Somewhere along the road, Father drove our truck through the portal. I could hardly tell where San Francisco ended and the town of Crystal Falls began. Our world Sylvan was basically Earth with magic. It was a very nostalgic place, a simple place where you could live away from galactic politics and diplomatic warfare.

Trees lined the sidewalks, splotches of green between the red brick buildings and the dark asphalt. We shared the road with cars, motorcycles, and bicycles. If not for the elves, fairies, and the occasional robot, you could almost have believed yourself to be on Earth. This place was what Earth would be like after its magical awakening.

Father turned the truck into one of the four parking spots in front of our squat, one-story office building. The window sign read ‘Phoenix Investigations’ in a large, decorative font.

“I’m going to bring Jack back to his family,” Father told me. He’d left the engine running. “I’m sure they’re anxious to see him.”

This was our favorite part of the job. The hunt was a rush, but there was nothing quite like reuniting families. I’d gotten to return the last three kidnapping victims to their families, so I’d promised Father that he could do it this time.

It was my turn to do bookkeeping. That was our least favorite part of the job. We’d have hired an accountant if we could have afforded one. As it was, we had better use for the money. Things like reality distortion fields, magic-augmenting accessories, and weapons. That’s what we needed to do our job. And vehicle repairs, I lamented, thinking of our truck’s busted bumper.

“After dropping off Jack at his parents’ house, I’ll head down to Shadow Alley,” Father said. “I want to see how much I can get for this Horned Ravager.”

The beasts were worth more alive than dead, but we should be able to get some decent money for its scales and teeth. We really needed the money. When Jack’s parents had shown up at the office, tears in their eyes, I hadn’t had the heart to turn them away. So I’d taken on their case for almost nothing. I took on at least one of these cases per month. Father often lectured me it was bad business, but he always helped me anyway.

“Are you sure you don’t need backup?” I asked him. Shadow Alley wasn’t the safest place, especially at night.

“No, I think I can handle a dead monster and returning a sleeping ten-year-old into his parents’ loving embrace. I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Ok, I’ll write up the mission report and file it.”

He leaned across the seat and kissed the top of my head. “What would I do without you?”

I smirked at him. “Without me, the office would be a mess.”

When we’d lived in a castle, we’d had people to clean up after us and handle all the little things. Like cleaning. And making dinner. Father was a terrible cook. His idea of cooking was to warm up a can of soup in the microwave. If he was feeling really adventurous, he’d sprinkle in some dried basil flakes. I wasn’t a gourmet chef, but compared to him, I might as well have been. I had my childhood adventures to thank for that. I’d had to find my own food in the wilderness and cook it.

“I’ll also begin research for the poison pee case while I’m at it,” I said to Father.

“You should have fun, Terra. Let loose now and again.”

“What’s not fun about poison pee? Especially when it comes from a Partially Domesticated Wolf Poodle.”

Yes, that was the breed’s official name, capital letters and all. ‘Partially Domesticated’ was a generous descriptor. The Wolf Poodles of Suffocation Canyon were just as friendly as their native terrain’s name suggested. Sure, they looked cute, but they were nasty little creatures. They couldn’t be domesticated, but that didn’t stop people from trying. Well-meaning travelers adopted them, paying a small fortune for a barfing, barking, pooping mini-demon. The poodles didn’t make good watchdogs, they weren’t great children’s companions, and they couldn’t hunt. The only thing they were good for was to point them at your annoying neighbor’s lawn and hope there wasn’t a breeze when they peed, because their urine burned like the Black Death. Most of the galaxy’s legal cases around Partially Domesticated Wolf Poodles involved people’s last ditch efforts to aggravate their neighbors.

“That sounds delightful,” Father said. “But try to find time for normal things girls do like painting your fingernails and twisting the stem off an apple to see which boy has a crush on you.”

“First of all, I’m almost twenty, not twelve. And secondly, I haven’t found fingernail polish that can survive the lifestyle of a kickass paranormal PI.” I wiggled my super-short, chipped fingernails.

And I’d tried all the brands. I’d even once found a pretty shade of pink called Heavenly Blush. It was perfect. But it hadn’t survived the morning. If someone could design a fingernail polish that was pretty, durable, and didn’t catch on fire when mages shot magic flames at me, I would be all over it in a second.

Father sighed. “You only work.”

