The door was closed, which meant Sloan had someone with him. He rapped a knuckle on the door and waited. When it swung open, he was surprised to meet Isaac Morrow’s eyes.
Isaac lifted his chin. “Captain Accardi, good to see you.”
Nathan smiled. “Paladin Morrow. Hope life is treating you well.”
“Well enough. Your turn.” He slapped Nathan on the shoulder as he passed, his green eyes twinkling like sunlight through a tree canopy.
Nathan slipped inside and shut the door on Isaac’s retreating back.
Commander Sloan was seated at his desk, closing a file folder and tucking it in a drawer as he gestured for Nathan to take a seat across from him. The room was quiet save for the soft hum of his computer and the barely audible ticking of the clock on the wall beside them.
“Good morning, Commander,” he said as he sat.
Sloan leaned back with a greeting nod. “Good morning. Have you had a chance to go by the morgue? This case has me on pins and needles.”
Nathan did his best not to think about Storm’s arms around his body. It had been much easier at the Rink, because Storm had recognized how uncomfortable Nathan was with the prospect of retelling everything they’d seen. Nathan didn’t have to speak a word; Storm just somehowknew.
He shook himself. Storm wasn’t here, so he had to be strong. “Yes, I did.” He recounted everything he’d learned there, how there were claw marks inside the chest cavity and strange findings in the stomach contents and toxicology report.
“Bone and sulfur? What could that mean?” Sloan asked, sitting back and rubbing a hand along his jaw.
Nathan had rehearsed this part in his head on the drive over. “Well, I spoke to Storm?—”
“Who?” Sloan asked sharply.
“Storm. The halfling that the defectors put me in contact with. I thought they might want to know about whatever this is, so I called him.”
Sloan’s expression smoothed, and Nathan continued quickly. He knew Sloan wouldn’t like this part, but he hoped Storm’s contribution would make him see that working with the defectors and their demons could have its advantages.
“He came by the morgue to take a look, too, actually. He seems to think it’s possible that a hex bag was used to make the victim susceptible to possession. Bone fragments are often used in hex bags, according to him.”
Sloan cut a hand through the air. “Hold on. Why didn’t you take any of your own team with you to the morgue? I assigned this case to you as a captain in the guild. I expected you to involve your squad.”
Nathan faltered. “I’ve been keeping them apprised of the situation, sir, but you gave me permission to seek a truce with them?—”
“Yes, a ceasefire. Not an alliance. Warn them about the boy’s death so they can keep their ears open, certainly, but calling a demon to accompany you on guild business?”
Nathan’s mouth went dry. “I apologize for the misunderstanding, sir.”
Sloan’s gaze was like shards of ice. “Don’t apologize, Captain Accardi. Do better. Remember that you are a paladin, and therefore, your duties to this guild should come first.”
His mind raced. He had to salvage this somehow. He hadn’t expected Sloan to take so much offense at the realization that Nathan had been including the defectors in his investigation.
“But sir, I think they were right about the hex bag.”
Sloan scoffed. “Captain, give me a break. What are you suggesting, that that boy somehow swallowed an entire hex bag?”
“Well, no, but given the other drugs in his system, it’s notimpossibleto think that he may have ingested something else that acted as a hex bag. A pill capsule, maybe.”
“A pill capsule?” Sloan repeated, looking incredulous. “That’s not possible, Captain. They’re feeding you lies, don’t you see? No, these people are twisting your head around the same way they twisted Hawk and Morgan and Faer, and you’re falling for it. You’re working with this demon like he’s a human. They’ve somehow made you believe that because those demons look human, they actuallyarehuman.”
“No, sir, I don’t think that at all?—”
Sloan shook his head. “I’ve heard enough. I’ll consider the hex bag idea and bring it up with the council, but there’s no way any kind of ingestible pill resulted in that boy’s possession.”
Nathan ground his teeth together. “Sir, I think you’re being too hasty. This is a good theory?—”
“A theory that came fromthem. They’re just trying to twist your head around, and you refuse to see it. The halflings are monsters, and people who abide them are no better.”
