Chapter 8

It tookme forever to fall back asleep thanks to a myriad of thoughts. Fear of the dream flames returning. Wondering what my partner thought about me after witnessing my episode. Wondering what my partner thought about my naked body and the kiss we shared… I even imagined what might have happened if we'd kept kissing.

I woke the next day grumpy—and horny.

The latter caused the former, and I blamed Koda's actions the night before. First the man had stared at me, making me tingle in naughty places, and then he purposely didn't ogle me at all. Annoying because when his gaze devoured me like a man starving—eyeing me as if I were the yummiest thing ever—I'd never felt more desirable. When he ignored me, I'd been miffed, hence my demand he strip, which he obeyed. I'd honestly expected him to tell me to fuck off. But he didn't. He dropped his drawers and showed me an epic body, his abs nicely toned, his chest bare of hair, his arms defined, and his cock…

Damn.

Like seriously. Damn.

At that point, I'd expected him to pull a move. What naked guy wouldn't?

Koda apparently had more self-control than most. Most guys would have correctly read my kiss as an invitation. The spark he'd ignited had me ready to do more than taste his lips. But did the man sweep me off my feet to bed?

Nope. When I said, ‘Oops sorry,' he'd dressed and left without any attempt at seduction. I might have been more miffed if I'd not seen his difficulty in getting his pants closed. While I had my back to him, the reflection in the window showed his struggle. His erection refused to subside, and that longing look he shot in my direction? He wanted me; he just didn't act.

Why?

Did he have a girlfriend or someone special? The very thought made me see red.

It couldn't be about work. The CA allowed fraternization so long as it didn't affect our performance. Most times, dating or married couples were split up so as to avoid conflict of interest.

Could be shyness. Unlikely but, hey, some guys struggled making moves.

Or maybe he just didn't like me. My body, yes, but perhaps my personality turned him off. It wouldn't be the first time.

I hated not knowing. Hated being tingly and not in a place where I could do something about it. Yes, I could have used my fingers, but honestly, I'd gotten spoiled when it came to masturbation. I liked my vibrating dildo with its clit tickler if I couldn't have the real thing.

When I finally decided to roll my tired ass out of bed, I grimaced in the mirror at the bags under my eyes. Pretty girl. Not!

I dressed before I headed downstairs, only to make a face at breakfast. Cereal and powdered milk.

A grim-faced Koda didn't look impressed as he shoveled it into his mouth. "Morning," he stated.

"Thank you for not saying good, because that was the worst night of sleep," I complained. I almost told him he was to blame.

"There's coffee," he indicated. "There's extra powdered milk in the fridge and sugar cubes in the bowl by the coffee maker." The appliances in the home, while old, remained in excellent working condition, built in a time when longevity and quality mattered.

"I like my coffee strong." Just like my men, a comment I kept to myself. I poured myself a mug and sat in the seat across from Koda. "Where's Lenora lurking?"

"No idea. Haven't seen her since last night." He shoveled more cereal into his mouth. A mouth I'd kissed. A mouth that would look oh-so-good on certain parts of my body.

I must have stared overly long because he shifted in his seat and his cheeks took on a ruddy hue.

I took a sip of coffee before mumbling. "What's our plan today?"

"I'm thinking we hit the CA office to set our trap in motion."

"Weren't we supposed to wait until night?" I reminded.

"Change of plan. I say we go in broad daylight."

"Need some adulation from your fans?" I'd not forgotten his groupies the first day we met.

"Fuck no," he exclaimed. "I thought it might be revealing to see who takes an interest in what we're doing."

"In case there's a mole." His logic made sense. "I'm good with the change in plan. Either way, we were going to have to be careful when we leave to not be followed."

"Assuming anyone does."

The comment led to me blurting out, "You no longer think we're in danger." Something I'd been wondering myself. Had I been too hasty with my assumption? One dead clerk didn't mean a murder conspiracy.

"I think it would be good to know for sure. Add to that we are both trained agents. Taking down bad people is what we do."

"Agreed. When do we leave?" Because sitting around twiddling my thumbs didn't appeal.

"Now?"

"Thank fuck." I dropped the mug of shitty coffee. "Let's get some real food on the way in."

"I have no cash left."

"We'll put it on your card until I can grab mine, but let's wait until we're at least a mile out from here in case we decide to come back tonight."

