t enjoy them\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe if you\u2019d watch something entertaining. The crap you watch is pretty bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

I shrugged. \u201cI watch whatever\u2019s on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd whatever is on is usually terrible.\u201d She took a sip of her water and asked, \u201cYou think Taylor\u2019s still looking for something of your father\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n

I swiveled and looked toward the front door of the diner, trying to ignore the song and the way the music danced along. Devan hadn\u2019t really cared for Taylor since she first appeared, but I thought it had more to do with the fact that I nearly died because of her. Maybe there was another reason. With Devan, it wasn\u2019t always easy to know. \u201cBesides the book she tried stealing and the magical prison we found in a shifter\u2019s back yard? What else might there be?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. Your father is the Elder.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Elder. An artist of such skill that he knew more magical secrets than anyone in Arcanus, the place where painters went to learn what it meant to have the abilities we did. He was a master, more skilled than any of the other masters, and thought dead for nearly a decade. I might be the only one who doesn\u2019t believe he is dead. It didn\u2019t change the fact that I still had no idea where he\u2019d gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, well you\u2019ve seen how much he shared with me. Had he been a little more open, we might not have nearly lost you to Adazi.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devan turned her attention to her fries, poking them into her mouth four and five at a time. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t Adazi that scared me,\u201d she said between bites.<\/p>\n

I grunted. \u201cI never thought it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devan\u2019s father is something of a magical rock star, too. Over the Threshold, he\u2019s known as the Trelking. He rules with power that painters can\u2019t even fathom, but there\u2019s another with strength that rivals him: the Druist Mage. The Trelking had committed Devan to marry the Druist Mage, a way to bring peace so the Trelking could focus on other conquests. At least, that\u2019s what I thought. With the Trelking, you never really knew. He had foresight, a prescient ability that many of the Te\u2019alan possessed, but him most strongly. Devan and I hadn\u2019t worked out what he might have seen, or the reason behind why he would have promised her to the Druist.<\/p>\n

Devan managed to finish chewing long enough to turn and face me, her face suddenly serious. She leaned on her forearms resting on the counter. \u201cWhatever she\u2019s doing is probably what I sensed, then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did you pick up?\u201d<\/p>\n

She shrugged. \u201cNot sure. Powerful, whatever it was. I\u2019m not used to picking up on that much power on this side.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know I don\u2019t mean you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I kinda got that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devan grinned at me. \u201cYou know I\u2019m coming with you. You\u2019re not going to leave me behind in Conlin when you take Taylor back to Arcanus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never said you weren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The serious expression faded, replaced with an expression that dripped with annoyance. \u201cCome on, Ollie. I know you. You think that after what happened, I shouldn\u2019t go. I know you agreed to keep me safe, but I agreed to help you, too. As soon as we get separated, bad things start to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve survived a few bad things already, but if something happens and you\u2019re dragged back across the Threshold, that\u2019s a whole new type of badness. I know that going to Arcanus isn\u2019t going to be too dangerous, but what if we have to go through one of the doors? What if that\u2019s the only way to reach Hard?\u201d That was the reason Taylor had come to me. She needed my help finding her father, one of the Arcanus masters and the one who\u2019d made certain I left. \u201cWe do that and get too close to the Threshold, and your father will learn that you\u2019re there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe already knows I\u2019m here and hasn\u2019t sent anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he does, don\u2019t you think it\u2019s better if I\u2019m with you?\u201d Devan asked.<\/p>\n

I shrugged and pushed my plate away from me. \u201cIt\u2019s never been about me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always about you, Ollie.\u201d She popped the remaining fries into her mouth and smiled, showing me the half-chewed food. \u201cSo. When are we going?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA few days. I need a little more time to make preparations. I was hoping you could make a few different charms.\u201d I fished a piece of paper out of my pocket and slid it across the counter. I\u2019d spent a good two hours sketching them.<\/p>\n

