Grave Dance (Alex Craft, #2)(72)
“You got it,” I said as the spent Aetheric energy
“You got it,” I said as the spent Aetheric energy dissipated.
The healer’s hands dropped, and he sagged where he sat. “Thank goodness,” he said, even his voice raw from the effort of dispel ing the il -formed curse. “You ever think of going into curse-breaking? You’re definitely sensitive enough to do the diagnostic work.”
“Not real y my thing,” I said as I stepped back, out of the open ambulance door. The healer remained behind. I didn’t blame him; he was spent. Besides, I could see Tamara helping another healer with the last officer hurt during the skimmer bust, so there were no more patients to tend.
I gave a wave to the paramedic when he jumped out to shut the ambulance doors. Then I turned away and headed back for the fence and the crime scene beyond. The police had secured the area and once again access beyond the fence was limited. Which meant I stil hadn’t gotten to study the ritual space I’d come to see.
“Miss Craft, I’d like to say I’m surprised to see you here,”
a familiar voice said, and I cringed. Agent Nori. I turned toward the voice, but when I saw her through my grave-sight, I realized I wouldn’t have recognized her if she hadn’t spoken first.
Nori’s typical glamour resembled her fae mien only in that they shared the same basic shape. Under that glamour her skin was tinged deep blue and her features had a razor edge, her chin and nose ending in sharp points. As she strol ed toward me, her wisp-thin body moved as though her hips were shaped differently from those of a human or as if walking wasn’t her most comfortable way to travel. She watched me with large, multifaceted eyes, like a fly’s, and I looked away before she realized I was staring.
“What can I do for you?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and rocking back on my heels.
“Could you stop with the glowing eyes for a moment?”
“No, actual y I can’t.” I’d been peering across planes for at least an hour at this point, and my regular eyesight was least an hour at this point, and my regular eyesight was definitely shot by now. If it had been the middle of a very bright, sunny day, and if it hadn’t been going on nearly twenty-four hours since I’d last slept, I might have been wil ing to hope my eyesight would adjust once I closed my shields. But it was the middle of the night and I was physical y exhausted even without factoring in the amount of magic I’d used. I wasn’t wil ing to spend the rest of the night in utter darkness. Especial y not here.
“Fine.” But her tone didn’t agree. A high-pitched keening sound cut through the air and I glanced around, startled.
Nori either didn’t notice the sound or it didn’t concern her because she continued without pausing, “I got word that an anonymous informant clued Detective Matthews in on the presence of a body on the grounds.” She nodded to where the cadaver dogs were sweeping the lot. “I’m going to assume that cal came from you.”
As I couldn’t deny it, I decided to remain silent. A search of the abandoned tent city had turned up a single left foot, apparently stil encased in a boot. The cadaver dogs were now searching the banks, but I knew they wouldn’t find anything else. Not nearby at least.
When I didn’t answer, the keening I’d heard a moment before sliced through the air again. Is Nori doing that? Or was it coming from behind her? I shuffled sideways and shot a surreptitious glance over her shoulder. A double pair of iridescent dragonfly wings almost blended in with her dark suit where they were tucked tight against her back.
The wings sprouted from somewhere near Nori’s shoulder blades and trailed down to her calves like a membranous cape, but I would have missed them completely if the strobing lights from the police cars and fire trucks hadn’t been reflecting off the thick veins. Her wings twitched in time with the fingers she strummed against her elbow as she watched me, and as they rubbed together, they emitted the strange, high-pitched screech I’d heard earlier.
“Should I take a guess how you knew the foot was on the
“Should I take a guess how you knew the foot was on the scene? Maybe you placed it there.”
“You know how I knew,” I said, and then cursed inwardly.
She’d just gotten my admission to making the cal . Of course, it wasn’t like my ability to sense the dead was the secret I was hiding.
Nori smiled, flashing a double row of needle-thin teeth. I tried not to show a reaction, but by the way her smile spread, I knew my face had given me away.
“Here is the way I see it, Miss Craft,” she said, that strange keening sound fil ing the air again. “There is a second rift al owing the Aetheric to bleed into the mortal realm. There is compel ing proof to suggest that you were responsible for the first known tear, which means you likely caused this one as wel . The proximity to a crime scene means the two are likely connected. That alone is enough evidence to have a fae summoned to Faerie while further investigations occur.”
“I—”
She cut me off with a wave of her hand. “Even if the two are later proven not to be connected, the current evidence looks damning, so that fae should be taken back to Faerie for his or her own protection. Humans can be ruthless to those they don’t understand.”
I swal owed. She was threatening me. There was no denying at this point that she knew I had fae blood, and she wasn’t giving me an option of not going to Faerie. Will she slap cuffs on me and drag me off right here and now? My gaze shot past her head, searching for Falin. He was near the gate, talking to two men in suits who I was pretty sure I’d seen identify themselves as working for the Ambassador of Fae and Human Relations. I met Falin’s eyes, just briefly, but hopeful y long enough to convey that I could seriously use an intervention. Then I focused on Nori again.