Since Lenora remained out of sight, I left her a note. A basic one. Gone to work. Might return later. Thanks for your hospitality.

We left the banshee house, our pace steady. Only as we got a few blocks away—leaving behind the desolation of that abandoned area—did Koda clear his throat.

"I don't suppose we could swing by my hotel so I can change."

"What's wrong? Afraid the people in the office will think you're doing the morning-after walk of shame?" I teased.

"I'm more concerned with the fact that I look like, well..." He gestured from his shirt to his pants, which were still dirty and holey from the job Lenora had done on them. "But besides that, yeah. We left together and are now returning together in the same clothes."

"Good point." Office gossip could be worse than a beating by a misbehaving cryptid. My lips pinched. "In that case, we should hit my place too."

With that decided, he connected his phone and ordered us a ride. Thankfully, he didn't quibble about using his credit card. My purse remained in the library, along with my wallet and cell. In good news, I kept a hide-a-key for my house and a spare bank card and Visa because, in my line of work, losing my wallet happened more often than I liked. Ever been goo-ed by a mutant frog? Stuff burned through anything nonorganic instantly.

Given our route, we hit Koda's hotel first, a basic chain with a generic exterior and rooms to match. When Koda opened the door to his, I found myself surprised at the mess. He didn't seem like the type to toss his shit around.

Because he wasn't.

"Someone riffled through my stuff," he grimly noted as he glanced around.

"Is anything missing?"

"Hard to tell. I mean they might have stolen a pair of socks or something. I didn't exactly pay attention when I packed. At least I didn't leave anything of value in the room."

"Still sucks," I commiserated.

"It happens."

"What you should be asking is, were you specifically targeted or just a victim of location?"

His lips pursed. "A good question." He began to pile the strewn items on the bed, and I helped him, discovering he had a love for black briefs, black socks, and button-up shirts. Also jeans. Lots and lots of jeans.

When he hit the bathroom to change, I sat cross-legged on the floor with my hands upraised on my knees. My magic had partially regenerated overnight, and so I had the power to craft a spell.

Koda emerged from the bathroom just as I finished casting. A haze settled over his room, a faint overlay that showed the room in the past when his bed remained neatly made and his suitcase sat open on the little doohickey they put in rooms specially for them. In this vision, the door opened and someone entered. Someone who appeared as a blur.

"Can you fix the focus?" Koda murmured.

"I'm trying." I frowned as I pushed more juice into the spell, but while everything else from that rewind got clearer, the figure remained an indistinct smudge that dumped out the suitcase before searching in the drawers, yanking back sheets, and even checking under the mattress. The ransack didn't take long and the person left without taking anything.

I huffed out a breath as I released the rewind to exclaim, "Whoever did this warded themselves from being seen."

His grim expression showed he'd already come to that conclusion. "Making this is an irregular robbery."

"As opposed to a regular one?" My sarcastic reply.

"I meant that this wasn't done to steal from me but because the person sought something."

"Something most likely related to our case."

"Maybe. We can't assume everything has to do with the chimera," he cautioned.

"What else then?"

"I don't know. I'm just saying we have to keep our minds open to all possibilities."

"In that case, let's see if anyone else got ransacked," I suggested. We knocked on a few doors. Some had occupants that shook their heads when asked if they'd had their rooms tampered with. Other rooms didn't reply when we knocked so I magicked the locks for a peek inside. No one else appeared to have been touched.

"Think they rifled through my place too?" Suddenly I had to wonder if my privacy had been violated. If it had, it would kind of confirm it had to do with the chimera because why else hit us both?

"Guess we'll soon find out."

As it turned out, I had worse than a home invasion to deal with. We arrived to find my place condemned.

My house leaned at an angle that promised imminent collapse, most likely due to the massive sinkhole in my driveway. Caution tape surrounded my property with a do-not-trespass message.

A pair of cop cars with flashing lights but no sirens sat outside. The cops most likely had been given the job of ensuring no one crossed into the danger zone.

I headed for the cop closest to me to ask, "What's going on?"

"Please stay behind the line, ma'am," the young human dared to say.

"I'm not crossing your bloody line, but I'd like to know what happened to my house!" I pointed.

