I’d almost got to Dierdre’s when a patrol car, with lights and sirens, pulled up beside me. Two uniformed officers climbed out, drew weapons. “Aurora Gold!” They shouted, as if I hadn’t just jumped off the last tram and stopped to cross the road.
“What?” I demanded, waiting for a car that hadn’t stopped to let me cross the road, the way they were supposed to.
“You need to come with us for questioning.”
They had to be joking.
I didn’t bother glancing at their guns. “Seriously?” I demanded, jogging over the now-clear road. “There’s a witch up there who could be—” I broke off as a van pulled up and officers climbed out. They were looking in my direction, armed in tactical gear.
I recognized the we-can’t-get-Retrievals swarm and felt sick. Seriously. Me?
My eyes went up to Dierdre’s building. Her windows were on the other side, but…
They hustled into position around me. I drew a deep breath. My two options stretched out before me.
Drop a ward, soak the first round of gunfire, let them deal with the ricochets. Who the fuck brought a gun to a magick fight? I’d activate my Blowback Charm and knock them all off their feet, out of my way. I’d be up the stairs in moments.
Alone. Unsupported.
Or I went along with it. If Amor was up there, she’d either annihilate them all with a single sweeping spell or, if she wasn’t feeling like being flashy, maybe just use the same strategy I planned. Minimal damage, maximal fuck you.
And I’d be sitting down here banking on the fact that this swarm of angry law enforcement hornets could at least radio for help before they went up in flames.
I closed my eyes, my head spinning. They were shouting and my heart drummed in my ears, drowning the words out.
Amor was there; I threw the dice, see if I came out on top.
Amor wasn’t there; I sent up the alert.
It was the next part that was hard. Staking Dierdre out. Waiting for Amor to make a move. Hunting her back to their nest. Burning it.
That would be much harder to do if I had a target on my back.
I lifted my empty hands and stepped in a puddle of water that had gathered between the old bluestones that made up the gutters in this part of town. Of course. “Put your wand on the ground!”
Seriously? I shot the guy who shouted that a dirty look. “I’ll come along for a drive.” I kept my hands up. Without my wand in hand I’d absolutely eat any bullets that came my way and fucked if I was going along with that. “Cuff me. I don’t care. But send the rest of this crew upstairs to check on the witch in unit three.”
They secured me in the back of the car. I saw looks exchanged as they tried to figure out whether to push me about the wand.
If they did, and if Amor was around, we were all toast.
I kept it to myself and played it nice. Who said I couldn’t be fucking diplomatic? The car left with me. The others stood around, radioing for instructions. I watched them grouped like clotted blood. And I hoped.
Aspen had messed up plenty of folks in her time professional kick-boxing and amateur brawling. It wasn’t impossible that she’d done real damage to Amor.
I didn’t love the odds.
Into the precinct I was hustled, in cuffs, again. They hadn’t gagged me. If I was a gambling woman, I’d bet it was because they didn’t know how to secure magi, not because they knew it was pointless with me.
The receptionist saw me coming and held a carefully neutral expression. I didn’t miss the way she reached for the phone, though. Someone’s heart was going to be served up tonight and I was feeling hungry.
The interview room was different to the last one I was in. I was left to sit and trust the shitheads around me to do their jobs.
When the door opened to a fresh-faced Clint with a sergeant in tow, I was utterly unsurprised. “I trust measures have been put in place to protect Dierdre Summers from Amor and her ex.”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss that situation.” He settled down opposite me.
Arsehole. A simple, ‘we’ll do our job’ was the normal response.
“You are, actually,” I said in a friendly way as I shot him a smile. His heart was first. “As Dierdre’s case manager, I’m allowed to access information on her. Even on administrative leave.” I didn’t know that for sure, but if I didn’t know, I’d bet he didn’t, either.
His smile was thin. “That’s a bridge we’ll cross when we come to it. We need to discuss a separate matter. A woman was wounded in your home tonight. Is there anyone who can verify your whereabouts or actions during this time?”
He couldn’t seriously hope that’d stick. “Sure. The woman who was sliced up can.”
He wasted my time. I suspect he enjoyed it, too.
