Authors: A. J. MENDEN
He smiled. “That is what we are here for.”
“What are we going to do with him, then?” I pointed to Syn without looking.
I know what I’d like to do with him, lousy child-murderer
.
“See you in hell, bitch!”
What?!
We both whirled in time to see Syn, who had gone from passed out on the floor to alert and mobile in the space of a second. I had a fraction of a second to react as he came at me with a wicked-looking blade.
“
Arresto!
” Elliot ordered, and the madman froze on the spot. “I cannot keep doing this all night. The magic is taxing me to my limits. He should not have been able to recover that fast.”
“Tell
him
that,” I growled. “So, what are we going to do?” I took a deep breath, trying to pretend I wasn’t shaking.
“Give him to the authorities, I suppose. I will call a man I know on the police department. Someone needs to collect the…” He cleared his throat. “The body.”
Our eyes met and I saw my pain echoed in his. So the child’s death really was affecting him. I wasn’t sure if this surprised me.
“We have to hold him until the police arrive?”
He nodded.
“Alright.” I walked over to where Syn still stood frozen, and punched him. He hit the wall hard and went down, unconscious.
Elliot nodded. “Good thinking.”
I kicked the knife away, out of Syn’s grasp, but didn’t touch it. Elliot dialed a number on a cell phone and spoke with someone. He sounded angry as he hung up.
“Pendergast is not working to night, so they are sending Deburt.”
“Deburt on the take or something?” I half laughed.
“No, he has issues with our kind and does not like me personally. He will make this more difficult than it needs to be. I am sorry your first night on the job has turned out to be so rough.”
I shrugged. “I’m used to it. Nothing ever goes smoothly for me. I would be more worried if everything went according to plan.”
“Still, we came expecting a missing persons case and you ended up getting a chunk taken out of your soul.”
“I’ll live.” Then, alarmed, I asked, “Won’t I?”
“He took just a bit, like a fingernail.”
“So it’s survivable.”
“Lots of things are survivable.”
I didn’t like the tone of that. “Is there any way to fix it? I feel a little weird, walking around with a fingernail-sized hole in my soul.”
He looked me over for a long moment. I felt like his gaze was shooting through to my essence and inspecting that missing piece. He nodded, as if I had passed some unspoken test, and said, “I can heal you.”
He laid his palm over my heart, much like Syn had done. I hoped he wouldn’t feel it speed up at his touch. He closed his eyes and breathed deep. I could feel the heat from his hand all the way through the black leather I wore, causing my breathing to quicken.
“Should you be doing this?” I stuttered. “You said yourself, the spell you just cast took a lot out of you.”
“This will be the last magic I do for the night, then,” he said. “
Guar l’anima
.”
Something warm spread through my being for a moment, a good feeling, like standing in front of a fireplace on a cold day, and then it was gone. I felt cold and involuntarily arched toward him to try to recapture the warmth. He gave
me a slight smile and lightly clapped me on the shoulder. “You should be alright now.” He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.
“Thanks.” I felt very strange after the spell. I had an almost overwhelming need to reach out and touch him, to retain that momentary closeness. I wrapped my arms around myself instead and shivered.
“You are welcome.” He kept his eyes closed.
“Why are your spells in Italian?” I asked, trying to fill the void in conversation.
“It is the language in which I learned them.” He didn’t open his eyes, but his mouth quirked in a slight, teasing smile.
I returned the expression, even though he couldn’t see me. “Obviously. So…every magic-user learns spells in different languages?”
“You learn the spells in what ever language your teacher uses. Mine happened to be Italian, but this was centuries ago.”
“So, can anyone learn the spells?”
“Only those born with the gift can access magic.”
“So, is the Reincarnist thing a part of you, or is it magic you’ve done?”
His eyes snapped open. “You think I would do this to myself on purpose?” His voice held a darkness that was surprising.
I masked my discomposure by shrugging. “Everyone wants to live forever.”
“Only those that do not know what it truly means to do so.”
I was taken aback for a moment, and then I blurted, “Why didn’t you glow? When you did your spell, you said it showed innocence of the soul. It worked on me. Why didn’t it work on you?”
