Modern Sorcery: A Jonathan Shade Novel by Gary Jonas Page A

keeper.   Of course, Kelly wasn’t someone I’d want to date.   Granted, she’s smoking hot, but she’s also more like a big sister to me, so it would feel weird.   Besides, I do have a simple rule when it comes to relationships: never date a girl who can kick your ass.
     
    “Let’s review,” I said as I started the engine.
     
    “Boring.”
     
    “I just want to make sure we’re not missing anything here.   If we can talk it through, I might let you kill someone later.”
     
    Kelly almost smiled.   “Tease.”
     
    I pulled into traffic.   “Okay.   One wizard kills another, claims not to remember it, then kills himself.   Naomi hires me to prove the old boy’s innocent, which should eliminate your theory about her knowingly lying to us.”
     
    “How so?”
     
    I-25 was a parking lot, but it was still the easiest way back to the dojo.   It gave us plenty of time to talk.
     
    “Why hire me at all?”
     
    “Maybe she wants to get laid and has to pay for it.”
     
    “You know better than that,” I said.   “I never charge for sex.”
     
    “You never get the chance.”
     
    “Ouch.”
     
    “Look, Jonathan, it’s obvious that she has ulterior motives here.   Why hire you?   I don’t think she cares if you prove her daddy innocent.   I think it’s got everything to do with that crystal.”
     
    “Or crystals, plural.   But why not just hire me for that?   I’d have taken that job for her with no problem.”
     
    “You’d have taken any job for her.   She’s got you by the heart, so you’ll always be her little bitch.”
     
    “I’m not that bad.”
     
    “You’re worse.   And I’m afraid it’s going to get you killed.   It’s one thing when you’re looking into a murder or even looking for crystals that allegedly hold the soul of an ancient sorcerer.   It’s quite another when that ancient sorcerer is loose.”
     
    “So maybe it’s about this Ravenwood clown.   Maybe he’s trying to possess wizards to regain a physical presence in the world.   Al, Cantrell, and the rest always complain about magic dying, and we know that Ravenwood was supposedly one of the most powerful sorcerers in history.”
     
    “So we’ve been told.”
     
    “Granted, it’s all hearsay.   We don’t really know anything about Blake Ravenwood other than what we’ve heard.   That means it’s research time.”   I pulled out my cell and scrolled through the names until I came to Sharon.   Then I pressed send.
     
    The phone rang three times before Sharon answered.   She worked as a research librarian at CU Boulder.   “Library,” she said.
     
    “Hey, Sharon, it’s Jonathan Shade.   How’s life, the universe, and everything?”
     
    “What do you need?”
     
    “Right to the point.   I can’t just call to say hi?”
     
    “Like that would ever happen.   I repeat, what do you need?”
     
    I made a note to call her in a few days just to say hello.   “Research assistance,” I said.
     
    “You do tend to have better questions than most.”
     
    Sharon kept a collection of enough stupid questions she’d received in the past year that she could publish a book.   Of course, that would compromise her position at the library, so she shared them with only a few lucky souls who needed a good laugh.
     
    “What’s your favorite question of the day?” I asked.
     
    “Some brainiac called and asked me which country the Salvation Army defends.”
     
    I laughed.   “Who says education is on the decline?”
     
    “I do.   What’s your question?”
     
    “It’s a bit more than a simple question.   I need to know anything you can tell me about a man named Blake Ravenwood.”
     
    “Any relation to Abner?”
     
    “It’s not movie related.   This guy lived in the 1600s.”
     
    I heard her fingers tapping away on a keyboard.   “I’ve got nothing from a quick search.   What more can you tell me?”
     
    “He’ll probably be in European history and might