A Magical Team

Chapter 2-2

Tonio checked the Glamours he’d cast for any flaws. When he was satisfied he and Reni would pass inspection, he opened the door to Mr. Peyton’s law offices, and they stepped into the ornately decorated reception area.

“May I help you?” the well-endowed, bleach-blonde woman at the front desk asked.

“Yeah. Mr. Acasta said he’d set me up with a meeting with his lawyer.” Which he had, or so Peyton had assumed, when he talked to someone purporting to be Acasta.

“And you would be?”

“Steven Diaz, and wife.”

The receptionist looked at Reni as if she was someone who should have been standing on a dark street corner selling her body. Nevertheless, she informed Mr. Peyton that his clients had arrived. Three minutes later one of the doors on the far wall opened and Peyton appeared. With a tight smile of welcome he ushered Tonio and Reni into his office.

“This lovely young woman is your wife, Steven?” Peyton said, looking Reni over with a knowing leer. When his gaze reached her face she met it and entered his mind.

Half an hour later, Tonio and Reni walked out of the office. Behind them, Peyton sat at his desk, staring off into space, his eyes glazed over. Reni turned just before closing the door, snapping her fingers.

“Mr. Peyton asked us to tell you he’s not to be disturbed for the next hour,” Tonio told the receptionist. “He has some important business to attend to.”

When it looked as if the woman was going to buzz him anyway, Reni snapped her fingers again to get her attention and then mentally reinforced Tonio’s orders. With that done, she and Tonio left the office suite.

“Why do I have the feeling Mr. Peyton is going to be very unpopular in certain quarters by tomorrow morning?” Tonio said when they stepped into the elevator and he removed the Glamours.

“I have no idea.” Reni grinned. “But it wouldn’t surprise me if his body turned up in a landfill sometime in the near future.”

“Or under it,” Tonio agreed.

“Speaking of bodies…”

“Now who’s got you all atwitter?” Tonio asked with a grin as they got off the elevator.

Reni huffed, “I don’t do ‘atwitter,’ and even if I did, the body in question wouldn’t be interested in me.”

“Oh boy, dare I ask?”

“Young Master Raynell.”

“Dirk? Are you kidding? He’s a kid.”

“Twenty-one, and old enough to know his own mind.”

Tonio shook his head. “Which you probed.”

“You didn’t?”

“I didn’t. I hate when people read my thoughts, so for damned sure I’m not going to do it to anyone I know unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Okay, I can understand that. I did check his though, mainly to find out how he really felt about being on the team. It’s obvious, from all the questions he was asking, that Lex didn’t do anything more than tell him it was happening.”

“He didn’t tell me either. Just called me to his place and dumped Dirk in my lap, telling me he was my responsibility now.”

Reni chuckled. “Trial by fire for both of you.”

“That pretty much covers it. So now we get to train him and keep him safe in the process.”

“What’s this ‘we,’ elf man? Lex gave him to you.”

“He put him under my wing, and I’m making him everyone’s responsibility.”

Reni nodded. “Probably not a bad idea all told. I suspect, given who his father is, he’d got wicked latent powers that haven’t surfaced yet. With all of us watching over him, he’ll be able to deal with them, if and when they do.”

“And hope we’re not in the middle of something when it happens.”

“As long as you warn the others, we can probably handle it.”

Tonio smiled slightly. “Consider them warned.”