Hey, let me tell you a little story about the end of the world. You might say, if the world ended, then how are you around to tell us such a story. Well, the world almost ended. Many cities were destroyed and lots of people died, so it was close enough to count. It was a turning point for Earth in many ways, which will become apparent as I tell my story, but it was a turning point for me as well. It all started with my first job, personal cat burglar for one of the biggest crime families in New York City…    

It was evening when I came to Orion’s office. Though, in New York, nothing ever really became completely quiet and dark. As I raised my hand to knock, I heard his low baritone voice telling me to come inside. Orion’s office was well appointed with a large mahogany desk, various expensive looking paintings on the walls, a plush carpet that probably cost more than my whole apartment, and the crowning glory, a floor to ceiling window with a view over central park framed by heavy black velvet curtains.

Orion himself was seated behind the great desk, which hid most of his over six-foot frame. His suit was a maroon color and tailored to fit his toned body and his nearly black hair was slicked back away from his face. Orion was a man who exuded confidence and power from every orifice, as well he should being a major crime boss. He wouldn’t garner nearly as much respect by throwing around that pretty body or batting those green eyes at other crime bosses.

He didn’t look up at me as I approached the other side of the desk and instead sifted through a pile of folders to find whatever it was he wanted me for. Luckily for me, his wife was not around. Orion’s wife was a very beautiful, very cruel sorceress who dealt in magical goods and sex. The less time I had to spend in her presence, the happier I was. Finally, Orion found what he was looking for and glanced up at me. “Good of you to come on such short notice, Maya. The job tonight is a little different than usual.” I raised an eye brow, wondering why and how much more trouble that would cause me. “There is a shipment of artifacts that is being moved to the museum. We’re tracking the truck as we speak. It’s coming in from the Red Hook docks. We’re going to slow it down before it leaves Brooklyn.” He was watching me now. “You may need to dig through a few crates, but it’ll be easier getting into a trailer than a fully armed museum exhibit.” That was true, so I nodded. “A driver will take you down to intercept, and then bring you back here.” He finally handed me a picture of a large carved tablet. “This is what you’re getting. It’s another Mayan calendar that Andromeda found.”

I took the picture and looked it over. I kept my face neutral and all my thoughts about how crazy I thought it was to go after all these Mayan artifacts, especially their calendars. My job was only to steal, not to question the sanity of Orion’s wife. So, I did the only thing I could, and nodded silently.

“That’s my good little cat burglar. Good hunting.”

Once I got back downstairs I found my driver waiting for me. I nearly grimaced when I realized it was Earl Minno. I could hear his questionable taste in music from inside the lobby of the building and getting closer to see his manner of dress did nothing to improve his impression on me. The car, at least, was an inconspicuous black four door. Most people were driving similar cars and nothing about this one would stand out, unless he kept blasting that horrible country music. I gently knocked on the window to get him to open the door and slid into the front passenger seat. The guy reeked of cheap cologne, offending my senses. His dime store plaid suit didn’t look any better up close than it had from a distance. He glanced at me for confirmation that I was ready to go. I simultaneous reached to turn off the music and roll the down the window a little then gave him the go ahead motion. He laughed as he put the car in drive and pulled away.

“You’re always so sensitive to my cologne,” Earl told me.

“Maybe if you didn’t bathe in it and used a subtle amount like a normal man it wouldn’t be so bad.” I eyed him from the side, taking in his casual manner. This mafia man was too low on the totem pole to have any real worries. Earl was basically a chauffer.

He laughed again. “You could be a little more subtle yourself when you criticize your ride.”

“I didn’t ask for the ride, Orion told me you were gonna take me back and forth.”

“I could take you after the heist too.” I heard the grin in his voice without even bothering to look at his face.

“You could, but then all your girlfriends would be jealous.” A small smirk curled my lips. Earl was as undesirable to other woman as he was to me, even if they couldn’t smell his cologne as much as I did.

Earl cleared his throat. It was the sign that he was going to give up for now. Only for the time being though. “So, how long do you thing you’ll need so I know when to swing around and pick you up?”

“Thirty minutes. If it takes longer than that then I’ll have gotten into trouble and you won’t need to pick me up anyway.”

He nodded. “Got it.”

