Page 71 of Mystic Justice
I put a grade-one alert on SPEL:ONE OF OUR OWN TAKEN BY A GRIFFIN. ASSISTANCE REQUESTED FROM ANY AND ALL TO GROSVENOR PARK. I prayed we had another Inspector close by who could answer my desperate plea.
I was taken aback when none other than Detective Chief Superintendent Faraday replied to the grade one.En route. ETA 25.Moments later, not to be outdone, Thackeray responded too.En route. ETA 30.
Bloody hell, the brass were coming and both of them would be there before us. That had to be something. I messaged back:Start near Chester Grove.
Grosvenor Park was huge, more than twenty acres, but my gut said Jane would stay true to her pattern because she wanted to give Jingo the extra ‘fuck-you’.
I rang both Jingo and Reed but neither of them answered.
As we tore around the streets, I silently prayed for Ji-ho.
Krieg pulled up fast, tyres screeching in protest as we skidded to a halt outside the park’s east gate. I was out before the car stopped rocking, sprinting past the ornate ironwork and onto the gravel path, heading towards the centre of the green expanse.
The trees loomed ahead, dark silhouettes against the light of the full moon. Huge and round, it was washing the ground with its light and I didn’t need a torch to see where I was going. ‘Loki!’ I called as I ran.
Nothing.
‘He’s coming,’ Krieg murmured as we ran. ‘I can feel him nearby.’
‘The birds!’ I blurted, stopping abruptly. I lowered my voice. ‘Can you do your thing? Pipe the birds? Ask what they can see?’
‘I can, but it’ll take a few minutes and I’ll need you to guard me,’ he admitted. ‘I can’t see the world around me when I’m looking through their eyes.’
I nodded. ‘Of course. I’ve got your back. Do it!’
He trusted me to guard him and for some reason that meant a whole lot to me. As his grey eyes lost focus, I gathered my magic and held it ready to blast any intruders. I also pulled out my PR-60, ready to take a swing if I needed to. I’d protect Krieg with magic and might and anything else I had.
It was hard to stand and wait as Krieg winnowed though various avian thoughts to try and get us a clue; it felt like too long while Ji-ho’s life hung in the balance.
The rest of the team checked-in, including Faraday and Thackeray who had also mic-ed up. Everyone was spread apart:if one of us did find the killers, we’d have to call for back-up. This was a cluster fuck.
‘Heading central,’ I murmured when it was my turn to update. ‘No signs yet. Comms silent for fifteen unless there’s a development.’ The comms fell silent and I switched to listen-only.
‘I here!’ Loki huffed as he flew towards me. ‘Birds scared. Going away.’
‘Going away from where?’
Krieg’s eyes snapped to me. ‘The Elder Tree,’ he said grimly. ‘They’re at the Elder Tree.’
‘That’s what I say!’ Loki huffed, annoyed at being upstaged.
I flipped the comms on. ‘Everyone to the Elder Tree!’ I barked.
We were the closest, significantly so. The dryad’s Elder Tree wasn’t within the grove but set back in its own clearing. I knew the way because I’d met the dryad elders there on a couple of occasions so I bolted west through the maze of winding paths, my shoes thudding a frantic rhythm against the gravel path. My lungs were burning but I didn’t slow. Branches snagged at my sleeves and the moonlight dimmed the deeper I went.
The trees were old here, vast oaks and whispering beeches, their roots breaking the path like bones beneath skin, like Ji-ho’s bones might be being broken. Calder needed fear and pain; if Ji-ho wasn’t scared enough, what steps would they take?
The Elder Tree wasn’t far now.
I slowed my approach. I needed the element of surprise and I’d lose it if I ploughed in like a drunken satyr at a party. I turned to check on Krieg; he wasn’t behind me but by my side. He gave me a firm nod and I found I was inordinately grateful. I had backup, even if it wasn’t a fellow Inspector.
An eerie quiet had fallen: the birds had either flown away or fallen silent. Either way, it was a bad sign for what we were about to encounter. Krieg and I crept forward, moving slowly,cautiously, silent predators stalking our prey. Our sloth-like speed chafed but a blunder now could mean Ji-ho’s death.
A glint of red in the moonlight made me swallow. Blood. I crouched by the smear and examined the base of the tree. Claw marks, fresh, deep. Bark had been peeled back like torn parchment. Harbinger had landed here. And Ji-ho was bleeding.
Time was running out.
Chapter Thirty-Four
