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Chapter 17
Itriedtoburymyself in my books, but I was too distracted. In the end, I gave up reading as a bad job and hauled out my phone to give Steve Marley a redacted update. He answered promptly on the third ring. ‘Steve? It’s Lucy. Do you have a couple of minutes?’
‘I’ve always got time for you, Lucy. What’s up?’
‘I’m sorry to bother you, but I wondered whether you had any more information about Bobby’s or Jason Alessandro’s kidnapping?’ I wasn’t going to mention the cadaver on my lawn.
‘I’m sorry, I can’t discuss any kidnapping cases with you except Bobby’s.’
‘But they are being treated as linked incidents, right?’
‘They are. But I’m confirming that unofficially, okay? You didn’t hear it from me. Another detective has been pulled in and we’re doing everything we can to track down the kids.’
‘One more detective? That hardly seems enough.’
‘One of the problems with the Other realm is that there aren’t enough people who can man crossover positions, particularly in the police force. The Connection obviously has its own inspectors and detectives, but we’re vastly outnumbered by the Other population. The Common police have a huge task force set up for Bobby and Jason, which both of us, as crossovers, are in. We have far more information available to us than the Common police task force. They’re not going to have much success – this is clearly something that involves the Other realm.’
‘I think you’re right. I went to Alessandro’s last night. Greg thinks that an ogre did the kidnapping.’
‘I hope you didn’t contaminate my crime scene,’ Steve groused.
I winced. ‘I’m sure we didn’t.’ I wasn’t sure.
Steve sighed. ‘And I hope you managed to stay on the good side of Alessandro. He’s not someone you want to fuck with.’
‘Hard to say – he keeps his cards close to his chest. He wasn’t warm and fuzzy but he did let me examine the scene, so I’m taking that as a win.’
‘You’re still alive. I’m takingthatas a win.’
‘Yeah, that’s even more impressive when you know that I visited the ogres this morning, as well,’ I threw in.
‘You did what?’ Steve exclaimed. ‘Bloody hell, you have a death wish!’
‘Krieg and his crows were surprisingly nice.’
‘Was he in Common?’
‘Yes, why?’
‘Because apparently when he’s in Common he’s at his most dangerous. He’s hoping to trick you into making a mistake so he can kill you in his den.’
‘Well, he didn’t kill me. That may have something to do with Bastion coming along for the ride.’
Steve exhaled. ‘That makes sense. Even the ogres will hesitate before attacking a griffin, especiallythatgriffin.’
‘Bastion could do some damage.’
‘He would pulverise them. He might die eventually, but I wouldn’t put money on it. Bastion has survived horrific things in his enhanced lifetime. Rumour is that he fought in both world wars.’
I blinked. ‘I forgot that griffins live for longer than us mere mortals.’
‘The important thing to remember is thatyouare a mere mortal. As a werewolf, you don’t get an extra life. You get to heal yourself and survive from some pretty horrific wounds, you get some extra strength, and you get a wolf – that’s it. If you’re not careful, you’ll die.’
‘I don’t get why people keep giving me this lecture.’
‘Because you can be a little foolhardy at times, Lucy. For example, you visited the ogres in their den.’
‘I had backup. I had Greg and I had Bastion – not to mention Esme.’
