Fire Water

Pretty much any cop can tell you the story of their first arrest. Also the first time they pointed a gun at someone—or had one shoved in their face. The first handcuffing, the first black eye, the first time a perp puked on them—and, for some, the first person they killed.

My first collar wasn’t all that memorable. Just a speeding ticket that led to an arrest for outstanding warrants.

My second was mildly more interesting, but not exactly earth-shattering. Underage girl selling three-dollar blow jobs in an alley off Stark Street. When she’d seen me coming, she hadn’t fought at all. Not surprising since I basically caught her with a mouthful of incriminating evidence.

No, my first two busts weren’t that impressive. Sure, the second got a couple of laughs when told over beers at O’Malley’s near the Cauldron cop shop. But it wasn’t a contender for best war story compared with some of the fucked-up shit the veteran cops on our squad had seen. Working in a magical ghetto didn’t have a lot of advantages—except when it came to outdoing your cronies with fish tales of junkie wizards and potion-peddling homunculi.

However, my third bust was the stuff of Cauldron legend. Ever since it happened, cops in Babylon referred to it in hushed tones and begged me to retell it over beers. But to me, it was more than just my go-to war story.

It was the story of how I became a real cop.

My name is Kate Prospero, and I bust magic junkies for a living. Most girls don’t grow up dreaming of chasing perps through dark alleys and cleaning puke out of their squad cars at the end of an average night of work. I didn’t, either. In fact, when I was eight, I told my fourth-grade teacher I wanted to grow up to be just like my uncle Abe. Miss Cope’s eyes had grown really wide and she backed away like she was afraid to say the wrong thing and risk Abe finding out.

The dream of becoming the next Grand Wizard of the Votary Coven had lasted only until I was seventeen. And then I didn’t have any dreams for a long time because I was too busy trying to survive.

But that was a long time ago. Now I’m on the right side of the law. It pays a lot less than potion cooking, but it beats spending your life with one ear constantly listening for sirens.

So anyway—my third arrest…

It started on a hot August afternoon five years ago. I was still a rookie, and per the Babylon Police Department policy I was making my rounds through each of the major departments shadowing veteran officers. Apparently it hadn’t always been that way. Used to be, rookies were sent straight out to patrol with a badge, a gun, and a walkie-talkie. But after too many newbies ended up potioned in the gutters, someone in the commissioner’s office wised up that maybe the academy wasn’t doing a good enough job training people for the rigors of patrolling a magical ghetto.

Anyway, I’d already made rounds through the vehicular theft department, the murder squad, the sex crimes unit, and even done a few ride-outs with deep night Arcane patrols. I’d seen lots of action, but hadn’t been allowed to get in the middle since I was both an untested cop and an Adept. Mostly those assignments involved lots of coffee runs and hazing. But I’d learned plenty watching cops who’d seen it all do their jobs. The only department I had left to shadow was the river patrol division.

According to the other rookies who’d already completed their time on the boats that patrolled the Steel River, it was by far the most boring assignment. It’s not that there’s no crime on the water surrounding Babylon. The news was always filled with reports of caches of alchemical materials confiscated from freighters out of Canada. The problem was, the Coast Guard always got credit for those busts. Mostly the BPD was in charge of the river and only provided backup to the Coast Guard on the Lake Erie cases.

I knew all this the morning that I pulled my Jeep into the parking lot near the docks. Even in the early-morning sun, the river didn’t glisten or sparkle like most bodies of water might. If you kind of squinted, you could see past all the trash and the thick algal slime that collected along the banks. But nothing could disguise the stench of gasoline, chemicals, and rotten animal carcasses wafting up so strong from the water, you could swear the odor had a vaguely pukey color. Years of serving as the highway for barges bearing slag and asphalt from factories had ensured the water didn’t flow so much as it oozed.

The police boat creaked at the gray dock. The vessel was white with red lettering announcing it as a Babylon Police Department watercraft. There was a covered portion with sirens on top along with a smattering of antennas. This wasn’t one of those fancy Coast Guard vessels, since it mainly patrolled the river and not the Great Lake with its tides and heavy currents. Still, the boat looked watertight and maintained to my uneducated eye. Even though I’d grown up in Babylon, I spent as little time on or near the water as possible. I’d avoided the river for obvious reasons, and the lake because I didn’t trust any water that I couldn’t see through. Which was why I’d resisted the water patrol assignment until the very last week of my training. Well, that and Cap’n’s reputation was well known, even among the recruits.

I grabbed my gear and jumped out of my Jeep, Sybil, with more gusto than I actually felt. Since I was practically right out of the academy, I was still fueled by the enthusiasm of the recently converted. I still bought into the belief that I could make a real difference and that justice would always prevail. I was also young enough to believe that my background on the street combined with my cop training meant I could handle just about anything the world threw at me.

In other words, I was naive as hell. So with an idiot’s zeal, I tossed my holster over my shoulder, gripped my duffel bag in my right hand, and marched down the dock toward the boat.

“Hello?” I called.

The creaking of the boat and the slap of the water against the hull were the only responses. Frowning, I grabbed one of the wooden columns on the dock for balance and stepped into the boat. The instant my second foot hit the deck, a quiet, ominous male voice spoke from inside. “Ask for permission to come aboard.”

I squinted into the darkness of the pilothouse. “Sorry?”

“You sure are,” the gruff voice grumbled. A large silhouette moved forward in the shadows until the light outside caught a head of white hair and a face that looked like it knew its share of gin and smoky bars. “You should always ask before you board a man’s vessel.”

I blinked a couple of times. “Are you Captain Smiley?”

His chin dipped. “I’m still waiting.”

I sighed and adjusted the gear weighing me down. “May I please come aboard?”

“Cap’n,” he offered.

My eye twitched. “May I please come aboard, Cap’n?”

“Well now, that depends.”

“On what?”

“Your business.”

I looked pointedly down at my police uniform that clearly showed my name badge. Surely someone had informed him that I’d be coming. Just in case, I removed the orders from my pocket and waved the white sheet in front of me like a truce flag. “I’m Officer Prospero? I’m supposed to shadow you for the next week.”

His right eye squinted, giving him a decidedly Popeye-esque appearance. “Fucking rookies.”

And with that he confirmed about every rumor I’d heard about the infamous Captain Martin Smiley. Word was he’d gotten stuck on water patrol because he didn’t get along with anyone. Not just other officers, either—anyone, period.

“Keep your paper,” he snapped. “I already told them I wasn’t playing babysitter.”

I pursed my lips to keep from mouthing off to a superior, even if said superior was a grade-A jackhole. “Sir, no offense here but I’m just trying to finish off my hours. I don’t want any problems.”

“Me, either, which is why I think you should get off my boat and go find another asshole to annoy.”

In order to get promoted to patrol, I had to get through this week with high marks on the reference forms or be forced to repeat the exercise until I passed. Most of the other rookies from my graduating class had chosen to do their hours on the more exciting Lake Erie patrol units, but since most of those time slots were at night, I had to skip them. I couldn’t afford a babysitter to watch my brother all night until I was making full-time patrol pay instead of the part-time pay I was earning as an officer-in-training. So the daytime river patrol slot was my only option.

I took a deep breath and called on my training in dealing with difficult suspects. “Captain Smiley, I’m sorry you’re frustrated. Perhaps we could just both calm down and talk about this rationally.”

He waved a hand and continued raveling a long rope onto the deck of the boat.

I gritted my teeth. “Maybe I should call your commanding officer, then,” I called.

A salty cackle was the only response.

I crossed my arms and tried to regroup. If a threat to call his boss didn’t worry him, then it probably wasn’t a great idea. After all, how many captains or lieutenants wanted to get a tattletale phone call from a rookie?

“Can I just ride along? I promise I won’t get in your way.” I figured if I showed up and watched him work it might count as shadowing. I could worry about talking him into signing my forms later.

He threw down the end of the rope and rose to his full height. “You’re a real pain the ass, aren’t ya?”

“Yes, sir.”

He sighed. “All right. But you’re gonna sit your ass still and not talk. One peep and I’ll dump you into the drink.”

I drew a deep breath into my nose. Instead of inner peace, the move only earned me a snootful of the stench of decayed fish and algae. Once again, I started to step onto the deck. He raised a brow and watched me with a sharp look. I paused, realizing he’d been testing me. “Does that mean I have permission to come aboard?”

He sighed, as if faced with a hopeless case. “Get your ass on here already.”

This was going to be the longest week in history.

  

That evening I had an appointment before I went to pick up Danny from his summer day camp. Now that I was about to start earning a full cop’s salary, I could finally move us out of the one-bedroom apartment we’d been living in while I put myself through the academy. The rental house was in a better area of town, which also happened to be closer to Meadowlake, the private school I wanted to transfer him to in the fall.

The ad in the paper claimed the house had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a large backyard. Sounded perfect, but I’d been disappointed before. Even if the place wasn’t a shithole and the rent was reasonable, there was still the issue of dealing with asshole landlords. The guy who’d owned the last place I tried to rent had denied my application because he “didn’t want any dirty Sinisters ruining his property.”

Even though I’d been running into prejudices about being an Adept my whole life, it still stung. Especially when I’d had to explain to Danny that we couldn’t move into the house with the great swing set after all. When he’d asked why, I lied and told him someone else got there first. He’d already had so much bullshit to deal with in his short ten-year life, I didn’t have the heart to tell him some asshole thought he was tainted because he’d been born a Lefty.

When I pulled up in front of the house, I was instantly charmed. The place wasn’t large, but it was obviously taken care of by the owner. Trimmed shrubs on either side of the front steps and a maintained yard added a dose of charm to the bungalow-style architecture. Fresh black paint on the railings and the shutters on the windows. A cheerful wreath on the front door. It was certainly nicer than the apartment we’d been living in, and the neighborhood was close to the school and mainly made up of senior citizens and young families. Yep, I thought, I could definitely do this.

I climbed the steps to the front door and knocked on the screen. A faint voice called out that someone was coming, but I stood out there for a good two minutes before I heard the sound of the dead bolt unlocking. A moment later the door opened to reveal a woman with long gray hair wearing a housecoat, which was made from blue fabric covered in pictures of cat faces. She leaned on a cane, and her skin was as wrinkled and thin as rice paper. “Yeah?”

“Hi, I’m Kate. I called about renting the house. Is Mr. Tanner here?”

The woman sucked her teeth and looked me over for a moment. “Tanner couldn’t make it. Asked me to show you around.”

“And you are?”

“Baba.” That’s all she said, as if I was supposed to recognize the name the same way one might Madonna or Cher. “I live over there.” She jerked her pointy chin to the right, toward the house next door. Unlike the porch we stood on, which was surrounded by carefully trimmed hedges and neat little clusters of flowers, hers was surrounded by neatly trimmed rosemary bushes. Clumps of green and purple lavender dotted the walkway.

“So…may I look around?”

The old woman narrowed her eyes. “Depends.”

“On what?”

“Do you listen to loud music?”

I frowned. “No.”

“Do you throw wild parties?”

