A Magical Team

Is there anyone in town you won’t f**k? Nina shook her head with wry amusement after watching a good-looking man leave her twin brother’s town home. It was a rhetorical question at best, as she knew the answer. “Damned few,” Tonio replied with a laugh, opening the front door a moment later to let her in. “You know I hate when you do that,” she grumbled, glaring at her green-eyed, dark-haired twin. “What? Opening the door for you?” He stepped out of reach when she tried to swat him. “Reading my mind, ass.” “Well, you were broadcasting loud and clear. Besides, you do it to me.” He closed the door and followed her into the living room. “That was Martin and it was his first, and last, time here. Conceited idiot.” Tonio flopped down on the long leather sofa, waiting for his sister to land somewhere, too. Nina did, at the other end of the sofa, after kicking off her shoes so she could put her feet up, wrapping her arms around her knees. Her long, dark hair hung loose around her elfin face. Her deep green eyes, which matched Tonio’s almost perfectly, darkened as she gazed at him. “Now what did I do?” he asked. “It’s not what you did, it’s what you didn’t do.” Tonio frowned. “Which was? Remind me.” “Lex.” “Oh hell, Nina, I don’t want to,” he whined. “Gods, you sound like a two-year old.” “I feel like one around him.” “So he’s imposing and authoritarian and sexier than all get out and,” she sighed, “not the least bit interested me, damn it.” “Why do you care? You’ve got, what’s his name? Yeah, Devlin, wrapped around your little finger. You don’t need another man.” “Says the guy who seems to need as many as he can get his hands on.” Nina smiled devilishly. “And that’s why you’re avoiding Lex. You can’t get your hands on him.” “I don’t want to,” Tonio protested. “He’s bossy, arrogant…” “And sexy.” “And sexy,” he admitted with a sigh. “If you like much older men.” “You wouldn’t know he was to look at him.” “Yeah, but he is. Hell, he’s got a son who is, hmm, twenty-one I think. Or thereabouts.” “Yeah, the mysterious, never seen Dirk.” “I saw him once,” Tonio told her. “Remember when we were teens and grandpa sent me to Lex’s home for a week for some lessons?” Nina nodded. “I was pissed as hell I couldn’t go, too. I told him he was being a chauvinist.” She laughed. “I didn’t even know what that meant. Only that it was something I heard grandma call him sometimes. So what was Dirk like?” “Bratty, like any ten-year-old. Followed me around wherever I went. I think he was lonely. He wanted to join in the lessons, but Lex said he was too young. Then three days after I got there, Dirk was gone. Back to his mother’s according to Lex. That was my first and last sighting of him.” He stretched and sighed. “I suppose I should stop putting off the inevitable and go see why Lex wants to talk to me this time.” “It might be a good idea, since he sent me here to remind you.” Tonio grinned. “And here I thought you wanted the pleasure of my company.” “At seven-thirty in the morning? As if. Speaking of which, I’d better get moving or I’ll be late to the office. Do you work today?” He snorted. “When don’t I work? I go in at eleven. Barring something big dropping in our laps I’ll be off at eight.” “And in bed with someone by eight-thirty.” He laughed. “Hey now, I’m not that bad. Honest.” “I know. It’s just ‘tension release’ to quote you, which I’m sure you need at times.” She stood, kissed his cheek, and departed. * * * * “Dirk, pay attention,” Lex grumbled. “Can I wake up first?” Dirk asked, going to pour himself a cup of coffee. “I suppose, if you insist.” Lex smiled fondly at his son. “Once you have, meet me in the practice room.” Dirk scrubbed a hand over his face. “What’s on the agenda for today?” Lex was about to reply when a beep from the intercom let him know someone was at the front gate. After checking to see who it was, he sent one of his people to let them in. “I’ll tell you later. Right now we have company.” “‘We’ as in royal sense, or as the two of us?” “The two of us. There’s someone I want you to meet and he’s finally decided to show his face.” Oh great, now what? Dirk had moved into his father’s estate, well outside the city limits, only a week earlier, much to his mother’s dismay. However, she’d had no say in the matter. The arrangement between his parents had been that, on Dirk’s twenty-first birthday, he would come to live with Lex until his father was convinced he could safely be out in the world on his own. So here he was and finally about to meet someone other than his father’s aids, all of whom were older than the hills. Of course whoever he is could be too. Dirk sighed ruefully. He followed Lex to