“The coffee is… coffee?” He chuckled, and she laughed too.
The midday sun was bright, the skies were clear, and Becka had a part of her old life back. “Will you send me details about the Q&A session?”
“I’ll get you the details once they are finalized.”
“I want to stop by the library and check on the status of some requests I’ve made,” she said.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll walk with you.”
“That’d be nice.”
They crossed the courtyard, Becka taking in the bird song, the chatter of groups of students passing by, and the familiar buildings and brick walkways she’d become so fond of over her years here.
A scream rang out, shattering her idyllic moment of reflection. Then another.
Andre grabbed Becka’s arm, his intense gaze scanning the crowd. “For your safety, we should leave.”
Becka knew he was right. Whatever this was, it had nothing to do with her beyond satisfying her curiosity. Or did it? She pulled her arm out of his grip. “This can’t be mere coincidence. I need to get closer and see what’s going on.”
She took off in the direction of the crowd, both Traut and Andre close on her heels. When they rounded the corner of the building, the library and its courtyard came into view, along with a growing crowd of people standing around the large fountain that stood in the center of the courtyard.
But then the group in front of them parted, and Becka saw what had drawn them all to the fountain.
The water was the color of black… no, that wasn’t quite it. It was the color of shadow absent light. The deeper or thicker the water, the darker the shade. Suddenly Becka’s heart was pounding and her head ached like it only did when she neared magic. Then she saw the outline of a person propped up against the middle, under the sprays of dark liquid, unmoving. Becka froze where she stood, heart in her throat. Whoever it was didn’t appear to be alive.
“Oh my goodness!” Traut exclaimed. “We need to get the students out of here.” He pulled out a whistle and moved into the crowd, directing everyone to leave.
Andre swore as he pulled out his phone. “Dispatch? I need a cleanup team for a body at the Institute of World Politics in the library courtyard. Send a shield and investigation unit too, stat.”
Becka had her phone out too. She called Quinn and he picked up in one ring. “I’m okay, but we’ve got a situation at the institute’s library.”
“I’ll be there in ten,” he replied, and then the line went dead.
Chapter 3
Quinn arrived seven minutes later and walked straight up to Becka, looking her over. Andre, who’d been by her side all afternoon, took a few steps back, giving them some space.
Quinn hooked a finger under her chin. “Are you okay?” he asked, the tension clear in his voice.
She took comfort in his touch, glad he was here. “Yes, I’m fine. Nothing has happened to me.” She gestured to the fountain. “Whatever is going on is over there.”
He looked her up and down again, gave her a clipped nod, and turned his focus to the fountain. Andre and Becka walked alongside Quinn, who had switched into full enforcer mode.
“I called in the investigation team,” Andre said, “and a shield.”
Dr. Traut and a couple of other faculty had done their part to get the crowd to back off, and just within the last minute enforcers had arrived to secure the scene. There were plenty of gawkers still milling around at a distance.
“I heard,” Quinn replied, and then raised his voice, motioning for the other four enforcers present to come closer. “As the senior officer, I’m taking control of the scene. I need all of you on crowd control until the shield is up.”
The enforcers took off towards the gathered crowd, and Quinn turned back to Andre and Becka. “First thoughts?”
“The illusion of shadows encased within the water is killing my head,” Becka replied. “Are there often murders in the city with magical displays?”
Enough suffering in silence, Becka needed a shot of old faithful. She pulled her backpack off her shoulder, fished out a bottle of hot sauce, and then downed a healthy swig. The spicy liquid rolled down her tongue and throat, blunting the edge to her magic-induced headache.
“Do you count hidden bodies?” Andre asked. “Usually if there’s magic around a murder, it was used to kill or hide the body.”
She supposed that made sense. “This isn’t hiding anything. Obscuring, perhaps, but it appears designed to draw attention.”
“Which it’s done a fine job of,” Quinn replied, frowning at the onlookers. “Where is that shield?”
