“Here, Blood.” Grove passed me a potion—which was an inviting forest green color and smelled like vanilla when Ipopped the cork cap off it. “It’s a high-grade health potion,” Grove said without looking at me. His gaze was glued to Gisila, who was squirming under the gate—torn between pain and pushing the gate off her.
“Thinking what potion you should throw at the lizard?” Orrin asked—having apparently adopted Considine’s way of referring to Gisila.
“Nah,” Grove said. “I don’t want to risk making the splash zone noxious.”
Gisila almost had the gate off her, but my squadmates seemed content to keep her surrounded, and no one approached her.
I sipped at the potion—the vanilla flavor warmed my gut like fresh baked goods. I felt fae magic flood my body, mending the forming bruises and my various injuries. “Splash zone?” I asked.
Water flowed into the room, forming a smooth globe of water the size of a small pool that hung in the air over Gisila.
Gisila finally kicked the gate off and tried to stand, but the water dumped on her head, slamming her back into the ground.
Instead of flowing away, the water condensed around her, holding her underwater.
I sagged in relief—we were going to be fine. Only one person in the department could control water like this.
Gisila clawed at the liquid—trying to break free. When that didn’t work, she tried to crawl through it to get to air, but the liquid effortlessly rolled along with her.
Woah. I always knew Sarge was strong, but this is incredible.
Medium-Sized Robert set his enormous pack down and pulled a set of special cuffs from within it. “Ready.”
The water bubble popped. Gisila gasped and fell to the ground, unable to do anything besides breath.
Tetiana and Clarence pounced next, dropping on her from the second-floor observational deck.
Tetiana touched down next to her and grabbed her right wrist, while Clarence landed squarely on top of her—knocking what little breath she’d gotten back out of her lungs.
Clarence glared down at the dragon shifter. His normally anxious face was twisted into an expression of anger that rendered him unrecognizable as he grabbed Gisila’s left wrist.
Gisila tried to pull free, but after getting blasted as she had—all the while bleeding from the nasty wounds I’d given her with my hair sticks—she was significantly weakened and sagged in Tetiana’s and Clarence’s grasp.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “I had the department surveyed! You weren’t considered a threat—too fractured and divided. How—”
She broke off in a scream when Clarence dug his fingers into the bite marks Brody left on her wrist. “It’s because you’re an idiot,” Clarence said. “You attacked Blood.”
Gisila, water dripping from her purple hair glared at Clarence. “What?”
“You guaranteed we were never going to let you go the day you put a target on Blood’s back,” Sarge called.
Flanked by April and Juggernaut—who must have still been channeling magic as their wizard tattoos showed on their faces—Sarge strode across the loading station, approaching Gisila.
Gisila laughed. “All of this—for aslayer? The assassin scum of the supernatural world?”
“No,” Sarge said, his musical voice was so cold I swear the air felt icy. “All of this forBlood,” he repeated, as if that should have meant something to her.
Brody and Binx trotted up to the crowd and joined Tetiana and Clarence. They bit down on Gisila’s legs, making her shudder with pain as they held her secure.
“You bought the enmity of the entire department,” April said.
Juggernaut grinned and cradled a ball of purple fire in his right hand. “The evidence processors, the task force, even the secretarial staff have been working to stop yousince the moment you revealed Blood’s identity.”
“Forget whatever stupid artifact you want from your sister, we’re out to annihilate you for Blood,” Tetiana said.
Gisila shook her head. “First Considine Maledictus, now such a varied group of supernaturals? Has she bewitched you all?”
“No,” Orrin said, making me jump in surprise. “It’s merely that Jade is the only supernatural in the entire department who would sacrifice blood, body, sleep—whatever necessary—to save any of us, no matter the odds. That’s something you would never understand.” Orrin left my side to approach Gisila.
