“Because there’s money involved in this, a lot of money, and money corrupts. My father had his flaws, but he was adamant against either of those coming into our community. We have an entire force dedicated to keeping it off the streets. Now that he’s gone...”
My brain zoomed off, forming connections, as it so often did when learning new information. “You never mentioned that before.”
“Believe it or not, it’s not exactly something that comes up in polite conversation.”
“I get that, but what if someone in the trade is trying to hurt your family? Like a kingpin or something?”
Paul nodded. “I considered that. If anyone would have easy access to a bunch of assassins, it would be one of the people at the top.”
“So, this isn’tjustabout trying to find out about the bounty,” I said. “You’re hoping we pick up a thread that will either rule out or point us toward one of these mafiosos.”
“Yes, I am. Didn’t wanna jinx it by saying it out loud.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll cross all my fingers and my toes.” I directed my attention back toward the derelict building. All my giddiness and excitement about being on a real case and feeling like a real detective withered as the stakes once again reasserted themselves in my mind.
This isn’t a game. There are actual lives at stake. It’s time for me to be serious.
At least as serious as I could be. Which, given the adrenaline and chances for improv no doubt coming up, was not exactly as serious as the situation called for.
“Here goes nothing.”
Taking a deep breath, I walked to the rusted side door with four thick pieces of wood nailed across it. It screamedfuck off and go away, but I ignored that and marched right up to it.
I couldn’t say exactly when it happened, but one moment it was a rotted thing from a horror game, the next it just... wasn’t. I blinked, taking a step back, then another, before it reverted to what I saw originally.
Glamours are freaky.
“Uncanny, isn’t it?” Paul asked, glancing over his shoulder at me again.
“That’s one way to put it,” I said, shaking my head. I marched right up to the door and knocked.
Ow, my knuckles!Knuckles are joints formed by the metacarpal bone meeting the phalanges!
Why do I know so much about hands????
I didn’t have time to linger on that query, however, because a small panel of metal screeched to the side, revealing a pair of slit-pupiled eyes staring at us.
“Password?” came a gruff voice on the other side. If I had to guess, the guard had to be some sort of basilisk. Yet another magical entity I had never met before. Man, I really needed to get more involved in my own community.
“Oblitus sed vivit,”Paul answered, which was a relief for me since I had no fucking idea about any password. My mind automatically translated the phrase, like it often did whenever I heard a multilingual tag I recognized.
Forgotten but alive.
Huh. That certainly seemed to pack a whole lot of meaning. Yet another rabbit hole for me to fall into later, but for now, I managed to keep my mind on track.
For the most part.
“Fuck off,” was the only reply before the sentry slot slammed shut.
“Was my pronunciation off?”
The slot opened again. “That was yesterday’s password, fuckhead. What’stoday’spassword?”
I debated trying to slam into the door to get the drop on whoever was behind it, but that wasn’t a good idea. The door had enough weight to it; I wouldn’t want to fight with it if I was in the middle of a chase. That would have whoever was pursuing me catching up in an instant, no doubt.
“You can’t be serious, can you?” I said, pouring the charm on, like I got why a possible basilisk might be a bit aggro to us conventional-looking folks. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was there because he had chosen to be a part of the lawless, underground world we were about to enter, or if, as someone who clearly didn’t blend in very well with humans like oracles, shifters, and many witches could, he had no choice.
Not the thing to worry about right now, brain. Solve the murder and save the VanMarches, then you can get your activism on all you want.