Chapter Eight
They pulled up in front of the house fifteen minutes later. Juliana had barely stepped out of the car when the front door flew open and Rachel, Sara’s daughter, ran out to greet her, blond hair flying out behind her like ribbons. She launched herself at Juliana, who snatched the little girl up in her arms and spun her in a circle.
“Auntie J,” she squealed with a giggle.
“How’s my favorite niece?” Juliana shifted the girl in her arms so she was easier to hold.
“I’m your only niece.”
She ruffled the hair on top of her head. “Makes it easy for you to be my favorite then, doesn’t it? You could be an absolute monster and you’d still be my favorite.”
“Who’s that?” Rachel whispered in Juliana’s ear and pointed over her shoulder. Juliana peered back to find Taft grinning at them.
“That is Warren. Warren, this is Rachel. She’s horribly spoiled.”
“Rachel Juliana Piper,” a voice bellowed from the doorway.
“Uh-oh.” The girl squeaked and buried her head in Juliana’s neck.
Juliana’s brother-in-law stood in the doorway of their house, hands on his hips, sleeves rolled up on his dark blue shirt. The color only emphasized the pale blue eyes and the tail of the dragon tattoo emblazoned on his bald head. The tattoo took up the entirety of his back as well, but it wasn’t for show. He was an inkmage. The spell was a powerful protective ward. “Hello, James.” She gave him a half smile.
“Hello, little sister.” He gave her a smile of his own. “That little minx did not have permission to leave the house.”
Juliana bounced Rachel in her arms. “Oh, baby girl. You know better than that.” Especially now. Not that Juliana would allow anything to happen to her, but that wasn’t the point. She wouldn’t always be there.
Rachel said nothing, just burrowed her face tighter against her neck. Juliana stepped on the porch and James came out to meet her. “How are you?” he asked.
She shrugged her unoccupied shoulder. “We’ll talk about it later.”
He studied her obviously looking for some clue of what she had to tell him. James worried about her. She knew that and wished he wouldn’t, but it was his nature. And given how many times he and Sara had pieced her back together or taken care of her when she was injured, she supposed he was allowed a worry or two. “Who’s your friend?”
“Detective Warren Taft,” she said, emphasizing the detective part. James still hadn’t forgiven Thomas for leaving her seven years ago, even if he had come back. She wasn’t going to give James an excuse to stir up trouble just when things were starting to smooth out between her and her mate. “We’d just finished questioning a witness when Sara called.”
She looked at the man in question and he stepped forward. “Warren, this is my friend James Piper, Sara’s husband.”
Taft’s eyes widened. “James Piper? As in the Director of the Gathering, James Piper?” The Gathering was the mage equivalent of a coven, only much larger. All of the mages in a territory fell under their purview. And James oversaw them all. It was a responsibility she knew he hated as much as he loved it, but he was good at it. Excellent, in fact. He was also the first director who was openly willing to consult with the Agency. For a price of course. But even that was only because she worked for them.
“That would be me,” James held out a hand and Taft shook it while shooting her a narrow-eyed look. She supposed she should have warned him, but honestly, she didn’t think about it. To her, James was just James. He laid his hand against the side of the house and closed his eyes, reprogramming the wards so they’d allow Taft into the house without triggering.
When James finished he plucked Rachel from Juliana’s arms and set her feet on the ground. “Go wash up.”
He directed Taft toward the kitchen and snagged Juliana by the arm. “Your friend, huh?” His voice was low so they wouldn’t be overheard. “I take it you still aren’t telling everyone about the true nature of your and Thomas’s relationship.”
Her cheeks heated as she shook her head. “None of their business.”
“Enjoy it while you can, little sister. He won’t let you keep it a secret for much longer.” With that, he wandered down the hallway whistling as he went.
She refrained from making the rude gesture she wanted when she heard Rachel jumping down the stairs. Juliana turned so her back was to the landing and grunted when the girl leaped on. They made their way to the kitchen, Rachel giggling as Juliana galloped across the floor.
