Several of his female familiars had left him because of his overprotective streak. Two had been lovers, and when they left, they told him they’d found him and his attentions smothering. The last thing he wanted to do was repeat that mistake, but Carol appeared so frail he couldn’t begin to figure out how he’d hold back. No doubt she’d force the issue, and the two would fight, but he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
Carol was upstairs, in her bedroom, probably figuring how she’d decorate once she moved her things in. Considering her background, he might take her shopping just for the joy of watching her pick out some things that would make the space her own.
Meanwhile, Jonah was in his office, fighting off a raging boner for a woman he’d just met. He would not go upstairs and jump her bones.
He. Would. Not.
“Down, boy.” Jonah stared out the window at the small garden his mother had created for him. She’d planted a combination of lilac roses, crepe myrtle, and flowering cherry. Under the myrtle was a bench Jonah liked to sit on when he wanted to read outside on a lovely spring night. She’d also set up string lights around the garden, giving it a subtle glow. A small stone patio area with a grill, table, and chairs allowed him to entertain a small group of friends outdoors.
Jonah loved his little garden paradise. He hoped Carol would love it too. He’d have to introduce her to it. He’d also have to take her to the beach house in Santa Monica and let her run on the sand and in the surf in both forms.
How would that slinky little body of hers fill out a bikini?
Jonah groaned. So much for getting his hard-on to disappear.
His cell phone rang, startling him out of his thoughts. It was the ringtone he’d set for the station. “Detective Sound.”
“Jonah, it’s Miles.” Miles was the one who went through the crime calls and determined which seemed to need further investigation by MCU. “We’ve got a possible blood sorcerer murder for you.”
Shit. Talk about throwing Carol into the deep end. “Where?” He jotted down the address.
Fuck, the university?
“It’s behind home plate on the softball field,” Miles ground out. “The kid was only seventeen, a high school senior checking out the facilities, according to his parents. He’d just contracted with his first familiar.”
Jonah drew in a deep breath. These were the cases that bugged him the most. The kids who’d just come into their power were the most vulnerable to blood sorcerers. They barely knew how to defend themselves, but their power was pure candy to the sorcerers who stole it.
“I’m on my way.”
Miles hung up without saying goodbye, but that was normal for them. He’d visit Miles when he stopped by the Sherman Oaks PD. They’d be making their way there soon to introduce Carol to his boss and get her familiar badge ready. Eventually, she’d have a full detective’s badge, as she’d been through the academy, but she needed to do fieldwork with him before she’d be eligible for that. Her pay would be that of a beat cop until that time came.
He stepped out of his office. “Carol!”
Footsteps came racing down the stairs, and she seemed startled. “Yeah?”
“We have a murder to investigate.” Jonah glanced around and patted his pockets. “Where’s my wand?”
Carol watched him with a bemused expression as he searched the living room. He could swear that’s where he’d put it, but it was nowhere to be found. He didn’t technically need it to cast spells, but it helped him to focus. Other sorcerers used stress balls, crystal orbs, or even staves. One sorcerer he’d gone to school with liked to play with a fidget spinner while casting.
“Is that it?” Carol pointed toward the fireplace. Sure enough, his wand was on the mantel.
“Thanks.” He tucked it in his pocket, the wand small enough to fit into the palm of his hand. Made of silver and crusted with semi-precious gems, the cool wand meshed perfectly with his magic. “You ready?”
“Are you sure I’m allowed?”
He blinked in surprise. “Of course. Even the familiars I had who weren’t cops had to come with me. We can’t be far from each other, remember, or the bond won’t form properly.” And that would be a crying shame.
“Right. Of course.” She grimaced. “Let me rephrase that. Will I be allowed to help?”
He had to think about that one. “You were supposed to start work tomorrow, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” That would take care of anyone who questioned why she was there actively helping him instead of just standing around bored, or worse, sickened. “I’m going to have you do simple things like talk to witnesses. If I think you need supervision or if you miss something, I’ll be there. Consider it on-the-job training.” His captain wouldn’t have much of an issue with it, if any. In fact, she’d probably be thrilled to have Carol in her department, and maybe she’d be allowed to stay after the year and a day was up.
He glanced around. “You have everything you need?”
Carol pocketed her phone and shrugged, appearing far calmer than he’d expected. “Not sure what I’ll need yet, so let’s roll. I’ll learn as we go.”
He stared at her, surprised at how composed she was. “You’ll be observing a dead body in about twenty minutes.”
Carol glanced away for a second, her lost expression causing Jonah to start toward her. Perhaps she could remain behind—
“I’ve witnessed a dead body before.” Carol glanced back at him, her lips tight, her eyes closed. “It wasn’t pretty, but I handled it then, and I’ll handle it now.” She opened her eyes and tapped the side of her nose. “Besides, I can be of use to you.”
“When did you—”
“When I was around sixteen,” Carol interrupted. Her expression was haunted. “I was still in the orphanage. One of the kids was murdered, her body left on the front steps. They caught the fucker who killed her before he got anyone else. It was what made me decide to become a cop. I wanted to catch the assholes who think they can kill with impunity. Honestly, I was hoping I’d be paired with a police officer so I could pursue my dream even during the year and a day period.”