His smile was sad, but he did not fail to answer. “When you have lived as long as I have, you do not escape without
a little tarnish on your soul. If you want the truth, usually only children will shine. It is very rare to see it in an adult; we all lose our innocence bit by bit.”
“But I’m nothing special,” I protested. “Trust me, I’m not.”
“Someone thinks otherwise, Miss Livingston.”
“Lainey,” I said. “I think after everything we’ve been through to night, you can call me Lainey.”
He nodded. “Alright, Lainey. When we are alone together, you can call me Robert. Elliot when we are out like this.”
Hey, it was a start.
The sound of sirens could be heard pulling up outside the building.
“Prepare yourself,” Robert said. “Here comes Deburt.”
Deburt had an obvious chip on his shoulder. The policeman glared at me as if I had committed the felony, not been one of the victims. “Of course
you
would be here, Elliot, but who the hell is she?” he growled, killing the myth of the jolly fat man. Well over three hundred pounds, Deburt was about 5’7 in stocking feet, just a little taller than me, so I had the height advantage with my high-heeled boots. His black hair was slicked back in fifties greaser-style and he had a thin mustache. His dark eyes barely skimmed my face and instead fell to rest on my breasts. Oh, great. It was going to be one of those conversations.
“This is my new partner,” Robert said, sounding like a tired parent who senses his toddler is about to throw a fit. “She will be joining me on my investigations.”
“I’m sure she will.” Deburt leered at me.
Robert gave him a dark look. “It is too bad Pendergast is not working to night.”
“He’s off. Sorry I’m not willing to kowtow to your vast experience,” Deburt said sarcastically to my breasts. “You capes are an arrogant bunch, believing we should be grateful any time you collect one of the numerous nutcases you create.”
“First of all, my eyes are up here,” I said, pointing to my face. The other investigators snickered and he shot them
a nasty look. “Second, is either one of us wearing a cape? I don’t think so. And third, we didn’t create the psycho nutjob that butchered that little girl and almost did the same to me. We were just trying to help find her, and I would think you’d be happy for any help you can get.” After having a piece of my soul ripped out, I had no patience left to deal with getting ogled by a skeevy guy who probably had to pay to see a naked woman. “Besides, you wouldn’t have wanted to try to take this guy down by yourselves. I’m superstrong and got my ass handed to me.”
“You look fine to me,” Deburt said, giving extra emphasis to the word
fine
.
“Well, that’s because he used magic.”
“Uh-huh. Magic.” He acted as if I had told him Santa Claus was real.
“Yes, magic. And then Elliot saved me.”
Deburt looked at my boss. It was a welcome relief to my breasts. “With magic, I suppose?”
Robert gave a slight nod. “I can go over the crime scene with you, if you wish.”
“That’d be nice.” Deburt’s tone said otherwise. “Let’s go.” He pointed to the detectives with him. “You three take her statement. Make sure she doesn’t go anywhere. They’re still suspects until we get this matter settled.”
Like they could stop me
, I thought.
Robert must have sensed my mood, because he stepped over to me, laying a gentle hand on my arm. Though my coat and gloves covered my skin, a warm thrill of delight still ran through me.
“Cooperate with them,” he said in a low voice. “But if they get too accusatory, request your attorney be present.”
“I don’t have one,” I whispered.
“The Elite Hands of Justice do. And you are a part of them now.”
I nodded, and faced the three remaining cops with a dark stare. Living in foster homes and with hero teams all of my
life, I had learned that if you came on strong with a takecharge attitude, you wouldn’t be walked on.
The two older cops, one with graying hair and the other who bore an eerie resemblance to the rapper Qpid, had obviously dealt with the super set before, judging by the way they went about the business of securing the crime scene. They ignored my presence, leaving me to the young cop who was staring wide-eyed at me.
The newbie seemed to remember he was supposed to be taking a statement and not gawking, and cleared his throat. “Alright ma’am, what’s your name?”
“Phenomenal Girl Five.”
The gray-haired cop nudged Officer Qpid. “I told you that was her.”
“N-no, your real name.” Newbie was clearly rattled.
