The Supreme Mage in a Loser's Body

Ch 8 - No One Follows Maya

Kael held out his hand, keeping his other palm against the counter.

“Give me your phone,” he said.

Rafe's fingers tightened over his jacket pocket. Behind him, two men were struggling to help their injured companion through the doorway. The collector glanced toward them, but neither would meet his eyes.

“Did you hear what I just told you?” Rafe asked.

“Yes,” Kael replied. “Unlock it first.”

He did not move closer. His ribs would not allow it, and Rafe was already afraid of what might happen if he raised his hand again. Kael let the collector look at the bent shelf while he waited.

Rafe took out the phone. After a moment, he pressed his thumb against the screen and placed it on the counter.

“The others too,” Kael said.

The man nearest the doorway began to object, then stopped when Kael turned toward him. One by one, the men put their unlocked phones beside Rafe's. A man supporting the attacker who had struck Thomas had to reach into his companion's pocket for him.

Kael drew Rafe's phone closer. Ethan's memories guided his fingers through the message list until he found a conversation containing several recent photographs.

Maya stood beside a school gate in the first. In another, she waited at a crossing with a book held over her head against the rain. The photographer had followed her far enough to take a third picture outside a small grocery store.

Kael checked the dates before turning the screen toward her.

“Have you seen anyone following you?” he asked.

Maya stared at the photograph. The cloth in her hands slipped onto Thomas's lap.

“There was a motorcycle,” she replied. “I thought the rider might just live around here.”

Elena stood beside her. “When?” she asked.

Maya rubbed her palms against her skirt. “A few days ago,” she said. “Then I saw it again near the crossing. Yesterday, I went into the grocery store instead of coming straight home. It was still there when I came out.”

Kael moved to the next photograph. It showed Maya leaving that store, looking over her shoulder.

“Why didn't you tell us?” Thomas asked.

“Ethan had been hurt,” Maya replied. Her eyes shifted toward Kael, then back to her father. “You were trying to find money, and Mom was already talking about sending me away. I didn't want to give you another problem.”

Elena put a hand around the back of her daughter's neck and drew her closer.

“You tell us when someone frightens you,” she said. “Even if you're not sure. We need to know.”

Maya nodded against her shoulder. Thomas reached for his daughter's wrist, but the movement pulled at his injured leg. He stopped with a sharp breath.

Kael placed the phone flat on the counter. He wanted to put Rafe on the floor and keep him there until every name behind those photographs had been given. But the watcher was elsewhere, with instructions they had not heard. Hurting Rafe would not tell that man to leave Maya alone.

“Which number belongs to the rider?” Kael asked.

Rafe pointed at the conversation. “That one,” he replied.

“Call him. Put it on speaker,” Kael said. “Tell him to stop following her. No waiting at the school, no coming near this shop, and no sending someone else.”

Rafe looked past him at Thomas. “Marcus gave the order,” he said.

“Then you'll explain it to Marcus afterward,” Kael replied.

Thomas took out his own phone and opened its recorder. He laid it beside Rafe's without saying anything. Kael waited until his father nodded, then pushed the collector's phone toward him.

Rafe started the call. It rang four times before a man answered over the noise of passing traffic.

“She hasn't come out,” the man said. “You want me to stay?”

Maya pulled away from Elena's shoulder and looked toward the shop window.

Kael kept his gaze on Rafe.

“No,” Rafe replied. “Leave. You're finished with the girl.”

The traffic noise faded as the caller moved his phone. “Finished until when?” he asked.

“Until nothing,” Rafe said. “Don't follow her again. Don't wait at the school or come near the shop. Nobody takes your place.”

“Marcus said—” the caller began.

“I'll handle Marcus,” Rafe replied. “Tell him the front counter is closed. He'll understand.”

Kael watched him end the call. The last phrase sounded rehearsed, but he had no way to know whether it meant anything beyond a message about the failed collection.

“What does that mean?” Kael asked.

Rafe gestured around the damaged shop. “It means we're leaving with no money,” he replied. “You want me to pretend this went well?”

The collector kept his eyes on Kael while Thomas stopped the recording. The phrase had another meaning, one Marcus had given his collectors for calls made under pressure. Rafe had obeyed every instruction they could hear and still sent his warning.

Kael copied the photographs and the watcher's number to Ethan's phone. A second gang member's messages contained the same pictures, along with a photograph of Maya's school identification card. Her name, face, and school were clear enough to read.

“I thought I'd lost that,” Maya said. “I asked at the school office.”

Elena's hand tightened on her shoulder. Kael saved the image before putting the phones together at the far end of the counter.

“Take them and leave,” he said. “The clubs stay here.”

Rafe retrieved his phone first. His men followed without arguing, gathering around their injured companion as they went outside. The collector paused at the entrance, but Kael gave him nothing to answer. He remained against the counter until the last man was out.

Only when the vehicles pulled away did Kael let himself sit.

