Thinking he’d gotten some message from Gardner while we were in the precinct, I frowned. “Shit, what did we do now?”
He let out a frustrated breath. “No, I mean, back at the apothecary? That horned lady they mentioned who came in with Krystal—she’s bad news.” The pained expression on his face revealed how much the admission cost him.
“What kind of bad news are we talking here?” I was afraid of his answer. Morales was the kind of guy who downplayed trouble, which meant bad news was really terrible news.
“The kind of bad that hates my guts and wants me dead.” He took off toward his car again.
I tried to keep up. “Who is she?”
“They call her Yü Nü. It means ‘Jade Maiden.’ Rumor has it she’s immortal.”
I laughed. “What? That’s crazy.”
“Kate, she’s the real deal. A master of Taoist alchemy from the old country. Some believe she’s the head of the Fangshi worldwide. The four women with her were the Handmaidens. They’re her private army of martial alchemists.”
“But you said the Fangshi wouldn’t bother sending big players to Babylon.”
He threw up his hands. “I was wrong.”
“Shit. What does she have on you?”
He stopped walking because we’d reached the car. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and toyed with them nervously. “She was involved in the murder of the dirty cop. After I got pulled out from undercover, I offered testimony that resulted in the arrest of several members of her family. I didn’t implicate her or anyone else at the cop killing, because they’d come after me. That didn’t stop her from putting a price on my head, though. That’s why I haven’t been back to Los Angeles.”
I put a hand on his arm. “You have to go to Gardner with this.”
He jerked away. “And have her fire me? I can’t.”
“She won’t fire you. There were extenuating circumstances. People have to do all sorts of crazy shit undercover.”
“You don’t understand. I can’t take the risk of the MEA firing me over this. I won’t have anything left. Promise me you won’t tell her.”
I pulled back, stung that he thought I’d rat him out. “Of course not.”
“Good, let’s go. I need to go home and think this through. If Yü Nü is calling the shots, we’re going to have to change up our approach in this case.”
I nodded. “All right, we can order in and—”
He cut me off. “No, I need to be alone.”
“All right. No problem.” I kept my tone light to cover the fact I was feeling rejected. “I need to spend some time with Danny, anyway.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I just need to get my head on right.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just drop me off at the gym and we can regroup tomorrow.”
I just hoped that was enough time for him to figure out how to tie the Fangshi to the murder beyond the shadow of a doubt, because the longer we spent investigating this case, the higher the chance of Morales’s past biting us all in the ass.
Chapter Fourteen
By the time I got home, I felt like death warmed over. Between being verbally abused by an old woman, chasing a punk through downtown Babylon, and hanging at the Cauldron precinct, I wanted to bathe in beer—or at least drink a beer in the bathtub.
My family had other plans.
I dragged myself into the kitchen and found Pen and Danny sitting at the table, waiting for me. I stopped just inside the doorway and dropped my backpack in its usual spot.
“What’s up, guys?”
“Kate, if you could sit down,” Pen said in her best therapist’s tone. “Danny has something he’d like to discuss with you.”
I tilted my head, every sense screaming caution. “Where’s Baba?”
“She went to take something to a friend,” Pen said. “Please sit.”
“What’s this about?” I hedged.
Danny tapped a finger on the edge of the table nervously. Whatever they had to talk to me about must be a big deal. I resisted the urge to grab a beer from the fridge before I sat down. As I took my seat, I realized I just need to be quiet and stay as calm until they told me what was going on.
“Thank you,” Pen said. “Kate, Danny asked me to help facilitate a conversation he’d like to have with you concerning the Conservatory. I’m not here as your friend or Danny’s. I’m here as an impartial mediator to help you to both discuss a very important issue.
I held up my hands in what I hoped was an encouraging and calm gesture. “You guys, this really isn’t necessary.”
Pen shot me a warning look. “Go ahead, Danny,” she prompted.
He looked at her nervously but she encouraged him with a nod. I tapped my heel against the floor and tried to remain calm. “Kate.” He paused to take a deep breath and looked down at a sheet on the table covered in his handwriting. “A few days ago, you discovered that I had not been honest with you. I am really, um, sorry and stuff for lying to you.” He glanced up at me from under his hair. “But I really want to go to the Conservatory.”
“I know you do.”
“Please only listen now,” Pen said in a prim tone.
I gritted my teeth but managed a nod.
Danny continued. “I have been studying magic with Mez for a few months now and he thinks I have a real talent. Plus, I love it. I really want to go to a school with other people like me. I’m tired of being treated like some sort of freak because I’m a Leftie.”
A pang hit my midsection. I’d gotten Danny out of the Cauldron and stuck him in a Mundane school as soon as I could when he was younger. When I’d made the decision, I thought I’d been saving him lots of trouble, but I actually sort of doomed him to being around people who would always treat him as an outsider.
“Also, I’m excited about the idea of getting to study magic in school. They have really cool classes in stuff like metallurgy, spagyrics, and the physics of magic.”
My brows rose because those did sound pretty cool.
“I know you are afraid that if I follow the path of magic, I will end up like Uncle Abe or whatever, but I promise you that I will only study clean magic and that I will use it for good.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that clean magic wasn’t automatically good any more than dirty magic was always evil. He was too young to grasp that all magic was chaos, and that the minute you thought you controlled it, it would turn on you.
“In conclusion,” he said, “I know you are angry and I don’t blame you, but I hope you can see past that to allow me to pursue the future I really want.”
From beneath the table, Pen pulled out a file folder. She opened it and removed a sheet of paper. She slid it across the table with dramatic flair.
Frowning, I picked it up and realized it was the acceptance letter the school had sent in the packet.
“Here’s a pen.” She slid that across, as well.
I stared down at the paper because I didn’t trust myself to speak. I felt totally ambushed. The thing was, I knew it wasn’t Danny’s doing at all. Despite her claim to the contrary, she wasn’t there as an impartial mediator. She’d coached the kid on what to say and orchestrated the offering of the form like a puppet master.
“Kate?” she prompted.
I looked up. Whatever was on my face must have warned her, because her benevolent smile fell. “Danny,” I said, “can you give Pen and me a couple of moments alone?”
“Is everything okay?” he asked, sounding worried.
“Everything’s fine,” I said in a bright tone. “I just need to talk to her for a second.”
He rose hesitantly and headed to the doorway into the living room. Before he went through, he cast a worried look back at both of us. We both smiled, all reassurance.
Once he was gone and I’d heard his footfalls on the stairs down to his room, I turned to my best friend, crossed my hands in front of me on the table, and laid into her. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
She pulled back, looking like I’d slapped her. “What? I’m trying to help.”
I laughed, a low, bitter sound. “You’re trying to meddle. There’s a big fucking difference, Pen.”