Epilogue Please don’t get glitter in our coffee.
Wednesday, May 16, 2057
Lower North Lakes, Precinct 153
Cauldron City, Nebraska.
True to Dr. Erik’s prediction, I’d lasted twenty-eight minutes before conking out. Fortunately for my pride, I’d made it home and to my couch. I had a vague recollection of sitting down to take a load off with Pumpkin after dealing with a nerve-wracking flight on Zenna. The Black Dragon of New York had volunteered to carry Miranda, which had spared my sanity.
The dragons behaved, and I’d survived the journey without sprouting a gray hair.
Spending Monday and Tuesday at home with Miranda, Marrinni, the flock of hummingbirds, Pumpkin, and Cole did me a world of good. After talking with Red, Zenna, and the Black Dragon of New York, they found a new diamond to move him to, one better suited for being set into a necklace Cole’s keeper could wear.
Cole basked in the argument over who would have custody of him, likely the first time in his life he’d been truly wanted.
Red won custody for the first week, the Black Dragon of New York would get him the following week, and Zenna and her family would have him after. Miranda and I would take turns chaperoning him before Cole made the rounds with interested cops before returning to Red to repeat the cycle.
Once Tony recovered, a process that would take several months, I expected he’d be given extended custody of his friend. The young brown dragon had needed a liver transplant, but the black unicorns had managed to heal the rest of his organs.
Cole and Tony both needed the chance to experience the world under happier circumstances—and I expected both would struggle with separation after sharing the same body for so long.
Upon my return to the station, with Marrinni, Pumpkin, and Miranda in tow, I dealt with a bombardment of glitter and string cheese, and I laughed at it all, fending off the assault to the best of my abilities. “I can’t even say I don’t deserve this. Which dispatch earned me the cheese?”
Wynonna huffed at me, cleaned off enough of my cheek she could give me a kiss, and said, “All of them. You have tested our nerves, Detective Lovell! And what’s this about us being allowed to call you Valor?”
“I am being trained to accept and tolerate my name. So far, I haven’t broken out into hives, but it’s a concern.” I grinned at Miranda, who kept her distance and made warding gestures against the glitter and cheese. “You’ll probably get a lunch date for being the heroine. I’ll just get a hard time.”
“You are right. We’re stealing her for lunch, and you might get her back. Maybe.” Wynonna grinned at me. “We got you some very fancy beans for you to roast today. The tech team, Jace, and Dowdren are in your office working at populating your board with the new information we have so you can settle in for some work this afternoon, assuming you finish playing with your very fancy beans.”
“What sort of beans are very fancy beans?”
“These ones have been minimally processed after facing digestion by elephants, and not of the shifter variety. Hardy’s grandpa talked to the company that roasts them and got you two hundred pounds of unroasted beans for you to play with as a reward for a job well done. They arrived this morning. After you have finished roasting your precious new beans, Jace is going to give you a riding lesson, and he promised he won’t buck you off. It’s part of his physical to monitor his healing. Since you’re afraid of heights, riding a unicorn is now therapy. Once you graduate from Jace, Alicia has volunteered to be your dragon for lessons. She is slow, graceful, and smooth, and she does not like scaring her riders. Apparently, baby red dragons with a fear of heights have to be made comfortable with the idea of flight.”
“I’m far better than those other dragons. I’m soft.”
“He also purrs,” Paul announced, coming up behind me and giving me a companionable slap on the back. “How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good.” I checked on the hummingbird and puppy to discover the pair was asleep at Miranda’s feet. “Marrinni braved coming in today. His precious little Raspberry is doing well, and my parents volunteered to keep an eye on the flock. He’s been busy the past few days, and Pumpkin is, well, a puppy. She is either barreling around at full speed or sleeping off the excitement. Between the two of them, I’ve gotten plenty of exercise this morning.”
Miranda giggled. “Pumpkin kept trying to lead Valor to the couch so she could get snuggles. Marrinni wanted to show Valor how big his babies are getting. He ended up going back and forth trying to keep everyone happy while I learned how to make coffee. I don’t have his touch with his coffee machines, but I earned praise this morning for doing a good job.”