“You don’t need to know that information.”
“Yes, we do.”
“Kid, have you ever heard of secret identities? It’s not much of a secret if everyone knows.”
The other two cops snickered at this, enjoying the hassle I was giving their coworker.
He pressed on. “Can you give us a statement as to what happened here?”
I ran over the whole story with him as Qpid bent over Syn.
“And you engaged in combat with the assailant?”
“Yep.”
“And he attacked you with a knife and with magic?”
“Yes. He ripped out a chunk of my soul.”
“Of your soul?”
“After confessing to assaulting the girl, yes.”
“And you knocked him out?”
“After Elliot healed me.”
“With magic?”
“You say that like you don’t believe it,” I said. “Trust me, Junior, magic is very real.”
The younger officer glanced back at his partners, who were helping a handcuffed Syn to his feet. Suddenly, with an insane howl, the villain lurched out of their grasp and launched himself, teeth bared, at the younger police officer.
I shoved Junior aside and punched Syn in the face again. He went down screaming, his nose shattered. I grabbed him from behind, picking him up by the collar of his shirt and his cuffed hands, and held him in the air as he bucked and screamed. “Want me to take him down to the police car?” I asked the three astonished cops.
Robert was outside by the police cruiser with Deburt, and he didn’t even look surprised as I walked out holding the crazed villain in front of me like a bag of garbage, the three cops following in my wake. Deburt, who was clearly having a nasty conversation with whomever was on the other end on his cell phone, shot me a glare as I passed. From what I could infer, he was being told to leave us alone.
“Is everything under control?” Robert asked as Officer Qpid opened the door to his car and I tossed Syn in the backseat.
I nodded. “Of course.” The two older police officers waved their thanks and got in, dragging Junior along with them.
“Good. If the police have matters in hand, we have other business to attend to. Let us know if we can be of further use to you,” he said to Deburt. “Good night.” He strode away.
“See ya,” I called back to Deburt, and followed my partner.
“Robert,” I said as we cleared the ware house. “What else do we have to do to night?”
“Go home and get a good rest,” he said with a boyish smile.
I couldn’t help but grin back.
“Who was that waste of a badge Deburt talking to on the phone?”
“The police commissioner. He is an old friend. I think the gist of the conversation was that we caught a dangerous criminal and Deburt should be grateful for the help.” He held out a hand. “Shall we?”
I took it with caution, remembering the teleport here. “I’m not going to get sick again, am I?”
“No, because we are taking a cab home.” He pulled a cell phone out of his jacket pocket and dialed a number. “I need to rest before I do more magic.”
I was bone-tired and more than a little bit freaked out. Good to know I wasn’t the only one who had been tested to the end of their limits in the space of one night.
The next morning I woke up in that dazed way you do when you’ve forgotten where you went to bed. Sun was peeking through the thick draperies, and with a yawn I got up and plodded over to throw them open. Bright light greeted me and I yawned again, holding a hand up against the blinding sun. What time was it? I hadn’t been able to sleep well, with thoughts of that poor little girl and her family running through my head.
A knock sounded on my door a split second before Robert came barging in. I jumped, startled.
His glance flicked over me in an instant, and he frowned. “Do you sleep until ten every day?”
“Only on mornings when parts of my eternal essence were sucked out the night before,” I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest, keenly aware I was only in my silk cami and boxers—and that they were a bit on the see-through side in the right lighting.
He didn’t appear bothered by my near-nakedness. “Well, get dressed and hurry along. Mayhew has a late breakfast waiting for you in the nook and Detective Pendergast is stopping by to speak to us at eleven.”
“About the murder?”
“Yes. He has a few questions about the statement you gave. I thought I told you to cooperate.”
“I did!”
“Not giving your name is not cooperating.”
“It’s called a secret identity!
Secret
!”
He fixed me with a dark look. “If you are going to be my partner, then you must learn to be up front with the police. These moronic super-aliases are more trouble than they are worth. They cast an air of suspicion on you that you do not want. We work with the police, not against them. Besides, was it not you who told me you did not wear a mask because you had no one to protect?”