Just then, a van and two cars showed up, and out piled a group of enforcers carrying various equipment. Becka recognized the wolf shifter Hamish and the fae-touched Caeda, Quinn’s coworkers who’d helped her back at House Rowan. She gave them quick nods.
Out of one of the cars emerged a fae-touched, but this one wasn’t dressed like the other enforcers. He wore his hair long and plaited, was dressed in pale blue robes that looked expensive, and carried himself like he was walking down a grand hall to a feast.
“Who’s that?” Becka asked, thinking the fae looked vaguely familiar.
“Oh good, the shield is here,” Andre said.
“Get him rolling,” Quinn said to Andre.
“I’m on it,” Andre replied, already headed towards the fae.
After Hamish and Caeda dropped off their gear about fifteen feet back from the fountain, they walked over and joined them.
“That’s something you don’t see every day,” Hamish said, dragging a hand over the stubble on his jaw.
“Do we know when it started?” Caeda asked.
“Dr. Traut and I were walking across campus when we heard people screaming and yelling about it,” Becka replied. “That was about ten minutes ago.”
“Pretty cheeky to drop a dead body and spell up a fountain in the middle of the day,” Caeda said. “It couldn’t have been there for more than a minute or two without someone noticing.”
“It’s a display aimed at shock value,” Quinn replied. “The perpetrator is showing off both their skill and confidence. I doubt the timing or placement is coincidence.” Quinn glanced towards Becka. “But that’s just my gut feeling. Caeda, can you go interview the gawkers, see if anyone saw anything?”
“Sure thing.” Caeda strode off in the direction of the largest group of students.
Andre and the fae they’d referred to as a shield walked to an area between the gathered crowd about thirty feet away from the fountain, chatting back and forth. Andre clapped the man on the shoulder, and then headed back over.
Becka watched as the fae stood, eyes closed, gathering his energy, and then performed a set of hand gestures she’d come to recognize from her days training among illusionists. She recognized the star design used to harness the light, the spiral to tap the earth’s potency, and then his fingers moved like a spider dancing across a web. Becka associated it with the illusionist affixing their intent upon an arcane latticework, but she couldn’t know for sure, as she wasn’t an adept.
Moments later a wall of iridescent white formed next to him, reaching a good twelve feet in height, creating a visual barrier between the investigative team and the crowd of students in the field beyond. The fae then walked the perimeter of the scene, the wall extending beside him as he moved.
As far as Becka knew, the temporary visual barrier was something enforcers did to secure a scene and keep it private while they worked to process evidence. It allowed for easy movement of the enforcers and crime-scene specialists away from the public eye. Unfortunately, as it was purely illusion-based magic, the shield provided only a visual block. She’d seen the white-walled effect erected around crime scenes before and it was so ubiquitous, she hadn’t really thought much about how they did it. No wonder they called it, or him, a shield.
“He’ll check in with us when he finishes,” Andre said.
Quinn nodded. “We’ll wait to process the scene unt
il he’s done.” He turned to the new arrivals, who were shuffling around equipment. “I want those recording drones in the air by the time Niall is done,” he called out.
“Got it,” one of them said.
“When you said you didn’t think this was coincidence,” Becka said to Quinn, “did you mean you believe this was left here for someone to run across? Like me?”
“Depends. Where were you in the moments before you heard the commotion?” Quinn replied.
All eyes turned to her.
“Well, I was in Dr. Traut’s office for a while, and then we visited the administration building to get me an updated ID. I’d say we were in there for twenty or thirty minutes, and we were headed towards the library.”
“Who might have known you would be on the campus today?” Hamish asked.
“I’m not sure. We can ask Dr. Traut who has access to his schedule,” Becka replied.
“They might have been watching for us to leave the townhome,” Andre replied. “But then they’d either have to know we’d gone to the administration building, or know for sure that you’d make your way to the library.”
Becka held up a hand to head that thought off. “Anyone could safely assume that, if I’m on campus, I’ll stop by the library. I didn’t have this meeting in my schedule. Traut and I talked about it two days ago on the phone.”
