The Frozen Witch Book One

  Chapter 10

  They have a saying – no rest for the wicked. Well, I didn’t exactly fancy I was wicked, but Vali did.

  I didn’t get a chance to return to my room and beat my pillow to let out my frustrations.

  Megan marched into view, a scowl marking her perfect red lips. “With me,” she demanded as she clicked her fingers and pointed to her side.

  I was like a dog expected to heel at its master’s side, ha?

  I controlled the mutinous expression that threatened to crumple my brow like screwed up paper. With a breath, I walked up to her.

  “It’s time to hand you over to Section One.”

  “Section One?”

  Her scowl hardened. “The lowest detectives.”

  Though I seriously wanted to ignore her, I couldn’t. I controlled my interest as I asked, “Lowest detectives, what does that mean?”

  “Keep up. Vali has an extensive network of employees.”

  “You mean indentured slaves, right?” I don’t know why I was pushing my luck – one look at her stiff lips would tell anyone to cork their mouth and run away. But I was angry, trapped, cornered, and finally fighting back even if the only weapon I had was my words.

  “How dare you. Vali offers final chances. He pulls the damned back from Hell. So I do not mean indentured slaves,” she spoke in hisses, “I mean his employees.”

  “Fine, his employees.” I controlled my tone. “Why are they detectives?”

  “In order to work off your sins, you must bring in other sinners. As a lower detective, you complete basic groundwork, enabling the higher-classed teams to bring in targets.”

  “You mean, we’re like a vigilante police force?” I spluttered, realizing how frigging strange this was. I’d stumbled into a crazy nightmare, and now apparently I was going to become a detective tracking down crims for the god of revenge….

  “No, we are not vigilantes. But yes, we police the populace of Saint Helios City at the behest of Vali. He identifies sinners, and we bring them in.”

  I snorted. It was a dark, judgmental move. “Then what? He chucks them off the roof?”

  She turned on me, nostrils flaring, gaze blazing. “Rest assured that I will share your behavior with Vali. If you continue to obstruct, he will add more sins to your file. And if he does that—”

  I felt my cheeks stiffen. “I’ll be here for longer,” I managed through a thin crack in my equally thin lips.

  She nodded low, meeting my gaze with all the implied force of a sword to my throat.

  I sighed, releasing the tension that had crept up my shoulders. Looking at the floor, I asked, “So I join the lower detectives, then? I’ll be expected to track down criminals and bring them to justice?”

  “No. You will not mete out justice. Only Vali will do that. As I have already said, you will simply do the ground work on cases, tracking targets down. Now come.”

  With no other choice, I followed.

  I listened to Megan’s heels clicking along the carpet as she led me down the corridor. A second later, we faced a door. A knot of nerves twisted hard in my gut as I stared at it. For all intents and purposes, it was nothing more than an ordinary door. It didn’t have chains strung across it, and there was no great big keep-out sign. And yet, if you believed my stomach, this would be the gateway down to Hell.

  Surreptitiously, I inched a hand underneath my shirt and clutched my stomach, willing my nerves to stay put.

  Megan reached around her neck and pulled out a lanyard. She grabbed a sophisticated-looking keycard and swiped it close to the door. I couldn’t see a keypad. That, apparently, didn’t matter. As soon as the keycard swiped over the bold red paint, something unclicked from within. The door opened inwards.

  Don’t ask me what I was expecting. In my current mood, I honestly thought this jolly painted door would lead down to the Devil himself. Instead? It led to an office – large, open plan, and chock full of people. Apart from a few glaring differences, it looked exactly like an ordinary open-plan office from an ordinary workplace. But the glaring differences? In the corner were two people practicing magic, great glowing discs of light filtering out from their touches as they selected various magical weapons before continuing their lesson.

  I wasn’t ready for this. Okay, I’d seen a lot of magic in the past two days. But this? This was worse. Because this normalized the incredible. There was no longer any hiding from the awful reality of this world when my officemates could call on the very power of fire itself.

  I clammed up as I stood there. And you guessed it, my breathing began to get shallower and shallower.

  Megan, if she noticed, didn’t appear to care. She led me forward with a flick of her manicured hand. “You’ll be stationed over here,” she pointed out as she gestured toward a desk far along the opposite end of the room. While most of the other desks were generous, and nearly all of them offered a relatively splendid view through the plate-glass windows beyond, this desk was shoved right into a corner and clearly was intended for the lowest member of the pecking order. Me.

