by Erin Johnson
I narrowed my eyes. Fifty years—the same amount of time that had passed since the last phoenix rebirth event and the disappearance of Malorie Rutherford’s first husband. I had no idea how they were connected, but it seemed unlikely that it would just be coincidence. Then again, Maria looked to be about fifty to me—had she been a baby the last time these two saw her? And if so, how would they have recognized her?
I leaned forward, voice also lowered. “What happened to her?”
Jan shrugged. “Just disappeared one day.”
Biddy snapped her fingers. “Poof!”
I narrowed my eyes. “No one knew anything about what happened to her?”
Biddy lifted a shoulder. “There were rumors, of course.”
Jan nodded. “I heard from Benjamin Hadid’s wife, you know, the fishmonger who got caught up with that awful—oh, what was his name—”
Biddy shook her head. “Nah, you can’t trust those fishmongers—such braggarts.”
I bounced my leg, impatient, and stuck the lollipop back in my mouth.
Jan waved it off. “Anyway, I heard Maria got in over her head with Ludolf.” She barely breathed his name.
I grew still. “She was a shifter?” Had she gone behind Ludolf’s back somehow? Stolen money from him?
Jan scoffed, and Biddy nodded. “And how.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
We were standing with our faces so close that I nearly had a heart attack when Biddy lurched upright and shouted, “You break it, you buy it!”
I whirled around. A young lady curled her lip and slowly replaced a glowing gold potion bottle on the shelf. Biddy kept her eyes fixed on her for a long moment, then leaned back down.
She dropped her voice back to a hushed tone. “It means she was pretty unique, even in the shifter world.”
“Oh, yeah?” I sucked on the candy. “What’d she turn into?”
Jan raised her brows. “A phoenix.”
I nearly choked on the lollipop. “A—phoenix?”
The ladies nodded. Jan shrugged. “It’s why I bet she was still alive, even after all this time—whole rebirth thing, you know?”
Biddy patted her back consolingly.
I couldn’t breathe. A phoenix? Holy snakin’ shell. My mind raced. That meant that the mystery woman, Maria Begin—she hadn’t broken into the cage the other night—she was already in it! She was the phoenix!
27
THE PHOENIX
I ripped off a hunk of beef jerky with my teeth and paced around the lobby of Will’s back alley veterinarian clinic. Will, on his stool, rolled closer to Heidi, who sat behind the tall front desk, picking through the brown paper sack I’d brought with me from the bodega. She pulled out a jar of olives, and Will made grabby hands. She passed it over to him, then shoved her entire arm into the bag, fished around, and pulled out a bag of potato chips.
“Nice.” She grinned and settled back onto her stool, then ripped the bag open and went to sea, crunching away.
I rolled my eyes and kept pacing—glad to see all the junk food I’d bought was going to good use. On second thought… “Bust open that wine while you’re at it?”
Heidi grinned and nodded, mouth full.
Will held up a long finger. “I want a glass, too.”
Heidi cringed as she waved her wand over the bottle and the cork magically popped out. “No glasses—but we do have beakers.”
Will and I exchanged looks, I nodded, and he turned back to Heidi and shrugged. “They’re sterile, right?”
About half an hour and a bottle of wine later, Peter and Daisy knocked on the door, and I opened it for them, ushering them out of the chilly, drizzly night.
“Finally.” Will crossed his long, beefy arms and legs. “Jolene wouldn’t tell us anything until you got here.”
I hadn’t wanted to tell them my new intel until everyone was gathered. I gave Peter a quick kiss hello and tossed Daisy a hunk of beefy jerky. She pulled her head back, letting it fall to the floor, and shot me an indignant look.
I raised my brows at her, and her nose twitched. The whites shone all around her eyes, and she darted over to where it’d fallen and gobbled it up.
Peter rubbed his cold hands together and blew on them as he settled into one of the hard reception area chairs against the wall. “So what’s up?”
I raised a brow. “First, I went to see Madeline.” I stood between the tall reception desk and the coffee table in the center of the L-shaped lineup of chairs. I looked between Peter and my friends. “She dug up some dirt about Ludolf—turns out he sold out shifter activists in exchange for the position of mob boss of the shifters from King Roch right after the Monster Wars.”