Taft sat at the table, a cup of coffee in front of him. James was finishing putting the salad together and Sara stood at the stove stirring something in a saucepan. The scent of garlic filled the air. Juliana put Rachel down on one of the chairs before she went over and looped an arm around Sara’s neck to give her a little squeeze. “Hey, babe. Thanks for feeding me. Even if you were ordered to do it.”
Sara smiled at her. “Of course. But you know you don’t need to wait for an invitation. Door’s always open for you. Dinner will be done in a minute.”
Juliana went to the cabinet by the sink and pulled out plates to set the table. It was the only thing Sara allowed her to do when she came over to eat. Rachel hopped off her chair, ran to get the silverware without being asked and laid it next to the plates. As soon as the table was set, she started jumping up and down, clapping her hands. “Do it, please. Please, please, please.”
Juliana looked over the girl’s head to her father. “What say you, Dad?”
He held up a finger. “One time. And if you break anything, you’re both in trouble.”
“Hey, I’ve been practicing,” Juliana said, offended. She did little magic but she was good at what she did do. Even if it was a completely useless trick such as this. “Pick up your cup and lean back, would you?” she asked Taft. No point in getting coffee on the tablecloth.
His brow furrowed, but he did as she asked. She smiled at Rachel. “Are you going to help? You know it works so much better when you do.”
The girl nodded and clapped her hands again.
“Okay, here we go. One, two, three. Topsy-turvy, inside out and upside down.” Rachel said the last of the words with her and Juliana flicked her fingers at the table throwing her magic at it. The tablecloth now rested on top of the dishes. The spell had nothing to do with the words; they were something she’d made up for Rachel. Taft leaned over and peeked under the cloth, then stared at her with wide eyes.
Then he looked at Rachel. “Did you do that?” he asked in mock awe.
She shook her head and giggled, pointing at Juliana.
“All right, you two. Put it back, dinner’s ready.”
“Turvy-topsy, outside out and right-side up, everything back the way it was.” Juliana flicked her fingers again and the table looked like nothing had ever happened to it. Rachel giggled again and Juliana shook her head in amusement. She’d learned the spell by accident after wishing she could do the pulling the tablecloth from under the dishes trick. She always broke something. So she’d added a little magic to it one day just to keep everything in place and ended up with this spell. It was so much cooler anyway.
She grabbed two candlesticks off the counter and put them in the center of the table. Her fingers grabbed the wicks and she lit the candles with a thought. “Sit, monkey,” she said to Rachel as she poured a glass of milk for each of them. She sat at the table and felt Taft’s eyes on her. “Yes?”
“Magic?”
Her cheeks heated again and she cursed her fair complexion. “Parlor tricks. Nothing more. What you’ve seen is about the extent of it.” That and opening locks, but that wasn’t a trick she went around advertising.
James arched a brow in her direction but thankfully refrained from commenting. He was certain with the proper training she’d be capable of more. Meeting her father had only encouraged his belief. The problem was, Juliana wasn’t sure she wanted to be capable of more. Magic was terrifying stuff. You could intend to light a candle and send a fireball hurtling through the room instead. She was often in intense situations where it would be too tempting to use that power. Situations where people could be hurt or killed when it maybe wasn’t necessary. No, she’d stick to her sword and guns. At least those, she had some control over.
There was little conversation as they devoured Sara’s spaghetti. Juliana should have known better than to relax, however. “So, Warren, have you met my brother yet?” Sara asked at the end of the meal. Rachel had already gone into the other room to watch cartoons.
“Um...I don’t believe so.” He looked to Juliana for help.
“Sara,” James said, a warning in his voice.
“Oh, stop.” She batted a playful hand at him and turned her attention to Juliana. “You know he won’t like him. He’s too pretty.”
“Who won’t like who? I’m lost.” Taft looked between the two women.
