Chapter Six #2
She had never seen people warm to her as fast as after that sentence. One woman was introduced as Krys, and she nodded. “I will call Amy; she can call Jennel. You might have to pick her up, though.”
“Which one?”
“Jennel. If her guys just got to sleep, it was under duress, but Jennel is on-call as seer for the XIA, so if we go through an agent, we can get the whole thing done on the XIA cold case budget.”
“That isn’t necessary. I can request the seer and access while I am hunting.”
Vaia nodded. “So, you are a hunter, Hunter.”
“Yes. Internationally licensed and authorized.”
Krys finished texting and grinned. “Amy will be at work in half an hour. She’s in charge of the evidence lockups. She’ll pull the box. Jennel is awake but can’t drive.”
“I drive a motorcycle, so she just has to hold on.”
“One of her partners is an orc, so she’s going to hold on tight. This is the address.”
Vaia held out her phone, and Never noted the address, putting it into her own phone. “I apologize again for disrupting your morning, but I don’t know how long it will be before I am called away, and Axa needs answers.”
Krys nodded. “No, we get it. Thanks for looking into it. It was worth a few minutes before I had to shower and get my ass to work. If you can find the marketing and PR department, let me know how things are going.”
“I will make sure someone gives you an update when this is solved, one way or another.”
Azreen frowned. “One way or another?”
“He is either dead already, or he’s about to wish he is.” She bowed shortly and flicked her visor down. She got back onto her bike and drove off to the minotaur mansion to get her passenger.
The morning drive away from downtown was actually nice.
She pulled up in front of the expansive steps of the mansion, getting the spare jacket and helmet from under her seat.
She walked up the steps and fogged her appearance.
She opened the door, and a young orc was on the way to her and froze. “Whoa. What the hell are you?”
“I am here for Jennel.”
A cute, bouncy woman with glyphs and tattoos down her left side came toward her, putting her hair up and yawning. “Whoa. Are you my ride?”
Never tossed her the spares and lifted her own helmet, removing it to stare at the young orc. “I am Hunter Kibra, and I am here to borrow your mother.”
The male stared. “You’re an orc. Fuck. Your eyes!”
“Nobody fucks my eyes. Jennel, are you ready to do a reading?”
“Yes, ma’am. How old are you? Oh, this is my son, Corit.”
“Best guess is sixty-two.”
“Wow. A shaman. You rarely leave your clans.” Jennel pulled on the leather jacket and grinned before wrestling with the helmet.
“I don’t have a clan. I am free range.” She smiled as her passenger got the helmet in place.
“Is that a fucking shaman?” There was a rush of green, and she was staring into the eyes of a speaker. He looked away. He wasn’t the first.
“Again. No one fucks me unless I authorize it. Yeesh. Now, allow me to abduct the dark fae chimera, and I will have her back before she can doze off. If you are up at that time, you can rescue her from the hunter’s clutches. That might be good for some kind of reward.”
Jennel chuckled. “I just got a full set of togas that are suitable for a sprint.”
Never nodded, put her helmet on, and headed out the door. She was waiting on the bike when Jennel came down the stairs and got on behind her. She wrapped her arms around Never and said, “You smell good.”
“Thanks.” She started her bike and got out of there before the other two mates could come and introduce themselves.
They drove smoothly into town and headed for the XIA headquarters. Jennel pointed to the building they needed, and Never pulled up, parked, and they headed inside. It was time to get to the bottom of Axa’s disaster.
“Uh, Hunter Kibra, I haven’t actually met a hunter before. Certainly not an orc one. Where do you come from?”
“No one knows, but I was raised here in Redbird, and then I went travelling and acquired my certification. The bike made the helmet an easy accessory, so I didn’t have to explain the pretty orc or which clan I wasn’t from.”
Jennel chuckled. “Oh, you get that a lot.”
“I do.”
They went through the security check and got visitors’ badges, then headed to Amhoran’s office to get her to witness the handling of the evidence.
The box was in the waiting area, and recording devices were put into place as Jennel went through the evidence.
The glass hadn’t been handled, and the powder was the same.
Never asked softly, “Where did her clothing end up?”
Amy went to the computer and frowned. “It says it’s here, but I didn’t see it in the box.”
“Ah. Do you mind if I find it?”
“No, just don’t handle anything. Bring it to me.”
“All right.” Never put her helmet to one side and lifted a hand, calling the evidence with a charm that was the first thing they were taught when you had hunter proclivities. She had Axa’s hair wrapped around her finger, so it pulled all the packets related to her.
