5.

The Civil Wyrd Corps was a short enough drive. I was happy to see sunshine again; to get the leering, pale, maggoty face of Gurg DeFoe out of my mind. I would be happy never ever seeing him or going to the zoo ever again.

"I don't know how you guys did it," I said.

"You have to do what you have to do sometimes," Eddie said.

"He's not so bad," Nagi said. "A pleasant enough individual."

"You fed him parts of yourself and a murder victim," I said.

"At least he's honest about what he requires of you," Nagi said. "Many are the friends who would state they want not from you yet dig their way in and steal as much as they can. Someone open about their voraciousness is in its own way a comfort."

"And you know. We do drink blood," Eddie said.

"That's different," I said.

"It's only different because in your eyes we're fuckable," Eddie said. There was a bitterness to his voice. I opened my mouth to respond, but before I had time to even think of anything, Yara's voice from the front seat floated back.

"We're here."

It could have been an office building. I mean, it was an office building, at least in appearance. A huge billboard outside said CWC Holdings, Inc. A list of different offices was underneath, on a plaque.

"This is crazy," I said.

"Were you expecting a hidden castle or something?" Eddie asked.

"No, but I wasn't expecting—what, an osteoarthritis specialty clinic? Oh God, this list of offices is so boring."

"That's part of the glamor on it," Eddie said. "How many times have you been in a medical building or a suite of offices in a city and seen a ton of listings for people whose services you'll never use in a thousand years? You don't even know anybody who would use them. Reading through them is pointless because you're there for one building or the UPS store that happened to set up shop. Total witch space."

"I don't believe that for a second," I said.

"Look at that one," Nagi said.

"Corn removal surgeon?" I asked. "Oh God, make it stop!"

"The witches' first line of defense. Human inability to pay attention to things that don't directly concern them."

"But what if… I don't know. What if a human gets past that?"

"They have other defensive protocols," Nagi said. "Have you wondered why there are so many Geese in the city, and why they're so angry?"

"You're kidding me," I said.

"Am I?" Nagi asked, flipping his head.

"Come on," Eddie said. "I'm sick of watching you two flirt with one another."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I followed along quietly.

There was a plump, younger witch, maybe my age manning the front desk. Her face looked familiar. I wasn't sure where from at first, but then I remembered jumping into clean air—seeing her dart across the cityscape on a goose.

"Clemenza!" I said. "No way!!!"

She looked up from what she was doing and turned pale. Then shook her head and rapidly blinked at me.

"Oh. My. God."

"I know," I said. "I'm so happy to see you up and around."

"I was for sure you were gonna die," she said. She came around from behind the counter and gave me a huge hug that nearly squeezed the life out of me. "Glad that didn't happen."

"You two know one another?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah. She saved my bean-can when I jumped out of Brother Al's arms. During the whole Coffee Zombie thing," I said.

"It was touch and go there for a minute," Clemenza said. "Let me guess. Human reporter. Two vampires. Don't tell me… you're here because something bad happened."

"Bingo," Eddie said.

"We're investigating a possible murder," Nagi said. "We have reason to believe a human victim, between 60 and 65 years of age took an illicit serum intended to produce euphoria. It's likely there was a problem with improper storage which caused rapid disintegration of his flesh and subsequent death."

"Oh," Clemenza said. Her face squeezed up. "Shit."

"Yeah," Eddie said. "You guys keep your requisitions under tight control, right?"

"Absolutely," Clemenza said.

"Do you mind terribly if we take a look at your activity log?" Nagi asked.

"Not at all," Clemenza said. "It would help me help you more if I knew what you were looking for specifically."

"Something prone to a clostridium infection," Nagi said.

"Mmmm," she said. "I have a few ideas, but I'll have to let you talk with our Chief of medical personnel. Their department is usually in charge of serums, tinctures, and other chemical compounds. Come on. This way."

We walked down long hallways leading to corridors that spiraled here and there out of sight and eventually made our way into what looked like a lab. An older woman was there, with her hair in a tight bun, wearing a long white robe. She was bent double, analyzing some equipment and materials on a rack at eye level, carefully writing down measurements.

"Dr. Kaz," Clemenza said. "I'm so sorry to interrupt you. We have some visitors."

Dr. Kaz stood up from her work, sat her notepad down, and regarded us.

"How can I help you three?" she asked. She seemed halfway between annoyed at us and grateful for an interruption. I knew the feeling well.

I spoke first: "We're investigating a potential serum laced with an ethereal accelerant and a clostridium pathogen that's killed a human."

Her face instantly hardened, the wrinkle lines and crow's feet tugging at the edges.

"Well, I hope you don't think it's anything from our stores," Dr. Kaz said. "We only work on physical and mental well-being serums here. We're a backup arm for the CWC, and mostly make medical supplies. I'm afraid what you're looking for wouldn't be here."

"But didn't we have that break-in last week?" Clemenza asked.

Dr. Kaz's face froze.

"Well," she said. "That did happen, but the odds of that being related are astronomically low. We don't use clostridium pathogen in any of our serums."

"As I understand it," I said, having Googled this on the way here, "Clostridium could be an accidental by-product of an improper storage situation. It happens to develop in oxygenless environments, being anaerobic."

"It's feasible that whatever was stolen could be linked," Nagi said. "We're not here to point blame. Just trying to find the facts. If we can move on this quickly enough, we can prevent any potential future deaths."

"I'll let you look at the log, but I can tell you right now, the only thing that was stolen was a Dragon's Eye."

"Are dragons a thing?" I asked.

Dr. Kaz looked at me like I was an idiot.

"It's not an ingredient," she said. "It's a dimensional dilation device. It's called a Dragon's Eye because of its shape."

