Read Online Strange Fates (Nyx Fortuna) by Marlene Perez - Free Book Online Page B

find her brother before I could. There was more to the story than what she was telling me.
    I hopped out while the light was red. “I’ll see you later,” I said.
    “I hope so,” she said. “You promise you’ll be in touch?”
    “I’ll be in touch,” I said. I watched her drive away.
    *  *  *
    I hit a couple of antiques stores, but I didn’t have any luck. My source had been sure that the cat carved from ebony he had was the one I was looking for. He’d indicated that the other charms were in Minneapolis as well. I dialed his number, but it was disconnected. I slammed the phone down and swore.
    My next stop was the manufacturing district. Jasper had mentioned my aunts were producing something the magical world had never seen before. But what could it be? And Elizabeth had said her brother was in research and development.
    I headed back to the Drake, but as I walked along Fifth Avenue, a few blocks from the hotel, the wind kicked up, sounding like someone was howling in pain.
    I glanced up at the graying sky and froze.
    High in the sky, large birds circled lazily above the hotel. My skin felt too tight, and it got hard to breathe.
    I squinted and took another look. Not birds, harpies. The bird-women were really my aunt Deci’s favorites. She loved them like they were her own sisters. If the harpies were in town, my aunts had something horrible planned for somebody. I hoped it wasn’t me.
    I forced myself to turn and walk, not run, in the opposite direction. The Drake was out and I couldn’t risk going back to Elizabeth’s. I’d have to rough it for the night. I needed to test my disguise. Come face-to-face with my aunts and see if they recognized me. Infiltration. Retribution. Revenge. My plan in three easy steps, except there wasn’t going to be anything easy about it.
    It was a big leap of logic to assume that Elizabeth’s brother Alex was the same Alex Jasper knew, but I did know that Alex had worked for my aunts. Maybe I’d be able to find out what happened to him and spy on my aunts at the same time. But none of it would work if the spell didn’t hold and my aunts recognized me.
    As much as the thought gave me the shakes, I knew I’d have to face them and soon, if I had any chance of my plan succeeding.
    But first, I was going to reunite with the Caddy and head to the library, where it was warm. And more important, where they had computers.
    The Internet was as almost as good as witchcraft and not nearly as detectable. It only took me an hour or two to find out enough about my aunts’ new business to figure out my strategy. The company website indicated that Morta, Deci, Nona—and surprisingly, Nona’s husband, Sawyer Polydoros—all worked at Parsi Enterprises. Since when did the Fates bother getting married?
    Elizabeth’s brother had worked at Parsi before his disappearance. Why was I not surprised? I printed out the address and stuffed it in my jacket pocket.
    *  *  *
    I found the address easily. Parsi Enterprises was in an old converted warehouse building in the North Loop neighborhood.
    A security guard sat at a desk in the lobby, reading Guns & Ammo . When I approached, he grabbed a clipboard. “Name?”
    I wasn’t on any list for the building. “Uh, I wanted to drop off a résumé,” I said.
    His clipped “Name?” told me I wasn’t going to be able to breeze right on in.
    I couldn’t risk using magic to convince him, not so close to where the Wyrd family made their fortune. I held out the sheet of paper with the directions on it and hoped he wouldn’t look too closely. “I wanted to drop off a résumé,” I repeated.
    He sneered at my beat-up leather jacket and scruffy Docs. “Twenty bucks,” he said.
    I handed over my last twenty and the guy pocketed it before he returned to his magazine. I took that as my cue and rode the elevator to the third floor.
    Once there, I admired the limestone blocks and heavy wooden beams. The building was built to withstand time. Or a