"I'm surprised you didn't do something about it,” Amanda remarked, squeezing past her into the room beyond.
"Overtly? Not a good idea. It was risky enough introducing them to democracy. All the immortals had agreed when we got here not to interfere in human politics. Back then they enforced it pretty severely. We didn't have too many ways to kill one another, but getting pummeled into a bloody smear is probably worse than dying if you have to suffer through the healing process afterward."
The two non-humans watched this interplay with varying reactions. The Abyssian looked vaguely amused, and if Bonedance had any expression, it was one only another spider could identify.
Amanda gave the Amazon a scathing look. “Not really one for risk taking, were you?"
"Oh, fuck off,” Athena growled.
"If you two are finished,” Feral Dusk interrupted, her voice like a razor's edge slicing through the sudden tension between them, “I'd like to get back home sometime today."
"Fine,” Athena breathed. “So where are we?"
"There is a spirit lingering here. Turn on your magesight and you'll see him,” Bonedance supplied, turning his many-eyed gaze on her.
Athena did so and spotted him immediately, a dark, nearly limbless shape lingering in the area around the fireplace, looking like little more than a tattered rag. Had she not known it to be the remnants of a human, she might never have recognized it for what it actually was.
It seemed unaware of their presence, floating there, emanating waves of pain and bleak despair like radiance from a thousand watt halogen lamp. “He looks hurt,” Amanda murmured.
"That's what I thought,” Feral replied. “I don't know what could hurt a ghost, but ... that's the impression I get looking at him."
"Can you communicate with him?” Athena asked.
"Not like this. I doubt he's even aware of us. We can see him, but even if he spoke we wouldn't be able to hear it. I need to get him to his body and force him inside. Then I can use magic to animate the body and give the soul the energy it needs to temporarily actuate the brain and vocal cords."
"So how do you move a ghost?” Amanda frowned, pushing a lock of hair back out of her eyes that had worked its way free of her pony-tail.
"We've been working on that. I think we can create a bubble outside of this dimension, tying off both ends of a small mana strand and trapping the ghost inside. We can drag the dimensional pocket with us to the morgue, untie it there, and stuff the ghost back into its body."
"And you needed us for this why?” Athena asked irritably. “You could've just done it, couldn't you?"
Feral smiled, revealing two rows of sharp-looking teeth. “We'd rather you approved it before we tried it. It's theoretical, and if something had gone wrong, we didn't want you getting all pissed at us for it."
Athena took a deep breath and nodded. “Fine. Let's do this."
Feral glanced over at Bonedance. “You want to do it, or should I?"
"Go ahead,” the spider said. Had he been human, the others might have been able to judge his expression and tone of voice. As it was, he seemed, if anything, bored by the whole thing.
The Abyssian woman gave a little smile and snatched a passing thread. They watched as Feral used the strand to snatch the restless ragged ghost and weave a bag around it. The process took less than a minute.
She used another thread to tie the bag shut. “Let's get to the morgue. I'm not sure how long this will last."
Eight
The imp appeared in midair, out of nowhere, hurling himself into Jaz's arms. “Boss!"
Jaz stumbled backward and landed heavily on a nearby park bench, spontaneously convinced the impact had left a bruise. “Christ, Quickfingers! What the hell?"
The imp leaped down and grinned up at her. “You're in trouble, boss."
"I'm always in trouble, imp. What, specifically, are you referring to this time?” She pushed herself off the bench, rubbed the sore spot on her butt for a few seconds, then turned to stare at the darkening bay as dusk slid over the city behind her like a velvet cape.
"They captured that guy's ghost and took him to the morgue. The Abyssian and the spider say they can animate the body and ask it questions—they're going to find out what you did!"
There was only one word that sprang to mind. “Shit.” It was bound to happen sooner or later. She'd been hoping for later. Apparently she wasn't going to get her wish. “You were spying on them, weren't you?"
"Of course! They're so much more interesting than normal people. Plus it gives me a chance to look out for you—make sure your back doesn't sprout knives."
