Page 34 of Mystic Justice
‘With respect, sir,’ I interjected, ‘I don’t trust Witterhall.’
Thackeray’s lips pressed into a thin line. ‘Objection noted. Putting together this task force has been underway for sometime. The higher-ups declined to start it in Liverpool since we can’t afford any fuck-ups in the Other capital city…’
‘But fuck-ups in Chester are fine?’ Elvira quipped. ‘You didn’t specify my specialty,’ she added, her tone challenging.
‘Everyone knows your speciality,’ Thackeray retorted. ‘And that’s why you’re not in charge.’ Especially of late, Elvira had gained a reputation for killing first and asking questions later. ‘Consequently Wise will be in charge of any kill orders and she will answer directly to me for those calls.’
Lucky me.
‘We’re in negotiations with the owner of a vampyr store on The Rows and we hope to set you up in your own space soon. You’ll be operating as Unit 13. As far as the Common realm police know, you are an elite squad but your purpose is “need to know” – and they don’t need to know. Until you have a permanent base, you have my permission to operate out of the station as needed.’ He set his hands on his lap.
‘Unit 13, this is your first case and I suspect it will make or break you before we’ve even signed the lease. I have battled for years for this opportunity, so you’d better make damned sure it’s the former. Work together and find me the killers before we have more dead bodies. Everyone dismissed.’
As I stood to leave, Thackeray called, ‘Wise, stay a moment.’
Ah.Nowit was my turn for the bollocking.
Chapter Seventeen
Thackeray waited until the door was shut then tapped twice on a spot on his desk so that the privacy runes flared. Hmm. He hadn’t been worried about the rest of the conversation being overheard; I suppose setting up a task force wasn’t that unusual, and if any Common ears overhead words like ‘centaur’ and ‘dryad’, the Verdict would whisper some other explanation: for example, they wouldn’t hear ‘centaur’but ‘cent whore’and assume we were discussing the death of a prostitute or something similar. But Thackeray didn’t want to rely on the Verdict for whatever was coming next; either that or he wasn’t worried about Common ears but Other ones.
I started before he could. ‘I don’t play well in a team—’ I began.
‘I’m not asking you to play,’ he interrupted. ‘I’m asking you to lead. You can do that and do it well.’ His sharp blue eyes pinned me. ‘Talk to me about Krieg.’
I hadn’t been prepared for that question. It was an oversight on my part: Krieg had shoehorned his way into my investigation and clearly Thackeray was curious as to why. I contemplatedmany answers, but in the end I went with the truth. ‘He believes that I’m his fated mate.’
Whatever Thackeray had been expecting, it wasn’t that. He sat back into his chair, jaw tight. ‘I had hoped it would be a short-term interest.’
‘It doesn’t appear that it will be.’
Thackeray studied me. ‘Do you reciprocate his interest?’ He held up a hand before I could protest at the intrusive question. ‘I merely ask because I will take steps to remove him as a civilian consultant if his interest is unwelcome.’
‘I appreciate that.’ I hated talking about my private life at work, mostly because I didn’t have one and my colleagues didn’t need to know that I lived for my work – though truthfully, I expected they already did. ‘It is not unwelcome,’ I admitted stiffly.
‘He’s the High King of the Ogres,’ Thackeray started.
‘I’m well aware,’ I said flatly.
‘This will complicate your career, Stacy,’ he said softly.
‘I’m well aware,’ I repeated drily.
‘I suppose you are.’ He tapped his fingers rhythmically on the desk. ‘I’ll have to report it to DCS Faraday.’
Detective Chief Superintendent Faraday was a vampyr who’d been involved in the constabulary in one way or another for more than three centuries. Vampyrs could choose to appear any age they wished and currently he was rocking a trim sixty years. My dad had admired him greatly, but I’d had fewer than a handful of meetings with the man. I had no idea how he’d feel about me dating the King of the Ogres.
‘We’ll put a procedure in place in case you ever feel that there’s a conflict of interest where you can’t remain impartial,’ Thackeray said decisively. That was one of the things that made him a good DSU: he thought in terms of policies and procedures. He’d be chasing Faraday’s tail feathers if the immortal everdecided to retire – or more likely die and start over from the bottom again as a fresh-faced twenty-one-year-old like Channing.
‘I will be able to remain impartial,’ I said stiffly. My job was my life and I wouldn’t jeopardise it, not even for Krieg.
‘And if one day the evidence leads to your beau?’
‘Then there will be a contract in place to absolve him,’ I said firmly.
I’d only been dating Krieg – if that was what you called hanging out at murder scenes and occasionally making doe eyes at each other – for a matter of weeks, but years in the force meant that I was a good judge of character. Everything in me said Krieg was a good man – a clever one and a ruthless one, but one who acted in the best interests of his people at all times. I’d seen no signs of avarice, privilege or greed. Yes, he had wealth but he treated it like the thing it was, a tool to be used. I honestly believed that Krieg wouldn’t accept an immoral contract just because it came with a big price tag, and that meant all of his contracts would be above board.
The Other was a murky, dangerous place and our laws were feral. If you hired a mercenary or an assassin and they killed someone, it was the person who took out the contract who was legally responsible. We stepped in as peacekeepers when one species attacked another, but whatever they did in-house was up to them to police. If Krieg killed an ogre, that was outside the Connection’s remit. As long as Krieg followed his own laws and only killed his own, or he had a contract in place for the hit – we wouldn’t run into difficulty.
