“So, we’re looking for an ice fae killing banshees and phantoms and using a kelpie’s lake as a dumping ground,” I muttered. “Fun.”
“I don’t know if ‘fun’ is the word I’d use.” Baron groaned.
Jesper rolled his eyes in amusement.
Morgan and Koa stayed close to the shore, making sure they were here in case anything went wrong.
Unfortunately, they were the ones who had to do the autopsy once the magical specialists and intelligence analysts had finished their investigations.
“Kyle, Tobias,” Jesper called, noticing my brother and the other enforcer inspecting a spot on the shore. “What did you find?”
Kyle ran a hand over his buzzed black hair and lifted his head. “Blood,” he stated.
Tibby huffed, crossing his arms. “The blood is fae.” He angled his head toward the treeline. “Trail starts there, and then it just stops.”
“I almost think the blood has been left on purpose,” Kyle added.
“Why do that?” Baron asked, frowning.
“To provoke us,” I muttered, finally joining Jesper at the water’s edge. “Especially since we can’t find a motive or lead.”
“Investigations rarely go anywhere fast,” he told me. “We gather and build evidence before we can act.”
I scowled. “I hate waiting.”
Amusement trickled down the bond. “I know.”
“There’s been other squads,” Baron muttered. “None found the killer.”
“We won’t stop until we do,” Jesper promised. “No matter how long it takes.”
Corin and Slater swore at the surrounding CCTV feed.
“It’s looped,” Slater announced finally, disgust clear in his voice. “Someone rewound the last hour before each death and pasted a previous day’s clean lake. Timestamps are doctored. Every time I try to patch through, I get fae interference, so even Snakey can’t pull it.”
“So whoever’s doing this is good at both magic and tech,” Corin said. “Great.”
The night dragged on.
We were tired, cold, and no closer to finding the killer when everything went to shit.
Voices carried on the night air from the trail that led down to the lake. Flashlights flared between the trees, bright beams showing us at least twenty beings.
Finally, the group poured out of the treeline and onto the shore. They were humans and carried guns, and they were decked out in tactical gear.
Jesper stepped forward, hands spread. “This is an active investigation. You need to leave the area.Now.”
“We’re not going anywhere!” a man near the front yelled. “Our friend died here, and the local water horse did it!”
Baron chuckled at that. “To be fair, Ididkill a human yesterday. But that was unrelated to the supernatural murders.”
Jesper shot him a sharp look, and he sank lower into the lake.
“These people are not from the Human Resistance Network, are they?” Arban asked quietly from behind us. “No insignia or anything.”
Eleanor stood beside her, eyes scanning the crowd. “Perhaps not. We should be careful not to kill until we can verify.”
Jesper nodded once. “Non-lethal force. Subdue, don’t kill. We only get to break that rule for the confirmed Human Resistance Network humans.”