"Water pipe burst. Caused part of the ground to sink and shifted your foundation, rendering the structure unstable." A flat reply by the officer.

"I'm going to need to go inside and grab a few things."

"No."

"You can't be serious," I huffed. "I'm a CA agent."

"Sorry, ma'am. It's been deemed too dangerous. You'll want to call your insurance to start a claim."

I never asked for it, but I appreciated the arm Koda slid around my shoulders. A good thing he held me upright, as I lacked the strength to do so myself.

More than a decade of my life I'd spent in that house. I'd bought it on my own. Fixed it with the help of videos and home repair forums. It held all my worldly possessions, and I couldn't even go inside to get anything.

It hit me hard. The only good thing? My car remained at the CA office and not in the partially collapsed driveway. At least I'd have my vehicle to live in while I figured shit out. Who knew what my insurance would say. I had no idea if house collapse was covered.

"We should get going," I managed to say with a stiff upper lip. Don't get me wrong, it wanted to wobble like a Jell-O tower cake, but I refused to show how much this affected me.

"Agreed. We'll grab some takeout before heading back to Lenora's."

I glanced at him. "We're supposed to be going to the office."

"I somehow doubt you're in the mood to work."

"Someone fucked with my house." Before he could open his mouth, I added, "There's traces of magic seeping up from the ground. This was done intentionally, and that can only mean someone is upset with our investigation."

"Guess both our places getting hit is more than a coincidence at this point."

"Ya think?" I drawled. "Maybe you require more convincing."

"I'm just wondering what they thought we found that warranted this kind of measure."

"I don't know, but I think it's a sign we're getting close to getting a break in this case."

"Are we?"

"No idea, but I think at this point we need to pretend we do. Let's hit the CA office and flaunt. We'll tell anyone listening that we're getting close to catching the chimera. See if we can't draw the fucker who did this out in the open. Make them come after us."

"Chances are they won't attack if we're together."

"Agreed, which is why you and I are going to split up when we leave the office. One of us is sure to be followed. Once we figure out who has the tail, we'll activate a signal."

"What kind of signal?"

"The magical kind. Don't worry. I'll handle it. It's an easy spell to cast. Once the signal is activated, the other person will hightail it to act as backup."

"What if they're too far or too slow?"

"As you said before, we're both trained agents. We should be able to handle it."

"I'm not sure I like this plan," he stated as our ride share slid to a stop at the curb by the precinct.

"We can hash it out more at brunch because I don't know about you, but I need food."

We headed for the shop across the street from the CA. I used my partially-replenished magic to create a silence bubble around us so people wouldn't overhear, and then over pastries, hashbrowns, and sausages—the skinny breakfast kind and not his rather long and plump version—we discussed the plan. He would head for his hotel from the precinct before me. If he caught anyone following, he'd squeeze the ketchup packet I hexed to act as a beacon. I'd then go booking it to the rescue. If he wasn't followed, then he'd backtrack and pick up my trail as I took a circuitous route back to Lenora's. I had a spelled sugar packet tucked in my bra that would act as a tracker because, as Koda argued, "What if they toss you in a van and drive you somewhere I can't track?"

A valid point.

Once we finished breakfast, we split up. Him to head over to the precinct and get started, while I went shopping on the same block because I needed fresh clothes. He wasn't the only one who didn't want to be dragging an ass into the office wearing bedraggled garments. No need to get the rumor mill going, especially since there was nothing to tell—and not for lack of wanting.

When I entered the bull pen an hour later, no surprise, Koda had an entourage around his desk. I might have snuck off into a corner to do my own thing, but Kowalski signaled me from across the room.

I entered his office and shut the door, chirping. "What's up, boss?"

"I heard about your house. Are you okay?" His craggy features creased with concern.

"Yeah. I wasn't there when it happened." I grimaced. "They won't even let me inside to grab some stuff."

His lips pinched. "They don't want to be sued if something happens while you're in there, but I can probably pull a few strings and get some folks in there to pack up as much as they can."

"Really?" My expression brightened. "That'd be awesome."

"I just need to know where to deliver it. Do you have a place to stay?"

Almost I mentioned Lenora's, but to be honest, that seemed presumptuous. A few nights was one thing. Me moving in until I found a new place? That might be more than the banshee wanted.

"I think I'll have to rely on a storage place until I figure things out."

