by Jen Pretty
Nick had stopped walking and was waiting with one hand on the door, but his eyes on me. "You ready?"
I wanted to say no and run back to the elevator, but I knew that wasn't an option. I nodded and Nick swung the door open, stepping in ahead of me and holding the Doro behind him.
Inside, the scent of cleaner and death lingered on the air, burning my nostrils. My magic banged against the inside of my chest, demanding to be let out and I took an unwilling step towards a sheet-covered body on a table beneath bright lights that hung from the high ceiling.
"What are you doing here?" a harsh voice demanded.
"We are the investigators from the DPI," Nick said from behind me. The new Department of Paranormal Investigations was a top-level government organization, devoted to tracking and collecting information about rogue paranormals. They were also the department responsible for paying my salary, now that I was officially working in the field.
"Well, I am the lead detective on this case, and I didn't ask for help from the DPI. You can turn right around and head back the way you came," the angry man said. "You get the fuck away from that body." A hard hand grabbed my arm, pulling me back a stumbling step.
"Hey, hands-off," Nick shouted and the hand that had grabbed me was torn away, leaving bruises behind and spinning me away from the deceased person, so I was face to face with a burly middle-aged man with a thick beard and cold eyes.
Nick was standing behind the man, his arm wrapped tightly around his throat.
Crow chose that moment to make his presence known as if we needed more noise and drama. He landed on the sheet covering the body and let out a serious of loud crows that echoed through the morgue.
Suddenly the doors burst open and a hoard of men in uniform with guns drawn stormed in yelling to put our hands up and let go of the officer. Nick immediately let go of the man who had grabbed me and raised his hands, so I did the same. Falcor had disappeared. The jerk. But crow continued to scream his fool ass off.
Two men put their guns away and jerked Nick's arms behind him, then did the same for my own. Crow launched himself at the man behind me, but the guy must have had a lot of practice with cuffs because steel bands dug into my skin before Crow struck. The man yelled and batted at the irate bird, but Crow had already done what he set out to do and the man's head was scratched and bleeding as Crow dropped back down on the dead body in the room. Two officers aimed their guns at Crow, but the bird vanished, leaving the men reeling. Nick and I were rough handled through the halls and up the elevator surrounded by police officers and to the angry voice of the man who had grabbed me in the morgue as he yelled into his cell phone. The rest of the officers had nothing to say and just stood by silently keeping an eye on us.
"So, Nick, uh, what's the plan here?" I asked as the elevator doors slid open on the main floor again and we were pushed off.
"Shut up," the angry bearded man hissed. "Put them in lock-up until I get this straightened out," he said to the other officers who then shoved us forward again and through the crowded office floor.
"You can't lock us up, we are with the DPI," Nick said.
"I didn't call in the freak unit, this is a murder investigation," the angry officer said before striding away, his phone still to his ear.
Nick was dragged in one direction, and they took me another. I stared over my shoulder, trying to see where they were going with him until he disappeared through a set of doors.
"In here," the gruff voice of the man holding my arm said as he slid open a cell door and ushered me inside.
He shut the door and left, leaving the handcuffs digging into my wrists as I inspected the empty jail cell. I had never been in one before and it was definitely not something to write home about. I collapsed on the cold bench that ran along one wall and tried to wiggle my wrists, but it was no use. The cuffs were too tight, and the circulation was slowly being cut off to my fingers.
"This really didn't go the way I thought it would," I said staring out at the bars.
Crow appeared in front of me, landing on the floor and hopping closer to peck at my shoelaces.
"You were not particularly helpful back there," I said, watching him untie my laces.
Once all my laces were untied, Crow jumped up into the air and circled the small cell before aiming his beady eyes on my stomach.
"Oh, hell no!" I yelled a split second before the bird ran straight into me at full bird speed and suddenly, I was looking down on myself as my wings flapped, hovering in the middle of the cell. I had crumpled back into the wall, my hands still cuffed behind me, but now I was flying was Crow.
My wings flapped once hard, launching me towards the floor, but instead of hitting the ground, I dropped right through into the underground level where we had just been in the morgue. This was ridiculous. I couldn't raise a wraith as a crow, I was pretty sure, but apparently, Crow needed me to see something and it couldn't possibly wait till I was no longer cuffed in a jail cell. I held fast to the idea that I wasn't a crow, so I wouldn't do anything weird like the last time he did this, and I ate freaking worms and things; then scanned the room as I landed on the dead body.
It was cold and hard beneath my feet as I hopped up the sheet to the top. My beak grabbed onto the corner of the sheet and dragged it down far enough that I could see the man's face.
His skin and lips were as white as the sheet, his gaze unseeing, but eyelids wide open. I hopped around to stand beside his head and scanned all the skin I could see until I found what I had expected in the first place. A set of teeth marks on the man's neck with two puncture wounds. A vampire had definitely drained him. There was no doubt about that, but what I hadn't been expecting was a small mark just below the man's ear.
It wasn't a tattoo, more like a smear of ink. It could have been a lightning bolt.
