The Elementals Collection

by L. B. Gilbert

  “There were some audio files,” she added. “But they’re probably nothing. It sounds like they recorded someone’s recipes. We only got fragments of those, but they’re not likely pertinent to your case.”

  He twisted his lips. “That’s it? Recipes but no porn?”

  Laughing, she shook her head. “Um…do you want to discuss it further over coffee?”

  “No, thanks. I’ve got some here.” He held up his half-filled mug, his eyes fixed on the report.

  “All right.” She started to turn away but hesitated. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  The transcript of the audio files was a bit weird. It sounded more like someone was preparing some sort of holistic medicine than cooking, but since it was just a fragment, he couldn’t tell what it was for.

  He raised his head, surprised to see the tech still standing there. “Was there something else?”

  “No, no.” Her face was tomato red now. Ducking her head, she turned and hurried away.

  Daniel leaned back in his chair, already dismissing the encounter, until Ray reached over and smacked him over the head with his copy of the report.

  “Hey. What was that for?”

  His partner snorted derisively. “Isn’t that the Sandy, the same tech you’ve been making eyes at for over a year?”

  Daniel hit him back. “What does that even mean? Making eyes. Sounds like I’m a serial killer. Worse, like a kid in high school.” He took a sip. “And I haven’t done anything like that.”

  “How quickly you’ve forgotten. You actually went for coffee with that girl twice before you started hunting the woman in the white bikini.”

  Daniel shrugged. “Sandy is a colleague. I have coffee with lots of our coworkers. Are you going to give me shit for having a cup with Jeffords, too?”

  Ray rolled his eyes, waving in the direction of the middle-aged and overweight agent. “Not unless you were trying to get him into bed like you were with Sandy.”

  “I was not,” Daniel protested.

  A corner of Ray’s mouth pulled down.

  “All right,” Daniel admitted. “I kind of was. Maybe. But she wasn’t interested. I moved on. No big deal.”

  Ray leaned closer. “Except it kind of is because it’s not what happened. Sandy is totally into you. She was angling for another coffee date. But you forgot all about her the minute you got the Knight case. Admit it.”

  “So I put my love life on the back burner. It’s a big case. Work happens. Besides, if I get that promotion—and it’s a big if these days—D.C. is where I’ll be transferred. Not a good time to start a relationship.”

  Rat threw up his hands. “Since when do you do relationships? What happened to Mr. Hit-It-And-Quit-It?”

  Daniel scowled. “I was never prolific enough for that name.”

  Ray pointed at him. “See, asshole!” he crowed in triumph. “You just spoke in the past tense, and it’s because of the Knight woman.”

  “Enough.” Daniel rubbed his forehead. “We’ve been over this already.”

  Ray turned his chair, facing it back to his screen. “You already admitted it’s where you got this phone,” he said over his shoulder in a low voice.

  “And unless one of these phone numbers turns up a name, lifting it was pointless.”

  Daniel frowned at the handset before turning to his keyboard. He pulled up the login window, accessing the internal database. On impulse, he sent the audio fragments to his office-issued cell phone.

  Serin had stopped at a Chinese apothecary to get a bunch of herbs to help her weird shapeshifting friend. Something told him she’d recognize the ingredients in the transcript. They seemed innocuous to him, but that meant nothing. It’s probably some kind of magical roofie or worse.

  He wondered how he was going to get Serin the list. Going to the high-rise apartment in Sherwood Forest was pointless. He knew because he’d already tried. But Serin and Loki had split the minute she threw him out of the apartment.

  Daniel picked up the baggie, fingering the flat screen. How the hell had he managed to hold onto it during that second wild ride through the drainage pipes? It was baffling, but the phone had been in his back pocket, right where he’d left it.

  Magic was weird.

  Daniel glanced at his watch. It was almost midnight. He’d been waiting for three hours.

  She’s not going to show.

  He’d racked his brain for a way to track Serin. He watched hours of traffic cam footage, trying to track the pair following their exit from the apartment. It had been a complete waste of time. They hadn’t been caught on any of the neighborhood’s cameras. He hadn’t bothered to check the footage farther out.

