In Search of Justice

by Katie Holmburg

  She rested her hand on his forearm, drawing his full attention. “When we first discussed our partnership, you said that I gained protection and that you gained clarity and purpose. Now, these last few days have been emotionally unsettling. Between the dead bodies, the discovery of my gift, my being attacked, and your aunt being healed, it’s been crazy. I get that, and when this is all over, I’ll probably lock myself away in my apartment for a few hours and allow myself to laugh and cry hysterically. I’m sure that this case has brought back memories that you’d rather leave buried and for that, I apologize.”

  He glanced at her, then returned his gaze to the road without saying anything.

  “But right now, I need you here with me. I trust in you completely. I trust that you won’t let anything happen to me. But if you are too busy worrying that something is going to go wrong, then I guarantee that something will. So, let’s trust in each other and met this head on, okay?”

  Lirim shook his head as if to clear the thoughts swirling through it. He even managed a slight smile, although it quickly faded. He rasped, “You’re right.”

  Clearing his throat, he repeated, “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m with you completely.” His hands relaxed slightly on the wheel and he added softly, “Thank you.”

  She nodded. Neither one spoke again until they reached the park. Hopping out of the vehicle, Aletta double checked that all of her equipment was on correctly and ready to go. Radio, check. Gun, check. Package, check.

  Lirim made his way around to where she stood and quickly scanned their surroundings. Offering her a mischievous grin, he asked, “Ready?”

  She muttered, “As I’ll ever be.”

  “What was that?”

  Knowing that the Fae had heard her perfectly well, she mock scowled at him. “Come on, let’s just get this over with.”

  Making sure that the package was secure under her arm, she nodded to him and they headed into the park.

  * . * . *

  They had made it halfway through the park when the attack finally came. Druery was suddenly right in front of Aletta, reaching for the package. She shrieked and dropped it, throwing a right hook. Her fist connected solidly with his cheekbone and he staggered back a few feet.

  Before he could recover, Lirim was on him with a flurry of blows, leaving Druery dazed and disoriented. Lirim quickly subdued his opponent and before Druery could teleport, Aletta ran forward and snapped the magic canceling cuffs on him. Before he could say anything, Lirim hit a pressure point on the furious Fae, causing him to pass out. Aletta sighed in relief.

  Lirim was securing Druery to a lamppost when he suddenly burst out laughing. “You shriek like a girl.”

  Aletta’s face rivaled a tomato as she flushed a brilliant crimson. She was about to make a snappy retort when she suddenly felt a wave of cold air wash over her. She felt her face go pale and reached for her gun. “Lirim.”

  He was at her side in an instant, the tone of her voice alerting him. “What?”

  “I made a big mistake.”

  He pulled out a dagger and scanned their surroundings, but couldn’t see anything. “What was it?”

  She swiftly loaded her gun with steel bullets. “I forgot about the creature that he summoned at the first murder scene. He must’ve been controlling it with his magic. When we put on the cuffs, it freed the creature. It’s here in the park with us and it’s furious. It’s some kind of interdimensional creature, so steel is our best bet.”

  “Where is it?”

  “I can’t see it. I think it’s shielding itself.” She stepped around him so that they were back to back. “Can’t you sense it somehow?”

  He growled quietly, “It’s cloaking itself, there’s nothing for me to find.”

  Aletta groaned, “We are so dead.” A thought that was so completely random that it had to be her magic popped into her head. “Can you sing?”

  “What?!”

  “Can you sing!”

  “I’m a passable tenor. Why?”

  “Do you know the Brindisi duet from La Traviata?”

  “Yeah, why?” Lirim’s tone was strained as he searched for any sign of the monster stalking them.

  “I need you to sing it.”

  “What!? Why?”

  She shrieked, “Just sing!”

  He did as she said, not letting his guard drop. She half listened to him as she looked, letting her senses expand in all directions. She felt a tug to her right, so she whipped her head around and saw a slight shimmer in the air. However, as soon as she saw it, it disappeared.

  She heard Lirim complete his part and opened her mouth, letting the familiar words spill out. She walked forward cautiously, searching for any sign of the beast, Lirim mirroring her movements. She felt the tugging again, to the left this time, and turned in time to see the shimmer just before it disappeared again.

  He joined back in when she reached the chorus, and suddenly the tugging grew stronger. She felt the creature approaching from behind them. She could almost see its flickering outline, like a mastiff the size of a house comprised of starlight. When the chorus ended and Lirim fell silent so she could sing her part alone, the outline disappeared. She whispered, “Keep singing.”

  He did as she asked without hesitation and the silhouette flickered back into view. The beast pounced right as they reached the crescendo, and Aletta squeezed off three shots before tackling Lirim and rolling out of the way. They scrambled to their feet and turned to face where the beast had fallen. It suddenly exploded into a sparkling cloud of dust that covered a thirty-foot radius. Aletta clung to Lirim as the wind from the explosion buffeted them, shielding her eyes the best that she could.

