“That’s right,” Parker coaxed. “All the way down. It’s so interesting how you layered on top of each other on his foot. You can’t touch anything else on his body, just his left foot. It’s fascinating to watch. You must be so talented, so beautiful.”
Nick watched the other alchemy circles go out one by one, the green flickers disappearing as the circles on Gile’s foot got brighter and brighter.
Nick wasn’t sure he would have enough time, but he drew three circles in quick succession, linking them with two bridges and an arc. Zahide would curse him if she could see what he was doing, but he knew it would work. Something to protect him and Parker. Something to contain the explosion, something to stop the bleeding. All of it needed to work together, and it would.
When he saw the last alchemy circle disappear from the rest of Gile’s body, he grabbed the spell from his notebook, powering it on. He could feel the drain in his body, as though he was in the middle of a raging river, the water flowing through him.
He pressed it onto the spell, then threw it at Gile’s leg. The explosion shook the room.
For a second, all he could see was red inside his spell. Gile began to scream, collapsing down, staring at his leg.
The Mehmud Circle still lit up his skin, and Parker bent, grabbing Gile’s face between his hands.
“You are fine,” Parker said in that honey-sweet voice of his. He was convincing Gile to jump off a cliff. “You arefine.”
Nick was sweating, and the pounding on the window was like a drumbeat. He reached his hand up, drawing the spell off the door, and it burst open. Two CDC doctors followed behind Rios and Falk.
“Have them arrested!” Falk shouted, gesturing at a cop behind him. “They are going to prison! They are going to?—”
“Get him to the hospital.” Nick stepped back, gesturing to the green alchemy. “When you have a way to staunch the bleeding, let me know, and I’ll take the circle off.”
The doctors had a quick discussion, and then one of them grabbed a tourniquet from a pouch at her waistband. When it was tight, she nodded at Nick.
He brushed his fingers across the circle, drawing the magic back into himself, freeing the circle. It rolled across the floor, containing what was left of Gile’s foot and blood.
Rios was staring at both of them as the doctors removed Gile from the room on a gurney. “I think you two gentlemen had better come with us.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The interrogation wenton for hours. At some point, Nick’s union rep joined him, and Nick made sure that Robin Keating was earning her retainer by sitting in with Parker.
When it was done, Rios didn’t look pleased. “You’re on leave.”
Nick nodded, too tired and hungry to feel anything about the consequence of his actions. He risked looking over at Captain Tate, who was sitting next to Rios.
The captain looked wan: pale, with more wrinkles on his face than Nick was used to. Nick turned back to Rios. He swallowed but didn’t say anything. After hours of talking, there wasn’t anything else to say.
“Between us,” Rios said, slightly wryly, given the union rep and the other captain in the room, “I’m not sure what you did was wrong. It might have even been the right thing. But you struck out on your own, you did something dangerous that risked the life of a fellow officer, and you did it all without letting your superior officer make the call. There’s a reason we have a chain of command, and it’s not just because we like bossing people around. You shouldn’t have to make a call like that on your own.”
Nick cleared his throat. “I understand, sir.”
“I’m sure you do.” Rios shook his head. “Let’s wait for the chief to get back, and we’ll have to figure out with the DA if it evenwasa crime. For now, stay put. Don’t leave town. I’d tell you not to talk to Ferro, but you’re married, so…”
He stood, and everyone else took that as their cue. When Nick pushed himself up, the muscles in his legs jumped. He kept his back straight, eyes forward. Rios strode out. The union rep slapped his shoulder, squeezing it once before following.
Nick turned to Captain Tate because if there was one thing he wasn’t, it was a coward. He held himself stiffly, hands clasped behind his back, legs less than shoulder length apart, eyes fixed on Tate’s face.
Tate looked older than he did when he’d hired Nick. The gray at his temples had spread, so it peppered his entire head. Laugh lines in the corners of his eyes had become crow’s feet that never left him.
“Was it your only choice?” Tate asked.
“Yes,” Nick said.
Tate nodded, and his expression cleared. It wasn’t so much that he looked younger as that he looked more certain, as though the choices he’d made had value.
“That’s good enough for me,” he said.
Nick didn’t slouch, but he felt his spine almost curl. Tate might not understand fully, but he trusted Nick and Parker. He didn’t think they were sociopaths, like Falk did. Hebelievedthem.