  He’d hoped to get lucky with the cams again, but after Loki’s illicit convenience store runs, Serin must have him on a short leash.

  It had taken Daniel the better part of the night to realize he didn’t have to hunt her down. He had the phone. Serin would find him. So he had gone to the nearest pub to wait.

  Despite the cold, he sat outside at one of their sidewalk tables, nursing a beer with only the die-hard smokers for company from the sparse Friday night crowd.

  A sour-faced waitress approached, asking if he needed anything for the second time. He lifted the bottle. “Still working on this one, thanks.”

  Her mouth tightened. “If you change your mind about another round, I should warn you—we close in two hours,” she said sarcastically, sweeping away to check on other patrons.

  He tracked her progress to the door. When he turned back, the chair opposite was occupied.

  “You’re late,” he said.

  Serin stared at him coldly. “I had no idea we had a rendezvous scheduled, Agent Romero.”

  “C’mon, Serin, I thought we were on a first-name basis,” he said, nodding at the waitress when she dropped off his beer. “And who says rendezvous anymore?”

  The woman looked good enough to eat. She was wearing rust-colored leather pants and a sleeveless top. Even though she was still, there was a preternatural grace to her form.

  Anyone else dressed like that would appear fake, like an extra in a bad sci-fi movie. But Serin was the real deal. His mind flashed to her as the lead in a Matrix-like movie. He bet she could do any of those gravity-defying moves without wires.

  Somehow, knowing how badass and deadly she was only made her hotter.

  Fuck, I’ve got issues.

  A thought checked him in his tracks. He scowled. “You are Serin, right?” Because if it was Loki again, he was going to have to wash the inside of his own skull with lemon juice.

  “No, I’m over here!” Daniel twisted to see a Serin double in a flowing purple top and sparkly silver skirt strutting toward him.

  Heads turned as she dragged an empty chair and pulled it up to the table.

  “Loki,” Serin scolded. “You were allowed to come with me on one condition—that you not do that anymore!”

  Loki shook out his arms, making the gauzy see-through sleeves flutter as he sat down. “But someone has to wear these fabulous clothes again. I miss your old style so much. You simply can’t let these babies hang in the closet unused—-it would be a crime against fashion.”

  Serin scrubbed a hand over her face. “Take me off,” she said from behind gritted teeth.

  Loki blew his—her?— hair from his eyes. His head whipped back and forth with an exaggerated put-upon air, like a teenager told to clean his room. Once he was certain no one was watching him, he changed. A mind-bending ripple of reality later, there was only one Serin. Loki was a twenty-something male again, wearing pressed jeans and t-shirt the same shiny purple as the blouse he’d been wearing.

  “Thank Christ,” Daniel muttered. Two Serins screwed with his hormones.

  Loki beamed at him, fluttering his lush lashes.

  “Well, hello again, Agent Romero,” he said coyly. “Did you miss me?”

  Daniel blinked, realizing the fairy’s interest was genuine. Well, of
course he was bisexual. Loki could be both a man and a woman. Why would he limit his prospects?

  Daniel took another sip of beer. “I missed you like crazy,” he told him, straight-faced.

  The shapeshifter laughed, turning sparkling eyes on the Water Elemental. “Can we keep him, please?”

  Serin rolled her eyes. “I need a drink.”

  The waitress materialized in front of them as if by magic.

  “Would you like something?” she asked Serin, her eyes warming as she checked out the gorgeous woman. She didn’t give him or Loki a second glance. Daniel didn’t blame her.

  “What’s your best rum?” Serin asked.

  “We’ve got a bottle of Appleton Estate gathering dust. It’s too pricey for this crowd.” The waitress flicked her lashes disdainfully at Daniel.

  A fifty-dollar bill appeared in Serin’s hand. The waitress took it and slipped it into her bra, her eyes inviting more than alcohol. She moved away to place the order, putting an extra sway to her hips.

  “That’s okay. I didn’t want anything,” Loki said to no one in particular.