the living room, waiting in anticipation to see who would come through the front door when his father removed the protections long enough to let them enter. Holy hell. Not old at all. Damn. He sucked in a breath as he looked at the man. He was tall, with ebony black hair and the greenest eyes Dirk had ever seen. The suit he was wearing fit him as if it had been tailor-made, accenting his muscular body without overdoing it. Wrap him up and I’ll take him home with me. Oh wait, this is my home now. * * * * Tonio dipped his head in acknowledgment of Lex’s welcome, and his importance in Tonio’s world, before looking beyond him at the young man standing in the middle of the room. He was close to his own height but slender, with shaggy blond hair covering his ears, and pale blue eyes, shading into gray when he turned his head away from the light. “You’ve grown up, Dirk,” Tonio said, smiling. Dirk frowned. “Do I know you?” “Yep, though it’s been quite a while since we met, so I’m not surprised you don’t remember. You were about so high,” Tonio held his hand out to demonstrate, “and followed me around like a puppy the whole time you were here.” “I didn’t!” Tonio chuckled. “Oh yeah, you did. By the way, I’m Tonio, Antonio Paladini to be exact.” “Detective Paladini,” Lex added. “A cop?” Dirk seemed impressed. Maybe a bit too much so in Tonio’s estimation. Tonio nodded before returning his attention to Lex. “So what did you want to talk to me about?” Lex tapped his fingers together, grinning a bit, which sent off warning bells in Tonio’s mind. “Why don’t we all have a seat and I’ll explain.” When they were settled, Lex continued. “I want you to take Dirk under your supervision, Tonio. Teach him everything you know.” “Now wait a damned minute here. First off, isn’t that your job? And secondly, when do you think I’d have time to do that?” “My job is to make certain he becomes the best he can be. His…skills lie more in your field of expertise than mine, I’m afraid. He needs to hone them and I don’t know anyone better than you to help him do that.” “Do I get any say in this?” Dirk asked acidly. Tonio glanced at him, smiling slightly. “Probably no more than I do, when it comes down to it. The problem is, Lex, I can hardly drag him along with me when I’m on the job. The department frowns on things like that.” “That’s all been arranged.” Tonio sighed. “Now how did I know you’d say that? In what way exactly?” “Dirk has just arrived in the city from a small town out west, where he was a deputy sheriff. Your chief recruited him because he showed great promise, and since your partner is moving up north in two weeks to take a new job—” “Damn it, Lex! Why hasn’t anyone told me about that! There are few enough of us as it is without my losing him. Besides which, Dirk’s too young. No one’s going to believe this story you’ve cooked up on his background.” Lex smiled a bit evilly. “Everything is being arranged even as we speak, including new ID which says he’s older than he appears.” “Uh-huh.” Tonio wanted to say ‘As if,’ but knowing Lex, he had no doubt it actually was being created. “So you’re shorting me a damned good man so I can train Dirk.” “Precisely. I don’t think you’ll regret it, when it comes down to it.” Tonio turned to look at Dirk. “Your father seems to have a lot of confidence in you. Do you feel the same?” Dirk rubbed the palms of his hands on his legs, frowning. “I know what I’m capable of, so far. It’s probably not as much as you’d like but…” He shrugged. “I’m still young and things get better with age. You should know that.” “Just how old do you think I am?” “Older than me?” Dirk’s lips quirked up in a grin. Tonio rolled his eyes. “Isn’t everyone?” he shot back. “Touché.” Then Dirk sobered, turning to his father. “Why didn’t you tell me?” “Because, until I talked with your mother, I wasn’t certain I was going to use you for this. She’s dead set against it, of course.” “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Mother,” Dirk muttered. “Still, if she hadn’t been, you’d never have let this happen. Right?” “Oh, I might have. Probably would have,” Lex replied. “Only not so soon.” “When do you plan on his joining my team?” Tonio asked. And please let it not be today. “He’ll go with you when you leave.” Lex’s smile was more than a bit malicious and Tonio knew he’d picked up on what he’d been thinking. Tonio scowled. Between you and Nina, nothing I think is sacred. Lex nodded, saying to Dirk, “You might want to go put on something a bit nicer than those ratty jeans.” Dirk looked at Tonio. “I don’t own a suit. Will slacks and a regular shirt work?” “Yeah, sure. Go change.” As soon as Dirk left the room, Tonio rounded