Chapter 8

Chapter8

Daphne suddenly foundherself squinting against a bright light and pulled a dagger. As she lifted it, Baptiste murmured, “Put that thing away before you get us both in trouble.”

“Hands up. Don’t make any sudden moves,” someone bellowed, their voice amplified by magic.

An obedient dog, Baptiste laced his hands behind his head whereas Daphne cocked hers, and as the spotlight dimmed, she eyed the two people making the demands. A corpulent male in a wrinkled jacket and matching pants, and a female with vividly pink hair, holding up a glowing hand. A witch, but not of the earth variety.

“I said hands up where I can see them,” the pink lady shouted.

“It’s the Cryptid Authority,” explained Baptiste. “Someone must have called them about the disturbance.”

In that case… “We’ve already handled the problem,” Daphne informed the agent.

“Hands up!” shouted the male.

“Why?” She honestly didn’t understand the demand.

“Ma’am, it is an offense under the Cryptid Enforcement Act to refuse to obey an order,” the chunky fellow stated, hitching up his pants by the loops.

“Do as they say,” Baptiste muttered.

With a roll of her eyes, Daphne complied, but she reserved the right to get annoyed about it.

The pink lady nudged her partner. “Disarm them.”

“Why me?” he grumbled.

“Because I’m the one holding the bubble around them to prevent spells,” she sassed. “So move your ass before I drop the shield and see what happens.”

Daphne’s opinion of the woman lifted.

The male approached Baptiste first and grimaced. “Something reeks.”

“That would be the oversized arthropod we had to kill,” Baptiste explained.

“Say again?” asked the male.

Baptiste simplified for him. “Giant cockroach.”

“It’s dead,” Daphne added. “You’re welcome.”

The woman pursed her lips. “And you are who exactly?”

Before they could reply, the corpulent fellow held up Baptiste’s wallet with all his plastic cards. “Says here he’s a special agent with that new SMU division over in Nexus.”

The statement arched the woman’s brow. “You’re out of your jurisdiction.”

“I’m not here on SMU business. The attack was unexpected,” Baptiste said with a shrug.

The woman’s gaze switched to Daphne. “And who’s your friend?”

Daphne could speak for herself. “I’m Daphne, paladin to Mother Earth, currently on a quest at her bidding.”

“Mother Earth doesn’t have paladins,” Pink Lady retorted.

“You’re looking at one.” As Daphne spoke, the corpulent fellow went to touch the hilt of her dagger and got his hand slapped. “No,” she added in case it wasn’t clear.

“She hit me!” The man sounded surprised.

“I could do worse if you’d like.” Daphne was being rather restrained.

“Listen, Psycho,” Baptiste hissed. “Now is not the time to live up to your nickname. These two are just doing their jobs.”

“They are interfering in my goddess’s business. Surely there’s a law against that,” Daphne retorted.

The fat fellow blustered. “I don’t know who you are, but if you think I’m just going to take you at your word that you’re working for Mother Earth—”

The ground suddenly rippled underfoot and a crack appeared in the pavement by Pink Lady. From that crevice, a sapling shot up and grew, sprouting branches and leaves, even blossoms that flowered then ripened into bright red apples.

It took about a minute but proved evidence enough for the male partner to huff, “Yeah, that’s good enough for me. I ain’t pissing off that goddess. You deal with them while I check out the roach situation.” He chose to leave them to enter the motel room, but Pink Lady remained staring.

Despite the evidence they spoke truly, Pink Lady didn’t seem impressed. “What exactly is this quest you’re on?”

No point in lying so Daphne told her. “To handle a witch who is deliberately poisoning the Earth.”

Pink Lady’s brows rose. “Wait, are you talking about the sorceress over in Palusville? The one who’s turned the town into a toxic swamp?”

“You know of her?”

The female agent nodded. “The CA have declared the area a no-go zone because of the amount of people we’ve sent that went missing.”

“CA agents?” Baptiste interjected.

“Yes, but also a few Biological Cryptid Assessors, and a Cryptid Environmentalist team. Whoever this witch is, she’s not playing nice and she’s powerful. What makes you think you’re equipped to take her out?”

“I am the Mother’s champion. It is what I do.” A modest reply.

The corpulent male exploded from the inn’s room and spewed on the sidewalk.

“Really, Ralph?” Pink Lady shook her head and couldn’t hide her disgust.

Ralph wheezed. “You didn’t see, Marissa. The bug. It’s huge. And gross. And smelly.”

“You know the drill. Call a clean-up crew and secure the scene.”

“Why me?” whined Ralph.

“Because I’m going to escort these two people to a secure location for questioning.”

“You can’t leave me here without a ride.” Ralph kept complaining.

Daphne couldn’t stop herself from saying, “You could use a walk. More than one. A good fasting wouldn’t hurt either.”

Baptiste turned aside and coughed. Maybe he’d caught what Clive had?

“Wait, did you just imply I’m fat?” Ralph huffed with indignation.

“Have you looked in a mirror?” Daphne suggested.

“Why you—"

Marissa interrupted. “She’s got a point. We both know you’re about to fail your physical.”

“I’m big-boned.”

Baptiste coughed again. Perhaps he should see a healer.

“I’m not discussing this right now. I’m leaving you the sedan to get back to the precinct.” Marissa glanced at Baptiste. “I’m going to assume you guys have a car?”

“Truck,” Baptiste stated, pointing to it.

“Perfect. You’ll drive. Your paladin friend can sit in the back.”

Daphne opened her mouth to protest but Baptiste gave her a light shake of his head.

“Why can’t I take them in for questioning?” Ralph pouted and Daphne really wanted to do something about his attitude.

Apparently so did Marissa because she snapped, “Have you forgotten who has seniority?”

“No,” he moped.

“Good. Then secure the fucking scene.”

“What if there’s another bug?” He glanced fearfully over his shoulder.

“Step on it,” she barked as she stalked for the truck.

“I like her,” Daphne murmured as they followed the woman.

“You would,” grumbled Baptiste.

Her opinion improved even more when Marissa said, “My place is only a few blocks away. You guys can shower and change while I make breakfast. Then we can chat about the witch situation.”

“I thought you were taking us in for questioning?” Baptiste slid into the driver’s seat.

Marissa replied only after they’d all got in and shut the doors. “No. Because if I do, you might not be allowed to leave.”

“We’ve done nothing wrong, though,” Baptiste stated.

“Not yet. I’ll explain everything when we get to my place.”

Daphne leaned forward from the backseat. “The Earth Mother gives her thanks and says you can be trusted.”

The comment elicited a low chuckle from Marissa. “Me, yes, but you got lucky. There’s something rotten going on with the CA lately.”

“What makes you say that?” asked Baptiste as he pulled out onto the main road.

“Because rather than doing our job to prevent incidents, we’re being told to back off.”

“Why?”

Marissa waited a moment before saying, “If I were to guess? Someone wants to start a war between humans and cryptids.”

To which Mother Earth whispered, It’s already begun.