Time ebbed. They left and I stood to stretch as best I could around the cuffs, which didn’t slow me too much. The heat in my muscles, the fatigue of the day, the low after the adrenaline all went with the territory. I had no idea how long had passed before I heard a conversation in the corridor outside. No, not conversation—disagreement.
Anticipation fizzed under my skin. I heard Taig’s voice, always so calm and measured. But there was a power in the man’s words.
So much for playing it neutral. And, shit, I didn’t even care. That was never a me problem.
Clint’s voice was louder. I made out “standard protocol” and “favoritism”. And then it dipped down and I could barely hear their voices, much less make out the words.
No way Taig had backed down. Knowing Clint was getting served made me want to laugh.
If it cost me Dierdre, I’d eat his heart publicly.
My feet had started to ache as quiet descended again. I fell down in the chair, blew a strand of hair out of my face, and waited.
Eventually the door opened. Uniforms came in, took off the cuffs. Their painfully neutral responses, the “we need to gather more information, but it seems that you’re in the clear” bullshit smacked of political maneuvers.
I was taken to the hospital for a tox screen and was allowed to use my phone. It made sending up the alarm for Dierdre and Lilith much simpler. It was two in the morning, though. I didn’t expect much.
There was a missed call from Bethany, but my return call went through to her message bank. Non urgent, then. So I sat around for a few more hours at the cop shop. At least they gave me coffee. Bad coffee, but, shit, I wasn’t turning it down.
When I saw Taig he was wearing the navy suit that made his eyes look dull. That suit was a crime. He was with one of the sergeants I’d seen that night who may or may not have been a douche canoe. “Officer Aurora,” Taig said, nodding. “This is Sergeant Greene.”
Ah. So I was wearing my Retrievals badge now. And hadn’t I met Greene once or twice? “Morning,” I drawled, watching them take a seat at the table I’d been plonked in front of in a little waiting room with comfy chairs and shitty coloring books.
“I understand you’re here regarding the matter of Dierdre Summers,” Taig said, putting a file he carried onto the table. “I thought I’d chat with you while you’re here about a contract that’s come up. I spoke to your handler, but she wasn’t able to get hold of you earlier.”
He slid the contract over to me. To actually see a contract ahead of time was almost unheard of. To have it printed was a whole level of organization I’d encountered…once? Maybe twice.
Retrievals had to be responsive and flexible. Rarely did we have time to get organized. I pulled it over. There was blood on my hoodie from Aspen. None of the arseholes had told me how she was, but she’d be fine. Eventually. And Lilith had her.
I skimmed the details. “Vampire.” And the summary jumped out at me.
Using charisma on a District Wizard.
“This is out of your jurisdiction, Detective.” The address wasn’t Arthur’s. But it could’ve been.
“I’m being called in as part of the task force,” Taig acknowledged. “As is Sergeant Greene here. We can’t get a full Retrievals team.”
No. Nic was bogged down with Amor in another state; he did most of the Victorian stuff. I skimmed through the known information again. Lone vampire, probably. Suspected part of a network. No mention of how old they were or whether they were gingko’d up.
Even a lone vampire wasn’t a joke. Going in unprepared would pretty much always go badly for us.
“Strike this morning.” In a few hours. I had time to get kitted up—if they let me go. I took the pen he offered me and signed without glancing at the rates. Melbourne wizards were being picked off, just like I’d thought.
Being right really was a curse.
“I understand your bloodwork is back,” Taig told me, as I set the pen down. “You’re under the effects of a Love Potion.”
I raised my brows and thought back to who I’d seen first. I sure didn’t feel like a puppy. “Well, I’m functional, anyway. Does it have legal ramifications?”
“Could,” he admitted. “The contract came through before the results did, so I didn’t have the opportunity to check.”
“A later problem,” I said, dismissively. “I’m suing no one’s pants off. Maybe the potion fizzled. Regardless—I need to kit up. Am I free to go?”
The sergeant shifted a little in his seat, glancing at Taig. “Perhaps a statutory declaration,” Greene suggested.
“Wouldn’t hold up if the contract doesn’t,” Taig said, standing. “Rory says she’s okay, then she’s okay.” And, the subtext; they needed me.
