He jerked his head for us to follow him. We stepped behind a huge navy curtain into a small space which was strewn with bits of a set from a past play. Cobwebs tickled my face, making me think that it had been a long time since the town hall had held such an event.
“We have forty-six locals in the hall who have exhibited unusual symptoms. Fire starters, earth controllers, wind summoners, and water raisers.”
Damn, we should get him on the PR team for elementals—he made it sound even more majestic.
“There are three wolves locked in the kitchen and two lions in the basement. Casualty estimate is ten, three from animal attacks, and seven from being in the striking range.”
Wow, I take it back, young Logan might be a fresh-faced cop, but he was efficient and had managed a difficult situation that no academy would have prepared him for. Color me impressed.
Logan flipped his notebook closed and slid it into his shirt pocket. He gazed at me with an expectant expression, like I could make sense of his world.
“Sophia and I will deal with the hall of people,” I said. “Sebastian, you take the animals. Assess them, don’t kill them.”
Logan blinked, but that was the sum of his shock. I liked him more and more.
“They are abnormally large wolves, and the lions aren’t quite the run of-the-mill cats you see in zoos either,” Logan explained.
Sebastian’s head dropped back and a long-suffering groan escaped his mouth. “Because these creatures don’t roam in your zoos, they teach your kids, make your coffee, and style your hair.”
“I’ll show you the way,” Logan said.
I raised a brow at Robert as Logan and Sebastian slipped out from behind the curtain. “He’s awfully well put together,” I observed.
“Yeah, he’s a good kid. His family has a store in New Orleans, so I think he’s seen his fair share of weird shit.”
“Perhaps you should have stationed him in White Castle as your deputy? We could always use more steady law enforcement.”
“I’ll think about it. Now, explain to me what the hell happened here.”
Aunt Sophia’s head had been poking out from the curtain to study the room. She jerked back and huffed. “The depth of what has happened here is a long, long, conversation, Sheriff. Unless you have all night, you’ll have to settle for the cliff notes’ version.”
He narrowed his eyes and folded his arms. “I’ve learned to not ask for the details. Just what threat I’m facing and how to help these folks would suffice.”
“The initial threat has passed,” my aunt said. “The biggest issue you have now is the forty new untrained and uneducated elementals with magic whipping through their systems. The wolves and lions don’t fit the pattern, but I’d have to see them to understand.” She froze and her eyes glazed over.
“Is she okay?” Robert asked.
“She’s having a vision,” I muttered. Knowing our luck, the vision would be how much traffic we might encounter on the way home.
Her eyes refocused. “I think your animals are newly turned shifters.”
Wow, a helpful vision? Those didn’t grace us often. “I thought shifters couldn’t be turned?” Robert asked with a tilt of his head.
“They can’t, usually,” I reassured him.
“Unless,” Aunt Sophia said.Oh, boy.“They had shifter blood in their lineage. Diluted enough to not take effect unless…” She tapped her finger against her lip and her brows crumpled.
“Unless what?” I asked.
She blinked. “Unless, someone cast a spell to infuse them with magic, forcing the change to come over them.”
My grandmother was forcing people to change into animals. This sounded awfully familiar to the shitstorm that had taken place on my property not long ago. It couldn’t be a coincidence. I no longer believed in them.
“But those people in the hall are just like you two,” Robert said. “And they can’t all have elemental blood in their lineage. That’s everyone that was in town, there are no humans left.”
“You’re right, that theory doesn’t fit for the elementals.”
Aunt Sophia shook her head. “Actually, it does, but that is a tale for another time. Let’s just say the human population has a more complex history than most realize. It’s not secrets to be spilled right now, and I’m afraid, Sheriff, this isn’t part of your remit.” She glanced at me and promised me answers at a later date, but if my aunt had decreed that this made sense, then I had absolute trust that it did.