  I barely reacted as Megan gestured me forward and patted the desk. “You’ll be given a caseload just like everyone else. And just like everyone else,” her voice dipped low, “you will be expected to finish it on time. Vali does not abide slackers.”

  My stomach sank at that warning, yet my curiosity peaked. You’d think, considering all the trouble my curiosity had gotten me into today, I would have shoved it into a corner. I didn’t. Couldn’t. A pronounced frown spread across my face. “Why do you call him that?”

  Megan’s lips stiffened. “Call him what?”

  “Vali?” I forced myself to ask, even though my stomach was starting to sink.

  There were plenty of other people in the office, all of them doing their own thing. Except right now they all stopped and looked over at us.

  The hair along the back of my neck stood on end, but rather than wave my hands frantically in front of my face and pretend I’d asked the question by mistake, I stood my ground. “Isn’t his name Franklin Saunders?” I asked in a much more careful, wary voice.

  Rather than lash out and hit me for asking what looked like an unforgivable question, Megan’s shoulders deflated. “So you don’t know, then?”

  Carefully, I shook my head. “Don’t know what?”

  “They’re two different people,” she answered, voice dropping low, but not in warning. It was almost as if she was terrified Franklin Saunders himself would saunter over at that exact moment.

  I frowned so hard I thought I’d cut my cheeks in two. “Sorry, two different people? What does that mean? Does he have a twin or something?” I asked, eyes opening wide as I realized that must be the case.

  Megan simply shook her head. “No, he does not have a twin. They share the same body. But they are… different men,” she said quietly. There was something about the way she said different that sent cold fright shifting hard down my back. It shook through my legs, and I had to stifle the sensation with a cough. “Sorry? Different men? What does that mean?”

  I was seriously aware of the fact that everyone in this large office had stopped working, and they were all staring at me. I was clearly making an ass out of myself, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t stop, because the more I questioned Megan, the more sense it made. When Franklin Saunders had picked me up last night and cared for my wounds – he’d honestly felt like a different man to the cold asshole who’d berated me a half hour ago.

  Megan continued to look at me with a wary, pressured look. “A word of advice. I realize you’re new to this world, but if I were you, I’d be very careful what kind of questions I asked. Now, this is your desk,” she pointed out needlessly as she tapped it. As soon as her hand struck the wood, it upset a cloud of dust that, at first glance, simply hadn’t been there.

  I backed away, coughing and batting at the lethal cloud.

  Megan simply gave a demure cough and took a step back. “You’ve already had enough time to settle i
n. You’ll get your first case this afternoon. Considering your exploits last night,” she looked down her nose at me, “I suggest you do a good job on this. It’s not unheard of for someone to gather more sins while under Vali’s care. And if you do, and those sins are considered severe enough—” She didn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t exactly have to. It didn’t take a genius to realize what she was trying to say here. Gather more sins under Vali’s so-called care, and I would wind up with a death sentence.

  I made no attempt whatsoever to hide my disgust as I stared at her. In my books, Vali was the worst criminal of all. Judge, jury, and executioner, he had absolutely no moral right to do any of this. And if he ever came up in a court of law, I imagine he would pay for his sins tenfold. But the god would never submit to human justice. This was all a game to him.

  Megan obviously caught sight of my less-than-kind expression. She leaned in, locking her gaze on mine, her lips so stiff her bright red lipstick couldn’t hide how white they’d just become. “I suggest you check your attitude at the door. Vali gave you another chance. For that, you should be infinitely grateful. Because if he hadn’t stepped in—” She didn’t finish her sentence again, and instead straightened up, carefully patting down her stunning blouse as she took a step away from the desk. “You’ll get your first case this afternoon. I’ll be watching you. And I report directly to Vali,” she warned. With that, she turned, the sound of her heels clicking over the floor the only thing that could be heard until she reached the door, opened it, and walked out.

  The office had been bustling when I came in, but now it was as quiet as a graveyard. Everyone stared at me. They appeared to come from all walks of life. The guy right across from me had the face and build of a middle manager, somebody who’d spent the last 30 years of their life tirelessly pushing pens around. And the woman behind him? With her angular features and hard gaze, I could bet she’d been in the police force or the army.

  Though I felt like hiding my head in my hands to get away from everybody’s direct stares, I hunched down and sat quietly. Experimentally, I shifted a hand forward and tried to wipe the dust off my desk. Big mistake. It erupted around me in a lethal cloud. I patted frantically at it, trying to disperse it before I gave myself lung disease.