Lately, I’d been working a lot because we were broke, and I was trying to save up money for Father’s insanely-expensive, super-secret birthday gift: a custom-made accessory that would enhance his power of persuasion.

We mages used enchanted accessories to boost our magic. Father was a Chameleon. Most Chameleons’ magic lay in changing their appearance. Father’s was more subtle. His magic made him completely adaptable to any situation, to figure out the best course of events to achieve his needs. He had a little Cipher power in him and a little Enchanter too. This accessory would bring out his Enchanter powers, which would prove very useful in getting us out of sticky situations—without fighting. Father was a superb swordsman and an excellent shot, but he’d always taught me that it was usually easier to talk your way out of hell than it was to fight your way out.

“Our work is more important than partying,” I said.

“Your life is more important, Terra. It’s been over two years since we were exiled. It’s about time you had fun again.”

I smiled at him. “This is fun, working with the best father in the galaxy. I’m doing exactly what I want with my most favorite person.”

“I see what you’re doing here.”

My smile escalated into an all-out smirk. “Well, what do you expect? I’m your daughter. I learned from the best.”

“You certainly did,” he chuckled.

I unbuckled my seatbelt, gave him a kiss on the cheek, then hopped out of the truck, closing the door behind me. As he drove off, I pulled out my key and unlocked the office. Moving inside, I flicked on the lights.

Our office consisted of four rooms. The first room was a large waiting area outfitted with a hodgepodge of furniture: two pink sofas and a collection of very old coffee tables. We’d gotten most of the office furniture from garage sales and estate auctions, but some things were presents from clients. The snazzy chandelier hanging from the ceiling was a gift from an elven princess I’d helped out of a tough spot.

I moved past the reception desk. When we were open, I usually sat there. Down the narrow hallway, there were two small studies, one for me and one for Father. Both rooms faced away from the street. I used my study during the loud, barhopping hours of night. That was a consequence of renting an office on the busiest street in Crystal Falls, but the perks far outweighed the disadvantages. More eyes on the building meant more customers.

Past the studies, the fourth room in the building was an armory. That was where we kept our weapons, armor, magic accessories, and other devices. I dropped off our gear, putting each piece into its proper place. Orderliness was essential. In a crisis, we had to be able to find everything quickly. Then I went to my study. I wrote up the report on today’s job, then started my Wolf Poodle research.

The bell over the front door rang. The office was closed. I was sure I’d locked the door.

Maybe it’s Jason, a hopeful voice spoke in my mind. Locks don’t stop him.

Jason and I had been best friends since birth. Our fathers had even betrothed us two years ago. But then we’d gotten caught up in a feud between vampires and witches, manipulated and cast aside, labeled as criminals, swirled around in the turbulent political whirlpool of the Galactic Assembly, the galaxy’s hard hand of justice. All of the people of Jason’s world had fled through portals to other secret worlds. I had tried to help him, and I’d been implicated too. That was how Father and I had ended up exiled and stripped of our sacred armor and royal titles. I could have ended up dead, but Father had saved me. He’d sacrificed everything to save my life.

For nearly two years, I hadn’t seen Jason—until he’d shown up here a month ago to tell me he had a lead on my twin brother Cameron, who’d been lost since we were a year old. Jason had told me he was going to reunite us.

He hadn’t returned.

Sometimes, when I was working here alone, late into the night, I thought I sensed him nearby. So many times I’d run out to the waiting area, my heart racing, expecting to see him standing there. But it was just my mind playing tricks on me. He was never there. After a few weeks, I’d decided that he wasn’t ever coming back.

Part of me worried that something had happened to him. But the other part of me—the rational part—knew Jason was tough. In just two years, he’d become the galaxy’s most infamous assassin. His wanted poster hung in every police station in the civilized galaxy. He was known to be skilled and deadly, cold and cruel. He could survive anything. If he hadn’t returned, there could be only one explanation: he didn’t want to come back. He didn’t want to see me. Even knowing that, I rushed out into the front room like every other time, my foolish heart expecting to find him.

My heart sank when I realized it wasn’t Jason. Instead, a vampire stood there, an enormous shape framed in the doorway. His high-tech body armor fitted him like a hard, black shell. As he stepped toward me, the face shield of his helmet rolled back to reveal Major Aaron Pall, leader of the Diamond Edges, the blackest black ops division of the Selpe Empire, the man whose betrayal two years ago had cost me everything.