I shook my head.

“What do you do for a living?”

Her interrogation was quickly losing its charm. “I’m a cop.”

Whatever she’d been expecting me to say, that wasn’t it. “Like on The Blue Devils?” Her tone held a hint of excitement.

“The TV show?” I shook my head. “I’m afraid it’s a lot less exciting than they make it out to be on TV.”

Her face fell. “Oh.” For some reason I felt like I’d failed some sort of test. “Come on in, I guess.”

She shuffled back to allow me entrance. I stepped inside, surprised to find myself in a kitchen. A window over the sink shared the wall with the door and looked out onto the front yard. Along the wall perpendicular to that was the stove and next to it the refrigerator, which looked like it had been around during the Carter administration.

In the center, a square table was surrounded by four metal chairs with seats covered in apple-green vinyl. The linoleum underneath was worn but clean. “There’s two bedrooms up and another room in the walk-out basement that could be a bedroom or storage room. Laundry’s down there, too.”

She took me through a short hall off the kitchen, which led to a bathroom and a bedroom. Aged hardwoods covered the floors in the bedroom, and a large window let in streams of cheerful sunshine. A painted iron bed was covered in a multicolored quilt. It was light-years away from my normal style, but I was instantly charmed. “Does the furniture come with the place?”

She shrugged. “You’d have to ask Tanner, but I assume it’s negotiable.”

I nodded. “Can I see the rest?”

She flicked her arthritic fingers toward the door. “Suit yourself. I’ll be in the kitchen if you have any questions.”

I walked back out and continued into the den. There a denim-colored couch and plaid armchair were both angled toward a small TV on a stand that wasn’t made from wooden boards and cinder blocks like the one in my current apartment. I turned to see Baba in the doorway.

“Isn’t it odd for the front door to be in the kitchen?”

She crossed her arms. “The front door used to be there”—she jerked her thumb toward the side wall of the den—“but the previous owner wanted more space. So they turned the side door into the front.” She shrugged. “Worked out since the house is on the corner.”

Where the front door used to be, there was now a dining room table. I didn’t host any dinner parties, so I figured it would make a good place for the kid to do homework. I paused, realizing it was a good sign if I was already picturing our lives in the house.

I checked out the bedroom on the other side of the main floor. It was small but perfectly fine for a ten-year-old boy. Back through the den, I found a set of stairs leading down to the basement. Unlike most houses, there wasn’t a door separating the living area from the basement. Baba explained this was because the downstairs had been converted to be part of the living space of the house.

Downstairs, the laundry room turned out to be just a hallway with a washer and dryer shoved under a couple of narrow windows set high into the wall.

A door separated what Baba had called the third bedroom from the rest of the basement. The bedroom was larger than the ones upstairs. A built-in desk lined one wall and a twin bed was shoved into the opposite corner. There weren’t any windows to add light to the space, so a row of track lights hung from the ceiling. One door led to a tiny bathroom, which was extremely basic but serviceable. Another door led not to the closet I was expecting, but to a large storage room. At present the only things stored in there were dust bunnies, but it was large enough that I could cancel my rental on the room at the Store-A-Lot, which would save me about a sixty bucks a month.

The back door was next to the laundry space. The walk-out basement setup was due to the fact that the house was situated on a slope, but just outside the door the yard leveled off. A couple of steps down led to a patio area, and beyond that a dilapidated garage hinted that there used to be a driveway. I went to the garage and pushed the door open. The sudden sound of flapping wings greeted my arrival. When no other critters came running out of the darkness, I stepped inside.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dimness, so my other senses kicked on. The air was cooler in there, like a cave. The air smelled of old gasoline, paint thinner, and wood shavings. It was a comforting, solid perfume. It spoke of Sundays spent doing yard work while Danny played in the tree instead of listening to the freakhead neighbors having another fight.

My eyes finally adjusted enough to see a workbench set against one wall. A row of solid wooden shelves stacked above the work surface. Someone had lined up rows of jam jars containing screws and nails and other items commonly used in do-it-yourself projects. It was a space dedicated to fixing things, and I loved it instantly.

A shadow filled the open doorway. I turned to see Baba huffing from the exertion of descending the basement steps. “Well? What do you think?”

I took in a deep breath of the garage’s perfume and smiled. “I’ll take it.” I moved forward to shake her hand. In my excitement I held out my left hand instead of my right.

Baba froze and looked down at my extended hand. “Hold on—you’re a Lefty?”

I jerked my hand back. Stupid, stupid, stupid, I thought. No use lying now. “I am.” I put my chin up and dared the old woman to make an issue of it.

“Tanner don’t much like Lefties.”

“And you?”

Her face crinkled into a smile that made her wrinkles dance. “I’m a witch.”

I groaned inwardly. I hadn’t known many human witches in my life, but my few experiences hadn’t been great. While Adepts got all the credit for being able to wield magic, there were some Mundanes capable of harnessing magical energy, as well. Granted, they were incapable of harnessing as much power as an Adept and their power was strongest in groups, but it was there nonetheless. Mostly Wiccans and solitary witch practitioners specialized in hedge or kitchen magic—basic herbs and rituals using everyday items. Their magic wasn’t categorized as either dirty or clean as an Adept’s might be, but there was some movement in certain communities to regulate Mundane magic the way Adept magic had been.

“Oh,” Baba said when I took too long to answer, “you’re one of those.”

I frowned. “One of what?”

She pointed at me. “One of them Adepts who think Mundane magic users are posers.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

She raised a white brow. “Hmmph.”

“Look, I would really appreciate it if you don’t mention to Mr. Tanner that I’m an Adept. I promise I’m just looking for a safe, clean place where I can raise my little brother. We aren’t troublemakers.”

She shot me a skeptical glance. “I dunno. I’m not sure I want a bigot next door.”

I raised my hands. “Give me a break. You have no idea how much discrimination I’ve had to deal with, lady. The last two places I tried to rent denied me because of being an Adept.”

“You sure that’s why? Not because you throw wild sex parties?”

I held up my hand in a fake scout’s-honor gesture. “I haven’t even had sex in three years.”

Her mouth fell open. “Jesus, Mary, and Jerome, girl! That’s no way to live.”

I shot her a bemused look. “No shit.”

She laughed out loud.

“So”—I drew out the word—“does this mean you’ll help me with Tanner?”

She blew out a breath and shot me what she probably thought was an intimidating look. “I need to think about it. Had a newlywed couple come by just this morning.”

My hopes dipped. “Well, I’d appreciate any help you could give us, ma’am.”

“And don’t call me ma’am, either. Everyone around here calls me Baba. Got it?”

I fought my smile. “Got it.”

  

The next morning Cap’n was in an even worse mood. “Ugh, you again.”

“Good morning.”

“Thought you’d give up after yesterday.”

I’d kept to my promise and not said a word the entire four-hour ride the day before. Mostly the patrol consisted of him listening to baseball stats on the radio while he made laps up and down the river. A couple of times, he’d stopped to warn someone going too fast in a no-wake zone or untangle trash from a buoy. Not exactly the exciting life I’d imagined when I’d signed up to become a cop. Still, I kind of found myself enjoying the breeze through my hair and the slower pace despite the constant stench of pollution and the dying wildlife.

“I’m just trying to do my job.”

“Hmmph,” he said. “Well? Come on.”

The water under the boat boiled as he turned on the engine. I hopped on board and headed toward my designated seat.

“Go grab that line, will ya?” The request was so unexpected I froze. “You ain’t deaf, are ya?”

I shook my head and hopped toward the railing. The line he’d mentioned was the rope tying the boat to the dock. I basically knew nothing about boating, but I was pretty sure him asking me to help with anything counted as a victory. For the time being, Cap’n had decided to tolerate my presence on his vessel.

I unwrapped the line and was careful to coil it into a neat pile like I’d seen him do the day before. Once it was done, I turned to give him a thumbs-up. He shook his head at my enthusiasm and turned to pull the boat from the dock.

It was another sunny day. After the harsh Babylon winter, the sunshine and warm temperatures felt like a miracle. I even spied a few sunflowers peeking out from the piles of trash lining the shore along the lake. I smiled and chose to see them as a sign that my life would be in full bloom soon, too. I just prayed I’d hear soon about the house.

“Sit,” Cap’n ordered.

I took a seat without a word. The boat chugged along the river for a few moments before I realized we’d gone a different direction than the day before. “Where we headed?”

My seat was actually a bucket shoved just outside the cover provided by the boat’s wheelhouse. The position allowed me to enjoy the sun on my face, but also gave me a view of Cap’n’s profile. When I spoke, his lip curled like he’d just smelled something rotten.

“Thought I told you not to talk.”

I rolled my eyes. Surely he didn’t expect me to stay quiet the entire week. I crossed my arms and turned toward the rail. If he wasn’t going to tell me where he was going, I’d just try to learn by watching.

We were headed upriver, away from Lake Erie. Eventually the river would fork off into two branches, but for now it was a single, wide, polluted channel. As if to prove my point, a large hunk of wood floated past carrying a rat as large as a dog eating a bloated fish. I shook my head. At some point, something really needed to be done about the river. Everyone in Babylon knew that the rule was that if you fell into the Steel River, you went straight to the emergency room. Over the years the steel industry and lack of regulation had turned it into a dumping ground of chemicals, petroleum, and trash. Every now and then, you’d see a large bubble of air popping on top of the sludge, as if even oxygen couldn’t wait to escape the dying waterway.

I sighed and settled onto my bucket for another boring day with my crotchety mentor, with only my dreams of the future to entertain me.

  

That afternoon I reported to the police academy training center. Even though the bulk of my academy training was complete, there was a team-building exercise scheduled for my recruit class.

I’d been late getting off the boat, so I’d had to hightail it to make it in time. I was still pulling my hair back into the required bun as I walked in. Several of my classmates were already inside warming up and chatting about their experiences shadowing officers in the different departments.

No one greeted me when I walked in. I didn’t take offense. They’d never greeted me during the academy classes, either. I went to an empty vinyl mat and started stretching.

A few of the guys nearby were chatting about their experiences on probationary duty. “I’m telling you, man, vice is where the action is.” The speaker was a meathead named Bruce Batson. He was the kind of guy who joined the BPD because he wanted to get paid to swing his dick around.

“Nope,” said Chuck Garza. “Busting Sinisters is way more fun. The Arcane division puts those freaks in their place.”

I froze in the process of stretching my hamstring and shot the asshole a glare.

Chuck cleared his throat. “No offense, Prospero,” he said in a resentful tone.

Sinister was a term Mundanes often used for Adepts. A lot of people who weren’t born with the ability to work magic were suspicious of those of us who could. The slur was offensive, but apologists said the slur came from the fact sinister meant “left” in Latin and all Adepts were left-handed. According to those people, anyone who took offense was just being overly sensitive. No doubt, the three men staring at me like they expected me to start crying fell into that category.

Instead of letting it upset me, I just went back to my stretching.

“Anyway,” Bruce said in a patronizing tone, “it’s too bad we have to serve time on patrol before we can do the exciting stuff.”

