Cornered Magic

by Charissa Dufour

Sam woke the next morning, aware that her father was home for the day—his one day off a week. Though she didn’t have work or give a tour, she knew she needed to escape the apartment. She dressed quickly, ran a comb through her white hair, and emerged.

  Her father was struggling to fix a broken door on a cabinet when she appeared. He glanced over his shoulder at her, grunted, and returned to his work. Sam was hungry, but she chose to skip breakfast again in favor of avoiding his ire.

  She found Amber waiting for her outside her apartment. Amber handed her a breakfast roll wrapped in a paper napkin. Sam smiled at her in gratitude before sinking her teeth into the warm, fresh bread. They walked mostly in silence as they headed out of the complex.

  “I think we need to go back to Becky’s apartment. Maybe pick the lock. I want to see inside before we assume she’s snuck out of the Res. I just can’t see her doing that.”

  Amber nodded, willing to follow Sam’s lead. They walked back to Becky’s plastic studio apartment. Amber stood watch as Sam knelt and used one of Amber’s bobby pins to pick the second-rate lock.

  While Amber was innocent of nearly any crime, Sam had spent a stint or two in Solitary. She had a few skills—most gained in her efforts to avoid her father—that weren’t often used for legal purposes.

  In seconds she had it opened. Sam turned her head away from the opening, her hand going to her nose instinctively. She doubted Amber realized the meaning of the smell, but Sam did.

  Something was dead inside the enclosed apartment.

  “What’s that smell?” Amber asked as she turned away from the empty walkway.

  Sam hesitated. She didn’t want to answer but figured it would be kinder to give Amber a heads up, rather than to let her come to the horrible truth all in one instant.

  “Something rotting.”

  “Like she left her dinner out?”

  Sam opened and shut the door rapidly, wafting fresh air into the apartment, unable to meet Amber’s gaze. If Amber was so determined to ignore reality, Sam wasn’t going to push. She would get her awakening soon enough.

  “Stay behind me,” Sam ordered as she began to slip into the studio apartment.

  The open room only had two doors—the tiny bathroom and the even tinier closet. Sam ignore the body on the floor to check behind each door. Amber, though, was not able to ignore the body. Sam heard her gasp as she took in Becky’s corpse and rush to her side.

  Like a pro, Amber checked for a pulse and prepared to start CPR.

  “Stop that,” Sam ordered.

  “We have to try!” argued Amber.

  Sam grabbed her friend’s arm and pulled her back before she could put her lips to the corpse’s mouth.

  “She’s been dead for days, Amber. There’s no point trying. You’d just get sick in the process.”

  Sam knew her friend needed comfort, but she was here to solve the problem. They could mourn when the bastard who’d killed her was dead. Sam began snooping through the dirty apartment, looking for anything that might point toward Becky’s killer.

  When she didn’t find anything, she shifted to the body. Amber had scooted away and was sitting with her back up against the bed, hugging her knees to her chest and crying. Sam knelt beside the body and began looking over the body for any wounds. Strangely enough, Becky hadn’t been wearing much when she’d died. It saved Sam an awkward conversation with Amber. Amber cared more about a person’s dignity than seeking vengeance—it was just another way the two friends thrived as opposites.

  As Sam worked her way up Becky’s body, noting a few bruises on her arms and legs in the shapes of five fingers. Whoever had assaulted her had been strong. Other than the hand-shaped bruises, Sam didn’t find any other damage until she reached Becky’s neck. Blood covered one side of her neck.

  “Hey, Amber!” Sam called softly. “You up to helping a little?”

  Amber gave a mighty sniffle. “Ye-es.”

  “Go get a wet towel.”

  A moment later Amber returned with a wet cloth. Sam washed the blood away from Becky’s neck, revealing two puncture marks.

  “Vampire,” whispered Amber.

  Sam nodded.

  “Can we go?”

  “No,” replied Sam. “Not quite yet.”

  “But you know what killed her.”

  “There’s more to learn from her body than just that.”

  Sam began to do another sweep over her body.

  “Do you see any bruising other than the hand prints?” Sam asked.

  “No.”