He focused more on the murder than her wishes. “Damn. That’s young to have caught sight of something like that.”
She grimaced. “I wasn’t the first on the scene. The grade-schoolers got out earlier than we did.”
“Shit.” Stories like hers weren’t uncommon, unfortunately.
She tilted her head. “So, who’s driving, you or me?”
He tossed her the keys. “Have at it.”
Her eyes widened in excitement. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Whoop!” She threw her hands in the air and danced down the rest of the stairs. “I get to drive, I get to drive,” she sang as she raced toward the garage.
Jonah shook his head, laughing. He didn’t just want her; he was beginning to like her. She certainly was keeping him on his toes.
It didn’t take long to arrive at the location.
Jonah held up his badge when a uniformed officer tried to stop Carol from parking in the lot near the crime scene. “Detective Sound, MCU.”
The officer nodded and waved him through.
Jonah loved the badge he’d earned. His designation of Detective: MCU in royal blue lettering was a source of pride. It had taken years to earn that badge, to move from a uniformed officer to a rookie in the Magical Crimes Unit to detective. He hoped never to leave the department. One day, he’d like to take the place of his captain, the sorcerer currently supervising the other detective-sorcerers who worked in the MCU. But if he never made captain, he’d still be proud of the work he did long after he retired.
Jonah stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut. “Stay with me,” he said to Carol over the hood. “You don’t have your badge yet, so the mark on your wrist is your only ID. Use it if needed. If anyone has any questions, that will point them toward me.” He’d make sure she had her own familiar badge soon, all
owing her to move around a crime scene without him. Until then, she’d have to show her wrist to any officer who asked.
She nodded and stepped around the hood, keeping close to his side.
The scene had been taped off, but there were still people trying to observe what was going on. Students, teachers, and staff all stared toward the baseball diamond where the body had been found. Several had their phones out, either taking pictures or filming the scene.
He turned to the uniformed officer keeping an eye on the crowd, showing his badge and gesturing for Carol to show her wrist. When the officer nodded, he began his questions. “Who’s on scene?”
The officer glanced at his notebook. “Detectives Quentin Wheeler and Vanessa Ridgely, sir.”
“Thank you. Who was first on the scene?”
“I was, sir. The call came about an hour ago. When I got here, the body was on home plate, but it was obvious he’d been killed elsewhere.”
“What makes you say that?” Jonah pulled out a notepad of his own and began jotting down the detective’s words.
“No blood, but he’d been stabbed in the chest repeatedly.”
Jonah glanced up from his notepad. “Stabbed?” That wasn’t common with blood sorcerers. Could it be a normal homicide dressed to appear like an MCU case? It happened sometimes, especially among those who had a grudge against sorcerers. That kind of attack was usually perpetrated by family members of those who’d been murdered by a blood sorcerer, one who wanted revenge.
Then again, if Miles had called it in, Jonah was going to go with the assumption that there were circumstances that made the dispatcher believe it was a magic-related death.
“Yeah, but around the stab wound were these symbols that blood sorcerers use when they drain a victim of magic.” The guy glanced toward the onlookers and lowered his voice. “You know the ones.”
Jonah did. They were usually drawn in either blood or some other bodily fluid. “You got pictures?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll send them to you right away.”
“Thanks.” He tilted his head. “Did anything else about the crime scene seem odd to you?”
The officer’s brows furrowed. “He appeared...posed.”
“Posed how?” That was unusual.
“He had his hands folded over his heart and his legs together like he was in a casket.” The officer shrugged. “Sick bastard put a white lily in his hands.”
Jonah made a note of that. He’d have to make sure the officer’s description matched the scene, but that first impression could be a clue that wound up solving the case. “Interesting. Done any interviews yet?”
The officer shook his head. “Nope. Wheeler and Ridgely insisted on doing that.”
“Thanks.” Jonah made a note of it and closed his notebook. “I’ll need your notes as well, asap.”
“Yes, sir.” The officer turned back to the crowd, and Jonah made his way to the police tape. “All right, people. Move along. The body’s already gone, nothing to see here.”
Jonah turned around sharply. “What did you say?”
“Shit,” Carol muttered under her breath. She was glancing around, obviously upset at Jonah’s angry tone. She even tried stepping slightly in front of him, but he waved her back. She couldn’t take point on this, not yet, not until she’d earned her detective’s badge. A familiar badge only gave you so much power on the force.
“Uh, the body’s gone?” The officer gulped, his eyes wide and terrified.
“Who ordered that?” Jonah was going to fry whoever had moved the body before he got there. How the hell was he supposed to do his job if his victim had been removed? There was no coroner’s van, meaning the body had to have been taken before Miles even contacted him.
“Wheeler and Ridgely, Detective Sound.” The man glanced at Carol, probably using her expression as a barometer of Jonah’s mood. He shrank back. “I’m sorry, but there wasn’t anything I could do.”
Jonah gritted his teeth. Shit. A pissing match between Homicide and MCU was so not what he needed right now. “Thank you again, Officer.”