"That sounds completely unrelated to me," Eddie said.

"I have to say, it doesn't sound like it turns up any new avenues," Nagi said.

"What do you mean by dimensional dilation?" I asked.

"Dragon Eyes can pierce through the veil between planes," Dr. Kaz said. "We have one on hand because it's a useful tool to grab ingredients. Some of our trickier concoctions don't exactly grow on Earth."

"Where do they grow?" I asked.

"Topside, among other places," she said, her voice quiet.

Nagi and Eddie crossed themselves, almost immediately.

"What?" I asked.

"Topside is not a pleasant place," Nagi said.

"It's undead hell," Eddie said. "Basically."

"We tend to disagree on that point," Dr. Kaz said. "It's not exactly the most friendly of places for a person to go—especially someone filled with Shadow Matter as a component of their ethereal makeup—but it has its benefits."

"Theologically, however, it is the exact opposite of a pleasure cruise," Nagi said.

"Well. That just depends on who—or what—you worship."

"Wouldn't it be a possibility that whoever stole the Dragon Eye was intent on making illegal and restricted serums?" Clemenza asked.

Dr. Kaz looked scandalized.

"I don't know who would," she said. "That sounds egregious, if I'm being honest. The CWC pays its employees well, and most Witches that would know about such an item are gainfully employed in other careers."

"What if it was someone from the Imperium?" Clemenza asked.

"Sister Clemenza. I admire your deductory facilities, but you are directly contradicting your superior," Dr. Kaz said. "This is not a Civil Wyrd Corps issue, other than a simple case of stolen property, and we have neither the time nor resources to chase after ghost stories."

"I've heard of The Imperium," Eddie said. "You're saying it exists?"

"Baseless rumors," Dr. Kaz said. "Conspiratorial nonsense, and ancient myths that come from people with more fancy and time on their hands than others. We're in the modern world now—this is a new future we're in, an entirely new time and place, and the Imperium is a relic of ancient history better forgotten about."

"I'm lost," I said.

"As you should be," Dr. Kaz said. "There's naught to talk about with the Imperium. Now. I have some important decoctions to decoct. So I would please ask that the three of you leave, immediately."

"I'll walk you out," Clemenza said.

"See that you don't tarry," Dr. Kaz said.

We hit the front doors, and Clemenza waved a hand. A boom of noise split the air, and the air felt like static. I looked over at Eddie and Nagi. They were both frozen.

”This was the only way to talk,” Clemenza said. ”Look, you need to know this. I don”t know how any of this is related, or if it is, but Dr. Kaz was being really quiet about stuff, and I don”t like it. She”s scared. She”s one of the most pigheaded women I know. She”s never been frightened of a ghost story, so I don”t see why that would start now.”

”How long will this time thing last?” I asked.

”We have about fifteen minutes, tops, before the structure of the spell collapses,” she said. ”Then time resumes as normal.”

”Tell me about the Imperium.”

”I don”t know much, other than what we get as a history course,” Clemenza said. ”Essentially, though. The Imperium is an ancient organization. It”s how Witches and Warlocks and other magic-users retained power in the old days. They created an organization. It started as a guild and grew and grew until it resembled a militaristic structure.”

”I didn”t read about any of that in my history books,” I said.

”Stonehenge,” she said. ”All those old ”Druid sites.” Stories from Japan about the continent known as Mu. Stories from conspiracy theorists, who talk about Atlantis as the lost continent. Some magical historians even say The Imperium had some kind of magical accident, which could have covered Antartica in ice…”

”So they were… what, a country club? A research league?”

”They started as a Guild. After a long enough time they gathered enough power and started absorbing peoples from all states and walks of life. Now you have to understand, Stacey, that history is written from the perspective of those who won. In this case, it was the Rational age that won. Magic was studied with scientific advancement as a lens and emerged into completely new studies. Our scientists and physicians studied the composite nature of magic and stripped away the superstition and the other junk. History books are written to cater to a Rational age of witches and warlocks. They all call the Imperium a theocratic dictatorship. The theory goes that the rulers of the Imperium worshipped a Goddess and demanded their slave states worship her as well. As they were of an older, more pagan cloth, it was usually seen as a Moon Goddess…”

I blinked, and for once could think of nothing to say.

”What are you getting at?” I finally asked.

”There are rumors,” she said. ”Rumors that The Imperium has survived in the shadows. A secret organization dedicated to reviving the old glorious kingdom of magic. In order to do so, they need to find an Avatar of the Moon Goddess. That”s the one known as the Moon Kissed.”

”No,” I said, almost immediately.

”I don”t believe it either,” Clemenza said. ”Don”t take this the wrong way but you”re the last person I would call an avatar of any Moon Goddess. But I do believe that there”s a lot of people calling that birthmark on you the Moon-Kiss, and I do believe there are people who believe in the ideals behind The Imperium. Whether that will ever add up to anything… who knows. But I think you should be aware of it.”

”You think this has any relation to the drug, or the Dragon”s Eye?”

”I don”t know,” Clemenza said. ”But I”ve never seen Dr. Kaz that spooked before. What I do know is that if someone were to try reviving the Imperium… they would need something like the Dragon Eye so they could gather the resources needed to boost their power. They won”t be after a popular vote. They”ll be after brute strength.”

”Jesus,” I said.

”Moon Goddess,” Clemenza said. ”Good luck with things.”

She clapped again, and I could feel the spell fall around us, and I matched strides with Nagi and Eddie again as we left the building.

”Guess we”re back to square one again,” Eddie said.

”We”ve made excellent progress,” Nagi said. ”At least we know where and what to look for.”

I thought about telling them what I knew; but also knew that maybe it would be better not to derail anything until I had more information.

I would come to regret this later.