Devan flipped open the paper and glanced at it. \u201cYeah, I think I can make these. What are you hoping they\u2019ll do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe a little more boom than pop?\u201d<\/p>\n

Devan laughed softly. \u201cI\u2019m not really supposed to be doing things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight. That\u2019s stopped you before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s easy to do.\u201d She stuffed the paper into the pocket of her jeans. \u201cI\u2019ll see what I can come up with. No promises, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust need time, Devan. And if we get the time we need, we should be pretty well prepared before any of your father\u2019s guys come after us.\u201d I touched my belt, checking the satchels of ink attached to it. I always kept some with me, but since Adazi had attacked, I\u2019ve been keeping even more than before. I\u2019ve been forcing myself to draw more magic, too. Working patterns and magic is sort of like exercising and lifting weights; I\u2019d let myself get a little flabby, and it was time to get buff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not all his guys, Ollie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. Not all <\/i>his guys.\u201d I watched Kacey as she stepped back into the kitchen. I hadn\u2019t seen Tom since we sat down for lunch, but that didn\u2019t mean he wasn\u2019t back there. I still needed to ask him some questions about my father. There weren\u2019t many in Conlin who knew him. I missed my chance with Jakes\u2019s father, and I didn\u2019t want to miss the chance with Tom. Hell, considering the fact that the diner was this sort of magical place, I couldn\u2019t guarantee Tom would be around much longer, either. In the time I\u2019d been back in Conlin, there had already been two life-threatening events. \u201cBesides, before we go, I thought I\u2019d see what else Jakes is hiding on his father\u2019s lot. What else might my <\/i>father have left there?\u201d<\/p>\n

Devan smacked my arm and I faced her. \u201cThat\u2019s a terrible idea if you ask me. Any time we\u2019ve dug into anything dealing with the Elder, we\u2019ve ended up regretting it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve gone with me to check it out.\u201d Since rescuing her from Adazi, Devan and I had gone a few times, but I made a point of keeping Taylor in the dark about what was down there.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I don\u2019t know that there\u2019s anything there other than what we know. There\u2019s a dark energy around that shed, Ollie. Useful for what the Elder stores there, and I think he was wise to keep it buried like that, but I don\u2019t think we should be messing around with what he left there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, well, I\u2019m still trying to figure out why he left things for me. I mean, think about that book\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat Taylor tried to steal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout it, we\u2019d never have known what the statues in the park do. And then there\u2019s the key\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat Adazi wanted you to use.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2014that helped me learn what my father stored in Conlin. What else will we find?\u201d<\/p>\n

Devan stared at me like I was stupid. It was a pretty common expression from her. \u201cWhat else? You mean, the nightmare hell creatures weren\u2019t enough? Or having Adazi cross the Threshold and try to save something that your father feared enough to shrink down into a little statue with power that I <\/i>can\u2019t even fully fathom? Maybe we can see who else might die. The first time was nearly you and the last time was me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Kacey made her way down the counter and grabbed our plates. She smiled as she looked from Devan to me. \u201cMaybe you two want to keep it down?\u201d she suggested. Her eyes flickered to a booth along the front of the diner.<\/p>\n

I followed the direction of her gaze. A younger couple sat staring down at the table. The man had a plain face and a piercing above his eyebrow that, from where I sat, looked like a lightning bolt. Short brown hair stuck out everywhere and was dyed various shades of black. He wore a leather biker\u2019s jacket but didn\u2019t seem comfortable in it, as if he knew he wasn\u2019t cool enough to pull it off. The girl with him was thin and tiny, sort of like Devan, but taller. She stared out the window, nothing but the back of her bright red hair visible. She had on a shirt that was so loose she practically swam in it. She was older, maybe five years older than the young man, still making her younger than I am.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot locals?\u201d I asked, turning back to Kacey. Locals might be magical, but they might not. It wasn\u2019t like the Rooster couldn\u2019t <\/i>be a regular diner, just that its clientele tended to be a bit different from that of the average restaurant.<\/p>\n