A whistle blew, cutting off any chance of response. I jumped up from the mat and fell into line with the rest of my class. There were twenty of us in the group—sixteen men and four women. I was the only Adept in the bunch.

“All right, everyone. Today we’re working on team building.” The sergeant in charge of the drill was a hard-ass named Reams, who, according to gossip, was the first female to reach that rank in the department. She was six feet tall with a shock of spiky blond hair and permanently narrowed eyes. “You’re going to divide into groups and cover each other as you work your way through an obstacle course filled with targets. Each group will have an appointed leader.”

According to Reams, the goal of the lesson was to learn to work with a team in tactical situations. She counted off the teams. Naturally, I ended up with Batson and Garza, as well as two other meatheads. Next, Reams read off the names of the leaders. “Group three’s leader is Prospero.”

Male grumbles greeted the announcement. I ignored the pitch in my stomach at the news. I wasn’t any happier than they were because I knew any mistakes on my part would be blamed on either my sex or my being a Lefty—or both. I pushed my shoulders back and girded myself for what I expected to be a frustrating afternoon.

“Split into your teams and head outside.”

I turned toward the men, but they’d already started jogging toward the door, leaving me to follow. I cursed under my breath and double-timed it. I caught up with them just before the door, which I barely caught before it slammed in my face.

Once we were outside, I clapped my hands. “Okay, guys, round up.” They ignored me and continued to the course. A field next to the training center held the obstacle course. Cargo nets were suspended from poles; walls without ropes to climb up, crawling obstacles, and other stations were spread across the field.

“Gather ’round,” Reams shouted in a take-no-prisoners voice. Everyone complied immediately. I joined my wayward team, but none of them would step aside to allow me to stand beside them. “Each team will have to assist each other through the course. You’ll all have paint guns, which members of the team will use to ward off attacks by training officers. The point is to work together and protect your team. Fastest time wins. Got it?”

After that, everyone broke out to strategize. My team circled up near the front of the course. “All right,” Batson said, “Garza and—”

“Excuse me,” I said. “I’m the leader of the exercise.”

A shitty smile turned up his lips. He crossed his arms. “By all means.” His tone was patronizing as hell, but I gritted my teeth and focused on the mission.

“All right,” I said, “it looks like our most vulnerable obstacle will be the wall. We need two people to get over it first. I think we should station Batson at the bottom for cover and I’ll help the others up.”

Garza snorted. “Who’s going to help you up?”

That’s pretty much how the rest of the discussion went. I laid out a reasonable plan and one of the guys would contradict me. In the end we ran out of time when our group number was called.

I spent the next seventeen minutes and thirty-four seconds getting shoved out of the way or cursed at. The men on my team totally ignored my plans, choosing instead to bicker their way through the course.

In the end, we got last place.

“Thanks, Prospero,” Batson said after the times were announced. “Way to lead out there.”

“Excuse me?”

“I told you we shouldn’t have taken that formation on the wet obstacle.”

My mouth fell open. The maneuver he referenced had been his idea. But before I could call him on it, Batson stormed off. The others followed in his wake, but a few choice words blew back toward me on the breeze.

Later, Sergeant Reams found me sitting on a bench in the women’s locker room. I had my clothes on, but couldn’t find the energy to grab my bag and head home.

“Tough day, Prospero?” Reams wore a white tank top and green cargo pants. She leaned back against the lockers and grabbed the ends of the towel around her neck. I nodded and stared down at the blisters on my hands from climbing the obstacles. “The problem is you’re trying too hard to make them like you.”

I looked up. “Shouldn’t a team get along?”

“Teamwork doesn’t require friendship. It requires everyone to do their jobs.” She pointed at me. “It requires trust and confidence that all members will hold their own when shit goes down. And no one, especially male cops, want a polite chick around when that happens.”

“None of them wants a chick around, period,” I grumbled.

“Hey,” she said, “it’s not easy but it can be done. I’ve been on the force for twelve years now.”

Being reminded that it was actually possible to rise up through the ranks helped me calm down a little. “How did you do it?”

She smiled, but there wasn’t any warmth to be found there. “You want to fit in as a cop, you gotta make them forget you’re a chick. The last thing a man wants to worry about when he’s under fire is his ingrained instinct to protect a woman. You got to prove to them you can hold your own. Actually, more than that, you got to prove you could kick any of their asses.”

I snorted. “That means I have to be better than all of them.”

“Pretty much,” she said. “But that’s not all. If you’re gonna succeed you have to figure which one you are.”

“Which what?”

“A woman in law enforcement has three choices. You can be a dyke, a slut, or a bitch.”

I blinked at her. “That’s all? Those three?”

She nodded.

“Which one are you?” I had a guess, but I didn’t want to assume and end up insulting her.

She laughed out loud. “You really need to work on your poker face, too, Prospero. It’s no secret I’m a big old lesbian. My partner and I have been together for eight years. She’s an EMT.”

“Ah,” I said. “Well, I’ll leave that one to you then.”

She eyed me up and down. “Regardless of which option you choose, you’ll still have to be faster, smarter, and a better shot than most of them men on the force in order to get noticed. And Lord help you if you ever cry or say one goddamned word about your period.”

I hesitated. “Okay.”

“I’ve seen your test scores and you’ve gotten high marks from the cops you’ve been shadowing. You’ll do fine out there as long as you keep your head and don’t let all the dick swinging distract you from the job.”

“Understood.” I can’t say the talk made me feel better, but at least I had more insight in how to navigate the good-old-boy system than I’d had earlier. I blew out a breath and rose. “Thanks, Sarge.”

“Hey, I heard you pulled river patrol duty.”

I shrugged. “Yeah.”

“How’s Cap’n?” There was an amused fondness in her voice, as if she knew the old man well.

“Salty,” I said. “He’s forbidden me to speak.”

A laugh escaped her lips. “That’s Cap’n, all right. Don’t let him give you too much shit. He’s mostly bluster.”

“Yeah, right,” I said, thinking of the way he’d yelled at me that morning for accidentally dropping a line into the river.

“It’s too bad,” Ream said. “Back in the day he was one of the top cops in the Cauldron.”

I frowned. “Really?”

She nodded. “Back before the accident.”

I frowned. “I thought he was put on river patrol duty because of his age.”

She shook her head. “He took a bullet during a raid of the Arteries.” The Arteries was the nickname for the abandoned subway tunnels that ran under the Cauldron. The project had been stopped before completion, and now the underground labyrinth was the domain of the Sanguinarian Coven and magic junkies looking to get their fix. Every cop in the city knew going down there was bad news. “It was about ten years ago,” she continued. “Mayor decided to clean up the tunnels and sent a group down to round up the potion freaks. But I guess someone tipped off the Sangs. Cap’n took a bullet to the leg.”

I blew out a breath at the thought of him lying injured and vulnerable in the rat-infested darkness.

“He was never the same after that. He was given a choice between a desk or river patrol.”

I nodded. “I can’t imagine Cap’n stuck behind a desk pushing paper.”

“Right,” she said, pushing off the lockers. “He seems to enjoy the patrol, but I don’t think he ever recovered from the injury. The brass is just letting him serve out his time there until he can collect his pension.”

Hearing the story made me more sympathetic to the crotchety old guy. “Thanks for telling me.”

She held up her hands. “Do yourself a favor and don’t bring it up. Cap’n’s a proud man.”

I nodded. “Thanks for the advice, Sarge.”

She tipped her chin. “Good luck, Prospero. You’ll need it.”

  

I kicked in the front door of my apartment at seven that night. In my left hand, I held my keys and my duffel bag. In my right, a bucket of fried chicken. Behind me, Danny carried a bag of sides and drinks.

“So then David said that Ava told him that Riley wants to kick my butt,” he said.

I put my stuff on the counter and turned to relieve him of his burdens. “Why?”

“I don’t know. He tripped me on the playground this morning, too.”

I frowned. “What did your day camp counselor say?”

“She told me I shouldn’t antagonize him.” He crossed his arms. “It’s not fair. He tripped me.”

I ruffled his hair. “Dealing with bullies is never fair, kiddo. Pass me some plates.”

He sighed and turned to grab paper plates out of the tiny pantry beside the fridge. The entire kitchen had less space than the interior of my Jeep, so he bumped me as he moved past. “Here.”

I took the plates and started filling them with food. “Look, I know you’re frustrated, but if we get this new place, you can start at Pen’s school.” My best friend, Penelope Griffin, was a counselor at Meadowlake, the exclusive prep school Danny would start in the fall. The house I was hoping to rent wasn’t in the same neighborhood, but it was only about fifteen minutes away as opposed to our current place, which was more like thirty without traffic.

He frowned. “But I want to go to middle school with my friends.” Since it was summer, Danny was in a summer school program at the moment, but in the fall all of his friends would be going to a public middle school. I’d visited the place, and, even though it was far nicer than the prison parading as an educational institution I’d attended, I wanted something better for my brother.

“You’ll love it there,” I said. We’d had this argument before, so I wasn’t about to get into it again. “Let’s eat!”

We took our plates to the living room and sat on the sofa, which would fold out to become my bed later. I flipped on the TV and we dug into our chicken. I was starving after a full day working on the boat, followed by the obstacle course debacle. Probably, I should have tried to get something more nutritious, but the chicken place was convenient and cheap, which pretty much checked every box on my must-have for life at the moment.

Danny flipped channels to find his favorite cartoons. I tuned it out and thought about Sergeant Reams’s advice in the locker room. Truth was, as much as I wanted to deny that women were still required to fall into such narrow categories in order to succeed, I’d seen the dynamics at play over and over again at the academy and in the real world. So the question was, did I want to fight against the system or try to figure out how to work inside it?

It didn’t take me much thinking to realize that the latter choice was better. In addition to being a woman, I also had the whole Adept thing working against me. A lot of cops were suspicious of people born with the ability to work magic. It went beyond the typical prejudices against Adepts because in police work, evidence gathered through Arcane means wasn’t admissible in court. Still, a lot of Mundane cops saw their Adept counterparts as people who cheated the system to close cases. That’s why most Adepts in law enforcement went the CSI route instead.

So really, I had no choice but to try to play within the boundaries of the system. When Reams referred to the dyke stereotype, she wasn’t really talking about sexual preference so much as an attitude. But I wasn’t sure I could butch it up convincingly enough to fit in. That left two choices: slut or bitch. While the slut thing sounded fun, I wasn’t exactly a vixen. Nor was I willing to use sex to gain favor in the department. That meant that, by default, I was going to have to be the bitch.

If you asked any of my classmates from the academy, they’d probably tell you I already had it down pat. After growing up in one of the covens, I certainly understood how to employ swagger and a few choice words to shut down anyone who stepped up to me. Still, I wished it were okay not to have to play any role. I just wanted to be me.

I sighed and poked at my food.

“Hey, Katie?”

I looked over at my little brother. He had a smear of grease on his cheek, and his shaggy hair was in desperate need of a cut. “What’s up?”

