Del:

She smelled of berries. He didn’t expect that.

For some reason it hadn't occurred to him that she would smell of something. Up until this point, his target had been a nameless objective in some paperwork, not an actual person. Certainly not a person that looked as she did. She wore old jeans, the knees torn from hard use rather than any fashion statement. Her purple-red hair was gathered into two sloppy buns on the top of her head, frizzy tendrils escaping the uneven bunches to lay against her cheeks and neck. When she’d entered the store, flashes of watery sunlight reflected off the mismatched jewelry hanging off her ears. She was older than he expected, only a handful of years younger than him rather than the fourteen or fifteen year old he’d expected to find. It was impressive that she was able to stay off the Caul’s radar for four or five years after she came into her abilities.

She rushed passed him towards the witch who owned the dingy store. He pretended to browse the display of crystals while listening to their conversation.

“Who the hell is he?” asked his target.

“His name is Del,” said Nivedita, her voice high and light, more like a pixy’s voice than a witch’s. “He’s looking to open a store next door.”

“What a load of crock.” Del crooked a small smile at the odd profanity coming out of the girl’s mouth. The two girls probably didn’t realise how good his hearing was. He had no trouble hearing them whisper from across the room. “Gimpy is lying through his teeth,” she continued. She was observant. Not many people noticed his limp right away and even fewer commented on it.

Del inspected the girl carefully. He allowed a thin tendril on his awareness to skate across the floor, hopefully slipping past the girl’s notice. He ignored the buzzing energy bubbling over and practically leaking from the perky witch’s pours. He honed in on the slow-moving pool of spirit centered around his target. There was more there than he realised. The lazy current of strength completely contrary to her insane, frazzled appearance.

He prodded further, pushing against the defenses she had instinctively built around her mind. Probably unconsciously, his unexpected presence and her wariness of him had caused her to shield against mental intrusion. Her natural resistance was strong for someone so untrained. Another oddity. He probed again. He could tell that she was suspicious of him but that was about it. He couldn’t sense any of her specific thoughts. He had no idea if she guessed that he was Caul or if she knew that he was here for her.

This extraction was becoming more difficult by the minute.