“Could you stop with the glowing eyes for a moment?”
“No, actual y I can’t.” I’d been peering across planes for at least an hour at this point, and my regular eyesight was least an hour at this point, and my regular eyesight was definitely shot by now. If it had been the middle of a very bright, sunny day, and if it hadn’t been going on nearly twenty-four hours since I’d last slept, I might have been wil ing to hope my eyesight would adjust once I closed my shields. But it was the middle of the night and I was physical y exhausted even without factoring in the amount of magic I’d used. I wasn’t wil ing to spend the rest of the night in utter darkness. Especial y not here.
“Fine.” But her tone didn’t agree. A high-pitched keening sound cut through the air and I glanced around, startled.
Nori either didn’t notice the sound or it didn’t concern her because she continued without pausing, “I got word that an anonymous informant clued Detective Matthews in on the presence of a body on the grounds.” She nodded to where the cadaver dogs were sweeping the lot. “I’m going to assume that cal came from you.”
As I couldn’t deny it, I decided to remain silent. A search of the abandoned tent city had turned up a single left foot, apparently stil encased in a boot. The cadaver dogs were now searching the banks, but I knew they wouldn’t find anything else. Not nearby at least.
When I didn’t answer, the keening I’d heard a moment before sliced through the air again. Is Nori doing that? Or was it coming from behind her? I shuffled sideways and shot a surreptitious glance over her shoulder. A double pair of iridescent dragonfly wings almost blended in with her dark suit where they were tucked tight against her back.
The wings sprouted from somewhere near Nori’s shoulder blades and trailed down to her calves like a membranous cape, but I would have missed them completely if the strobing lights from the police cars and fire trucks hadn’t been reflecting off the thick veins. Her wings twitched in time with the fingers she strummed against her elbow as she watched me, and as they rubbed together, they emitted the strange, high-pitched screech I’d heard earlier.
“Should I take a guess how you knew the foot was on the
“Should I take a guess how you knew the foot was on the scene? Maybe you placed it there.”
“You know how I knew,” I said, and then cursed inwardly.
She’d just gotten my admission to making the cal . Of course, it wasn’t like my ability to sense the dead was the secret I was hiding.
Nori smiled, flashing a double row of needle-thin teeth. I tried not to show a reaction, but by the way her smile spread, I knew my face had given me away.
“Here is the way I see it, Miss Craft,” she said, that strange keening sound fil ing the air again. “There is a second rift al owing the Aetheric to bleed into the mortal realm. There is compel ing proof to suggest that you were responsible for the first known tear, which means you likely caused this one as wel . The proximity to a crime scene means the two are likely connected. That alone is enough evidence to have a fae summoned to Faerie while further investigations occur.”
“I—”
She cut me off with a wave of her hand. “Even if the two are later proven not to be connected, the current evidence looks damning, so that fae should be taken back to Faerie for his or her own protection. Humans can be ruthless to those they don’t understand.”
I swal owed. She was threatening me. There was no denying at this point that she knew I had fae blood, and she wasn’t giving me an option of not going to Faerie. Will she slap cuffs on me and drag me off right here and now? My gaze shot past her head, searching for Falin. He was near the gate, talking to two men in suits who I was pretty sure I’d seen identify themselves as working for the Ambassador of Fae and Human Relations. I met Falin’s eyes, just briefly, but hopeful y long enough to convey that I could seriously use an intervention. Then I focused on Nori again.
“I didn’t open that tear,” I said, instil ing as much certainty in my voice as possible.
She frowned. She couldn’t insist that I was both fae She frowned. She couldn’t insist that I was both fae enough to be held under fae laws but human enough to lie.
Though I supposed she could stil drag me to Faerie under the pretense of protecting me from humans who perceived me as being able to open rifts.
“Is there a problem, Agent?” Falin asked as he joined us.
And the cavalry arrives.