I set my jaw. “The leaders who were fighting for shifter rights in the face of Roch’s anti- shifter propaganda just disappeared.” I huffed and paced again. “They weren’t sent to Carclaustra, so I think we can all guess at what happened to them.”
“That’s messed-up,” Heidi breathed, her eyes round. She popped another chip in her mouth.
I nodded.
Peter cleared his throat. “You’re telling me Madeline found evidence that King Roch ordered Ludolf to kill these leaders? That could be all we need to arrest him.”
I shook my head. “Ludolf told him the location of a meeting between the leaders. I’m assuming Roch took care of all the killing.”
Peter slumped back in his seat, and Daisy rested her head on his thigh. “And there’s no point in arresting Roch again—he’s already been sentenced to life in Carclaustra.”
Will spat an olive pit into the lid of the jar. “Is this the fascinating news you gathered us all together to hear, Jolene?” He shot me a flat look.
I rolled my eyes. “There’s more.” I flashed my eyes at Peter. “I have a couple of informants who identified our Jane Doe.”
He sat upright. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “She’s Maria Begin, a shifter who disappeared about fifty years ago.”
His eyes lit up.
“Guess what she shifts into? A phoenix!” I held my hands near my head. “She was the snakin’ phoenix!”
I was satisfied by Peter’s reaction. His jaw dropped, then he frowned, then he cocked his head, then closed his mouth and grew pensive.
I raised my brows and addressed them all. “The ladies at the bodega recognized Maria because she looked the same as when she disappeared over fifty years ago, down to her bell bottoms and fringed vest. At first I wondered how that could be possible, but think about it. As a phoenix, she was reborn every fifty years—she’d never age beyond that.”
Peter ran a hand over his mouth. “Did Malorie Rutherford kill her? Why would she?”
I nodded. I’d been giving this a lot of thought since Biddy and Jan had identified Maria. “Maybe when Malorie fell into the cage, the phoenix, Maria, saw her opportunity to attack her captor for all these years.”
Peter nodded, mulling it over. “And Malorie fought back with the talon she wore as a necklace?”
Will pressed his lips tight together. “Talon, huh? Phoenix talon?”
I frowned. “Yeah, how’d you know?”
He shook his head. “It’s rumored to be the only thing that’ll kill a phoenix. One of its own talons to the heart.”
Peter and I exchanged looks. Maria had been slashed across the chest with the talon, so… yeah, that would do it.
Peter frowned. “But how would we explain the phoenix shooting the poisoned dart into Malorie? How would Maria have gotten ahold of the dart or the gun?”
I bit my lip. “Mark admitted to stealing potions from the office—maybe he stole a poison dart and the blow gun while he was at it and gave them to Maria? Maybe the phoenix promised him something… or maybe he just felt bad for her being trapped there. He hinted to Quincy that he knew the truth about something shady going on at the sanctuary.”
Will popped another olive into his mouth. “How would Maria, in phoenix form, have shot Malorie with a poisoned dart?”
My shoulders tensed—good point.
Peter, from his seat by the door, turned his palms up. “Maybe when Malorie attacked the phoenix, Maria turned back into her human form? And then she was able to use the dart gun on her?”
Heidi frowned and crunched on a mouthful of potato chips. “Malorie was pushed into the cage from the second story and hit her head pretty hard, right?”
Peter and I nodded.
She tipped her head to the side. “So Maria saw her fall, changed into human form and grabbed a blow gun and poisoned dart the veterinarian had smuggled in for her, maybe, and aimed it at Malorie? And then she came to and managed, while her head was bleeding, to slash Maria in the chest with her talon necklace? And somehow Maria then shot Malorie in the back of the neck with the dart and they died at roughly the same time?”
Peter heaved a heavy sigh. “And there were no signs of a struggle.”
Heidi flashed her eyes at Will, then said in a doubtful tone, “Riiiggghttt.”
She had a point. I shook my head. “And then, how did the blow gun end up in the hallway of the sanctuary?”
