Page 37 of Mystic Justice (The Other Detective #2)

‘What does it matter now?’ Jane said softly. ‘Nothing matters now.’ Tears fell down her cheeks as she walked slowly to the smouldering remains of her lover. Her knees buckled again and she dropped to the ground beside him, her shoulders bowed in despair.

I let her have her moment: she was cuffed and I had other concerns, namely Ji-ho.

She could have a moment to say farewell to Harbinger and then, once Ji-ho was safe, I was booking her and dragging her to the station.

She might be grieving, but raising your lover from the dead and going on a murderous spree was rarely the answer. Therapy was a thing for a reason.

There was a loud crunch and shards of wood went flying as Krieg forcibly ripped open the coffin. ‘There was a lock,’ I said faintly.

He shrugged. ‘Yeah, but I didn’t have a key.’

I looked inside, fearful of what I’d find. Ji-ho’s eyes were closed: was he unconscious or dead? I stared at his chest but I couldn’t see it rise or fall.

‘No—’ I breathed as I clambered into the coffin and desperately pressed my fingers to his neck. Rule number one: always verify death.

A thready pulse fluttered against my fingertips, faint but there, and I saw Ji-ho’s chest rise a little. Now that he had oxygen, he’d be okay. ‘Thank fuck.’ I closed my eyes as relief swamped me. ‘Can you help me get him out of here?’ I asked Krieg.

‘I’ll grab him if you move out of the way.’

I climbed back out of the coffin and Krieg slipped his arms under Ji-ho. He carried him with the same care he’d shown for Helga and Moss, laid him down gently and put him in the recovery position.

I touched the comms. ‘Situation under control. The suspects have been neutralised. Ji-ho is alive but unconscious.’ Mindful of the fact that I was supposed to be heading a team, I threw out a task for someone to snag; it was good to feel useful in emergencies.

‘Someone call for urgent medical assistance.’

‘I’m on it,’ Channing promised before anyone else could jump in.

The adrenaline was fading and the pain was coming back. My ribs ached: Harbinger’s claws had scored a few hits, close calls that hadn’t missed by quite enough.

I looked at the griffin’s corpse and saw that Jane had managed to move her cuffed hands to the front of her body.

She was leaning over her lover and grasping one of his burning claws; the heat had to be scorching her flesh but she didn’t even blink.

I guessed she was used to heat. She stared into the griffin’s empty eyes then lifted his claw to her throat.

And that was when I realised what she intended to do, but I was too late. Too slow. Too damned tired. ‘Jane! Don’t!’ I barked.

She didn’t take her eyes off Harbinger, just drew his deadly claw sharply across her jugular. ‘Shit!’ I swore. I ran towards her but she was already toppling. Murderously competent to the end, she’d done a thorough job of slicing her own throat.

I stared down at the pool of blood rapidly growing around her and hesitated.

I had very limited skill with healing; I had some but my brother Julian had gotten the lion’s share of a wizard’s healing powers.

But with all the lives that she’d taken, I couldn’t summon the intention to save her.

I thought of Moss, Joe and Ruben, and I let her bleed.

Krieg pulled himself to his full height, approached me and gently wrapped me in his arms. Leather, sandalwood and black pepper. It was becoming one of my favourite scents.

I let out a long sigh. It had been a helluva few days. I still had to notify Ruben’s family and pack of his death, and now I had Jane’s family to notify too, but at least Ji-ho’s name wasn’t on the list.

‘All right, Inspector?’ Krieg asked.

I looked up at him, at those captivating eyes. ‘When are you going to call me Stacy?’

His kissable lips twitched into a smile. ‘When are you going to call me Robbie?’

Robbie felt … weird. He was Krieg. ‘I’ll work on it,’ I said. I took a deep breath. ‘Robbie.’ Still weird.

‘There now, that wasn’t so hard, was it, kaerasta?’

‘What does it mean? That word?’

‘It means that I want to do this.’ He lowered his head to mine and kissed me with such tenderness that my eyes felt hot under my eyelids. No one had kissed me like that before, as if I were something to be savoured, treasured.

Behind us, someone cleared their throat. ‘Inspector Wise,’ Faraday greeted me.

With flaming cheeks, I pulled away from Krieg. ‘Sir,’ I responded briskly.

‘You seem to have matters under control.’ He swept his eyes around the shambles of the scene. ‘We’ll need a clean-up team,’ he mused. ‘Can’t leave this for the humans to stumble upon in the morning.’ His sharp eyes assessed me. ‘You’re off shift, Wise. I’ll deal with the clean-up and the report.’

Thackeray arrived, visibly gulping air. Channing was on his heels with a medic, one I instantly recognised. Julian must have stayed the night at Mum’s to make it here so quickly. ‘Stace!’ he said as his eyes raked over me with visible panic.

‘I’m okay. You’re not here for me – see to Ji-ho, please. He was buried alive in a casket and we don’t know how long for. Potential oxygen deprivation.’

‘She’s hurt,’ Krieg contradicted me. ‘Though not too badly. You can heal her after the tech.’

My brother grimaced but knelt down and closed his eyes. His magic ran through Ji-ho making him gasp awake and scramble up in a panicked lurch. ‘You’re okay!’ I said hastily, pushing down my own demons. ‘You’re safe. We got you out.’

Ji-ho looked at me. ‘Shirlylock,’ he said dumbly. ‘You found me.’

‘We did.’

He nodded then promptly burst into tears. I shrugged out of Krieg’s arms to offer him mine, wrapped my arms around him and held him tight. ‘You’re okay,’ I repeated to him over and over again. ‘You’re okay.’

I remembered this sense of disbelief at being rescued all too well, wondering if it was a dream or if I really was free.

I hadn’t cried that night, though Dad had cried enough for both of us.