Dim Sum Asylum(57)

“Trust me,” Trent said from the kitchen. “I didn’t think the damned thing would ever break.”

“Something cheap and plastic wouldn’t have held up. I also don’t think it would be able to contain the magic the caster would have to pour into it in order for it to work. It isn’t just the animation. There’s also the directive to kill,” I reminded him. “That’s a two-stage magic.”

“And that’s what you wanted Jie to chase down.” He came back in with two full mugs, handing me one once he got to the couch. Taking up his perch on the coffee table again, Trent mused, “This person would have to be pretty powerful, and probably someone other mages and witches would know, right?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.” I shrugged, welcoming the cup’s heat on my chilled fingers. “You’ve got to remember, I’m Arcane Crimes. Most high-level casters skirt a few laws. You’re talking stealing ground from innocents’ graves, drowning salamanders in red wine, or roasting a baby dragon’s internal organs. One of my first cases at the Asylum was breaking up a black-market spell-component ring. The rarer the item, the more a caster wants it just in case they ever get powerful enough to do the ritual.”

“I’m wondering if the woman from the temple is even alive. Maybe the damned thing we chased up the side of the building killed her and got away.” Trent glanced behind him, staring at the library he’d collected. “Or would the statue have stopped once its victim is dead?”

“I don’t know. She’s been missing for a while now. I was having someone in CAP dig up a list of people who’d disappeared over the past month, but the shit all hit before I got anything back. I suspect she’s being used to fuel the spells. It’s all speculation. For all I know, she’s—” My phone rang, bobbling across the table in a frenetic dance to reach the edge before I could answer it.

Trent grabbed it for me, glanced at the screen, then made a pained face. “It’s Gaines. We’re supposed to be off. Can’t think of anything good he’d be calling you for.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Flicking the Receive button, I answered, “MacCormick here.”

“Shut up and don’t talk,” Gaines growled at me through the phone.

“Hello to you too.” I rolled my eyes at Trent. “What—”

“Did you miss the shut up part? Get your ass over to the station. You and Leonard.” Uncle Will went straight for the jugular, tearing through my eardrum and adding to my headache with his big, booming voice. “We’ve got a damned situation down here, and I’ve got to put you back on the case. And kiddo, make sure you wipe off that fucking shit-eating grin you’ve got on your face right now before I see you, or I’m going to tell the chief he can go screw himself, and you’ll be picking up horse shit until you retire.”




DESPITE THE warnings I’d been given by the morgue attendants, nothing could have prepared me for what I found on the gurney waiting for me. The hallway outside of the arcane labs ran yellow with the miles of crime scene tape someone’d used to cordon off the area, and I’d had to perform a bit of calisthenics to get under a particularly thick spot. Trent followed close on my heels, slicing the tape with a pocketknife, then walking through the cleared space after I’d just twisted myself into a pretzel to get past it.

“Nice. No respect for another detective’s territory, Leonard,” I cautioned. “That’ll win you lots of friends.”

Trent looked like he was about to respond with a sarcastic shot of his own, but instead he backed up a step, pulling me to the side until he had me nearly pressed into the wall. There were a lot of cops roaming the hall, and either someone would notice my partner’s overly familiar touch or no one would because they were too busy. I wasn’t holding my breath on the too busy part. Cops were worse than teenaged girls with their gossip, and there was nothing like a juicy rumor to get a station buzzing as if it’d mainlined a gallon of Wild Hunt cold brew.

“You sure you want to go in there?” he murmured into the space between us. “Jie’s… she’s in there.”

“What’s in there isn’t Jie,” I replied, giving Trent a small smile to let him know I wasn’t going to lose my shit in a sea of blue. Just like I needed him to stand for me, he needed to know I’d be there if things went to Hell for him. “We’ve got to do this. You heard Gaines. There’s only us. You’re too green to go solo. Yamada’s in the weeds, Vasquez is working an undercover job with Vice, and Browning’s covering the nest of crested dragons Arnett tried to pillage ’cause they’ve cracked, and that’s when they’re at risk for poachers.”

I needed to shut down what I was feeling. Keeping it light and bantering between us made everything feel safe, and I wasn’t going to walk too close to the dark waters lapping at my feet. I had to shove Jie into a box, keep her ghost hovering around the edges of my consciousness until I could anchor her under my skin. My face was tight from smiling, and I would let it crack before giving in to the press of tears at the edges of my mind.

“There’s other AC units. Other inspectors who can—” Trent cut himself off, probably because he could feel my overwhelming urge to shove a cork into his mouth to keep him quiet. Throwing his hands up, he backed off. “Okay, sorry. I know. This is personal, but I want you to remember you don’t have to take this. We’ve got an out if it gets too bad.”