Juliana glared at her friend. “Ignore Sara. She’s mentally unstable and always talks to complete strangers about her brother. She worships him. It’s kind of pathetic really.”
Sara glared back at her. “James, why don’t you and Jules clean up? I’ll take our guest into the living room for coffee and a nice chat.”
Juliana started to protest but then realized this was exactly the opportunity she needed to talk to James. “Yes, wonderful idea. Go. We’ll clean up and then Taft and I need to head back.”
Her friend’s eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute...”
“Go, Sara,” James said, cutting her off. He gestured toward the other room with his chin.
She studied Juliana with worried eyes. They rarely excluded her from conversations in her own home. “Don’t break him. I need him back,” Juliana said and Sara grinned.
They all stood and James and Juliana began putting the leftovers away while Sara poured coffee for her and Taft. When the other two left the room James leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “Speak.”
Juliana rubbed the back of her neck. “The Thief is mine. Phipps knew he was operating outside of the New Hope area and didn’t report it to the Agency. I found out this morning when I turned up to be part of his task force. I had to take over. I didn’t have a choice. We both know it’s better in Agency hands, anyway.”
“Gods, Juliana. Phipps already didn’t like you. I wondered why you were here with a local.” He kicked at the floor with the toe of his boot. “Well, you know you have the backing of the Gathering. Whatever you need. What else?”
“There are thirteen more victims than we thought. At least one of them is already dead. Jeremiah’s working on gathering more intel from the locals.”
James paled. “By all the gods, what does he plan do with all of them? Where is he keeping them?”
She shook her head. “I wish we knew, but we’re still trying to figure that out. Hell, we’re still trying to figure everything out. All I know for sure is he’s powerful and he’s using wild magic. Beyond that we’re just guessing.”
“Wild magic? Is he trying to get himself killed?”
“I’m guessing he doesn’t have any magic of his own. He can manipulate it but not create it.”
He rubbed the bottom of his chin with the back of his hand. “Yeah, but wild magic? It’s so raw, uncontrolled.”
“It’s all supposition on my part. All I see when I look at the spells is the wild magic. I can’t get a read on his signature at all. My life would be a whole easier if I could just say it was a mage.”
“Why? So you could just dump the whole mess on me to sort out?”
She grinned. “Precisely.”
Rachel’s laughter drifted in from the other room.
“I’ve been working from home as much as I can,” James said, surprising Juliana. He always put his family first, but he took his position as director seriously. “I’ve even taken her with me a couple of times, but there isn’t much there to keep her entertained. It’s not that I don’t trust Sara to keep her safe, but this bastard is taking kids in front of dozens of witnesses. How do you protect your child against that? It terrifies me, Jules.”
“Me too, my friend. Me too.” He was the first she’d admitted it to and he’d likely be the only one. Just as she’d be the only one he’d admit his own fear to. Fear was a weakness that could get you killed. They both knew that and they both had too many people that would use the knowledge against them.
“I feel better knowing that you’re in charge now, though,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because you won’t stop until you get him.” And he sounded so sure that she would. She wished she were as confident in her ability.
Taft burst into the room, startling them both. “I just got a call from one of the guys at the station. They’ve found another one. Phipps didn’t want you called until he had his guys in position.”
Her heart sank into the acid in her stomach. Another baby lost. “We’ve got to go.”
“Go. Go,” James said. “And be careful, little sister.”
Chapter Nine
They stepped out of the car at the pier to find the area swarming with people. Part of the crowd came from the fact Juliana had made several frantic phone calls and had the crime scene locked down completely. No one was to enter until she arrived—Agency or police. The shouting commenced the moment her feet hit the pavement. The Agency, the locals and the reporters all clamored for her attention.
She held up her hands and looked at the people around her. Not seeing Jeremiah or anyone else she needed to talk to immediately, she shook her head and ignored them all. When she reached the yellow tape, she motioned for Taft to follow. The large ogre standing guard at the perimeter nodded at her. She returned the gesture, then stopped and backed up. The badge hanging against his chest was an eight-pointed star. The Wardens of the High Order were here. And they were maintaining her perimeter.