“That would imply a high level of research on their part,” Andre replied. “Either watching the schedules of your known associates or surveilling the townhome.”
“Even assuming it’s tied to your visit, I don’t see how anyone could tote a body around at the last minute and stage it up just before you arrived. It would have been noticed and reported,” Hamish said, standing with his arms crossed. “Whoever did this, they aren’t hurting for resources.”
“Perhaps it was done in the early hours, and then hidden under another layer of illusion?” Quinn said. “If someone was watching you, tracking you, then they’d have been able to dispel the layer hiding this illusion moments before you’d arrived.”
Now that sounded a little terrifying, possibly because it was plausible. But again, it implied a large, coordinated organization.
“What organization would have the resources to pull this off?” Becka asked.
“Other than the Shadow-Dwellers?” Quinn asked, and she gave a brief nod. “An illusion like this would have to be crafted in place, which means someone with that skill set. The only Rowan presence in this city are you and Niall, but there may be a few others. We can check it out.”
Another van arrived with reinforcements, and Quinn left to meet them.
Becka shifted her weight from foot to foot, antsy to get started. “Are we going to stand around here talking the fountain to death, or check it out?”
Hamish cleared his throat, ducking his head down as if embarrassed for her. “It’s enforcer policy to secure the scene from the public before we dive in.”
Becka felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “Not a bad idea.”
Hamish took a step closer to Becka. “Hey, I wanted to ask,” he said in low tones. “How is Saige doing?”
“Not great. She’s been out at all hours trying to hunt down leads from shifters in town.”
“I wonder why she didn’t ask me,” he said, looking hurt. “Doesn’t she know I’d help?”
Becka smiled at him. He really did have a kind heart. “I have the feeling she needs to fight that demon on her own. But you should stop by and offer your help. Although, I will warn you, she hasn’t taken Quinn or me up on our offers either.”
Becka refused to think about how she wasn’t sharing the messages in the Shadow-Dweller journals with Quinn, or asking him for help.
Considering their matching bullheaded independence, she and Saige could have been sisters.
Hamish nodded. “I’ll plan to. Thanks, Becka.”
Having completed setting up the shield, Niall walked over to join them.
“I’m finished, Enforcer Andre. Can I be of further assistance?”
“Thanks, Niall, the shield looks sound,” Andre said. “Hang around, we might have further need of you. It looks like we’re dealing with illusionist magic.”
“Niall,” Becka repeated the name, suddenly remembering where she’d seen him, albeit a long time ago. “Aren’t you Duchess Maura’s younger brother Declan’s son?”
He bowed with a flourish. “Lady Becka of House Rowan,” he intoned, eyeing the gloves covering her hands and forearms with a healthy dose of fear. Yeah, he’s heard of me. “Yes, I am Declan’s son, and indeed your cousin. It is an honor to make your acquaintance again.”
“It’s good to see you too. I thought I recognized Lady Astrid’s illusionist’s style in your forms. Have you been working with the enforcers long?”
“A few years now,” he replied.
Quinn, standing near the enforcers who’d been setting up drone equipment, motioned them over. A lady shot him a thumbs-up as a pair of drones flew up into the air, circling the fountain and recording the scene.
“Looks like they’re ready,” Hamish said, leading the way.
They met near the marble rim of the fountain’s basin, Niall and Hamish on either side of her. The fountain spanned about twenty-five feet across and the basin was constructed out of a pale gray granite in a cloverleaf shape. There was a sculpture of a trio of white granite dolphins in the middle, playfully jumping up and around each other, water spouting up and in multiple directions outwards. Another set of smaller, spouting dolphins sat at each of the four indentations of the basin. The contrast of the white dolphins with the murky, shadowy water made the darkness even more stark, sending a shiver down her spine.
This close, she could make out the outline of the body a little better, but it was still difficult to see any detail through the shadows.
