‘I was travelling home, accompanied by two ogres, Maktel and Hanlon, when we were jack-knifed by a truck. Our car rolled, and we all sustained injuries and lost consciousness. When we awoke, both ogres were shackled in seer-spelled manacles, and I was in magic-cancelling cuffs with my feet secured by rope. I got myself out and drew the daggers that had been on my person but our captors had wholly missed.’
‘Clumsy,’ Faraday grunted.
‘Indeed. I utilised said daggers on Hunter, killing him instantly. I searched him for the keys to the spelled shackles but found none. I proceeded through the building until I found a room with occupants. Both Beeks and Kerr Junior were discussing the murders of Marlow and Drummond. Beeks complained that Kerr and Hunter’s presence at Drummond’s murder had disrupted things, because Hunter had kicked the door down whereas Beeks could have simply finessed the lockwith his skills. It was clear from the tone of their discussion that Kerr was the one calling the shots.’
I wasn’t going to mention the Domini to Faraday until I knew far more about the shadowy organisation and had dug into the vampyr’s background and beliefs. The Domini collected powerful members like stamps, and Faraday was certainly powerful. I’d have to tread carefully here.
‘Kerr referenced his father’s political aspirations and that his platform would benefit from an increase in Anti-Creature sentiment. They were deliberately trying to engineer the same.’
‘Any suggestion Kerr Senior knew about the events?’
‘No sir,’ I confirmed. I should have dug into that in Kerr Junior’s mind, but I’d been too focused on surviving. An annoying omission on my part. Still, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, and I’d felt Junior’s excitement at his plan to rape and kill the female satyr. I was going to keep a close eye on Kerr Senior.
I expected that he was going to do the same to me.
‘I gave a verbal warning, as dictated by protocol, and then an altercation ensued, which ended with the deaths of Beeks and Kerr.’
Faraday’s lips pressed together. ‘I told you the kill order was rescinded on Kerr.’
‘You did, sir, but he was trying to strangle me to death,’ I said flatly. ‘His death was in self-defence.’
He studied me before slowly nodding. ‘Kerr Senior will no doubt want a sub-wizard to view your memories to verify that the events occurred as you said. Any issues in that?’
A cold sweat broke out, but I shrugged nonchalantly. ‘None of us enjoys having a sub-wizard crawl through our minds, but I’ll submit to examination if it is so ordered.’
I had been subjected to a sub-wizard assessment precisely once: on entry to the Connection. Mum and I had arguedextensively about it, before I found a heavy tome on sub-wizard powers dumped on my bed one day. I never asked how or where she’d got the book, but I’d followed its instructions carefully on how to keep a fellow sub-wizard from discovering certain aspects of my memories.
I’d practised for weeks before my testing, only to have the sub-wizard take the barest glimpse into my thoughts and give me the all-clear. Turned out he was a friend of Dad’s. Corruption and nepotism were everywhere, though I’d be a fraud if I said I wasn’t grateful for it on this one occasion.
‘For obvious reasons,’ the vampyr said, ‘I’ll pass the death message. You steer clear of the family.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Faraday continued his questioning. ‘You killed both offenders and then what?’
‘I located a ring of keys in Kerr’s bag and took them back downstairs to unlock the seer-imbued manacles, freeing the ogres. We all exited the building and waited for backup.’
‘Which came in the form of sixty virtually nude ogres,’ Faraday said drolly.
I refrained from snapping back that help wasn’t coming from the Connection since he’d pulledmybackup. Instead I said, ‘As you’re aware, I am dating Robert Krieg, High King of the Ogres. He became aware that an incident had occurred and came to our location.’
‘How did he find you?’
His question was valid. The truth was, he had used Loki. The moment I regained my magic, our bond had snapped into place, and Robbie had used Loki like a tracking device to home in on my location.
‘Tracking app,’ I lied blandly.
He questioned me further for several minutes before releasing me to seek medical assistance. He would remain and sort this mess out. For once, I was more than glad to walk away.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
‘Stop moving,’ Amber instructed sharply.
‘I’m trying not to! A flinch is involuntary.’ I sat back in my living room chair and tried harder to stay still. I’d refused to go to the hospital, but Robbie had called Amber to work her magic on me, and I was grateful she’d rushed to my house, arriving mere moments after us.
‘The bird stayed more still than you,’ she grumbled.
‘Loki smart,’ he trilled as he flew around the lampshade, still delighting in his painless flight.