Colvin's warning came back to me. He had said to watch out for the shooting star. It could be half of a shooting star. My feathers ruffled, and I shook them straight before leaping off the table and flying straight up through the floor. I wasn't back in my cell though. Instead, I was in a large office space with dozens of people and police officers.
They all stopped what they were doing and watched as I flew through, circling once before finding my way back to the cell I was being held in. I slipped through the bars and flew straight at my body where I was slumped over.
I slammed hard into myself and woke up coughing and choking. The feather I knew was lodged in my throat made me gag and wretch until I vomited on the floor, finally dislodging it and hurling my guts everywhere.
"Oh, you asshole," I cried as Crow cawed and vanished.
A guard came back around and wrinkled his nose at the mess. "Are you drunk?" he sneered.
"No, I choked. Get these things off me!" I stumbled to the bars with vomit running down my chin. How had my life gotten so shitty so fast? This was a new low.
I spit on the floor as the guard unlocked the door. He moved me to a different cell, removing my handcuffs and handing me a bottle of water. "Look, just sit tight, okay. I'm sure this will be sorted out soon."
The guard looked over his shoulder then turned back and let a tiny spark of his magic out. It was bright red, and I absorbed it so fast it was like a sponge.
"What are you?" I asked in a whisper.
"Just a warlock," he replied, stepping back toward the door with a grin. His name tag said Reedon, which I presumed was his last name. He was taller than me by at least a foot and built solid like a linebacker, but his features were soft and welcoming. "I'll be back, Black Crow."
The cell door closed with a click. The presence of another person of magic had at least lifted my sour mood. I sat down, satisfied that at least I knew someone was on our side. Though it would have been nice to have Falcor's help. He had better have called Niri at least or I would definitely kick his ass.
CHAPTER NINE
It was an hour before the warlock police officer came back to my cell. In that time, I hadn't seen Crow or Falcor and
was getting worried about Nick. Technically, he had assaulted a police officer, though I had been assaulted first, as the ring of bruises around my arm could attest.
"You are free to go," the officer said, though now he was in plain clothes and looked like a typical guy. Plain jeans and a t-shirt with a band name on it.
"Great, thanks!" I said. "What about Nick?"
The guard glanced over his shoulder. "We are keeping him for another couple hours. He has to explain his story to the chief."
"Shit," I said. "I have no idea where the hell I'm staying or where Falcor is."
"Falcor?"
I shook my head. "Sorry, he's my warlock. Well, not mine. But he is supposed to be on our team, and he disappeared as soon as things went sideways downstairs."
"Oh," the officer said. "Well, I can take you to where you need to go. I'm off shift now."
I wasn't sure if I was supposed to trust him but seeing as the alternative was to wander the streets of Phoenix until I stumbled upon the creepy old mansion of the vampires, or a hotel maybe, I decided to take him up on it. "That would be great. Maybe just to the closest hotel. I was staying with Nick's parents, but it might be weird to show up there without him."
"You were staying with the Coltons?" The officer looked surprised.
"Yeah, I have no idea why."
"Come on, you can stay with our Coven until Nick gets out and your Falcor returns. My name is Anlon, by the way."
"Good to meet you," I said following him through the front doors of the police station.
"This is me," he said, indicating a motorcycle.
I eyed it suspiciously. "I've never ridden one before."
He fished a pair of helmets out of the bags on the back and handed me one. "It's just like riding a bike."
"I doubt that," I said with a snort.
"You'll love it, I swear."
I pulled on the helmet, still unsure, but it beat sitting around the police station all night. I badly needed to eat something and shower.
Anlon Swung his leg over the motorcycle and stood to wait for me. My heart fluttered a bit as I slipped on behind him and settled into the seat. He wrapped my arms around his stomach tight, then started up the bike. It roared to life, shaking under me.
Then we were moving, the bike easily slipping into traffic and weaving between cars and busses effortlessly. It sent butterflies flipping around in my stomach.
"Oh god this is great," I said when the bike stopped at a stoplight.
Anlon peeked over his shoulder at me with a grin. The adrenaline was pushing at me and I felt the urge to let go of my magic. Let it flow over the city and touch everyone and no one in particular.
Before I knew it, Anlon was pulling the bike into an underground parking garage beneath an apartment building. When he pulled into a parking spot, he turned and looked at me. "Our coven owns this whole building."
"Seriously? It's just warlocks here?"
"And witches," he said, pulling his helmet off. His hair was messed, but still stylishly roguish.
"So, what does a coven do, exactly?" I asked trying to flatten out my hair that had a ton of static thanks to the bike helmet.
"We mostly just live together, but if there is a need to use a lot of magic, we can work together for a mutual cause."
"Like if a monster kills people in your city?" I asked as I looked around the parking garage.
Anlon's dark chuckle echoed through the cavernous space. "Something like that."
I glanced back at him, but he had already turned away.
"Come on, I'll introduce you," he said.
My stomach chose that moment to make its displeasure known with a low grumble.
"And maybe find you some dinner." He chuckled again, and the sound set my nerves at ease.
I hadn't had much chance to talk to anyone about warlocks and witches despite finally being brought into the magic community. I had mostly been reading about black crow and necromancers.