It didn’t take us long to get to the rendezvous point. The truck was parked at a gas station and the driver was outside smoking by the cab. I couldn’t help but smile to myself. Stupid people made my job so much easier, and smoking at a gas station rated pretty highly on the stupidity meter. I checked myself in the mirror and adjusted my girls before getting out of the car. I knew Earl was watching, but whatever. If you have sex appeal you should know how to use it properly. I was well practiced at these kinds of things and my body had gotten me out of many a squirmy situation.

I caught the truck driver’s attention as I slid out of the car seat with purpose and sauntered over to him. I was all in black, and my jeans fit skin tight. My boot heels clacked on the pavement and my waist long hair swung behind me with each step. I was confident in my near hour glass figure. I was pleased to see that the driver wasn’t a complete slob. His khaki pants looked newly washed, and he had a flannel vest pulled over his very old Van Halen t-shirt.

“Hey there,” I’d stopped right in front of him, and was smiling. Over time I'd mastered a false smile. You had to in my line of work where grinning and nodding got you into a lot less trouble than opening your big mouth.

“Hm?”He scanned me from bottom to top. “Didn’t think women as nice looking at you came to talk to guys like me.”

“Sometimes.” My smile turned to a mischievous grin. “Want to have a little fun before you get back on the road?”

“Fun, huh?” The wheels were turning. He was definitely intrigued, but smart enough to be a little wary. “What’s the catch?”

I gave as feminine a laugh as I could manage. “No catch.”

He eyed me again, and seemed to lose his cares. “Alright then.” He tossed his cigarette off to the side, still lit. Yeah, this guy was not the brightest bulb in the box.

Still managing to keep my grin, I led him over and into the bathroom. It was harder than it should’ve been because he kept trying to sample my goods along the way while asking about where I was from and if I did this often. I told him that I’d lived in the city my whole life, which was true. However, I was all too happy to hurry up with this charade and pulled the bathroom door closed.

“You’ve got kind of a high class look to you for this kinda stuff,” he told me. He was already slipping out of his vest when I turned around. 

“That’s because I’m good at what I do, and can afford to look high class.”

He was pawing at me again until I pulled out a pair of fur covered hand cuffs. He stepped back with that same wary look he’d first given me. I flashed him and gave my best pouty look. “Aw, don’t look at me like that. I’ll only cuff one hand, alright?” Whether it was my girls or my expression that did it, the guy caved and let me cuff one hand to a steam pipe. Looking up I could see how eager he was, and I slid my hands into his pants pockets. I made it seem like I was groping for him when all I was really doing was searching for his keys. When I couldn’t find them, I tried his vest and pulled out the hefty key chain.

“H-hey! Wait a minute!” He cried out and tried to pull out of the cuff.

“Don’t worry I’ll be right back,” I lied and trotted out to the truck. I could hear the driver yelling and the rattle of the metal cuffs against the steam pipe. This was going to have to happen more quickly than I originally planned. In a hurry, I opened the back of the truck and started rifling through the wooden crates for Orion’s Mayan calendar. I found the gigantic piece of stone in its own smaller crate between some of the larger ones. For a normal woman, this would’ve been impossible to lift out of here, even without the crate. Good thing I was no ordinary woman. I lifted the box out and locked the truck up. I turned around hearing a long slow whistle behind me. I thought it was Earl letting me know he was here and ready to go.

“Cute and strong. I was wondering who I’d see rifling around back here.” His expression was neutral despite his commentary. I’d never seen this man before and was wondering if Orion had sent someone to check up on me. He had the look of someone high raking in Orion’s organization with his expensive suit, clean cut look, and confidence. He had a strange, while not terrible scent about him as well. It wasn’t one that I recognized by any means. Instead of playing his game though, I shot him an angry look and went to meet up with Earl. I’d let this man distract me too long, and by the time I was headed to the car, a cop and the truck driver were coming toward me. I booked it to the nice non-descript car, and shoved the big crate into the back of it.

“Is that it?” Earl asked.

I slammed the back door and almost flew into the front. “Yeah, go, go." Earl peeled out into the street. I fully expected to hear sirens behind us, but didn’t.  Confused, I looked back to see the guy in the expensive suit distracting the cop. “Is he one of our guys?” My neck was still craned to look out the back window.

