“Yep! It was just my brother checking in on me,” I said.
I hadn’t told Sunshine or anyone at work about Considine. Yet. I’d have to tell Sarge or Captain Reese eventually, only I wasn’t sure how to spill the news.
“Aww, that’s sweet,” Sunshine said. “I got my crossword book, so I’m ready to head to the Cloisters!”
“Okay—are you sure you don’t want to hang out here for a bit? I still have time. I mean, I appreciate that we can hang out for even this little bit. I don’t want to drag you to work on your day off.”
Sunshine flashed me a smile that was as warm and bright as her name. “You’re too sweet—I’m the one that should be apologizing. I’d be able to hang out at better times if my family wasn’t always so busy. But! I was planning to stop by the front desk tonight anyway. Emi texted me to let me know she was going to leave the bread loaf pan I lent her at the front desk. Oh—I almost forgot! She said she also found another Cloister manual she’d leave for you. She thought it might be useful for your paper.”
Ahh yes, my paper.
I’d upset Sarge the previous week when I’d lured a giant snake to Ruin’s territory by myself, leading it away from my injured squadmates but risking my life in the process. Now that I knew Ruin’s identity, I’d be upset with me, too.
As a result of the mess, Sarge had given me an assignment to write a paper about the culture and design of the Magical Response Task Force. He told me it would make me understand why my slayer training that dictated self-sacrifice for the sake of the mission and the good of the team was not the standard within the Department of Supernatural Law Enforcement.
“Great. I’ll have to thank her.” I rattled my empty smoothie thermos. “I need every resource I can get. All these employee handbooks and manuals Emi keeps finding are lifesaving.”
Sunshine’s smile dimmed, and she suspiciously peered up at me. “You are working on your paper then?”
“Yes.”
“Are you beginning to understand why your boss was so upset with you?” There was a hint of steel in Sunshine’s voice that made me flinch.
The night I’d lured the snake downtown, Sunshine had warned me that she thought something dangerous was coming and that she wanted me to be safe.
She had not been…happy when she met up with me after learning what I’d done.
“I don’t understand yet,” I confessed. “But I’m trying. The paper has been harder to write than I expected.”
Sunshine made a noise in the back of her throat. “The task force’s expectations are practically the opposite of your slayer training, so I imagine it will take time for you to pick it apart and understand. I guess I should just be thankful you’re so diligent that you’re genuinely trying to research and learn for the sake of your paper instead of writing a fluff piece. But I’m still upset with you, Jade, for breaking your word.”
Ooh, it is not good that she’s using my actual name instead of my nickname.
“Understood.” I bumped the door open, my senses sharpening with the cool breeze that was sweeping through the city filling the air with the musty smell of dead leaves and fresh air.
Sunshine eyed me, but her stance relaxed when she wrapped her knit scarf around her neck. “Brrr. I regret not buying a hot drink. Think the werewolves will finally swap to the task force’s winter uniform with sleeves?”
“Not unless Captain Reese makes them,” I said.
Sunshine laughed and I put on a smile as we strolled down the sidewalk. But there was a part of me that still worried—about my family, about the case of Orrin and the monsters, and especially about Considine Maledictus and his decision to sniff around Magiford.
CHAPTER
TWO
Considine
Iroamed down a luxuriously furnished hallway mulling over the unfortunate circumstances that had brought me here, to Drake Hall.
I didn’t encounter a single vampire on my prowl—which was unusual. Usually, the place was crawling with vampires—Killian Drake was the Midwest Eminence, marking him as the leader of all the vampires in the region, so he was hilariously popular.
But since I’d arrived in Magiford for my “vacation” in early September, I’d seen far less of his Drake Family vampires than I’d expected.
He must be missing at least a third of his forces—what?
I paused, turned, and stared at a framed photograph that hung from the wall.
The priceless vases, antique busts, and gold filigree wallpaper hadn’t caught my attention, but this cheap, mass-produced, black frame stuck out because of its cheapness and the color photo encased within it.