She glanced down the length of the tape. “Are you all Wardens?”
The ogre smiled down at her, the skin at the corner of his eyes crinkling, his tusks clacking together. “Yes, Walker.”
“And you’re here because?” The Order worked for themselves. Borderline mercenaries, there was no reason for them to be here. And she certainly couldn’t afford to pay them. Not on her salary.
The ogre looked past her to Taft and the crowd around them. “Stay here, Taft. Watch the line.” She gestured with her head for the Warden to follow. They crossed under the tape and Taft took his place. They went several paces away and stopped. Juliana eyed the crowd, uncertain they were far enough away to not be overheard.
“You could shout and they would not hear you,” the ogre said.
She looked at him in surprise.
“Our commander is a mage. He is particularly adept at spells that keep crime scenes from prying eyes and ears. We set the perimeter and he wove his magic. They can’t hear or see anything we do not wish them to. They see an empty pier where we stand and hear nothing no matter what is said,” he explained.
“Fantastic,” she breathed. Now that was magic she would dearly love to learn.
He laughed. “He said you would like that.”
“Who did?”
“Your mate.”
A jolt went through her with the words. So few people knew she and Thomas were United that to have a complete stranger call him her mate stunned her for a moment. “Is he the one who sent you?” she asked when she recovered.
“In a manner of speaking.”
She had a feeling that was the only answer she was going to get.
“Tell us who you want and we’ll let them through. Otherwise they stay out.” He handed her a radio and went back to his position.
“Jeremiah Grace,” she said into the radio and immediately saw her friend duck under the tape and head in her direction.
“Wardens? Seriously? What’s going on?”
He ran a hand over his head. “It’s the only thing I could think of.”
“I tell you to secure a perimeter and you think of the Order?” That was like calling in an army of imps to start a campfire.
“No, actually. You said you wanted everyone out so I needed a neutral party. I called Kendrick he gave me a number and told me to call it. I didn’t know it was for the Wardens.”
“Great. Just fantastic.” She looked around then turned back to him with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders. “Well, at least we’ve got our perimeter.” Things so rarely went her way, she wasn’t about to over worry when something finally did.
Jeremiah grinned back, flashing white teeth against red skin.
“I need you to look into the ghoul Taft and I questioned. His name’s Oliver, didn’t give me a last name. Probably doesn’t have one. I think he’s hiding something. Find out what and get me a warrant if necessary.”
“You think he’s involved?”
“It’s not ruling anything out. Who knows how much space he’s got under the ground.”
“I’ll see what I can find.”
She raised the radio again. “Let in Detective Warren Taft, the Agency technicians and the M.E. I’m going to send Grace back out. Let anyone else in he tells you to.”
“Radio me if anyone gives you any shit,” she told Jeremiah. “If I’m not with the body, I might actually answer.”
“Will do, boss.”
She watched him walk away and Taft took his place. “Vic’s at the end of the pier and down the steps near the water.”
“Near the water?” It was high tide. Anything down there would be
under
the water at this point.
He shrugged. “That’s what they said.”
Once she saw the techs and photographer coming with their equipment, she headed in the direction Taft indicated. The closer they got to the water, the stronger the scent of brine became. Juliana breathed deep, let it fill her lungs. She loved that aroma. It wasn’t long before a sound like rushing water reached her ears and grew louder with every step. What would cause it around here, she had no idea. She approached the steps that led off the pier and to the shoreline when the tide was down. Standing at the top of the stairs, they looked down at their crime scene.
Darkness had begun to fall and draped the area in shadows. A tiny form lay curled at the bottom of the stairs, a wall of water rising beside it. However it was accomplished, that was the source of the sound of rushing water. It was almost as if the ocean rolled up against an invisible wall and back in on itself. She flashed on her gift and saw the familiar brown signature holding the ocean at bay in a long, curved line, creating a water-free zone for his display. Once again, he set a scene for them, but this time if she removed the spell, all the evidence would go with it. This time she had to hope the magic held.