The officer smiled wanly and returned to his post, probably grateful he didn’t have to deal with Jonah any further.
Jonah would deal with Wheeler and Ridgely once he found out how the victim had died. If it was his case, he’d have to talk to their captain. Depending on what he might have found, they could have destroyed vital evidence.
Christ, he hoped someone took pictures of the crime scene. He might be able to use those to help piece things together. With the rookie way they’d removed the vic before MCU showed up, anything was possible.
If it was their case, he’d have to eat some crow. But from the sensation of lingering magic in the area, he doubted he’d be shitting feathers anytime soon.
Chapter 5
Carol sniffed, wrinkling her nose at the odor of stale bodies, rotting flesh, old blood, and magic. Strong magic. Wrong-smelling, foul, and filled with the coppery scent of blood, it almost overpowered the sweaty smells of an athletic field. The closer they got to home plate, the stronger the smell became. “This is definitely an MCU case, Jonah.”
He nodded brusquely. Even she understood that you didn’t move the body until the CSI guys had gone over the scene with a fine-toothed comb. She doubted they’d had the time to do more than park their van, so why had the detectives released the body to the coroner?
The soft hum of voices caught her attention. She touched Jonah’s arm to get his attention. “Over there.”
“I see them.” He diverted their path to the dugout, where a man and a woman were standing over a much younger man. The young man was slumped on the bench, his hands clenched between his knees, his hair covering his face. One of the officers was pointing at him while the other wrote in a notebook.
“They think he did it?” She could scent the animal on the man. She’d known a few of that species in her time. The poor familiar wouldn’t hurt a fly unless someone were trying to infringe on his territory. She highly doubted that was the case here. He’d be more likely to go after a romantic partner or someone who was bullying his sorcerer. “He’s a fucking cockatiel.”
Jonah stopped in his tracks. “Why is that important?”
She stared at him. “Predators are considered dangerous for a reason, Jonah. We’re more aggressive than the prey species, more likely to hurt or even kill in anger, though it’s rare. A cockatiel familiar, however, likes nothing better than hanging out with his friends, singing and whistling, and eating seeds. The only time they get aggressive is when their territory is under attack, and he’d consider his sorcerer as part of that territory.”
He blinked, seemingly stunned. “Just like wild cockatiels?”
She’d thought he was well versed in how close familiars were with their beasts, but apparently not. “And pet cockatiels.” She shook her head. “They get scared easily too. A cockatiel rarely kills. It’s just not in them. They’re herbivores. They don’t have that killer instinct a predator species would have.”
His shoulders relaxed. “Then we need to inform the fine detectives that they need to back the fuck away. You think he was the sorcerer’s familiar?”
Carol shrugged. “He’s the right age, and the cops are talking to him. I’d say yes.”
Jonah began walking forward once more. “I’ll deal with the detectives. You find out what you can from the familiar. He’s more likely to talk to you if he’s been...rigorously questioned.”
“Gotcha.” Carol strode beside him, ready to defend her sorcerer should the two detectives become hostile.
“Detectives?” Jonah’s voice was cold. His legs were apart, his hands clenched at his sides. It looked like he was ready for battle, but why? Jonah could kick both their asses, unless one of them was also a sorcerer. She sniffed, but neither of them carried that special scent that indicated mana resided within them.
Carol caught a clue as the two turned around, wearing equal expressions of annoyance and anger. Neither of them seemed
to notice her at his side, but considering they were detectives she doubted they hadn’t caught sight of her. They were just ignoring her, focusing on the bigger fish in their little pond. There must be friction between Homicide and MCU. She slid closer to Jonah, watching the two detectives warily.
“I’m Detective Jonah Sound, MCU, and this is my familiar, Carol Voss.” Carol turned over her wrist as Jonah held up his shield. “I’m here to investigate the murder.”
“This isn’t an MCU case,” Detective Wheeler growled.
“I beg to differ.” Carol held her ground as the two detectives turned their glares on her. Jonah was right, and she could back him up. “I’m a wolf familiar. I can smell the magic all over this field.”
Detective Wheeler backed up a step, distrust and fear stamped on his features. Detective Ridgely stiffened, her hand drifting toward her sidearm.
Carol backed up a step. Apparently, the two detectives feared predator familiars. Unfortunately, there was always the chance for violence, but rarely was the familiar the one who initiated it.
“Of course, you can smell it,” Detective Ridgely replied snidely. “This college has magical classes. You can probably smell it everywhere.”
Carol shook her head, keeping her movements slow and easy. She didn’t want to spook them any more than she already had. “I’m sorry, but the magic I’m concerned about is concentrated over by home plate, and it’s almost definitely blood magic.” Her teachers in the academy had used a tool that could imitate the scents of certain types of magic. This one was impossible to forget. In fact, she found it slightly nauseating, but she wasn’t going to tell them that. She focused on Jonah, who was scowling fiercely at the two detectives. “I think the last of his magic was bled away there.”
“I’ll cast some spells and see what I can come up with.” Jonah turned to the detectives, who were appearing less annoyed and more concerned, probably for themselves. They had to be aware that if this was an MCU case, their actions had jeopardized the investigation.
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