Kacey\u2019s mouth tightened into a thin line, and she shook her head, then made her way around the end of the counter, wiping a damp cloth along the way as she did, before rounding the bar and heading toward the couple. The girl jumped when Kacey approached. The guy continued to stare at his hands.<\/p>\n

The door to the diner opened, and a wall of a man entered. He was dressed in his sheriff\u2019s uniform and had on the same aviator shades I always saw him wearing. Jakes peeled the glasses off his face and stuffed them into his breast pocket. Now that I knew Jakes was a shifter, I wondered if the glasses hid something. Not that he\u2019d ever tell me. He saw Devan and me, and he tipped his head to us before turning to the booth where Kacey stood, notepad in hand, tapping a pencil while she waited for them to order.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s strange,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Devan shot me a look. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to make some joke about him not coming over to me or about him being ten minutes too late to see me eating the burger, I\u2019m not going to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

I swiveled in the stool and faced her, keeping the couple just at the corner of my eye. Jakes spoke in hushed tones to them, and I couldn\u2019t make out what they said. I considered making a focusing pattern\u2014now that Kacey had cleared the plate, I could smear the ketchup on the counter in the necessary spiral\u2014but that would be too much work. Besides, I had the feeling that if Jakes knew I was trying to listen, he might shut me down. Shifter power almost always trumps painter magic.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t need to.\u201d I smiled. \u201cYou\u2019re making all the jokes for<\/i> me. Anyway, that wasn\u2019t <\/i>what I was going to say. Now who thinks everything is about them?\u201d I arched my back slightly, moving enough on my stool so I could better see what Jakes was doing, but the big shifter had positioned himself in such a way that I couldn\u2019t see anything. Almost as if he knew what I was trying to do.<\/p>\n

Devan stuffed her hand into her pocket and pulled out one of the figurines she liked to carve and set it on the counter. This one looked something like a gargoyle. It had a long snout and pointy ears. Long fangs jutted down over its lower lip, and curved slightly out. There seemed to be a smile on its face. She patted it on the top of its head. I swear she whispered something, but I couldn\u2019t hear it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I was going to say was that it\u2019s strange that Jakes showed up right as they got here. Almost like he was waiting for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devan pulled her eyes from the figurine and glared at me. \u201cHe\u2019s the sheriff, Ollie. Not everything has to be some magical mystery. Conlin has, what, ten, maybe fifteen thousand people? Not all of them are magical.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe not, but since Taylor arrived, all I\u2019d been dealing with was one strange magical nightmare after another. And here I\u2019d come back to Conlin wanting a little bit of peace. Instead, I was working harder\u2014and in nearly as much danger\u2014as I had been while working, albeit unwillingly, for the Trelking. The only consolation I had was that I\u2019d learned a bit more about my father. When I finally saw him again would he be pleased or annoyed?<\/p>\n

The bells over the door to the diner tinkled again and I turned. Jakes stood talking quietly to Kacey, but the couple had disappeared. I leaned my head to the side but couldn\u2019t see where they\u2019d gone.<\/p>\n

Jakes glanced over at me and nodded again. He whispered something more to Kacey and made his way over to the counter, leaning on it casually. \u201cMorris. How are you feeling?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you know, about as well as you can feel after a barn nearly falls on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat barn wasn\u2019t going to fall on you,\u201d Devan shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever,\u201d I said. \u201cIt might have been better if it had. I doubt it would have hurt as much. How are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you?\u201d I asked. I was worried about him and the other shifters. One of their own had worked with Adazi. Jakes was the strong, silent type, but I think he needed to share more than he let on.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry about me, Morris.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, I know what you\u2019ve been through over the last few weeks. First your father, and now with Chase\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Devan squeezed my arm, and I glanced over to her. She shook her head slightly, warning me to silence.<\/p>\n