  After a moment, the dust settled and she forced her eyes open, looking around frantically for the beast. What she saw caused her mouth to drop open in astonishment. Glittering silver dust clung to everything for a thirty-foot radius, including her and Lirim. Seeing no sign of the interdimensional beast, she hesitantly stepped away from him and tried to brush the dust off. It didn’t budge, clinging tenaciously to her skin, so she abandoned the attempt.

  The sound of shouting from her radio drew her attention and she focused on it just in time to hear Ian yell, “Would someone tell us what the hell is going on? Lirim! Aletta! Answer me if you’re alive!”

  She drew in a breath, then coughed from the dust. After she caught her breath, she pressed the button on her receiver and rasped out, “We’re alive, Ian. Calm down.”

  “Tell Lirim to fix his radio, and would one of you explain what in the world is going on out there?”

  She turned and saw that the button on Lirim’s radio had gotten stuck in the talk position. She started to mention it, but he had obviously heard Ian. He quickly disengaged it. She murmured, “When did that happen?”

  He shrugged unconcernedly, alert for any more attacks. “During the scuffle with Druery maybe?”

  She cursed softly. “That means that they heard everything. Just great. Well, I don’t suppose that we can hide this anyway.” She gestured at both of them sparkling in the afternoon sunlight.

  Lirim crossed his arms, “Oh no, we are not riding in my car like this. Don’t even think it.”

  She glared at him. “I am not walking back to the department, so you’re just going to have to live with it. Besides, we need to get Druery back as soon as possible.”

  He matched her glare for glare, but eventually gave in. Depressing the talk button again, she said calmly, “We’re on our way back to the department with the suspect in tow. Ian, you’re going to need to send a cleanup crew to the park. There’s a bit of a mess here.”

  Ian gave a long-suffering sigh. “Where at in the park?”

  She smiled. “Trust me, you’ll know when you see it.”

  As Lirim dragged Druery back to where the car was parked, she mock sighed and teased, “I’m never getting rid of you, am I?”

  He grinned, his green eyes and white teeth a startling contrast to the sparkling silver coati
ng his skin. “Nope, you’re stuck with me.” He slung his burden unceremoniously in the back and slammed the door. “You do realize that we’re never going to live this down, right?”

  She shrugged, “Don’t worry, it’ll only last until another agent gets into a weird situation and then the focus will shift to them. Remember, this is HSI we’re talking about. It won’t take long.” Climbing into the car, she tugged off her radio and dumped it carelessly onto the floorboard.

  As Lirim started the car, he asked curiously, “Where did you learn to sing like that? And why did you pick a drinking song, of all things?”

  Knowing that he’d find out eventually any way, she admitted, “Actually, before I joined the force, I was training to become an opera singer. But that’s a story for another day. And I like that song because it’s catchy and easy to sing. Anyway, let’s head back and face the music.”

  He put the car into drive and carefully pulled into traffic. “I’ll hold you to that.”

  Aletta rubbed her temple wearily and felt a twinge shoot through her hand. “Ow, I think I broke my hand on that jerk’s face.”

  He chuckled, “You have a good right hook, but you need to work on your form.”

  “Not all of us were trained by a master. Besides, you did all the real work. But seriously, didn’t that seem rather... anticlimactic?”

  He frowned thoughtfully. “Yeah, something’s not adding up. Hopefully we’ll be able to get information on who’s behind all of this from Druery. If not, we’re back to square one.”

  “Not quite square one, but close enough.” Aletta sighed, feeling the exhaustion catch up to her. “Let’s just hope for the best.”

  They arrived at the department, and Lirim handed Druery off to the agents that were waiting for them, who gaped, then burst into laughter before hauling Druery away. Aletta scowled, knowing that it would be worse when they reached the main office. Working up her courage, she entered the office with Lirim right behind her. Ian stormed towards them, obviously intent on demanding answers. When he saw them, he stopped dead in his tracks before roaring with laughter. He choked out, “Why...are you... two so... sparkly?”

  Aletta grumbled, “Interdimensional beast. They apparently poof when you shoot them.”

  This sobered him abruptly. “You shot an interdimensional beast?”

  She gestured to herself and Lirim and gave him her best duh expression.

  “You guys need to get over to evidence at once. You guys are covered with stardust.”

  Worried by the seriousness of Ian’s tone, she asked, “Is that dangerous?”

  “It won’t harm you, but do you have any idea how much stardust is worth?” She frowned at Ian, who just grinned at her.

  “Besides, it’s impossible to get off otherwise, as I’m sure you’ve already discovered.”

  Not wanting to remain sparkly for the foreseeable future, she reluctantly did as Ian suggested. They’d have to debrief later, but right now she just wanted this stuff off of her.

  She asked Lirim, “So, are all of your cases this interesting?”

  “Oh no, I blame this all on you. In all of my cases, I’ve never ended up... sparkly.” Disgust fairly dripped off the last word.

  She offered, “It’s technically creature gore, if that makes you feel any better?”

  He shook his head. “No. I see that I’m going to have to keep a close eye on you to keep you out of trouble.” Before she could respond, he added, “I can’t wait.”

