Fractured Souls by Ava Marie Salinger

13

Adrianne staredat the crater in the middle of the playground. “What the hell happened?”

Julia and Morgan exchanged tense glances.

“We should avoid talking about this here,” Julia said guardedly.

Adrianne frowned. The place was packed with cops and Argonaut agents. Already, a slew of reporters hovered on the periphery of the park, their cameras trained on the playground.

“Like bloodhounds scenting a kill,” Zach said darkly.

Bailey came over from where a team of Argonaut officers were lifting the unconscious and heavily shackled black-magic sorcerer into the back of an armored vehicle.

“He took some kind of pill before we got to him. Looks like he’s gonna be out of it for a while.”

“Have Lucy tend to him,” Morgan told the wizard curtly as he crouched on the lip of the depression.

Bailey dipped his chin. “Already on it. Charlie and I will stay with him until we get to the agency, just in case he wakes up and tries anything funny. I’ll let you know what Lucy makes of the drug he took.”

Lucy Walters was a Level Two medical mage working for the Argonaut Agency. If anyone could identify the poison the sorcerer had ingested and heal the bastard, she would.

Morgan clenched his jaw. The fact that the man had been willing to die rather than fall into the hands of the Argonaut Agency spoke volumes about their enemy’s intentions.

“That guy really used a summoning staff?” Adrianne asked Julia skeptically after Bailey and Charlie had left.

“Yes.” Julia frowned. “He conjured war demons from the Nine Hells to attack Black. The staff wasn’t on him when we arrested him. He probably accessed it through some kind of portal.”

“It’s a miracle Cassius got rid of those creatures so quickly,” Zach said uneasily. “It should have taken at least five angels or demons to dispose of that large a number of those monsters.”

“I can see why Strickland holds him in such high regard.” Julia looked in the direction where Cassius had disappeared, her frown deepening. “Where is Black, by the way? Is he still at Joyce Almeda’s house?”

“He went home,” Morgan said.

The others stared.

“He’s a key witness to a crime, Morgan!” Adrianne protested. “Like, the second one in twenty-four hours!”

“He’s not going anywhere, Adrianne.” Morgan rubbed the scorched earth between his fingers. He could smell Hell’s acrid odor all over it. “And he fully intends to cooperate with us.”

Adrianne’s eyes widened at that. “Wait. You mean he agreed to take on the case?!”

Morgan rose, a muscle jumping in his jawline. “Although I wish it were under different circumstances, yes. Cassius will work with us until we get to the bottom of who’s behind these human sacrifices and Joyce Almeda’s murder.”

Cassius’s face rose before Morgan’s eyes.

By the time they’d made it back to the house, Joyce Almeda had already taken her last breath. Cassius’s haunted expression when he’d seen her had made Morgan’s chest tighten with pain and fury. In that moment, he’d wanted nothing more than to take the angel in his arms and share in his sorrow.

He knew Cassius would have lashed out at him had he followed his instinct. The agony and rage trembling off the dark-winged angel had made the air shiver where he’d stood in the dining room, above the still warm body of the old woman. Cassius had murmured a few words to her neighbor before storming out of the house, the demon cat on his heels.

Morgan had found them mounting the black and silver motorbike parked outside.

“We need to talk about what happened here tonight,” he’d told Cassius in a hard voice.

Cassius’s stormy gaze had swept over him like a scourge. For a moment, Morgan had thought the angel would lose his temper.

Cassius had taken a long, shuddering breath before nodding curtly. “I’ll be at my place.”

Morgan had sighed. “I meant we need your statement.”

“Then I’ll come to the agency first thing tomorrow,” Cassius had grated out between clenched teeth. “I want to look at your case notes anyway.”

Hope had flared inside Morgan at the angel’s words. He’d masked it behind a neutral expression.

“Does that mean you’re gonna take Strickland up on his offer?”

“Yes,” Cassius had said bitingly. “After everything that happened tonight, I want to find these bastards as much as you guys do.”

Morgan had hesitated before laying a hand on Cassius’s shoulder. “You know Joyce’s death wasn’t your fault, right? That sorcerer was here before you arrived at the property. He didn’t follow you, Cassius.”

Cassius had gone rigid at his words. The demon cat had meowed anxiously where it sat between Cassius’s thighs, its yellow gaze swinging warily between the two angels.

“I couldn’t protect her.”

Surprise had flashed through Morgan at Cassius’s bitter words. His stomach had clenched all over again at the tortured light that flared in Cassius’s pupils.

“She died because I couldn’t protect her.”

Morgan had frowned at that. “You and I both know that’s a pile of bull—”

The rest of Morgan’s words had been drowned out by the roar of Cassius’s Vincent Black Shadow. Morgan had stepped back and watched wordlessly as the angel vanished in the night, the red taillights of his motorbike winking out when he took a corner and exited the cul-de-sac.

“I wonder if there’s a link between Cassius and what’s happening in the city,” Adrianne muttered, bringing Morgan back to the present. She sighed at Morgan’s scowl. “I’m not saying I suspect him of being behind the murders. I’m just stating facts. We need to find out why this sorcerer went after Joyce Almeda.”

“Well, the only thing that connects Joyce to Cassius is the cat,” Zach said as they headed up the slope. He shrugged at their expressions. “Hey, I’m just stating facts too.”

Morgan pondered the demon’s words as they reached the tree line. He hadn’t sensed anything out of the ordinary from the cat bar the fact that it was a demonic spirit.

Forensic vans from Argonaut were pulling up to the curb when they exited the park. Adrianne stopped and spoke to the lead technician.

“Focus on that crater and the bridge over the playground,” she told the witch. “And be careful. The ground is tainted with black magic.”

Maggie Briggs nodded. “Gotcha.” She started to turn away and paused. “By the way, are we still on for girls’ night out this Friday?”

Adrianne glanced guiltily at Julia. “Hmm, yeah.”

Julia narrowed her eyes at the sorceress as they left the techs behind and headed across the road. “How come I’m not invited to girls’ night out?”

Adrianne sighed. “You know very well why. None of us has a chance of scoring when you’re around.”

“Bailey’s heart would shatter into a million pieces if he could hear you right now,” Zach said drily.

“Yeah, well, Bailey had his chance and he blew it,” Adrianne grumbled.

Adrianne and Bailey’s on-off relationship was the stuff of legend at the agency. The sorceress and the wizard had known each other since they were at the magic academy and had advanced through the ranks of the Argonaut Agency together. It had seemed inevitable that they would end up together.

Whatever Bailey had done to anger the sorceress and end their relationship, she had never made it public.

Julia opened her mouth to protest.

Adrianne interrupted her. “Look, I know it’s not your fault the guys flock to you.” She paused and chewed her lip thoughtfully. “Tell you what, you can come as long as you promise to wear some kind of hideous outfit.”

“I don’t own any hideous outfits,” Julia said.

Adrianne scowled at the angel. “I’ll buy you one.”