\u201cFine. Then what was that about?\u201d I nodded toward the door.<\/p>\n

Jakes\u2019s face remained unreadable. \u201cSheriff business. You know, I have another job around Conlin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all about guarding doors and gateways?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

He shook his head but didn\u2019t smile. Jakes and the other shifters took their responsibility to guard the gates pretty seriously. From what I\u2019d gathered, my father had asked Jakes\u2019s father to serve as some sort of watcher. Had he not, Taylor would have released hunters into our world again when she opened the gate that night.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not from around here, though, are they?\u201d I asked. I shouldn\u2019t press, but I had a strange feeling about the couple.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they came to the Rooster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jakes\u2019s eyes twitched. \u201cWhat\u2019s your point, Morris?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly that one of these days, I\u2019m going to get you to share with me. You know, considering my father and yours were buddies and all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know enough to share,\u201d he answered.<\/p>\n

Well, that was true. Conlin had a whole set of secrets, and I had no idea what they were. \u201cDoesn\u2019t change the fact that I can be helpful if you\u2019ll give me the chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChance? You intend to stick around here? I thought you planned to return to Arcanus,\u201d Jakes said.<\/p>\n

I think he knows about the doors there, too. I wondered if he\u2019d ever thought about trying to place shifter protection over them, as well, but my guess is even shifter power couldn\u2019t overcome the protections worked into Arcanus. Hell, I doubt Taylor knew much more than the fact that the doors existed. Hard, the one person other than my father who might know anything about the doors, was missing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you know how I can\u2019t resist a pretty girl.\u201d I slipped my arm around Devan\u2019s shoulder, and she slapped it away. I feigned a hurt expression.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure that\u2019s not the only thing you can\u2019t resist,\u201d Devan said. She poked me in the side. That evoked a smile from Jakes. His mouth cracked just a bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cSort of like you and your burger? You practically wolfed it down,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

She shook her head and gave me a look telling me exactly what she thought of my stupid joke. Jakes didn\u2019t seem to get it, but Jakes was always pretty stoic, even more since the last attack. I didn\u2019t know him all that well, but even in the last few days, he seemed different.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry. We\u2019re not going to try to take one of the gateways this time,\u201d I told Jakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying would be a mistake,\u201d Jakes said.<\/p>\n

There was no threat in the way he said it. With Jakes, there didn\u2019t need to be. There wasn\u2019t much I could do if the shifters really opposed me.<\/p>\n

Kacey stopped beside Jakes at the counter and leaned on it, giving Jakes an appraising look. \u201cWould you stop bothering the customers, Sam?\u201d<\/p>\n

I grabbed one of the laminated menus from where it was stuffed between a large canister of sugar and the salt and pepper and made a show of setting it down in front of me. \u201cEspecially since we\u2019re going to need dessert.\u201d I turned to Kacey. \u201cWhat pies does Tom have today?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPie? Do you really think you need dessert, Morris?\u201d Jakes asked.<\/p>\n

Devan barked out a laugh.<\/p>\n

I looked down at myself and poked a finger into my stomach, making a more exaggerated motion than what Devan had done. \u201cThis? It\u2019s just a buffer. Like magical padding. Some of us need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHmm.\u201d<\/p>\n

I thought about poking Jakes, but I doubted there was anything soft about him. \u201cI\u2019ll have the banana cream,\u201d I said to Kacey, making a point of ignoring Jakes.<\/p>\n

She made a gesture toward Devan who only shook her head. \u201cAll right. Pie it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kacey rolled around the counter and disappeared into the kitchen. I was thinking of what other witty thing I could say when a piercing howl came from past the doors through which Kacey had just stepped.<\/p>\n

Jakes darted toward the back. He\u2019s a big man, but when he moves, he draws on magical power that most\u2014even painters like myself\u2014can\u2019t even fathom. I wonder if he partially shifted as he went.<\/p>\n

