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It pulsed around her with a tangible force.
He didn’t bother to reassure her. She didn’t need his sympathy. She needed someone at her back who could kick ass when necessary. Fortunately for her, Valen excelled at kicking ass.
Among other things…
Reaching the glass door, Valen pressed the button on the intercom, hearing a low buzz echo through the building. A second later a sleepy voice drifted through the speaker.
“Unless this is an emergency, come back in the morning.”
“Open the door,” Valen commanded.
“Is this an emergency?”
Valen tilted back his head, gazing directly into the security camera. “Open the door.”
“Christ, are you deaf?” There was a pop and crackle as the unseen man shouted into the speaker. “I told you to come back in the morning.”
“Humans.” Valen grabbed the knob and with a flick of his wrist busted the lock.
An alarm blared, but Valen released a burst of power that jolted through the electric grid, shutting down the annoying sound. At the same time, he stepped into the building and followed the scent of humans down a narrow hallway that opened into a cramped office stuffed with two desks, an old-fashioned filing cabinet, and a plastic plant coated in a thick layer of dust. This was a police department with a budget that hovered near nonexistent.
On cue, a middle-aged man in a tan uniform appeared from what Valen assumed was a break room. He was a head shorter than Valen and three times his width, with a round face pinched with fury as he pointed a handgun in their direction.
“Stop right there.” The man licked his lips. “I’m Deputy Anderson of the Garland Sheriff’s Department and I’m authorized to shoot you.”
“Put down the gun.” Valen halted in the middle of the room, motioning the man to lower his arm.
There was a brief silence as the deputy tried to battle against the mental compulsion. A wasted effort. A bead of sweat rolleddown the side of his flushed face, but he obediently returned his weapon to the holster at his side.
“Who are you?” the deputy demanded, his voice harsh. “And what are you doing here?”
“You were expecting us, Deputy Anderson,” Valen assured him.
There was a long pause. “I was?”
“Yes. We’re from the FBI.”
“FBI.”
“We’re here to investigate the shooting.”
“Oh. Right, right. The FBI. Gotcha.” The suspicion slowly melted away to be replaced with poorly suppressed excitement. “I’m not gonna lie, it’s big news here in town. Never had anything like this happen before. We don’t have them gangs and hoodlums causing trouble like they do in the city.” The deputy hitched up his pants, his chest puffed out. “Not that we don’t have plenty of crime, mind you. This office is busy twenty-four seven with one call after another and now the chief suspects we’re dealing with one of them Satan cults—”
“You were offering to take us to speak with the prisoner,” Valen interrupted.
The deputy coughed, looking embarrassed. “Of course. Sorry about that. It’s been a long night interviewing the witnesses and inspecting the crime scene. The sheriff’s still in Laramie keeping an eye on a couple of locals who are at the hospital. We still don’t know if they’re victims or perps. Makes our jobs a lot tougher I can tell you. Well, I guess you already know that, being with the FBI. I bet you have some crazy-ass cases to investigate.”
“The prisoner?”
“Oh. Yeah.” The deputy moved to unlock a door at the back of the office. “Follow me.”
Valen ignored Peri’s wry glance as they headed out of the office. He could seal the man’s lips shut, but he needed information.
“What can you tell us about the incident at the bar?”
“Not much.” The deputy shrugged. “We got a call saying that shots had been fired at the Jackalope Station. Not the first time. That bar is always filled with a bunch of drunks carrying guns. But usually they shoot out a window or take a potshot at beer bottles. They don’t kill each other. This time we got there…” The words trailed away as a visible shudder shook the deputy. “We found the place covered in blood and bodies piled on the floor.”
Valen maintained a distance from the man as they walked down the short hallway to the steep flight of metal stairs. He didn’t fear him. Even without the magic of the Gyre he was impervious to human threats. But he wasn’t going to blindly stumble into a trap. Not when it would put Peri in danger.