Never felt the answer to her call. “Here they come.”
Amy blinked. “They?”
Three secured bags emerged and dropped into Amy’s arms. “There you go.”
“Holy shit. Where were they?” Amy looked at the identifiers on the kits. “Oh, no.”
Never said softly, “She is aware of it. So, now we see if the two things combine. Neither case was closed.”
“I have to call one of the investigating officers.”
“No, you don’t, not until Jennel does the reading.”
Jen was watching them. “What’s going on?”
“There was a series of assaults committed in the ward where Axa was being maintained. She was one of the victims about four years ago. What will connect them is in that bag.”
Amy looked. “The medical bracelet. It was here the whole time?”
“No, it was found in the hallway four years ago.”
Jennel nodded. “I will start with that.”
She nodded. They recorded and laid out the bags and then got to work.
Never watched and listened. She heard what she thought she would hear and what the records at the hospital told her.
Volunteers came and went on that ward, usually under supervision.
The book that Jennel picked up told a lot of the tale.
It was a dark romance and had been read to Axa in a variety of husky voices.
It had provided the opportunity he was seeking.
They went through one piece of evidence after another. And when Amy had solemnly sealed and marked the bags, Jennel had thrown up.
Never rubbed her back. “May I go?”
Jennel looked at her with eyes that should not have seen what she had seen. “Yes. You will get him?”
“Oh, yes. I know precisely where he is. This is barely worthy of the title of hunt.”
“Then, please. Get him.”
Amy smiled and said, “Call when you have found him, and the XIA will be there.”
She chuckled. “Thank you.”
Jennel called out, “Good luck!”
Never grabbed her helmet and walked out of the evidence room with long strides. She dropped off her pass and headed out on her motorcycle. The line between her and her target was clear. She just had to snag him, subdue him, and bring him in, then she could go back to Cora and tell her all about it.
Tibalti Reins, bartender at the venue where Axa had fallen, tried to get away, but she used her move to break his limbs, and he screamed on the floor as she interrogated him with a recording device.
She shut off his nerve endings to his limbs and said, “There, is that better? Is that how you like them? Limp, broken, unable to feel?”
He looked at her. “I can’t feel my body.”
“Nope. And you just pissed yourself. Shall we continue discussing Axa? You can’t feel your body again until you do.”
Tibalti stared at her and started to talk. Dates, times, other women with dwarf genetics and that alert bracelet. She did the recording on an open line, and sirens approached.
When she concluded getting the information, she reset his bones but left him numb.
She had learned the why, and it was sick. Well, the whole thing was sick. She had heard worse, but not by much.
When the agents arrived, she looked them in the eye. It was Jennel’s speaker. “Oh, night shift. I have been at this longer than I thought.”
Day-ek nodded. “We just got on shift and heard the call, so we knew what we were getting into. Where is he?”
“On the floor. He pissed himself during our talk, and he can’t feel his arms or legs. So, he’s a bit floppy. Grab near the upper arms; the rest of his bones are being held together with magic until after sentencing.”
Day-ek blinked. “Damn, Shaman. You don’t play.”
“Just hunter. Shamans require a tie to the land or clan. You know that, Speaker.”
“Yeah, I also have been dealing with Tam-or blowing up my phone. He wanted to make sure you were treated like a fucking lady.”
Never laughed. “He is a bit fussy for someone I just met.”
“Well, his whole clan is in an uproar after your demonstration yesterday. I have seen some of the clips. You were everything a shaman should be, and they don’t have one right now, so I think he is courting you.”
She blinked. “Interesting. Unexpected.”
“The Daring Claw are made up of a lot of mixed orcs. As you have met Tam-or, you would have guessed at it.”
She smiled. “There were indications.”
The minotaur and the monster were inside, securing Reins. The ambulance pulled up, and when he was strapped to a board, she returned his senses to his limbs.
He began to struggle immediately.
She laughed and bent to whisper in his ear. He stilled and looked at her. “No.”
“Oh, yes. You defied the law and preyed on the vulnerable. Now you get to be them. One foot outside of a supervised area until you complete your sentence and your limbs break. All of them. If you push it, I will extend it to fingers and toes.”
He froze.
“Do you understand?”
He nodded slowly.
“Good. I know you now. I can take the skin off your muscle and leave you screaming and alive in the streets. One step out of line, and you get to see how exposed muscle feels. Tell me you understand.”