Page 27

“Four incidents in two weeks?” I turned the pages in the report before me, and when he didn’t reply, I looked up.

Parsons shifted in his seat, defensive without conviction.

“The officer in question was under stress. We all are. After Bay Uni …” He trailed off, fiddling nervously with his tie.

The slipped knot, the revealed top button beneath.

The man was disheveled and slovenly, both in appearance and his work.

“This predates Bay Uni. How is that an excuse?”

He blinked, then straightened slightly. “With respect, Assistant Director—”

“—Anyone who says ‘with respect’ rarely means it.”

He hesitated, clearly thrown by my bluntness. Behind him, Kara sat on the arm of the couch, a cup of tea in her hands, her expression a study of thinly veiled disdain.

“I assumed this meeting was to establish priorities moving forward,” Parsons bristled, opting for indignation. “Not to point fingers.”

I closed the folder. “You brought this to me.”

“To provide context,” he said petulantly. “Not to spark an audit.”

“So you flagged a pattern of abuse involving an officer, just so I’d know about it—then expected me to move on?”

He didn’t answer.

I leaned back. “You want to tell me why this was ignored?”

Parsons’s shoulders tightened. “I was gathering evidence. Besides, it falls under an ethics review, and those cases never go anywhere …” He faltered, lamely adding, “No offense intended.”

“None taken,” I said. “But you’re making my case for me.”

“I assure you, sir—”

A sharp rap came on the door, and it whisked open a second later.

Natalie stepped in, clipped and businesslike. “Apologies for interrupting. Sir, you need to see this.”

She handed me her tablet, and I skimmed the push notification alert on the screen.

“Parsons,” I said, not looking up. “We’re done here.

Go back to your department and prepare a report for me on every currently open ethics-related case.

Names, details, action thus far. Have it for me by the end of the week. ”

“Two days? Assistant Director, I must protest. My team are too busy to—”

I fixed him with a glare, channeling Kara at her most venomous. “Then handle it personally. That will be all.”

“Sir, with respect—”

“That will be all , Parsons.”

He swallowed, glanced at Natalie, then dropped his eyes before heading swiftly out of the room.

“What’s happened?” Kara asked, as soon as the door whisked shut.

“Two supe factions just turned the docks into a battleground,” I said, scrolling up on Natalie’s tablet. “This report came in six minutes ago.”

“They’re readying a REACT team now, sir,” Natalie added. “I thought you would want to know.”

“Damn right,” I said, getting up. “I’m going with them.”

“Sir?” Natalie didn’t try to hide her surprise.

“This is a chance to see how SPAR responds in the field,” I told her. It was also an opportunity to discover if Dacien’s faction was involved. A warehouse at the docks? It seemed probable. “Walk with us, Natalie. You can intro us to whomever is leading this thing.”

“Captain Reyes, sir,” Natalie said as she and Kara followed me to the elevators. “You met him yesterday.”

“I remember.” Nolan Reyes was ex-military and the head of field ops. That meeting had been tense—he’d been suspicious of my fast-tracked arrival and hadn’t tried to hide it.

We badged into the elevator and Natalie pushed the button for the basement. “Director Marlow isn’t going to like you getting personally involved, sir.”

“We’ll just be observing,” I said, not caring. I’d already told the director I’d have to see everything, and this was too good an opportunity to pass up.

The elevator opened into a vehicle bay, four black SPAR Humvees dominating the space. A dozen men and women in uniform were ready to depart, engines already running on two of the vehicles.

I recognized Reyes, barking orders with his hands clasped tidily behind his back, and headed for him.

He was a slight man, shorter than me, but with a large two-handed sword strapped to his back that gave off wind aether.

Maybe it had some weight enchantment to make it wieldable.

He saw me coming, and his eyes narrowed.

“Captain,” I said. “Status?”

“We’re moving out in two minutes, Assistant Director. Now isn’t the best time.”

“Good. I’m coming with you.”

His shoulders stiffened. “No, you’re not.”

“It wasn’t a request, Captain.”

His eyes hardened, then flicked pointedly over my white shirt and blazer. “We don’t babysit observers on REACT operations.”

“That’s fine, I don’t need babysitting.” I caught the eye of a nearby SPAR officer. “Bring my assistant and me a flak vest.”

She glanced at Reyes, then braced. “Yes, sir.”

Reyes scowled, waiting for the officer to walk off before he spoke in a low hiss. “I don’t like being undermined.”

“Time is of the essence, Captain, and I’m coming whether you like it or not.”

“Yes, Assistant Director, sir .” He bit off each word, then turned to shout across the bay. “Bring vehicle three. Redistribute to accommodate two observers .” He didn’t bother to keep the contempt from his tone. “Sixty seconds!”

Some curious glances came our way, but a flurry of activity saw a third Humvee start its engine, men and women climbing aboard the vehicles.

Most of them were glamoured, but the hydro was obvious enough, her hair literally flowing down her back in a never-ending waterfall, vanishing before it hit the floor.

A dryad was stroking her vines, a couple of demons checked their gear, and there was the long-eared elf I’d encountered outside my bar.

That could potentially be awkward, but there was nothing to do about it now.

The officer returned with two flak jackets, the SPAR insignia front and back, and I handed her my blazer, pulling it on over my shirt as Kara did the same. Her face was impassive, but I bet she was regretting her high heels and skirt.

