“Do you surrender?” April casually tossed a blue fireball from one hand to the other.
“Y-yes.” The duo—all that remained of one of the factions—squeaked.
The four attempting to break into the building—two pixies, a selkie, and a naiad—were not so cowed.
“No!” The naiad shouted. “We will not give up. We are of the proud Court—”
“Wrong answer.” Considine put on a burst of speed, reached the naiad within the blink of an eye, and slammed his elbow into her throat.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Jade
The naiad sputtered, struggling to get air.
I shadowed Considine step for step and grabbed a handful of the selkie’s long, silky hair as she tried to break the store’s front door.
Playing dirty, I yanked hard on her hair, pulling her backwards. I kicked her right leg out from underneath her, and she collapsed on her rear.
The two pixies started to zigzag over our heads, then froze when they realized tiny bolts of blue electricity were following them.
“We surrender!” they shouted in unison.
Considine beamed. “A wise choice.”
“Orrin, report in on the radio,” I called to the fae. “Do you know the proper protocol?”
“I believe so.” Orrin took his radio off his belt, his brow furrowed in concentration as he pressed the necessary buttons. “Team Blood, here with Team Fire. Fae fight has been suppressed. Requesting help for clean up.” He went on to listthe number of fae, named the Courts they were associated with, and listed out the type of fae they were, so the department would know if they needed to send any special equipment with the cleanup crew. When he finished, he looked at me.
I nodded. “That was by the book—good job.”
“You rarely tell me good job,” Considine said. “Why is that?”
I considered the pile of groaning and injured fae. “Because you rarely do things by the book.”
Medium Sized Robert dropped the large backpack he carried. It hit the ground with a thump that I felt through the soles of my boots. He opened it and pulled out at least eight pairs of magic canceling cuffs.
“Thank you for coming, Team Blood.” Medium-Sized Robert passed Clarence the cuffs before rummaging through his backpack some more.
“Of course,” I said.
“Yes, that is what backup does. It backs one up. It doesn’t flee to protect itself when it gets separated from its group,” Considine said.
April collapsed her fire wall. “You’re still upset about the werewolf-mercenary incident I take it?”
“Very,” Considine said. “Even though it seems the reason for my ire is not similarly offended.”
I shrugged. “The task force doesn’t want its members to risk their neck for each other. If you try to make a case otherwise, you’re going to get a paper assigned to you.”
Considine narrowed his eyes. “Isthatwhat that paper Sarge has mentioned is supposed to be about?”
Embarrassed, I cleared my throat. “I told you not to worry about that.”
“I must say, Sarge and Captain Reese knew what they were doing when they made you partners.” Clarence gave me a weaksmile as he snapped a pair of cuffs around the wrists of the groaning siren.
If I wasn’t a trained slayer, my eyes would have bugged out of my head.
