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"What’s that?"

"A generator and processor"

"What the heck do you need that for?"

"For y and coic staff?"

He rolled his eyes "Do you honestly think I could ram my best spells on a tablet and transfer theenerator can lay down some serious juice if I need to put on the hurt I call these little things MPUs, or uys do it in the old days?"

"What the original gangstas did is nothing compared to e can do now"

"So your little wand doesn’t have enough power, I guess" I pointed at the black rod in his hand "Maybe if you put a big glittery star on the end it would work better"

"Ha, ha," he said as he shoved the generator into his coat pocket He examined the wand for a moment then handed it to me "See if you can turn it on"

I rolled it around "I don’t see a poitch"

"There isn’t one, kid Hold it by the thick end and iine it being on I held it out and waved it around Nothing happened, but soled in , except it felt like ants were crawling on ," said Shelton and took it back

"I think the generator is going bad I could feel the electrical current in ?"

"Like ants all over e one Nobody but a hu from the wand"

"Well, my mother is a sorceress"

He let out a lohistle "Hot daht" He bit his bottoht After a moment, he motionedto suggest so you probably won’t want to hear"

I clenchedto save my dad"

"Maybe you should appeal to the Arcane Council as the son of Alice Conroy for help You have a blood claiht sorcerers didn’t like spawn and besides, what about the bounty?"

"Since you share a bloodline with a sorceress and your father, they may be forced by law to step in There is precedent"

Beco embroiled in a political fiasco did not sound like a valid option Not while ht twisted ht as well ask the Slades for help," I said

"Terrible idea," Shelton said "First of all, they disowned your father, and second of all, they’d find out about you and probably kidnap you for themselves"

"And the Conroys wouldn’t do that?" I asked, al, "Like they did with my sister?" Thankfully, I stopped myself Shelton apparently didn’t know about her and I intended to keep it that way

"They couldn’t We have a code of ethics"

"Ethics? That’s a laugh" I stopped at the end of the alley and watched people from the shadows as they went about their lives, oblivious to vahed "Look, just point ht direction Who tookin there without help, you’ll end up like your dad I on your neck for years, decades even They’d keep you alive for a perpetual dessert"

I shuddered "You could help ht help, but the thought of asking her frightenedin alone

"Hey, kid, I’ my life, but I won’t rush willy-nilly into a va to listen to me, you’re on your own"

"How do I find the vampires?"

He pulled out a smartphone "Give me your email address and I’ll shoot you over what I know"

It see my email address to a sorcerer, of all people, but I did "Just don’t add ot spirit and a whole lot of teenage denial Good luck"