The blinds were made of thick, rolled up vinyl that was covered in dust and partially melted from constant sun exposure. When I pulled on the cord, all manner of gunk tumbled off of it. Chen and I were glad for our protective suits.

  “I feel like there’s some sort of OSHA violation going on here,” Chen said as light came streaming in through the uncovered window to reveal how dingy the place was.

  “That certainly is,” I joked, motioning to the dead body.

  Leaning close to the body, Lacroix spoke into a tape recorder. “We got a single, white male. Mid-to late twenties. Probable cause of death is penetration of the carotid artery through the neck. Wounds appear to be consistent with the struggle reported by eye-witness.” He stopped the recorder. “Chen what you think of his arm?”

  Chen rushed over. “Blunt force that broke his ulna. Must’ve been a heavy pan they were hitting him with.”

  With better light, I went over to take pictures of the blood trail once again, but then I noticed not only the broken glass from the bottle Nancy had said Kurt smashed, but the top end of the bottle with the jagged bottom. I focused my lens on the jagged section of the bottle to get a picture of a piece of cloth and more blood.

  “Detective?” I said, “I think Kurt got one of the assailants.”

  Lacroix rushed over to inspect. “Great work, newbie! Once you got your pictures, bag that up.” But, as I started to, he interjected, “Wait, what’s that label say? That’s some top shelf shit. Kurt strike you as a top shelf drinker?”

  I shrugged. Kurt’s clothes didn’t appear to be high quality aside from his shoes. Perhaps he liked to splurge.

  “Nevermind, bag it up.”

  I did as I was told, but I couldn’t stop thinking that there were at least three people hunting the Fae, and I had no way to contact Jack. My mother had told me that if the Fae were stabbed with iron, they would not heal from the wound. So, if Kurt had been a faerie, the wound he sustained would have killed him. Even though it was a big city, the bar was too close to our apartment for comfort. With the ring connecting us, anything that happened to Jack would happen to me as well.

  I went over to Chen to see if there was any wiggle room for me to leave. “My fiance was asking if I’d be able to get lunch with him today.”

  “Ooo, yeah, that’s not gonna happen. You’re all I’ve got today, so you’re gonna have to do more than take pictures. Sorry,” Chen said.

  I nodded, knowing where he was coming from. The slight problem was that I wasn’t actually a Forensic Photographer. I hadn’t studied forensics in school, I studied journalism and photography. The Fae had faked my credentials. Although I enjoyed science class, I was fairly certain I lacked skills that went with the job.

  Following the blood trail, I took shots up to the body. Then I got distance shots of the body, close-ups of the murder weapon, and specific trauma locations that Chen pointed out. Lacroix had me get some pictures of the bar, including the area Nancy hid in and the crack she looked through.

  “Doesn’t seem like this is related to the cult suicides, but this has its own can of worms. I want all the evidence in the van within the hour, especially that bottle. We can start testing the blood and fibers as soon as we get back to the station. The scene is secure, no need to wait for the boys to grab the body.” Lacroix said. Then he called over the radio, “Hey, Martin, can you get the street cam footage for the night and send it to the station?” Then as an aside to us, “Nancy said the cameras in here are just for show, but I left a message with the manager.”

  “Affirmative,” a voice responded that I assumed was Martin.

  At least Lacroix was incentivized to get the investigation over with as quickly as possible. Aside from catching a group of “homophobic” murderers, he had a vacation to get to. I collected the bags of glass and the bottle and went out into the heat. The plastic suit over my regular clothes caused me to become drenched in sweat as soon as I left the air conditioning of the bar, and the early morning heat was only getting started.

  Once I had secured the bottle in a bag in the van, I returned to find Chen tugging on the piece of rebar with both hands, his foot unceremoniously on the dead guy’s torso to give him leverage. While I was walking over to help, the rebar pulled free and Chen fell back into the bar stools.

