Two other agents stepped forward with their shields out. I pretended to look at their badges, but studied their faces instead, clutching the artifact in my pocket. If they were Demons, surely I would sense some change in it. I should also smell Brimstone now that I was searching for it. I sniffed, and blinked, which caused the officers to cock their heads in confusion. Regulars. Huh. I honestly didn’t know what to do next. I had been so ready for supernatural problems that I hadn’t considered what to do about the Regular old FBI or police.
That might say something about me.
“So, um… you’re official. What can I help you with?”
“You’re under arrest.”
“For wh-” I began, but I unsuccessfully failed at suppressing a sudden massive, jaw-cracking yawn. I could have literally fallen asleep standing up at this point. The agents pounced on my moment of weakness like a pride of lions on a gazelle. They tackled me to the ground violently, handcuffed me, and forcefully picked me up to press me against a nearby car door. I was so exhausted I let them. I wasn’t about to attack a squad of FBI Agents. They were supposed to be the good guys.
“What exactly am I being arrested for?” I wheezed, my anger beginning to wake me up a bit as the cuffs ground into my wrists.
“You’re wanted as a person of interest in an ongoing investigation. Missing persons. Alaric Slate. Among other things.”
“Like?” I asked, barely restraining myself from unleashing my power on them. But it would do no good, and I needed my power for the Demons. Best to go along with them. For now.
He held up his phone, which showed a perfect image of me cold-cocking the stranger from the bar last night. Then he smirked as he studied my face. “Looks like it didn’t end well for you.”
“God damn it. How many people were keeping tabs on me last night?” I snapped, more to myself. “And for the record, I totally kicked some ass at that bar fight.” I pointed to my face with pride. “This was from the fight afterwards with several someone else’s entirely, where I also kicked some major ass.” He looked doubtful. “But I digress. Since when are bar fights part of your jurisdiction?”
The bulldog agent stared me down. “We are on a joint task force with the local police. This picture just gave us a chance to bring you in. We also have you on corruption of a fellow Special Agent, Gunnar Randulf. Your assets have been temporarily frozen until we get to the bottom of it all. Last time the police brought you in, you threatened to buy off a politician to make sure Kosage lost his badge. He took that personally. I mean… professionally.” He corrected with a sadistic grin, shrugging his massive shoulders. His coat was barely containing his massive frame.
“Is that a smedium sized coat? You know, the size between a medium and a small that some people use to feel more manly? You must pop your collar on your days off too. Real stud.”
His face began to grow a pleasant shade of purple as his fists flexed at his sides. Then my phone began to ring. The man held out a hand. One of his subordinates handed him my phone from my pocket, chuckling at the cracked screen. “Nice.” He mocked me before answering the call on speaker. The other agents began patting me down. “Master Temple’s phone.” He answered in a polite drawl.
“Who is this?” Indie demanded. “Let me speak to Nate.”
“This is the FBI, Miss. Master Temple is currently wanted for questioning and isn’t able to answer the phone. Can I give him a message?”
There was an abrupt pause, then, “You can go fuck yourself, thank you very much. Give Nate his phone. This is an invasion of his privacy.”
His face morphed back to purple, but he mimicked composure very well. “I’m sorry. I can’t do that. You should have just left a message. He won’t be calling anyone for quite some time. Unless he uses you as his one free call. Good day.” He hung up with more force than was necessary.
“Give me my god damned phone you self-righteous, no-necked, son of a bitch. I have broken no laws. You can’t arrest me.” He merely glared at me. I took a calming breath. “I’m trying to work on my communication skills with her. At least let me put her at ease. Then I’m all yours for questions. After which I will be leaving your tender loving care.”
“Uh-huh. You can talk to her…” I nodded thankfully, glancing at my phone. “As soon as you communicate with us. It will be good practice. Put me at ease on a few topics. Like bribery of a fellow Special Agent for starters.” He winked darkly. The other agents finished taking everything from my pockets, turning off my car when they found my keys, and grunting in surprise at the weight of the bone Hope had given me. Then I was shoved into one of the SUV’s.