Anlon hit the elevator button and hen the door opened we stepped inside. "So, you and Nick are together?"
"Um, yeah, it's complicated, I guess."
Anlon grinned. "Yeah, I guess it would be. Hard to tell if he likes you or what's running through your veins."
"Pardon?" I asked, pretty sure I hadn't heard him correctly.
"I just mean because he's a vampire. You know. They really crave your blood."
I bit my lip. "Nick's not like that." My voice held less confidence than I thought it would.
"Oh okay. I've never met him, just know about his family."
I bit my lip unsure if I wanted to know any more about his family. It seemed like an invasion of privacy, but then I doubted Nick would want to tell me anything about his family. He had hardly wanted to talk at all since we got here. I couldn't handle not knowing though, so I asked. "What about them?"
Anlon glanced at me before turning back to watch the elevator numbers. "They drink from willing donors. They are the leaders in the vampire world and apparently that gives them the right to do whatever they want with no repercussions."
Bile tried to jump up my throat, but I swallowed it down. "Nick doesn't drink from people."
Anlon's eyes grew round. "Really? Well, you probably have nothing to worry about then. I just assumed. You know. Since he is the literal price of the night or whatever."
"Prince of the night?" I giggled, but the elevator doors opened, ending our conversation as several young people standing around all smiled and started greeting me as if I was someone famous.
"Whoa," Anlon said. "Everyone take a few steps back. Selena needs some rest and food, not to be attacked by you lot. Don't you have schoolwork to do?"
"We have been studying Necromancers all morning," one young girl said, then she looked at me. "We're homeschooled, so we study a lot. How old are you?"
I laughed and was about to answer, but Anlon stopped the conversation.
"You guys get back to studying. The black crow has important business in the city and no time to entertain you lot."
A round of disappointed noises sprang from the group before they dispersed, glancing over their shoulders to peek at me until they had all disappeared into apartments.
"I don't mind answering some of their questions," I said.
"Oh, believe me, you will have more opportunities. They are relentless," Anlon said before ushering me forward. "I'm sure that Lolita has some food cooking for lunch. Let's get you fed, then I'm sure the coven leader will want to talk to you about what's going on in the city."
"OK, thanks." I was still worried about Nick stuck at the police station, but my stomach was empty thanks to Crow's little visit and I was pretty sure Nick could take care of himself. Wherever Falcor was, I didn't even care.
That jerk.
Anlon knocked on a door at the end of the hall and then pushed the door open. The scent of freshly baked bread wafted out, making my stomach growl loud enough to be heard all the way back home. I laughed and held my stomach as we walked into the tidy little apartment.
An old woman Itch Grey hair was sitting in a rocking chair reading a novel with the TV blaring.
"Lolita!" Anlon called out, loud enough to be heard over the television.
"Oh, my!" Lolita dropped her book, fumbling it until it hit the floor and then grabbed the TV remote and flicked it off. "Anlon, you shouldn't scare an old woman like that!" Her words were harsh, but the smile on her face suggested she wasn't really mad.
"Sorry," he replied with a wicked grin. "I just thought you might like to feed the Black Crow."
Her eyes darted to me.
"Selena," I said with a wave.
"Oh, my!" she stared at me as if she could see right through me, then seemed to snap back to the room. "It's so good to meet you, Selena." She pushed out of her rocking chair and crossed the room slowly towards me, a cane propping her up.
"Nice to meet you too," I said.
She waved us forward. "Come sit at the table. I'll whip you two up some
sandwiches." She winked at Anlon and grinned. "It's nice to see you making friends, Anlon."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far, Lolita. Detective Alder arrested Selena and her vampire guard this morning. I was just in the right place at the right time."
"The goddess works in wondrous ways," Lolita said. "I always knew there was a reason you took on a civilian job."
It was strange to hear her call being a police officer a civilian job. "What do warlocks and witches usually do?"
Lolita looked shocked, and I cursed my late entrance to the magic community again.
"Selena was sheltered from the community her whole life," Anlon explained.
"Oh dear. That won't do," Lolita said as she sliced bread and loaded it up with meats and cheeses. "You should take her to the sacred ground, Anlon, then she will have the knowledge she needs on our history."
"What's the sacred ground?" I asked.
"It's where all our dead are buried. You should be able to speak with several of our ancestors and get up to speed on the history of our people."
I considered that. It would be nice to know more, but... "I'm kind of in the middle of an investigation. Or at the start of one anyway."
Lolita frowned. "Oh, yes, that business with the vampires."
I bit my lip. "It might not have been vampires." I had to say it, but Lolita raised an eyebrow and I knew she had a point. I had seen the bite mark. But then I had also seen something else. Something which at that very moment seemed to catch my eye as if fate was shoving me in a different direction.
"I like your necklace," I said as Lolita leaned over to set the sandwich down in front of me.
Her hand rose, and she grinned, holding the pendant up. "Thank you, dear. This is the sacred star, a symbol of our coven."
It was a star with a long tail, just like the star of Bethlehem.