"If you need to, I have a spare room. Three actually. Always hoped I'd one day marry the woman of my dreams and have a family."

The offer to stay at his place surprised. "Thanks, but I'll probably just rent a motel room. The place off the highway offers a monthly option, and hey, it comes with weekly maid service."

"I'll understand if you need to take a leave of absence. Just bring me up to date on what you've discovered and then take all the time you need."

"No point in taking time off. What would I do? I'd rather keep working."

"Excellent." Kowalski's acceptance took me off-guard. "So you're making progress? I got your message about the fires last night and I sent the details along to the CA expert with a request for them to confirm chimera essence in the area."

"We have learned more. While we won't know until we hear back from your expert if all the fires are connected, my research shows that there does seem to be a path headed in our direction. However, I've discovered that they, including the four listed in the case file, are not in fact chimera-caused."

"Oh." His flat voice gave me no indication of his thoughts. "What makes you say that?"

"Color of the flames. Turns out chimera fires burn blue. But these, including the one that took out the cell phone store? Purple," I stated.

"Interesting. I didn't know that. About the color of the flames that is."

"Me either. Apparently, it's no longer common knowledge. Good thing I know someone who's a bit of a history buff."

"Who?"

Given the new boss might not be familiar with Lenora I didn't want to rat her out so I offered a vague, "Special informant whom I promised to keep under wraps." The boss didn't push the issue.

"How is it going with Koda? You are still working together, right?"

"Yeah. He's okay." Understatement. The man totally revved my engine, but that wasn't exactly the thing to tell your boss. "He's digging deepr into the purple fires."

"Why purple if she burns blue?"

"Because we think she's being followed. We're hoping that the locations that are being torched will give us a clue as to her intent."

"What does her intent matter? She's our escaped prisoner. A killer."

"Is she? Thus far, there don't seem to be any bodies attributed to her."

"She's dangerous," Kowalski insisted.

"If you say so. Makes me wonder if you got to see more of the redacted file than we did."

Rather than confirm, the boss replied, "Don't forget what I told you about their kind. They're tricksters, and they're responsible for unimaginable atrocities. Be on your guard. Don't engage. Call for backup."

"Assuming we find her. Thus far it's been a lot of dead ends. The one thing I did find out is she appears to have a bright blue eye that matches her hair and a dark one."

"Yeah, Whiteclaw told me you got a partial image from the clerk's memory. Can you bring it up for me now?"

"It's been too long, sorry." I could only recall someone else's memory for a short while without touching them again. "Shame the video got lost."

"We've got our best working to locate it," Kowalski declared. "Now, I guess I should let you get to work. Are you sticking around the office for a bit?"

"Most likely, unless something pops up. If we're lucky, my new partner will get a hit on some of those fires that we can check out."

I left my boss' office for the bull pen. Koda still held court with a handful of agents, mostly female I should add, which had me gnashing my teeth.

I headed up a floor to talk to Martha in requisitions about a new phone. I dreaded having to explain that, yes, I'd once again lost one. The reason for replacement box I had to fill in would be interesting. Gargoyles have it.

After that groveling, I headed to the rooftop, a favorite spot of mine when I needed to do some quiet thinking while still at the office. It annoyed me that our case had become so muddled. On the one hand, yes, the chimera was a fugitive who needed to be apprehended. On the other, something didn't sit right. If she was so dangerous, why hadn't we received any reports of her terrorizing towns and civilians? Why did the fires burn purple, not blue? And why did she appear to be heading in this direction?

I really wished I still had the redacted file, as I'd been wondering if I could use magic to decipher it. Alas, the file remained in the secret library. Would the gargoyles have gone back to sleep yet? Would they let me pop in to grab my satchel with my stuff? Only one way to find out. Problem being, go alone or drag along my new partner?

I headed down to the bullpen to see if I could steal Koda, only Chrissie, of the petite blonde perky tits and bright smile, sat on his desk, making sure she giggled often. I'd love to have hated her, only she really was a sweet woman, if a flirt.

Since he seemed busy, and I found myself annoyed, I snuck out through the CA basement. Foolish? Not in my mind since I never technically left the building, which, in turn, meant no one would know to follow. The basement had an entrance to the sewer, which, after two wrong turns, let me exit close to the church. Then it was a simple matter of making my way to the library. I made it without mishap, and I halted my steps in shock as I noticed the stairs to the book trove already down and the hatch entrance open.

