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“Did the legend say why the monster pig attacked everyone?” I ask. “Who sent it or doomed it or whatever?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” she says brightly. “A human king only honored eleven of the twelve big gods when he presented his rites and offerings. Pissed because he forgot her, Artemis sent the boar.”
“Who?” Nolan asks, coming up behind me.
“Artemis.” The Nymph sounds out the word as if he’s stupid. “Goddess of chastity, wild animals, and the hunt.” She pauses like she’s waiting for any of us to say oh yeah, that Artemis. When we don’t, she adds, “Mother of the Huntresses. You know, the green-wearing snobs who run around thinking our mother’s better than yours since she’s an Olympian goddess and not some lesser god or demi-god like a nymph or muse or fury?”
“Oh.” I feel like she has just served us on our ignorance. Who knew the Nymphs were scholars on top of being flirts? “Have the Huntresses ever said outright that their mom is this Artemis?”
“Well, no but duh. Look at their actual House.”
“No one has seen inside,” Kiva says.
“No, but the outside could be a replica of an ancient temple with its marble columns. Plus, they use bow and arrows like Artemis. And they’re big on using stag antlers, goat horns, and forest patterns in their décor.”
“Where’d you learn all this?” I ask. “Furies are more about training to skate and kill than library learning.”
The Nymph shrugs. “I watch history holograms to help me sleep. Some of it sticks.”
“Anything in the myths have wings that look like bones?” I ask her, glancing at Nolan.
“No, not that I recall.”
That’s good enough for me. It’s definitely time to look outside Syn City for the killer. Maybe other deities have sent their sons and daughters to stir up trouble. Magic didn’t just bring back the Greek gods and goddesses. Several ancient cultures have resurrected their deities. “Thanks for the help,” I tell her.
Nolan’s phone lights up. “It’s my boss,” he whispers before answering. “Captain Zaleski—” His brow furrows. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll see you soon.” He hangs up, and the damn dark colors that come off him make me want to slug whoever made him this upset.
“What’s wrong?”
He shoves the phone in his pocket and curls his hand into a fist. “My captain’s coming to town. They’ve moved up my deadline. I only have a week to solve the case.”
“We need more than luck, visions, and a few days to catch a killer.” I swipe his bottle of beer and take a long swig. “We’re going to need a gods damned miracle.”
15
NOLAN
Another day wasted, and I’m no closer to figuring out who keeps killing shifters or why. So I do the only thing that makes sense and follow the mating connection to Sadie’s garden.
She presses a utility knife against my throat before I can say hello.
“Holy Hades! Nolan, I could’ve killed you.” Her surprise at least means she didn’t intend to attack me specifically, just whoever wandered this way.
“Nah, I figured it was only foreplay to get us back to the kissing.”
“Foreplay?” She has her hair pulled up in a bun on top of her head like a ballerina with a few blonde strands falling around her face. The sinking sun casts a halo of gold and rose around her. Her mouth is painted with bright pink lipstick that looks as out of place in the garden as the skirt she’s wearing and the big ass sword propped against a stone. “You’re awfully ambitious.”
“A man needs hope.”
She sheaths the knife. “I’m guessing you didn’t get anywhere on the investigation today. I sure as hell didn’t. I visited Dr. Bomani again, but we didn’t find anything new. The Syndicate has put all blame on the murdered shifter. Poppy was her name, and other than her parents naming her Poppy the pig, I found nothing criminal in her past or her family’s. Nice girl. Lovely manners. Very neat and tidy. Not anyone I suspect of inciting panic. You?”
“Captain Zaleski arrives tomorrow, and I’ve nothing to show her but another dead shifter.” Which means I’ll lose my badge in a week, but I’m not telling Sadie that. She has enough to worry over.
“What’s the Syndicate trying to cover up?” she asks.
“I don’t know. I appreciate them letting me out of further questioning and cooperating with the investigation but blaming a shifter doesn’t solve anything.”
“The fighting in the streets the other night left a couple of broken bones and a few stitches. A mean derby bout could cause the same level of injuries. But if all the Houses broke into a panic like that? We’d be carting off bodies.”
