Page 59 of A Subtle Scar
Charon brightened. “I have not the slightest idea, but he will answer his phone. And I will tell him to just follow anyone he considers suspicious and then tell us about it. That way, he can take you and Detective Rice to arrest your murdering humans, and we won’t really have helped. Would that work?”
“Well, if he really finds anyone…” I went through every regulation and precedent I knew.Indirectimmortal involvement could be disclosed, but it wasn’t necessary to do so. It wouldn’t affect the evidence-based case that was being built, and it wouldn’t be grounds to contest the admissibility of any piece of evidence we found. “That could actually work.”
Charon brightened and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“How do you know it’s me?” he asked when Hermes picked up. “Oh, you do? On the screen? I didn’t think of that. No, everything is fine. Our boyfriend says you aren’t supposed to catch the human murderers if you find them. All right,whenyou find them. Well, it has something to do with human laws. I didn’t fully understand, but Chandler feels strongly about it. No, you’re not supposed to touch them at all. You are supposed to watch and then bring Detective Rice and our boyfriend sotheycan do the touching.”
“And not get seen,” I added.
“And he says not to get seen. Well, I’m glad your ears are good enough to have heard that. Oh, we are in Chandler’s car with the necromancer and going to the morgue for some raising. No, not Lucy’s necromancer, don’t be ridiculous. Hermes, I have to go now. Goodbye.”
He looked at me, an innocent smile on his face. Yup, yeah, Charon was a cute guy. If he wasn’t a mysterious sex god, ruthlessly ramming his cock into Hermes, over and over. I wondered what it would feel like if he rammed his cock into me. Good. I was willing to bet it’d feel really, really good when he pushed me down and told me to behave for him while he fucked me.
I sucked in a deep breath and shut that train of thought down with the force of a wrecking ball smashing into a glasshouse. There was something about Charon, an instinct of him that…there were cracks inside of me. I knew this. I never showed them, but Charon had a knack for getting close to them, drawing them to the surface like a deep-seated migraine. Letting him fuck me was therefore not advised.
“All right then,” I said, fighting for calm and a professional demeanor.
Before I could rejoin normal traffic—all under Charon’s attentive gaze and Deacon’s slightly incredulous, slightly accusatory one, my phone rang.
I was half expecting it to be Hermes, but it was Rice.
I hit the accept call button as I sped up the car. “Detective. Anything new?”
“Just that your colleague from the FIS arrived. I’m coordinating with her. Albright says you and Deacon headed to the morgue. Deacon, you there?”
“Yes, I’m here,” Deacon said, leaning forward from the back seat.
“As am I,” Charon said.
“Right, our immortal support staff. Can we agree you boys are capable of documenting everything at the morgue? Chandler, you can do that, correct?”
“Yes, all FIS consultants get to document magical evidence and evidence related to it. You bring the press person up to speed. Who did they send?”
“A Jasmine Link.”
Jasmine was in her early fifties, and she had lots of experience in hostage negotiation and effective interview techniques as well as about a decade’s worth in managing the media circus.
“Good. You’re in great hands.”
“As are our victims’ bodies. Talk soon,” Rice said and hung up.
Charon appeared thoughtful and examined the middle console.
“Your car is a phone. A car phone.”
I could see Deacon frown in the rearview mirror.
“Actually, my phone just connects to the car because driving while holding a phone can cause accidents. This way I can concentrate.”
Charon took that in. “You wouldn’t have that problem on public transport. People often use their phone there, sometimes loudly. I think that’s very rude.”
“It would be the more climate-friendly option, I guess. Public transport, not turning the volume up on your phone and not using earbuds.”
Deacon’s frown deepened. “Public transport is also more relaxing, which makes it more people friendly.”
Clearly, Charon and Deacon had never experienced the New Cassel subway at rush hour. Lucky them. “Not when it’s over-crowded and it takes you ages to get places. Why are you so into public transport anyway?” I asked Charon.
He shrugged. “I enjoyed traveling ever since…well, for as long as I can remember. I traveled on foot for a long time, then on horseback, mules and palfreys later on. Chariots only when they were well upholstered.
