Branded Read Free

that I hadn’t gone through this emotional roller coaster a hundred times already. “Anything I can do to help?”
    Sly screwed his lips up to one side. He hummed a tune I was sure was from the 80s, but I couldn’t place the song. I had missed that era of music by the skin of my teeth. Thank the universe for small favors.
    “I need to add more dust.”
    I glanced down at the pouch. I wasn’t sure how much he’d used already. It hadn’t seemed like a lot, but it also wouldn’t take a lot for Vic to notice.
    But, to me, the potion was more important than the contract. I’d give up collecting bounties for good if it meant getting this to work.
    “Take what you need.”
    “You sure?”
    “To hell with Vic. He wants to bitch about it, he can shove his contract up his ass and explain to the Ministry why he didn’t pay on a bounty.”
    Sly grunted. “I hate politics.”
    I gestured toward the pouch. “Take it. Whatever you need.”
    Sly nodded and grabbed the bottle of yellow liquid. He added more to the vial, then added another fluid, this one purplish. Then he used a teaspoon to scoop up more of Darius Strong’s remains and deposited it into the vial.
    The mixture hissed, and a wisp of smoke rose out of the vial.
    “Nice,” Sly said.
    I felt that ray of hope grow again inside of me despite all the cynicism I had saved up since the day my family’s life had been blown apart.
    “Okay,” Sly muttered. He moved over to his centrifuge and put the vial in and started it spinning. The machine whirred.
    “Couple more minutes and it’s done.”
    “It worked?”
    “The potion set, yes. But that’s still no guarantee.”
    “I know.”
    He reached across the bench and gripped my wrist. “I want to make sure you do.”
    “You’ve already told me, Sly.”
    “This is dangerous shit you’re dealing with. Not earth shattering or anything, but still…”
    “I know,” I repeated. “But I don’t have many options left.”
    Sly shook his head. “You don’t have any options left. If this doesn’t work, it could kill her.”
    I pressed my lips together and took a deep breath through my nose. The air smelled bitter. I wasn’t sure if it was from the potion Sly had mixed up, or if it came from some combination of the things in the boxes surrounding us. Those boxes felt a lot closer now. A titch of claustrophobia crept in and rattled me. I found it hard to breath. I had even started sweating a little despite the freezing level of the air conditioner.
    “I know,” I said one more time.
    Sly looked at me intently for a couple more seconds. He came to some decision, nodded, then hit a button on the centrifuge. The machine slowly whirred to a stop. Sly retrieved the vial. It had turned a deep red. I had no idea what he had put into the potion that would make it turn that color, but potions didn’t work like paint.
    He raised the vial to eye level and squinted at the contents. “That’s it.” He handed the position over. The glass vial felt cool. The moment I took it into my hand it changed color again.
    It turned black.
    I quickly looked up at Sly.
    He frowned. Grunted.
    “What’s it mean?”
    “I can’t be sure. Sure as hell looks like a bad portent.”
    “Thanks,” I said sarcastically. “Should I still use it?”
    “That’s your call. Like I said, there’s no guarantees to this. Now, if I actually knew what had happened to her…”
    He trailed off. We’d had this discussion before. The whole reason I needed this potion was because I didn’t know what had happened to my parents three years ago.
    This potion was supposed to help tell me that.
    I wrapped my fingers around the vial. The chilly glass sent a wave of cold up my arm to the elbow. I quickly tucked it in my pocket. “I owe you.”
    “Yeah. About three grand.”
    “You want me to write you a check?”
    He waved me off. “I know you’re good for it.”
    I’m glad he thought so. In fact, everyone seemed to think I was rolling in cash.