Page 7 of Ravenous Prophecy
My fingers dug into the armrests of my chair. “This is blackmail, Nicoletta. And very unbecoming of a high-ranking MEA agent.”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Griffin.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, barely holding back a self-congratulatory smile. “Call it a favor for an old friend.”
I crossed my arms. “Not feeling very friendly right now, if I’m being honest.”
Her fingernail tapped along the top of her desk. “We can make it worth your while.”
Hmm. This was starting to sound like a negotiation. I crossed my legs. “Go on.”
“Do this thing for me, and I won’t let you freeze in a box.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Fine. We’ll cover any reasonable expenses, and you’ll be paid a comfortable stipend. Profit for both you and me.”
Now things were getting interesting. I knew that Nicoletta liked to watch me squirm, but I had the sneaking suspicion that a lot of this had already been decided well in advance. MEA clearly thought this was something worth pursuing. I didn’t love the idea of working with this Bradley brat, but Griffin Gallows never said “No” to a healthy paycheck.
Maybe the flattery of being selected helped, too.
“So what’s the mission?”
Nicoletta folded her hands together, taking a deep breath. “Our little friend Bradley here was found on the property of one JA Williams. Local business magnate. Wealthy as anything. His authentication story checked out. Unfortunately, we also discovered bodies.”
That jolted me more than any cup of coffee would. I thought of the sweaty young man in the interview room. Looks could be deceiving, especially in our world, where the magical felt almost commonplace. But nothing about this Bradley kid suggested that he was a murderer.
“How do you know he was involved at all?”
She frowned. “Fingerprints. On a ritual dagger, on an inkwell. All over a laptop. Plain forensics, Gallows. Keep up.”
“But that doesn’t prove anything, only that he was physically on location.”
Her lips flattened into a tight line. “The bodies were upstairs. He was downstairs. I’ll grant him that. This Williams character, we’ve been trying to pin a series of disappearances on him specifically. Mundanes. Always mundanes, the dead that we find. Yet somehow he slips from our grasp every damn time. Bradley Brooks could finally be the key.”
I rubbed my chin, scratching at the stubble, still processing the idea of this Bradley person being a murderer. “All he cares about is his stupid Hive.”
“Yes. I see you spent enough time in that room to discover his unfortunate choices in academic pursuits. Ah. There’s one other problem. Bradley here belongs to a prominent magical family.”
Just like that, all the imaginary goodwill I’d built up for the boy withered away. A rich kid, eh? Just like Nicoletta described. One of those forever academics with no practical experience to speak of.
“And I’m not too fond of how the parents will react if I hold him here any longer. I’m shocked he hasn’t demanded I reach out to them already. The Brooks family is—well, they’re interesting, to say the least. I’m sure you’ll be meeting the rest of the Brooks clan in good time.”
I pursed my lips like I’d tasted something worse than MEA’s burnt in-house coffee. “As long as they’re not as annoying as their offspring, I think we should get along okay.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “As annoying? Probably not. More problematic? Almost certainly. Bradley adores the study of the arcane and the occult but has not demonstrated any real magical ability. The rest of his family, though? I’d caution you to be on your best behavior, Griff. Just in case.”
I sat up straight. Not even any spellcasting?
“Wait a minute. So you’re saddling me with this kid who couldn’t throw together a spell to save his life, and his field of study is a mythical species of nonexistent bug monsters.”
Nicoletta raised a finger, wagging it in my face. “Correction. He’s being saddled with you. At least that’s how the story should go. He’s an excellent resource for sniffing out more info on JA Williams. Keep him out of trouble, Gallows. But under no circumstances is he to discover that you’re shadowing him on official MEA business. Understood?”
Well that did it. Just when I thought I couldn’t scowl any harder, Commander Nicoletta Falcón proved me wrong. “Can you actually call it shadowing when I’ll basically be breathing down his neck at all times?”
“Excellent. Then we’re on the same page.”
“Damn it, Nicoletta. There had better be some amazing paycheck waiting at the end of this godforsaken rainbow.” I held my hand out. “I’m doing your dirty work. Least you can do is let me have my damn knuckles.”
She reached for one of her drawers, then hesitated. “We’ll return them to you once we release both you and Bradley. Along with all the rest of your things. Which I’ve been told includes a number of very risqué publications. We do need to itemize everything, naturally.”
