“You started a new case before I’d tied up the last?”

“I looked into it just a bit while you were out.”

Out. Yeah, out meant I was risking my life hunting bad guys Derrick encountered only through research done at a safe distance. But Derrick had his job, and I had mine. And I wasn’t complaining. After all, mine came with a kick-ass crossbow, top-of-the-line weaponized spells, and a killer wardrobe—well, the last had had some recent casualties, but I’d remedy that the first chance I got.

I nodded to my partner, showing I held no hard feelings.

“It sounds like you’re still in the first steps of reconnaissance.” Which meant I wouldn’t be hunting yet.

Maybe I’d get a day or two of vacation after all.

—

I didn’t get that vacation.

The next night I found myself sitting in a parked rental Hummer wishing there was a Chinese take-out place nearby. But no, the case put me in Central York. According to the signs, the town was a “Suburban Paradise.” I could see why someone would make that claim; Central York was mostly houses. Streets and streets of rainbow-colored houses and perfectly manicured lawns turned the town into a carefully designed grid of homes. The “rebels” in the town had added an extra flower bed to their yards, making them stand out fractionally. Home Owners Associations were bad enough, but to move anywhere in this town you had to practically sign away your personality. This place looks more like Suburban Hell.

Of course, Central York wasn’t entirely houses—there was a community tennis court, a golf course, a park in the town center, one retrofitted movie theater, a post office, two government buildings, a couple of delicatessens, and three diners. That was it. Definitely no Chinese—or any other decent takeout—and I guessed only enough jobs for a fraction of the population.

They must commute. After all, Central York, while it might have been granted the status of a town, was really just one developer’s wet dream in downtown New York City. In Central Park to be exact. No one fully understood how the Magical Awakening seventy years ago had caused areas all over the world to unfold and reveal more space. Magic. I shook my head. However it occurred, it was an undeniable fact that if you walked around the outside of Central Park it was exactly the size history books claimed, but if you walked through the center you wound up in Central York.

The police scanner on my dash crackled, as the dispatcher announced a domestic dispute. Two cars responded, and then the scanner went quiet again. I’d been parked for several hours and this was only the second call I’d heard all night.

“Wow, it’s dead here,” I said to no one in particular. I had my windows open, but there was no one on the street to hear me. It was like the sidewalks had rolled up at nightfall. Was there a curfew or—“Have the attacks scared you into your homes?”

There were smoke creatures in the shadows after dark. Not that I’d seen one. Yet.

That was why I was hunting tonight. We didn’t have enough intel on the creatures, and Derrick couldn’t dig up more. Short of a premonition hitting him, the only way we would learn what I was facing was if I bagged one. So, I hunted. Rather passively, unfortunately.

I’d rather have been on the street, but I had no idea how to track the creatures yet. No idea of the territory yet either as the places they’d been spotted appeared random. Which left me only one option—follow on the cops’ trail. So I waited, the Hummer parked to save gas instead of cruising the streets.

Efficiency. Great in theory. In practice I was bored. And my ass was falling asleep. I wanted to be moving, to be doing something. Anything.

I considered the neighborhood around me. I could roam, just a little ways, but I wouldn’t be able to respond as fast if the dispatcher put out a call about the creatures. I glanced from the neighborhood to the scanner and back again. “You couldn’t pay me to live here.” The monotony made the place so very boring. Of course, that same trait gave the residents a certain anonymity, and I excelled at going unnoticed. What with my average height and build and average shade of brown hair and eyes, people tended to forget me as soon as I was out of sight. And that was without adding in my various obfuscation charms. Shaking my head, I amended my earlier statement. “Okay, maybe you could pay me to live here. But I’d have to travel. A lot.”

That trivial decision made, I double-checked the charms and weapons I had on me. It was typically a calming activity, but tonight it didn’t cut through my impatience.

“Come on,” I said, shooting the scanner a hard stare.

As if my glare had power, the scanner crackled again before the dispatcher’s voice filled the Hummer.

“Attention all cars in the vicinity of Blossom and Noir, an unknown entity was spotted at—”

Finally.