Becka took another shot from the bottle of hot sauce and then tucked it into the side pocket of her backpack, which she placed on the ground next to her.
“How would you like us to proceed, Quinn?” Niall asked, absently stroking one of his delicate braids between his fingers.
“What can you tell us of the illusionist’s work?” Quinn asked Niall.
Becka frowned. Why hadn’t Quinn asked her to do it? Sure, she wasn’t an illusionist like Niall, but her Null ability would allow her to break through the magic in mere seconds.
Niall held up his hands and leaned forward, his focus absolute. After a few moments, he spoke. “The magic is illusionist, but uses techniques I do not recognize. The patterns and flows of energy are not what we are trained to do.” He cocked his head to the side. “No, wait. It reminds me of work I’ve seen done with the antiquities, back when fae of different guilds would create great works using various magics.” He glanced at them, shaking his head, his confusion evident. “Few have such abilities today.”
Becka and Quinn looked at each other. The slow, steady decline of the fae-touched powers hadn’t happened overnight. Some blamed it on the losses they’d sustained in the Great War, when a number of their kind had been slaughtered. Others thought it was due to the simple passage of time as the fae slowly faded from the world, unable to replenish their numbers. There were no definitive answers, but Becka felt it was a combination of both.
A present-day magical display of this magnitude, even contained to the fountain as it was, pointed at one source. “Shadow-Dwellers are known to collect powers,” Becka said. “Do you recognize the other magic?”
“I think… yes, this element reminds me of work I’ve seen done by House Yew, the Visions Guild,” Niall replied. “And this thread,” he gestured to something unseen, “is Water Guild magic from House Ash.”
“Three magics in one work?” Quinn asked. “Are you sure?”
Niall arched a brow. “I am confident in what I have stated, but it is possible I have missed something subtle. Would you like me to try and dismantle it?”
“Go ahead,” Quinn replied.
Niall continued his focus an
d sweeping arm gestures.
Caeda appeared through the shield and walked up to them. “No surprise, but no one saw anything much. Someone remembers a coin being tossed into the fountain shortly before it turned dark, but, no big surprise, can’t remember who threw it.”
“How am I not shocked?” Hamish replied. “I bet there are hundreds of coins in there.”
A sudden wave of energy came off of Niall, rolling over Becka and knocking the others back a few steps. A moment later, a cloud of black smoke erupted from his body and he flew backwards and landed flat on his back. They all rushed to check on him. His eyes had rolled up in his head and his body was stiff and unmoving.
Becka kneeled down next to Niall, reaching out to touch his neck.
“Don’t touch him,” Quinn advised. “There might be lingering magic.”
“Then I’m uniquely qualified for the task,” Becka replied, pressing two gloved fingers against Niall’s neck. Despite the thin fabric, she felt a pulse. “He’s alive.” She stood up. “But we’d do well to send him immediately to the healers at the fae consulate.”
“I’ll have a medic get a gurney,” Andre replied, jogging off in the direction of their vehicles. When he returned with the stretcher, Hamish helped to load Niall onto it and then Andre wheeled him off through the shield.
“That went well.” Caeda's eyes rolled. “I’m on pins and needles for act two.”
“What’s the next step?” Becka asked Quinn, who seemed to be deep in thought. She was itching to use her newfound gift for something useful, and this seemed right up in her wheelhouse.
“We process the scene,” Quinn replied, arching a brow her direction.
Becka crossed her arms. “Why not let me have a go at it?”
“I’m tempted, but I’m also thinking that, assuming this was left for you to find, that having you take point might just be exactly what they wanted. Therefore, I’m disinclined to follow that path.”
Hamish and Caeda looked back and forth between the two of them, as if watching a round of tennis.
“If we assume it’s a message for me, then most likely the one who set it up wants me to live to interpret it. I may also be the only one who’s able to do so safely.”
Shadow Underground: A Romantic Urban Fantasy Murder Mystery (The Shadow Series Book 3) Page 3