Will licked his finger, then held it up. “Besides, you’re assuming Malorie was keeping this phoenix lady captive for what—fifty-plus years? Ha.” He raised a bushy brow. “Um… if that’s so, why wouldn’t Maria have just shifted to human form earlier, like during some public tour, and been like hey, let me out of this cage, dum-dums?”
“Ooh!” Heidi bounced in her seat and clapped her hands. “What if the phoenix wasn’t a captive. What if Malorie was protecting her? You think it was like witness protection or something?”
“No.” Peter shook his head. “We’d never do that.”
Heidi looked unconvinced and smiled knowingly. “Maybe not officially, but maybe Malorie and Maria were friends and they worked out a deal.”
Will scoffed. “If they were friends, why would they kill each other?”
Heidi shrugged. “Falling out?”
I waggled my brows. “More like a falling in.” I looked around the room. “Get it? ’Cause her stepdaughter pushed Malorie, and she fell into the cage?”
Will shook his head. “Oh, girl.”
“Okay, going back a sec though.” I pointed at my bear shifter friend. “Will, you said before—why didn’t Maria Begin just shift back into human form?”
“Mm-hmm.” He spat out another olive pit.
I held up my hands, my jumble of thoughts taking a vague shape. “What if she couldn’t? What if she couldn’t shift because of the same reason I can’t shift?”
Heidi gasped. “Because her coworker cursed her?”
I grinned. “No—because Ludolf cursed her. Biddy and Jan heard a rumor that Maria Begin crossed him years ago and that’s why she disappeared.”
Will narrowed his eyes. “But you’re trapped in human form….”
I nodded. “Exactly—so what if Ludolf tested a different potion on Maria, and it had a different effect. She got trapped in animal form—as a phoenix.”
Peter nodded, that thinking crease between his brows. “Then how’d she end up in a cage at Malorie Rutherford’s sanctuary?”
An icy-cold chill flooded my stomach as I thought over my talk with Madeline and the conversation we’d had with Zane Perez from WWAAC. I spun to face Peter. “We need to go back to the sanctuary and look at that paperwork you asked Quincy for.”
28
UNDERGROUND ANIMAL RESCUE
Peter, Daisy, and I didn’t waste any time booking it back up the mountain to the Magical Animal Sanctuary. A servant showed us in, and we surprised Quincy and Mark in the zebra enclosure. One of the black-and-white-striped creatures lay, sedated, on its side, while Mark held its eyelid open and used his wand to shine a light into its eye.
I frowned at Mark, then at Quincy. “Didn’t you just fire him?”
Quincy rose from a crouch beside Mark and adjusted his buttoned shirt. He shot a disapproving look at the servant who’d shown us in, then licked his lips and cleared his throat. Mark, cigarette hanging from his full lips, rolled his eyes and went back to examining the zebra.
Finally, Quincy found his voice. “I, uh—changed my mind. We’re working on getting his license reinstated.”
Peter widened his stance. “Why did you change your mind?”
Daisy, at Peter’s side, fixed her intense gaze on Quincy.
The tall, thin man scratched at his neck. “You know, I, uh—” His thin chest heaved, and he stared at Daisy. “Mark was right, of course. It’s not easy finding someone who’s able to take care of these animals and their—” He choked and had to clear his throat. “—unique needs.”
Daisy whined. True.
Peter and I exchanged doubtful looks. My cop boyfriend narrowed his eyes at Mark. “In the meantime, I assume you’re not performing any procedures that you’re not licensed to?”
Mark held up his palms. “Of course, Officer.”
Daisy whined. True.
I glared at the veterinarian. It might be true… so far. But he’d been operating without a license for who knew how long already. “We’ll be reporting that you’ve been working for years without a license to the board.” I didn’t know what board exactly, but I hoped my threat sounded credible.
The vet’s face split into an infuriating smile. “Report away. But I should tell you, Quincy here has already helped me submit an appeal to the Board of Veterinary Magic and Medicine. Considering Malorie was a prominent member of it, I’m sure we won’t run into any issues in that department.”
Quincy frowned. “Is that why you came back?” He glanced at Mark. “To check on him?”