—

I spotted the telltale blue lights that indicated I’d reached my destination long before the GPS could announce I’d arrived. The Hummer didn’t have lights or tags—obviously, as it was only a rental—but I still pulled it as close to Robin Street as I could. Then I parked in the middle of the street. Who was going to ticket or tow the Hummer while we chased a creature of unknown origin?

After jumping out of the vehicle, I forced myself to walk, not run, toward the largest gathering of cops. You don’t run toward groups of freaked-out people with guns. The situation rarely ended well. Some of the officers looked up at my approach, but it was the two plainclothes Anti–Black Magic Unit agents who moved to block my path.

“I’m sorry but this area is currently restricted. Please—,” a tall agent with ruffled blond hair told me. But I noticed he didn’t actually look at me; his attention was on something over my left shoulder.

Cutting him off, I pulled my badge and held it above my head. “I’m Inspector Darque from the MCIB.”

The intersection went silent at my announcement. Now the agent looked at me.

“Thank goodness,” a rookie cop said, breaking the silence.

I glanced at him. His caramel-colored skin looked slightly washed-out as if something had scared the blood from his face. He also barely looked old enough to be wearing a uniform. I gave him a smile and a wink as I pocketed my badge. After all, we were both paid to take risks, but I was paid very well to take the more extreme ones.

“Bring me up to speed,” I said as I approached the two ABMU agents. There were grumbles from several officers who clearly considered the scene theirs, but I was dealing with a magical enemy. Many of the officers were probably plain vanilla human norms without a drop of magic in their blood, maybe a few were witches, but the agents were guaranteed to be witches and were experienced in dealing with corrupt magic.

The tall agent looked me up and down, and the crinkling around his brown eyes told me he was less than impressed. He didn’t offer his hand, but said, “I’m Agent Tayler and this is Agent Kelvis. We have agents and officers on the other end of this street as well. The creature was active when the first responders arrived and they managed to get tape enchanted with a barrier spell laid and activated, so we hope we’ve trapped the creature. Unfortunately, two of the officers and one pedestrian were hurt before the barrier went up.”

I raised my eyebrow and shot a doubtful glance at the barrier tape. It blocked the road and would have prevented a car from gaining entrance to the side street, but what would stop the creature from just stepping off the road and walking around the barrier? I knew practically nothing about what was plaguing this town, so I held my opinion to myself. For now.

“You said three people were injured? Can you describe the injuries?” Sometimes I could learn as much or more by what a summoned or created creature could do than by seeing the creature itself. The important word there being sometimes.

“I don’t have to describe them,” Agent Tayler said as he started toward the mass of parked cop cars. “They’re still here. A hospital is something the residents are fighting to have built. Until then, the ambulance has to make it here from the city. Lucky for you though, because the boys are still resting in their car.” He pressed his lips together and then gnawed at the top lip as he released the bottom. “So what do you think these creatures are?”

“Don’t know. I haven’t seen one yet.”

Tayler nodded me toward the vehicle closest to the barricaded street. I headed in that direction, anxious to check on the wounds and then pass the barriers to search out the creature. If it’s still here. Stopping beside the passenger door, I grabbed the door handle, pulling hard.

Locked.

I knocked on the window, but the man in the seat didn’t move. He was sitting with both of his legs tucked to his chest, his face buried in his knees with his arms hugging his legs while further obscuring his face. Neither the civilian in the backseat nor the officer in the driver’s seat appeared any more inclined to open the door than the passenger. The man in the back lay in a fetal position, his gaze locked on the ceiling. He didn’t even blink when I pounded on the window.

“Agent, do you have a key to this car? And why are these people alone and sitting if they’re injured?”

“For the latter, you’ll see soon enough. No to the former, but I’ll see if someone else does.” He all but marched toward the crowd of officers. It was a highly controlled tantrum, and I assumed he’d been the agent in charge before I showed up. For dealing with the creature or the witch who’d brought it into this town, my badge trumped Tayler’s. Some people just didn’t take that well.

One by one, the officers glanced at where I stood, shaking their heads. Then one officer stepped forward and made his way toward the car and me. It was the young officer who’d spoken earlier. I was glad to see that he wasn’t quite so ashen anymore.

“Hello, ma’am,” he said, ducking his head in a small bow.

“Please don’t call me ma’am. My mother is a ma’am.” I paused. “You don’t really think I’m that old, do you?”