Free Blood Bonds by Adrienne Wilder Page B

“Lead the way, Detective. Lead the way.”

Chapter 6
     
    Detective Bauer gave Haley the stats on the detainee as they walked down the stairs and across the underground breezeway connecting the CFKR building and the Atlanta PD.
    “His name is Creyal. Young, fifty years tops. Vice has been working tips on a new gang that just moved into the city.”
    “What’s the name?” Names said a lot about a gang. Like whether or not they were Folk, Kin and what they were involved with. Faeries usually specialized in weapons (technological and magical), plant extracts, and sometimes endangered beasts or their parts. Kin usually dealt with illegal flesh trading, domestic slavery, and drugs. There wasn’t much Haley could do about Folk because they were free Agents. However, Kin could be pressured by involving the Queen. More than likely, Medan was the biggest source of illegal activity, but she liked to keep that kind of business at an arm’s length. If the problem people started attracting attention to her club, she usually made them disappear.
    And that train didn’t have a return track.
    “No name,” Bauer said.
    That was unusual.
    They came to the stairwell. Bauer pushed the door open and held it for Haley.
    They headed down the stairs. He said, “We think they may be involved with a new kind of drug trade.” At the next door leading into the Tank, he paused and pulled a vial from his pocket.
    Haley took it and held it up to the light. The contents looked like liquefied gold.
    “Temporal fluid?” That’s what it looked like to her. She’d seen enough of the stuff from her own temporal glands. She used it to Roll Farley when they
fed
. It opened the lines for metaphysical contact. Farley wasn’t strong enough to endure the exchange without it.
    “That’s what the lab boys thought until they tested it.” Bauer pushed the door open.
    “What is it then?”
    “A synthetic.” Bauer shrugged. “Seems like it’s close enough to the real deal to give the desired high.”
    With Humans everything was a “high”. The effects of metaphysics or Alchemy were rarely as simple as a “high.”
    Haley said, “Uh, temporal fluid doesn’t make you high. Not like your normal street crud.”
    “Then what do they use it for? They’re obviously injecting it intravenously. That Kin down there has track marks all over his arms.”
    If he wasn’t healing needle holes, it meant Alchemy was involved.
    Haley tried to think of an explanation she could give in thirty seconds and wouldn’t break about fifty Human sensitivity rules. “It’s the atom bomb of Viagra.”
    There. That should do it.
    Bauer’s eyebrows collided between his eyes and he looked at the vial like it was kiddy porn.
    “Okay, that’s not the best of explanations.”
    “You want to try again?” he asked.
    “Not really. ‘Cause no matter how I try to say it, you’re going to get that same look on your face.”
    As they headed into the Tank, the walls became a dark olive green. It wasn’t a pleasant color, but it didn’t show ichor stains.
    Interrogation Room Six was on the right. A tall skinny lawyer stood near the door, screaming hysterically, while stuffing wads of Kleenex up his nose in an attempt to stop the red geyser in the middle of his face. Two uniforms stood by looking concerned but smelling like they were just a few steps from pissed off.
    Haley stepped up between the two cops and extended her hand at the screaming, bleeding pencil man. “I’m Agent Haley Night, with the CFKR.”
    The lawyer fell silent. It took him a moment, but he gave her his hand. She shook it, limp dish rag that it was.
    Haley motioned toward the room. “I hear you’re having a bit of a problem with your client? I’m here to help you with that.”
    The lawyer sputtered a moment then said, “He hit me!” His eyes went up to the two uniforms. “And they won’t arrest him. I want to press charges. I want them to do something about it, and they keep telling me it was