Chapter 18 — Breaking the Rules

"Now what?" Alden said in dismay. Rika pocketed her phone.

"What's got you wound up?" Rika asked, pulling on her coat. "Rachel's gonna handle it like she always does, and this gives us plenty of time to go talk to our guy. Win-win."

"We're not gonna go help?" It had felt like exactly the right moment.

"Didn't we just do that?"

Alden sighed. "I figured, if they're gonna get in a fight, you'd want to help. Take down the murderer and clear your name."

"Fuck that. She'll be fine. I've got more important fish to catch." Rika cocked her head to the side. "Aren't you forgetting your whole mission here too?"

Alden shook his head. "It's not that urgent or anything though."

"You don't know that."

"Huh?"

"What if your mystery sibling dies before you find them? What if your enemy gets them, or gets you? Don't forget, someone had to do this to you. There's no magic just floating around doing things at random here. Everything's gotta be done by someone, which means someone out there's got a real hate boner for you."

"Uh..." Hailey said. They both looked at her, Rika as if she'd totally forgotten the two were still standing there.

"What's up, birdgirl?"

"...Birdgirl?"

"Look, I've been awake way too long. This is my best material right now."

Hailey shook her head. "I want to come with you guys."

"You do?" Alden asked.

Rika looked even more surprised. "You do remember the entire town hates me and half of them think I killed a bunch of people, right?"

"I know. But you didn't, and I want to help you," Hailey said firmly. "I've been thinking I was alone for a whole year now. I want to get back into the world. I'm one of you guys now, I guess. You know what it's like to not have anyone to talk to for months and months? I couldn't really talk to normal people anymore, not with this massive secret hanging off my neck all day. They just don't understand the world like we do now. So I'm sticking with you. Maybe we can find something to help Jessica someday."

She glanced at Jessica, who gave them all a smile but clearly hadn't understood the exchange.

Rika frowned. "Nice speech. Look, nerdy girls usually aren't my type—" Alden elbowed her in the side, cutting her off. "Sorry. Anyway, if I ever hear anything, I'm happy to let you know. But you don't really need to tag along for that. I'm sure we could find you."

"Are you forgetting what I can do?" Hailey asked pointedly. A sudden gust of wind swirled through her hair.

Alden winced. "She's got a point," he muttered.

Rika sighed. "How the fuck did I end up with a gang of stalkers… All right, fuck it. We only have so long before Rachel comes home. Let's go talk to Mr. Wizard."

"Hi, Will," Rika said, casually strolling into the living room. Will practically jumped out of his skin. His hand went reaching for a few gemstones lying on his desk next to his keyboard, but Rika raised a hand. Forks of electricity buzzed and crackled between her fingertips. "Uh uh, we just want to talk."

"How did you get in here?" he asked cautiously.

"Oh come on, you think I can't break into a shitty apartment in Rallsburg?" Rika rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.

"Who are they?" Will nodded at Hailey and Alden, who were standing behind Rika in the hallway. Alden opened his mouth to answer, but Rika cut him off.

"Associates."

"Right." Will shrugged. "Rachel's not here."

"Good thing, because we're here for you." Rika took the nearest chair and relaxed, though her hand still had electricity dancing about threateningly. "So, Will, between Rachel's tuition, paying to keep Hector and such from going bankrupt, and your setup here… how do you pay for everything as an unemployed couple?"

"Cryptocurrency," Will answered, but it was so fast and unconvincing that Alden laughed right alongside Rika.

"Bullshit. You don't have the hardware to be a serious miner and I know you didn't have the foresight to invest big back when you could afford it." Rika smirked. "Does Rachel know what you've been doing?"

"I—"

"She doesn't? Shit, I thought you two were the best couple I've ever met. You're murdering my poor romantic side."

"You had one?" Alden quipped.

Rika shot him a grin. "Hopeless romantic just like you, Alzack. Anyway, Will, since you're apparently renting out your services on a whim, how about you help me and mine out with something?"

He slumped in his chair, defeated. "Since it's you. But please, don't tell Rachel."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Rika answered. "I'll even pay your going rate. Now, tell us—where's the Scrap now?"

Will sighed. "I can't tell you."

"Sure you can. Just do your little magic and find out where it is, then tell me. Easy-peasy."

"Okay, so I won't tell you?"

"Will, how many years have we known each other?" She twirled her fingers around, and a bolt of electricity sparked through the air and connected with his hand. He recoiled from the sting. "You know when I'm being serious."

"Rika…" Alden started. He wasn't entirely comfortable with threatening the guy, even if he did seem to be a shifty information trader by what Rika had told them. Hailey also looked a little uneasy, but she was deferring to Rika for the time being.

"There's a difference between me selling affinity readings and location services, and me telling you where to find the most wanted piece of paper in town," Will said, frowning.

"Didn't stop you from giving it to Viper," Rika countered.

Will faltered. "He promised to get it far away from here, and I agreed."

"You want to put it in the hands of a mercenary corporation owned by one of the largest multinational conglomerates in the world?" Rika asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Huh?"

