A Stranger Revealed

I jumped on the back of one of the two horses outside the police headquarters and wondered what Julep meant about magic. As far as I was aware, the Magi were the only people that could do magic. I’d heard tales of magical, mysterious beings in far-off realms, but they were urban myths.

I followed Officer Julep silently apart from the clip-clop of our horse’s hooves, through the streets of the capital. I knew these streets well, but now they looked different. They were quiet, empty apart from an occasional guard. Every time we passed one, I held my breath, waiting for them to make me take my cloak hood down as Julep flashed her police badge.

None of them did. I guess the news I’d escaped hadn’t got out yet. It wasn’t these officers that bothered me as much as the guards at the borders to the capital. They wouldn’t be so complacent, and a police badge would mean nothing to them. Whatever magic Julep had in mind, I hoped it was good.

Once the exit out of the capital was in sight, Julep stopped. Beyond the city limits were endless fields and rolling hills. Perfect to run the horses, but before that, we had to pass a roadblock with two men at it. Two men with very large shotguns!

Officer Julep turned to me. “Follow behind me, keep your hood up and don’t say a word. Once we get past the border, head for the path between the hills as fast as you can. I happen to know these idiots. Neither can ride a horse very well.”

“I’m not sure I can either,” I replied nervously.

In front of me, I watched her from behind as she did something to her uniform. Her police hat came off and out of it tumbled the most luscious long dark hair.

When she turned to face me, I realized what her ‘magic’ was. She’d unbuttoned her top three buttons, showing just a hint of a bra, and put some lipstick on. She was breathtakingly beautiful and more than a little naughty looking. I blushed. I could never get away with something like that.

I arched my brows.

“I told you,” she offered a wry smile. “The two guys are idiots. Show them a bit of cleavage, and they’ll let you do anything. I’ve been smuggling people out this way for weeks.”

I could see the two men in the distance. They’d noticed us now, but instead of appearing friendly, I saw one of them bark something into his walkie-talkie.

I put my hand on Officer Julep’s shoulder to stop her going any further. “I don’t like this. Something feels off.”

“You’re right. They usually wave at me when they see me.”

The man with the walkie-talkie shouted something to the second guard, and both of them whipped out their shotguns and pointed them directly at us. Officer Julep turned her horse around and motioned me to do the same. I didn’t need telling twice. In a second we were off, galloping back into town. The guards had no chance of catching up with us, but we both knew something had changed. The only explanation for why the guards were going to shoot us is that they had heard of my escape. Luca must have finally gotten the word out. I’d compromised the police and put Officer Julep’s life in danger. At the police station, she told me to head back inside.

“It’s not safe for me here now,” she said, turning her horse around. “You’ll have to tell the chief what happened. You’ve got a bit of a head start, and he’ll be able to hide you. Between you, you’ll have to come up with some reason why I was at the border and more importantly why I fled.”

I jumped down from my horse and tied it up. Officer Julep remained on hers.

“What about you?” I asked the worry evident in my voice.

“I’ll find a way out of town. I have resources. It’s been too long since I went back to Ling anyway. Please tell the chief I’m sorry, and it was great working with him.”

A sudden thought struck me. She was heading for Ling which meant that she might be able to cross the border back into Silverwood at the southwest as I had planned to do. “If you can manage it, can you get a message to someone for me?”

“Sure thing. Just write it down fast. The guards will be here soon.”

I pulled out a piece of paper and jotted down the address Cynder had given me on it. As an afterthought, I sent a quick message to Seraphia via the talk stone. Seconds later an address was displayed. I copied it down quickly onto the paper and passed it to Officer Julep.

“Please go to the first address and tell them that if they need to, they can go to the second address. Tell them that Seraphia owns the house and will keep our secret. Tell a man called Cynder.”

“Got it! It’s been a pleasure Your Majesty.”

She grabbed the paper and then took off before I had time to thank her.

I turned and ran through the reception of the police headquarters not bothering to stop for the guard. I jumped the turnstile and hammered on the elevator call button.

Copper was surprised to see me as I burst into his office.

“What happened?”

I told him the full story, not bothering to pause for a breath. It was important that we think of an excuse before Luca’s men came to interrogate Copper. If they thought for a second that he was helping me, he’d be killed, and my own safety would be in jeopardy.

As if on cue, there was a hammering of knuckles on his door. Thank goodness, I’d thought to close it behind me.

In a panic, I dropped to the floor behind his desk just as the door opened.