  Sam checked Becky’s hands. They were clean. She checked her shins, also without finding any bruises. Finally, Sam sat back on her feet and looked up at Amber.

  “I don’t see any defensive wounds.”

  “How can you tell the difference?”

  Sam chewed on her lips. She didn’t want to tell Amber that she had received a number of beatings from her father, or that she had learned to defend herself, and thereby knew what defensive wounds looked like.

  “Look here,” Sam said instead as she lifted Becky’s pale hands. “No bruises. Becky was a scrapper. If someone was attacking her she would have thrown a punch. Nothing. Her fingers are clean. She didn’t try to scratch or claw at anyone.”

  “What about the other bruises?”

  Sam didn’t blush often, but when she did her whole face turned cherry red, making her white hair stand out even more. Today, she blushed scarlet.

  “I think they’re from sex,” she finally said.

  Though her experience with sex was limited, she also wasn’t a virgin. Amber on the other hand…

  “Really?”

  “These here, on her thighs, look like someone was… pushing her legs open and got a little too vigorous. These on her wrist look like he was holding her hands… like above her head.”

  Amber started to turn green. “You think she was sleeping with a vampire?”

  Sam let out a sigh. “We already knew that, Amber. She was dating Lee.”

  “Was dating.”

  “You never had a moment of stupidity where an ex is concerned?”

  Amber chewed on her lip. Amber hadn’t ever had the opportunity to be stupid with an ex, but Sam had still made her point.

  “So you think it was Lee?”

  “I don’t know who else could do this. Becky had her own powers, limited as they were. And I don’t think she was sleeping with just any vampire.”

  Amber nodded.

  “Let’s get out of here,” suggested Sam.

  “What about her?” Amber asked. “We need to notify the feds.”

  Sam let out a long sigh. “I’ll tell them. You go home and rest.”

  “You sure?”

  Sam nodded. She didn’t want to face the feds alone, but Amber wasn’t up to it after finding her friend dead. Unlike Sam, she had assumed until the very end that Becky was safe somewhere. Besides, talking with the feds was still better than going home.

  “Yeah. Get out of here.”

  Sam followed her out, shut the door, and walked with Amber back to their housing complex. From there she went on to the administration building. She stopped at the front desk, waiting for the secretary to recognize her presence. As she waited her eyes scanned over to the counsel room positioned just off the foyer. Leaning against the wall next to the door waited Roman. His brown eyes were on her, a slight smile pulling one side of his mouth up.

  Sam ignored him, allowing her eyes to slide past him and continue her slow perusal of the room.

  “Can I help you?” the secretary finally asked.

  “Can I see the Duty Captain?”

  “Again?”

  Evidently, it was the same woman she had spoken to the last time she’d come in to speak with the feds.

  “I found a dead body. The body of my friend I came to inquire about a few days ago. So yes, I would like to see the Duty Captain.”

  The other woman pursed her lips as she glared at Sam. Sam, knowing she was bein
g an idiot, glared right back.

  Before either of them broke, a gentle voice interrupted their staring contest.

  “Sam,” the voice said, dripping with admiration. “Glad to see you again.”

  Sam paused for a moment to allow her eyes to drill into the other woman before slowly looking up at Roman with a smile. The smile wasn’t natural, but she could already see the results of Roman’s presence in the other woman. The secretary squirmed, her pursed lips pulling up into a smile as Roman beamed down at her. Out of the corner of her eye, Sam watched the secretary fidget slightly before lifting the phone to her cheek, her eyes never leaving Roman’s face.

  To Sam’s astonishment, she felt a strong wave of jealousy wash over her. She stuffed the unexpected emotions down into the pit of the stomach. She would consider her feelings later. For now, she had to focus on the human feds.

  Roman reached out and gripped Sam’s shoulder in a gentle fashion. She wanted to pull away from his touch, afraid she wouldn’t be able to resist his two-fold temptation, but the secretary was watching their every move. Instead, Sam gave him a little grin.

  “How have you been, Sam? You know, Miss Evinston,” he said gesturing to the secretary and not giving Sam a chance to answer, “Sam is the first fae I met here in the Reservation. She gave me and Mr. Sterling a lovely tour.”

