Authors: Nicholas Taylor
Legon Restoration (45 page)
Inside, the Sergeant was talking to a girl with brown hair and thin features. Sean came up next to someone he didn’t know. “Is that the witch?” he asked.
The man’s face reddened. “Yeah that’s it,” the man said softly.
Sean looked at the woman; she glanced out into the office from behind glasses. She looked uncomfortable.
* * * * *
Heidi Decor looked out of the office window at the gathered police officers outside in the neat rows of desks. None looked happy to see a Mage in the office. She turned back to Sergeant Montoya. He was a little short for a man, maybe 5’7” and in his early fifties, his hair short black bristles. His dark eyes looked up from his paperwork. She focused more Vis into her glasses, reading his emotions. Fear, anger, curiosity and even awe were visible. Fear and anger were the strongest emotions. Part of her figured he wanted to kick her out. She didn’t blame him, normal humans had only known about Mages for a few years. Most people still hung onto their silly superstitions, and after all, her kind had killed many people in the recent years. No, she didn’t blame him or any of them for not wanting her around.
The Sergeant looked out his window. “No one wants you here,” he said as a matter of fact.
She looked out again using Vis this time, true no one wanted her there. She saw murder in the eyes of one man and wondered if she shouldn’t have taken Gabriel up on his offer to come with her to the meeting.
“You requested a Pactum, not us,” she pointed out, not letting her own fear color her tone. She could affect the Sergeant’s emotions, she could affect everyone’s but that was against the Pactum.
“Pactum?” he asked.
“Yes, the Pactum or contract, if you will; it’s our agreement. You requested this meeting, didn’t you?” she asked.
“The mayor thinks whenever magic is involved in a crime we should contract wizards and the likes,” he hedged.
“Mages, we are called Mages and it’s not magic; it’s called Vis. Your mayor is right, Werewolves are some of the most dangerous Mutari. But be that as it may Sergeant, you contacted the North American Pactum Guild and requested this meeting. If you do not want to contract with us, you are not obligated to do so.”
He waved his hand. “Like I said I don’t have a choice, now in our Pactum here it says that we owe you half upfront in gold or silver minted bullion. Do you want that now?” he asked.
She frowned. “Don’t you want to talk the terms of the Pactum?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Nope, now do you have something to take this with?” he said dumping a handful of coins on his desk.
Heidi placed the coins in a velvet pouch and then looked out at the people in the office again. Cops or not, some of them would like to hurt her, and Mage or not she was no Paladin; she couldn’t take them. No, she wasn’t going to add any more incentive for them to hurt her.
“My people will take it tomorrow,” she said.
“People? As in more than one?” he asked, not looking happy.
“Yes people, as in two of them. Your Pactum is with Gabriel, and his sister Faith will be assisting him.” She stood. “Now, I think I should be on my way, thank you for your time Sergeant.”
He walked her to his door and pointed the way back to the elevators. She made her way across the office, fighting the urge to panic as she received cold glances. A portly man standing next to a rather well-groomed one stepped in her path just a bit. She stopped. His emotions were boiling.
Before the man could speak, a woman with long brown hair came forward. “My name is Detective Kaur, let me show you out,” she said, leading Heidi safely through the office.
* * * * *
Alison Kaur walked the Mage out of the office before turning back to find Sean. She found him standing with the man who had blocked the Mage.
“What was that?” she demanded.
“What?” the officer asked.
“Are you trying to get us a bad mark with the Pactum Guild?!” a different voice said.
Alison turned to look at Steven Lee, the head of the crime lab.
He went on, “What was your plan? Take a swing at a Mage? What would that do?”
“I wasn’t gonna do nothin’, besides who cares if we get a bad mark with this guild of theirs?” the man said puffing up.
“I do!” Sergeant Montoya’s voice rang. “Don’t be stupid here, people, Denver is one of three cities contracting with Mages on a regular basis. The Mayor’s office has made it clear we aren’t to screw this up! Now Hughes and Kaur get in here,” he said closing the subject.
Alison walked into the Sergeant’s office with Sean in tow.
“You’re going to have two Mages with you tomorrow and until you solve this case,” the Sergeant said.
“Sir…” Sean started.
“I don’t want to hear it Hughes, we don’t have a choice. I don’t like it either. Any questions?” he asked.
“What is their role?” Alison asked.
“They are here to protect you from other Vis users only; they won’t assist or get in your way. You don’t even have to talk to them if you don’t want to, got it?”
“We are getting babysitters?” Sean asked.
The Sergeant changed tack, sitting down and motioning for them to do the same before he spoke. “Look…I’ve talked to other departments with experience with Werewolves…and you two are my best people. This year Denver has already lost four people to Wolves alone. I’m not happy about the Mages being here, but I have to admit they could be handy to have around.”
Sean calmed down. Alison knew that Sean was a bit of a hothead but he deeply respected the Sergeant as did she. “We won’t mess up sir,” she said.
“Yeah I know. OK, what do you have so far?”
Sean spoke, “One victim, a William Lanner, friends knew him as Billy. He was a white male in his early thirties. He was a CPA with a clean record, other than that we don’t know yet.”
“The victim’s car was ransacked and the killing took place a block away, so I think it’s safe to assume this wasn’t a random act of violence,” Alison added.
The Sergeant looked off into the distance. “No, it’s not. Let me know when the drug screen comes back. I want to know why a Wolf was after this guy and looking around in his car.”
“What are you thinking, Sarge?” Sean asked.
“Well, from what we know Werewolves don’t attack at random. For centuries Mages have kept them along with all the other magical races in check, but now that magic is in the open…and, I don’t know about you, but having a Werewolf as an enforcer sounds like a good plan to me.”
“Right sir,” Alison said.
They talked for a while longer before they were dismissed. Alison spent the rest of her day profiling William Lanner’s life.
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About the Author
Nicholas was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He didn't want to write until October of 2007. While he was driving around with a friend and said "hey, I wonder if I can write a book." So he thought he would try and write outline and see what happens.
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