“What is the meaning of this?” I heard Copper say. I was amazed at how calm and composed he sounded under the circumstances. I was even more surprised when I heard the voice of who it was that had come through the door.

“Why was I woken up by my men on the northeastern gate telling me that one of your officers was trying to get through with another person?” Luca drawled.

“Your Majesty, I’m sorry for your trouble, but I have no idea to what you refer. I’ve been here working all night. As far as I’m aware, all my officers are doing the job you set for them.”

“I didn’t ask for any of them to go to the northeastern border as well you know.” He sounded angry. “My men there tell me that this has been going on a while. An officer by the name of Julep has been helping people leave town.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t help you,” replied Copper smoothly. “Officer Julep has been assigned to finding Magi just like most of my other staff.”

“It seems to me that she has been doing the opposite.”

Copper scratched his nose. “I wonder why your men were letting her pass through if that is the case.”

Luca’s tone became harsher. “My men have been dealt with, and now I want to deal with your officer.”

“I’ll send her to you when she reports for work if you like.”

I grinned. Julep wasn’t going to be turning up for work and with Luca’s men at the northast border of the city disposed of, it meant she had a clear free run to get back to Ling.

“Why are you at your desk?” questioned Luca. “It’s a funny time to be working. It’s not even dawn yet.”

“I’ve been here all night,” replied Copper truthfully. It had been late when I first turned up. “You’ve given me so much work to do finding Magi that I thought I’d stay behind and catch up.”

I heard Luca shuffling his feet. I held my breath. If Luca didn’t believe Copper, we were all in trouble. I heard his footsteps walk toward the door.

“Just send me the girl when she turns up for work,” he warned before slamming the door behind him. I let out a long breath and waited where I was for a couple of minutes just in case he decided to come back.

“What now?” asked Chief Inspector Copper, helping me up from behind his desk.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “What do you think will happen when Officer Julep doesn’t show up?”

Copper sighed. “Beth Julep is one of my best officers. She’ll already be in Ling by now, or close to it. Luca will never find her. She’s way too smart for him. I’ll have to come up with some story to keep Luca off my back. My biggest concern right now is you. In a couple of hours, this station will be full of people. Many I would trust with my life, but some I’m not sure about.”

“I’ll leave!” I stated. I had no idea where I was going to go, but I didn’t want to put Copper in danger.

“You’ll do no such thing. Come with me.”

I followed him to a nondescript door. Unlike all the other doors in the place, this one didn’t have a sign on it. Copper brought out a bunch of keys and fitted one into the lock. Beyond the doors was a room filled with files. Shelves and shelves of them, all stacked neatly.

“These are our solved cases. By law, we have to keep the files on each case for three years. No one comes in here as I’m the one who signs off on each case. I’m the only one with a key and...” He pulled a key from his keychain “now so do you. I’ll bring a bed up and make sure food comes to you. It’s not a palace, but you can stay here as long as you need. It used to be an interview room before we got overwhelmed by files, so you’ll find a small bathroom near the back.”

I flung my arms around him. If anyone could keep me safe in the capital, it was Jason.

“Are you sure I’m not putting you in danger?”

Copper shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. You will need to keep quiet during the day though. If anyone suspects, we could all be in trouble. I’ll lock you in now and come back tonight to let you out.”

I grinned and stepped into the room. Copper locked the door behind me. Ten minutes later he gave me a shock by opening the door, but it was only to bring me food for the day.

“People are starting to come in to work now. I’ll bring you up a bed tonight.” He kissed my cheek and then was gone.

Being quiet was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I could hear all kinds of noise from the large operations room outside. Phones rang, people spoke, and I tiptoed around the room trying to come up with a way out of the mess I was in.

By the time Jason came back, I’d made a decision.

“How was it?” he asked as he opened the door. The smell of a warm meal wafted in.

“A bit boring,” I replied, taking the plate of meat and veggies from him gratefully. “But I’ve made up my mind about what we talked about earlier. If I can’t find a TV station down south, I’ll have to find one up here. I need you to find smaller news stations and newspapers. Ones that Pittser will think are too small to bother with. I’m going to tell them the truth.”

Copper shook his head thoughtfully. “Do you really think that will work? If we find a small publication that is willing to take the risk, who’s to say that anyone will even see it?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t spend the rest of my life locked in what is essentially a cupboard.”

Copper rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I hear you. I’m not sure if it will work, but I’ll look into it.”

I placed my plate on the desk and gave him another hug. Copper was turning into quite an ally. What I didn’t see as he hugged me back was the arrival of someone to the empty operations room. Someone who was watching us intently.