“I never seen him, but the boss has connections all over,” Earl muttered. 

I nodded and turned back to face the front, glad that he hadn’t decided to turn the radio back on. Earl ended up taking a round-about way back to Orion’s building, just in case someone was following us. Of course, that took us a lot longer, and the awkward ride mostly passed in idle chit chat or silence.

It was almost midnight when I bought the crate into Orion’s office, he was still alone, and I was grateful not to have to deal with his crazed wife.

“Went off without a hitch, huh?” I nodded in response. “Great, you never fail to impress.”

“I’ll take my payment then.” I was hoping it'd be a nice one considering I almost got snatched by a cop. 

“Of course.” He cut me a check with a nice number of zeroes. “We’ll be in touch if anything else comes up.”

“Great.” I was grinning at the nice fat check as I headed back downstairs.

Earl was still hanging around outside his car. I’m pretty sure he was waiting for me. “Need a lift back home?” he asked. “I was thinkin’ of hitting up a club or something.”

“That actually sounds pretty good, as long as you don’t dance with me or turn on any more of that damn country music on the way.”

I got back into his car. By this point I was starving, and heading to a club would be the perfect thing to sate my appetite. You don’t really understand why a club would sate me appetite, huh? That's okay. I'll let you in on a secret. I’m a demon, a cat demon to be specific, which is why Orion likes calling me his cat burglar. Anyway, being a demon means I can eat by more unconventional means than humans are used to. For one, I can feed off of emotions. Humans are rather emotional creatures, and their strong feelings have energy to them, energy that fuels my body the same way eating a piece of chicken would. There are other ways I can feed, but this one was the most convenient at the moment.

The wonderful thing about being in this city is that nothing closes early. So even at one in the morning the clubs were still pumping out loud, horrible music. The dance floor was a sweaty mass of flesh when we came in. I eagerly made my way into the throng of people where emotions were flying high. There was a nice mix of lust, envy, and frustration. It was delicious but I wanted more. My body gyrated in tune with the house music, luring several men closer to me. One particularly bold man came to nearly grind against me. His lust was particularly tasty.

“Any interest in stepping away from here and cooling off at my place?” He shouted over the bass of the music.

That was pretty funny, so I laughed. “I don’t think you could handle me.”

“You’re just making me want to try harder now.” The man sounded awkward shouting such things as he competed with the music to be heard. 

“Uh huh.” This guy was feeding me pretty well right here. He must have wanted me pretty badly based on all the emotion he was giving out. Seriously though, he really couldn’t handle me. One of the other ways I feed is by siphoning off energy during sex. A mundane human would be killed in the process since the only energy they have to spare is life energy. At least a magic user has magical energy I can take. The most ideal is feeding with another demon, but there weren’t too many out in the open. That was why I turned to places like this with humans and their emotions, and why I kept eating from this human who thought he had a shot with me.

“I’m gonna grab a drink, you in?” His voice brought me back from my thoughts.

“Yeah, sure.” I followed him over to the bar where the presumptuous man ordered for both of us. I made sure to sniff the drink first. It smelled okay so I took a sip.

“So, what’s your name beautiful?” He was practically beaming, and his skin was glistening with sweat after all the close dancing. 

“Maya.” I, on the other hand, had to fight not to roll my eyes at how stupid this all was.

“I’m Sean.” Great. I'll likely forget that in about an hour.

It was then I noticed the guy in the expensive suit from the gas station. He was sitting by the bar and nursing his own drink. He was also watching me with a curious expression. It was kind of creepy that he'd followed me all the way here from Brooklyn. It was creepy enough that I wasn't sure I wanted anything to do with this guy. I tried to express my disinterest by ignoring him and turning my back to him, but that only caused him to get up and come over to interrupt.

“Hey, free to dance?” The expensive suit asked while leaning in to get closer to me. 

“If you didn’t notice, she’s with me,” the lustful Sean complained.

“I’ll show you a more interesting time,” the expensive suit made it sound more suggestive than it should have been, all while keeping his expression neutral.