  “Good, cause I don’t think we exist when she’s around,” Daniel said, nodding at Serin.

  Serin didn’t reply, simply nodded regally when a very generously poured glass of rum appeared in her hand a few moments later. Satisfied with that crumb of attention, the waitress wandered off with a smile.

  All hail the queen.

  Daniel leaned back in his chair. “Damn, that was quick. Maybe I should try pouring myself into skin-tight leather pants next time.”

  A hint of a smile played on Serin’s lips. “Something tells me you wouldn’t get the same reception even if you did.”

  He shrugged. “I’m going to leave a really big tip just to disappoint her.” Daniel reached into his bag, grabbed the tech’s report, and then dropped it in front of Serin.

  She sipped the rum, glancing down at the folder.

  He tapped the papers. “It’s everything we pulled off the phone—contact list, text transcripts, and weird homeopathic recipes.”

  That got her attention. She straightened, flipping through the papers until she reached the list of ingredients. Her expression didn’t shift one iota, but he could sense the change in her.

  “What is it?” Loki asked as Serin closed the file.

  “The recipe is not complete.”

  Loki took if from her hands, rifling through pages until he got to the transcript portion. He whistled. “Not good.”

  Daniel shifted, aggravated at being left out. “What are those ingredients used for?”

  Serin turned away, taking another sip of the amber liquid. Her eyes fixed on a point to the right of him. “Like I said, the recipe is not complete, but it confirms something I suspected.”

  He took the report back. “Our techs decided it’s unrelated to the weapons manufacturer.”

  Loki leaned forward as if he were about to burst, but he subsided on a signal from Serin.

  Her mouth tightened. “They’re wrong.”

  The ominous tone sent a chill through Daniel. “What can it possibly make? I mean, there’s some rare herbs in there, but most of it is a standard bunch of plants and oils—it’s all-natural shit.”

  Her smirk was derisive. “Just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s safe. Everything is poison in the right amount, although I suspect this wouldn’t kill you. That wouldn’t matter, of course. It’s the bullet itself that would cause the damage in your case.”

  Daniel stilled. “Are you saying the guys we’re chasing are doctoring their bullets with this concoction? Are they targeting…um…magic people?” he asked, waving to Loki as an example.

  “It would appear so.” Serin turned to the now-subdued fae. “It’s why you’re still not fully healed, despite being shot weeks ago.”

  Loki’s face had paled considerably, his formerly twinkling eyes dimmed. He put his hand over his middle, covering the place where he’d been hit.

  “I guess I know why you and I were shot just steps away from Dionysia,” he observed.

  “Yes. Maybe it was random, but my guess is it wasn’t. Puck was taking the opportunity to test his formula.”

  She turned to Daniel. “Dionysia isn’t a place for high fae. It’s a hangout for the lower classes. Most of the lower fae aren’t susceptible to iron, so they’d have to use something else to take them out. Shooting you and Loki was a test. They wanted to know if their poison worked.”

  Loki grimaced. “I guess I’m lucky they haven’t gotten it right yet.”

  Serin fingered the crystal glass’s rim. “And Dionysia is lucky you came along just then. Puck may have intended to shoot up the entire club. But when you didn’t drop dead right away, he knew he had to go back to the drawing board.”

  Daniel’s brow creased. “And they have to use bullets and deliver them via machine gun to get their poison in? Isn’t that overkill?”

  Loki shrugged. “Some Supes have surprisingly tough hides. Others are fast, really fast.”

  “Ugh,” Daniel grunted. “Not sure I want to know the gritty details about everything that goes bump in the night.”

  Don’t say vampires exist. Don’t say vampires exist.

  He cleared his throat, trying to refocus. “Let’s make sure we are all on the same page. This outfit we’ve been tracking is customizing weapons that can kill anything—my kind, your kind. Basically everyone.”

  “It’s a working hypothesis.”

  Fuck. This was worse than he thought. “Okay, then. What now?”

  Reaching over, she snatched the report out of his hand. “Now we part ways. Thank you for recovering the data from the phone. I want that back by the way. Where is it?”