“That Warden of yours know any stasis magic?” she said into the radio.
“He says yes,” came the answer after a pause.
“Send him in if you would.”
“What do you need him for?” Taft asked.
“Two reasons. First, I want to make sure that spell’s going to hold. Second, if he can replace it with one of his own, I want him to. I don’t want to have to depend on that bastard for anything.”
The techs came up behind them.
“Set up those lights. I want to see what we’re dealing with.” The truth was, she had no desire to see what was at the bottom of the steps, but she had to. In that, like so many other things with his case, she had no choice.
Strangled gasps and muttered oaths to a dozen different gods filled the air as the lights illuminated the horror below. Juliana closed her eyes and turned away, taking several deep breaths. She struggled to keep Sara’s dinner where it belonged. Someone retched and she pointed in the opposite direction with her eyes still closed. “If you’re going to puke, do it over there. If you contaminate my scene, I’ll kick your ass.”
“You okay?” Taft asked, sounding completely unaffected.
She took another breath, taking in that calming salt air, and opened her eyes. “Yeah. Let’s get this over with.”
The techs and photographers had already begun their painstaking work of preserving the evidence and she left them to it. Though if things held true to the previous scene, there would be precious little to tell them anything.
A large man with a braided beard and a plethora of tattoos approached. He wore the badge of the Order and Juliana guessed this was their mage. She flashed on her gift to double-check. He glowed a vibrant crimson. Not only was he a mage, he was a powerful one. The only other mage she’d seen with a signature that strong was James. The Warden nodded at her in acknowledgement. “Warden Hamilton Clayton. Deke says I might be able to help you with something.” He looked past her to the waterfront and paled, his eyes growing large. “Is that...did he...?”
She clenched her teeth and gave a stiff nod. “Yes. The son of a bitch skinned him.”
He blinked several times. “But...why? Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s a nutjob?”
“That a technical term, Norris?” the M.E. asked with a chuckle as he walked past.
She shrugged but didn’t answer. She wasn’t a psychologist and didn’t pretend to be. And she didn’t really give a shit what his official diagnosis turned out to be. All she cared about was that he quit killing babies.
“What can I do to help?” Clayton asked.
“As you can see, we’ve got a stasis spell down there. Any chance you can tell where it comes from? I’ve been able to tell he’s using wild magic, but that’s it. And if you could replace it with a spell of your own so I can get rid of his, that would be fantastic. I don’t like having any of his magic around. It makes me nervous.”
He studied her with serious eyes. “Let me look at it.”
“We’ll take you down.”
The three of them went down the steps making sure not to disturb any potential evidence along the way. The Warden went over to look at the wall of water and Juliana knelt next to their little victim.
The skin had been removed from midchest down, leaving only raw, exposed muscle. “Timothy Pruett,” Taft said from beside her. “Nine years old. Taken twenty-one days ago from a little town up the coast. Kirkwood, I think.”
Juliana dropped her head and rubbed her eyes with her finger and her thumb. Three weeks, there was no stasis spell on the body. She raised her head. “Hey, Jack,” she yelled to the M.E.
“Talk to me,” she said when he came over.
“Based on the amount of blood, he was killed elsewhere and dumped here, but you know that.” He lifted the boy’s left arm and then the right. “I’ve got rigor mortis. There’s too much blood loss for pooling to be a good indicator. Without more thorough tests, I’d say sometime in the last six to twelve hours.”
“That means he kept this kid somewhere for three weeks. We have a lot of missing kids who haven’t turned up dead yet. He’s got to be keeping them somewhere.” She turned to Taft. “Call Jeremiah. Tell him to look for farms, warehouses, anything like that connected to anyone who pops up in the search parameters I gave him.”
“What’s the area we’re looking at property in?” he asked, pulling out his phone.