Elena reached him before the chair stopped scraping. She pressed a hand against his forehead, then looked at the place he was holding beneath his ribs.

“Both of you need to be checked,” she said. “Thomas, don't tell me your leg is fine. I saw what he did.”

“I wasn't going to,” Thomas replied.

Kael lowered his head while the room steadied. Maya brought him the water he had left with his meal, but she kept looking toward the window.

“We shouldn't let her walk anywhere alone,” Thomas said.

“She won't,” Elena replied. “I'll call the school before she goes back. They need to know someone took her card.”

“I can stay home tomorrow,” Maya said.

Kael accepted the glass. “For now, stay with us,” he replied. “If you remember anything about the motorcycle, write it down while you can.”

He did not promise that the call had made her safe. Rafe had followed instructions because he wanted to get out of the shop. There was no reason to expect Marcus to honor them.

A woman stopped outside the doorway before Elena could fetch her bag.

Kael noticed her first. She wore a plain dark coat and held a small card between two fingers. Beyond her, across the street, stood the black car he had seen the previous day.

“My name is Evelyn Shaw,” she said. “I'm a private investigator. I saw what happened.”

Elena remained between her and the chairs. “Then you'll know this isn't a good time,” she replied.

“I do,” Evelyn said. She held out the card without stepping inside. “I recorded part of the attack. If you want a copy, that's my number.”

Thomas accepted it. “Were you here when they arrived?” he asked.

“I saw enough to identify who brought the weapons,” Evelyn replied. “I can send you the recording.”

She took his number and sent the file while he watched. Kael studied her hands. The device he had sensed near the car was not visible, but he had little doubt that she was the same woman.

Thomas opened the recording. Elena bent beside him, checking the first few seconds before asking Maya to bring her bag from the back room.

Evelyn moved only far enough inside to stand beside Kael's end of the counter.

“You should get those ribs looked at,” she said quietly.

“My mother is arranging that,” Kael replied. “Why were you watching this shop?”

Evelyn glanced at him, then toward the car. “You noticed,” she said.

“It's been a difficult place to miss lately,” Kael replied.

She rested one hand on the counter. Beneath her fingers was a small silver-colored coin, worn smooth around the edge. A faint movement of magic reached Kael as she turned it over.

He let the remaining energy around his soul settle completely. He did not push it away or form a shield. Either action would give her device a fresh movement to find. Instead, he held still inside Ethan's body and allowed its exhaustion to cover everything else.

“How does an injured repairman throw someone across a room without an inner core?” Evelyn asked.

Kael looked at her as though she had asked the question in another language.

“Without a what?” he asked.

“Something most people who use that kind of force possess,” Evelyn replied.

“He attacked my father,” Kael said. “I stopped him. If your recording shows that, send us the whole thing.”

Evelyn's thumb moved along the coin's edge. A thin line on its surface briefly brightened, then went dull. Kael could feel its weak search pass over him, but he gave it no active flow of magic to follow.

“I'm not accusing you of starting the fight,” Evelyn said.

“Then what are you accusing me of?” Kael asked.

She waited before answering. The coin lay motionless beside her hand, apparently showing her nothing.

“For now, I'm asking a question,” she replied.

Elena returned to Kael's side with her bag. “And he can answer it another time,” she said. “He's barely sitting upright.”

Evelyn took the coin from the counter. “Of course,” she replied.

Kael watched it disappear into her coat. She had not accepted his answer, but the test had given her no reason to challenge it in front of his family.

At the doorway, she turned back toward Thomas.

“Keep copies of those photographs somewhere other than your phones,” Evelyn said. “And don't assume one call has settled this.”

“We know some officers protect them,” Thomas replied.

“Their protection goes further than that,” Evelyn said. Her eyes moved to Kael. “Be careful about anyone who offers to take you to Marcus and sort everything out.”

Kael held her gaze. She knew enough to ask about a core, and she had recognized his force for what it was. Her warning meant there were others here who understood magic too.

He wanted to ask how many. Doing so would undo every denial he had just made.

“Thank you for the recording,” Thomas said.

Evelyn nodded and stepped outside. Elena was already calling for a car, one hand resting on Thomas's shoulder while she gave the shop address. Maya collected their phones from the counter and put her father's within his reach.

Kael remained seated. He had kept the watcher from finding his last reserve, but he could not keep protecting this family with a body that failed every time he fought.

Across the street, Evelyn opened her car door and took out the coin to examine it again.

Its surface had been dull in the shop. Now a narrow line ran from the center to the rim.

She touched the mark with her thumbnail. The coin split in her palm, exposing the tiny stone set inside it. That had broken too.

Evelyn stared at the pieces. The first reading had found no active magic, but the deeper test had still touched the soul beneath it. The coin was built to measure that pressure even when a subject held his power still.

It had not found an ordinary man. It had reached a soul beyond its measuring limit, and broken under the strain.