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“Exactly.”
“And, what? My job would be prosecuting who? Vampires?” She felt ridiculous even voicing the question.
Porter shrugged. “And werewolves, demons, fairies. A whole plethora of creatures. All those stories you thought were only the stuff of nightmares or stories told to scare children or populate horror movies. All those things are real. They’re real, and they’re out there, and some of them are just as evil as Hollywood has portrayed them.”
“Some of them?”
“A small percentage, actually. When you get right down to it, it’s not that different. Like humans, most of the preternatural are law abiding. It’s the ones who break the Concordat that Division 6 is concerned with.”
“Concordat,” she repeated. “That’s like a covenant. A law.”
“Exactly.”
She eyed Porter. “You’re awfully sanguine about all this.”
“I wasn’t at first. You’re taking it with much less shock than I did, I assure you.”
“How long have you known?”
“Since I became the DA.”
She nodded. “So Einhart knows, too,” she said, referencing his predecessor.
“No.”
She frowned. “What?”
“The knowledge is available while necessary. After that…” He trailed off with a shrug. “I understand the process is simple and painless.”
“Oh.” She cleared her throat, feeling awkward. “So, um, there are others, right? This is Division 6, so there must be at least five more?”
“Correct. All over the globe. They fall under the jurisdiction of the PEC, and the PEC hides in worldwide governments. Very secret. Very need-to-know.”
“Right. Hide in plain sight. That makes sense.”
He stopped walking when they reached an intersection of corridors, their path blocked by a set of doors. Above the doors was painted an inscription:Judicare Maleficum.
“To judge the evildoer?”
His smile seemed proud. Almost paternal. “Sara, you’re going to do just fine.” He gestured at the door. “This is where I leave you. Your pass and the facial scan will get you through.”
“You aren’t coming?”
“Not authorized. An escort will meet you on the other side.”
“Right,” she said, her stomach choosing this moment to get fluttery with nerves. She was going past that door alone. And who knew what that meant. “Well, I guess, thank you.”
“I imagine you’ll be tendering your resignation to me soon, Sara. I hate to lose you.”
“Sir, I—thank you. Thank you for everything.”
He extended his hand, shook hers, then turned and walked back the way he came. Sara drew in a breath, then another, trying to center herself. Then she held her lanyard in front of the scanner, watched the light on the door turn from red to green, and walked over the threshold into Wonderland.
ChapterTen
There was a balance to San Francisco, Sergius thought. Wants warred with disappointments. Pain complemented pleasure. And darkness was beaten back by nothing less than the sheer force of will and electric generators.
He belonged here in this penthouse of steel and glass just as he belonged in the deep, windowless den he’d acquired deep in the ground with the subway tracks. A home in the dark, far away from prying eyes.
