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Instead, Sarge turned his back to me so he was pointed up the street. He held his arm out in front of him inviting Captain Reese to take the lead.
She smiled at him—again, briefly—before she started up the sidewalk. “Did you notice anything else during your approach, April?” Captain Reese glanced back at April, her wolf eyes intense. “Any noises? Unusual smells?”
April shook her head. “Clarence was the only one in our group with better senses, and he didn’t hear anything. However…Juggernaut’s shout surprised him, so it’s possible he missed something.”
I studied the office building we passed looking for any exterior cameras on the human-owned buildings.
I’d checked when we’d first encountered the mantasps—video footage would have been very helpful—and there hadn’t been any. It was possible that, after the mantaspsandthe boars, one of the buildings would have sprung for the equipment.
It doesn’t seem like it, though.
I paused when we passed in front of an unassuming brick building with red edging.
Tutu’s…
I stared up at the gold painted sign.
It seems stupid that anyone would risk doing… whatever they’re trying to do, so close to Tutu’s.
Earning a dragon shifter’s rage was no joke. They were powerful, long lived, and rich beyond imagination. If they felt attacked, they would act. And you didn’t survive a dragon’s enmity.
So why risk that? Unless… is Tutu’s the target?
Now that I knew the fae who had been walking Tutu’s seal was Orrin—the assistant of Tutu’s sister—it was probable Gisila had sent him to check the building on behalf of Tutu.
It seemed odd that both sets of monsters had been released south of Tutu’s Crypta & Custodia and were driven north, towards it.
“Blood?” Sarge called. “Do you see something?”
“Sorry, no.” I trotted, catching up with him, Captain Reese, and April in a few steps. “I was just wondering—was Tutu informed of the mantasp and boar incidences?”
“She was,” Captain Reese said. “Each time we gave her a courtesy call before business hours. Not that it mattered—she already knew.”
“How?” April asked.
“Both times her buildings’ defense systems were triggered,” Captain Reese said. “The seals and the internal systems. Mind you, those systems are delicate. Rumor has it a fly smacked into one of the office doors and it set the whole system off.”
“Tutu upgraded her system to this current model nearly two years ago,” Sarge answered. “Supposedly, she was dissatisfied with the old one after a third party tested it.”
Captain Reese shook her head. “Dragons. They are as protective of their hoard as they are paranoid that someone wants to steal it.”
“Could Tutu’s Crypta & Custodia be the target?” I asked. “We were already starting to suspect the monsters weren’t part of a fae succession war and that there was a target on Goldstein Street.”
“It seems like the most likely target,” Captain Reese agreed. “But you’d be bonkers to attempt it. No one can survive a dragon’s anger.”
On average, yes, but there must be some supernaturals strong enough to face it.
Ruin probably could have if he had a Family around to do his bidding. Given his penchant for violence, he wouldn’t bother playing around like this. He’d just break in and be done with it.
Which means whatever supernatural doing this has to be of the tricky variety.
Fae would be sneaky—obviously, as it was fae magic the team had sensed. But the new Queen of the Night Court—who was the fae representative on the Regional Committee of Magic—ruled over the Midwest fae with an iron fist. I didn’t see any of the Midwest rulers attempting something like this, and monarchs outside the Midwest couldn’t afford to leave their territories very long given the fae’s general appreciation of betrayals and coups.
I gave the golden sign one last look. “Are the alarms triggered now?” I murmured to myself.
“There’s no way we can tell for certain,” Captain Reese said, surprising me with her werewolf hearing. “Tutu won’t disclose all her security measures. However.” She narrowed her eyes studying the innocent looking storefront. “I’ll call in the morning to check in with the buildings’ managers and ask.”
“Sir! Yoo-hoo!” Grove yodeled from the other side of the street, diagonal from our position in front of Tutu’s. “I feel some sneaky bits of fae magic. I think whoever cast the magic might have stood over here.” He patted the gray stone exterior of a human bank. Tetiana, standing next to him had her hands cupped around her eyes, her face nearly planted on the bank’s tinted windows.