One of the agents jangled the remnants of the dragon tooth bracelet that had been broken in the bar fight last night. “Cute. Did you get this from Panama City Beach during Spring Break or something? One of those cheap souvenir shops? Billionaire wearing cheap shit like this? Must be facing hard time.”
“Times, you ignorant hick.”
He grinned wider. “Nah. Hard Time, as in, that is what you’re facing right now.”
I sneered back, not daring to use my magic to scare him. I used something else. “Those are the teeth of the Demon I killed on the Eads Bridge a few months ago. You guys must be very brave. I hear they even have footage of me killing it on YouTube. They call me something… what was it again…? Oh, that’s it. Archangel. I knew it was something catchy…” I leaned forward with a grin that showed my teeth. “And true.”
His smile evaporated as he turned back to the front of the car. A small victory worked for me. Still, I was fuming by the time we made it to the interrogation room of the local police precinct. Agent No-Neck had uncuffed me and brought me to his superior, Special Agent in Charge Wilson, who sat in silent stoicism, watching me with raptor-like eyes. I idly wondered if anyone knew about the horse I had stolen, but no one had mentioned it yet.
I didn’t have to wait long before a familiar face entered the room. I laughed. Hard. For a good, long while. Tears were actually wetting my cheeks before I calmed down. “If it isn’t my favorite hundred pound hero.” Wilson made a sound like a muffled cough but his face remained stoic. Kosage merely stared at me, embodying a cold rage that was only mildly warmed with the satisfaction of having me under arrest and at his mercy. “Confusion now hath made his masterpiece.” I winked at Wilson, and not so discreetly pointed a finger at Kosage. The agent managed to keep his face neutral, but I saw his eyes sparkle with amusement, recognizing Shakespeare’s quote and seeming to silently agree. Then I turned to face the little firecracker himself. “Still toadying, Kosage?”
He scowled in response, his face slightly reddening, but kept his mouth shut.
“Go ahead, Kosage. I know you have something you would like to say to me. I’ll even let you vent a bit before I put you back in your place. Like last time.” I smiled, crossing my legs as I held out a hand for him to proceed. His red face grew darker.
Someone knocked on the door. Kosage and Wilson turned with a frown before the agent barked out a terse, “Enter.”
Agent Jeffries, the human lie detector I had met a few months ago, stuck his head in, and I grinned. I wasn’t sure what was about to happen, but he was a friendly. He nodded respectfully to his boss, ignoring Kosage entirely. “This has not been approved by the appropriate channels, Sir.”
“Back off, Agent Jeffries. This is above your pay-grade. You’re on my turf.” Kosage snarled.
Jeffries didn’t even acknowledge the vermin. I almost wished I had popcorn as I watched Kosage’s fury practically steam out his ears. “Permission to speak freely, Sir?” Jeffries asked his superior. Wilson nodded with carefully hidden amusement so as not to offend the already furious Kosage. He slowly turned to address Detective Kosage, his eyes resting a foot above his head — at the height most heads would reside. He gave a start, and then lowered his gaze to Kosage’s small stature with a look of genuine surprise. I almost lost it. It was a total dick move to pick on a little guy’s height. I liked it. He clear
ed his throat. “You’re telling me that this is above a Federal Agent of the FBI’s pay-grade, but still meets the pay-grade of a lowly curb-kicker on the St. Louis P.D.? You guys must have one hell of a benefits package. Perhaps you didn’t spend a whole lot of time on criminal law over at the Police Academy. It’s understandable. It’s a big book. Lots of pages. I, on the other hand, being a lowly minion for the great cog that is the FBI, studied it quite profusely. I’ll summarize for you. You can’t arrest someone without probable cause. Even if you really don’t like them. Even if — hypothetically, of course — they made you look like the tiniest little douche-bag idiot ever promoted to Detective that St. Louis has ever seen… Hypothetically.” Kosage was quivering with each enunciated word referencing height or size. I was quivering too… with barely contained laughter. “Without solid evidence, detaining anyone — especially the wealthiest person in St. Louis — is enough to make said curb-kicker look like nothing more than a little Napoleon. Over compensating, even. Know what I mean?”