“Any time good coffee is presented to me on the way to work, I’m happy,” I informed her. “I’m ready to work, though. But after I play with the coffee roaster. I need some quality time with the coffee roaster. How am I distributing my new beans, Wynonna?”
“They are yours to do with as you please. You can roast some of the new beans we have for the station if you’d like. I’m pretty sure you could spend all day roasting beans, honestly.” Wynonna eyed me. “Please don’t get glitter in our coffee.”
I laughed at the thought of playing with an industrial coffee roaster all day while at work. “I’ll purge the glitter before working with the roaster, I promise. Any news on the wire I should know about?”
“In good news, we think Mercy is going to be quiet for a while. Our new friend’s ops have done a run at most of the underground network. The bounties for Miranda have been revoked, except for the live bounty, which has some new and ridiculous caveats added. Miranda, please rein your mother in. Unless you want to leash Valor and keep him, in which case, don’t bother.”
Miranda squeaked. “What did she do now?”
“The current live bounty conditions require you along with a certain detective, bonus points if Paul is caught up in the mess, and you two need to be handcuffed together. Naked and locked in the same room is her preference at current.”
I clamped my lips together so I wouldn’t laugh, snorted, and coughed trying to recover.
Miranda bowed her head. “That woman is a menace.”
“But she’s a lovable menace. Well? Are you going to keep your handsome detective? I’m certain I can get my hands on a pair of cuffs.”
As resisting would lead to ruthless teasing, I pulled out my handcuffs and held them out. “I know better than to fight this. I do ask that there be no literal leashes involved. If she wants to practice using the cuffs on someone, and she happens to have an accident with the one, I’m not going to fight. I mean, we’re currently living together, and nobody has expressed an interest in murder yet.”
Miranda snatched the cuffs, glared at Wynonna, then focused on the metal rings. “How do I keep the detective without having to deal with my mother?”
“Ask,” I suggested. “I’m going to leave you ladies to this discussion and visit the roaster with Paul, who can help me wrangle the threatening bags of beans. If Captain Farthan asks, I’m keeping the elephant from trumpeting his sadness for the station to hear. That’s what’s going to happen if he doesn’t get a hit of decent coffee soon. ”
“He’s not wrong,” Paul agreed. “Just invoke the fraternization rules, visit with Dr. Erik when he comes by later to check on Valor, and utilize the loopholes so you’re paid the bounty value for turning yourself in. That way, you have the money for your savings account, and if you two want a bigger place, you can start working towards one. The fraternization rules exist for a reason. Please use them. If Valor minded, he would have said something by now. He’s good about that. If you do something that bothers him, he will let you know about it. Of course, he has more patience than any saint, but when his patience does wear thin, you’ll know about it. Please invoke the fraternization rules. Please.”
I laughed, shook my head, and headed off in the direction of the shed I’d suggested for the roaster. “Please bring her back after lunch, Wynonna. I do not want to have to go wandering the station for my cadet, and I want to start making progress on work in the afternoon.” I reclaimed my cuffs from Miranda. “Try not to drive my cadet completely crazy, Queen of the Radios. She’s shy. In good news for everyone involved, I’m patient. But if you could review the fraternization rules with her, I’d appreciate it. The women rule this roost, and the men are doomed should the women not choose the route of mercy.”
“You’re such a sweet talker. Just don’t forget to clean up the glitter and the cheese before you play with your coffee roaster.”
While I didn’t show off often, when it came to craft herpes and neon orange cheese prone to staining anything it came into contact with, only excessive force would do. I made use of the diamond in my pocket, whistled, and eradicated every speck with extreme prejudice. A second whistle removed the traces of smoke. “Do send me the details on that live bounty, though. I don’t have plans for this evening, and I do have a pair of cuffs and a willingness to use them.”
“You got it, Valor.” Wynonna laughed while Miranda spluttered. The dispatcher linked her arm with the cadet and hauled her off. Halfway across the lobby, she stopped and turned to face me. “Anything else?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
First, I would roast some coffee, and then I would begin the real work of bringing Mercy crashing down, hunting for the imprisoned Cole and Brenda, and ridding the world of the madman who dared to claim he was a doctor.