“He had magical help,” Gabriel finished.
“Exactly.” I tapped my pen on the pad. “And we still need to find the person responsible for refining the flowers. I’m assuming it wasn’t Mr Collins?”
“No.” Max glanced at Axel. “He has no background in that area, and we discovered no evidence to suggest that he had the means, expertise, or location to do it on such a mass scale. We discovered enough at both Blake Tehlin’s house and at Gabriel’s to assume that the refining is being done on a large scale.”
Axel sighed. “I know he did some pretty bad stuff, but I can’t see Zane being the mastermind behind the whole operation.”
I cocked my head to the side as I turned to face him. “You know him well?”
Axel shrugged. “I thought I did.” I raised an eyebrow. “I went to Midnight a lot, worked there behind the bar when they were busy enough to need an extra set of hands.” He glared at me, and I held up my hands.
“Relax. I’m not about to run back and report you to the high court.” They would, no doubt, be less than pleased about it, but what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. I was here for one job, not to check up on Axel.
And family came first.
Always.
He relaxed in his seat. “I didn’t think you would, but…” He shrugged, and I let it go. Had he lived through the gateway long enough that he’d forgotten that family loyalty came above everything else for us, even the high court?
Although, that was a grey area at times.
The point was, I wasn’t about to run back home and tell them all about Axel’s penchant for serving drinks—and I suspected that wasn’t all, judging from Max’s smirk—in a night club. I was offended that he’d thought he had to reassure himself of that fact.
I felt his hand on my arm, fingers wrapping around my wrist, and I looked up to meet eyes full of apology.
“I do know, and I do trust you.”
I stared back, wondering if his abilities had chosen that moment to kick in. “Noted.” Turning back to the other two, I said, “I want to talk to Blake and—” I checked my notes. “—Callum Walker at some point, and maybe some of the other hunter groups involved. Also, the hunter found with Tombs, and Zane Collins.”
Max winced. “Zane is the easiest, he’s still in one of the holding cells on the lower floor of this building. We’ll need to get CI Thornton and Lady Sarhin to sign off on the others, but I don’t think it should be a problem but might take a day or so to organise.”
“Okay.” I’d expected as much. “What about Zane Collins then? We can start with him.”
Max nodded. “We can go after lunch if you like?”
“Perfect.” I tapped my pen on the notes I’d made under his name. “I’d like another witch present when we question him, though. Perhaps someone outside of the police.”
Max eyed me curiously. “Should I contact the witches’ council, or did you have someone in mind?”
I was going to have to work harder at masking my emotions. It wasn’t something I had to do all that often in the Fae Realm, and I was out of practice. Not bothering now since Max already had me pegged, I said, “I was thinking we could ask Nick Parker. He’s a witch, and familiar with both the case itself and Zane. Maybe he can read over the questions I want to ask and see if he has anything to add. If he’s willing to help, of course.”
Yes, all those reasons I gave were valid, and I honestly did think having Nick Parker present would be helpful. Zane might respond better to him than another member of the police department.
But also, I wanted to have a reason to see him again. Maybe more than once if he proved useful to our case.
There was something about him and his magic that piqued my curiosity. Made me want to know more. Knowhim.
I wouldn’t let it get out of hand, but I could afford to indulge a little if it helped me solve this case.
“I’ll see what can be arranged.” Max stood, pushing his chair back. “After we’ve been to lunch.”
My stomach growled as if on cue, and I couldn’t argue that lunch sounded like a great idea. I’d have to wait a little longer to set eyes on the lovely witch again.
NICK
My phoned chimedwith a text as I pulled into the car park of The Black Cat pub.
Mase: Dathal wants to talk to Zane about his involvement with Tombs. He’d like another witch to be present and he’s requested you specifically.
