The psychopomp swiveled her head around and up, blinking large golden eyes at him.I go where you go.
She always had, for which Spencer was grateful. No matter what happened in his life, he knew he was never really alone with Fatima by his side.
* * *
The Supernatural Operations Agency headquarters was warded from the foundations up. The layers of magic were like soft white noise to Spencer’s senses as he waited in the reception area of the director’s office. Fatima didn’t seem bothered by any of it as she judiciously cleaned her tail, ignoring the side-eye from the director’s executive assistant.
It was atypical for a newly graduated special agent to be welcomed by the director herself in a private meeting, but Spencer’s situation was a little more unique than most new SOA agents found themselves in. For one, he was here so the SOA could act as oversight to him, and for another, the directorwasthat oversight.
“The director will see you now,” the executive assistant said.
Spencer nodded and stood, nudging Fatima gently with his foot. “Come on.”
Fatima flicked her ears at him before trotting ahead into a large, tastefully decorated office. His ears popped the second he stepped through the doorway, the silence ward embedded in the walls creating static that washed everything else out.
“Ma’am,” Spencer said with a polite nod.
SOA Director Priya Kohli stood from her chair, reaching across the desk to offer Spencer her hand in greeting. “Congratulations on the completion of your training, Special Agent Spencer Bailey.”
“Happy to be here.”
Priya arched an eyebrow at his answer but kept her peace. Then her attention settled on Fatima, and she gave the psychopomp a respectful little nod. “Hello to you as well, Fatima.”
She yowled a response back before jumping onto one of the two chairs angled in front of the desk. Priya smiled slightly and shook her head. “Well, she seems to have the right idea. Take a seat, and we’ll get started.”
Spencer sat, keeping his spine straight and resisting the urge to slouch. “I meant it, ma’am. I am glad the SOA accepted me on.”
“You were an asset during the Battle of Samhain and before then. I’m not one to discard assets.”
Spencer nodded slowly, waiting in silence for her to continue. Priya studied him for a moment, her brown eyes unreadable. “You were in the thick of things where Patrick Collins was concerned during the Battle of Samhain. You were read in to all the various missions and ended up being a critical player at the end. What’s more, your record at the PIA speaks for itself. I have a lot of faith you’ll make an excellent field agent with the SOA.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“I hope you will. Now, your background means you already have the security clearance necessary to know about the Repository and its missing inventory. Not all of the missing artifacts stem from Dominion Sect interference, but enough do that I’ve been trying to assign agents who have experience dealing with that terrorist group.”
Spencer stiffened in his seat. “I thought Patrick got rid of the Dominion Sect when Ethan was killed?”
“We’re still chasing down stragglers. The Dominion Sect isn’t categorized as an immediate threat right now, but the missing artifacts are. It’s an issue we’re trying to keep out of the public eye.”
The Repository was a storage facility housed in a highly classified remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. No one outside the military called the base by its actual name. Most people referred to it as Area 51. Spencer had never been allowed on-site, even during the whole mess that came with chasing after the Morrígan’s staff a few years ago.
The Department of the Preternatural, the Supernatural Operations Agency, and the Preternatural Intelligence Agency all had equal control over the Repository for security reasons. All three agencies were responsible for the inventory of magical and supernatural relics and weapons the Repository housed. The United States wasn’t the only country with such a collection, and no one liked to admit to losing control of a weapon of mass destruction. That just didn’t look good on the international stage.
“Still sticking with the story these missing artifacts were stolen during the Thirty-Day War?” Spencer asked after a moment.
Priya shrugged. “It’s official record.”
Spencer knew a lot about how official records were just pretty little lies sometimes. “A lot of my cases with the PIA dealt with neutralizing targets who used black and blood magic for demonic purposes. Is that what you’ll want me to do in the SOA?”
“Your PIA file states you were deployed on a non-official cover basis over half the time. You’ve experience with infiltration and, on occasion, deep cover.”
Spencer smiled thinly. “Most countries don’t like my kind of magic. Announcing my presence on foreign soil was never helpful.”
Dealing with the dead was never easy. His kind of magic broke souls, and mucking around with a person’s soul was a capital crime in the United States and in nearly every other country. Spencer never liked living with a possible death sentence hanging over his head, but he’d learned to work under the restrictions dictating his life.
“Your background in that area will work in our favor. My plan is to assign you to the Rapid Response Division with the intention of having you help track down some of these missing Repository artifacts. As we learned with the Morrígan’s staff, sometimes an unconventional investigation is the best way to get what we want.”
At least he wouldn’t have to worry about escaping some foreign country’s law enforcement and judicial system. He’d just spent the last twenty or so weeks relearning his own country’s laws and how they applied to his new job. No wonder Patrick always complained about headaches. Remembering the boundaries of his own personal legal authority was tiring.