That strange scent came rolling off him again. It was the scent of a creature I couldn’t place, and that had me more curious and worried than anything else. That didn't mean that I couldn't get a little closer and try to figure out what sort of creature he was. “I doubt it, but you can try.” I adjusted my hairband and went to join him on the dance floor leaving the lustful Sean behind. The man in the expensive suit really was a pretty good dancer, and the more time I spent near him the more attracted to his scent I became. “I guess you’re okay. Even though you’re kind of creepy following me all the way here from a gas station in Brooklyn.”

“I wouldn’t normally.” He pulled me in close to him. “But what can I say, you had me curious.” He twirled and dipped me then pulled me in close again, that scent was so intoxicating. “How long have you been at it?” When I threw him a confused look he clarified, “that particular line of work.”

“A while.”

“About the same here.”

Ah, so I was right, he was one of Orion’s people, but best to ask and be sure. “So is that why you helped? You work for him too?”

“Indeed.” He looked down at me with grey blue colored eyes. “Does that help my chances?”

I nearly snorted at how ridiculous that would be. I usually steered clear of Orion’s people when I wasn’t working with them, but that scent…”No, but your scent does.” One of those masculine grins crossed his face in response. It was the kind of grin a man has when he knows exactly what affect he has on a woman. He pulled me in closer so I could sample more of that wonderful essence. “Whatever you are, you’re strong.” My voice was low, but he’d heard me over the noise of the club.

“Stronger than anyone here, anyway.” He stated nonchalantly.

He danced with me a while longer. It was real dancing too, not just the grinding and dry humping that passed as dancing in most clubs. Eventually he asked me if I was in the mood to step out with him. I agreed and he gave my hair a gentle stroke. “I figure you might be hungry.”

It seemed that he knew exactly what I was and that only made me more curious as to what sort of creature he was. Maybe if I fed on his energy I could figure it out. “I am hungry," I admitted. "Where to?”

“My place is close by, and pretty comfy.”

I let him take me to his place, which was only a couple blocks from the club. It made me wonder if he staked out the place often for other demons. His apartment was a modest one bedroom in a high rise building. It was on a high enough floor that the usual street noise of Manhattan was a low drone in the background. His rooms were well appointed with a decent sets of furniture. There were a lot of dark colors and pieces made of wood. There were no rugs on any of his floors, but the parkay floors and tiling were tastefully done. His bedroom was larger than the living room. I assumed he got a lot of use out of it. He was attractive for sure, and I guess he was a player too. This was all about casual sex though. I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, I was just hungry. I’m pretty sure he felt similarly and kept things nice and relaxed. The next part is not for prying eyes, as I don’t kiss and tell. However, I will say that his energy was the best I’ve had in a very long time.

We laid out next to each other on his bed afterward, snuggled under his comforter. “Mm, that was very nice.” He had a satisfied air about him.

“Agreed.” I suddenly realized I didn’t even know the guy’s name, and that he might not know mine either. Shamefully I told him, “my name is Maya, by the way.”

“I’m Max.” He settled back into his pillow. “Make yourself comfortable for tonight.”

I happily did so and slept peacefully, also for the first time in a while.

*********

I slept in the next morning, the way people often do after they have a really large meal. When I opened my eyes, Max was standing by the side of the bed watching me. His expression was neutral and he smelled like breakfast, in more ways than one. All he wore was a dark blue bath robe that showed off his thin but toned musculature rather nicely. I allowed myself a nice look before his voice snapped me back to reality.

“I half expected you to slip out the window while I was cooking.” He set down a plate of eggs on the bed for me.

“I was still asleep.” I pushed myself up to seated, still pretty groggy. “Why would you think I’d do such a thing?”

“The whole cat burglar thing,” he said and reached over to pet my ears. I usually kept them under a hair band since they were a pretty obvious indication that I wasn’t human, but there was no need for that here. “Or were you still hungry?”

I gobbled down the eggs he gave me. “I’m pretty much always hungry.”

“Good, I’m pretty much always horny. Maybe we can make an arrangement.”

I glanced up at him to see how smug he was about all this. His grin aggravated me, but… “I like arrangements that involve food.”