  Epilogue

  Aletta stood in an empty conference room, taking a moment to catch her breath. A headache teased at her temple, and all she wanted to do was head home. However, there was still more debriefing to be done. Since she and Lirim had returned to the department with Druery in tow, there had been a whirlwind of activity.

  First they had to be de-sparkled. That was honest to goodness what it was called. When asked what she wanted to do with the stardust, she told them to give her share to the dryads. The techs had stared at her, but she’d merely shrugged. She didn’t need the money and the dryads needed all the help they could get. She was still ashamed of the fact that the dryads had been in such dire circumstances and no one had noticed.

  Next had been the debriefing with Capt. Jones, Ian, and Lirim. That had been a lengthy dissection of the case, leaving out certain details, like the fact that she was a Sheridan. This had left a couple of small gaps in their story, but they were able to smooth it over fairly easily. However, they’d received unwelcome news when the captain informed them that Druery had wiped his own mind before they could question him. There was nothing remaining for them to find. Despite that, they were keeping him in custody since they could still tie him to the two murders. They had paused the debriefing so Capt. Jones could go examine Druery for himself and see the extent of the damage. Aletta had jumped on the chance for a moment of quiet and had slipped away to this empty room.

  Hearing the door open, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Lirim. She turned her attention back to the window, the night time city glowing before her eyes. He moved next to her and stared out the window as well. He said quietly, “This isn’t over. Whoever was behind this will be back.”

  She thought fiercely, I am an agent of HSI, I am a Sheridan, I will protect this city. However, she merely inched closer to him and said, “This is our city, let him come.”

  Glossary

  Anthea – Flowerlike

  Awena – Seer

  Bosk – A small copse of trees

  Dryad – A nymph inhabiting a forest or a tree

  Fae – A blanket term for most supernaturals, excluding Lycans and other shapeshifters.

  Gealltanas – Gaelic, means assurance, promise, pledge

  Hesperides – 3 dryads whom guarded the golden apples

  Leta – Joy, gladness

  Lirim – Guardian

  Lycan – Short for Lycanthrope. A type of shapeshifter that turns into wolves. They typically run in packs.

  Malus – Part of the Latin name for the apple tree family

  Meliades – Apple dryads

  Nymph – A spirit of nature inhabiting rivers, woods, or other locations

  Obiecta – Latin, object

  Omnes – Latin, all

  Populus – Latin, people

  Shapeshifters – Supernaturals that can shift their form, either into an animal or into a different appearance.

  Sheridan – Seeker

  Tala – Sioux, wolf

  Viam – Latin, path

  About the Author

  Katie Holmburg lives in Colorado on a small acreage along with her family and way too many cats. The cats also happen to be her hardest critics and constantly push her to improve her writing and add more about mice and cats into her story.

  Katie has been writing for as long as she can remember, having loved to create worlds and spend time exploring them. This is her first attempt at a murder mystery/supernatural fiction.

  She plans to keep on writing and publish more in the future. After all, Aletta and Lirim still have to figure out who is behind everything.

  Keep reading for a

  Sneak Peek

  Of

  In Search of Healing

  Book Two of the Seeker Files

  One

  Aletta made her way down to the holding cells. Although it had been three months since his capture, Druery was still waiting to go on trial for the murder of his two victims. The courts were having a hard time figuring out how to charge him when he had wiped his own mind, leaving him with no memory of the crimes.

  She made her way into the interrogation room where Druery sat waiting for her, his manacles secured to the table. She lowered herself into the chair across from him, observing him closely. He seemed to be upbeat, his three months of imprisonment apparently having little impact on him.

  She guessed that she shouldn’t be surprised by that since Druery was a greater Fae. He had turned out to be an elf, much to her surprise. However, Capt. Jones had informe
d her that Elves had just as many evildoers as any other race, no matter what some of the fairy tales might say.

  Druery greeted her cheerfully, a slight smugness underlying his tone. “Good morning, Agent. Come to chat again? You know that I don’t remember anything.”

  She grinned, but it lacked any warmth. “See, that’s where we disagree. I know that you know more than you’re letting on. You see, you’re an arrogant person who is convinced of their own superiority. I just can’t see you wiping your mind without a way to retrieve it after the scans were done. You knew too much valuable information to just have it lost forever.

  So, you’ve either written it all down somewhere, and I will find it if that’s the case. Or you’ve got a way to trigger the return of the memories that you voluntarily removed. So I will return every day until you confess all that you know about whoever is pulling your strings and what they want.”

  He smirked, “What’s to say that I wasn’t working alone? After all, you have evidence placing me at the scene of the crime and no one else. Well, other than the late Ms. Valens that is.”

  “As it turns out, Ms. Valens didn’t trust you. Too bad she didn’t realize that when she hooked up with you, but greedy desperate people make poor decisions.” She shrugged slightly. “Anyway, she left behind a record just in case you betrayed her. It was just chock full of information.”

  This caught his attention and he sat up straighter in his chair. “She what? I checked that place thoroughly, there was nothing there. You’re lying.”

  Aletta grinned triumphantly, “I thought that you didn’t remember anything about either of the murders or events of the past year.”