  Once I was done ineffectively cleaning the desk, I tried to figure out what I should do next. Megan had promised I’d get a case by the afternoon, but it was 11 o’clock, and it was still several hours away. Just when I began to freak out, realizing once more how impossibly, frighteningly awful this situation was, I heard somebody scoot over to me, the wheels of their chair clattering over the floor.

  I looked up to see a woman probably a couple of years younger than me. “You’ve just become contracted, ha? What was your crime?” The woman shoved a hand in my face. “Theft and arson,” she announced, almost proudly. “What are your powers? My name is Cassidy,” she added as an afterthought, a hand still hovering before my face.

  Considering this situation was so fricking surreal and kept moving along at a frightening pace, all I could do was stare from her face to her hand. When I didn’t grab her hand, she leaned forward, grabbed mine, and shook it like a businessman about to seal a deal.

  “Yeah, you must be pretty shocked,” she continued her one-sided conversation. “When Vali dragged me out of prison, I had no freaking clue what was happening. But now I’m here, and now I can do this, it ain’t so bad.” She brought up a hand, flicked her fingers, and played with a magical disc of power. Somewhat like the man from last night, the disc almost looked like a hologram. It spread out wide from her touch, and there were multiple symbols around the inside of the magical ring.

  I stared at it with slack-jawed surprise. This only drew a hearty chuckle from Cassidy. “You must be pretty new to still be surprised by one of these. I mean, I’m on the lower end of the magical spectrum – still learning the ropes. Vali only saved me two months ago.”

  There was one word she’d just said – one word that could finally break me out of my surprised reverie. “Saved you?” I asked through a swallow. Even though the move was nervous, my voice still rang with indignation.

  “Sure, if he hadn’t come along and given me another chance, I would have served another few years in prison. And let’s face it, when I got out, I was destined to reoffend. You see, I have a talent – a talent for finding trouble. I’m always hanging out with the wrong kind of people. Anyhow, what’s your name? We should be friends,” she concluded with some finality.

  I stared at her. And no, it wasn’t only because she hadn’t taken a single breath between saying she had a talent for hanging out with the wrong kind of people, to suggesting we should be friends. Before Cassidy could start patting me down so she could find my driver’s license, figure out my name, and then continue this one-sided conversation, someone else scooted over.

  I looked up to see the stiff-lipped, determined woman I’d figured had been in the police or the army. “Cassidy, for the love of god, give her some breathing room. She’s only just found out about this world. It’s a little too soon to be exchanging numbers.” The woman shoved a hand in my face, and I had absolutely no option but to grab it and let her do all the shaking. “Alice.”

  “Ah, Lilly,” I volunteered.

  Alice crossed her arms and scooted back half a meter, pushing out a foot and expertly stopping her chair as she crossed her legs. “What was your crime?” she asked. “I took a hit, got too involved with the mob. They paid me off, so I turned a blind eye whenever I saw one of their cases cross my desk.” She spoke so casually as if she were talking about nothing more innocent than where she’d gone to school.

  I stared at her with a wide-open mouth. “So, you’re a cop?”

  She snorted. “I was a cop. Now I work for Vali, cashing in my second chance.”

  Second chance.

  That word rang in my head. As it did, I swear it took on the exact tone and force of Vali himself.

  Suddenly, I shook my head and unashamedly leaned a little bit back. Sure, these guys were being friendly, but Alice was a bent cop who’d turned a blind eye to the murderous mobsters of this city. And Cassidy, though bubbly, had admitted to arson and theft.

  Alice was clearly more on the ball than Cassidy, because her friendly grin stiffened. “You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t deserve to be. So what did you do?”

  I glanced around to see that everyone was staring at me again.

  When I’d first walked into this room, I’d assumed it was just an ordinary office full of workers from a large cross-range of society. Now I realized it wasn’t. It was from a cross-range of criminals, and I very much didn’t belong.

  I took a pronounced swallow and pretended to be interested in my desk. “It doesn’t really matter. Nothing much,” I began.

  Alice snorted. “Something pretty bad, then? It can’t be murder; Vali never accepts murderers,” she said, her voice dropping down low. “But trust me, as an ex-cop, I’m well aware that there’s a full range of other heinous crimes out there. So put us out of our misery. What did you do to get in here with us?”

  I frowned as I stared from her to everybody else. I could feel their attention like drills driving into the back of my neck.

  “What did you do?” Alice asked through a growl. She reached just the right pitch, and it shook through me. She had been a police officer before coming here, after all.

