“Okay then, if you’ll step out of the room, we’ll let the crime scene guys in.”
I nodded numbly and set my feet to follow the familiar walk out of my office that felt so very foreign today. I didn’t stop in the lobby, where Falin and Briar were having what looked to be a very heated argument. I just kept walking until I was out the front door and on the sidewalk.
Dawn was beginning to paint colors across the horizon, and the glow from the windows behind me was too dim to light up more than small rectangles on the sidewalk. I walked to the edge of one of these islands of light and gazed out into the darkness beyond. There was no streetlight in our back alley road of the Magic Quarter, and to my eyes, the street might as well have been lost in a void for all I could see.
“I should take you to Faerie,” Falin said, joining me on the sidewalk. “I don’t suppose you’d agree to stay in the castle for a little while?”
I shook my head. “That won’t help me find the necromancer. He spelled my office. What if I hadn’t come in today and Ms. B had stepped in there first? Or Rianna? Or if I hadn’t stopped you in time?” I wrapped my arms across my chest, hugging myself. Then I let my arms fall, my fists clenching. “The necromancer needs to be found quickly.”
“I thought you quit?” Falin’s voice was oddly dull, as if he was intentionally withholding emotion from the words.
“Yeah, that was dumb. Quitting the case isn’t going to make him stop coming after me.”
“Not bad, Craft. You came to that conclusion faster than I was expecting,” Briar said from the doorway. “All quitting really does is remove the extra protection of me at your back, so I’m going to give you the chance to reconsider.”
If looks could kill, my glare would have taken off several layers of her skin. She only grinned at me, waiting.
“You’re a bitch, but yeah, I’m still on the job,” I finally said, and I could all but feel Falin’s disapproval.
“That’s the spirit, Craft,” Briar said. “Now ditch the suit.” She nodded toward Falin. “We’ve got somewhere to go.”
Chapter 19
The whole Alex-is-now-a-two-for-one-deal, the-FIB-agent-you’ve-been-arguing-with-will-be-joining-our-team talk went about as well as could be expected. In the end, Briar relented and she gave us an address where we should meet her next. After a tense start to a conversation in which Falin tried to encourage me to take a holiday in Faerie, and my subsequent poor reaction, we spent most of the drive in silence.
The address Briar gave us turned out to be for an all-night diner just outside the Magic Quarter. She already had a table when we arrived. There was no real surprise in the fact that the table was in a corner with a good view of the rest of the diner and the door, but what was surprising was that she wasn’t alone at the table. A man sat in the chair beside her, his attention on a book in front of him. He looked up as we approached, closing the book with a soft snap.
“You must be Alex Craft,” he said, offering a smile that looked genuine.
I nodded. “And would you be Briar’s elusive partner?”
“One and the same,” he said, his smile widening with amusement at the description. “Derrick Knight.”
“Hopefully it will be nicer to meet you than it has been your partner,” I said, holding out my hand, but Derrick drew his hands back, recoiling from my offered handshake.
“Derrick doesn’t shake,” Briar said, leaning back in her chair.
He lifted his hands in front of his chest, palms out in a supplicating manner. I noticed for the first time that Derrick wore gloves, not dissimilar from the gloves Falin wore to protect himself from iron. Was Derrick fae?
The thoughts must have been written all over my face because Derrick shook his head. “Touch clairvoyant,” he said by way of explanation.
I blinked in surprise. Briar had said he was a premonition witch. If he was also touch clairvoyant, then he was doubly wyrd. That was almost unheard of. Wyrd abilities themselves were rare. But having two? And both with serious consequences. That had to be hell. I was even more impressed he was still sane. Or maybe he wasn’t. After all, he was Briar’s partner and I was starting to question my own sanity for working with her.
Derrick’s attention moved over my shoulder, to the fae still standing a step behind me. Apparently Briar wasn’t planning to do any introductions, so I turned, motioning to him.
“This is Falin Andrews.”
Derrick nodded amicably, and Falin and I took our seats at the table. The waiter stopped by our table before any further conversation could occur. I hadn’t had time to look over the menu, but it was breakfast time, so there were some obvious options every diner carried, like coffee and pancakes. Falin mimicked my order, Briar ordered a milkshake and onion rings, and Derrick ordered oatmeal with almond milk and fruit.
When the waiter returned with the two coffees and the milkshake, Derrick pulled a reusable water bottle out of his briefcase.
“I can get you a glass of water, sir,” the waiter said, frowning at the bottle. When Derrick began to politely refuse, the waiter said, “I’m sorry, we don’t allow outside beverages.”
With a sigh, Derrick dug his wallet out of his pocket, flipped past his MCIB ID and badge to another card, and held it up for the waiter. I glanced over, trying to read the bold print from across the table. From what I could tell, it said something to the effect that the bearer of the card suffered a magical disability and might require special arrangements to avoid interacting with items that had come in skin contact with other people. The waiter’s eyes widened.
“Sorry, sir. I didn’t realize . . . I can ask if we have any sealed dishes.”
“I’m fine,” Derrick said, lifting his bottle.
The waiter nodded, still looking uncomfortable. Then he hurried off, muttering something about checking on the food. Once he was gone, Derrick took a moment to pull a set of silverware out of his briefcase, as well as a cloth napkin.
“Go ahead and ask,” Derrick said without looking up, and I realized that Falin and I were probably watching him a little too hard.
Heat crept to my cheeks. I of all people should know better than to stare at someone because they were wyrd. Touch clairvoyants were rare, but we’d had a few at my boarding school. I hadn’t known any of them personally, but I’d seen them around school. They’d all tried as hard as possible to avoid touching other people or items recently touched by another person, as they didn’t like getting flashes of others’ lives unexpectedly.
I knew from my own wyrd abilities that the drawbacks often set a wyrd witch apart and it could be awkward. Sometimes I talked about it, sometimes I didn’t want to. Of course, Derrick had offered.
“Aren’t you worried about the food?” Falin asked.