Blaze of Secrets (Asylums for Magical Threats 1)

She only hoped it would be that easy. “Let’s try to be out of here by this afternoon.”

Doing the best she could with the brim of her hat hanging partially in front of her face, Cam did a sweep of the area. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary—just street vendors selling food, salespeople trying to entice tourists into their shops, and friends chatting on the street.

Confident that no one was following them, she nodded the all clear to Zalika, and they approached the vendor stall filled with Mexican handicrafts.

Cam glanced over the brightly colored tablecloths, place mats, and purses until she found the section of hand-painted ceramics. Most of the cups and plates featured some kind of flower, but she kept looking until she found a plate with DEFEND’s secret symbol subtly worked into the design.

The middle-aged man running the stall matched the picture she’d been given in her assignment file, but to keep up appearances, she asked, “Do you speak English?”

The man smiled. “Yes. Is there something I can help you with?”

Time to use the secret pass-phrase. Cam held up the plate with DEFEND’s symbol on it. “My aunt has one just like this in her house, and since she loves it, I’d like to add another one to her collection. Do you have any plates with the same design, but painted in different colors?”

The man replied, “Yes, but my wife tries to hide them away in the back of the store, hoping that I’ll forget about them so she can keep them. But if you have time, I can take you to the inside portion of my shop and find the others for you.”

The man had used the correct response to the pass-phrase. But in the interest of looking authentic, she looked over to Zalika and said, “What do you think? Can we take a few minutes to look at the other designs?”

Zalika shrugged. “Sure, you’ve waited for me enough times. Let’s check out the other plates.”

The man put up a hand. “Give me a second.” He disappeared into the door behind him and soon reappeared with a teenage boy that Cam assumed was his son. The man said something in Spanish to the boy and then waved for them to follow him. “Come inside.”

Cam took the lead, but right before she reached the door, her instinct told her that she was being watched. She glanced over her shoulder and listened intently with her supersensitive hearing—one of the many bonuses that came with her latent abilities—but came up with nothing. As much as she wanted to find the source of her unease, she and Zalika should be safe enough inside the shop. If someone tried to barge their way in, she had a gun and a knife strapped to her leg under her flowing skirt.

She needed the information this man could provide to get the hell out of Merida and complete her assignment. If she left now, she’d have to linger in Merida long enough to arrange another meeting.

She decided that the possible threat wasn’t grave enough to abort her mission. She ducked inside the door, and Zalika followed.

Marco Alvarez watched Cam enter the shop and breathed a sigh of relief. When she’d turned around, he’d barely had time to hide in the crowd inside the eatery, the one he was using to stake out the vendor stall across the street.

His orders were clear—he was to watch over Camilla Melini and make sure her mission succeeded. The longer he could do it from the shadows, the less of a chance someone would connect them, giving him the advantage of surprise if things turned sour.

Since he’d seen her knock out a shadow-shifter back in the States, he knew firsthand that Cam could take care of herself. But Jaxton Ward—a high-ranking member of DEFEND and his old boss—was either being cautious or knew something that he didn’t. Cam was here to explore some Mayan ruins and hopefully find a clue left by a Talent, but he had a feeling that something else was going on. Maybe another group was also searching for the Four Talents.

Whatever it was, watching over Cam and protecting her team was only half of the reason he was back in Mexico. He was also here to hunt down an anti-AMT fringe group that was targeting innocent Feiru—and killing them. He was still in the process of collecting evidence, but all Marco knew for certain was that this group had a reach far beyond Mexico.

While waiting for Cam to arrive in Merida, he’d received news that had made his second assignment pers

onal—the same fringe group he was here to investigate had killed one of his cousins down in Colombia.

He clenched his hands inside the pockets of his jeans and tried not to think about how his fourteen-year-old cousin would never grow into the woman she was meant to be. He was determined to prevent other children from dying through no fault of their own. More than enough children already suffered inside the Asylum for Magical Threats compounds simply because they were the eldest child.

He’d started interviewing witnesses last night after the shops had closed, and would interview a few others later. During the day, however, he needed to focus on protecting Cam and Zalika. The owner of the handicraft stall was one of DEFEND’s local contacts, and while they didn’t think their contact’s identity had been compromised, it was always a possibility, especially with the constantly shifting landscape of Feiru politics.

He finished the soda in his hand and moved toward the door of the open-air eatery. He needed to find a better place to stake out the stall, one with easier access in case a threat appeared while Cam was inside. But halfway to the exit, a man walked by and knocked him hard on the shoulder. Marco cursed, but the man paid no attention and simply kept on walking.

Marco frowned. It seemed that Mexico, like every other country in the world, had its fair share of rude assholes.

He moved down the street, keeping one eye out for Jacek and the other on the vendor stall. He was just about to browse one of the stalls on his side of the street to keep up appearances when he noticed the rude asshole stop at the same stall where Cam had been minutes earlier. He was about to dismiss it as a coincidence when the teenage boy in charge of the stall started gesticulating wildly.

When the asshole pulled out a gun, Marco cursed, and started picking his way toward the stall as calmly yet efficiently as he could. If he drew too much attention, then the man would probably bolt. He didn’t want to chase an unknown enemy through the crowded mid-morning streets of Merida and blow his cover.

But when the asshole started motioning more fervently with his gun, Marco began pushing people out of the way. Despite his apologies, one of the American tourists started yelling at him. The man with the gun noticed, and fled down the street.

Fucking fantastic. Marco ran after him.

They were heading toward the Plaza Grande, the main town square. Once the man reached the square, Marco wouldn’t be able to take down the man and question him. There were too many human witnesses, and a fight could attract the Feiru authorities.

He wanted to use his elemental water magic to stop the bastard, but Marco wasn’t an idiot. The last thing he needed was to be tossed inside an AMT compound where they would drug him out of his mind, and do who knows what to him. He’d never be able to help Cam or his family then.