“I’ll write something that says I’m aware of it,” I offered, because the young guy was a bit hesitant. “Won’t hurt.”
“Sergeant, can you see that’s sorted? I’ll make sure Officer Gold is free to leave. We’re in a time crunch,” he explained to me.
“Got it.” And he had to deal with Clint. I kept my smile to myself and waited for wheels to turn.
Half an hour later I was off the tram and headed up to my apartment. It was being processed by a few police who weren’t stoked to have me stomping through, but I was allowed to get my kit.
Vampire. I knew how to deal with them.
I put on my Lupetec armor at home. I thought of Beo and I hurt.
Grimly, I took off my standard charms and swapped in combat ones. My weapons belt settled, a heavy, reassuring weight on my hips that I spun so the wooden knife was the easiest to reach, then added the vampire specific rope I had, made of braided lycan hair and studded with sharp pieces of wood that reminded me of Amor and her arrowheads.
I still didn't know how Aspen or Dierdre were doing.
I shoveled food in my mouth, ignoring the cops giving me serious side eye, slammed down a coffee, and grabbed some snacks to travel with.
South-East Melbourne Coven wizard was the victim. I considered asking Arthur if he knew about his colleague being vamped but figured it was better not to muddy an already probably quite muddy investigation.
The police station in this part of town was the same generic layout with the same vibe that was probably supposed to be calming but came across as soulless. I dusted salt from the nuts I'd been eating off my chest as I walked in, then grabbed my headgear as I approached the front desk. I stuffed hair on top of my head as I walked. I probably should’ve been doing something with it instead of eating, but… fuel. And snacks.
"Hi," I said, to the guy behind the reception whose eyes kept going back to the rope coiled around my left arm. "I'm—"
"Aurora," he said, with a nod. "Retrievals. I'll take you through. The team is gearing up."
I was guided through a long, boring corridor full of closed doors to the break room where talk and the smell of coffee was coming from. And though I wasn't openly stared at much, there was a definite lull in conversation.
I skimmed the room. Uniforms. Armored vests. Wooden batons. Helmets. About thirty of them, and I spotted Taig in their number near the coffee.
Instead of going to him, I ignored the quiet and went to where some helpful cookie had stuck the building plan up on a whiteboard. Off center.
Six levels of luxurious apartments. Of course, a wizard had a delightfully spacious apartment in a city where most of us could barely make rent. I tucked the last few tendrils of hair up under the headgear as I let my eyes wander the plans, then the actual apartment in question.
"We don't know where she'll be." I glanced up, found Greene beside me, offering coffee.
I eyed it off. Satisfactorily black, but… "is that sweetened?"
"O'Malley made it," he said, with a shrug. "Said he thought you might need it. You've had a big night."
And it was going to be a big morning. I took the coffee, trusting Taig to know I was sweet enough. "Any idea how old she is?"
Another vested, armed person appeared at my other side, a woman with lines carved deep in her skin and blonde flyaways that made her look frazzled despite the calm expression. "None. But we know she's part of a coven."
"So. Could be multiple." The thought didn't please me. "You in charge?" I asked, as Greene melted away and left me holding a chipped mug of ambrosia.
She offered me a puffy, firm hand. "Richardson. I'm glad O’Malley got you on board. We don't think there's more than one on site." Her eyes were steady as she looked up to meet my gaze. "But we know what one vamp can do when cornered."
And she did. It was in the thinning of her lips, the lines around her eyes. "Shame the government doesn't want to increase Retrievals numbers, isn't it?" I asked, by way of agreement.
"Shame they don't do a lot of things," she shot straight back. "I want you up front."
"Perfect." Fuck, I hated this.
I was the rearguard in my team. Nic, Bang, Vix—fuck. Vix.
But in this team…well, we'd hope a rearguard wasn't needed. "You mostly covering the street exits?" I asked, eyeing off the people who were as trained as law enforcement could be to deal with supernaturals. They'd have experience. The chaos of Samhain, with rifts opening everywhere, with the flood of violence, they'd seen plenty.
That was different. That was tactical risk minimization. Get in, close the rifts, identify the threats. Everyone was going everywhere. Supernaturals trying to get into hidey holes. Us trying to keep tabs and hope Retrievals came in to mop it up.