“Can I have your biscuit?”

“Sure.”

He snatched it off my plate like an experienced pickpocket. I shook my head at him with a smile.

My phone rang over on the counter. I hopped up to grab it. “Turn down the volume, buddy.” He grabbed the remote and pressed the button, but left a grease slick in his wake.

I grabbed the phone on the third ring.

“I’m trying to reach Kate Prospero,” said a male voice.

“This is she.”

“It’s Bill Tanner,” he said, “you applied to rent my house on Maple Avenue?”

“Oh, this is her.” My stomach sank. In my head I was already hearing him tell me we didn’t get the place.

“I was just calling to let you know the place is yours.”

“That’s too bad—” I froze as his words sunk in. “Wait, we got it?”

“Baba recommended you highly.”

“She did? I mean, that’s great!” My right hand shot into the air and I did a little victory dance.

“When will you be able to move in?”

I paused and thought about it. My lease had been up a couple of months earlier so I was paying month-to-month until I could find a place. “Actually, I could move in as early as next weekend.” Even as I said the words, I couldn’t believe this was really happening.

“That’ll be fine. I’ll be out of town on a business trip, but I can leave the lease for you to sign and the keys with Baba.”

“Perfect,” I said. “I’m really excited. Thank you, Mr. Tanner.”

“Don’t thank me—thank Baba. She convinced me to give you a chance.”

I paused. “That was generous of her.”

He grunted. “Just pay your rent on time and don’t break anything and we’ll get along fine.”

“Yes, sir,” I said. “Thank you again.”

I hung up the phone and spun around. “We got it!”

Danny looked up with his cheeks packed with biscuit. “Mmph?”

“The house near your new school. It’s so great, Danny. You’ll love it. There’s a big tree and you’ll have your very own room.”

He swallowed and smacked his lips. “But I don’t want to move schools.”

I went to join him on the couch. “I know change is scary, but I really believe you’ll be happy there. You’ll get to see Pen every day.”

He thought it over with a frown. “That’d be sort of cool, I guess.”

“And the house has a big backyard.”

His eyes lit up. “Can we get a dog?”

I hesitated. “Maybe.” The dog discussion had been ongoing for the last year. I’d put him off this far by claiming our apartment was too small and no one was home all day to play with a dog. But now I’d just ruined that excuse. “Tell you what? Let’s get moved in first and then we can talk about getting a pet.”

“All right,” he said. “But no fish. They’re boring.”

I ruffled his hair. “Deal.”

  

The next day Cap’n allowed me to leave my milk crate and join him in the pilothouse of the boat. That victory combined with the excitement of finding out we’d gotten the house made me ridiculously happy. I leaned forward with the binoculars at my eyes and a huge smile on my lips.

“What are you grinning about, girl?”

I lowered the binoculars and shot him an exasperated expression. “It’s a beautiful day.”

“Hmmph.”

We were crawling through the waters farther from the mouth of the river. Here the factories and buildings of the city had given way to trees and farmland. The sun was warm, and a nice breeze drifted across the deck. A crane took flight from the surface of the water and flew a lazy circle overhead. This part of the river wasn’t as polluted as the areas closer to Lake Erie, so wildlife was more plentiful.

“Don’t know what’s so beautiful about it,” he grumped. He shifted to his right, taking weight off his left leg. Remembering what Sergeant Reams had said about him getting shot, I wondered if the movement had something to do with the old injury. “Get ready to tie up.”

Excited to do an actual job, I jumped up and went to the starboard side, where the lines were neatly coiled. Cap’n angled the boat toward a dock. An old tin sign hung from a pole on the end of the dock. The placard had a picture of a kid sitting at the end of a dock, fishing. Under that were the words, EARL’S BAIT AND TACKLE.

When we came aside the dock, I jumped out to quickly tie up. “Tie her up tight,” Cap’n called. He cut off the engine, and it took a second for my ears to adjust to the unaccustomed silence. I finished the knot he’d shown me and stood back to admire my handiwork. Cap’n climbed off the boat to inspect it. “Hmph.”

With that, he turned and limped up the dock. With a grin on my face, I stared after him. Cap’n wasn’t the kind of man to get real flowery with the accolades; the fact he hadn’t yelled or found some small thing to nitpick about was his version of high praise.

He stopped at the end of the dock and turned. “Well? You comin’?”

I hopped to and sped to catch up with him. Stepping off the dock, we landed in a sort of open grassy area in front of an old building with a rusted tin roof. Fishing nets decorated the metal walls, and old dog snored in the shade.

Signs tacked to the walls advertised the store’s offerings: night crawlers, red worms, wax worms, minnows, pike shiners, and maggots.

“Why are we here?” I asked.

“Seeing a man about a thing.” His eyes sparkled with mischief that belied the no-nonsense tone. But before I could question him more, he reached around me. The old screen door screeched like a banshee. The dog wasn’t impressed.

Inside, the bait shop smelled like rotten fish parts, old beer, and mold. I scrunched up my face, but Cap’n stilled and pulled a deep breath through his nose. “You ever fish, Prospero?”

“Of course not.” I’d grown up in the Cauldron with a single mother. My uncle Abe was the most likely person to take me fishing, but instead he’d taken me under his wing in the potion-cooking game.

He shook his head. “Kids these day aren’t raised proper.”

Considering I’d spent a lot of my childhood committing petty crimes and wanting to grow up to be the leader of my coven, I couldn’t exactly argue with him. But I did make a mental note to be sure to take Danny fishing at some point. “What kind of project are you working on, exactly?”

At that moment a tarp-covered door to the shop’s back room crinkled open. The man who emerged looked like an extra from Deliverance. His sun-weathered arms extended from a sleeveless T-shirt advertising a brand of motor oil. He wore a mesh cap on his head, and a toothpick jutted from his lips.

“Well, hell, Marty didn’t know you was coming around today!” The man smiled, exposing sepia-colored teeth earned from years of smoking the cigarettes he pulled out of his pocket. He had the accent of a transplant from below the Mason–Dixon. I wasn’t a linguistics expert, but I knew redneck when I heard it.

“Had a little time in my busy schedule,” Cap’n said. For some reason, both men started cackling. Bored, I looked into a case of hooks and lures.

Once they sobered, the owner of the shop nodded at me. “Who’s this you got with ya?”

“This is Prospero,” Cap’n said. “She’s stuck with me for the week.” His tone implied he considered himself the one who was stuck.

The owner lifted a cigarette to his lips and squinted as he lit the tip with a Zippo in his left hand. This told me he was most likely an Adept, which meant he’d been born with ability to turn Mundane ingredients into magic potions. Whether he actually used those talents was still up for debate. Not all Adepts chose to go through the training necessary to work magic. He exhaled the drag slowly as his gaze crawled over me like the maggots in his bait fridge.

I’d quit smoking a couple of years earlier, but, like most former smokers, I still craved the feel of smoke in my lungs. Seeing the cloud of nicotine emerging from under his mustache, though, turned my stomach.

“You must be Earl?” I said.

His eyes squinted. “How’d you know that?”

I pointed toward the door. “Sign outside.”

He didn’t crack a smile or relax his posture. Those two black eyes stayed on me as he spoke to Cap’n. “I got that stuff you wanted, Marty. Come on out back.”

Cap’n turned to me. “I’ll be right back.”

I started to ask him what was going on, but he shot me a look that promised retribution if I got too nosy. With a sigh, I leaned a hip against the counter.

Without another word, the pair of men disappeared through the tarp. I heard their shoes on creaky wooden boards and low-toned discussion, but I couldn’t make out any words. Pushing off the counter, I looked around the store. Several large fish were stuffed and mounted on the walls with brass plaques bragging each specimen’s weight and the date it was caught. A drinks cooler along one wall offered six-packs of beer, sodas, and bottles of water. There were even a few shelves filled with snacks and convenience items someone might need on a fishing trip, like sunscreen and foam coolers.

In other words, it was really boring. I looked to the right and spied a cloudy window looking our on the shop’s side yard. A rusted-out Chevy sat on cinder blocks in the tall weeds just beyond the wraparound porch.

The sound of a screen door closing echoed through the shop. An instant later Earl and Cap’n appeared on the porch. I quickly stepped behind a display shelf of koozies so they wouldn’t know I was eavesdropping.

“These look real good, Earl,” my temporary boss was saying.

“Glad you think so. You, uh, brought the payment?”

Cap’n reached into the inner pocket of his windbreaker and withdrew a thick envelope. I frowned. What the hell was going on? I’d spent enough time in the Cauldron to recognize a deal going down when I saw one. My conscience told me I was overreacting, but Cap’n was acting awfully suspicious about this entire visit.

I looked up in time to see the men shake hands and turn to come back inside. Jumping away from the window, I moved toward a display of fishing poles. The men emerged from behind the curtain.

“You ready, Prospero?”

I looked up as if he’d dragged me away from something very interesting. “Oh, sure.”

Earl tipped the bill of his mesh cap. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” The way he said it, though, sounded anything but polite.

I forced a smile and nodded before following Cap’n out of the store. When we emerged from the screen door, the dog opened one eye and emitted a halfhearted growl. I jogged past it to catch up with my boss on the dock.

“What was all that about?”

He glanced out of the corner of his eye. “Nothing.”

I laughed. “Didn’t look like nothing.”

He stilled and turned toward me. “You spying on me, girl?”

I raised my chin. “You were right next to the window.”

“I don’t know what you think you saw, but it’s none of your damned business.” With that, he turned and stalked across the dock’s weathered boards.

“Hey,” I called, following him. “I’m talking to you.”

He waved a hand behind him, as if swatting off an annoying bug.

I walked over to where he was bending over the lines. “I might be a rookie, but I didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday.”

He paused and looked up under the brim of his BPD ball cap. “What?”

I put my hands on my hips. “What kind of potion was it?”

He eyed me for a couple of beats. Then he threw back his head and laughed.

“I don’t see what’s so funny about it.” I crossed my arms.

He bent over and slapped his knees. “Hoo! I haven’t laughed like that in weeks.”

I cocked a brow.

The last of his chuckles subsided. “I wasn’t buying a potion.”

“What were you buying, then? Guns? Drugs?”

He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, as if fighting off another round of laughter. “Lures.”

I froze. “What?”

“Fishing lures.” He pulled the package Earl had given him out of his windbreaker. I took it from him carefully and opened the flap. Inside, there was a plastic box filled with six little compartments. In each, there was a fishing hook decorated with colorful feathers and rubber worms. “They cost a king’s ransom, too.”

Heat crawled up my neck and up to my forehead. “Oh.”

He snatched the box out of my hands. “Hmph.”

I ran a hand through my hair and tried to collect my thoughts. “I don’t get it. If you were just buying fishing stuff, why all the secrecy?”

He looked down at the dock. “Because I didn’t want you to know.”

“Know what? That you like to fish?”

He shook his head and squinted at me. “I’m taking an early retirement.”

“Huh? Why is that a secret?”

“You don’t get it. Where I come from, men work. They don’t quit early just because something’s hard.”