Kosage sputtered in wordless sentences, unable to speak through his anger, but I noticed that Agent Wilson was fighting a smile. “You should probably leave, Agent Jeffries.” My only chance at a legitimate escape nodded before turning to me with a shrug as if to say, Sorry. Then he was gone.
Wilson spoke. “He’s got a point, Kosage. Just ask your questions, and we’ll move on from there.” He turned to me, face composed again. “We do have surveillance of you at that bar last night. That should be enough to hold you for 24 hours if we really want to.” The translation was obvious: if we don’t like your answers to our questions.
Then Kosage laid into it, taking out his impotent aggression on me. Questioning me on everything that coincided with the dragon attack a few months ago — from the cow-tipping charge to the bribery of Gunnar. The alleged ‘Demon’ attack on the bridge. The cop killed at Artemis’ Garter. Alaric Slate’s disappearance. Then the coup-de-gras “It seems that an officer lost his mount outside the bar you were caught fighting in last night. Know anything about that?”
I blinked, keeping my face neutral. I was so tired by this point that it was not that difficult. “You mean Xavier?” I asked with a frown.
Kosage leaned forward anxiously, slapping the table with a dainty palm as he finally heard something he liked. “How do you know the horse’s name if you didn’t kidnap him?” He accused triumphantly, turning to Agent Wilson with a grin. Wilson was watching me curiously, not acknowledging Kosage.
“Horsenap.” I mumbled after yawning.
“Pardon?” Kosage breathed anxiously.
“I think you would call it horsenapping. Calling it kidnapping seems disrespectful and… weird. If a horse is stolen, I think its horsenapping.” I kept my face straight, speaking as I would at an academic debate, or to a small child.
“Fine. Horsenapping is against the law-”
I swiveled to Agent Wilson excitedly. “Please tell me you got that on recording. Me being accused of … horsenapping?” Wilson’s eyes creased with faint amusement, but he nodded. “Great. That will be excellent in the courtroom later.”
Kosage lunged at me, but Wilson barred his advance with a solid arm. Kosage knocked it away aggressively. I shrugged apologetically at Wilson. “Toddlers, right? You just can’t win.”
“Xavier is a mounted patrol officer for the City of St Louis. That’s a felony. Where did you take him?” Kosage roared in retaliation.
I shrugged patiently. “I met him when I left the bar. His handler was a bit of a smartass, but he was pretty cool overall. He introduced me to his mount. Then I left. I was pretty drunk at the time, but I remember that much. Then I went home. He’s probably eating an apple somewhere. I hear horses like apples.”
Kosage scowled. “If you went home after that, why did the officer report some kind of attack less than an hour later by some sort of animal?”
I realized Kosage was actually waiting for me to answer that. “Perhaps it’s because he was attacked less than an hour later by some sort of animal?” I offered with a puzzled brow. I could tell it was infuriating Kosage, but I was loving it.
“The officer reported that someone else was involved.”
I shrugged. “And? It’s Mardi Gras. There are people everywhere this time of year. The guy must have helped him or he wouldn’t have had a report to give you.” I hoped, feeling slightly guilty, that the confusion of the attack might have allowed the officer to forget my presence. Fog of war. “What kind of animal?” I asked curiously.
Kosage drummed his fingers on the tabletop angrily, realizing that he hadn’t tripped me up at all. “He didn’t know. I do find it curious that you were there less than an hour before he was attacked and his horse was stolen. You have a reputation for… unique events trailing you.”
“Just my good fortune, I guess. Can I go now? Oh, I’ll also need you to unfreeze my assets. I see no warrantable information to have done so, and I will definitely be speaking to the Mayor about this injustice. And about horsenapping.”
Kosage smiled sadistically. “Well, Nate. I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you, but you will be staying the night after all. Don’t worry. I made a reservation under your name, on the house, of course since you can’t touch your money. I will have more questions for you in the morning.” I looked at Wilson. The man shrugged. “Resisting arrest. Verbal threats. Also, the missing horse is curious. You might have been the last one to see him. We will need an alibi.”
“Your no-neck detective hung up on my alibi when he arrested me. Call her. Indiana Rippley.”