  “Uh…I didn’t bring it.”

  Her face darkened. “Where is it?”

  “Still with our techs. I had to catalog it as evidence to get the workup done. Why do you want it?” He nodded to the report. “That’s everything that was on there.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.”

  He raised a brow. “Don’t tell me there’s a magic spell to reconstruct data from damaged SIM cards?”

  She cocked her head, drumming her fingers impatiently on the table.

  “Oh. I guess I should have brought the damn thing.”

  “Gee, ya think?” Loki’s shoulders wiggled with attitude. For a second, his face morphed into Serin’s as if he couldn’t help himself.

  “Enough, Loki,” she warned, turning back to him. “I have a friend who is very skilled with electronics, even damaged ones.”

  “Do you mean Gia? It’s Gia, isn’t it?” Loki asked, nudging her repeatedly.

  Daniel was lost. “Who’s that?”

  Loki was almost vibrating with fangirl excitement. He leaned closer. “It’s the Earth Elemental. She’s got skills with electronics cause they’re made of metal and plastic, which is made of petroleum.”

  “Huh. Interesting,” Daniel muttered, focusing on Serin. “I want to help.”

  “Good.” She reached into her pocket, took out a small card, and handed it to him. “Send the phone to that address.”

  “I meant help in person. Also, this is blank.”

  “Is it?”

  When he flicked his gaze down he started slightly. Blank only moments before, now the card had a local P.O. Box printed in neat cursive.

  “Aw, now you’re just showing off,” he said, glancing back up. Both chairs were empty.

  Damn it. He leapt to his feet, turning in a circle.

  There was no way Serin pulled another Houdini on him, not in front of an audience and not with Loki in tow.

  Despite the cold night, the smokers were still out, clutching their butts in mittened hands.

  He caught a glimpse of Loki disappearing around the corner. Daniel ran after them, nearly knocking over the waitress on his way past.

  Fuck, the bill!

  “I’ll be right back,” he called behind him.

  “Yeah right, asshole,” she scr
eamed after him, waving her tray menacingly.

  Double fuck. He was going to have to hit an ATM so he could leave a tip big enough to make up for this.

  Daniel rounded the corner, relieved to see the pair hadn’t disappeared after all. For some reason, Serin’s hands were up, high above her head.

  “What the—” he began. A few more steps in and he saw him.

  “Ray?”

  His partner was standing a few feet away in the middle of the alley. He was holding a gun. It was pointed at Serin.

  21

  Serin shoved Loki behind her, wondering if the man holding the gun was part of the arms manufacturing ring. The barrel of the gun twitched slightly as Romero ran up behind them.

  “I knew you were acting squirrelly, Daniel,” the man said, waving the pistol in an angry arc at the papers in her hand. “I figured you were meeting her, but I never imagined you would give her classified information.”

  Daniel came to rest at her side, close enough for their arms to touch. “So you followed me? What the hell, Ray?”

  Oh… It was Agent Doyle. Belatedly, she recognized the small paunch and receding hairline. The two men faced off, staring each other down. Testosterone tainted the air. Serin kept her hands up, hoping to appear nonthreatening.

  “Would you two like to be alone to hash this out?” she asked.

  Doyle pointed the barrel at her aggressively. “Hey, you shut up! I’ve had it with this cloak-and-dagger shit. We’re taking you in.”

  Raising an eyebrow, she flicked her eyes to Romero. “We?”

  Romero shook his head. “Ray, we can’t do that.”

  “Why the hell not?” Doyle’s eyes were wild. “You’re the one who said she wasn’t government. Which means she’s the bad guy.”

  Serin winced. She could feel Ray’s frustration. Romero and Doyle had been partners for years. It was nowhere near as long as she had been serving with her sisters, but she understood where he was coming from.

  There was a solidarity and fellowship that came with jobs like theirs. Doyle was understandably freaking out because he thought the person he trusted most in the world had been compromised. And truthfully, Romero’s loyalty was divided. She had put him between a rock and a hard place.