on Lex. “Why are you sticking him with me?” “He has talents you can use. He just has to sharpen them some.” “He’d better do it quickly. He makes a mistake and he could be dead, or cause someone else’s death.” “I’m counting on you not to let that happen.” Lex clapped a hand on Tonio’s shoulder. “I have faith in you or I wouldn’t have entrusted him to you. As a corollary, I have faith that he can handle things as long as you don’t push him too fast.” “I’ll try not to, and let’s hope circumstances don’t warrant it.” Lex looked sternly at him. “That, Tonio, is why you have a team.” “So they tell me.” “Then remember it. No more grandstanding like you did on your last job. My son’s well-being may depend on your being there with him and the team.” “Now we come down to why you’re really doing this,” Tonio growled. “One reason of many, and not the primary one, no matter what you might think.” Tonio studied him for a minute then nodded. “I’ll take your word for it.” * * * * While they drove into the city from Lex’s estate, Dirk kept glancing at Tonio then away. After a few minutes of that, Tonio said, “Go ahead, ask questions. I won’t bite your head off for doing so.” “All right. Exactly what do you and this team my father mentioned do?” “At the risk of stating the obvious, since we’re cops we catch the bad guys.” “No duh. But I know there’s more to it than that.” Tonio nodded. “We go after the untouchables.” “Meaning what? The ones who are walking around free because they had good lawyers?” “Among others.” “That smacks of vigilantism.” Tonio shrugged. “Some would call it that, but we only go after those who deserve it. For example, using their money or power, of whatever sort, to influence a jury or a judge is not acceptable.” “No s**t. But there can’t be all that many of them. Not enough to have a team to go after them.” Dirk looked perplexed as something else occurred to him. “Is this team made up of magic users? How do you get away with that? We’re not supposed to exist.” “Says the kid who is one.” “That didn’t answer my question,” Dirk muttered. “Sorry. Okay, there’s a man in the city, a very powerful mover and shaker as they say, who, for reasons I’m not allowed to go into, made an enemy of a rather nasty necromancer. This man and Lex were friends, so he came to him for help.” “He knew what Father is?” Tonio waggled his hand. “Yes and no. This man didn’t know his enemy was a necromancer, he only knew some very strange and terrifying things had begun to happen in his life. Your father, as you well know, has a reputation for dealing with the paranormal.” Tonio chuckled. “It’s funny, people are quite willing to believe in ghosts and goblins and such, but refuse to accept the possibility there are magic workers among them.” Dirk nodded. “Personally, I’ll take a sorcerer over a ghost any day.” “Agreed. Anyway, back to the story. Lex helped his friend and in the process he had to let him know exactly who, or rather what, the person was who had been making his life miserable. Once the man got over his shock, he and Lex put their heads together and came up with the idea for the team. They went to the police commissioner, and—well from what Lex told me it was a very interesting meeting. In the end the commissioner believed them and the team was formed, with Lex’s input of course.” “But,” Dirk said, tapping his lips, “would I be right in presuming the commissioner’s the only one who knows what you really do?” “Yep. To all intents and purposes, as far as the rest of the department is concerned, we’re a very elite unit, set up to deal with the worst of the worst. The ones the law couldn’t touch without our help.” “Do you actually go after them, or just after—what? Rogue magic users who’ve taken up criminal activities?” “I think calling them ‘rogues’ presupposes they’re doing something criminal,” Tonio replied with a smile. “We go after both. After all, if we didn’t bring down the occasional felon who’s managed to, and I use the term loosely, ‘legally’ avoid incarceration, we’d lose the reason we supposedly exist.” “True. Another question, how do you find out about rogues if no one believes sorcerers are real?” “We, meaning the team, and Lex, and a couple of his associates, keep our eyes and ears open, listen to rumors, follow up on any reports about what might be considered off-the-wall happenings. Something that suggests someone is practicing the dark arts for whatever reason. By the way, not everyone on the team is a strong magic user, though the majority of us can use magic to one degree or another.” Tonio turned into the headquarters’ parking lot at that point, ending Dirk’s litany of questions for the time being.