That was all the permission he seemed to need before coming in to feed with me again. Max took full advantage of our agreement until he had no choice but to leave for a job. He left so quickly that he didn’t have time to kick me out. He was either very trusting or had a terrible lapse in judgment. Likely the latter, since I am a thief and all. So I did what any cat does when left home alone, I snooped around his apartment. If I found anything valuable then I’d be richer for it. All I found was a mess and a lot of different types of clothing that didn’t really look like they’d fit him. Either Max’d taken all his money with him or he knew how to hide it really well.

I gave up, and got ready to leave, but heard rain start to patter on the windows. There’s little cats hate more than rain so I went to settle back into bed. Not long after an older man came into the apartment with a little bit of grey at his temples, and wearing a nice suit.

“Still here?” He asked me. He didn’t seem upset by the fact that there was a stranger in his home but he sure as hell spooked me.

I shoved my ears under my hairband and pulled on my shoes. “Sorry, I didn’t know he had a roommate!” I blurted as I hurried past the older man and out the door.

I heard his voice call back to me, but I could think of nothing but getting my embarrassed self out of there as soon as possible. Max could have simply told me he lived here with other people, I wouldn’t have been stupid enough to linger in that case. I hurried into a nearby bodega to get out of the rain and grab a bit to eat. It was already time for dinner and a nice big sandwich sounded pretty good. While I waited for the man behind the counter, I caught site of the news of my theft in the newspaper. It wasn’t the major headline but it still had made the front page. That was a little of a surprise, but I knew as we got closer to the magic date of December 2012, more and more people were concerned that the end of the world was coming because the last Mayan calendar was also ending. It was such a bunch of garbage.

I paid for my sandwich and left the shop munching down on it. On the corner was a guy with a sign stating, “The end is near.” Another crazy who bought into this mythological hoopla. That was why Orion had been asking me to get all these Mayan artifacts for him lately, too. He claimed he wanted to protect his goods and properties just in case. Though, if the world fell apart, I doubted a bunch of protection spells and powerful safes would help. I figured his wife, Andromeda, was behind it all. That third rate sorceress would believe the moon was purple if it was written in a long standing myth. Oh well, at least it meant a steady pay check.

A few days later I was back in Orion’s office. He’d been calling on me more frequently lately. I didn’t mind too badly though, after all a demon has to eat. Today, Orion’s nine hundred dollar suit was an earthy brown. It wasn’t a very good color on him and made him blend in with the wood in his furniture. I couldn’t say that though, and kept my fashion sense to myself. I wasn’t exactly the queen of the runway with my mostly black wardrobe of tight fitting clothes.

              “That was quick. I only just called you.” The approval in Orion’s voice made me feel good. The more trust I could earn, the better my position.

              “A girl needs to pay the bills.” I grinned and adjusted my hairband to fit more securely over my ears.

              “We have a different sort of job than usual, if you think you’re up to it.” Orion turned his back to me and began calmly sifting through his folders. Hearing it was yet another different sort of job made me both wary and curious. Granted I managed pretty well the last time, but my strength was stealth. “I got word that one of the city universities there’s a little research project going on surrounding some new objects dug up overseas. Apparently they are the only ones with a professor loopy enough to take magic half seriously.” I had to stifle my laugh when he turned to face me with a folder in hand. Here he went around looking for Mayan artifacts, and knew for a fact that not only did magic exist, but that there was a whole underground of magical creatures like myself. So calling a human loopy for wanting to believe in what he knew as fact, struck me as rather humorous. “We want to know what they know, and if the artifacts they have are worth adding to our assets. You can either get your hands on copies of their notes or just drag the professor somewhere for a chat. Whichever you prefer.”

              I thought about what he was suggesting, and despite what I am, I can’t bring myself to hurt others unnecessarily. Demons always have such a bad reputation for wanting to cause human suffering. While that’s true, there are those of us who just want to co-exist peacefully, hence why we have other methods of feeding. That didn’t mean that I couldn’t do the job he wanted, just that I would have to go about it in a different way. “Alright,” I told him, “I’m in.”

              “I knew I could count on you.” He gave my shoulder a pat and shoved the folder at me on the way to his cushy desk chair. Once he resumed his busy work I knew he had nothing more to say.