  I gave him a hand up, which he accepted. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a lot of evidence to bag up in the area. The assailants hadn’t stuck around for a drink, so it was unlikely they left their fingerprints anywhere but the front door, and there would be so many prints on the door that it would be impossible to distinguish one from another. Our best evidence was on the bottle and the murder weapon, so Lacroix wanted us to head back to the station and get started on them immediately.

  My attempts at swapping with Chen to drive back to the station were rebuffed, so I endured the honking and cussing of every other driver on the road.. After unloading the van at the station, I went to the restroom to try to wipe off some of the sweat. I wondered how many outfits people went through on their usual workdays here or if they just endured the moisture as I was about to. In the restroom, I found a first aid kit, and wrapped my arm up, so I could lift my sleeves without garnering suspicion.

  By the time I was done uploading photos and printing them, the exhaustion from the night before set in. It was going to be a very long day. Chen assumed I would assist him in the lab, which was a less daunting task than I had initially thought it would be. He took my lack of experience as being new to their lab and not new to all labs. Luckily for me, he was a patient, thorough teacher. When I saw some of the evidence from the cult case, I wondered if I could sneak Lilith’s steel box into the rest, since I doubted she’d be returning.

  Chen had collected samples from the torn fabric on the glass. He got a positive match for blood and was waiting for more tests to generate results while checking the end of the rebar for any fibers or prints. Lacroix was watching the videos from the Bourbon Street cameras while I was doing my best to find all of the construction sites nearby that may have jagged metal out and about.

  “Damn,” Lacroix said from his computer. “At least we got their heights and builds, but they’re wearing hooded sweatshirts and masks like she said. They’re all wearing dark colors and I can’t see their shoes too well. Got cops all over the area tryin’ to find more witnesses. Chen, any luck on the blood from the bottle?”

  “It does not match the victim,” Chen said while walking into the adjoining room from the lab. “I’ve got a blood type, and I’m running it through the police database, but that’s a total crapshoot.”

  Just then, the officer from the front desk yelled, “O’Malley, you got a visitor. He brought food. Should I send him to the cafeteria?”

  “That fiance of yours again?” Chen asked. “Next time have him bring enough for all of us.”

  Relief washed over me, and my stomach growled. I was glad to hear Jack wasn’t getting himself into any trouble.

  “Al right, we been at this all morning, take your lunch breaks. We’ll reconvene at one. If we don’t have a suspect in here by supper, I’m callin’ everyone in. I’ve got fishin’ to do.” Lacroix stomped out of the room.

  “Hey Chen?” I asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “Which way’s the cafeteria?”

  Walking into the empty room with an orange tile floor and yellow tables, I expected to see a tall, pale Fae greeting me with beignets and a smoothie. Instead, there was a handsome, dark-skinned Fae with golden eyes and a smile that made me feel like a volcano was about to erupt in my chest.

  “What the hell are you doing here?!” My voice squeaked when I saw Maron, my ex.

  “Nice to see you too,” he said warmly. He had changed his hair slightly from when I had last seen him over a year ago. It was short but not buzzed, and his facial hair was sculpted into a clean beard. “I thought maybe if I brought you lunch, you wouldn’t turn me away immediately. Your favorite? Although, you should try the Po’Boys they have here.”

  He slid a steak-and-cheese across the table to tempt me. My arms were crossed over my chest. I wanted to leave but my stomach insisted otherwise. No matter how many times I insisted my stomach wasn’t the boss of me, I was always proven wrong.

  “Oh fine!” I took the seat across from him and noted that the police station didn’t waste money on comfort. I tore off the wrapper of the sandwich and bit off a piece too large for me to chew. With a full mouth I said, “You got until I’m done with this.”

  “Fair enough,” he said. “Rumors were floating around that you had come to New Orleans to solve a case for Jack Frost and not the Queen.”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  When he turned his head to the side, I could almost make out the outline of where his horns protruded. Even though the Fae were not able to charm me the way they could other humans, I still couldn’t see past their glamours entirely. I would get glimpses here and there of how they really looked underneath it all, but that was all.