I reached into my pocket for one of the charms Devan made and hurried after.<\/p>\n

The kitchen of the Rooster was no different from what I imagined in any other diner. There was a bank of gas burners. A row of pots hung over it from hooks. The butcher-block counter was stacked with boxes I suspected Tom had been sorting. A burning sort of stink drifted into the kitchen, like Tom had left something cooking too long and Kacey had taken it outside. There was no smoke that would explain that, though. Hopefully not the meatloaf. Tom\u2019s meatloaf was famous. An angry sense buzzed against me, but I couldn\u2019t quite place where it came from.<\/p>\n

A door was open to the outside, letting a hint of the early autumn breeze blow in. Jakes filled the doorway, his broad back blocking it. I started toward him when Devan touched my hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cCareful, Ollie, there\u2019s something here that I can\u2019t sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

I squeezed the charm, preparing to trigger it if needed. It would generate a wide circle of green ink, enough for a protective pattern.<\/p>\n

Jakes stepped out the door, and I followed, Devan still holding my arm. I finally saw what it was that I smelled. A body lay sprawled across the ground near the big, blue dumpster, almost as if someone had tried to throw it inside but failed. It was heavily burned. That was the smell, but that wasn\u2019t what caught my attention. It was the way <\/i>the body had been charred. There was a series of patterns burned into the flesh. No one other than a painter makes patterns like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it Tom?\u201d Devan asked, staying behind me.<\/p>\n

Jakes craned his neck and flicked his gaze from me to Devan. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReally, Jakes? From the look of the patterns on the body, it seems to me you\u2019ve got a magical murder here. I know you\u2019re pretty well equipped to handle things like that, but this one might actually be in my wheelhouse. Let me help. If it bothers you, consider me a hired consultant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not getting paid,\u201d he said, then stepped aside and let me approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you tell who it is?\u201d I asked. It wasn\u2019t a question of his magical ability; it was a question of his nose. Shifters\u2014especially those like Jakes who changed into the shape of a wolf\u2014had an incredible sense of smell.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot Tom?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot Tom.\u201d<\/p>\n

I dipped my hand into the satchel of ink hooked to my belt. I went for red, but really any color would work for what I needed. Colors were important for painters, but there were some patterns where color was of secondary importance, like the type I would need. Had I carried any blue ink, that would really have been better, but blue was a little too cerebral for me to keep on me most of the time.<\/p>\n

I made a series of patterns around the body. A simple equilateral triangle near his feet. An inverted spiral wrapped in a circle near one of the arms. And then an arcane mark near the other side. Arcane patterns were different from traditional patterns. Traditional patterns used basic geometric shapes like triangle and circles in ever-increasing complexity. They were intended to augment the power of the painter, drawing and focusing it in ways that the painter couldn\u2019t do on his or her own. Arcane patterns augmented a painter\u2019s magic, as well, but the power created by these patterns was different from traditional ones.<\/p>\n

With arcane patterns, a painter can work some seriously dangerous magic. Or they can just as easily destroy themselves. It was why places like Arcanus wouldn\u2019t teach them. I\u2019d had to go across the Threshold to learn what I\u2019d learned about them. Now I was the closest thing on this side of the Threshold to a master in using them.<\/p>\n

When I infused the pattern, energy shimmered around me and then faded.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamn,\u201d I hissed.<\/p>\n

There was residual power here, enough to counter what I tried to do. Nothing dangerous to me at least, not that I could tell, but it would take more of a draw than I expected. The painter who\u2019d done this had known what he was doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is it?\u201d Jakes asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a minute,\u201d I said, waving a hand at him as I refocused.<\/p>\n

I made another quick pattern, this one alongside the arcane mark. It would add to the arcane pattern, allowing me to pull even more power without taxing myself too much. Had I more skill, it wouldn\u2019t be as much of an issue, but I was a tagger, not an artist like my father.<\/p>\n

