I still hadn’t said a word to anyone about Considine Maledictus, but maybe I should if other powerful vampires were gathering in the area.
“Are they stirring up trouble?” Grove asked. “Or is it just annoying to have more fuss-budgets skulking around the city?”
“No one knows what has brought them to Magiford,” Tetiana said. “But it seems like the Eminence is handling them,” she said, referring to the vampire in charge of all the vampires in the Midwest, Killian Drake.
I hope my family doesn’t get wind of this.
Silence fell, and we continued to trek after the werewolves, who were leading us out of the downtown area—which was best for them—and more into the financial district of the city, where a bunch of human offices and banks were located along with one very famous supernatural business, Tutu’s Crypta & Custodia.
Now is the perfect chance to try a casual conversation. Tetiana and Grove are both friendly; they’re very receptive.
I tried to screw up my courage as I kept my eyes on the werewolves, who were slowing down to a pace that meant we’d catch up with them in a block or two.
But what do I talk about? They’re not going to want to hear about all my failed baking attempts. Should I go with work? That’s a safe topic we’re all familiar with. But what about work can we actually talk about?
“Have either of you finished your investigation report about Orrin and the monsters?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“Yes, Ma’am!” Grove said, plenty loud, but his voice was a little stiff—kind of like the way he talked to our squad leader, Sarge. “I gave a recorded testimony, too!”
“As have I,” Tetiana said, her voice respectful.
Both responses were pleasant enough, but they still made my shoulders hunch.
They don’t see me as a friend. I don’t think they even see me as a comrade. They treat me like an official.
They weren’t unfriendly, but there was some kind of layer between us. Sunshine called it respect, and maybe it was, but it was an awfully lonely place to be when everyone was considerate but wouldn’t socially engage with me.
Sunshine claims it’s because they’re impressed by my abilities and training as a vampire slayer. Does that mean they don’t see me as a civilian?
I’d always considered my life normal. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t normal to grow up with emergency practices at 4 AM where we had to practice climbing in and out of the house with a rope, but as a kid I’d assumed everyone did that.
We were almost on the werewolves, so I shoved my social anxieties aside—I’d consider them when I wasn’t on the clock—and cleared my throat. “Hello, again,” I greeted the werewolves, who had stopped on the lawn—which was dry and crunchy as the weather was changing—of a human bank. “We just wanted to check on you and make sure you felt comfortable.”
Tetiana squinted in the light of the flickering streetlight positioned over us. “Why wouldn’t they feel comfortable?”
“Downtown—the smells, the humans—all those lights,” I reminded her.
Tetiana stared at me, still puzzled.
“That’s a lot of stimulation for a werewolf’s sensitive senses,” I said.
“Ooh,” Tetiana snapped her fingers and nodded. “I forgot about that!”
“We work with a werewolf,” Grove said. “How can you forget about that?”
“Brody is too good tempered,” Tetiana said. “He doesn’t complain half as much as most whiny werewolves. No offense,” Tetiana waved to the werewolves, who were cocking their heads at us. “I mean, if I smelled human BO any stronger than I do already, I’d probably complain a lot, too.”
I turned away from my coworkers and held my hands out in front of me—again showing that I was unarmed. “The humans didn’t follow us, so you should be left alone in this part of town. Downtown will be busy for quite a few more hours. Do you need us to call anyone for you?”
If the wolves had anything to say back it would take them a minute to change forms, so the trick was to ask them yes or no questions.
The werewolves looked at each other for a moment, then simultaneously shook their heads.
“Is there any other way we can help you?” I asked.
The wolves shook their heads again.
I shifted my weight as I tried to get a read on their body language. “But you both are feeling comfortable again?”
The female wolf wagged her tail back and forth, then approached me to rest her giant head on my outstretched hands.
I took the invitation and rubbed behind her ears—which made her wag her tail some more—before she backed up.
The male wolf gave me a friendly “Awoo!” before he started down the street, his friend hurrying after him.
“Aww,” Grove said. “That was downright adorable. Makes you want to snuggle with them, right?”
“Not particularly,” Tetiana said. “I don’t like to cuddle things with teeth like theirs. But they are charmingly cute when they wish to be.”
Grove pirouetted swinging his arms at his side. “When we get back to the Cloisters tonight, we should ask Binx to change into her cougar form. Her fur is so soft!”
Tetiana trailed after him, pointing us back to downtown where we were due to patrol for another hour. “Perhaps, but if you say that to her face she’ll claw you.”
I moved to follow after them, but did a quick scan of the area, pausing when I caught sight of someone standing across the street next to the brick building with quaint red trim that was Tutu’s Crypta & Custodia.
I had pretty decent night vision as a vampire slayer—one of the perks—so when the person turned around I recognized the long purple hair that marked Gisila, a dragon shifter who was temporarily visiting Magiford.
“Hold up,” I called to my squadmates in a hushed voice.
“Hmm?” Tetiana turned back to me. She followed my gaze and instantly lost her casual air. “Grove.”
Grove had his radio out in a second. “This is Team Blood calling in from Goldstein Street. We’ve got some company down here that we’re going to check out. If my eyes don’t deceive me I believe it’s Lady Gisila.” His voice was loud—loud enough that Gisila would hear him across the street and know we’d reported her presence to our department.
I’d like to say we were always this on it with investigations, but Orrin—the fae I’d been asking Tetiana and Grove about—had been a plague on the squad for most of September, releasing various monsters on Goldstein Street.
The department was fairly certain he’d been targeting Tutu’s since it was the only supernatural building on the street, and I personally suspected he’d been working under the direction of his boss—Gisila—but I didn’t have any proof.
I looked both ways before crossing the empty street—while downtown was busy, all the businesses here had been closed for hours. “Good evening, Ma’am.”
Gisila smiled, flashing a bright smile that felt just a touch aggressive to me. “Ahh, if it isn’t the task force out patrolling this fine evening.”