  “That’s right,” I mumbled, dropping a piece of steak on my lap.

  Maron offered a napkin to me, still smiling. “And the case is over as far as the Queen is concerned, so why are you still here playing PI?”

  “I don’t see how it is any concern of yours,” I said while glaring at him.

  “Hailstorm…” he started.

  “Don’t call me that!” I interrupted. “You lost your right to use cute nicknames when you betrayed me.”

  “OK, Hailey, I’m so sorry for what happened. There’s nothing I can do to make up for it,” Maron said. There was a pained expression on his face.

  Rage filled me when I started to feel bad for him. “It’s been over a year, Maron. A year! You don’t even know me any more!”

  He put his hands up. “You’re right. I tried to let you move on, but this is important. You wouldn’t listen to me when I told you not to go to the Queen, and I know I have no right to tell you what to do, but please, stay away from Jack Frost. He’s dangerous. He’s killed humans before.”

  “We’re done here.” I stuffed the end of the sandwich into my mouth and stood up. I tried to say goodbye, but my mouth was too full.

  Maron gave me puppy-dog eyes and said, “Hailey, I still care about you. Whatever’s going on here, I can help.”

  I walked out of the room. My head was filling with memories and feelings I had no time to deal with. There was a case to solve if I wanted to get rid of the ring on my finger to say goodbye Jack, but there was no way I was going to tell Maron that. My feelings for Maron had rushed back when I saw him. I missed his voice, his touch, all the little things he used to do for me. But then the heartbreak of his betrayal washed over me like it was happening all over again.

  Before I realized it, tears were rolling down my cheeks. I had to get a handle on my emotions and get back to work. In the bathroom, I splashed water on my face. I finished swallowing the rest of the sub in my mouth. It was a really good sandwich.

  I studied my reflection. The bags under my eyes betrayed the lack of sleep and now they were red from crying. I could probably feign allergies if anyone asked. At least I didn’t have to worry about makeup smudging, since I only wore it on special occasions like what I thought would be the last night of my life.

  After smoothing back my ponytail in an attempt to appear passable, I returned to my desk. Chen was sitting across from it, drinking some sort of protein shake.

  “I don’t eat lunch,” he explained just as Lopes threw her belongings in the chair next to him.

  “I got called in,” she said. “Who’d you piss off to work Saturday on your first week?”

  “I asked her the same thing,” Chen said. “How was lunch with the fiancee?”

  “Um, well.” I didn’t see any point in making up more lies. “It wasn’t Jack.”

  “Who was it?”

  “My ex.” I said to the horrified expressions on both Chen and Lopes. They were now leaning to the edges of their seats.

  “Whaaaat? Why was he here?” Chen asked, rolling his chair closer to Lopes and me. “Did he follow you to New Orleans?”

  “I don’t really know. I haven’t seen him in a little over a year. It was a bad breakup,” I explained and for some reason it felt nice to talk about something almost normal to my coworkers.

  “Uh uh, honey, you gotta tell him to move right along,” Lopes said, “Trust me, I’ve been there. Never go back.”

  “Did he find out you’re engaged? You could always give him my number…” Chen said. After Lopes elbowed him he changed his tune. “You know I’m just kidding.”

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Lopes said, “O’Malley, you should come to my fiesta de cumpleanos. I’m turning an age. It’s tomorrow. Food, drink, games. I’ll text you the address. You can bring your fiance.” She took out her phone so we could exchange numbers. “Lots of people from work’ll be there, because I’m always here and it ruins all of my other relationships.” There was no hint of sarcasm in her remark.

  I contemplated going to the party. Even though I was trying to solve the cult case as quickly as possible, I was enjoying getting to know my coworkers. There was no reason not to stop by for a little while.