When I pressed my will into the patterns this time, I split my focus. It had taken practice to learn how to do so. There weren\u2019t many painters\u2014taggers or artists\u2014who could split their focus into more than two or three patterns. With the additional pattern, I split it into four.<\/p>\n

This time, the patterns surged into place, fortified by the additional one. Power swirled around the body, almost visibly so. The energy that had killed this guy pressed against my magic, like some sort of magical arm-wrestling match. It was strong, but the painter wasn\u2019t there to keep pushing power into it. Had he been, I might not have been strong enough.<\/p>\n

As it was, I could only detect certain aspects to the patterns used. There was strength and focus, but there was a delicate skill mingled in, as well. Not just any painter had done this. An artist, someone with true talent.<\/p>\n

I released my power. It went out with a pop<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did you find?\u201d Jakes asked.<\/p>\n

Could he tell when I used my magic? Were the shifters able to tell when I stopped? I knew Devan could, but if Jakes could, as well, that made the shifters even more dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of juice here,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNice, Ollie,\u201d Devan said.<\/p>\n

I stood and shook my head. \u201cThat\u2019s not what I meant. Actually, this guy is pretty dry, so there\u2019s really not <\/i>a lot of juice.\u201d She shot me a warning look. \u201cAnyway, this was the work of a painter. Pretty powerful one, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor patterns like that\u2014\u201d Devan started.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. Not sure who did this, but he\u2014or she\u2014is probably an artist. Has to be for me to need that kind of power.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it was a message?\u201d Kacey suggested. \u201cThe way the body was burned, don\u2019t you think that\u2019s a message?\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked over at the young shifter. I thought her young, but I didn\u2019t really know. With shifters, she could be much older than she looked. \u201cYou mean, like in a movie? What would the message be, then: Don\u2019t fuck with the artist?\u201d<\/p>\n

Kacey only shrugged.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould Tom have anything to do with this?\u201d Devan said.<\/p>\n

Jakes glanced at her. \u201cYou know of Tom?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI told her,\u201d I said to Jakes. \u201cYou know I share pretty much everything with Devan. But it\u2019s not Tom. I mean, I don\u2019t really know what kind of painting power he\u2019s got, but he told me he was a tagger. That he\u2019d been trying to learn from my father. This was an artist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike your friend Taylor?\u201d Jakes asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaylor is a painter, but she wouldn\u2019t kill anyone.\u201d Jakes arched a brow at me. \u201cAll right, maybe she tried to kill you\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd open the gate where the nightmare hell creatures could come through,\u201d Devan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvisible nightmare hell creatures,\u201d I corrected. \u201cBut why would Taylor do this? She doesn\u2019t really know anyone in Conlin, does she?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jakes circled around to the other side of the body and crouched down next to it. \u201cMaybe not, but she might be able to help us determine who did.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a good idea, but one I wasn\u2019t sure Taylor would be interested in helping with. She\u2019d been held up in Conlin longer than she wanted already, and now we were adding a murder investigation that would definitely slow her down.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019ll see,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Power emanated from Jakes. For me to feel it meant there was great power being used. I couldn\u2019t see what he did, only that it washed over the body before dissipating.<\/p>\n

Jakes stood and turned to Kacey. \u201cFind Tom. He will need to know about this. I\u2019ll have someone keep an eye on the diner in the meantime.\u201d She loped off, disappearing around the corner of the building. \u201cWill you find her?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m not a good enough consultant anymore?\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked back at me with an expression of complete disinterest in my jokes. I was afraid that if I didn\u2019t make light of it, I might begin to understand the severity of what happened here. A painter used his power against another to kill. That just didn\u2019t happen on this side of the Threshold.<\/p>\n

I glanced at Devan and shrugged. \u201cGuess we\u2019re going to find Taylor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuper,\u201d she said. \u201cShe\u2019ll be thrilled you\u2019ve found another reason to avoid returning to Arcanus.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

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