Accidental Surrogate

Sinclair

I growl down at the man before me, who is younger than I thought he would be, for one with

such power. He has thick black hair and a day’s worth of stubble on his thin cheeks. The man

glares up at me with dark, angry eyes and opens his mouth to speak but before he can, I slap him

– hard with an open palm.

–

The man gasps with surprise and pain, his eyes going wide as he stares down at the floor, and I

smirk. I doubt this man has been slapped anytime recently, if ever. He has the smug look of

someone used to being in charge.

But he’s in my house now.

“You’ll speak when we tell you to speak,” I growl, and then I turn to the head of my

–

reconnaissance team, who is standing against the wall, his hands on his knees, panting a little.

Craig isn’t a small man to see him so undone by the efforts suggests that this diminutive priest

is, indeed, powerful in other ways.

“How did you catch him?” I snap. Craig looks up at me and does his best to straighten up.

“We followed the leads, sir,” he replies, looking me in the eyes, “that we gleaned from the

conversation with the other priest, who wished to remain anonymous. They were…fruitful. We

found this one’s lair, for lack of a better word. It was actually in a sewer -in an abandoned

maintenance room. He was living there doing…” Craig hesitates and then shrugs. “Forgive me, Sir,

for the dramatic language, but ‘arcane magics‘ are the only words coming to my mind now. Lizard

skins…and and snail shells, in jars – he had a cauldron –”

“Thank you,” I say, interrupting and nodding towards the head of my investigative team. “You.

will give your details to Alastair, as soon as you can. For now, though I want everyone here for

the interrogation.” I lean forward towards the priest, who watches me with wary eyes and a

clenched jaw.

my voice and slowing my words, “will be

if need

man, then, by baring his teeth at me in a little

And then I step

my muscles are tensed, ready to rip this man’s head off. Roger steps in to take my

Roger commands, his arms crossed as he looks down at the man strapped

your people want with

too–wide expression that shows all of his

in his voice now. Roger stares at him blandly for a

standing behind the priest who whips forward a taser

places it swiftly against the

through the priest’s body, making him shriek and

it away quickly. The priest goes a little slack in his chair, panting.

the chair to get

with my

looks up at Roger again and just huffs a short, humorless

doesn’t matter,” the priest says, shaking his head and holding

smile growing on his face. “You

to laugh – really, truly laugh, as a crash of glass sounds and a scream

upstairs –

my heart stops as I recognize it, instantly,

Ella

rocking chair by

it always is – shushing him quietly as he falls asleep when

–

a little tapping sound at the glass of

it curiously, expecting a little bird

flooded me when I saw a black–masked face calmly tapping on my window,

as I

coming for him.”

–

so fast – the man pulled back his arm,

the window

should have

the hole he made with his fist, the rest of

of the window cracking

–

he hit the floor, only half an instant later, my instincts came back to me, and

rolling basinet behind me and

rocking chair away and back into the corner now, Rafe in

feet at the foot of the window. As he stands,

–

–

working their way up

fast

on his feet now, grinning at me, starting to prowl