Hoots and whistles rose, and Jenks, deep into his honey drunk, gyrated wildly.
Eyes black and coming on to me like one of those legalized prostitutes down in the Hollows, he continued. It was enough to embarrass a man.
Jenks almost spun right off the table and I hid my eyes, mortified.
I dont see an arrest, Edden said, and I looked up as he leafed through a clipboard.
You get yourself some vampire ass, Callahan? someone shouted, and the man cracked an almost-not-there grin.
When I turned around, she was gone, Callahan said.
A woman made a long awwww, and I smiled. They had a good group. I missed that.
She wasnt going to bang you, she was going to smack you into next week, I said, and Edden hid a cough behind rubbing his mustache. That is, if you were lucky.
Callahan turned in his chair to give me an irritated look. And you would know how?
I shrugged, glad everyone was looking at me and not Jenks making a wobbly flight to the podium. Because when a vampire gets sexy, theyre either hungry or mad. Cornering her was a mistake. Youre lucky. You must have left her an out. She was smart and took it.
They were silent. Slowly the tension rose. But I wasnt going to keep my mouth shut if a little information might keep someone out of the hospital.
Everyone, if you dont recognize her, this is Rachel Morgan, Edden said, and I could breathe again when they turned away. I asked her to come in and give us some ideas on how to handle the issues falling to us right now as the I.S. takes care of an internal issue.
There was a rising muttered complaint, and Edden held up a hand, then scrambled to catch Jenks as he slipped backward down the slanted podium. Morgan is a former I.S. runner, and if she says youre lucky, Callahan, youre lucky. Rachel, what should he have done?
There was a rising muttered complaint, and Edden held up a hand, then scrambled to catch Jenks as he slipped backward down the slanted podium. Morgan is a former I.S. runner, and if she says youre lucky, Callahan, youre lucky. Rachel, what should he have done?
I sat up, glad Id pulled something professional from my closet today. Not follow.
They all protested, and my eyes squinted. You can lead a troll to water. . .
Shes right! Jenks shrilled, cutting off most of the grousing. The woman is right! Righter than . . . a pixy in a garden. He belched, wings moving madly as he tilted to the side.
I wondered if I should stand, then decided to stay where I was. If you dont have the skills or strength to back up your badgeand Im sorry, but your weapons wont do itits best to just let them go. Unless theyre threatening someone, that is. Then youre going to have to work hard to distract them until they remember the law can put them in a cage.
Damn, even the women cops were looking at me like I was a hypocrite. I dont care if you dont like it, I said. One vampire is enough to clear this entire room if he or she is angry enough. The master vampires will bring them in line.
But they arent, said a woman who had clearly, judging by her bedraggled appearance, come in off the night shift. Around her, others nodded. No one has been able to contact an undead vampire within the Cincinnati or Hollows area since yesterday afternoon.
Surprised, I looked at Edden, becoming uneasy when he nodded. How come this is the first Im hearing about it? I said, suddenly very awake. If the master vampires were incommunicado, thatd explain the increase in living-vampire crimes. For all the loving abuse the masters heaped upon their children, they did keep the bad ones in line when no one else could.
Edden straightened from his concerned hunch over Jenks. Because we agree with the I.S. that it would cause a panic. The masters arent dead, theyre sleeping, and so far, its confined to the Cincy and Hollows area. The I.S. tried bringing in a temporary master vampire from out of state to handle things yesterday, and she fell asleep within five hours.
I bit my lip, processing it. All the undead sleeping? No wonder the I.S. was down.
Which brings me back to you, Rachel, he said, and my head snapped up. I originally asked you here to give us options for dealing with aggressive Inderlanders, but I think weve gone beyond that. Whats your Inderland take on the situation? Are the misfired charms and the sleeping undead vampires linked?
Silence descended as everyone looked at me. That they were linked was obvious. The real question should be was any of this intentional or simply a natural phenomena, and if deliberate, was the goal to put the masters out of commission, create havoc with misfired charms, or both? If someone was creating the wave, it could be stopped. If it was a natural effect, it was going to be up to meseeing as the wave was coming from my line.
Nervous, I picked up my shoulder bag and got to my feet. Jenks saw me coming, trying to sit up as his one wing refused to function, swearwords falling from him as his heels flipped up and he toppled backward down the podium. Upsy daisy, Edden said as he caught him slipping off the edge, and Jenks giggled, his high voice clear in the dead air.
