The powder was glowing faintly, clearly of magical origin. He didn’t know to which of them it belonged, but he strongly suspected it was Saskia’s. The look of anger she gave him in response to his scowl told him that he had been wrong. It wasn’t hers. But she didn’t deny it. She wasn’t about to drop her friend in it.
“So what?” she snapped, snatching the plastic bag away from him, and in doing so spilling all of the powder over the carpet. Jenny gave a cry of dismay.
How look what you’ve done!” Saskia said.
“You didn’t think I was going to let you keep it?” he said, trying not to snap.
“What were you going to do?” sneered Saskia. “Flush it down the toilet? You can’t do that to our things. We are not children. You can’t tell us what to do!”
The two girls stood next to each other side-by-side, like a wall of sisterly solidarity, both of them glowering at him. Saskia and Jenny looked more like sisters than Saskia and Evie ever had. His own little sister was as golden haired as their famous father had been to the point it sometimes hurt to look at her. Though Jenny’s hair was a kind of darker chestnut plum, the two girls looked as alike as twins. And right now they were making him feel like a brute. That was until Jenny smirked and said to Saskia, “Your brother’s so hot when he’s mad.”
But Saskia was in no mood to back down. “You’re such a hypocrite,” she said, her voice high with anger. “Don’t tell me you never did SoulGlow. I bet you did worse!”
Storm couldn’t even deny it. But he had been a different person back then when, between the ages of fifteen and twenty, haunted by the darkness of his memories, he had thrown himself into many different forms of nihilism, and done far worse than SoulGlow. But he had no intention of speaking about that. Not to Saskia. He could never explain to her his reasons.
Saskia waited, a fleeting expression of hope crossing her face which swiftly turned to bitterness. “I thought so,” she said. “You and Evie and your secrets! I am sick of them. You think you’re both so much better than me! You can go to hell! I don’t need you!”
“Saskia, it’s not like that,” Storm tried to reason.
But she wasn’t having any of it. “You never tell me anything!” she shrieked. She grabbed Jenny and started dragging her towards the door. “Come on Jenny. Let’s get out of here.”
Storm moved swiftly towards the door to intercept them. “No,” he said. “You can stay. I’ll go.”
He had to go to work anyway, and he would much rather that they stayed here to rest after a whole night out on the town. Maybe Saskia would have calmed down by the time he got home this evening. He doubted it, but he could hope. Maybe then he could talk some sense into her. Tell her to go back to university and not throw away the good things that she had in this life.
He went to his bedroom to get dressed for work and found that his phone was ringing. He went to answer it and caught a glimpse of the time on the screen. It was already 8:30 am. He was thirty minutes late, and his boss was calling him. Damn it!
He answered, intending to tell the chief that he would be in within thirty minutes, but the chief did not give him a chance to speak.
“Storm, see me at my office as soon as you get in. We have a situation.”
The chief sounded eerily calm. Storm could tell it was bad.
Chapter 14
DIANA
I’d been unable to sleep all night, far too excited at the prospect of going to Joshua Ashbeck’s former address and seeing if his neighbors could help me track down any family members that I could speak to. Someone had to know where Constance Ashbeck had gone. And I also intended to go back to the Petrichor bar with Finch, but first I had to head into the office to speak to Storm and keep him off my scent. If I didn’t turn up, he would know that I was avoiding seeing him because I had something to hide.
And that was why I was in the office early, sitting at a hot desk and tapping away at the computer, trying to find any electronic records of the missing parts of the Ronin case file, when Remi tracked me down and warned me of trouble. Some heavies from the Otherworld embassy and the vampire council had arrived to find me, and had been in the chief’s office with the door closed and blinds shut, meeting with him for the past hour. That smelled like trouble. But I kept a carefree smile on my face to keep Remi from being worried.
“They want to see us,” she said.
My heart sank. Why us? Why not just to me? I was the one who had gone to the Ronin house. The team had nothing to do with it. I had no doubt the heavies being here was Rodrigge Ronin’s doing.
“It’s fine,” I told Remi. “I’ve got this.” After all, Audriett Ronin had been perfectly cooperative. Just because her son was being a little bitch trying to stir up trouble, didn’t mean that he was going to succeed.
I bounced ahead of Remi into the chief’s office, sure that everything was going to be fine. The four heavies in the chiefs office were all standing, having refused to take seat, which wasn’t a good sign. Leo and Monroe were already there, the latter looking nervous and making his best efforts not to tap his toe against the ground. I shot him a grin. The chief indicated for me and Remi to sit down. The heavies remained standing, looming over us.
The two from the Otherworld embassy were shiny prim looking folk doing a very good job of blending in with humanity in their charcoal colored three-piece suits with twin waistcoats. The vampire council representatives were clearly not vampires themselves, it being daylight, but were doing a good job of emulating them in their in their black outfits and their black cloaks. I smirked. Cloaks in summertime. A bit over much. It might have been scarier if they had sent real vampires.