The man nodded, writing down the name. “Kosage also has video footage of you tossing the cuffs back at him in the interrogation room a few months back. Then you leave without being processed. He could make it stick. Tied to all the murders, it puts you in a funny spot. He just needed a little more mayhem from you to get a judge’s permission. Last night was it.” Wilson shrugged helplessly. I nodded, actually coming to appreciate that the guy was just doing his job.
“Fine. I’ll make sure you keep your job, but I predict that Kosage will be making balloon puppets for children’s birthday parties next week.” Kosage stood from the table angrily before storming from the room.
They processed me, and placed me in a concrete cell to wile away the rest of the day. I passed out instantly, despite fearing the Demons finding me while I slept. I literally couldn’t stay awake. I was lucky I hadn’t nodded off during the interrogation.
Sleep found me on the rickety bench, the equivalent of a mild coma to my exhausted body. I was smiling as I drifted off.
Chapter 15
I jolted awake as a drip of water struck me on the nose. It was warm. I blinked at my surroundings, trying to remember where I was. Nothing looked familiar. I was in a cold concrete room lying on a rusty bench that was bolted to the wall. Was this a night terror? Then I remembered. I was in the police station. Another thought hit me.
I had slept. And had no horrifying nightmare! I wanted to shout for joy. Hope’s gift had helped me sleep in peace after all!
Another drop of warm water struck my forehead this time, startling me from my reverie. I reached up to wipe it off, fearing what kind of diseased water was leaking through the pipes. When my fingers touched the water, they came back slippery. Like oil. Or blood.
I jumped up, glancing at my fingertips in the filtered light from the other room. The fluid was clear. My spine tightened in sudden alarm, but I managed to maintain my composure.
It was drool. I slowly arched my head to look at the ceiling, recognizing a smell for the first time.
Sulfur.
I had a cellmate.
“No one told me I would be sharing this cell.” I muttered.
“The situation of sharing the cell is only temporary. It’s about to be vacant again shortly, manling. Don’t fret.” A feminine reptilian voice hissed back softly.
I let out a breath. “Well that’s good. I was about to call dibs on the bench.” I stared back at the De
mon as she unpeeled from the ceiling like a lizard. She was naked and her body was covered in scales, but cloaked in shadows of some kind. She landed on huge, webbed talons like a dragon. But she wasn’t a dragon. She was worse. The creature unfurled from her crouch, appraising me darkly, a shadowed cape billowing around her as if alive.
“We have something to discuss.” She hissed.
“Really? Because I can think of absolutely nothing I want to talk to you about. I mean, literally nothing. In fact, it would be best if you just left. I was having a really raunchy dream about exorcising this scaly, ugly son of a bitch.” I hesitated, appraising my cellmate more closely. “In fact, she looked a hell of a lot like you. Isn’t that weird?” I asked, shifting my stance in order to better react to any attack. The Demon blinked at me. Then she laughed.
“Exorcise? Me? You really are as arrogant as they say.” She shook her head, wiping a jagged claw across her face as if to wipe a way a tear. “They didn’t tell me about your sense of humor! Exorcise! Ha!” She slapped her knees, laughing, the shadows swarming around as if alive. She was creepy, deadly, and I was scared out of my mind, but I briefly thought it would be pretty cool to have a coat that looked and acted like a shadow. I felt whispers in the corner of my mind, hypothesizing, analyzing, and mentally discarding ways to achieve just that.
It was as if I suddenly had a team of mad scientists in my brain working overtime for my subconscious. My thoughts briefly snagged on a way to possibly make a cloak of shadows and I froze for a second. “Well, shit. That wouldn’t actually be that hard. How come no one else has figured that out?” I asked myself. I was pretty sure I could make one. I had a mental image of my subconscious scientist doppelganger sorting horn-rim glasses and a comb-over as he fist bumped with a successful screech at figuring out the shadow cloak.
I hesitated, wondering again if this was another one of those dreams. The Demon was watching me as if doubting my sanity. “What in the bloody heavens are you talking about, wizard?”
Blood Debts (The Temple Chronicles Book 2) Page 14
