Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
“What are you implying?”
Death Mile
Dragon Heights
Down an alley alongside the research hospital and flanked by one of the ward’s mortuaries lurked a graveyard, lost to time compared to the rest of the city. Vines shrouded the stone walls separating it from the neighboring buildings, and I questioned how they thrived.
Shadows enveloped the place, and a chill lingered in the air.
The park at Death Mile took the blame for the local hauntings, but I suspected the graveyard held more blame than some might think.
Getting into the place required a permit, as the plots had been filled over a hundred years ago, and only family of the deceased were permitted to visit. I understood respecting the dead, but I also disliked the idea of forgetting the dearly departed.
Strangers visiting ancient cemeteries did an excellent job of keeping the memories of the past alive and well.
Pascal growled his discontent over the red tape, and to keep the black dragon from biting anyone, I handled the steward, a grouchy old gold dragon who had zero care for the business of black dragons.
“Sir, I couldn’t care less about your personal dislike of black dragons.
If you decide to obstruct his investigation in this case, he’s going to prove to you, rather personally, that his badge and that warrant are not jokes.
You were notified yesterday we would be exhuming a body from this graveyard, and even if that black dragon you seem to dislike needs to shift and make use of his claws, we will be exhuming that grave.
Obstruction at this stage is going to piss off the FBI, and if you think a black dragon babysitting a hatchling is bad, wait until they send a whole team.
Working with us will be a great deal less destructive to the graveyard. ”
“Cemetery,” the steward informed me in a nasally voice.
I met the old bastard’s gaze and replied, “I will start caring about what you want this place called as soon as we find out if the site in question has the correct person buried within it.”
That got the gold dragon bristling. “What are you implying?”
“I’m implying a madwoman practicing necromancy was wed to one of the men buried here and was trying to resurrect him.
As she cannot do that without his body, we need to identify if she had actually interred his body here, if she had murdered somebody to put in his place, and if he’s properly laid to rest.” I took the warrant out of Pascal’s hand and shoved it in the dragon’s face.
“This states you have zero right to keep us out. This also states if you try to keep us out, we can make a mess of the rest of your week. Personally, I don’t care what you think of black dragons, but this one is here on legitimate work, so you’re going to have to pack your prejudices and find some corner to cry in.
We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. ”
Tourmaline, who perched on my shoulder and kept close as part of his conditions to accompany me, issued a metallic click, one of annoyance.
The steward’s gaze fell on my hummingbird. “What manner of creature is that?”
“This is Tourmaline, my familiar. I also have a carbunclo, but she’s at the police station keeping the cops company for the day. She’s learning how to be a strong and independent kitten.” I reached up and stroked the bird’s breast. “He won’t cause you any problems.”
The old man regarded me as though seeing me for the first time, and his eyes widened, and he regarded Pascal with a despairing expression. “Those demons bred?”
Damn it. What had my parents done to the poor city of dragons? I sighed.
Pascal snickered. “When she isn’t working a case, she’s quite possibly the sweetest and kindest dragon to walk the face of the Earth.
They hid her in Miami, and I didn’t even realize who she was after working with her for years.
Once I realized it, I had no idea how I missed it.
She’s a prettier version of her grandmother. ”
“She truly is. All right. As I don’t want those demons invading my cemetery and causing me even more problems, what are you actually after, you black blight?”
Pascal snickered. “It’s exactly as she said. Madam Merorie’s husband should be buried here, but we have confirmation she was performing necromancy to raise her son and husband from the dead. We’re trying to locate their bodies.”
“I’d always found it a little strange she’d buried her husband here and her son elsewhere. She has a family plot, and there’s still room for ten.”
Right. Just because a cemetery was registered as full didn’t mean there wasn’t still space for the dearly departed; it just meant there were no more plots available for sale.
“Ideally, we’ll get in and out and only abuse Pascal’s claws and draconic form for this, but we might make a mess of things depending on what we find. ”
“We don’t use concrete vaults here, so that part will be simplified. We use magic that decays along with the body, and when the decomposition process should be complete, the magical vault fades and we use some more magic to make certain any decomposition gasses disperse without incident.”