              I stepped out into the hallway to have a look at the folder. The school was in Brooklyn, which agitated me. Those of us who live in Manhattan find it undesirable to have to travel to the outer boroughs. It meant I either had to get rides all the time or be at the mercy of the MTA. I knew it would be the latter, and grumbled as I read about the professor and the artifacts in question. The man’s name was Hubert Zabel, he had only been with the university about ten years and was conducting this research as part of his post-doctoral work. Usually the man was a ‘normal’ archeologist focusing on the strange coincidences of ancient societies. In other words, he was one of the loonies who was likely glued to shows like Ancient Aliens and believed every word. All in all, the perfect candidate for magical research. Dr. Zabel had found a set of plates with magical inscriptions and he was attempting to read them. All the good it would do him. A mundane human can’t make sense of magical language as a rule because there’s nothing they could do with that knowledge. I, on the other hand, would be able to read them without any issue. That was why Orion chose me after all.

              I heaved a heavy sigh and went down to the nearest Q train station for the long ride into Brooklyn. The subway platform was teeming with tourists. People taking pictures of each other on a cruddy looking subway platform usually were not native New Yorkers. The train came quickly enough, being that it was the middle of a week day, and I was spared any random odors or performances during my ride. Most of the people were gone by the time we reach the southern end of Manhattan, and I had a quieter ride the rest of the way. The skyline as seen from the train was pretty, but I knew it’d look a hell of a lot cooler at night.

              A painfully slow twenty five minutes later I got off at my stop. The neighborhood was more suburban than urban in this part of Brooklyn. There were many apartment buildings, but most of them not higher than six or seven stories. The blocks were lined with trees, and only a handful of stores dotted the row of housing. The campus was only a few blocks from the train station, and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. Most of the campuses in the city were a series of buildings, some of them great distances from each other. This was a true campus, an urban oasis. It was a sprawling space that occupied quite a few blocks. There was a lush lawn with lounging students in between the two main buildings. I had no trouble getting in as I casually walked along with entering students. I was drawing a few looks, as I usually do, but I thought it might have had more to do with my ‘seductress’ outfit than anything else. I was going to have to change clothes before approaching Dr. Zabel.

              I learned over time that a good thief is prepared for anything and once I found a bathroom I changed into something a little more casual; something more fitting of an aspiring college student with no money, like blue jeans and a nice blouse. I didn’t really think this man would be swayed by my aesthetically pleasing look, not after what I had read in the file. Luckily for me, my looks were only a distraction. I was knowledgeable about the magical underground, and could pass myself as someone useful in this research.

              The lab was at the far end of the science building, on the top floor. It was almost as if the school was trying to put him as far away from everyone else as possible without actually kicking him off campus. I knocked before entering, but I don’t think he noticed. The good doctor was bent over a lab bench staring at one of the tablets. He must have thought that if he looked at it hard enough the inscription would change into English. I couldn’t help but feel a little bad for the guy.

              “Excuse me? Are you Dr. Zabel?” I edged closer to the lab bench to peer in from the side.

              Hubert Zabel looked up surprised, and startled. Clearly I’d interrupted some deep thought. “Yes, can I help you?” He wasn’t what I’d expected from the dossier. The man was of average height, and relatively well dressed in dark brown slacks, and a blue argyle sweater over a pressed white shirt. His shoes ruined the look though. He had a pair of red converse sneakers on. His hair was starting to thin on top, and I knocked his age up a few years. “Are you here to help out? I was beginning to lose hope that I would get any assistance.” A small smile lit up his tired expression.

              I came closer to the tablet and reached for it, watching him carefully to see if he would stop me. When he didn’t I picked up the small stone slab and immediately felt its power. It was full of white magic and it took most of my will power not to recoil and drop the thing. Instead I carefully put it back down. Points to me for not flinching at the white magic burn. Yes, white magic really does harm us. I’m less affected than other demons because of the whole cat thing, but if the white is powerful enough it burns like sticking your hand in an open flame. “Yes, is it alright if I can take a look at your notes before I start? That way I’ll be caught up on any discoveries you’ve already made, and don’t waste time looking for the same things twice.”

              He was happy to oblige and handed me a small, worn notebook. “It’s a little disorganized,” he explained, whiping his forehead, “so if there’s anything you don’t understand you can ask.” Dr. Zabel sat back at his station and turned his back on me. “Who sent you anyhow? This isn’t exactly the most popular research being conducted on campus.”

