human punishment through some legal maneuvers.”
“Sounds pretty bad, but I’d probably hex him just for going by Greggy, ” said Elon.
Persephone ignored the joke. “The address has been sent to your tablet along with the rest of the file. It’s his home. Reports indicate he’s there by four in the afternoon, most days, but occasionally he makes a stop and you may have to wait until five. The neighborhood is not gated, but there are a couple of nosy neighbors.”
“Seems pretty straightforward,” Elon said.
“Yes, easy in and out for you.” Persephone took a black box from her briefcase, and two vials of liquid. “I wanted to start Thea with a simple one. Your hex.” She handed Elon the box. “Please confirm serial number…” She looked back down at her screen and rattled off a bunch of numbers, which Elon also seemed to be reading from the side of the box.
“Confirmed,” he said.
Persephone typed something, then handed him the vials. “And your illusions. Oh! And here are the keys.” She gave them to Elon but smiled at Thea, quick and tight-lipped. “I’d forgotten. We don’t drive to our cases very often.”
Elon put on a fedora that matched his suit, making him look the part of a covert agent on a mysterious mission, and dropped the keys into his pocket. “All right then, let’s head out.”
Thea thanked Persephone and then, because the meeting seemed so formal, shook her hand. Persephone seemed to approve, and gave her a businesslike nod.
“You’re in good hands, Thea. Elon is one of the best.”
“So I’m told.”
They left Infliction and started across campus to the south gate, where there was a small parking lot. While they walked, Elon acknowledged several greetings from above as furies flew past, and Thea noticed a few feminine stares. She remembered Nero muttering about Cora not being able to trust Elon, and wondered whether the fault was with Cora for being jealous, or Elon for being untrustworthy.
“She was right, this is a good one for you to start with,” Elon said. “It’s probably the most common hex we sell. Everyone’s a liar, right?”
“How exactly does it work?” Thea asked. “I saw Nero use hexes, when I first came here, but I didn’t understand what he did.”
“Each hex is target-specific and single-use. They use some of the person’s DNA to make it, so it can’t be stolen and used on anyone else.”
Thea frowned at that. “But he was trying to hex me, to test my hex resistance.”
Elon whistled. “Hex resistance, huh? Cora didn’t tell me that. I don’t think we have anyone else in the colony who can do it, do we?”
“Graves said not.”
“Nice. Probably give you a leg up when it’s time to get into a department. RDM would like that, and it might be handy here in Infliction, too.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. But my point was, nobody took my DNA.”
“They probably used generic hexes that hadn’t been finished for a case yet. But it’ll still only work once and on one individual person.”
“And how do you actually use it?”
“Well, you need to sense it first. They taught you the deck of cards technique for sensing vices and virtues?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah, well forget that here. It doesn’t work for a hex. Some furies see it as a liquid, or a blanket they put over the target. Some think of it as a cloud. Some don’t visualize at all. They sense the hex more like a sound, and then it’s almost like shouting it at the target. Just remember, it’s not a spell. It’s a thing. Just not a physical thing.”
“So how do they put it in that box if it’s not a physical object?”
“It’s an enchanted box. We have a limited supply, and we can only make them when we’ve got an enchanter in the colony, which is only once every couple of generations or so. So you have to be careful. Persephone keeps records on every box that goes through our department, and woe to the Inflictor who damages or loses one.”
“Am I
“Sounds pretty bad, but I’d probably hex him just for going by Greggy, ” said Elon.
Persephone ignored the joke. “The address has been sent to your tablet along with the rest of the file. It’s his home. Reports indicate he’s there by four in the afternoon, most days, but occasionally he makes a stop and you may have to wait until five. The neighborhood is not gated, but there are a couple of nosy neighbors.”
“Seems pretty straightforward,” Elon said.
“Yes, easy in and out for you.” Persephone took a black box from her briefcase, and two vials of liquid. “I wanted to start Thea with a simple one. Your hex.” She handed Elon the box. “Please confirm serial number…” She looked back down at her screen and rattled off a bunch of numbers, which Elon also seemed to be reading from the side of the box.
“Confirmed,” he said.
Persephone typed something, then handed him the vials. “And your illusions. Oh! And here are the keys.” She gave them to Elon but smiled at Thea, quick and tight-lipped. “I’d forgotten. We don’t drive to our cases very often.”
Elon put on a fedora that matched his suit, making him look the part of a covert agent on a mysterious mission, and dropped the keys into his pocket. “All right then, let’s head out.”
Thea thanked Persephone and then, because the meeting seemed so formal, shook her hand. Persephone seemed to approve, and gave her a businesslike nod.
“You’re in good hands, Thea. Elon is one of the best.”
“So I’m told.”
They left Infliction and started across campus to the south gate, where there was a small parking lot. While they walked, Elon acknowledged several greetings from above as furies flew past, and Thea noticed a few feminine stares. She remembered Nero muttering about Cora not being able to trust Elon, and wondered whether the fault was with Cora for being jealous, or Elon for being untrustworthy.
“She was right, this is a good one for you to start with,” Elon said. “It’s probably the most common hex we sell. Everyone’s a liar, right?”
“How exactly does it work?” Thea asked. “I saw Nero use hexes, when I first came here, but I didn’t understand what he did.”
“Each hex is target-specific and single-use. They use some of the person’s DNA to make it, so it can’t be stolen and used on anyone else.”
Thea frowned at that. “But he was trying to hex me, to test my hex resistance.”
Elon whistled. “Hex resistance, huh? Cora didn’t tell me that. I don’t think we have anyone else in the colony who can do it, do we?”
“Graves said not.”
“Nice. Probably give you a leg up when it’s time to get into a department. RDM would like that, and it might be handy here in Infliction, too.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. But my point was, nobody took my DNA.”
“They probably used generic hexes that hadn’t been finished for a case yet. But it’ll still only work once and on one individual person.”
“And how do you actually use it?”
“Well, you need to sense it first. They taught you the deck of cards technique for sensing vices and virtues?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah, well forget that here. It doesn’t work for a hex. Some furies see it as a liquid, or a blanket they put over the target. Some think of it as a cloud. Some don’t visualize at all. They sense the hex more like a sound, and then it’s almost like shouting it at the target. Just remember, it’s not a spell. It’s a thing. Just not a physical thing.”
“So how do they put it in that box if it’s not a physical object?”
“It’s an enchanted box. We have a limited supply, and we can only make them when we’ve got an enchanter in the colony, which is only once every couple of generations or so. So you have to be careful. Persephone keeps records on every box that goes through our department, and woe to the Inflictor who damages or loses one.”
“Am I
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