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“I shall accompany Ms. Crowe,” Eli cut in.
I expected an objection, but Ally curtsied and dipped her head. Her increased deference to him was super-weird, but honestly, the list of super weird complications was starting to be long enough to prioritize. This one was way down the list somewhere.
“Get me everything you can on Madame Hebert,” I told her as I accepted the second mug of blood, this one in a cheery cup with the words “Monkey Balls!” emblazoned on it.
Ally grinned. “It’s catchy.”
Eli rolled his eyes, but I smiled at her and said, “After I deal with this, I need to get that Hebert business sorted out.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell her about the crow heads. Ally might be a cheerful murderess, but she worried about me these days. Secrets. It was how I got by without my friends constantly being anxious.
Iggy opened his mouth, but I spoke over whatever he was going to say, “And babysit Iggy, please.”
“No worries, Boss.”
“That willnotbe necessary,” Iggy said. “Miss Alice will be treated as the lady she so obviously is, and I will be here awaiting your next need.”
“Ignatius and I will be just fine.” Ally gave me a finger wave before telling him, “We could walk around the city to refamiliarize you. There are a few files at the Historical Society I need to grab.” She paused. “Are you younger today?”
“No.” I paused and caught his eye. “Right?”
Iggy nodded. “Simply feeling spry in your presence, Miss Alice.” Then, to me, he added, “The revolveress will be completely safe, Hexen.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Iggy. And maybe once I get this Hebert mess sorted out, you can teach me a few new tricks so you can return to your rest.”
Iggy laughed. “I haven’t had this much fun in my death. Of that, I am quite certain. So I am no rush to return to wherever I go in death, Hexen.”
“Strays,” Eli muttered looking at first Ally and then Iggy.
I ignored all of them and walked out the door.
Chapter Fifteen
I was impressedthat Eli’s car was outside and already repaired. I guess, sometimes, being powerful was handy. I wasn’t always sure how I felt about it, but Eli was neither pretentious nor egotistical. He was simply fond of what he was fond of, and he had the resources to have it.
Walking into an NOPD office made me tense more than the restless dead or face-gnawers ever could. This one was at the edge of river, where watch officers stared out over the muddy water as if they’d be able to see under it. An awkward attack in New York where face-gnawers strolled out the Hudson last month and started chewing on people had rattled the world. Again. Dead means no need to breath, so it wasn’t terribly shocking.
Somehow it was a rude awakening for New York, though.
Here at the mouth of the Mississippi, we were pretty much founded on rude awakenings. Plagues, pirates, and poverty tended to create the stories passed down for generations. The biters were just the latest on a long list of challenges—but neither hurricane nor plague had destroyed us. Thedraugrweren’t going to either.
I straightened my shoulders as I walked up to the main desk, an officer I didn’t know, who was tucked behind some plexiglass barrier with steel wire so we could hear to talk. Low tech? Maybe, but it worked. It had the bonus of identifying most any fae in the city, but Eli stayed back from the toxic stuff as I said, “Crowe Associates for Gary Broussard.”
“You the witch?” the officer asked. He was one of those guys who looked like he’d worked out for months before coming here. The pay was one of the highest in the nation these days, but so the was the mortality rate. When I didn’t reply, he added, “Broussard’s witch friend?”
It felt like a pause went over the other officers or detectives or whatever the hell they were to be called properly. My hand started to drop to the short sword at my hand. I might not be able to summon the dead, but if I had to do so, I’d draw.
“I am,” I muttered.
“Thank you,” he said loudly.
“What?”
“If not for whatever hocus pocus you do with those rounds Gary passed out, I’d be dead instead of on the desk while I heal.” He pulled his shirt collar to the side, revealing a mass of fresh scars at the juncture of his neck and shoulder. “Partner put two of those magicked up rounds in the fanger who grabbed me. I’m not dead.”
I nodded mutely.
“Is Broussard ready?” Eli’s voice brought me back to focus.
