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“Yes.” April joined me and pointed at the streetlight intersection about three blocks up. “We heard them first—I think they ripped out those trash cans three blocks up. We intercepted them when they wandered past Tutu’s Crypta & Custodia—they blasted themselves on one of the dragon seals protecting it.” She gestured to an innocuous building made of brick and accented with bright red trim, which was the front for what was undoubtedly the best protected building in Magiford—and that included the Curia Cloisters. “There were originally seven mantasps. The one that took the brunt of the blast got incinerated.”
Dragon Shifters were the only kind of shifter capable of magic, and they specialized in seals—a magic that was defensive in that once set up it protected an area, but it was unique because it could blast an enemy that tested the boundary.
“Weird,” Brody said. “What were a bunch of mantasps doing here?”
I didn’t know anything about mantasps. I was cramming whenever I had time to try and learn more about supernaturals at large since the bulk of my education had centered on vampires, but mantasps hadn’t come up yet in my sessions.
Grove would know the most out of all of us, so I pivoted to face him.
“Mantasps live in the fae realm, I assume?” I asked.
The fae realm used to belong to the elves, but they’d been defeated in battle centuries ago and with their mass extinction the realm grew poisoned. Now, the only fae that lived there were connected to the largest fae Courts who had enough power to protect their territory.
“Yeah, they’re from the fae realm,” Grove confirmed. “They’re not capable of realm hopping. They’re more into stabby-stabby action. There’s not much going on in their craniums.”
I pulled out my cellphone and opened the notes app—we’d need to file a report for this, so it was better to take notes now than to ask again later. “So, someone had to have brought them here?” I guessed.
“Oh yeah,” Grove said. “No way around it.”
“Can anyone sense any magic?” I asked. Grove and April would be able to, while Brody and Binx would theoretically be able to scent it out. Technically I could sense magic, too, but I only got muted sensations—my abilities were way more honed in on the presence of blood and vampires.
Even now, I could mostly just sense Clarence’s arm wound and the knicks and cuts April and Binx had with only the faintest hint of fae magic, which felt like gossamer wings brushing my mind.
April frowned as she looked up and down the street. “I sensed dragon magic when the seal went off, obviously. I also felt fae magic before we even made it onto the street, but the mantasps might be the source of that since they’re from the fae realm.”
Binx sniffed the air, while Brody crouched down and sniffed at the sidewalk and then sneezed.
“I’m picking up on something weird,” he said before he sneezed again. “A faint trace of some kind of weirdo magic I don’t recognize. The overwhelming magic I’m smelling is fae. Whoever popped them in had to be a fae.”
“Unless one of the Seelie or Unseelie Courts were keeping them as pets,” Grove said. “You know, to fight with?”
“Are any of the Courts warring around Goldstein Street right now?” April asked.
Since summer, the small fae Courts—the ones without access to the fae realm—had been locked in a succession fight. The handful of Seelie Courts were fighting among themselves—as were the Unseelie Courts—and Courts were getting absorbed left and right, their territories and people getting unwillingly drafted into the winner’s Court.
“Who knows,” Binx snarled. “It’s not like they keep a website conveniently updated with what Courts have survived and which ones have been absorbed.”
“Tetiana, Jade, and I put down a fae fight about a four-minute jog from here a couple days ago,” Brody said. “So, it’s probably near a territory line.”
I nodded as I typed away on my phone, recording everyone’s thoughts.It wouldn’t surprise me if one of the Courts started using monsters as a fighting force. Fae monsters are easy enough to replace, and no one is keeping tabs on mantasps since they’re considered deadly to all. They’re just killed on sight in the fae realm.
“I remember that night,” Grove said. “I was there, too. Why didn’t you mention my name?”
“Because all you did was get yourself knocked out,” Brody said. “Blood had to save you.”
I’d swapped over to my camera app by this point to take pictures of the downed mantasps and the street, but I paused when Brody’s comment caught up with me.Blood? Who’s Blood?
I turned to ask, which is when I realized Brody and Grove were both guiltily looking in my direction, and I was able to do the math.
Wait, I’m Blood?I lowered my phone as the realization dawned on me.Is that why every patrol trio I get sent out on is called Team Blood?
I opened and closed my mouth a few times, hurt by the name. Why did they call me Blood? Was it because I was a slayer, and my blood was my greatest weapon against vampires? Or was it because they felt I spilled too much blood when I fought?
All the questions I wanted to ask got stuck in my throat, and I couldn’t ask a single one in the oppressive silence that blanketed the street.
My squadmates were quiet. Even Binx—who spent most of her life growling—awkwardly cleared her throat and looked away.
Even if I could ask, now isn’t the time. We’re in the middle of a case. There’s work to do. I have a job to finish.
