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"Oh, no ma’a--Inspector In fact, I’d love to take you to dinner while you’re in town"

Now that surprised me I eyed the kid--okay, he was definitely aone And a cute one But he was siuilty if I started a short affair with hiive hi a ical creature, but I had walked in and taken over the scene, and he’d asked me out before he even knew my first naaze had dropped froa particularly hard puzzle I glanced at the bandolier of vials slung across ical cocktail Then there were a set of throwing stars as well as two sets of throwing daggers--all enchanted--and my tactical belt filled with more vials, customized spelled darts for my crossbow, more weapons I’d picked up over the years, and some basic necessity charms like a spell checker and a lie detector And that was just as visible whereattire, so I rarely thought about how unusual so many weaponized spells could appear Which is why ear are hidden by spells He shouldn’t have noticed the officer jerked his gaze upward, as if he’d only now realized he’d been staring in the general area of hter co at your weapons--the spelled ones I’ve never seen adisplay like that But, uh, you needed the key to the cruiser"

He held it out I accepted the key but shookto slip away that easy, kid"

"Russell"

"Huh?"

"My nae the na The last two ed that But there was still one more test I pulled a vial from my bandolier "What can you tell me about this?" I asked as I passed the vial to him--carefully

"Whoa, this" He ers "It feels like fire, only hotter More destructive"

I didn’t try to stop the sed at my lips It was a real one after all, and those were rare Russell stumbled back at my expression It may have been a real smile but it must have been one of rabbed it from him before he dropped it Now that would have been aI hoped looked professional I didn’t do professional often "Are you interested in a little work on the side? I ht not, but it was always good to have a sensitive waiting in the wings

"Sure" Russell leaned back, one hand its"

Not happening I carried only an erammed number: Derrick’s Two people call in, Derrick and my boss back at MCIB No one else It was a safety precaution A phone going off at the wrong tiular cell back at the hotel, but I wasn’t about to give Russell the nu me at all hours--she could never keep up hich time zone I was in--I did not need random calls from a rookie officer with the CYPD

"How about you just write down your nuh not to try to insist Pulling out a small memo pad from his pocket, he scribbled his nuh to ensure it was legible before tucking it away With a nod, I ended that portion of the conversation and turned back to the task at hand

The victims Then the creature

"Stick around, Russell Your sensitivity to uys," I said, and unlocked the cruiser door, unsure of what I’d find inside

I stepped back from the officer who’d been in the driver’s seat of the cruiser "I don’t see a ent Tayler said, joining aze didn’t lift with our words She just continued to stare blankly at the ground She didn’t even bother to wipe her tear-soaked cheeks, which glistened in the streetlights She just stood there as if she were eest response I’d received fro when I’d asked where she’d been hurt

Still, all of that was better than the two men--they were so locked away in their own heads that I hadn’t been able to talk either out of the car I frowned, thinking about what Derrick had told uys are headed toward catatonic, aren’t they?"