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I’d asked Sunshine if she wanted a tea or something, but she didn’t work today so I’d just gotten myself a sandwich.Maybe I should text the squad to see if anyone wants me to pick up something the next time I stop by Cat Tails? That would be a friendly gesture…right?

I got up to toss my garbage in the trash by the door, then wandered back to my seat.

One of the ceiling lights flickered. I frowned up at it as I sucked more of my smoothie down, idly wondering what bulbs it used—I had a bit of a thing for lights as I’d trained as an electrician under my uncle as my backup career. (My family invested in backup careers, in case you lost the passion for slayer work or an injury made it no longer advisable.)

Maybe I messed up by making my human persona a secretary. I should have gone for the Cloisters’ electrician.

My straw got clogged with an ice chip, pulling my attention away from the light fixture, so I tapped my cup on my table as the door swung open.

April and Juggernaut strolled into the room.

April, tall and admirably muscled, likely honed from a significant amount of training with bladed weapons—a rarity among wizards—was securing her firearm holster, while Juggernaut—shorter, with a mop of curly hair and a tiny chip on his front right tooth that somehow made his smiles incredibly infectious—fidgeted with unbridled energy.

“I’m telling you; she was gorgeous.” Juggernaut threw his arms wide, narrowly missing cracking a knuckle on a chair. “And she practicallyradiatedmagic. It smelled like sulfur! It was so cool.”

“Who?” I asked.

April and Juggernaut looked at me, which instantly made my throat close.

Juggernaut immediately lost some of his enthusiasm as he settled into place to answer me. “I saw the dragon shifter on my way here. She just arrived in town.” His tone wasn’t unfriendly—or friendly for that matter. He sounded like a newscaster reporting on an issue to an uninvolved third party. He started to turn back to April placing his back to me.

Quick, ask a follow up question! I need to keep the conversation going in order to be friendly!“H-how did you know it was the dragon shifter?” I said, my voice faltering only twice.

Was that an OK question? Or was it insulting because I’m insinuating he wouldn’t know the difference?

Juggernaut turned back to me. “I could sense her magic,” he said. “Wizards all experience magic differently. I smell it. The dragon shifter’s magic smelled like sulfur—which isn’t the scent for fae or wizard magic.”

He’s right, obviously he’d sense her magic. That was a terrible question! What’s a better one?

I frantically cast around my mind trying to remember the list of questions I’d come up with while off shift and memorized, asking about the weather wouldn’t help me in a case like this. “What did she look l-like?” I asked, the words desperately bursting out of me.

“She has long, straight purple hair,” Juggernaut said. “I’m not sure if it was dyed or natural, though. It wasn’t an illusion.”

“Height?” I asked. The single word came out easier than a full sentence, but I needed to expand the question or I’d sound rude. “I mean, was she tall or short?”

“Tall,” Juggernaut said. “A very stately tall. She held herself like royalty.”

Desperate to keep the conversation going, I followed up with, “What was she wearing?”

Juggernaut’s eyebrows mashed together. “Business attire,” he said with a seriousness as if I was quizzing him. “Black slacks, black suitcoat, white undershirt. Except she wore an orange ribbon instead of a tie. And—her eyes!” Some of Juggernaut’s original enthusiasm finally broke through and he flashed me his infectious smile. “They were this golden-y orange color. Like a bonfire!”

His longer response had given me time to think of another, desperate question. “What was she doing when you saw her?” My voice cracked at the end of the question, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“She was walking down the sidewalk, talking with someone.” Juggernaut hunched his shoulders a little as if my gaze intimidated him. “I don’t remember who.”

April set her things down on a table at the front of the room, but kept her shoulders pointed towards me. When Juggernaut scooted closer to her, though, she hooked a chair with her foot and pulled it out preparing to sit down with her back to me.

I couldn’t think of any more questions to ask about the dragon shifter, and the conversation was about to slip away from me again. Which was fine, I’d managed a few exchanges so it was good practice. Could I do anything else to improve their impression of me? While both wizards were polite, they seemed even less inclined to talk with me than Connor, my new neighbor!

End with a compliment. That will leave them with a positive feeling about the interaction!

“You have an excellent memory, Juggernaut,” I said.

Juggernaut stood at attention again, his expression neutral. “Thank you,” he said. “I’ve been trying to improve it so I can better remember any suspects we meet.”

Well. That’s not the reaction I was expecting.

He was staring at me like he expected me to comment that he needed to be on a performance improvement plan.