Cat Adams - Demon Song

She sighed like she agreed with me but had to present the official viewpoint. “Except it’s not just you. Once Queen Lopaka sent that letter to the governor saying that you were certified royalty and he made that press statement about how proud he was to have a royal who was a citizen of California … It’s only a matter of time before there are official state visits or before other powerful magical visitors come to see you. That’s going to put an extra strain on our department. How can we protect the citizens if visitors can run mentally roughshod over our people?”

Fuck a duck. Lopaka and the governor? Jeez, I really did need to start reading the newspapers. I was surprised there weren’t a dozen reporters sticking mics in my face when I went outside. “When did all that happen?”

Now she looked surprised. It softened the lines on her face and made her look more like the Alex I remembered. The semifriend. “Have you been living in a cave? The only reason the press isn’t on your doorstop is you’re not the flavor of the week this week. There are other people with siren blood in California—both male and female—but not all of them have the ability to manipulate minds. Right now, the press hasn’t quite figured that out.”

Ah. Now I got it. “And without charms, none of your guys are willing to tell the press about me for fear I’ll retaliate. Is that it?” She had the decency to blush slightly. She covered it well, but I knew it bugged her. “Y’know, I can’t see any wins for me in this situation, Alex. There’s no way to know if a charm made with samples from me would be effective against other sirens, even if the department witch added extra oomph. If I give you DNA to make charms, then cops who already don’t like me will go public or use them for God knows what. The press will hound me and I won’t be able to do my job. What’s my incentive?”

She shrugged slender shoulders and flipped her short blonde hair just as I heard a click. It sounded just like the little digital recorder I used for keeping notes. She was taping our conversation? Okay, that’s a total violation of multiple laws. But all of a sudden she relaxed into her chair and let out a snort. Apparently with the taping done, she could now be open about her own opinion of the department decree. “Precisely. I tried to tell them you weren’t stupid and would figure that out. But I said I would try. And I have. I’d do exactly what you did and refuse. It’s ridiculous. Our own department witch couldn’t give any opinion about the charm’s effectiveness. She said we’d just have to try it and see. But she didn’t like the idea, either. Too risky, she said.”

“You know I could sue the department, and you, for taping this without permission?”

She nodded but didn’t say anything out loud—probably thinking I’d been doing the same thing. I wasn’t but should have been, damn it. “As a favor, I would appreciate a formal refusal … on the record.” She put her hand back in her pocket. “Ready?”

I held up a hand. “Wait. Let’s talk this out for a second.” This might be a golden opportunity for some backroom dealing. I needed to tell someone official what was going on at the prison. Yes, Jones might take care of it, or his company might have been the cause of it. Tough to tell with shadowy government organizations. “I agree that the police should be immune to mental manipulation—even from me. That just makes sense. And I know people who would know what kind of charm would be effective against all sirens. What I’m leery about is giving the samples and how we can be absolutely positive that that’s all they’re used for. And frankly, I have a problem that you might be able to solve … or at least help solve. So, I’ll make you a deal.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she nodded. “I’m listening.”

“The trick is that I can’t tell you everything about my problem without involving other people who don’t want to be involved.”

A second nod. “Still listening. Not liking, but listening.”

“First, let’s put the device on the desk, where we can both see that I’m not about to make an ‘open-mic gaffe.’ ”

The slim silver and black recorder was on the desk in moments. It was a tape unit, rather than digital. Not a big surprise. A lot of cops were back to using tapes after a recent case in Michigan where a digital recording had been altered by a simple spell. It had been good for the local economy. The tape-manufacturing plant at the edge of town that had closed in the nineties was back open and working three shifts to supply the sudden demand.

The tape wasn’t moving, but just to be safe Alex took out the microcassette and set it on the desk next to the unit. I took a deep breath and let it out slow as she reached for the red and silver can in front of her and took a long drink.

“There’s a demonic presence possessing guards and prisoners out at the zoo. I want the police to get some priests out there to cleanse the place before it spreads.”

Apparently, this bore no relation to whatever she’d thought I was going to say. Her eyes went wide and she spewed a mouthful of cola across my desk. I managed to scoot back fast to keep the spray off of my shirt. I grabbed tissues and started to clean spit and soda off the polished wood—and the tape and tape recorder. Her coughing fit would have made me laugh in other circumstances. Not today. Finally Alex got control of herself and said, “Excuse me? Why do you think that?”

I leaned back in my chair, my head swimming. So many things I couldn’t say. “That’s the part I can’t tell you about. What I can say is that it showed on a detector and I confirmed it visually.” I held up my hands helplessly and stared into her wide green eyes. I knew I was asking for a lot. For a local police detective to question a state facility was bucking ten levels of protocol. Yes, I could call one of the warrior-priest organizations, but I’d be put on a list to check it out . A request from Alex would go to the top of the pile. “I’m afraid you’ll have to trust me on this. You know I wouldn’t ask unless I felt it was important.”

She began to tap her fingers on the desk. I didn’t realize she chewed her nails. I’d never noticed before. But they were down to bleeding on some fingers. She looked troubled. I needed to convince her, but how?

“Wait! Vicki was there, too. Would you do it if she confirmed it?”

Alex’s whole face brightened. It was well established in law that ghosts couldn’t lie.

Alex looked up. Her voice dropped to a reverent whisper. “Vick? You there, hon?”

There was no response. No chilling of the room, no breeze moving my hair. I was sorry but not surprised. “She was pretty tired. Did she visit you at all yesterday?”

Alex nodded. “She showed up right at dusk and listened while I ranted about my day. It’s not … not like it used to be, but it’s something. She left suddenly. I presume because you called?” There was a pain in her voice that I was powerless to remove. I didn’t know why Vicki would choose being with me in a crisis over being with her hurt and lonely lover. The siren queens claim Vicki’s my spirit guardian. I don’t know about that. I do know our friendship was strong enough to survive the grave. That’s enough in my book.

“She’ll probably be back later today. You can ask her then, when I can’t give her any hints. If it checks out, will you go?”

“That’s your only condition? You’ll give the samples if I do it?”

Now it was my turn to tap fingers. “I’d still like to check out what the charm needs to do … and not do. And I want guarantees there’ll be precautions against the samples being misused. But by tomorrow we should both know. Deal?”