              It was time to sell it, and I attempted to sound as enthused as I was able. “No one sent me, sir. I’m fascinated by this. I think you might really be on to something with this idea of magic being real.”

              Dr. Zabel turned toward me. He must not be used to someone either believing him or caring about what he was working on, or maybe a little of both. That small smile broadened and made him look a little handsome. “I’m so glad to hear that. My whole life I’ve felt there was much more than what we see or read about. All of those stories with creatures like dragons and elves can’t be completely false, otherwise they wouldn’t have been so widely used or imitated.”

              “I feel exactly the same way.” I wasn’t going to give us all away, but I could at least let the guy feel good about his theories. It was true though, pretty much all of it. There really were dragons and elves, and many other magical creatures. A large amount of humans were capable of using magic even though many of them didn’t realize it unless they happened to stumble upon a spell or were raised in magic using families. What I didn’t understand was the fascination with creatures that were totally made up, like vampires and werewolves. What a load of garbage that whole thing was. One war lord decides to drink his victim’s blood and suddenly there’s a vampire virus that can turn humans into the undead, or worse…sparkly.

              I sat at another bench to read through the notebook, trying to make sense of what he’d written. It was so much gibberish. The guy really had absolutely no clue what the hell he was looking at. I feigned reading for a while longer before I asked for another tablet to look at. This time I was much more careful about not grabbing it. It exuded just as much white magic as the first one had. I was going to have to make this a quick read or risk having the white magic affect me in other ways. The writing was done by a sorcerer for sure. I recognized the runes. There was a powerful protection spell scrawled here. What did Orion want with a protection spell? Andromeda could easily whip one up if necessary. Granted it was a strong spell, but not stronger than hers…unless…

              I asked Dr. Zabel for more of the tablets and started putting them together. He watched as I did so, leaning over my shoulder. As soon as I put the first two tablets near each other the amount of white magic nearly quadrupled. I put a third by them and was knocked off my feet by the energy. Dr. Zabel looked to me in shock. He hadn’t felt a thing. Lucky him. “Please pull the tablets apart,” I begged. He quickly did so, hurried by the tone in my voice. As soon as the tablets were far enough apart the magic faded back to its original level. My head was spinning from the white magic though and I wanted to throw up. I decided to stay down on the floor until the room stopped spinning. Dr. Zabel offered me his hand once he had secured the tablets. I took it and let him help me to my feet.

              “Are you alright? What happened?” He asked, excitedly. Despite not having felt the effects himself, he was sure something had happened.

              “There’s definitely something to those tablets. Something powerful. I can’t believe you didn’t feel it.”

              “Is that like a second sense?” He was genuinely interested. “Like someone who can sense other presences? I never feel ghosts when other people say they’re around either.” He frowned like a small child. I for one would have been grateful not to feel ghosts. Most of them were very angry about being stuck in limbo.

              I had to be careful not reveal too much to him and so I told him, “It’s like a magical sense instead of a second sense, I guess. But I don’t know enough about it to explain it. You could call it a gut feeling for magic if you prefer.” I offered a smile, but didn’t look happy. I still felt pretty sick from that blast of white. “I think I’m gonna go use the powder room. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

              Dr. Zabel nodded quietly and looked over at his tablet again. “How about I grab us a bite to eat? The food here isn’t too awful for campus food.”

              “That sounds fine. I’ll meet you back here then.” With that I hurried down the hall and into another bathroom. I sank down onto a toilet seat fully clothed and rested my head in my hands. I think I was trying to keep myself from getting sick. Too bad there wasn’t another demon around for me to siphon some darker energy from. That would’ve knocked out this nauseous feeling. I heard many women enter and leave the bathroom and figured I’d been sitting there a while before I stopped wanting to toss my cookies. I got up and, making sure the bathroom was empty, locked the door.

Orion answered his phone on the third ring. “Orion here.”

“Sir I was just with the researcher, and I had a look at those plates. They’re incredible.” He made a ‘hm’ sound which was my signal to go on. “They’re teeming with white magic. There’s some sort of protection spell etched into them and their power multiples when they’re place alongside each other. The power of three of the tablets knocked me clear off my feet.”

“Excellent. That exceeds my expectations.” Without seeing him I could envision the anticipatory grin on his face. “When can we expect the tablets?”