  “Nothing, okay? Nothing. I stole a few things when I was a teenager, nothing big. No one ever got hurt. And I… I got so absorbed by this box—” I suddenly lost the ability to speak as the memory of that Norse box filled my mind. I could still see it, still feel it. And as its memory filled my senses long enough, I swore I could even hear it. “I got so obsessed with it, that I forgot about an injured friend. I forgot to get a first aid kit. It wasn’t too bad, though. It’s not like my friend was on death’s door—” I shook my head as guilt kindled in my gut. “That’s it. That’s all I did,” I said in a punchy tone, one brimm
ing with frustration and emotion.

  If I’d been paying attention to anyone other than myself, I would have realized that both Alice and Cassidy suddenly stiffened. I would have also heard the rather direct footfall behind me. I didn’t.

  “I have no idea why that asshole has me here, but I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  Someone cleared their throat. From the exact ominous tone of it, there was only one person it could be. Slowly, like a pig on a rotisserie, I turned. There he was right behind me. Franklin Saunders. Or, should I say, Vali.

  “Do you really have no idea what this asshole wants with you?” he questioned, voice neutral. Well, neutral on the face of it. But when you factored in his expression, his tone was about as deadly as a gun to your head.

  I was frozen to the spot, and it was from more than the way he was looking at me. It was from the reactions of everyone else. Seconds ago, Alice had seemed like the strongest woman I’d ever met. Now, she looked almost meek as she stared at her hands and pretended not to be interested.

  Quickly, I glanced around the rest of the room and saw everyone else was the same. Even Cassidy, who’d been bubbly and vivacious moments before, now looked completely withdrawn.

  Though I was mortified at the fact Vali had heard me ragging on him, a flare of anger licked at my gut.

  I wasn’t usually a courageous girl. I didn’t fight battles for other people. I kept my head down, kept quiet, and avoided trouble like the plague. Right now, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and glared back at him.

  I watched his eyes narrow. “Is that really all you did, Lily-white?” he questioned. He said Lilly White in the same way he always did – like it was a color, not a name: one uninterrupted string as opposed to two distinct words.

  Lily-white had been my grandmother’s favorite color. And as I thought of that, I thought of her. My gut clenched.

  “Aren’t you leaving out the most pertinent detail?” Vali continued. “Your grandmother?”

  I couldn’t tell, but he seemed to take a great deal of satisfaction in saying that – in pointing out I’d missed my grandmother’s own death. Though I’d had a heck of a lot to deal with over the past two days, my grief still sat under my shock and surprise. It was lodged hard in my chest like a pill I would never be able to swallow. Sure, I’d never gotten on with her. Sure, I’d been nothing more than a disappointment to her. But she was still dead. I’d passed up the opportunity to say goodbye and give her one more chance to change.

  Though ideally I wanted to continue glaring at him, I shifted my gaze, staring at my hands as I clutched them on the desk.

  From far off into the room, I heard people whisper. “What did she do?”

  My hackles rose, and I yanked my head up, glaring at him. “What did I do? Nothing. I failed to see her before she died. What the hell kind of crime is that? She never wanted to have anything to do with me. Struck me off the will. I was nothing more than a disappointment.” I rose from my chair. I was a smart girl. Or so I thought. And smart girls don’t try to intimidate gods of revenge. I couldn’t help myself, though. The frustration was getting too much for me. It had formed a knot in my gut, one that was twisting harder and harder, harder and harder. “So we didn’t play happy families. So I didn’t achieve her crippling, impossible expectations. You tell me where the hell the crime is in that, asshole?” I finished with a snap.

  Vali didn’t shout at me. Instead, he crossed his arms in his go-to intimidating move, and I could see just how much the fabric of his suit had to stretch to accommodate his biceps. “I suggest you start facing your sins instead of running from them.”

  “Facing my sins?” I practically shrieked. “What sins. Behind me are a bent cop and a kleptomaniac arsonist. And you think I’m in the same boat? I accepted a fricking job from my desperate employer rather than going to see my grandmother. I had no idea it would be the last night of her life. That’s not a crime. It’s a tragedy.” I wanted to keep my voice even. God did I want to keep it even. I couldn’t. On the word tragedy, it shook, stirring up all the emotions I’d been desperately trying to keep controlled until now.

