Clarence was terrified of me and rarely ever spoke to me, much less smiled.
I must keep the conversation going! Quick—think of something to ask!
“You mean we are good in combat together?” I asked. I didn’t want to spook Clarence by focusing on him, so I tugged my remaining set of cuffs from my belt and knelt by the selkie to restrain her.
“You do make quite the intimidating team,” Clarence agreed. “But in this case, I was referring to the way you understand each other. You are very much in sync, which is something rare for a vampire of Elder Maledictus’s caliber.”
“Are slayer families usually like this?” April piped up as she cuffed two leprechauns together. “So in tune with those they fight with?”
I considered the question in the back of my mind while I looked for Orrin.
He hadn’t been allocated any magic canceling cuffs, so he stood on the sidewalk, studying his stun guns and idly eyeing a faun who had started to stir.
“We’re a family, so we work together well. Almost like a machine, since we’re raised to it.” I said. “But my downtime with Considine is much more peaceful and relaxing.”
Considine strolled up to the fallen minotaur, who was trying to stand, and applied a foot to the back of his neck, squashing the minotaur’s face against the pavement. “What is that supposed to mean?”
I shrugged. “We might fight well together, but a slayer family is still a family.”
April laughed. “I get it—that’s code for, you love them but sometimes you want to shake them when they push your buttons and drive you crazy.”
I blinked, surprised she understood. “Yes, exactly.”
Considine gave me a smile that meant there was going to be a lot of cuddles in my future once we got off duty. “You find me relaxing, Banquet? That’s encouraging—you actually trust me!”
I was saved from responding when Orrin wandered up to me, holding out his stun guns. “Can we go back to the cloisters? My stun guns lost their charge.”
“Not yet,” I said. “We have to restrict everyone, and wait for additional teams to respond to the cleanup request you made so we can take them in,” I explained.
“You won’t have too long to wait,” Considine announced as he tapped his foot on the squirming minotaur’s neck. “We’re not too far from the Cloisters—especially since there’s no traffic this late at night.”
The minotaur tried to stand, but Considine leaned on him again, keeping him pinned to the pavement.
Angered, the minotaur pounded a fist into the pavement. “This is inconceivable!”
Considine looked down at the muscled fae the way a human might look at a bug. “That you lost? Not particularly. Though I am impressed you know such a big word. What a smart boy.”
The minotaur huffed. “No! It can’t be! She said the other Court would be quelled by blood, followed by ruin!”
She? The werewolves who jumped the dwarf tourist mentioned a she, and they had also been similarly confident that they’d get what they wanted.
My instincts took over, and I narrowed in on the minotaur, striding down the street to join Considine. “She?”
The minotaur froze. His nostrils flared red—he was likely panicking.
I crouched next to the minotaur’s head, careful to choose a spot that would put me out of range of his horns in case he started thrashing again. “Who isshe?”
The minotaur kept silent.
“Is it Lady Gisila?” I asked.
The minotaur shivered.
Is he under a geas that is keeping him from outing her, or is she unrelated and he’s just being stubborn?
I didn’t like that he was so still—he was possibly planning to surprise Considine and myself—so I pulled my handgun as a precaution. “IssheLady Gisila?” I repeated, keeping my voice low and firm.
The minotaur struggled, flashing the whites of his eyes. “I-I don’t know who that is!”
