Ivy perked up as she found something she liked in her paperwork, her feet swinging as she sat balanced on the railing. They kept moving their base? she said, not looking from the pages. Odd.
Agreed. Nina rocked from her heels to her toes and back again, her hands clasped behind her in a decidedly masculine gesture. Behind her, the I.S. officers were getting impatient, wanting to cut the body down and get on with it. Microscopic evidence from all the victims is different: dust samples, pollen, residual ley-line orientation at the time of death.
Ley-line orientation at the time of death? Id been out of the I.S. for a little over two years, and Id already missed hearing about new technology.
Well try to locate where they held this man, but theyve probably moved already, Nina said, glancing at the I.S. officers and the radio chatter below us. Two geeky living vampires at the bottom of the stairs with a gurney and a body bag fidgeted in the cold as they waited for us.
We found enough evidence on the businessmans body to sensitize an amulet. It led to an abandoned site, thoroughly cleaned, but they left the cage so wed know it was them.
Ivy slid from the railing with the papers securely bundled in her arms. I could tell she was not going to give them back. Theyre laughing at you, she said mockingly as she started for the stairs, her motions slow and provocative. Crap on toast, she was intentionally goading the undead vampire, knowing hed screwed up this run and rubbing his nose in his mistake. Either that or she just wanted to talk to the waiting techs.
I know theyre laughing at us, Nina almost growled, but she was watching Ivys ass as she took the stairs, and Ivy knew it. Jenks flew in to land on Ivys shoulder when she reached the sidewalk. Hed probably finished his investigation a while ago and simply hadnt wanted to get near the body again. I could understand. It was probably like being next to the rotting carcass of a blue whale.
Can we see the previous sites? I asked just to get the undead vampires eyes off Ivy.
If you like, Nina said, annoyed as she brought her attention back to me. All the information you need is in the reports. Theres evidence of at least four people involved in holding the victims. She looked at the hanging man and frowned, her fingers twitching, grasping for something unseena nervous tic belonging to an undead vampire. Curious.
I exhaled as I took in what Nina was saying. If theyd moved and dumped the body, then we had five days to find the next victim. Damn it all to hell, this is ugly. Somewhere in the city a terrified man or woman was being experimented on, turned into this . . . halfway thing.
Jenks left Ivy to make irritating yo-yo motions in front of me, his color high. One guy and two women dumped this guy, he said proudly, and Ninas expression showed stark amazement. That is, if you trust pixies, Jenks added snidely. They came at four thirty-five in the morning, strung the guy up, finger-painted with blood from a bag, and left in a blue car. The local pixies didnt pay much attention to them. A guy with a dog found him thirty-seven minutes later, and the I.S. flunky responding hit him with a forget charm and sent him on his way. Hes fine, but the dog is going to need massive amounts of therapy.
Nina looked livid, but I was delighted. It was probably the best intel wed get, and more than the I.S. had gotten in over two weeksif they were being honest with us, that is. Forget charms. I hated them, and I made a mental note to see if I could find anything in my earth-magic spell books that would counter one. I didnt want to take this run only to be charmed into forgetting everything when the I.S. had what it wanted.
Nice going, Jenks, I said, unable to resist the dig. Well give you that for free, Nina.
The two vampires with the gurney and the folded body bag had started forward, and feeling a little better, I asked, How long until the new tracking amulets made from the evidence here are ready? I wanted to nail this coffin shut like yesterday.
Head down, Nina rubbed her chin. Twelve hours, she said sourly, looking startled when she found her skin smooth and unstubbled. I dont expect to get a ping from any of them. Ms. Morgan, is there a curse that you can perform to track them down faster?
I lingered at the top of the stairs, the body hanging, ugly, behind me, the forbidding walls of the music hall peeping through the bare trees. Ivy was with one of the techs on the sidewalk, their heads close as they talked shop. Between us, radio chatter and the dull murmur of anxious cops filled the air. Id had my look. Id seen enough to get sick, scared, and now angry.
Curse? No, I said, feeling cold as I gripped my shoulder bag tighter and took the stairs. I couldnt do a curse to save my life while wearing this band of charmed silver. But if theyre using this mans blood to stir spells to torture the next, you can find them with that using any old earth or ley-line charm.
I started down, and Wayde edged toward me, that same uneasy expression on his face. Its a big city, Nina said, almost under her breath as she followed me down the stairs, her steps silent in her scratched knock-off heels. Profilers think there are at least five people involved. Witches.