Shifting Life

18. Bound

Veronica watched Irina Galaprichow, attorney at law, prick her thumb with the silver dagger. Irina had grumbled and demanded overtime pay, but she came over at once. Veronica had placed all the ritual's objects on the oak wood desk in the office. She'd uttered what needed to be uttered in preparation. Irina, a voluminous woman in her fifties with a bad black dye job, was sealing the deal.

Irina let a drop of blood fall next to her signature on the scroll. She put her thumb down and made a thumb print.

"There," Irina muttered, "effective immediately. A regular Non Disclosure Agreement pretty much covers any situation, you know. In any realm. No need to add my eternal damnation if I don't keep my mouth shut."

"It's a delicate situation. I can't take any chances."

Veronica offered Irina sanitizer and tissues.

"I employed someone, a dog walker. We signed a contract," Veronica began. "Will that contract stand, no matter what?"

"What is the matter?"

"You heard the rumors?"

Irina nodded. "You have the kind of cavalry we thought were stuff of fairy tales."

"I knew my employee was a shifter, but that's not why I hired her. I needed a dog walker."

"Her." Irina peered at Veronica. Her eyes were almost black. "She's got a name?"

"Jacklyn Morse. And don't ask. There's nothing on her. As far as I know, she just started shifting."

"Pantzer's dead and his place is rubble. Don't say you didn't want that."

"I had nothing to do with it. I sent Jacklyn there to get my dog back. That's all. I didn't know."

Irina started laughing. "I can see why you needed my bloody thumbprint," she said. "You randomly hired a creature from the prophesies and sent her to pick up your dog."

Veronica crossed her arms. "It's not funny."

"She destroyed the place." A cruel smile cruised Irina's lips. "She's the real deal, then?"

"I don't know. I wasn't there," Veronica snapped. She rubbed her forehead, disappointed she'd let the strain show.

"It's possible, okay?" she said. "In that case, she need to be reined in. Hard. I'm not going near her till you tell me this contract stands."

Veronica handed Irina Jacklyn's employment contract, a simple, single piece of paper.

Irina started reading, scratching her neck uneasily. When she was done, Irina put the paper down.

"Like you probably guessed, the modern phrasing makes it a bit unusual. There may be weaknesses in the fabric so to speak. But as far as I can interpret this document, you're Jacklyn Morse's master."

"She will obey me?"

Irina nodded. "For now, she's bound to. But I'd get her blood on the contract ASAP if I were you."

Before Veronica had a chance to feel grateful for being anal about contracts, lights went out.

She looked out the panorama window. The power grid was down, city wide.