  Vali’s eyes narrowed again, though I couldn’t exactly say it was in anger. “The arsonist and the bent cop are now your colleagues. And I suggest you make friends. With them, you’ll find the only redemption and comradeship you deserve. And don’t make light of your crimes, Lily-white. You didn’t simply fail to see your grandmother on her deathbed – you’re the reason she was killed in the first place.”

  Slap. It was the verbal equivalent of a slap. No, who was I kidding? It was the verbal equivalent of being sliced right through the heart.

  “What?” My voice came out in a throaty, harsh, shaking gasp. “How dare you suggest something like that. My grandmother was dying of emphysema. I was the reason she was killed?! She died of too many cigarettes.”

  “Your grandmother was killed because she was always taking the fall for your crimes. Either conscious or unconscious.” His voice dropped low in such a rattling growl, it was a surprise the floor didn’t shake.

  “What? How dare you say that. You’re- you’re a monster,” I said, the only words I could manage through the choking gasp that shook through my throat.

  Just for a second – just for a single second, I thought I saw his expression change. I thought I saw the anger and righteous indignation that was the hallmark of his personality slip. And as it shifted, I saw someone I recognized. Franklin Saunders from last night.

  The second didn’t last.

  Vali returned as he took a strong step toward me. “Incorrect. I am the god who shepherds monsters. Lily-white,” his voice did it again – sinking right through the earth, “you are the monster. Now come with me.”

  When I didn’t move – when I stood there, frozen in shock and indignation – he reached forward and locked a hand on my shoulder.

  The threat was clear. Or maybe it wasn’t a threat. Because momentarily, his touch seemed soft, almost inviting. Again, the second didn’t last.

  Before I could erupt – not that there was much I could do against the god of revenge – with one hand still on my shoulder he inclined his head toward the door. “Come with me.” His tone was pregnant with warning. Obviously, he could see my red-bellied rage.

  Something stopped me from screaming at the guy, and/or trying to kick him in the shins.

  Instead, face hot with anger and just a little shame, I followed him out.

  If all eyes had been on me before, it was absolutely nothing compared to the attention I was drawing now.

  I may have just insulted Alice and Cassidy, but they didn’t look angry – just awed. I got the sudden impression that Vali didn’t come and pay house visits to just any criminal under his command.

  I managed to hold it together until we were out into the corridor, but my fuse was progressively burning shorter and shorter. As soon as the door closed behind me, I let rip, with more than words. Though I really wanted to control my expression, I couldn’t. It cracked up like a melting glacier. “I don’t know where you get off. But suggesting I got my grandmother killed – do you actually have a heart in that chest? Or are you just some kind of uncaring robot?”

  From experience, I knew that anything I said could not affect Vali. And yet, as I accused him of not having a heart, his face stiffened. I watched his cheeks pale. “I have a heart, Lily-white. I am simply careful who I show it to,” he said. His words didn’t punch out with echoing, ringing snaps. No. They were slow, cautious, careful.

  And then I saw it in his eyes once more. That specific look that reminded me not of the cold god of revenge, but the man who’d picked me up so caringly after my fight last night.

  That curiosity alone was enough to stem my anger. For like half a second. “Why would you even suggest that I got my grandmother killed? Anyone with a phone would be able to look up her obituary. She never looked after her health. She had a lot of money, just no sense—” I began.

  I wasn’t provided
the opportunity to finish my bitter statement. Vali took a quick, snapped step in. “Do not speak ill of the dead. Especially when they are your family. This is a lesson you have yet to learn, Lily-white, but one you must if you are to ever pay for your sins. Loyalty and trust are all that matter.” His voice took on an almost godly ring, echoing like a strike of lightning on the word loyalty.

  I’d only known this man for two days, but this interaction was enough to prove that loyalty was clearly the most important thing to him.

  “It is the truth, though you cannot appreciate it and maybe never will – but your grandmother sacrificed her life, her health, to keep you safe.”

  I wanted to point out that what he was saying was utter madness. I wanted to thrust forward and slap him. But more than anything, I wanted to run away. Go home. Fall to sleep, wake up from this brutal nightmare. Instead, I just stood there, broken and tired. So very tired.

  Briefly, Vali looked almost compassionate, but then that compassion disappeared as his jaw stiffened. “Tonight, once you have finished your first caseload, you will meet me in my office. You will dress elegantly. And you will accompany me to a function.”

