Free Adamant by Emma L. Adams

Bloodrock.
    “He’s always had odd interests,” said Ellen.
    “How long have you worked here?” I asked, out of curiosity.
    “Two years,” she said. “It’s going to be weird without Clark here.”
    “It is,” said Markos. “He was a good guy. Not that I’d normally say that about a human, but he was.”
    It felt like I trespassed on a stranger’s funeral. I’d been here only a day. I hadn’t known Mr Clark, at all. And yet the image of the strange file on bloodrock was never far from the back of my mind. No—I was being paranoid. His death had nothing to do with that. Right?
    But it didn’t take a genius to see the wrongness screaming out from the whole situation. Even the police’s interrogations were directed solely at people in the building. No one seemed to take into account the girl who’d broken into Central last night. I hadn’t seen her face, but like the bloodrock file, it kept coming back to me. I guessed the file was back in Clark’s office, and it took all my willpower not to pace in that direction to have a look.
    Paranoia. Just paranoia.
    Someone rapped on the door, making Lenny jump.
    “Are you admin?” A fair-haired man opened the door. His name badge identified him as Alan Gregory.
    “Yeah,” said Markos. “You know that, Alan. I’m the only centaur in the building.”
    “All right, just checking. Your new supervisor’s been assigned. One Ms Danica Weston.”
    Markos’s face pinched inwards. “Ouch.”
    “I wouldn’t say that in front of her,” said Alan, withdrawing. “Best of luck.”
    “Well, that sounds encouraging,” said Ellen. “Weston… crap. She’s not from this department.”
    “She’s transferring over from the Law Division,” said Markos, forehead creased in a frown. “I’ve never heard of that happening before.”
    “Well, what’s she like?” I asked, seeing as Lenny didn’t seem inclined to ask the obvious question.
    Before anyone could answer, Alan opened the door again. “By the way,” he said, “the Law Division has sent out an official announcement. As of today, all patrols have new privileges, approved by the police… to arrest and apprehend anyone they find acting suspiciously in or around the Passages.”
    “Wait, what?” said Markos.
    “What I said. Who has a patrol today?”
    “I do,” I said. “They’re giving us permission to arrest people?”
    “So it would seem,” said Alan. “Good luck.”
    “Well, damn,” I said. Okay, I’d been through the drill a hundred times at the Academy, but this had got serious fast. I’d never thought I’d have the authority to make arrests on my second day at Central.
    Alan left, and I turned and saw Markos smirking at me. “What?” I said.
    “Nothing,” he said. “I just find this amusing. You look so thrilled to be playing at law enforcement.”
    “Ecstatic,” I said. I was fully aware of the irony, though there was no reason for the centaur to know I’d been arrested twice before. My record was clean, thanks to the Academy, who’d decided it was in the Alliance’s interests if the rest of the world didn’t find out it had been the youngest Walker who’d burned down the family estate. Besides, murder was a tad more serious than that brief spell of delinquency when I was sixteen. Markos’s questioning had lasted three times longer than mine had. He’d spent the past hour muttering about ‘bloody suspicious humans’.
    “I wouldn’t think you’re off the hook,” said a voice from behind a filing cabinet. I recognised it as Aric’s.
    “What’re you doing back there?” Markos said. “Eavesdropping?”
    “It’s a creepy habit of his,” I said.
    “Doing my job.” Aric’s face appeared around the corner, levelled in a glare. “Getting the office ready for our new boss.”
    “I thought we weren’t allowed back in the office,” said Ellen, putting her phone away.
    “We are now,” said Aric, with an air of superiority. “Which you’d know if you weren’t