“What…” Jade licked her lips, thinking. “What if the missing woman was an oracle?”
Sarge scratched at his jaw, thinking. “Mathematically speaking, the chances of that are very minuscule since oracles are so rare.”
“Yes, but she disappeared in the past few months, and now we’re suddenly starting to get prophecies?” Jade asked.
“She has a point,” I piped in. “If there is an illegal prophecy seller in Magiford they either moved in recently, or were illegally acquired a short while ago. You surely would have heard rumors of one before this if the timeline was different.”
Sarge tapped his fingers on the edge of the podium. “I’ll make note of this and tell Captain Reese before we leave for patrol. She’ll get word to the day squad. They’ll look for signs of magic when they’re given access to the missing woman’s home, though we might have to wait for the consultant to be certain.”
Binx frowned. “Does oracle magic even have a scent?”
“And I wonder if their blood might be different,” Tetiana added. “At least it probably isn’t…odoriferous the way wizard blood can be.”
Sarge nodded, his eyes stormy. “I do not personally know much about oracles, nor have I ever met one, so I am unable to say anything about their magic profile. But I will put a request in with the techs. They’ll dig information up.”
He means he’ll put Sunshine on the trail.
While the bright Day Court fae was technically supposed to process evidence, with this matter being an interest to Jade I had a feeling Sunshine would bite into this case and not let go until she felt she’d given her friend all the information she could.
Sarge took out his cellphone and typed away on it—likely taking notes. “Any further questions?” He repeated.
Task force members shook their heads.
“Very well, moving on: we have an update on Lady Gisila.” Sarge rested his hands on the podium. “We believe she might have returned to Magiford. A wizard on the day shift got a whiff of dragon shifter magic aroundLuxe SejourHotel this afternoon.”
I stayed relaxed, but everything within me was tightly coiled in a mixture of savage anger and determination.
If she makes any move against Jade, I’ll eliminate her.
Clarence raised his hand. “Any sightings of her?”
“No.” Sarge flattened his lips in a way that probably would have made any water in the room ripple with his hidden anger. “So far detecting magic is our only sign, so I want April and Brody to check over every square inch outside the hotel to look for her magic and scent.”
Brody did a finger salute. “You got it, Sarge!”
“Gisila is likely arriving in time to attempt a break in with the next moon cycle.” Sarge glanced at Jade, who was so calm and collected I didn’t hear so much as a single change to her heartbeat.
She listened attentively, just as she had to the previous news.
For anyone else I’d say it’s bravado. For Jade, it’s merely the way she approaches things.
I leaned over, getting close enough that if she moved just right, my lips would graze her ear. “Are you alright?”
Jade glanced up at me and blinked in curiosity. “Yes? Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Gisila is back, and she is a rather large threat on your life.”
“Well, yes, but I figured she was likely to come back,” Jade said. “As it is, she gave us more time than I thought we’d get.”
Ahh yes. Always prepared. That’s my Jade.
Feeling Sarge’s gaze on us, I sat upright again, giving him my reluctant attention.
Sarge widened his gaze to the other task force members. “Since we were able to establish—with Orrin’s help—that Gisila is after an elf weapon, one that is likely owned by Tutu herself, our focus is on preparation for the impending attack. We’re still over two weeks away, but we’ve put in requests for reinforcements. Any questions?”
I only half listened as the task force members peppered Sarge with various questions, internally making my own plans.
So the lizard is coming back, is she? I’d tell Jade she should take a vacation and visit her family, but that would probably get me ignored. It seems it’s time to find out just how much work the snake-brats have done.