We climbed into the third Humvee just as the bay doors opened and all three vehicles pulled out.

The driver and navigator sat up front; in the back, two benches faced each other across the width of the vehicle.

The seat opposite me was empty, and the other was filled with the imposing bulk of a half-selkie, fins cresting the back of his head.

“Sir, I’m Sergeant Banner,” he said. He had a bushy moustache that twitched in disapproval. “Captain Reyes has asked me to brief you.” He handed us both earpieces.

“We’ve seen the alert, sergeant,” I said, pushing them in. They crackled faintly. “Unless you have anything to add, we’ll just come along for the ride.”

“The captain asks that you remain with the vehicle, sir.”

That wasn’t a briefing; that was another attempt to babysit. “I make no promises, but we won’t stop you doing your job.”

“Yes, sir,” he said, because he didn’t have any choice. His expression made it clear what he thought of civilians intruding on his day. I couldn’t really blame him for that.

Kara caught my eye, her lips curling at the corners before she looked away, out of the window.

We drove through the city at speed, heading east toward the waterfront.

The synthetic howl of SPAR’s jarring sirens cleared the traffic for us—either that, or the size of the black Humvees bearing down in rearview mirrors.

We made good time, soon driving between commercial buildings as we neared the docks, the traffic disappearing.

But our speed slowed, the other two vehicles drawing ahead.

“Why are we not with them, sergeant?” I snapped.

“Captain’s orders, sir.” The sergeant wouldn’t meet my eyes. “You’re here to observe, not get involved.”

I clenched my jaw, tempted to overrule him. But I’d undermined Reyes once already, and I still had to work with the man.

“Twenty seconds.” Captain Reyes’ voice crackled through the earpieces.

The two vehicles slowed as they approached the waterfront, doors opening and SPAR officers leaping out even before they’d skidded to a stop.

The dryad was covered in vines and leaves, and the elf I’d met at the campus had activated his chest armor.

It glowed with the faint white light of its aether.

Our vehicle pulled up a hundred yards back. The sergeant shifted in his seat like he wanted to be anywhere but playing babysitter. That made two of us.

Ahead, there were signs of a fight. A dozen shipping crates sporadically littered the vicinity, as if they’d been scattered like a child’s lego.

Half of them were open, contents spilled out, and two were on fire, their sides half-melted.

That would’ve taken some serious energy.

The concrete was cratered here and there, radial fractures flaring out, like a giant pogo stick had bounced through.

Scorch marks painted the ground and the side of the warehouse nearest us, its doors dented and hanging off their hinges.

But there was no one in sight.

“I thought we were responding to a fight,” Kara said, leaning against the vehicle.

“Looks like we’re late.”

With New Providence traffic, it had taken twenty minutes to cross the city, even with sirens. Add on the response time, and it was more than enough for whatever skirmish had happened to have long since been resolved.

“Well, it got you out of your meeting with Firth.”

“Just postponed it, unfortunately,” I said, peering through the windscreen. It felt a bit too neat. Why was there no one around? Wouldn’t the victors have stayed to hold the territory, or at least treat their wounded?

“Alpha squad on point, Bravo squad keep cover,” Reyes’ ordered.

The SPAR officers split into two groups, the first approaching the warehouse with caution while the second hung back, spreading out and using the shipping containers for natural cover.

I didn’t like this, unable to shake the feeling that something didn’t seem right. I pushed with my senses, trying to detect anything at all, but the range was too great.

“Driver, take us in closer.”

“Sir, Captain’s orders are—”

“I don’t give a shit what the captain’s orders are. Get me in there right now.”

“Sir!”

The Humvee started rolling again, picking up speed—the advantage of rank. Captain Reyes looked our way, but it was too far to make out his expression. I knew what it would be without seeing, and I didn’t care.

Sergeant Banner closed his eyes, and a sheen of purple aether spread over his blue-tinged skin.

Kara drew my gaze, her eyebrows raised in question, but I gave a slight shake of my head. I didn’t want her nimbusing-up and revealing her powers, and there wasn’t a threat yet. Maybe I was being paranoid.

Reyes’ voice crackled in my ear. “Alpha squad, close on the warehouse. Bravo squad, watch their backs.”

Our vehicle was forty yards away and drawing closer, and that was when I felt them: supes, staggered and spread out in a circle around the two lead Humvees. I knew they were there even if I couldn’t see them.

Alpha squad had a golem on point, her skin armored up with jagged flints. She stood seven-foot tall, her hands as large as spades as she gripped the broken door and ripped it away, enlarging the warehouse entrance.

“Fuck,” I grunted, as realization dawned. “They’re in the crates!” They hadn’t given me a throat mic; I couldn’t reach them. I grabbed Banner’s shoulder. “Get on to Reyes! It’s a trap!”

“Sir?”

An instant later, a jet of magma blasted into the earth elemental, strong enough to cut through even her toughened skin. Heat shimmered the air around her, her body shooting back like a rag doll, a charred hole where her chest had been.

“Maggie!” someone shouted over the comms, the cry torn from their throat. Alpha squad flinched, cringing away from the warehouse.

No one moved for a long second, shock freezing troops even as experienced as these. Enough time for Maggie’s body to slam into the concrete, bounce, and skid across the ground.

And enough time for the trap to be sprung.