“That’s silly. You’ve been a cop—what? Twenty years?”

“Twenty-three. Don’t change how I feel, though.” He pointed down at his leg. “After my accident, I took the river patrol thinking it’d be a way to stay in the game. But I can’t do it anymore.”

“No one would blame you for that. I mean, I’ve only been with you a few days and I’m bored as hell.”

He shot me a warning look.

“Sorry, but it’s true. Anyway, there’s no shame in taking an early retirement. But I don’t get what the lures have to do with all this.”

“They have to do with my plans.” Two spots of red appeared on his cheeks. “Once I retire, I’m planning to head to Montana to open a fly-fishing business.”

“That’s cool,” I lied. The idea of spending any amount of time in the wilds of Montana, thigh-deep in icy water trying to hook fish, was pretty close to my idea of hell. But I didn’t mention that to him. Now that he’d opened up a little, I didn’t want to ruin it by mocking his dream.

He nodded and looked at the river. Even thought we were upstream from the worst of the pollution, the water moved sluggishly, as if it simply had lost the will to flow. “Sure beats spending my time on this watery graveyard. Last time I tried to fish the Steel, all I got for my efforts was an old boot, a dead bird, and three bloated fish.”

My mouth curled up. “Gross.”

“No shit.” He smiled at me. “You know, you might be all right after all, Prospero.”

I tilted my head. “I’m a little offended you thought otherwise.”

He shrugged. “Can’t blame me. When they told me I was getting a rookie, that was bad enough. But then one of the boys from the academy warned me you had a chip on your shoulder about being an Adept and all.”

I crossed my arms defensively. “I do not.”

He quirked a gray brow at me. “Sure ya do, but it doesn’t matter really. One thing I learned being a cop in this town is everyone’s lugging around baggage. The trick is you can’t let it trip you up when things really matter.”

He put the box back in his windbreaker and lifted his face to the sky. Sucking in a lungful of the sun-drenched air, he smiled. “Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone else about my plan. I’m still waiting on the paperwork to go through.”

I nodded. “Understood.”

“All righty.” He stepped onto the boat. “Untie that line and we’ll shove off.”

I smiled after the man. As it turned out, he wasn’t so bad after all, either. “Aye, aye, Cap’n.”

  

The next day rain made traveling up and down the river a real pain in the ass. A yellow slicker covered my clothes, making me look like a large, annoyed banana. But the rain wasn’t the only source of my frustration. I’d been on river patrol duty for four days. In that time, we’d done little more than float up and down the water. In fact, the only excitement we’d seen in the last few days was when a boater got himself caught on a sandbar and we’d had to tow him off.

I coiled the rope and threw the end on top of the pile. With a sigh, I lifted my head and looked up at the steel-gray clouds.

“What crawled up your rear end?” Cap’n said in a gruff tone. He stood in the wheelhouse where the rain couldn’t touch him.

“I’m just wondering when we’ll do something exciting.”

“Rookies,” he mumbled, shaking his head. “Once you been on the force awhile, you’ll learn to appreciate slow days.”

I threw up my hands. “Do you honestly expect me to believe there aren’t any crimes happening on this river?”

He shook his head. “You seen any?”

I stepped out of the rain, shaking the wetness from my hair. “How would we know? We haven’t investigated anything.”

The boat was crawling through the waters down near the abandoned steel factories. The old buildings loomed like metal giants along the shores. Instead of barges loaded with ore or metal girders, the water was filled with discarded trash, dead fish, and a thick oil slick.

“Look around you, girl. Nothing to investigate. This river died a long time ago.”

I wanted to tell him that the river might have died, but we were still alive. But I knew I’d be skirting too close to talking about the reasons he’d been put on river patrol to begin with. Instead, I said, “I’m just saying that we should be doing more. I’ve seen plenty of boats tied up along the shore. Surely someone’s committing a crime in one of them.”

He chuckled. “So what? You want to just stop at every boat and search them illegally in case someone’s breaking a law?”

His patronizing tone made me feel small. I knew he saw me as an inexperienced rookie with nothing useful to share. But I’d lived in Babylon my whole life. I knew lots of criminals used the river as a sort of bandit highway. My uncle Abe had used small boats to ship potions to other towns and also to receive illicit ingredients from elsewhere.

“You might have decided to just waste the rest of your time until retirement fishing and shooting the shit with the guy at the bait shop, but I’m here to learn about law enforcement.”

He looked at me from underneath his bushy eyebrows. I couldn’t read his expression except to know that he wasn’t pleased. “You want to go looking for trouble, maybe you should have shadowed the Arcane squad or homicide.”

I didn’t mention that I’d done the more exciting details, but they’d made me sit on the sidelines, too. Instead, I plopped my ass onto my bucket and shut my mouth. I couldn’t risk antagonizing him further and getting a bad report.

The only sounds were the water splashing against the hull and the whirring of the boat’s motor. Up ahead, the steel girders of the Bessemer Bridge spanned the river. Tires bumping over the bridge’s seams added a rhythmic pulse to the river soundtrack.

Passing under the bridge meant we were officially entering the Cauldron section of the river. The factories of earlier gave way to tenements and shantytowns along the river’s edge. Here the water was even more polluted, as it was downriver from the industrial section.

The bucket was digging into me, so I rose to stretch. I pulled off the slicker and hung it from a hook. I leaned against the wall, looking out the window toward the shore. I’d grown up in the Cauldron, but I’d never had much chance to look at it from the water.

A tent city sat on the shoreline. A few people with stooped shoulders and the paleness that came with malnutrition moved in and out of the ramshackle shelters. A few trash cans dotted the slope, but no fires were lit that rainy day.

“You grew up around here?” Cap’n asked quietly. I glanced over and saw his gaze on the tent city, too.

I nodded and watched a woman carry a crying toddler into a drooping tent.

“Votary Coven?”

I glanced up quickly. “How did you—”

He nodded toward my left wrist. “The tattoo.”

I looked down at the crowned Ouroboros coiled around my wrist. I’d gotten the tattoo on my sixteenth birthday, just after I’d become a made member of the coven. It had once been the proudest day of my life. But that accomplishment had been knocked down the list after I left the coven.

“Also your last name was a clue,” he added. “You’re related to Abraxas, right?”

My lips turned down into a frown. “His niece.” I looked him in the eye, daring him to think less of me.

Instead, he simply nodded. “When did you leave the coven?”

“Five years ago.”

“Why?”

“Someone I loved died.” I sucked in a deep breath. “I couldn’t stay after that.”

I didn’t mention that the person who died had been my mother, and the real reason I left was that she’d died from using one of the potions I’d cooked. It was easier to let people think grief chased me away instead of shame.

“So how does a girl who grew up in one of the most powerful covens in Babylon end up becoming a cop?”

I should have expected the question. Lord knew I’d been asked it dozens of times by classmates and superior officers. But I was tired of having to justify my reasons for trying to improve my life. “Why did you become a cop?” I asked, turning the table on the old man.

The corner of his mouth lifted. “I wanted to kick ass and take names.”

I tried to imagine the old man in his younger years. “How’d that work out for you?”

He laughed and nodded down to his bum leg. “Worked out great…until it didn’t.”

“What happened?”

His gaze moved back toward the front of the boat. He fiddled with a couple of buttons before he responded. “Potion bust gone bad.” He looked at me from the corner of his eye. “Sangs.”

I looked away, but inside I wondered if I knew the person who’d put the bullet in my new boss. The Sangs were allies of the coven I’d grown up in, so chances were good. But I didn’t have the courage to ask the shooter’s identity. “I’m sorry.”

“What for? You didn’t pull the trigger.” His tone was gruff. “Hell, you hadn’t even gone through puberty when it happened.”

I shrugged. “Just seemed like the right thing to say.”

He chuckled. “Anyway, after the shooting, I guess the brass felt I wasn’t fit for patrol anymore. Been on this floating hunk of junk ever since.”

“Do you miss it?”

“What? Patrol?”

I nodded.

A wry smile tilted up the corner of his mouth. “I don’t miss the bunions or having to hose vomit out of my car at the end of a shift. But, yeah, I miss it sometimes.”

By that time, we were nearing the terminus where the river spilled into Lake Erie. Instead of continuing to ask him questions about what was obviously a sore subject, I quieted as he executed a turn to take the boat back upriver. I couldn’t help but think about how different we were. He was a gruff veteran who couldn’t wait to retire, and I was an ambitious rookie who was itching to hit the streets. To kick ass and take names, just as he’d once wanted to do.

How would I handle it if a bullet took me out of the game? I liked to think I’d be more resilient and bounce back quickly.

You let an injury take you out of a different game, my conscience whispered.

I tried to suppress that traitorous voice. My mother’s death was different from Cap’n getting shot. It hadn’t been an injury but a wake-up call. Cooking potions had always been a game to me. A challenge. But once my mother died from a potion I’d cooked, I realized that if I didn’t leave she’d end up being the first of many, and I had a bad feeling eventually I’d be among the dead. Danny had been another factor in my decision to leave. I knew if we stayed he’d eventually be pulled into the game, too. And I couldn’t stand the idea of my sweet little brother being tainted by the greed and violence of the potion racket.

“Prospero,” Cap’n said.

I dragged myself out of the past and looked up at the man. He was looking out the window at something on the shore. “Yeah?”

“You see that?”

My gaze followed the finger he was pointing. We were passing the tent town again. Only this time, a motorboat that hadn’t been there the first time we’d passed bobbed at a makeshift dock. A lanky man with stringy black hair who wore a stained wife beater with baggy jeans stood on the deck of the boat. His friend was onshore speaking to the woman I’d seen earlier with the toddler. This guy was short with a beer belly straining the seams of his black T-shirt. He had on shorts and flip-flops, which sank into the thick mud.

As we approached, we watched the shorter man hand something to the woman. She gave him something in return, which he quickly pocketed.

“What do you think?” Cap’n said.

I squinted at the men through a set of binoculars. The man on the boat had tattoos on his shoulders and arms. I could just make out the sickle-shaped alchemical symbol for lead on his left biceps. “My guess is Votary. But it’s hard to tell. The coven’s splintered since Uncle Abe was arrested. Could be self-starters.”

Cap’n’s face changed with the mention of the Votary Coven. “You’re assuming they’re selling potions.”

I lowered the binoculars. “They sure as shit aren’t selling her baby formula. Look at her. She’s got the shakes and her skin is covered in lesions.” Potion addicts usually had sores on their skin and irises ringed light blue. If I had to guess, the woman in question hadn’t been freaking for too long; otherwise she’d have exhibited more extreme outward signs of addiction, such as oddly tinted skin or limb mutations.

“I’m not buying it,” he said dismissively.

“Oh come on! A child could tell there’s a potion deal going down.”

He shook his head. “We don’t have probable cause.”

I pointed a finger at the trio. “We just watched the short guy sell her a potion. That’s beyond probable cause.”

Cap’n ignored me and steered the boat toward the center of the river. My mouth fell open as he throttled the engine. The pair on the speedboat turned to watch us speed by. The tall one even had the balls to wave at us.