Storm was missing, so we all waited in a silence in which one could hear a pin drop. The chief had given me a single look that said, ‘You’ve really dropped yourself in it this time.’ He was seriously unhappy with me. But I felt like this whole meeting was ridiculous. A bit like being called into the principal’s office. After all, tt was only me who had been naughty. Not anyone else. I saw no need for the rest of the team to be told off.
Storm arrived a few minutes later, his face a bland professional mask, but his whole body language and the psychic music that tumbled off him radiated all sorts of angst. He had not had a good morning. I wondered what was going on. He was never in late, and clearly he was peeved at being late on this morning of all mornings. He stuck out his hand towards the Otherworld embassy representatives to introduce himself, and they automatically shook his, and then looked a little annoyed at themselves as if this had not been part of their plan.
What followed was a swift recounting from the vampire council representatives of my meeting at the Ronin house yesterday. All told from Rodrigge’s point of view, of course. Apparently I had launched an unprovoked attack on his wife, leaving her injured, and Rodrigge was insisting that my weapon, a black sword, be disposed of immediately. Ha! Good luck with that. Even I had no idea where the sword was right now, though I had my suspicions.
Storm and Leo and the chief, and the rest of the team in fact, did not look like they were receiving this news is lightly as I was. I mean, what exactly had I done wrong? All I had done was visit someone’s home! It was not like this fact in itself was illegal.
I rolled my eyes when the vampire representatives had finished their story. They had not mentioned Finch at all. The poor guy might as well not have existed. Probably best for him that way.
“A pack of lies,” I said lightly. “You can speak with the Agency officers who Rodrigge called out to the property yesterday. There was no sword. They already looked for it. Rodrigge Ronin is a moron, and I’m sure his mother would tell you the same. I had a very pleasant interview with Audriett Ronin.” I fixed my eyes on the vampire representatives. “Tell me, did Audriett Ronin complain? Or was it just her moronic son?”
The vampire’s lackeys were seething. “Mr Ronin is a pillar of the vampire community here on Earth. You invaded his property without his authorization, and refused to leave
when he requested for you to do so!”
“Actually, he invited me in. You can ask the maid of his that opened the door. I would not have been admitted into the property without his say-so.”
We argued back and forth for a few minutes before one of the people from the Otherworld embassy, the woman of the pair, said sharply, “That’s quite enough.”
The vampire lackeys grudgingly shut up. I did too, not because of the icy look she had given us, but because of the one that had come from Storm.
The embassy woman addressed her next comments to the chief. “Your team made an unauthorized visit to the Ronin household investigating a case which was very painful to the vampire community and the Otherworld community as a whole. A case which had already been satisfactorily closed given that Steffane Ronin is currently in prison. As such, to ensure the continuation of the good relationship between this Agency and the Otherworld embassy, we insist that this entire team is terminated without further notice. We will not tolerate the harassment of our citizens in this city!”
Storm and Leo’s faces were expressionless, but Remi and Monroe both looked shocked. The subtle change in the quality of the psychic music rolling off of Storm in waves, which told me that he was taking this all very seriously. Surely these embassy people didn’t have the power to get Storm and the others fired? I was about to scoff in response when I realized that my attitude had not helped matters. This was serious.
“None of this is the team’s fault!” I protested. “Storm didn’t even know that I went to the Ronin house. I went there of my own accord and nobody else deserves to be punished but me!”
“Is that true?” said the chief calmly, addressing his question to Storm.
“No, sir,” said Storm, taking me by surprise. “I was aware of the case, and Diana’s actions fell within my authorization alone.”
“Storm —” I protested. But then I went silent at a single glower from him. He wanted me to shut up and say not another word, and if I didn’t want to make him mad, then I had better do so.
“In that case,” said the chief, “there is no question of Ms Bellona being terminated since she was acting on a senior agent’s behalf.”
The embassy woman did not miss a beat. “In that case, we insist that Agent Storm is terminated from the Agency with immediate effect.”
I was furious, and I stepped forward to let her know it. The chief interrupted swiftly, saying, “There is no question of that. You do not have the authority to terminate agent Storm’s employment. I will speak with this team and investigate the matter internally, and take any action that is required. I understand your concerns, and I thank you for bringing them to my attention.”
He walked over to the door of his office and opened it, clearly intending for the four heavies to leave. When they hesitated, he continued to hold it open with pleasant and expectant smile on his face. They took the hint. He shook their hands before they filed out. He closed the door firmly. When he turned to us, his smile was gone.
Storm immediately said, “Sir, I take full responsibility for—”
“Enough,” the chief interrupted calmly. “Think carefully Agent Storm before digging a grave for your very promising career.”