Peter shook himself. “No, actually. Earlier, we mentioned we’d be back to check over your permits for these animals.”
Quincy lifted his thin brows. “I assumed you meant in a few days’ time, not a few hours. I—I haven’t even looked for them. Like I told you, Malorie handled all that. I don’t even know where to begin.”
I flashed my eyes at Peter. We’d tried to think up a way for me to be able to question that sloth again, or any of the animals really. I had a theory that I needed to test. This seemed to be a good chance.
Peter gave me a slight nod, then turned to Quincy. “I’ll help you look.”
Quincy’s face flushed red, and he opened his mouth as if to protest, but snapped it shut again. He turned to Mark, who still crouched beside the zebra’s head. “You’ll be alright without me?”
Mark rolled his eyes. “Have been for the last fourteen years. I think I’ll manage.”
Quincy huffed, set his jaw, then muttered, “Fine.” He took off along the suspended bridge walkways that threaded through the enclosures. Peter grinned at me, and I winked. “I think I’ll stay behind.”
Quincy didn’t even react, and Peter and Daisy took off after him toward the office. I waited a moment, then turned to Mark, who’d bent back over the zebra and was looking inside its ears. “I’m gonna—just—look around….”
He didn’t even look my way. “Whatever.”
I wandered around the maze of wood bridges, the humid air making the tendrils of hair at the back of my neck cling to my skin. I held my elbows out wide and grimaced. I’d need another shower when I got back to Peter’s place.
Finally, I found the sloth enclosure again, and as I had earlier, I climbed down from the walkway and pushed through the tingly magical barrier. I had no idea how to find the animal again, so I just cupped my hands to my mouth and, in sloth squeaks, called out for it. Hey, sloth! It’s me, Jolene. I wanted to finish our conversation from earlier.
I tromped a little deeper into the jungle foliage, climbing over giant roots and pushing through thick, waxy leaves I could’ve used as umbrellas, they were so large. I found a little clearing that seemed familiar and stood there, calling for the sloth for what felt like ages. Finally, I heard a little squeak in return and turned my face skyward. The dense trees blocked out the view of the glass atrium ceiling, thick vines trailing down
to the soft dark earth.
I got dizzy looking up and turning and then finally spotted my sloth friend. He hugged the trunk of a tree about twelve feet above my head. I grinned and waved at him. He smiled back—but that was probably just the expression he always made.
I let out a series of squeaks. Hey, buddy! You were trying to tell me something earlier, and I think I might know what it was. I took a deep breath, my stomach and chest tight. Snakes, I hope I was wrong.
It blinked its dark, globular eyes at me.
I squeaked again. Are you a shifter?
It seemed to freeze—then again, it was a sloth. That could’ve been its normal speed. Then it slowly opened its little mouth and squeaked. Yes.
An icy cold washed over me. Holy shell. It made sense now. The lemurs too, I suspected were shifters. My powers weren’t fading. Shifters typically weren’t as fluent in their animal forms as a native animal speaker. For instance, when I’d been able to change into an owl, I’d been able to exchange pleasantries with other owls, but couldn’t manage much beyond that.
I edged closer, my head tipped all the way back, and spoke sloth. Do the people who work here know you’re a shifter? Are all the other animals shifters, too? Are you trapped? Are you unable to change back?
As I waited for the sloth to respond, I realized I probably should have asked more succinct questions, but my heart was racing, and I could barely stand still.
It squeaked. Ludolf… Caterwaul…
My hands trembled and I shoved them in my pockets. Hoo boy. This was big. Big and horrible. A mix of terror and rage rushed through me.
Peter’s voice filtered through the foliage. “—not so bad. I appreciate you finding these.”
“Where’s your associate?”
Quincy sounded irritated.
Oh, I’d show him irritated. I bounced on my heels, debating if I should try to get more information out of the sloth, but decided I wanted to confront Quincy.
I squeaked up at the sloth. Don’t worry. We’ll be back, and we’ll figure out a way to free you. Then I took off back the way I’d come, following the sound of Peter’s voice. They were nearly right in front of me when I wandered back out of the magical enclosure and knocked on the invisible force field.