“Turn this boat around so we can go question them,” I demanded.

Cap’n shook his head. “It’s getting late. Got to get you back to the dock to clock out for the day.”

“Screw the clock. It won’t take long.”

He shook his head, stubborn as an ass.

I looked him in the eye. “You aren’t retired yet.”

The look he shot at me was as serious as a heart attack. “Drop it.”

“But—”

The look he gave me said he was about two seconds away from reporting me for insubordination.

I shook my head and crossed my arms. Leaving the wheelhouse, I went to the back of the boat to watch the criminals we’d just passed finish their transaction. My chest felt tight with frustration. How in the hell was I supposed to learn from this cop when he refused to investigate crimes?

  

That night my best friend, Pen, knocked on my door about nine o’clock. I opened the door to find her holding a six-pack of beer. Pen wore jeans and a pale pink shirt that made her brown skin glow. Her long, dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. “Beer faery!”

I laughed. “Thank God. But we’ll have to be quiet because Danny’s sleeping.”

She tiptoed across the threshold. “I was going to call, but I was already in the neighborhood so I took a chance.”

I frowned. “Why were you in the neighborhood?” Pen lived in a nicer part of Babylon that didn’t have a freakhead on every corner.

“T-Bone needed some help.”

“Ah,” I said. “He okay?” T-Bone was the new Arcane Anonymous member Pen sponsored. He had been struggling with his new sobriety, but he had been lucky to get an accredited psychologist like Pen as his sponsor.

She nodded. “Just a minor freakout,” she said dismissively. She’d been down the same road as T-Bone herself.

I cracked open a beer and handed it to her. “Sounds like we both need one of these.” After she took it, I opened my own beer and took a healthy swig.

“Uh-oh? Trouble on the high seas?”

I leaned against the kitchen counter. “I don’t know. This guy I’m assigned to is frustrating.”

“How so?” She was standing on the other side of the counter and leaned her elbows on the surface.

“He’s retiring soon, so he’s avoiding doing any real police work. It’s almost like he’s afraid.”

“Makes sense. If he’s that close to freedom, he probably wants to avoid anything dangerous.” Pen had made no bones about how much she worried about my new career path. Don’t get me wrong, she supported my decision to become a cop, but I guess it made sense for her to worry that I might get hurt.

I shook my head. “Today we saw a potion deal going down on the river. I wanted to go intervene, but he refused.”

“You’re sure it was a deal?”

I nodded. “I think so. It had all the hallmarks of one. Regardless, it was shady enough looking that any cop worth his salt would have gone to question the parties involved.”

“I take it you argued with his decision?” A knowing smile tilted her lips.

“Of course! I didn’t join the BPD to cruise along the stinky river all day. I want to arrest people.”

“You’ll have plenty of opportunity to do that once you’re sworn in. Why not enjoy the easy gig until that happens?”

I sighed and shook my head. “I’m just ready to get started, you know?”

She reached across the counter and patted my hand. “You’ve worked so hard to get here, I’m sure it’s frustrating to be on the verge of everything coming together.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Besides, you only have what? Two more days until this last detail is over? Then you’ll be sworn in next week and can go kick all the ass you want.”

I chuckled and took another sip. The best thing about having a psychologist for a best friend was always having access to the voice of reason.

Pen looked around the apartment and paused. “What’s with all the boxes?”

“Did I not tell you?”

She shook her head.

“I got the house!”

Her eyes widened and a huge smile spread across her face. “Shut up!”

“We move next weekend.” I’d been spending my evenings packing away our meager possessions. I still had a lot of work to do, but I’d already booked a rental trailer for the big move on Saturday. “Are you free this weekend?”

Her face morphed into a fake expression of reluctance. “I don’t know, I’ve got a pretty busy social schedule.” Dropping the act, she grinned. “Of course I’ll help out.”

“Cool!”

“Once you’re settled, we can sit down and start on the application for Meadowlake, too. Since it’s summer, the deadline has already passed to apply, but I can probably grease a few wheels to get him a space for the fall.”

“That would be great, Pen. It would majorly suck if we moved and he couldn’t get in.”

She nodded. “I hear you. I’ve already talked to my friend in the admissions office. She said there should be no problem.”

I looked down at the beer can in my hand. “Did you, uh, talk to the financial aid office, too?”

“I did.”

I looked up. “And?” This entire plan hinged on the ability to get a discount on tuition; otherwise there was no way I could afford to send Danny there.

“They said there’d be no problem transferring the discount to Danny since I’m his aunt.”

I snorted. “You told them he’s your nephew?”

“African Americans can have white relatives.” She laughed. “Besides, he’s totally family.” She smirked. “Just not by blood.”

“Kate?” Danny called from the doorway of the bedroom.

“What’s wrong, buddy?”

He yawned and wiped sleep from his eyes. When he opened them again he finally noticed Pen standing there. Without another word, he threw himself at her for a hug. She laughed and wrapped her arms around him. “It’s good to see you, too, dude.”

I smiled at the pair. Even though Danny was about to start middle school, he sometimes forgot that and showed signs of the little kid he used to be.

“Pen and I were just talking about how much you’re going to love Meadowlake,” I said.

Danny pulled out of the hug with a frown. “I don’t have any friends there.”

Pen leaned down to look him in the eye. “You will,” she promised. “There are lots of nice kids there. Plus, the school has really cool computers for all the students to use.”

His eyes opened wide. “Really?”

She nodded. “You’ll even be able to take a video game design class.”

Danny looked at me like he couldn’t believe his luck. “Awesome! My old school only had one computer and you couldn’t play any games on it because it was so slow.”

I smiled at him. “See? I told you.”

“I guess I can give it a try,” he said, trying to play it cool.

“Once you guys get moved into your new house, we can set up a time for you to take a tour of the school,” Pen said. “You’re going to love the library.”

He frowned. “Books are lame.”

I shook my head at him. “You know what else is lame? The fact you’re up way past your bedtime.”

“Aw man.”

I pointed toward the bedroom. “See you in the morning.”

He hugged Pen one more time before he dragged himself back to bed. Once the door was closed, Pen turned to me. “He’s getting so big.”

I nodded. “I had to buy him new shoes last week and he’s already in the men’s sizes.”

She shook her head. “I remember when he wore light-up shoes with superheroes on them.”

“It makes me feel old.”

Pen laughed out loud, the sound coming from her belly and bursting forth like a song. “Girl, shut up. You’re only twenty-two!”

At the ripe old age of twenty-seven, Pen considered me a baby. But while most twenty-two-year-olds were just finishing college, I’d graduated from the streets of the Cauldron, which made people like dogs—aging seven years for every one they survived. I knew what she meant, though. Sometimes I felt seriously old, but I really did have my whole life ahead of me, especially now that I was finally about to start a new chapter. Still, I couldn’t let Pen’s comment go unanswered. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot about your advanced age. Maybe I should have a ramp installed in the new house for your old-person scooter.”

She chuckled and took a swig of her beer. “For real, though. I feel like it’s only good things for you from now on, Kate. The hardest years are behind you.”

I held up my can for a toast. “To the future: May it be filled with good fortune and even better friends.”

She tapped her can to mine. “And lots of super-hot dudes.”

“Amen, sister.”

  

I arrived at the docks the next morning to find Cap’n already on the boat. “You’re late,” he snapped.

I glanced at my watch. I was five minutes early, but I let the comment slide. After the tension yesterday, I’d decided to take Pen’s advice and try to just get my last two days on river patrol over with. “Good morning to you, too.”

“Untie the lines.”

I did as instructed as quickly and quietly as possible. Unlike the day before, the sun was shining and the sky was the kind of blue that only happened on a perfect summer day. A nice breeze was coming off Lake Erie, which chased away the worst of the river’s funk.

“You done yet?” my grumpy partner said.

“All set,” I said cheerfully.

For some reason my determination to be in good mood only made him grumpier. “What’s got sunshine coming out of your ass today?”

I smiled sweetly. “Just looking forward to another day in your company, Cap’n.”

He frowned and made a disgusted sound before turning to the wheel. For the next half hour, neither of us spoke as he navigated the boat through the river toward the Bessemer Bridge. I wasn’t sure why he’d decided to head that direction since he seemed to prefer spending most of his day in the quieter and cleaner waters upriver. But I didn’t dare ask him with the mood he was in. So I just sat on my bucket and enjoyed the sun on my face.

Soon the shadow of the Bessemer loomed overhead and we officially reentered the stretch of river along the Cauldron. I rose and went to the side of the boat. Sunlight didn’t improve the look of the tent city. Instead of blending into the gray sky and mud, it stood out like a discarded old boot against the cheery blue sky and yellow light.

The good news was the motorboat was nowhere to be found. Maybe the potion dealers were off sunning themselves like the lizards they were.

With a sigh, I turned my back on the tent city and turned to see what Cap’n was doing. I was shocked to see him watching the tents as intently as I had been. For a man who’d refused to intervene the day before, he certainly looked interested in it.

“Your friends are gone.” The words were spoken in a grudging tone, as if he was trying to budget his words to me.

I shrugged. “They’re out there somewhere.”

He nodded and turned his eyes back to the river. “Soon they’ll be someone else’s problem.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?” I walked to the control panel and leaned against it so I could see his face.

“Paperwork went through. Tomorrow’s my last day on the river, too.”

My brows rose. “That was fast.”

He glanced out the corner of his eye. “No sense dragging out the inevitable.” For a man who’d just received news he would soon be free to do whatever he wanted, he didn’t sound very optimistic.

“Why don’t you sound happier?”

He shrugged but didn’t respond. I let the matter drop because he clearly wasn’t eager to talk about it. So with a sigh, I went back to my bucket. Only five more hours until I could cut loose for the day.

We didn’t speak much for the next couple of hours. At noon, we docked at a filling station upriver and ate our sandwiches. I sat on the prow of the ship with my legs hanging over the water. He stayed under the covered area, as if he wanted to spend every possible moment he had left behind the wheel.

The water up in this part of the river was cleaner than farther down the waterway. Under my feet, little fish swam just beneath the surface. I threw in a couple of chunks of bread for them to fight over. I leaned my head back and looked up at a bird circling overhead, waiting for his chance to swoop down and get his own lunch.

Traffic near this section of the water was lighter, too. During the first fifteen minutes of the lunch break only two boats had floated by, both fishing boats headed farther upriver where the fish weren’t poisonous.

It wasn’t until I was done with my food and preparing to haul myself toward the back of the boat that the sound of a motor buzzed in my ears. I looked up to see the same speedboat we’d seen the day before zoom past, headed downriver. The driver of the boat was the lanky guy with long hair. His shorter partner wasn’t with him. He sped past without looking in our direction.

I leaped off the deck and moved as fast as possible along the narrow edges of the boat to reach the back. “Did you see that?” I asked. “It was him.”

Cap’n had been snoozing. At my raised voice, he fell off the stool. “Tarnation, woman, you scared the piss out of me!”