This was going into a nest. This vamp knew the lay of the land. She had a target and a network behind her.
"We'll have people in these spots." Her finger, nail bitten to the quick, tapped firmly on the various points. "I've got a core group going into the residence. We want the family safe. We need to know what's driving this."
“Family.” I looked at her, raised my brows, waited.
“Wizard, witch, two kids.”
Fuck. Kids. “Pets?”
“Not that we know of.”
Cool. No dogs. They could complicate situations. “Am I going in hot?”
She considered the layout before us, her hands on her sturdy hips, and chewed on her response for a while.
That was a yes, but not officially.
“There’s an issue with that. She’s legally, theoretically, registered. The ink is wet on her paperwork, and we’re investigating exactly how it went through. She came down from Sydney, though, so…”
So it’d be months, if not years, to get to the bottom of this. For now, she had the protection of a legal citizen.
I rolled my shoulders, felt the weight of the wood-studded rope that was an all-purpose vamp trapping tool. “I’m a bit overdressed, then.”
“Paperwork didn’t say whether you did or didn’t have kill orders,” she said, flatly.
I cast my mind back, felt a smile tugging at my mouth. Well, shit. “Well played,” I murmured, amused. Many a slip twixt cup and lip, my Oma would’ve said. And some slips could be handy. The bonus; Bethany would be pissed that had got past her.
I sipped my coffee while I pulled out my phone. I had a few texts from Arthur. Was I okay, what was going on sort of stuff. I sent off a quick response. On Retrievals contract. Unrelated. Look after Dierdre.
I got a response almost immediately. Sitting at her bench with a cup of tea right now. She says hi.
One less worry. I let out a long breath, opened up maps and sussed out the street view of this place. Blueprints were fine, but I had time to kill. And a vampire.
“What’re you thinking?” Richardson asked me as I held up the phone, eyeballed the way the balconies of this wizard’s place perched over the road, the parking building over the road. Shit view, really. Probably was a park when he bought it. I flipped it. The other side would have a nice cityscape.
“She’s protected from morning light,” I said, looking at the position of the windows, trying to get my head around it. “I assume that’s why we’re timing it like this. To use that to our advantage.”
Richardson tipped her hand one way, the other. “I hear they’re warier in the day. We thought we’d hit a bit before that. Give her minimal time to clear the area, but try to get in before all the defenses are up.”
Shit, she was on the ball. “Good call.” And if she was thinking this woman would get away, she really did know how dangerous she was. “I don’t like this.” I waved a gloved finger at the car park. “A juiced up, century old vamp could make that, I reckon. We got people over there?”
Her eyes narrowed. “No. That was O’Malley’s call. I figured it could be a possible exit.”
If Taig was consulting, he was more than just another person in a vest. Interesting. “Street?”
“That’s a six-story drop,” she said, with an amused snort. And then she looked at my expression. “Surely, not.”
I put my phone away, thought hard about what I’d seen. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t gamble on it.”
She muttered something unhappily, then turned and barked, “O’Malley!”
I didn’t follow her gaze while I weighed my options. If I went in with the first push, I could lock down those windows, but then I’d be useless for casting. If I waited until she made a move, I could lose her. Vamps were slippery.
And if I lost her…well, she’d find the teams positioned below.
This was why Retrievals wasn’t a one-woman show. Elders curse it. I took a generous swig of the coffee and smelled him before I heard him, the sandalwood of whatever he wore working its way delicately up my nose and wrapping around my tired brain. “Problem?” he asked.
“Gold’s asked if we have people on the street. We got a weak point.” And her stubby finger struck the blueprint squarely.
I half turned, met Taig’s eyes. “If she can make that jump, there’s no team we can put together who can stop her. So, no, we don’t have people there.”
He was right. Fuck. “Good call.” I let out a breath. “I’ll try to make sure she doesn’t, then.”
“We look after us first,” Richardson told me, flatly.
“Don’t worry,” I told her, finishing off the coffee. “I’m good at that.” Despite what some people might say.
And, to my surprise, a grim little smile appeared on her face. “That’s what I hear.”
Beside me, Taig just sipped calmly at his coffee.