  “What? What kind of function? And why do you want me? And what the hell did you mean about my grandmother?” I lost it again, voice tightening with emotion as I tried to dismiss what he’d said. Uncomfortable memories suddenly came to mind. Back when I’d been a teenager, after I’d been dragged in by the police for stealing, my grandmother had sat me down. I could still remember the tea she’d served, the roaring crackle of the fire in her sitting room. Even the damn sickly scent of the perfume she always wore. More than anything, I could remember her expression. She’d stared at me with such utter disappointment. I’d just nicked some shitty, worthless costume jewelry from a friend. Something I’d stolen for the thrill of it. But in her eyes, I might as well have attacked her. The way she’d looked at me, the harsh, acerbic words that had spilled from her stiff lips – they’d been totally out of proportion to the crime.

  “The function is at nine PM. You will be in my office at eight. Do you understand?” Vali continued.

  Pushing the memory from my mind and shaking my head, I returned my full attention to him. “Why exactly do you need me to come to this function? Why can’t you take your secretary?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “What the hell did you mean about my grandmother?” I asked once more. I was starting to lose it. As uncomfortable memories flooded back in, I was beginning to feel something I’d pushed away, something I couldn’t afford to feel right now – total grief.

  I fought and fought against the tears threatening to well in my eyes.

  “Megan is not suited to this task. You are. And considering you still have not accepted your folly, you will have to work even harder to pay off your sins.”

  “Bullshit,” I spat under my breath.

  He stiffened.

  “You need me to do something. Some task. This has nothing to do with my sins. This is to do with those symbols. My magic,” I began.

  I didn’t get the opportunity to finish. Vali took a sudden, strong, quick step toward me.

  I almost had to flatten myself against the door. He did not, however, proceed to strike me or harm me in any way. He stared at me with the totality of his icy gaze. And that, coming from a god of revenge, was saying something. I couldn’t move as I stared at him.

  “Never forget what I told you. You will tell nobody of those symbols. No one of your magic. And you will never, ever,” he began.

  I pulled up my bangles and stared at them. “I’ll never take these off unless I get a direct order from you, unless I’m in your presence,” I finished his statement, voice dull. It was dull, because I was suddenly completely taken by his expression. Vali usually looked strong – impossibly strong, because he was a frigging Nordic god and not a real human. Right now? Right now he looked weak. Vulnerable. Searching.

  It was enough to still my anger, to turn the anxiety that always shot down my spine into curiosity.

  Slowly, he nodded. “Only in my presence,” he continued, voice so low it was a hushed whisper. “Now, return to work. And I suggest when you do, you apologize to Alice and Cassidy. Whether you appreciate this now or not, the people in there are your only family. Turn your back on them, and you will truly be alone.”

  I shivered. I didn’t stop watching him, though. The curiosity that had been ignited by his strange reaction could not be dulled. If you’d asked me two days ago, I would’ve told you that Vali could not feel emotion. Nothing could scare him. He was nothing more than a brute. An automaton – an uncaring, unfeeling god. So what was the look in his eye? And why was he staring at me like this?

  “8 o’clock,” he said with a snap as he turned and walked off, steps strident, the powerful, in-control god back.

  But now I’d seen his single moment of searching vulnerability, I couldn’t unsee it. It was there, there in the way his shoulders were slightly hunched. There in the way his steps were slower than usual, his legs stiff with tension.

  In the past, I’d never done well with situations that unfolded quickly. I was exactly the kind of girl you didn’t bring to an emergency. It wasn’t that I was slow, and I could be pretty quick on my feet when the situation dictated. It was just that it took me a long time to process things. A long time to figure out what something truly meant. And as Vali disappeared out of sight down the corridor, I realized it was going to take a heck of a lot more than one night to plumb the depths of his secrets.

  Slowly, almost in a daze, I turned around and walked back into the room. Everyone had been chatting excitedly before, but now the entire room grew into a sharp silence.

  I felt everyone’s gazes on me once more, but this time they were different. There was an edge to their curiosity.

  As for Cassidy and Alice, they both appeared to ignore me as I sat down.

  While Cassidy looked dejected, I could tell Alice was fuming. A second later, she snapped toward me, twisting her head and snarling. “The only way this unit can get along is if we don’t judge each other. You may think I’m nothing because I’m a bent cop, and Cassidy doesn’t deserve your respect because she burnt down a few houses. But getting someone killed—” Alice didn’t even finish her sentence. She just snapped her head back around, grabbed some papers off her desk, and began to read them.

  I felt cold and a little sick as I sat there.

  Cold, sick, confused, and curious. I was now coming to terms with the fact my life would never be the same again. I still, however, had no idea what would lie in store for me next.