Stolen Magic. Esri Rose

      I’d gotten through the mind-numbing Quicken tutorial when Fia said, “I’m hungry,” as she wandered past my desk for the umpteenth time.

      I almost leaped to my feet. “I’ll take her.”

      Kutara looked at me from under her perfect eyebrows. “She says the same thing every seven minutes.”

      “I know, but I could do with a snack myself. Come on, Fia. Let’s have a nosh.” I took her forearm to pull her along. Under her skin, her bones felt somehow insubstantial, even though she didn’t look particularly different. It was as though there was a hollowness where her personality used to be.

      There were no humans in the lobby this evening, and I was relieved I didn’t have to glamour anyone. I led Fia outside into the glow of the security lights and locked the door behind me.

      The building opened onto a concrete square containing planters and benches, with the creek path to our right. I was turning to go that way when I saw a shape rise from one of the benches.

      “Vol’kellet!” the figure said.

      “Vol’kellet hai!” I answered automatically. It was the formal greeting between elves, and one of the first things Kutara had drilled into me.

      I stood still as the elf approached. It was a male, and he was a big ’un. My head went up and up as he came near, and I saw Fia do the same out of the corner of my eye. We must have looked like we were watching a hot-air balloon launch. A new elf in town was a rarity, but I had been one once. At least I knew he wasn’t a dark elf. You could sense those—something about taking in death energy changed them.

      This elf looked like a Viking, with thick, wheat-colored hair, blue eyes, and one of those manly chins with a little pad of muscle on the front. And whereas the Boulder elves dressed blend in with humans, he wore a traditional elven outfit of close-fitting brown pants, boots, and a loose shirt.

      “I’m looking for the headquarters of the Boulder elves.” His voice was so resonant, I could practically feel it in my feet.

      I pointed at the building next to us. “You’ve found it.”

      His mouth had been turned down, but now he smiled with such charm that I found myself smiling back. “Your ka’chil is named Kutara, right?” he asked.

      Ka’chil meant hero but could also mean leader. The second meaning was less common, since elves were territorial and often didn’t play well with others. “Kutara heads up the office,” I said.

      “Is there any possibility I could speak with her?”

      “Unless she’s lost her voice in the last five minutes, I think you can hardly avoid it. I’m Adlia, by the way.”

      “Dagovar.” He looked at Fia, but she didn’t say anything.

      “This is Fia,” I offered. “She’s a little under the weather right now.”

      “I’m sorry to hear that.”

      I led the way back to the door. “Do you live around here, Dagovar?”

      “No, I’m from Texas.” He followed me inside the lobby, looking around with interest as we passed into the offices beyond. “I heard about the organization and came here hoping to help.”

      That was a first. After Fellseth’s death, Kutara had traveled along the path he had taken, getting in touch with other elves and telling them how to get organized. Although one group had dealt with a dark elf since then, and a few had e-mailed to thank Kutara for getting rid of Fellseth, no one had shown up in person.

      “Well, you are in luck, Dagovar, because we need all the help we can get.” I tugged a stapler out of Fia’s hand and returned it to the desk we had just passed.

      Galan and Erin had gone, but Lenny and Kutara were still in the office. I pushed open the door and said, “Hey, guys, we have a fan! This is Dagovar.”

      There were more vol’kellets, and Kutara came around her desk to greet the newcomer.

      Dagovar inclined his head toward her. “Ka’chil. It’s an honor to finally meet you. You defeated Fellseth. He killed my mother.”

      “I’m sorry for your loss, Dagovar.” Kutara pulled a desk chair out for him.

      He sat, looking slightly less enormous. “I heard about your work. If you can use my services, I would like to help.”

      Lenny raised his eyebrows at me, and I shrugged slightly. As eager as I was to have other people help with the drudgery, this put us in a slightly awkward position. We’d made it our business to understand humans and use their technology. Dagovar sounded a little provincial in his speech.

      “Dagovar,” I said, “are you familiar with computers at all?”

      He nodded. “I lived with a human woman for several months, to gain energy. She worked with computers, and I learned from her.”

      Kutara looked interested. “What was her occupation?”

      “She was an accountant.”

      Ka-ching! I gave Dagovar my biggest, bestest smile ever. “Have you ever heard of Quicken Premier?”

      Chapter Five

      It turned out that Dagovar’s human lover hadn’t asked him to massage her spreadsheets, but he was fairly conversant with the basics of menu navigation. He was also a whiz at e-mail.

      “What is this project you’re working on?” he asked, when I’d gone over the basics of how our office worked.

      “Right now we’re looking for a piece of property where we can have real headquarters, instead of having to hide out here.”

      “In addition to dealing with money, do you also seek out other dark elves and destroy them?”

      “Luckily, dark elves turn out to be pretty rare. Since Kutara’s speaking tour, some elves in Nebraska got together and took care of one, but that’s the only incident we’ve heard about so far. But news spreads pretty slowly. Last week someone from Idaho joined the Yahoo Group. That was pretty exciting.”

      “Word of mouth is your main weapon, then.”

      “Yeah. It’s not like we can advertise on TV.” I thought for a moment. “Well, I suppose we could, but it might raise inconvenient questions in the public sector.”

      Dagovar looked around the office and sighed. “I came here hoping to fight dark elves hand to hand, but if this is what needs to be done, I’ll do it.”

      I dropped my voice. “Office work isn’t what I saw as my life goal, either.”

      “It must be particularly hard for you, after the excitement of battling Fellseth.”

      I shook my head. “I wasn’t involved in that. My only skills are number crunching and research.”

      “Still a valuable contribution.” He smiled gravely. “If working in an office is not your life’s goal, what is?”

      “I don’t know. My parents died when I was too young to remember, and I don’t have a talent, so I’m a little confused about life in general.” Apparently I was lonelier than I had realized, or I wouldn’t be showering Dagovar with personal information. But he had a serious quality that invited confidences. You got the impression he thought deep thoughts.