I shook my head to dismiss his complaints. “The potion dealer from yesterday just sped past. We have to follow him.”

Cap’n righted the cap on his head and took a deep breath before answering. “Why would we do that?”

I threw up my hands. “Because he’s either on his way to deal potions or he’s on his way to their hideout.”

Cap’n tilted his head. “Hideout? You sound like Nancy Drew.”

I crossed my arms. “Look, all I’m saying is we should follow him. See where he goes.”

“I don’t—”

“You got something better to do?” I said pointedly. “Perhaps finish your nap?”

His jaw set. “Cool your jets. I was just about to say that I don’t think it’s a bad idea.”

I paused. “Really?”

He nodded.

“Well…fine then.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “You have to untie us first.”

“Oh, right.” I quickly untied the lines as Cap’n flipped the ignition. A roar sounded from the engine, and the water behind the boat boiled. I hopped back in. “Let’s go!”

The boat took off from the dock at a surprising speed. In all my time on the craft, Cap’n had kept the throttle low, but now we were really moving. The speed and the wind made me tighten my knuckles on the control panel. I glanced over at the old man, who had a determined look on his face.

“What made you suddenly change your mind?” I asked.

His mouth tightened into a determined line. “If I’m leaving, I’m going to do it in style.”

I smiled with a mixture of adrenaline and relief. “Let’s go kick some ass, Cap’n.”

“Hell yeah!” He gunned the engine, and we took off like a shot through the water. The motorboat had a head start on us and we were entering a part of the river with more traffic, so we didn’t have to worry about him seeing us trailing him.

We followed for about ten minutes before I saw the motorboat veer off the main river into a tributary that branched off to the right. Cap’n slowed our speed and followed at a distance. The water was narrower here, but luckily was still deep enough to accommodate our craft. “This is Breakneck Channel,” Cap’n said. “It dead-ends about five miles from here.”

Speaking of dead ends, if I thought the Steel River was polluted, it was nothing compared with the sludge we floated on now. “This water is totally stagnant,” I said.

“No freshwater feeding into this stretch,” he explained. “No real life at all.” He nodded to the empty factories along the route, which had been closed down for years.

“Which means no customers along this route, either.” That supported my second theory, which was that he was headed toward their hideout.

Up ahead, the motorboat pulled up next to a large boat that resembled a houseboat, but the miserable state it was in made it look more like a floating tenement. I pulled out my binoculars and took a look. The lanky dude made quick work of tying the smaller boat to the larger one and hopped aboard before disappearing inside the door on the two-level structure on the deck.

“There’s an old mill road that runs long this stretch of water,” Cap’n said. “I’m gonna drop anchor and we can continue on foot.”

It was a good idea. It would be foolish to roar up next to the other boat. That kind of move would only invite gunfire. Approaching on foot gave us the added advantage of stealth so we’d know what we were up against.

Several minutes later, we ducked behind a stand of trees parallel with the houseboat. I’d brought the binoculars, but Cap’n confiscated them. “There are at least two men inside. Looks like they’ve got a lab set up, too.”

He offered the glasses to me. When I looked through them, I saw Lanky and Shorty arguing next to a long table set up with a variety of glass tubes and flasks. “A floating lab,” I said. “It’s kind of brilliant.”

“How you figure?”

I handed the binoculars back before answering. “Labs on dry land are tricky. Lots of wizards cook in their kitchens or bathrooms. But it’s dangerous because if the fuzz puts pressure on you it’s hard to move a lab. It can be done, but usually only in deep night. Putting a lab on a boat, though, gives you the ability to move it in broad daylight without anyone questioning you.”

He nodded. “Sometimes I wonder what boys like that could accomplish if they put their ingenuity to good uses.”

I smirked at him. “For a criminal it’s not about getting ahead, it’s about the thrill of getting away with it.”

He shot me a look, but I ignored it. “How do you want to play this?”

He pursed his lips and looked over the boat with his naked eyes. “We gotta go in hard and fast so they don’t have a chance to shove off. You enter through the aft and I’ll come in stern side. We’ll meet in the middle.”

I nodded. “A little shock and awe, huh, Cap’n?”

He grinned. “You look way too excited about this.”

“Damned straight.”

He nodded and his smile faded a little. “Just don’t get shot.”

“Yes, sir.” I saluted him.

We split up, with each of us using the tree line to disguise our approach. By the time I was even with the front of the boat, my heart was racing ahead of me. I palmed my Glock and swallowed to try to dispel some of the adrenaline. “You’ve got this,” I whispered.

I glanced back and saw that Cap’n had taken position near the boat’s stern. He nodded and counted down three, two, one.

I burst forward from the trees. Before I knew it, I was jumping from the shore onto the deck. My boots landed on the wood with a thud. Inside the boat, the argument cut off. “What the fuck was that?” a male voice yelled. I ducked against the wall of the structure where I couldn’t be seen from inside. A loud noise came from the other end of the boat, signaling Cap’n was making his move. I took a deep breath and prepared to kick in the door next to me. But before I could, it flew open. Shorty ran out.

“BPD,” I yelled. “Freeze, asshole!”

Shorty stumbled to a halt and turned slowly. His arms came up instantly. “Shit,” he spat.

I moved toward him, but behind me the sound of a scuffle and male shouts reached my ears. I was torn between helping my partner and cuffing my own catch. Deciding quickly, I jumped toward Shorty. My hand was reaching back toward the cuffs on my belt when Cap’n shouted something. A loud thump echoed from inside the boathouse.

I grabbed Shorty’s wrist and slapped a cuff on. Holding on to him, I turned to look into the boat. Cap’n was lying on his side on the floor. He was way too still. “Fuck!”

Yanking Shorty’s other hand behind his back, I made quick work of applying the second cuff. Using my foot, I swept his legs out from under him. He slammed onto his back. “Ow, bitch!”

“Stay,” I commanded.

I ran back toward the house and barreled inside. “Cap’n!” Fear made me drop the nickname as I slid into a crouch next his body. He flopped over, cupping a hand on his bum knee.

“Go get him before he shoves off!”

“Are you okay?”

He nodded quickly. “Go!”

I jumped up, my breath panting in and out of my lungs, ran the length of the house, and burst through the second door. Something bit into the side of my face a split second before I heard the sound of a gun go off. My heart stopped and it was only instinct that made me duck. I put a hand to my face and realized the pain was from splinters of wood that broke off when the bullet hit the side of the building. My first thought was that I was okay. My second was that that had been way too close. My third, that this asshole meant business.

From my crouch, I crab-walked to the edge of the house. Lanky was on the port side of the boat, bent over the lines. A flash of metal told me he was cutting the rope.

Gripping the gun in my left hand tighter, I forced myself into a standing position. My pulse was thumping in my ears. My hand shook. I told myself it was adrenaline, but I knew that was a lie. I was scared. That bullet that almost hit my head marked the first time I’d been shot at. Sure, I’d seen plenty of guns and violence, but no one had ever tried to shoot me before. It’s not like you see on TV. There’s no commercial break for you to catch your breath. Right then, the boring days floating down the river suddenly sounded pretty good.

“Get your shit together, Prospero,” I lectured myself. I sucked in a lungful of air and blew it out slowly. Marginally calmer now, I pivoted toward the side of the boat. “Put the knife down!”

I pointed the Glock at the guy. He froze for an instant and then raised his hands. A snake’s smile spread his pale lips. “Too late, bitch.”

As if on cue, the boat slowly began to float away from the shore. My shock only lasted a split second, but it was enough time for Lanky to dive through an open window on the side of the boat.

“Shit!” But before I could follow him back inside, a loud splash sounded from near the front of the ship. I looked over the edge in time to see Shorty bobbing up from under the water. Black sludge coated his face and bald head. He sputtered and his eyes went wide as it occurred to him that with his arms cuffed he couldn’t swim.

“Help!” he shouted.

Realizing that sooner or later he’d realize he was only like eight feet from shore, I dismissed him in favor of going after his partner, who was inside the house with Cap’n.

More carefully this time, I approached the house. Crouching next to the door, I held my gun to my chest and turned my head to look inside. I couldn’t see Cap’n, but I did see Lanky in front of the lab setup with his back to the door. He was cursing out loud and holding a gun pointed at Cap’n, who was sitting on the floor next to him.

I rose from my crouch and stormed the room. “Put down the gun and step away from the lab, sir,” I said, projecting my voice. “You’re under arrest.”

Lanky turned sideways to look at me. He held my eyes and with deliberate movements knocked over a glass flask filled with bright green liquid. The movement tipped over the Bunsen burner, as well. My eyes flared a split second before the chemical caught fire, which crawled rapidly over the table.

“Oh shit!” I yelled. “You stupid son of a bitch.” Lanky had decided to destroy the lab in a vain effort to hide the evidence of his crimes.

Lanky cuffed Cap’n on the head with his gun on the way to the door. He burst through the back door and dove over the edge of the boat.

Stopping Lanky took a backseat to getting Cap’n and me off the boat before it blew. I ran past the rapidly spreading fire and knelt next to my partner. The blow on his head had rendered him unconscious. With strength born of fear, I grabbed Cap’n under his armpits and bodily pulled him toward the door. Loud popping noises signaled that fire was causing the tubes in the lab to burst. I tugged and cursed and yanked toward the door.

I was almost at the threshold when Cap’n snorted and shook himself violently. “Kate?”

“I need you to move!” I yelled. Tugging him by his collar, I pulled him the rest of the way out the door as the fire gave chase. Sweat poured down my forehead and trickled down my back. “Come on!”

He stumbled in my grasp toward the railing. I tried to urge him over the side, but he balked. “We’ll be poisoned!”

“Better than getting flash-fried!” I bumped him with my hip. His arms windmilled for a moment before he tumbled ass-over-elbows into the sludge below. Once I was sure he bobbed back up and was out of the way, I sucked in a breath and jumped.

The water was cold despite the warm summer day, and thick; it was like jumping into a barrel of oil. I sputtered up toward the surface. I had to use my hands to swipe away the worst of the pollution to be able to look around. Cap’n was about five feet away, and judging by the slowness of his movements and the wincing frown on his face, his injuries were making it hard to paddle. I swam toward him instead of the shore. Grabbing him by the arm with my right hand, I stroked with all my might toward the shore. Behind us, the flaming houseboat was floating toward the main channel of the Steel River.

I labored toward the shore. Next to me, Cap’n was sputtering and cursing, but he didn’t fight me. He kicked his good leg and moved his arm to help move us forward. It felt like it took forever to reach the side of the channel. My feet touched bottom and I used the leverage to help push Cap’n out of the water. He cleared the lip of dirt and fell onto his back, panting. I glanced over my shoulder one more time.

The burning houseboat had come even with the police river cruiser, which was a good two hundred yards from where we were.

“Kate, come on.” I looked up to see Cap’n leaning over and extending a hand toward me. “Quickly now.”