"Viper works for Malton Solutions. Subsidiary of the Culver-Malton group. I saw the logo on one of his boxes in his camp. You really want to put power like that in the hands of a self-obsessed British asshole who runs merc groups in Africa and the Middle East for kicks?"

"I… have no idea what you're talking about," Will said, looking embarrassed.

"No shit. Do your homework next time."

He looked indignant. "We've been a little busy."

"Well, luckily I'm here to take your mess off your hands. Tell me where the Scrap is, and a couple other things, and you don't have to worry about it anymore."

Without warning, Will stood up. The electricity bouncing between Rika's fingers seemed to speed up and grow in intensity. Alden's hand grasped the couple of rubies in his pocket that Hailey had lent him.

They'd only had time to go over the basics of how to use gemstones as an energy source, but he felt like he'd learned enough to figure out the rest in a pinch.

He wasn't looking at them. His eyes were fixed on the window and the thick dark trees just outside, and they were wide as dinner plates.

"What?" Rika asked cautiously.

"Rachel's in trouble." Will pulled out his phone and began tapping commands furiously.

"What are you talking about?" Alden was just as confused; there'd been no phone call or message or anything as far as he could tell, but Will seemed deadly serious.

"She sent a signal—just trust me," Will said distractedly.

Rika's phone buzzed. She pulled it out and checked the message.

"Why'd you just text me?"

"I set up a list, a long time ago. People to call in an emergency. You're still on it." Will kept mashing at his phone, ignoring them. Rika looked taken aback. "She's somewhere in the woods, but I'm having trouble getting an exact spot. Something weird's going on out there. Too much magic."

Rika frowned. "Is she okay?"

"I have no idea, what do you think I'm trying to find out?" Will cried. He was agitated, pacing around the room while still tapping away at his phone. "Her cell phone isn't pinging back either, no GPS. This could be really bad."

Hailey cut in. "We can help."

He looked up. "Who are you, exactly?"

"Doesn't matter," Rika added quickly. "She's just crazy good at what she does. Also she can fly."

"She can what?"

"Just give me your number, I'll find her." Hailey handed her bag to Alden, putting her flight cap back on.

"In exchange, though, you give us the info," Rika said, and the room got quiet. Hailey looked dumbstruck. Her tone was cold as ice.

"Dammit, this isn't the time," Will said.

"So tell me where it is."

"Fuck you, Rika," he growled.

He closed his eyes and began muttering something, while his hand clasped an purple amethyst between two fingers. After a few moments, it began to glow. His eyes opened wide and the crystal burned out. Black webbed across its surface in an instant, before it shattered into dust and fell to the ground.

"It's moving, fast. North, past the train station and into the woods only a couple dozen meters. I can't get more precise than that."

"Thanks." She nodded to Hailey, who quickly exchanged phone numbers with Will.

A moment later, she was pulling open the sliding door to the balcony and launching herself off the railing. Will scrambled to the edge in a panic, but a burst of wind buffeted him back as Hailey shot into the sky. Alden noted she had a much easier time gaining altitude now that she wasn't carrying anyone.

Rika interrupted their gawking with a snide voice. "Now, while our resident bird-person does her thing, I've got another one for you. Since you're so willing to trade secrets these days."

"What now?" Will asked, exasperated.

"Find my father."

"How am I supposed to do that? I can only find magic."

Rika shook her head. "You've got other connections and tools, and I'm sure if you put your mind to it you could devise a new spell for people. You can find Rachel, can't you?"

"That's different. That's more because of our bond, not my spells."

She paused. "Hold up. You can find your girlfriend because you two are that much in love?"

"...Yes."

Alden actually rather liked the idea, but he knew exactly how Rika would react. Sure enough, she burst into cackling laughter. "Holy shit, that's something else," she choked out. "Okay, say I believe that's actually a thing, you're saying that you couldn't use that because you're not in love with my dad, right?"

"Right."

"All right, fair enough." Rika was barely suppressing her laughter as she continued. "So you're back to the old fashioned way, unless you do come up with some new magic. I'll be in touch."

Will shot them a final dark look before returning to his computer and furiously typing away. Rika hadn't raised the threat again, but the blackmail was obvious even to Alden. He followed Rika out of the apartment feeling a bit subdued.

"Was that totally necessary?"

Rika twisted around with an incredulous look. "Of course it was. Don't forget, if he can figure out how to track anyone, he might be able to track down your long-lost family too."

"But you were holding Rachel's life as a threat," Alden protested.

"So?"

The cold, indifferent tone struck him as false. He felt like Rika was trying too hard to seem like she didn't care. "So isn't that a bit overboard?"

She sighed. "Look, Alden. Rachel's gonna be fine, she always is. They're just panicking because they haven't had to deal with shit this big before. I'm not gonna feel bad for taking advantage of the situation a bit. Them distracted gives us the perfect opportunity." Rika brushed hair out of her face. "You and me are gonna get what we came for, right?"

Alden still felt uneasy, but he nodded.