Sarge nodded. “Captain Reese and I went over the case notes. The movement of the fire is suspicious, and the convenient involvement of House Tellier has raised some questions. As a result, it merits a second look. Officially, however, we’re using this as an opportunity to build rapport with the humans—something we need since Orrin dealt a fair amount of damage to public property.”
I traced the rim of my slayer mask with my thumb. “Is there something specific you want us to watch for?”
Sarge met my gaze. “I’ll leave that up to your discretion, Blood.”
Woah. That’s something I’ve never heard before.
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, either. He was Sarge: he was supposed to tell me what to do. I wasn’t in a position to make calls.
Either way, he wants us to dig, so we’ll dig.
The meeting room was suffocatingly silent until Sarge cleared his throat. “The division for the two remaining teams is as follows.”
He continued listing out names, but I picked up my mask and started fastening it into place.
We’ll start with the library as instructed. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to find out what House Tellier was doing near the library that late at night…
It was dark and drizzling by the time Binx, April, and I arrived at the library.
Rain spattered us as we elbowed our way through gusts of wind, staggering into the library.
The book drop off station was directly to our right, and crammed next to it was the circulation desk.
I studied the librarians standing at their stations—an older woman with thick, bottle cap glasses wearing a brightly colored mumu despite the cold weather, and a younger woman who seemed to be compensating for her coworker by wearing two thick knit sweaters.
I glanced from the librarians to April and Binx. “April, do you want to take point on speaking to them?”
April blinked at me. “No.”
“No?” I repeated back.
“You’re the team lead,” April said. “You should be the one to speak to them.”
“We don’t have team leads,” I said.
“We’re named Team Blood, aren’t we?” April asked.
Yes, but that’s because whatever team I’m on is called Team Blood for reasons I’ve never been told!
“I’m wearing a mask,” I said. “I’ll scare them.”
April shook her head. “Sarge told you to investigate it. We’re following your lead.”
Okay, there’s just one problem: I am not a people person.
Somehow, I didn’t think that excuse would fly with April, who was staring at me with a stubbornness I hadn’t seen her previously display.
I turned to look at Binx, whose scowly face was darker than usual—she hated getting rained on—as she flicked water off her task force uniform. （She’d given in and changed to the long-sleeved winter uniform despite being a shifter and running hot.）
I’m a bad choice, but even I’m more of a people person than Binx unless she’s in her cat form. So, I guess there’s only one choice…
“Okay,” I finally said. “But if they refuse to give me information due to fear, I want you to take over. We need to talk to them.”
April shrugged. “Sure.”
I turned to face the librarians again and started sweating like crazy.
Both of them looked like perfectly nice people. The older woman in the mumu smiled and waved to every patron who passed by the desk and while her companion looked small and pale in her layers of sweaters, she laughed kindly at a joke a teenager told her.
I can handle this. They’re librarians. They’re not tricky fae or dangerously charismatic like Ruin. I just have to ask if there was anyone present last night who is currently working. I can do this.
I took a deep breath, then strode up to the desk.
The older librarian stared at my mask, then took in my uniform and April and Binx flanking me. “Can we help you?” she asked.
I stared at her, my mind freezing up as my anxiety got the better of me.
Nope. I can’t do this.
I would have turned around, but my body refused to move.
The younger librarian—the one wearing all the sweaters—joined her coworker. “Oh—you’re supernaturals?”
“Yes,” I managed to croak out. “We’re with the Curia Cloisters. We were here yesterday—during the fire.” Encouraged that I’d managed to say two whole sentences, I took a deep breath.
It’s okay—this is for work. I can do a lot if it’s for work.