Page 15 of Grave Beginnings

The door behind us opened with a beep, someone else coming in. I sensed their frustration as I turned, meeting the gaze of the hottest Asian man I’d ever seen outside a Korean Drama or K-pop video. He was at least six feet tall with a lean, athletic build; tan with smooth skin, a sharp jawline, soft features, and tattoos on his fingers and neck that traced above his shirt line. His glossy, dark hair framed his face; tousled, pulled back into a ponytail in the back, but a little messy as though he’d been in a rush. It enhanced his deep brown eyes which squinted with both exhaustion and irritation.

With his high cheekbones, lush lips, and long lashes, he could have been a model. The sort of guy you’d drool over on magazine covers; defined muscles without the bulging veins that spoke ofstarvation diets and dehydration. He could have stepped off the stage of a boy band, aged out, like the finest wine, ready for his C-drama debut.

He wore black jeans and a dark navy long-sleeve shirt with the Cheshire Cat on it, which read, “We’re all mad here.” The sleeves clung to his biceps, showing definition I could only dream of ever achieving. He also had a glowing mark on his arm, though his was orange. A variant? I glanced back at Robin. They didn’t have a band. Not fae?

The new guy held up a familiar piece of paper, his gaze on me. “This you?”

“Shit,” I said. “Was that your spot? I don’t know who was in mine.” I glanced back at Galen, the giant Lurch golem. “Can I move it after I get ID stuff? I’m not sure where else to park. There wasn’t anything else left in the parking garage.”

The pretty guy’s gaze rolled over me, looking annoyed and confused. “I’m aware, since I walked from down the street. You’re the guy in the hearse?”

“It’s a Honda Civic,” I said.

“A wagon painted black and decked out with silver trim.”

“Easy to find in any parking lot. She’s got great mileage. Not as cool as a ’67 Chevy Impala, but I couldn’t find one under two hundred thousand miles.” I resisted the urge to sing ‘Carry On My Wayward Son’.

He frowned. “Is this job a joke to you?”

“What? No. I didn’t ask to be transferred, but no, I plan on taking this job as seriously as I did my last twelve years working in Homicide,” I said, irritated that everyone always saw me as some blond twink without a brain the second we met. I hadn’t even worn eyeliner today, trying to butch it up as much as possible for the new team of cryptid hunters I’d be working with. “There was a red motorcycle in my spot, and I didn’t even know what time I had to be here. Is this place always this disorganized?”I folded my arms across my chest, not backing down even with Mr. Hotty glaring at me.

He opened the letter, reading through it, eyes widening as he glared at the bottom. Hadn’t he read it all the way through before?

“You’re Jude Holt? The hotshot detective necro variant they transferred?” His gaze flipped to Robin. “Get Hanna on the line, tell her it’s a no-go. I’m not working with PR’s wet dream “Necromancer Ken”.”

I flinched. “Working with?” I tried to fit him to the names on the list I’d been given for my new team, but he didn’t look like a Bobby, or Ezra, or even a Wade. “Who are you?” An elevator door opened with a ding.

“Agent Holt, this is your new partner, Agent Angel Mao,” a female voice said as a tall, rail-thin woman stepped off, her hair a halo of white-blond curls around her like some blonde version of Merida from Disney’sBrave. She wore combat boots, fitted leggings, and a sweater-dress with a badge on the belt around her waist as well as a gun and taser at her side. The lanyard around her neck said Sergeant Hanna. Her ears were pointed too, but there was no mark on her arm.

“No,” Mao said. Hot Asian guy was my new partner?

“You wanted someone smart, resourceful, and tenacious,” Hanna said.

“A puppy would have been more useful,” Mao growled.

“I’ll tell Ezra you find him useful,” Hanna said.

“I don’t have time to train a rookie.” He eyed me again. “Is he even legal?”

“I’m thirty-four,” I said.

“The fuck you say?”

“Agent Mao,” Sergeant Hanna said, her tone no-nonsense. “Go stock his locker. I’ll bring him to you once his security clearance processing is finished.”

“I can move my car,” I offered.

He huffed and stomped toward the elevator. “Don’t park there again tomorrow, pretty boy.”

He thought I was pretty?

I blinked at him with wide eyes, confused and more than a little intimidated as he vanished into one of the elevators and the doors closed.

“I apologize,” Sergeant Hanna said. “I had hoped your first day would be less eventful. However, it’s rare we go a day without an active case, and there’s a sizable backlog since we are understaffed. Angel is one of our most seasoned agents.”

“I feel a bit likeAlice in Wonderland,” I said as I put my hand on the mark. “I’m not even sure what all this means. One day, I’m trying to help out a daycare with a Veil splice, and the next, I’m transferred to SED and don’t even know what you want me to do.”

She tilted her head and a flash of color changed in her eyes, the pupils narrowing for a half second before returning to normal. “Investigation is what you did, yes? Your record is impressive. Highest solve rate in the state. Even your ME said you often caught things he wouldn’t have.”