“Anywhere we’ve got missing kids. The guy’s already shown he’s not afraid to travel.”
He nodded and moved off to make the call.
Clayton gestured for her and she went over to stand next to him. He shook his head. “I can’t get much more off the magic than you did. Just wild magic. I can tell you the spell had a lot of power behind it but was poorly cast. I think he’s just kind of fumbling along and he’s powerful enough he’s managed not to kill himself.”
“That’s unfortunate. I wouldn’t mind if he just went ahead and screwed up a spell and saved us all the trouble of tracking his ass down,” she said.
“You and me both.” Clayton kept his back to the boy. “As for me casting my own spell, I can do it, but I can’t guarantee that you could get this removed and mine in place with no water getting free. If it were my crime scene, I wouldn’t risk it.”
She sighed. “Thanks for looking at it. At least now we know.”
“Sure thing.” He headed up the stairs but didn’t head back to the perimeter. Instead, he stood on the pier with his back to the scene.
After that, she stayed out of the way and let the techs do their thing. She just wanted to get this closed up and get back to the hotel. It was an hour or so later, and shortly after they’d removed the body, when Jeremiah and Leo found her sitting on the stairs. “Have we got an ID?” Jeremiah asked.
“Taft says it’s Timothy Pruett. From Kirkwood.”
Jeremiah nodded, obviously remembering the name from his dealings with the local precincts.
“Tell the M.E. to send photos up for the ID, his parents don’t need to see that,” she instructed.
He put his hands in his pockets and glanced down at her. “Wouldn’t you want to if it was your child? You’d want to know.”
She sighed. “Yeah, but they still shouldn’t have to.”
“I’ll have him send the photos anyway. It’s faster. I’ll give the sheriff up there a call and have him contact the parents. He knows them. It will be easier coming from him.”
Juliana doubted that and didn’t think the man would appreciate them giving him the job but Jeremiah knew people better than she did. That’s why she usually left him to deal with them.
“Why don’t you go home?” Taft said, joining them. “I can stay until they finish up.”
She thought briefly about taking him up on his offer but once the techs finished, they needed to get rid of the stasis spell. Shaking her head, she said, “I’ve got to make sure they remove that spell. I’ll stay.”
“I can call in the spell breakers,” Leo offered.
She shook her head again. The Agency spell breakers had a tendency to break the effects of a spell without removing all the magic. Since Juliana could actually see the spell, she had the benefit of knowing when it was completely gone. She didn’t want any of that foul magic left to taint anything.
“We have another problem,” someone said from behind her. She leaned back to see Warden Clayton. Had she called a meeting and forgotten about it? Why was everyone suddenly gathering around her?
“What’s the problem?”
“The press. They aren’t leaving until they get a statement.”
“Fantastic.” She looked at Jeremiah. “Nothing from Phipps?”
“He’s being surprisingly quiet.”
Apparently, her call to the mayor had been successful. Or Phipps wasn’t the complete idiot she thought he was and he was taking the opportunity to distance himself from another murder. “All right. Taft, watch things here. Find out how close they are to being finished. I’ll be back.”
“Tell the press to prepare for a statement,” she said into the radio. She pushed herself to her feet and ran her hands through her hair trying to put herself in some semblance of order. She wasn’t vain, but no one wanted to look like complete crap on TV. Those images were forever. “Let’s get this over with.”
The trio walked with her to the perimeter but she told them to stay inside where Clayton’s spell still shielded them from view. When she stepped outside the protective barrier, a collective murmur went up from the gathered press. She guessed it was both from her sudden appearance and from the fact that it was her making the statement. She was notorious for avoiding the press.
She held up her hands for silence. “I will make a brief statement and then I will answer five questions and only five so make them good ones.” A chuckle moved through the crowd. The TV crews had turned on a couple of large lights to illuminate the area and she squinted against the glare. At least they kept her from being blinded by the flashbulbs going off as her eyes were already adjusting to the bright light. She looked over the crowd one more time and then began her statement.