Zahide glared at Nick and snapped, “We’ll shelter over here.”
He followed in her wake, sheepishly knowing that he had a dressing-down coming, while Parker shouted, “Robin! You should join us!”
The defense attorney was on her cell phone, briefcase in her free hand, but she lifted her chin and followed them into an unused conference room. Avila jogged up behind, carrying an armful of coffees.
Zahide shut the door before snapping. “You created a circlementallywhen yourlifewas on the line?”
Only the slight emphasis on her words indicated the direction of her anger. Nick’s shoulders dropped, and he exhaled a soft breath.
Parker jerked forward. “Hey, Nick is really powerful. He wasn’t beingcareless?—”
“Parker, it’s okay,” Nick said gently. He looked at Zahide. “I’ve been practicing. This wasn’t desperation.”
Zahide snorted. “Well, if you blow off your own arm, don’t come crying to me.”
She turned away, and Avila handed over a cup of coffee. “Anyone else? I grabbed it before parking enforcement could.”
With the cups passed out, Nick couldn’t help himself. He turned to the defense attorney. “How did it go?”
“He wants to know if I behaved myself,” Parker said, smirking when Nick glanced at him. “Otherwise, I don’t get a cookie.”
Nick shook his head but didn’t disagree. Robin Keating set her briefcase down.
“As you know, Mr. Ferro is my client, and I’m unable to discuss his case with anyone else. Even with the person paying me.” She raised her eyebrows, and Nick winced sheepishly.
“We can leave,” Avila said. She reached out and grabbed Zahide’s elbow.
Zahide resisted for a moment but eventually gave in, grumbling under her breath. When they left, Parker waved a hand.
“I give permission for you to share anything with Nick. Can I do that?” Parker asked. He looked between them. “It’s just with Nick, thecookiesI get for behaving are reallygood, you know what I mean?”
He waggled his eyebrows, and Nick reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Parker, she gets it.”
“He listened to me and did refuse to answer any questions that I thought were intended to give them evidence against him,” Keating said.
“It was a fishing expedition?” Nick said. “That was the feeling I got from Murtola. They don’t know who else could do this, so they’re looking for the easy person to pin it on.”
“And, hey, here I am, a paranormal who literally just walked into the crime scene.” Parker made a face. “Only nowyouwalked onto the crime scene.”
Parker raised his eyebrows, and Nick winced. “It wasn’t intentional. I noticed that there were circles on the bones left behind. We went to go ask the crime scene tech if he had more pictures, and he exploded.”
“Kaboom,” Parker said. “Huh. Circles?”
“Yeah, I don’t know what kind. All I saw was a piece of them, but on the bones left behind, I saw anchor points.” Nick frowned.
“Mr. Ferro,” Keating said. “Do you know any alchemy?”
“I mean…knowis a very strong word,” Parker hedged. “Can I recognize it? Yeah. If I had to do an alchemy spell on my own? Uh, well, one time I tried, and it kind of melted in my hand and didn’t do what I wanted.”
Keating’s mouth went flat. “Yes or no. When they ask you questions, you need to answeryesorno, no narrative explanations that give them more information than they already have!”
“You sound like Nick when we play…” Parker trailed off and swallowed. “No. I can’tperformalchemy.”
Keating’s expression cleared. “Alright, if they find more alchemy circles at this recent crime scene, we can argue that.”
“Yes,” Parker said, grinning cheekily when she narrowed her eyes at him. “What? I can follow directions!”
There was a knock on the door, and Zahide poked her head into the room. “King, they want you upstairs. You, too, Ferro.”