She snorted amusedly. “It's appreciated, really. But right now I'm willing to bet I'm in more trouble than you can get me out of. Damn ... I was so sure I hadn't left any evidence behind. I hadn't expected this.” They'd shown unexpected creativity. It had been Jaz herself that taught Feral to net a soul in transit.
She would have hoped he'd been destroyed by the spirit of the child's mother, but apparently he hadn't been. That'll teach me. Next time I kill someone, I'll make sure to destroy their soul myself.
"Okay, Quickfingers. Pop back and keep an eye on things. Let me know if they're closing in on me."
The little blue creature frowned, a rather unusual expression on his wide, mobile face. “What are you going to do, boss? You killed somebody—which, in itself, isn't that big a deal, I suppose—but they know it was you."
She gave him a lopsided smile. “What can they do—kill me?"
* * * *
Later that evening.
A room full of agents stared up at the statuesque figure of their commander, various expressions chasing themselves across their faces. They all sat together along both sides of a large pine table in the PAC committee room. Deryk Shea affected a bored expression, though an observant witness might have caught a glint of something dangerous lurking in the depths of his eyes.
"We have her dead to rights, identified personally by the ghost of her victim,” Athena said, tossing a hard copy of the report onto the table. It slid a few feet, the folder flipping open as it ground to a halt. A photograph slid out.
Raven flicked his eyes down at the photograph, face remaining completely impassive as the overhead light highlighted the eight by eleven glossy photograph showing the body of a man with his throat slashed open and blood pooling around his head. One eye stared up at the camera, staring beyond it into eternity.
A pair of small pink shoes lay limp in the crimson stain, the merest hint of a little girl's stocking-clad ankle and calf extending off the edge of the picture.
He raised his gaze, somehow both icy and burning with an inner light, up toward Athena once again. He slid his chair back from the table. “I refuse,” he said. “This is a MAD squad problem. The PARD will stand down."
"We can't handle her alone!” Amanda objected from across the table, firing a pleading look at her husband.
Ben met her gaze, then glanced over at Raven before glancing back. “I'm sorry, Amanda, but he's right. We can't help you in this. If she's a rogue mage, she's your problem."
"You don't have the right to refuse an assignment,” Athena growled irritably, her gaze glacial as it fell upon the vampire.
Raven shrugged. “What are you going to do, fire me?” His tone made it clear how unlikely he thought that was. “I refuse to participate in persecuting her for doing what she did—the man was a monster and deserved what he got."
"We have laws,” Amanda objected from across the table. “He would have probably gotten the death penalty anyway."
The vampire looked over at her, face revealing as much as a sheet of ice. “So she saved the state some money."
Breed nudged Shea with her elbow. “I don't even have to ask how you feel about it,” she whispered.
"Damn straight,” he replied, giving her a strange look. “Don't you think whispering is pretty pointless, considering that only a few people in here don't have enhanced senses?"
She arche
d her eyebrows. “Okay, fine. You've got a point.” She swept her gaze around the table, noticing all the curious stares. “Sorry.” She didn't really sound sorry.
Shea shrugged. “Yeah, I think going after her is stupid,” he announced to the room at large. “So what? Not only because she's important to me, but because most of us know damn well it could just as easily been one of us that killed the motherfucker. Am I wrong?"
Ben shook his head.
Amanda looked pained.
Athena growled low and long, but ended up shaking her head as well. “Shit. So we let her get away with it?"
"What else do you want to do? Kill her? That's not going to happen. So we have a talk with her, make her promise not to do it again, and file it under the ‘unsolved’ category. You have a problem with that, Nemesis?"
The blonde cop met Shea's gaze squarely. “No. In this case I think you're right. Going after her now would be pretty damned hypocritical, would it? I ignore the law when it's convenient for you folks already—why should this situation be any different? But you have to talk to her. She can't do this again. Or anything like this."
He nodded once. “Agreed. Everybody else?"