Why would she help us? Shes a demon, someone muttered, and Edden frowned.
Because shes a good demon, Frank, he said, voice iron hard as he held Jenks gently in his cupped hand. Giving Edden a wry smile, I held my bag open and he dropped Jenks inside.
Hey! the pixy protested, and then, Tinks little pink dildo, Rache? Havent you gotten rid of those condoms yet? They got a shelf life, you know.
I flushed, handing the bag to Edden as I turned. That awful map was behind me, and I shifted until I wasnt behind the podium, not liking the feeling of separation I got behind it. That the waves, the sleeping undead, and the vampire violence are linked is obvious, I said, half turning to glance at the map. I dont know how to stop the waves, but until we figure it out, there are a few things that can be done to minimize the damage from the superpowered waves.
Superpowered? someone in the back questioned, and I nodded.
According to, ah, a reliable source, the misfires are actually an overexpression of what the charm is supposed to do, so a charm intended to clean grease removes the fat not just from the counter but the person who invoked it. Fortunately, the waves appear to only impact charms invoked right when the wave is passing over them. Those already running arent affected.
Most of them were staring at me in bewilderment. It was frustrating. Another witch would know exactly what I was talking about, and I wondered how charismatic Eddens public relations person was. This was going to go down hard in the Inderland community. You might want to work with the I.S. and get an early warning detector out to Loveland where the waves are originating. If you tell people not to invoke any magic ahead of a wave, that will probably minimize or eliminate probably ninety percent of the magic misfires.
What about the vampires?
Good question. Which brings me to the vampires. Its a good bet that the increase in crime is simply a combination of the heightened fear brought on by the misfires and the masters being asleep and unable to curtail it. Take out one of the three legs, and the stool will fall. If you wake the undead up, the violence will stop. Curtail or eliminate the misfires, and the violence will probably diminish. Fear is a trigger to bloodlust, and the fewer misfires, the less fear there will be to trigger a twitchy vampire.
Again silence fell, but it was the quiet of thinking. So whos making the waves? someone asked.
Good question number two. Id guess someone who would benefit from the chaos. Someone trying to hide a crime? Or a firm specializing in disaster recovery?
Or a demon, I thought, thinking this was just the thing to amuse a bored sadist. Newt, though, had seemed genuinely concerned. Damn it to the Turn and back, I didnt have enough clout to work another deal with the demons. Id barely survived the last one.
Edden rubbed his face, starting at the feel of his bristles, and I wondered how long hed been here. The officers, too, were getting fidgety, and it felt as if I should wrap this up.
In the meantime, it might be a good idea to block off access to some of the smaller parks to minimize large gatherings. Or better yet, Edden, have you given any thought to installing a curfew? Blame it on the magic misfire, not the vampires.
Edden winced. Ye-e-e-es. Cincinnati has more people on the street at night than the day. We saw a drop last night except for gawkers, but even they became scarce when the vampires took over the streets.
An officer at the edge sat up. What if we just shut down the buses? We wouldnt have a repeat of what happened out at the university.
An officer at the edge sat up. What if we just shut down the buses? We wouldnt have a repeat of what happened out at the university.
What happened at the university? I asked, then put a hand in the air. Never mind. You could always put a cop on the buses going from the Hollows to Cincinnati. That would probably take care of most of it.
Callahan made a bark of laughter. And where do you expect to get the manpower, missy? Were double shifting as it is.
Missy? I was losing them. Thats another thing. The I.S. cant be completely down, just disorganized, and if theres something the FIB is good at, its organization. Has anyone thought to ask the witches or Weres in the I.S.s runner division to sit in with you in your cars or walk the streets with you? Mixed-species partners are encouraged in the I.S. for a reason. Id think having someone next to you who can smell vampires a block away is worth looking into. Besides, if the I.S. is down as far as you say it is, the witches and Weres are probably ready to take things into their own hands. You give them a well-structured outlet, theyll jump at it.
Edden shifted from foot to foot behind me. My jaw tightened as they just stared at me. Fine, I said sarcastically. Last night I watched a woman blow a hole in a vampire because she lost faith in the I.S.s ability to protect her. If you dont get a hold of this, and I mean now, youre going to have an entire city of vigilantes out gunning for vampires, good or bad. Or you can swallow your pride and not only show the witches and Weres your stuff, but a frightened demographic that you can work with other species instead of killing them.