  Lacroix’s voice interrupted our work powwow causing Lopes and Chen to wheel their chairs back to their desks. “Lopes, you got called in to work, not gossip. Chen you got any more results?”

  “Oh, actually I did get something weird, on a whim I ran the blood on the bottle for lead and mercury and they came up positive for both,” he said.

  “Don’t like that,” Lacroix said.

  “Are you saying there could be a connection between this group and the cultists who are offing themselves?” Lopes asked.

  Chen shrugged.

  My mind filled with questions. Were the people hunting faeries cultists afterall? Maybe they found out faeries were trying to stop them? But how would they even know faeries existed?

  “That’s a stretch. More likely a contamination in the city. I’m gonna get the water department on the phone. Test the victim’s blood for it too, hell, maybe we should check ours?” Lacroix barked off orders and then went to his desk to make phone calls.

  At that moment I had a searing pain in my wrists. It was a burning sensation that caused me to nearly fall out of my chair. I was barely able to lean forward onto my desk and catch myself. Neither Lacroix nor Lopes were watching me at that moment, but my sudden movement caught Chen’s attention.

  “You OK, O’Malley?” he asked.

  “Uh, yeah,” I managed to get out. “IBS.” Then I rushed toward the bathroom again. It was a good excuse since I was becoming more familiar with the station’s bathroom than any other part of the department.

  On my way there, a blow to my side forced me into the wall. Then there was another on my arm and my legs. I couldn’t help but feel like I was being pulled by my wrists, but it wasn’t me, it was Jack. Wherever he was, he was being attacked, and by the burning sensation in my wrists, iron was involved. I had to get to him quickly, but I didn’t know where he was, and, as a typical faerie, he refused to keep a cellphone.

  The only clue was the mercury and lead poisoning. If the assailants were the same ones who had attacked the man at the bar with iron, then they might be connected to the cult. Another blow took the wind out of me, I knelt on the ground by the restroom door. Luckily no one was in the hallway to see me.

  It was a lot of assumptions, but the church was the most likely place. Jack knew about it, and may have gotten tired of waiting for me to get back from work. If he went there by himself and they knew iron was a weakness for the Fae, he could be in real trouble, which meant I was in real trouble.

  There was only one thing I could think to do. I needed someone who could get me there fast and preferably someone with a gun. I practically ran into the main room where Lacroix was glaring at the elevator music playing through the speaker of the phone on his desk.

  “Lacroix,” I said, “I need your help. Jack got mugged by someone near the church on Pirate’s Alley .”

  “Oh no!” Chen yelled from across the room. “Did he get hurt?”

  “Sorry to hear that, O’Malley, we can send an officer over to him, just tell Martin at the front,” Lacroix said.

  “He said the guy threatened him with a crazy looking knife that had a brass handle,” I said hoping it would be enough to convince Lacroix to go on his own.

  Lacroix didn’t say anything but hung up the phone and collected his gear.

  “Can I go with you?” I asked. “Jack said the person left already. He’s waiting in the church.”

  Lacroix crossed his arms over his chest but didn’t answer.

  “It’s her fiance,” Lopes chimed in.

  “I really want to make sure Jack’s OK,” I said, allowing my face to show the pain I was feeling in my wrists and limbs. For whatever reason, they had at least stopped beating on Jack for the time being.

  Lacroix sighed. “Fine, O’Malley’s with me, but you’re staying in the car until the scene is secured by me and the other officers. Chen and Lopes, keep working.”

  “Other officers?” I asked.

  “You think I’m the lone ranger or something?” Lacroix asked.

  On our way out, Lacroix explained the situation to Martin at the front desk. She called for another car to meet us at the scene. I wasn’t entirely sure what my plan was, but I had to find Jack fast. At least if uniformed officers disrupted the scene it would give Jack a chance to escape. Assuming we were going to the right place, we might even solve the cult case which would help me remove the ring. I didn’t want to think of what would happen if Jack wasn’t there or if we didn’t get to the church on time.