A Magical Team

Chapter 3-2

Tonio was also thinking about Dirk, but more along the lines of telling himself the young half-elf was totally off-limits to him, even if he was gay. And that, from what he’d picked up on, was undoubtedly the case.

He’s Lex’s son. If I even thought about making a move, Lex would have my head on the chopping block despite the fact I run this team. And I much prefer my head where it is. Both of them.

He returned his attention to the problem at hand—what to do to put an end to Luis Acasta.

“Brainstorming time,” he said. “How do we get Acasta to come to us without any of his people in tow?”

“That’s not going to happen, especially now,” Mattie said. “He’s going to be ten times more alert, because he knows his rivals will be after him with blood in their eyes since he beat the conspiracy to murder charges.”

“So why not let them take him out?” Dirk asked.

“Come on. Where’s the fun in that?” Felan said with a grin.

Tonio was a bit less amused. “If they could have, they would have, long before now. No, it’s up to us to deal with him.”

“His son plays basketball on the school team,” Reni said thoughtfully. “Acasta never misses any of his games if he can help it. We could try for him there.”

“Basketball season’s over,” Bay pointed out.

“Oh. Well, damn.”

“What does he do for a living?” Dirk asked. “He has to have some kind of front, doesn’t he?”

“He owns a trucking firm,” Tonio told him.

“How cliché.”

“No kidding. And when he’s there he’s well protected.”

“You all have done things like this before. How do you usually get to someone?”

“Catch them when they’re alone and compel them to come with us,” Mattie replied.

“So when is a man, any man, usually alone—even when he’s traveling with bodyguards?”

“In the bathroom,” Bay said, catching on to what Dirk was suggesting. “But we can hardly walk into his home, or his trucking firm, and meet and greet him while he’s taking a piss.”

“Sure you could, at his business.”

Tonio shook his head. “One of us would have to go undercover, and while we’ve done it before it does take time to set up.”

“Come on, surely one of you knows an invisibility spell.” Dirk looked at the two witches.

“For ourselves,” Mattie replied.

“Teleporting?” This time Dirk’s glance landed on Felan and Tonio.

“If I’ve seen the target area, yeah,” Felan replied.

“So Mattie or Reni goes in, invisibly, to take a look and…Can either of you send him a mental picture of the bathroom? If so, you do, he teleports in and grabs Acasta. Bam, bam, boom, done.”

Tonio smiled, eyeing Dirk with a bit of respect. “You’re not half bad at planning, for a beginner.”

Dirk shrugged. “I’m just surprised you didn’t think of these things. You must have used those skills more than once.”

“We have, but not paired together the way you’re suggesting, which is stupid of us.”

Bay nodded. “It takes a newcomer with a fresh eye on things, I suspect. We’re old, and tired, and in a rut about how we approach a problem. At least when it comes to run-of-the-mill humans, so to speak.”

“Acasta is hardly run-of-the-mill,” Mattie said sourly, “but you’re right.”

“Okay, we have a plan now,” Tonio said. “Mattie, you get inside since you can hold an invisibility spell longer than Reni. Felan, when you get Acasta, take him to the cabin. We’ll go from there.”

* * * *

Dirk moved close to Reni, asking softly, “Why is she better at it? You’re the vampire.”

“I can’t mist, which is the vampire version of invisibility, and an invisibility spell takes a great deal of practice to maintain.” Reni smiled ruefully. “Once I got used to the fact I was a vampire, I sort of dropped my magic studies, figuring I wouldn’t need them. It wasn’t until I met up with Bay and he introduced me to Tonio that I realized I’d been wrong.”

“Oh.” Dirk glanced at Bay, to find he was watching them. “Are you and Bay?” he whispered.

Reni chuckled lightly. “No, we’re good friends, nothing more. He’s not interested in females in that way.”

“He’s not? Damn.”

Now Reni laughed outright, but replied quietly, “My thoughts exactly, when I found out.”

“Okay, what about Felan? I mean surely we can’t all be gay. Can we?”

“Since you just came out and admitted you are, then it’s three yeses and one no. He’s as straight as they come.”

“Reni, Dirk, if you’re finished whispering together, may I have your attention please,” Tonio said. “Mattie and Felan are going to get Acasta. We should head out to the cabin so we’re there before they arrive.”

Bay nodded. “We’ll need to use the trucks, given the fact it’s rained up there for the last couple of days.”

“True. Okay, Reni, you’ll ride with me, Dirk can go with Bay.”

When Bay clapped a hand on Dirk’s shoulder and said “Let’s go moving,” Dirk nodded reluctantly, shooting a quick look at Tonio. I wish I was riding with him. Then again, this is business so it wouldn’t have mattered. But still…He trailed Bay out of the room, his thoughts now focusing on what was going to happen next.