Murmurs of assent all around. He let out a gusty sigh. “Damn. I thought this was going to be worse than it was."
"You knew, didn't you?"
"I suspected. Don't ask me how. I just had a feeling."
Athena pinned him with a sharp look. “You take care of it, Deryk. Let her know she just barely dodged the axe here, will you please?"
He gave a tiny grunt and nodded. “I'll do that right now. Would you like to come, Nemesis?” He pushed his chair out and stood, looking down at the blonde cop.
"Sure. Why not?"
Athena watched them leave with a tiny smile tracing the edge of her mouth. At least that was going according to plan.
She waited for everyone else to leave and returned to her office, closing the door and dialing a number by touch rather than letting the computer do it. She didn't want to leave any obvious trace of what she was about to do.
"Monster Hunters,” the voice on the other end said.
"Avatar. I've got a job for you. How do you feel about going up against a mage?"
A non-committal grunt. “Not exactly my usual target, but mages bleed and die like everyone else."
"That's what I figured."
"How much?"
"A hundred grand."
"You've got a deal. I'll do it as soon as I get the money."
"I'll meet you at Wright Park in an hour. That good enough?"
"Perfect. See you there."
* * * *
Coyote Blue was packed, Jaz noted, slipping in through the private entrance at the back. She had to talk to Loki. If they were coming after her, maybe having an ally or two would be a good thing. She wasn't sure how much help the Trickster would be, but he'd be at least one person she could expect not to judge her prematurely.
The nightclub energy boiled around her as she cut her way through the crowd toward the bar. A waitress squirmed by, a tray of drinks held aloft over her head. Jaz followed her with her gaze, the woman's natural grace and poise striking her as somehow out of place.
She moved like a dancer, or a fighter. Jaz's eyes traced her path as she frowned slightly. Something about that woman...
"Jaz!"
She turned and found Renee standing only a few feet away, regarding her with an odd expression. “Are you okay?” the woman asked with a curious tilt of her head.
"Fine,” Jaz replied, knowing full well the vampire woman would know instantly that she was lying. What else could she possibly say? The truth? She wasn't even sure of the truth herself. The woman said she didn't read people indiscriminately, but how was anyone else really going to know one way or another?
Renee sighed and took her arm, leading her through the crowd—which seemed to magically part in front of her—and to a secluded booth in the far back of the club. She gestured for Jaz to slide in and took a seat opposite her. “Y'all look like a woman with too big a burden,” she said, tapping a single nail on the surface of the table as she settled into her seat. “Want to talk about it?"
With you? Jaz thought incredulously, instantly wishing she could somehow take back the thought. She didn't want to offend the vampire, after all. She didn't even have anything against her personally. The woman just made her nervous.
If Renee picked up on the thought, she gave no sign of it. She offered a thin smile and shook her head. “If you don't, it's no problem. But I had the impression you were here looking for Loki. He's out at the moment, and I was hoping I'd serve just as well."
"Out? Out where?” Jaz asked suspiciously. Where Loki was concerned, that could mean just about anything.
Amusement danced in Renee's eyes. That wasn't what Jaz had expected, but she'd take it. “He's at his lab,” Renee told her, reaching across the table to grasp her hand as she started to rise. “He can't be interrupted right now."
"Huh? Why?"
"He said something about it being a particularly sensitive project.” Renee shrugged, as if didn't matter.
That set off warning bells. As far as she knew Loki had never locked his lab down like that. The fact that he was doing so now ignited a burning curiosity to find out why.
Renee frowned. “Are you psychic?” she asked suddenly.
"Not that I know of,” Jaz answered. “Why?"
"Because you're one heck of a psychic transmitter."
That came as news to Jaz. “So that means you pick up what I'm thinking?"
The vampire shook her head. “No ... I'm actually working to block you out. But I do have to work at it, which I wouldn't if you weren't at least marginally psychic. I'm surprised you haven't been tested."
Jaz smiled. “You're the one who tested me."
