‘Romantic,’ I teased.
‘Shove it,’ she said. ‘Let’s talk about murderous organisations instead.’
‘By all means, go on.’
‘We’ve had a few incidents where we’ve seen the Domini and Anti-Crea working together, but it seems random. More on an ad hoc basis when their needs happen to align. I’ve long suspected that one or more of the Domini are pulling Anti-Crea strings, but that’s a gut feeling. Historically, the Anti-Crea has always been a slow-lumbering beast. Like all bigots, they have problems with original thought, so the Connection has assessed them as a low threat level. But lately things have ramped up. A few Connection officers are suspected of being Anti-Crea and I’ve been tasked with making friends with them.’
I blinked. ‘You’re undercover?’
‘Not really. It’s just when I’m around the wrong sort, I spit out some Anti-Crea shit.’ She grimaced.
‘Who asked you to do that?’
‘Thackeray, but he said to keep it on the down low, not to mention it to anyone, not to report to anyone but him.’
Thackeray, like the rest of us, was treading carefully, but he was trying to remove Anti-Crea sentiment, and that made me feel a whole lot better. Some of his questions about my and Robbie’s relationship had felt … judgemental. But maybe it had really come from a genuine place of concern. I hoped so.
‘All right, what else do you know about the Domini?’
She sighed. ‘I told all of this to Lucy Barrett.’
‘The werewolf ruler?’
‘Yeah. She’s been hunting down the Domini too. She killed a couple and said Voltaire helped. Kind of. That’s when I learnt what the real purpose of the Red Guard is.’
I blinked. ‘What does the Red Guard have to do with the Domini?’
‘Turns out they’re the Jedi to the Domini’s Sith. Yin and Yang, light and dark. All that shit.’
‘You’re not seriously telling me that Voltaire is head of the good guys in this scenario? He’s an asshole.’
‘I know, right?’ She tossed her glossy mane of hair over one shoulder. ‘But the point is, that’s their job, isn’t it? Hunt down the Domini? Let those beautiful immortal fuckers spend their days trying to bring them down. We can focus on the smaller picture. The rapists and the murderers.’
‘Lucky us,’ I said flatly but I had to concede she had a point. But there was one more thing I couldn’t get out of my head. I leaned forward and dropped my voice further. ‘In my dad’s crime-scene photos, he was holding a pendant with a Domini symbol on it.’
She swore. ‘You’re not going to let this go, are you?’
‘It doesn’t seem likely,’ I admitted.
Elvira looked genuinely worried. ‘This isn’t a good idea, Stacy. Leave it to Lucy, to Voltaire.’
Laura burst in, grinning wildly. ‘Ji-ho has been given the green light! He’s officially transferring to Unit 13!’
I grinned at our beaming admin assistant. ‘Brilliant.’
‘Channing is helping him move his tech and setting him up in the side office next to the interrogation room.’
‘Fantastic. Thank you.’
‘I baked more bikkies last night,’ she continued. ‘And I’ve put them in our own little break room.’
‘That’s so kind of you.’
She looked between Elvira and me. ‘I’ll leave you to it. Sorry I interrupted. The door was closed, but I was excited.’
‘Not a problem. Thanks Laura.’
Elvira and I waited until she left and shut the door.
