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“I did surveillance a lot, which sounds exciting, but it never was.”
~ Miranda Lambert
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Bear leaned back on the bench surrounded by the warm afternoon heat and the slightly off scent in the air. The mortal realm hadn’t fared well after the barrier collapse. Years of fighting, biological warfare, pollution and neglect had turned the once-beautiful environment to near ruin. Only magic borrowed, stolen or purchased from Otherkind kept the rot contained inside a perimeter of the Lower Mainland while preventing an outright collapse of the ecosystem. Hopefully with time, the earth would heal itself.
Tasha perched on the bench’s backrest a few feet away and basked in the sun, indifferent to their less-than-ideal surroundings. Like all corvids, she adapted well. They had that in common.
He forced his muscles to relax despite the unease crawling along his spine. This “secure compound” was a fucking fortress. Two external parameters. Multiple guards. Overlapping shifts and watches.
Bear scowled and checked his phone. He’d set up a number of small security cameras around the compound. Now, he could sit in a nearby park and watch from multiple vantage points.
The guards wouldn’t pose the biggest obstacle. The dark energy radiating from the gates and the security system panel at the main entrance indicated the owner relied on magic and technology in addition to manpower to guard whatever he hoarded inside.
His mind flashed to the memory of the small wooden box. Seemed like a lot of effort to guard a chunk of dead tree. Exactly what was in the box? What else did the compound contain?
A couple of crows swooped in and landed on the backrest of the city bench. One hopped over to Bear. Tasha squawked a warning, the bird equivalent of “back off my man,” but like all corvids drawn to his energy, they ignored her.
“Hey boy.” Bear reached out and scratched the back of the nearest crow’s neck while he flicked between the different camera feeds.
How in the Underworld would he pull this off?
The other crow flapped her wings and maneuvered around Bear to land on his shoulder. When he didn’t immediately drop his phone or stop scratching her friend, she head-butted his cheek. Bear chuckled and reached over to scratch her.
The other crow squawked and puffed out his neck feathers.
Tasha croaked, clearly unhappy about the entire situation—how dare other birds get attention and not her.
Bear ignored them all and continued to study the compound. If he focused hard enough on the details, he might succeed with shushing the concerns rampaging in his mind. Whomever owned this complex was loaded. Sure, merchants spent a large portion of their profits on security, but Bear had never seen anything quite like this before.
The technology would most likely be state of the art. His normal passcodes and mediocre hacking skills wouldn’t cut it. He needed a tech upgrade.
Luckily, he knew a guy.
More crows called out from the surrounding trees and landed on the bench, his lap and shoulders. At one time in his life, more than thirty would’ve flocked to him by now.
Cut it out, you guys, he told the birds. I need space.
The crows cawed and clicked at him, head-butting and preening for attention.
This was why he had a cat.
Not that he hated birds. He loved them. He loved all animals. He’d pet a crocodile if it wouldn’t bite his hand off.
But any bird from the corvid family, like crows and ravens, were drawn to his Other energy. It was a passive effect of his power. If he sat around in any place long enough, he’d draw any corvids in the area to him. Even with the dwindling numbers, without a cat to act as a natural deterrent, he’d constantly be draped with birds. That wasn’t just a minor annoyance. He’d spend all his time cleaning up bird shit and his professional career would be ruined.
More birds flocked to him and the cars zooming down the busy road slowed down to gawk.
Not good.
He probably looked like one of those statues at a park that someone liberally sprinkled with birdseed.
He shrugged the birds off. Space, please.
The birds squawked and with a flap of wings and a flurry of feathers, they launched from the bench and his body. Even Tasha took off. They didn’t fly far. Instead, the birds perched on nearby trees and powerlines waiting for their opportunity to swoop in for more attention the moment he dropped his guard.
A large raven remained on the bench, its long talons clutching the metalwork of the bench’s backrest. Tasha squawked a complaint somewhere in the nearby trees. Her jealous energy pinged against his own.
Bear glared at the bird, who was by far the largest fucking raven he’d ever seen.
The bird cocked his head and blinked his beady eyes at him.
“Fine. You can stay.”
The other raven clicked and if Bear didn’t know any better, he’d swear the raven laughed at him.