"That was a psych profile. This is something else entirely. I'd like to do a psi eval on you sometime, if you don't mind."
Jaz felt her left eye start to twitch. She opened her mouth to say something—anything—only to be interrupted by the sudden appearance of a olive-skinned youth with long curly hair, dressed—of all things—in a toga. He held a long black rectangular case like one that might hold a musical instrument of some sort.
The smell of something burning tickled her nose and she leaned down to notice the rug beneath his winged sandals seemed to be smoldering.
Renee looked up at him and frowned. “How many times have we asked you not to do that super-speed crap in here, Hermes? You're doing a real number on our carpets."
Hermes? She'd heard of him, but he'd reportedly been conspicuously absent since she'd joined up with the PAC and began working with and around the other immortals. She gave him the once-over and stifled a laugh. He looked like he'd stepped straight out of a painting of Ancient Greece.
The youthful-looking immortal's face fell into a sheepish grin. “Sorry, Renee."
The vampire shrugged. “It's okay. We'll bill you for the replacement carpet.” She offered a up a sweet smile, fangs carefully hidden behind her upper lip.
Must be a cultivated talent, Jaz mused, tempted to experiment to see if she could do it herself. Of course, it would probably help to have fangs first. “So, what's with the case?"
"Oh, yeah. You're Jasmine Tashae, right?"
Oh, great. He's asking for me? “Uh ... yeah."
"This is for you.” He handed the case across the table to her.
She took it, setting it in the booth beside her. “Who's it from?"
"Who else?” Renee asked, lifting an eyebrow. “Deryk Shea."
Hermes nodded. “You got it. Who else indeed?"
She reached out and popped each of the three clasps in turn. A vibrant purple glow emerged as she slowly lifted the lid, revealing several weapons laid out carefully, each in its own form-fitting slot. She pressed her fingers to the velveteen lining and felt a distinct throbbing sensation, as if the weapons themselves had a heartbeat.
The eerie purple glow s
tarted to draw attention from other patrons. As she glanced up Jaz noticed more than a few craning their necks around to steal a glance across their table. She slammed the case shut with a loud snap, glaring at the would-be on-lookers with cold fire in her eyes. Her lush lips curled into a feral sneer. “Ever get the feeling there are too many curious people in the world?"
"Occasionally,” Renee said with the tiniest hint of a smile. “You have to admit, that light is something that would attract attention from the most oblivious on-looker."
Jaz heaved a sigh. “Yeah, I guess you're right. Still kinda annoying, though.” She began to slide out of the booth, taking the case with her. “Thanks for the interest, Renee, but I really need to talk to Loki."
The vampire shrugged. “I'd advise against interrupting him,” she said, “but it's your call."
Jaz matched her shrug with one of her own and lifted herself to her feet. “You're right. It is my call. See you later.” She nodded at Hermes. “Thanks for delivering this."
"Not a problem,” he answered. In a blink he was gone.
Renee shook her head in obvious annoyance. “Damned immortals. Think they're a law unto themselves."
Jaz snorted. “Well, aren't they?"
"That's not the point."
"Actually, I think it is.” With that statement, Jaz spun on her heel, snatched a mana thread, and took the single long step to a point just outside Loki's lab.
The street was quiet but for a few people walking past a small market on the other side of the road. They seemed to notice her abrupt appearance but paid it little attention. Yep. Just another night in Freak City, Jaz chuckled to herself.
She grabbed another thread and threw it at the building's outer wall, only to have it shatter before penetration, the energy diffusing itself into the night. What the—? Ah, hell, he warded the place. I should have figured he would after his little lecture the last time I jumped in. “Quickfingers!"
The imp materialized silently and she jumped. She'd expected him to whoosh in like he usually did. “How'd you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Come in without making any noise."
"Oh, that. I ‘ported in ethereal and materialized from there,” he answered. “It's a way for me to come and go quietly. Comes in handy sometimes. Especially when I'm following someone and want to come and go undetected."
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