Was someone inside? I'd never come across anyone before. Technically, anyone could have access, especially considering that even Lenora had known about it in her time.

I went up the steps cautiously, and as my head crested the threshold, I gasped.

The library had been destroyed. By fire and by force.

While the stone structure itself remained intact, the books and shelves had been reduced to ash and darkened bits. The gargoyle protectors smashed to pieces. Like Humpty, they couldn't be put back together again.

Through the rubble, I spotted a familiar shape. No surprise, my satchel hadn't survived, although, a poke of it showed the leather exterior had somewhat protected its insides. My leather wallet had survived, but as for the rest of it? Melted plastic was all that was left of my phone, and ashes for the files.

I felt a pang for losing them both. There wouldn't be a chance to try to get more information from the redacted chimera files… and there wouldn't be a chance for me to look further into my own history.

As I surveyed the destroyed room, I once more cast a rewind spell to see what happened.

It didn't surprise me to see the same blurry figure of before, arms raised, casting magic that blasted the gargoyles then ignited the dry books with purple flames. Was this the same person who'd gone through Koda's room? Much like his space, they didn't appear to take anything. Never even went a step past the hatch. Their sole purpose appeared to be to destroy.

Which could only mean they feared something in this room.

Just before they turned to leave, a haze blurred everything, not that it mattered at that point. I'd seen enough.

As the mirage faded, I got smacked by a sudden fear.

Koda's hotel had been ransacked, my home and the library destroyed. All places I'd visited in search of information. While the first two locations would be common knowledge, the last should have been a secret, yet somehow the blurry assailant knew to come here. What did that mean for Lenora's home?

Suddenly panicked. I fled the underground tunnels, taking only a second to fire off a text to Koda telling him where I was going. Since I lost phones so often, I always kept the cloud backup option on so my new phones would immediately have all the information from the old, including my contacts.

I had a taxi drop me off just outside the abandoned blocks of buildings surrounding Lenora's place.

I huffed as I walked, my pace rapid enough to give me shin splints. When her intact house came into sight, I sighed in relief but didn't slow my gait. I knocked and entered, shouting, "Lenora! Where are you? Lenora!"

"Goodness. What's with the bellowing?" She floated down the stairwell from the second floor.

My relief had me sagging. "There you are. I was worried about you."

"Whatever for?" she trilled.

"Because I might have dragged you into danger. We need to relocate you somewhere safer."

"Safer than here?" Lenora scoffed.

"It's no longer safe. I made a mistake in staying with you, as it appears my current investigation has drawn attention. The bad kind. An unknown assailant destroyed my home last night. Tore through Koda's room. Even torched the gargoyle library."

Her face took on a sly expression. "And you think they would dare to do the same here?"

"I don't know, but I didn't want to take a chance. Now I'm just hoping in my haste I didn't accidentally lead them here."

"Let them come. They'll see I'm not easily intimidated."

"Oh, Lenora," I sighed. The banshee in her craved the excitement of a battle, but the reality might not be what she hoped for.

My new cell phone rang, the SIM card transferring over my old number keeping me accessible to those with my contact. The call display said Whiteclaw, so I answered. "Hello, partner."

"Don't you hello me. Where the fuck are you?" his tight query.

"I texted you. I'm at Lenora's."

"Without me?" he hissed. "We had a plan."

"Something came up."

"That prevented you from calling? We're supposed to be a team."

"Sorry."

"I highly doubt that," his dry reply.

"If it helps, I'm fine, but the library isn't. The same person who rifled through your room set it on fire and destroyed the gargoyles."

He uttered a low whistle. "Well, shit. Guess that explains why you went haring off to Lenora's. I take it she's fine?"

"Yes."

"Good. Stay there and wait for me. I might have found something."

"Oh? What?"

"I'd rather not say over the phone. I'm heading over."

"Take my car. There's a spare keyset in a magnetic box in the rear passenger wheel well."

"On my way. Sit tight. Don't go anywhere and be careful."

Good advice, only it came a tad too late.

The moment I hung up, Lenora stiffened. Even her hair stopped undulating as she whispered, "Something evil this way comes."