“Well, now this is a surprise,” Noah says as the four guardians look down from the roof on the crime scene below. “I didn’t think we’d have to deal so . . . directly with the incompetent police of this city.”

“Yeah, well, I call it a disaster,” Tyler frets, his hands clenching on the grip of the bow. “What do we do?”

“We turn disaster into information,” Cole replies calmly. “We need to get into that building and find out what happened. Without being noticed.”

Jacob’s lip lifts in disgust. “Are you kidding, Cole? Your calm and logical approach is why Eve is now arrested in the first place!”

Cole’s eyes narrow, both in anger and in regret. Tyler, in his usual animal form of a falcon, had arrived just as Eve was getting hauled into the SWAT van. Weaponless and naked, however, Tyler could do nothing but watch from the roof and listen as best he could until the other three arrived.

“Jacob, I was placed in charge of the group for this mission, and while I share your desire to charge after Eve, the simple fact is that we don’t know where she is now. Her scent will have dissipated, so unless you plan on methodically searching every possible detention facility in the city, we need information.”

Noah nods, shrugging off the bag that holds their weapons. Carefully stashing Tyler’s and Jacob’s weapons, the two transform into small birds before they take off, finding their way to an open window and making their way inside.

The two quiet as they fly down the stairwell and into the interrogation room. Taking spots on the wall, they observe the CSI team doing their jobs.

“So, you heard the story, right?” one tech asks the other as they dust for prints on the handcuff. “She just thought at the guy, and his head popped.”

“So, if she can just blow off dudes’ heads . . . you think it’s safe for her to be in the basement back at the 54th?” one CSI says. “I mean, what if she decides to just start popping heads like grapes?”

“The captain said it’s okay,” the other tech replies. “Those cells can hold a transformed shifter. Maybe they’ll bounce mental waves too or something. Me, though, I don’t trust it. I’m keeping my fucking distance.”

“Because of her or the captain?”

The one CSI chuckles. “Yeah, he looked pissed. I guess he’s got more invested in that little blowjob session the Mayor’s giving him than he wants to let on. Think we got everything we need?”

“For now, let’s get the coroner in here. Maybe he’ll be able to say how she did it.”

Tyler and Jacob, seeing that they don’t need any more information, leave the room. Neither of them says anything, although the anger coming off Jacob is palpable as they fly to the roof and transform. “She’s in a fucking cell.”

“It was the best assumption,” Cole replies, refusing to be baited. “Now we deal with it.”

“Deal with it?” Tyler asks angrily. Normally serving as a buffer between Jacob’s frivolity and Cole’s level-headed approach, it’s obvious his immediate attraction to Eve has him balancing on edge. “Cole, she is in danger! You know what humans do to those they fear!”

“Then set aside your own fear and focus on the now,” Cole says, cinching the belt on his jeans tight. His three friends were always difficult on missions, despite their ability to fight together almost seamlessly. Now, with Tyler’s personality more combustible . . . he doesn’t want that kind of headache. “Yes, I let Eve have some freedom. But that’s what the Fae are supposed to be, free, yes?”

“Yes, but we also don’t let children do what they want,” Noah rumbles, adjusting his boots. Noah’s always had little patience with those whom he feels are being ignorant, stupid, or just beneath him . . . and in Eve’s case, she was being two of the three, though it was understandable, given her situation. Aside from being a fraction of their age, this is all new to her.

Cole eyes Noah, then glances over the lip of the building. “Before we go . . . what did you see in there?”

The two squat down, each recalling what they could. “In the words of the fairy godmother, ‘Tinkerbell has been pretty busy,’” says Tyler. “That was a mess.”

“Busy? That’s like saying I’ve got a big cock . . . massive understatement,” Jacob jokes. It’s not a time for jokes, but Jacob has a knack for disguising his anger with a thin veil of snide sarcasm. “She had a fucking field day! If she’d been with us against the demon hounds, we could have brought some lunaberry tea and worked on our tans.”

“Are you done?” Tyler asks, still upset. “Stop fucking around. She’s in jail, and it’s our fault!”

Cole shakes his head, still thinking. “It has me worried. What you saw . . . we knew her powers could cause chaos, but this was . . .”

“Violent?” Noah asks, and Cole nods. “I feel the same. Even for a Fae warrior priestess, that sounds extreme.”

Jacob also nods. “She must be a level of power many magnitudes above anything seen in Lunaria in a long time.”

Cole nods, standing up and looking over the edge of the building as the coroner brings out the human’s body. Noah joins him, patting him on the shoulder. “Don’t trouble yourself, Cole. We all share blame. The human’s death is on our heads.”

“No, old friend,” Cole says, turning away. “Tyler and Jacob are right. I moved slowly . . . and now his death is on my hands.”

“So, what shall we do?”

“Pretty obvious,” Jacob says, adjusting the forearm sheaths for his knives. “I think it’s time we went to the police.”