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“I was going to say you three. But yes, the Nectar of Life, as well.” After a moment, he changed the subject. “So, will you know your friend by sight?”
I gave him a nod. “Yes, we should. Andrees…we go way back. We took the same classes when we entered the OIA. Or rather, the YIA—we didn’t originally work for the branch dealing with Earthside affairs. Before we were assigned to specific departments, every agent has to go through what you might call a basic training.”
Camille turned in her seat, to stare over the back. “We joined the YIA before the portals to Earthside were opened up. Before we even really knew about them. The YIA—Y’Elestrial Intelligence Agency—took care of some of the worst criminal cases in Y’Elestrial’s history. We tracked down the rogue vamps, serial killers, the worst of the worst.”
Chase nodded. “I thought that might be what it was like. So you met Andrees then?”
“We met him in basic training, yes. What you would think of as the preliminary academic studies. Then he was assigned to Delilah’s department. The YIA is divided up into a number of departments and the OIA started as a branch, then hived off to become its own division.” I shrugged.
“Did you sign up because you wanted to come Earthside?” Chase had never asked us much about the time before we came over through the portals.
I hesitated, not sure of how to respond. “Not really. We were assigned to the OIA…”
“Oh, just say it. We were transferred to the OIA because of me,” Camille’s face clouded over. “My boss had been gunning for me for years because I wouldn’t fuck him. I managed to make a huge bust—I brought in Roche, a serial killer who had been a member of the Des’Estar. That’s when I met Trillian, in a nightclub I was scoping out.”
“And that didn’t cement your position?”
“My boss, Lathe, tried everything to get me to fuck him. He’s a sadist. He liked humiliating women. When I tossed Roche’s body at his feet, he couldn’t deny me a raise and a commendation. Three weeks later, Dredge caught hold of Menolly. And after that, Lathe set out to make my life a living hell.”
“You couldn’t call him on sexual harassment?” Chase looked mystified.
“In Otherworld, sexual harassment isn’t against the law. It’s only an issue when the individual employer forbids it. Among the Fae, it can be a fact of life. Especially for a half-breed like me.” She grimaced. “When the OIA opened up and they began recruiting agents, nobody wanted to join. Well, almost nobody. But Lathe, he ‘promoted’ me…and I guess they figured they could get rid of all three of us at the same time. We were all assigned to the division.”
Delilah let out a sigh. “They didn’t like me because I was squeamish about roughing anybody up. I guess I’ve gotten over that little problem.”
I laughed. “That you have, Kitten. That you have. And they wanted to get me off their hands. Having a vampire in the YIA was an embarrassment, but they couldn’t just fire me, because it was their fault in the first place that Dredge caught me. Sending me into that nest with no backup—that would have been a nasty scandal, and I could have made things very messy for them.”
“Sorry to interrupt, but we’re here.” Morio edged into the parking lot. “Be careful. We have no way of knowing what the fuck is lurking around. I don’t even know what happened to the portal.”
Camille opened her door and stepped out into the chill night air. “Aeval told me that she can’t seal it permanently. The damn thing is growing stronger.”
“Delightful.” I glanced around the parking lot.
There was a black sedan parked nearby—presumably belonging to Roman’s guard. No other cars in sight. The paths were no longer covered with snow, but the rain had started up again, a light drizzle that was more annoying than anything else. The trees were stark against the sky, black silhouettes rising up, towering fir and cedars overlooking the deciduous trees whose leaves were mere buds on the branches at this point.
I motioned to one of the paths. I could sense the vampire nearby. As we headed in that direction, I called out, “Stan-ders? It’s Menolly—”
I’d no more than said my name when he slipped out from behind a bush. He was average height, had been an FBH, but was now dressed in Roman’s requisite uniform—black turtleneck and jeans. He wore the crest from Roman’s house on his shirt pocket.
“Miss Menolly, thank you for arriving so promptly. The Master said you were on the way.” He paused, looking at all of us. “Follow me, please. I’ve made sure nothing touched the body since I found it.” And with that, he led us back along the path to where two firs stood side by side. We weren’t far from the portal, and I noticed both Camille and Chase nervously glancing down the path.
“Back here, behind these bushes.” Standers led us through the trees, onto the grass. It was spongy from the rain, and the scent of moss floated up, mixed with mildew and mushrooms and the sour tang of the earth. The woodlands were pungent in the Northwest, but they were also crisp. The smell of rain on cedars was one that I willingly forced myself to notice. It had a wake-up feeling to it.
The drip-drip-drip of rain splashing off the needles trickled down our cheeks and hair. I shook away a droplet that threatened to fall into my eyes and veered around the huckleberry bush. There, on the ground, a body splayed out, covered in dried blood and very, very dead. Andrees.
Camille and Delilah caught up with me, and then Morio, Shade, and Chase. Camille bowed her head as Delilah let out a little cry and covered her mouth with her fingers.
“Yeah, it’s Andrees,” I said, after a moment. I knelt beside the body on one side, while Chase knelt on the other. It was obvious by the state of his corpse that Andrees had been murdered. But the single gunshot wound in his head couldn’t have caused the body to be so ravaged, nor did the cuts and marks on him look like an animal.
Chase stared at him for a moment, then said, “I think he was killed before the body was torn up. That’s an execution-style gunshot—he was murdered and dumped here. Probably a gangbanger, by first look. But those cuts…they’re made postmortem, I believe. I need to get Mallen over here.”
He flipped open his cell phone and punched in a number. “Mallen, you’re still up?…Get dressed, then. We need you down here at Tangleroot Park…No, no injuries—just one very dead Fae. Bring a forensics team. We’re not dealing with death by natural causes here.”
While Chase was on the phone, Delilah and Camille headed down the path. I tagged along, sliding in between them and slipping my arms around their waists. “I’m sorry. Delilah, I know you were closest to Andrees.”
She nodded, a stark expression on her face. “He was a good man. He was a good agent. At one point, I really thought there might be a chance…”
“I know.” I glanced up at Camille. “How are you doing?”