As nobody wanted to play a game of Pop Goes the Weasel with the bodies of family members, I approved of the precaution.
Having dealt with a corpse gassing off rather violently in my presence before, I would do just about anything to avoid dealing with such a thing again.
“I’m sorry for the demons otherwise known as my parents.
I swear they are much better behaved when they aren’t here. ”
Pascal snickered. “To my shock and astonishment, they’re actually pretty normal people who do an excellent job playing at being human.
They raised Kinsley in a mundane city, and they’ve opted for the self-discovery track for their little girl’s education.
As such, she’s demonstrating more than a few colors of her heritage, but the purple and chrome elements are the most troublesome.
Please pass around to the golds that Kinsley might have some gold tendencies and could use some general education.
She definitely has some black tendencies, but her tendencies aren’t trainable as far as I can tell.
She is simply driven to work in law enforcement in some capacity.
Right now, that capacity is as a private investigator. ”
“I see. Her official color?”
“Undetermined. If she picks up one or two more practical skills from her colors, her parents will be forced to register her as a chromatic.”
“Chromatic?” I asked, raising a brow. “What is that?”
“Any dragon with ten or more active color traits is registered as a chromatic dragon. Pertaining to all colors,” he explained and grinned at me.
“You have confirmed tin, purple, chrome, and navy to start with. If you don’t have orange or red, half the city will eat their shoes upon learning about you.
You likely have both. You definitely have active iron; your gun handling skills go beyond the norm, especially for as out of practice as you are. ”
Someone had given Pascal my range records, and I scowled. “I’m rusty.”
“You really are, and Erik has been having a good laugh over how irritated you are about being rusty. You definitely have active cyan. You couldn’t ensnare your yellow hatchling any more if you tried.
And that’s fine; that’s the kindest of the cyan abilities, and it’s a two-way street.
You’ve ensnared yourself just as much as you’ve ensnared him, so you two can—and will—suffer together.
” Pascal circled me, and he reminded me of a shark.
“She’s only had her first shift, and she already has six active colors.
She has the genetics for all colors, too.
Her parents have been absolute demons, though.
Very few are brave enough to actually call out their reproductive success to their faces. ”
“I really don’t see why not,” I said, heaving a sigh. “They can’t be that bad, can they?”
“They’re even worse,” the black dragon informed me in a solemn tone.
“Frankly, we’re fortunate that your yellow’s mother had gotten a hold of that mercury dragon rather than your parents.
Your mother would have painted every ward in the city with his blood before she was finished.
Your father would have left a piece of him on every doorstep as a reminder that he is not a dragon to be trifled with.
It was bad enough he got a hold of Madam Merorie.
And yes, I’ve seen the autopsy report, and I’m pretty sure nobody told you what he did to her.
It made what Mrs. Millson did seem rather tame in comparison.
The only reason he didn’t leave bits of her on every doorstep involved him being unwilling to leave you or your yellow hatchling for long.
Honestly, that saved that woman a great deal of suffering, as he opted for excessive but rapid brutality over hauling her, screaming, through the entirety of Dragon Heights, making certain all residents witnessed her demise and sending a bloody message that only the foolish touch his little girl. ”
My parents needed therapy. Bowing my head, I questioned everything I thought I knew about my life. “I’m so sorry for them. I had no idea they had traumatized an entire city before I was born.”
The steward chuckled, took the papers with the warrant, and read it over.
“All right. This does cover everything you need to go open the grave. We have a strict list on allowed grave goods, and we keep a registry of what was supposed to be in the burial with the body.” He gestured for us to follow him, and we walked along a cobbled path through the neat rows of headstones.
“As you had notified us appropriately you would be coming with a warrant, I took the liberty of drawing up the original contract and the grave goods list. There was nothing buried with him beyond his clothing and a watch.”