I scrambled up out of the water with his help. My knees hit the shore and I spit to clear the taste of pollution and stagnant water from my lips. Commotion to my right caught my eye. I looked over and saw Lanky lying on the shore not fifty feet from us. Beyond him, in the distance, Shorty was struggling to regain his feet. They both looked like those ducks you see after an oil spill—covered in black oil and shell-shocked. I couldn’t blame them, I felt pretty shitty myself.

I didn’t hear the explosion. But I sure as hell felt the wall of searing heat slam into my body. The concussion knocked me to the ground and made my hearing go fuzzy.

I don’t know how long I stayed down. But when I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see very well. They throbbed painfully, as if blood vessels had burst. I blinked a few times to try to clear my vision. A blurry mass lay to my left. Realizing it was Cap’n, I crawled toward him. Each movement felt like a new injury, but soon my fingers touched something solid. “Marty?” I couldn’t hear myself. “Marty!”

A hand touched my face. I blinked again and my eyes finally cleared enough to see Cap’n’s face in mine. He looked like hell with a gash bleeding freely from his head and his face streaked with sludge. “Are you okay?” he mouthed. He’d probably spoken out loud, but the only sound in my ears was high-pitched static.

I swallowed hard and nodded. Despite my confusion, I was pretty sure I didn’t have any serious injuries. His face changed from relief to shock, and he pointed behind me.

I turned slowly. My mouth fell open.

The river was on fire.

  

A week later I hefted a box from the trailer I’d rented to move our meager possessions into the new house. The move made the still-tender burns on my arms flare painfully. According to the doctor who’d treated my wounds, we were all extremely lucky to be alive—although I doubted Lanky and Shorty would have agreed with the sentiment.

Lanky, whose real name was Earnest Tuttle, and Shorty, aka Fred Higgins, had been arrested for conspiracy to distribute illegal Arcane substances, attempted murder of two police officers, destruction of public property, as well as couple of fuck-you charges courtesy of the EPA. It had only taken the fire department an hour to get the fire under control, but by that time the full brunt of the BPD and the media had descended on the river. After giving our initial statements, Cap’n and I had both been rushed off to the hospital. I hadn’t seen him since.

On my way to the front door, I paused to watch Danny climb the tree in the side yard. With a determined look on his face, he scrambled his feet against the bark. A wave of some strong emotion rose in my chest. Pride mixed with hope and a lot of love.

This house was a dream realized. After years of struggling, I’d finally gotten us far away from the place where all our old nightmares lived. We could finally start building some semblance of a normal life.

A few days earlier I’d been officially sworn in as a full-time patrol officer with Danny and Pen looking on. I’d start walking my new beat on Monday night. That morning, Danny and I had a date at Meadowlake for a tour.

“Hey, Kate!” he called. “Look at me!” He’d finally reached the tree’s lowest branch and was hanging from it like a monkey.

I smiled. “I see you, buddy. Great job!”

I continued into the house and set the box filled with plates and cups on the kitchen counter. Pen was at the sink, looking out the front window with a smile. She’d been watching Danny, too. “I think he approves of the new digs.”

I laughed. “I might never get him out of that tree.”

She adjusted the rubber gloves and got back to scrubbing the sink with cleaner. “We should make the beds first. Where’s the bedding?”

I ran my hand through my hair and nodded. “They’re in one of these boxes somewhere.”

She paused and stared at me for a moment. I tilted my head. “What?”

“I’m so happy for you, Katie. This place is perfect for you guys.”

Warmth spread through my midsection. But before I could answer, a knock sounded at the door.

I walked over to open the screen and found Baba standing on the porch. “Hi, neighbor. I brought you a housewarming gift.” She held out a platter of cookies.

I took the offering and held the door open with my hip so she could shuffle in. “You didn’t have to do that.” If anything, I owed her a gift for convincing the landlord to rent to us.

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Pen came forward and introduced herself. The old woman shook her hand, but her gaze moved back and forth between us. “You didn’t say you had a partner, Kate.”

I frowned but then her meaning hit home. “Oh, no.” A laugh escaped my lips. “Pen’s my friend, Baba. We’re not together.”

She looked unconvinced. “Wouldn’t be a problem if ya were. I’m hip.”

Pen bit her bottom lip. “I’m just here to help Katie unpack.”

“Hmph.”

The awkward moment was interrupted by the sound of running feet a moment before Danny burst through he door. “Did someone say cookies?”

Baba smiled down at him. “You must be Danny.”

He paused and looked up at the old woman. There was a streak of dirt on his cheek, and the starchy scent of boy sweat emanated from his skin. “Yes, ma’am,” he said solemnly.

Baba’s lips twitched, but she schooled her features. “My name is Baba. I’m your neighbor.”

Danny looked her over, taking in the broomstick skirt, peasant blouse, and long gray hair. “You kinda look like a witch.”

“Danny!” I called, mortified.

Baba threw back her head and cackled. “It’s okay,” she said to me. To Danny, she said, “As it happens, I am a witch.”

His eyes widened. “What coven do you belong to?”

Baba shot me a curious look. “I’m a solitary witch. I grow herbs in my garden and use them to make homemade remedies and special teas.”

When Danny still looked confused, I explained. “It’s a different type of magic than what wizes use, kiddo.” I didn’t mention that Mundane magic was way weaker than the kinds Adepts created. No sense offending the woman after she’d done so much to help us.

“Actually,” Baba said, “that’s the other reason I came by. If you want, I could do a simple clearing ceremony to invite positive energy into the house.”

“Um.” I hesitated. “That’s nice of you to offer, but I don’t allow magic in my home.”

The old woman froze. “But you’re an Adept.” She sounded suspicious, as if she thought I was pulling one over on her.

I crossed my arms. “When I left the covens, I swore off magic of all forms.”

Baba’s eyes narrowed and her mouth pursed to the right. “You’re serious?”

When I nodded, she made a sound I couldn’t interpret. “All right,” she said slowly. “But I’m not talking about cooking any of them dirty potions or whatever. Just smudging the house with sage.”

I shook my head. “It’s still ceremonial magic. Like I said, I appreciate it, though.”

“Suit yourself.” She shrugged. She didn’t sound offended so much as amused and a little patronizing. She turned to Danny. “Hey, kiddo, you want to come see my witch garden?”

He nodded eagerly.

The old woman looked to me. “That okay?”

I paused. I knew she was asking if hanging out in her garden broke my no-magic rule. It felt like a test. If I refused, she’d declare me one of those neurotic parents who kept their kids in a metaphorical bubble. “Go ahead,” I said finally. Having the kiddo out of my hair for an hour or so would allow me to make some headway on unpacking. Plus, a garden full of herbs wasn’t exactly the same as feeding him a magic potion. “Just be back by supper.” I looked at Baba. “We’re ordering pizza to celebrate. You want to join us?”

The woman’s face cleared and she smiled. I passed the test. “Absolutely.”

I wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but she seemed relieved. Could it be that my witch neighbor had been feeling a little too solitary?

After the pair left hand in hand, Pen came to join me at the door to watch them go. “She’s quite a character.”

I blew out a breath. “Leave it to me to end up next to a witch.”

Pen laughed. “There are worse sorts of neighbors.”

Recalling the potion freaks who’d lived next door to us in the apartment building, I nodded. “No shit.”

For the next hour or so Pen and I worked together to get the basics of unpacking handled. We were just finishing making Danny’s bed in the upstairs guest bedroom when a male voice echoed through the house. Pen shot me a curious look as I turned to go check out the new arrival.

When I walked into the living room, I found Cap’n limping through my new kitchen. He saw me and paused beside the table.

He leaned heavily on a cane, and his right arm was in a sling. “Looks like you’re moving up in the world.”

I laughed. “And you look like you got your ass kicked.”

He shrugged. “Just a little run-in with some potion cooks.”

I smiled at him. “How ya doing, Cap’n?”

“Didn’t you hear? I’m officially a free man.”

“Good for you.”

He nodded. “All things considered, Chief gave me credit for the final day of my service.” A dimple appeared in his cheek.

“How do you feel about that?” I asked carefully.

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Pretty damned good, actually. In addition to the pension, I’m looking at a nice little settlement for my injuries.”

I nodded because I’d been contacted by my union rep about my own settlement. It would be enough to cover my medical bills, as well as help with the down payment on Meadowlake for Danny.

“Wow, Cap’n. It’s like the end of an era.”

He shifted on his good foot, as if to alleviate pain. “I’m leaving tomorrow for Montana.”

My eyes widened. “So soon? I can’t believe you’re ready to walk away so fast.”

“And never look back. This place has been home to every tragedy in my life, Kate. It’s time for a fresh start.”

“Fresh starts are good.” I found it ironic that my own new beginning was leading me down the same path Cap’n was so eager to abandon.

“Don’t look so sad, Prospero. A lot of good things happened here for me, too. And I wouldn’t trade a single heartbreak or happiness. It’s just time for me to close this chapter.”

I nodded because emotion was clogging my throat. He limped forward.

“You got big things ahead of you. And I have no doubt you’ll make your mark on this city.” His lips twisted into a wry smile. “I mean, besides setting the river on fire.”

A shocked laugh escaped my lips but I quickly sobered. “Keep in touch, okay?”

“I will as long as you promise not to step foot on a river patrol boat again.”

Lips twitching, I saluted him. “Yes, sir.”

Before I could brace myself, he pulled me into a gruff hug. When he pulled back, his eyes were red-rimmed and shiny with tears. “Take care of yourself, kid.”

With that, Captain Smiley turned and limped away with his head held high. I watched him go with mixed emotions. On one hand, I was sad I’d probably never see him again. But on the other, I felt hopeful for both of us. He was about to embark on a new adventure that would allow him to get some much-needed rest and relaxation. And I was starting on a journey that would be neither relaxing nor restful, but would damned sure be an adventure.

“Kate?” Pen called from the door to Danny’s bedroom. “You okay?”

I turned to look at my best friend. I couldn’t blame her for her question, considering I had tears leaking from my eyes.

Just then the door banged open and Danny ran into the room. Baba followed him at a more leisurely pace, an indulgent grin on her lips. “Kate! I got these for you!” He had a clump of wilted daisies in his grimy fist.

I accepted the offering as he barreled into me for a hug. I wrapped my arms around the kid, inhaling the earthy aroma of dirt and the starchy sweat from his skin. And I knew that from that moment on I’d associate that scent with happiness.

“You know what?” I said, looking at Pen over his head. “I think we’re gonna be way more than okay.”

Pen crossed her arms and leaned against the doorjamb. “In that case, I think this calls for a celebration.”

Danny pulled back. “Pizza!”

With that, my best friend, my little brother, my new neighbor, and I gathered in the kitchen to debate the merits of toppings. Looking around at all of them, I couldn’t help but feel like the luckiest chick in the world. Even though Baba was a new addition to the group, she already felt like family. Granted, ours wasn’t a traditional family, but considering I was an Adept who’d grown up in a dirty magic coven who had just been sworn in as a cop, I’d never done anything the normal way.

Yeah, I decided, our fortunes had definitely taken a turn for the better. From now on, I would leave the past where it belonged and focus on the future, which was looking brighter every day.