He looked at me and Storm, ignoring the rest of the team. “I am going to assume that what happened here was a big mistake and give you both the benefit of the doubt. However, let me make it extremely clear that the Agency’s relationship with the Otherworld embassy is far more important than any individual member of this team or even this entire team as a whole. The Ronin case is closed. I have no idea why you decided to dig it up, but this is the end of it. The case is closed. It will remain closed, and I want to hear nothing more of this. Is that clear?”
The rest of the team nodded, and I only did after receiving a taking a look at Storm’s face. The chief asked the rest of us to leave, and kept Storm behind for a few more serious words, which I did not envy him having to hear.
The rest of us went to wait for Storm in his office. I filled them in on the Ronin case and why I was determined to go ahead with it. I was still absolutely certain that Steffane Ronin knew the identity of the Devil Claw Killer, and I was not going to give up my chance to find him. Not now. Not ever.
“You nearly got us all fired,” said Monroe very seriously.
“Can you believe it?” I said. “The nerve of those people! You guys had nothing to do with it at all. I can’t believe they thought the chief would fire you.”
“He would have,” said Leo perfectly seriously. “I don’t think you understand the importance of the Ronin family in the Otherworld community. Their roots are deep. They are the oldest of the vampire broods to establish a branch on Earth and —”
“Oh please!” I scoffed. “They’re vampires. Humans might put up with the rest of otherkind on earth, but nobody likes vampires, not even otherkind. Why are you defending them?”
“It’s about money and magic and power,” said Leo. “And the Ronins have it.”
“The Ronins have secrets, is what they have.” I turned towards Remi, sure that she would be on my side, and found that she and Monroe had been exchanging a glance. One that irked me. Especially when she frowned at me.
“I think that if the boss told you to stay away from this case,” she said, “You should have stayed away. If he thought there was anything to it, he would have let you investigate. But it sounds like you’re on a wild goose chase. I can’t believe you went behind his back like that.”
I was astonished, and filled with a sudden flash of anger. “Of course you were going to take Monroe’s side,” I snapped. “Big surprise!”
She flushed bright red.
Just then Storm came back into the office. Before he could speak, I said, “Don’t even tell me to back off this case because I won’t. If Rodrigge Ronin didn’t have something to worry about, why would he have sent the heavies in? I’m getting close. I know I am, and he’s getting scared. I can feel it.”
“Are you entirely insane?” Storm exploded, taking all of us by surprise. “Do you know what could have happened to you, going into a vampire nest on your own? I knew you couldn’t be trusted, but I had thought you’d have better sense than that at least! Can’t you use your good judgment for once!”
I could feel blood pounding in my ears. Storm had never spoken to me like this. And how dare he speak to me like that in front of everyone! “Who do you think you are?” I shouted at him. “Trust? How dare you say that I can’t be trusted! What have I ever done to deserve that? I have always had your back! And this is the one thing that is important to me, but it’s clear to me that you don’t have my back!”
“This is not personal,” he snapped, trying to put a leash on his anger. “This is a job! Do you even know how to behave professionally? Can’t you keep control of yourself for once? Are you a child? Is it my job to babysit you all night and day?”
“How dare you belittle me like that? I am fully capable of taking responsibility for my actions! I was fully aware of the dangers of walking into a vampire’s nest, and I took care of myself. And if I had been hurt that would have been my responsibility, and nothing to do with you! It’s not like you give a crap about me!”
I hadn’t meant to say that last bit, and felt immediately embarrassed.
“I do give a crap about to you,” Storm bit off between clenched teeth. And for the briefest of moments my heart softened. He cared. He was saying it in front of everyone.
“You are part of this team,” he said, ruining it. “And the choices you make impact this whole team. All I want is for you to give some consideration to that.” He said this last bit in a quiet tone, clearly making a great effort to pull back his anger. He seemed to be regretting his earlier outburst. The team was watching the two of us silently.
I made an effort to match his calmer tone. “I’m sorry if my actions affect this team. But I’ve already explained to you all why this is too important for me to give up on. Devil Claw killed my mother, and you a
ll know exactly how impossible it has been to catch him. This might be my only chance. I can’t let it go.”
“Even if it gets us all fired?” Remi interjected.
“I don’t see why it should get you fired. I went to the Ronin household in my spare time. Not during working hours. It had nothing to do with any of you.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” said Storm. “Your actions reflect on the Agency and on this team. The chief will fire you, Diana. He has made that clear. If you did not work here, you would never have come across this case. And we have already discussed that it was impossible for anyone but Steffane Ronin to have killed Leonie Ashbeck. Did any of the Ronins give you any cause to believe otherwise?”
I stayed mutinously silent, because damn it, none of them had. But admitting that would not help my cause.
“I didn’t think so,” said Storm. “Now will you come to your senses and back off this case?”
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