“What? I have to take them too?” I couldn’t keep the shock from my voice. I didn’t want to steal from this man. “I thought this was just a recon mission.”

“There will be another check in it for you if you bring them for us.”

Damn it all, the man knew my kryptonite. “I’ll think about it alright? Don’t make a move until after I make my decision. This guy is pretty harmless.”

“Very well, but if you take too long to decide we will.” I heard a beep as he hung up and sighed. That meant I’d have to make a choice by tomorrow or he’d send some goons here to take the tablets. Dr. Zabel was a nice guy, I didn’t want him getting hurt because some thugs got over excited about a job. I was pretty sure I knew the decision I’d have to make but still mulled it over as I went back to the lab.

Dr. Zabel was already there, and I could smell pizza. He was also already eating. The guy had no manners, and I briefly wondered if he was married. I somehow doubted it. I grabbed a couple of slices from the box and ate.

“I put two of the tablets together and checked them with my crystal.” He said around a mouthful of pizza. All I could picture was a dunce with a divining rod, thinking the motion it made because of his unsteady hands meant magic. “You have quite a knack for this, miss…um, I didn’t get your name.”

“It’s Maya.”

“Very well, Miss Maya. Anyway I hope that you’ll stay on and assist me.  I could certainly use your gut magical sense if you aren’t too busy otherwise.”

I gobbled down the pizza in silence, taking in the other random objects in the lab. Despite not being magical himself, this man seemed to have a good idea of which artifacts had some magic in them. That confused the hell out of me. “I suppose I can help when I’m not busy. If that’s alright.”

“Sounds great!” He threw away the plate and empty box and went back to his work. He didn’t even notice when I left.

I decided to get a ride back to the city. It was already after five when I left and I had little to no desire to be crammed into a subway car like a sardine. I regretted my decision when I heard the country music from a block away. Earl grinned at me as he pulled up and I shot him a look. Taken aback, he turned the music off and bowed his head apologetically. He was still smiling though. He thought it was pretty funny. Must be nice to have such a simple sense of humor.

After fighting rush hour traffic Earl dropped me in front of my building. No sooner did I step onto the sidewalk than that music started again, and he pulled away laughing. What a twerp. A bunch of stray cats were perched on and along the stoop of my building. I couldn’t help attracting them being part cat, and I felt bad for the little darlings, so I’d adopted two of them and put food out for the others. They meowed at me as I walked up to the front door. “Don’t worry, I’ll feed you in just a little bit.” I climbed the four flights up to my modest studio apartment, where my two little ones greeted me at the door. One was a large tuxedo cat I named Odessa, and the other was a petite grey and white cat called Rena. I fed them post haste and brought food down for the others so that I could flop down on my bed-couch. When I sank into the couch I resolved to either get a better one, or to stop having so much sex on it without folding out the bed part.

Even though Orion paid me pretty well, and I likely could’ve afforded a nicer place, this small room suited me just fine. I wasn’t home most of the time anyway, so what more did I need than a kitchen, bathroom, bed, and television? I unfolded the bed from the couch, and spent the remainder of the night watching television and eating junk.

*******

I awoke pretty early the next morning, still concerned about Dr. Zabel and his tablets. When I tried to take my mind off of it with breakfast I found my fridge bare and cursed under my breath. Instead I took a shower and got dressed, then went to grab an egg sandwich from one of the street carts. They’re not as scary as some people think, and most have really good food for a much cheaper price than a sit down restaurant.

The streets were already packed with people making their way to work, or the few poor souls making their way home after the night shift. My walk took me past the Museum of Natural History, and I could see that security was on edge. That was likely my fault between all of the heists I had pulled inside the museums, and then with my little theft in the truck a few nights back. You couldn’t blame them for being edgy. The NYPD was a talented lot, but they were completely unequipped to deal with a magic using thief. I almost felt bad for them. Almost.

I sat on the steps in front of the museum to finish my egg sandwich and noticed a banner for the upcoming exhibit. It seemed the very tablets Dr. Zabel was researching would be the next temporary addition. I guess I would be ruining another exhibit. I looked up and saw Orion’s building looming in the distance. It was a grim reminder of the life I had chosen, and the job I had to do.