  Miss Evinston’s smile wavered for a second, her eyes running to Roman’s hand, still touching Sam’s shoulder.

  “She’s a… treasure,” said the secretary, sounding as though she was choking on the word.

  Thankfully, before Roman could push the secretary too far, the Duty Captain appeared.

  “Ah, Mr. Hunt. What can I do for you?” Reynolds asked politely.

  “Actually, it’s my friend Sam who needs to speak with you,” Roman said.

  “Oh. Uh… Miss Gollet,” grumbled the captain, sounding only infinitely less polite. “What do you need now?”

  Sam stared at him for a moment, amazed to find it was the same man who had been working when she and Amber had asked for help.

  Sam worked to keep her tone polite as she said, “I found my friend Becky Stirgus dead in her apartment. I came to notify you.”

  Roman gripped her shoulder a little tighter. Whether she wanted it or not, he was ready to show her sympathy.

  Captain Reynolds stared at her, his jaw muscles working. “All right. Show me.”

  “Are you all right, Sam?” Roman asked, real sympathy in his usually comical gaze.

  Once again, Sam fought the urge to pull away from his touch. He seemed so inviting, as though he would gladly take her into his embrace and hold her tight, but she couldn’t afford to look weak in front of the feds.

  “Sir, I’d like to accompany you and Miss Gollet,” Roman said when she didn’t answer him.

  “I don’t think that will be necessary, Mr. Hunt.”

  “Need I remind you that under the authority of Mr. Sterling I have complete access to this Reservation?”

  Again, the Duty Captain ground his teeth together before nodding. He led them out of the admin building and waited for Sam to lead the way. She did and within minutes they were at Becky’s apartment. Sam opened the door and stepped aside, allowing the human to enter first.

  Captain Reynolds looked at her before glancing at the knob.

  “Was it unlocked when you got here?” he asked.

  Sam sighed, knowing her efforts had left marks on the lock. “No. I picked the lock.”

  The man’s eyebrows climbed to the top of his forehead. “That’s illegal, Miss Gollet. Two weeks in solitary confinement.”

  “I came to the Bureau asking for help when she went missing and received none. I took matters into my own hands.”

  “Still illegal,” replied the Duty Captain.

  “Oh, Captain Reynolds. I don’t think that will be necessary.”

  “It’s not any of your concern, Mr. Hunt.”

  “Then I’ll just inform Mr. Sterling that his favorite tour guide will be unavailable for the next two weeks,” replied Roman.

  Sam kept quiet, perfectly willing to let Roman fight this battle. She had entered the admin building knowing she would likely be put into Solitary as a result of her prying. It had been the main reason she had sent Amber home. She didn’t want Amber sharing the punishment.

  Captain Reynolds glared at Roman for a moment before giving one shrug of his shoulders.

  “Fine. Save your little pet. No difference to me.”

  The Duty Captain walked into the studio apartment and stared down at the near-naked body.

  “You clean up the blood?” he asked, pointing to the blood-stained cloth lying next to Becky’s neck.

  Sam nodded.

  Captain Reynolds opened his mouth as if to say something before grabbing his walkie-talkie and calling for a cleanup crew. The feds would make a show of questioning suspects but quickly wind down the investigation until it puttered out. Despite a myriad of murders in the last couple years, Sam had never seen a suspect sentenced for the crime. The bureau didn’t care about justice for the mystics.

  Sam spent the next couple of hours outside Becky’s apartment, waiting to be released. Roman sat with her as long as he could, but after an hour received a phone call that sent him back to the admin building.

  “You sure you’re gonna be okay?” he asked as he rose to leave.

  “Yep.”

  He hesitated a moment before turning and walking away. Sam watched him go, admiring the way his dress pants hugged his backside and muscled calves. Once again, Sam found herself caught up in inappropriate thoughts concerning Roman.

  “You have a boyfriend, idiot,” she mumbled to herself.

  Just as the sun was beginning to set, the feds brought Becky’s body out of her apartment, along with all her belongings in boxes. Tomorrow the apartment would be handed over to someone else. With the last box removed, Sam was finally released to go home.