Page 54 of Old Secrets

“Well, that’s a little different. Fenerec can get old, but that’s skirting on the ridiculous. It explains a lot about your aging, though. How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

“None. Greenwich killed them all.”

Charles Desmond huffed, and he puffed, and if I left him alone to his huffing and puffing, he might work his way up to blowing something down—or someone up. “Even more reason to make sure this outfit is destroyed, then. If your parents like children, we can bring them out here and let them see a bunch of our puppies. And if they decide to have another litter, they can do so in my territory, where nobody is going to hurt them or their little ones. It’ll be trivial to get the Inquisition’s help with that.”

“I’ll let them know about your offer.”

“Do. At the very least, bring them my way so they can talk with someone older—not nearly as old as them, but old enough to understand how times change.”

“You believe they’re that old?”

“I do. When I was but a pup, we still had old things wandering the world. But they’ve all since died away or disappeared into legend and myth. It’s a way of life. I’ll leave you thinking about that for a while. I will get started on these photos. You should have them in an hour or two, and I’ll contact Mellisa to make sure you both have access to them. If you need anything else, give me a call.”

The enforcer hung up, and I considered my phone for a long time. Shrugging, I texted Mellisa with a warning that Charles Desmond would be hooking us up with his collection of photographs and that I was going to take a nap with my mate before the next phase of work began.

Without waiting for her reply, I crawled into bed with Jake, cuddled close, and wondered what might have been if only Greenwich hadn’t been involved with our lives.

Amelia woke us up through dumping us off the bed with some help from Bryce, who laughed at us.

Jake tried to burrow under the blankets and pillows, and I contemplated strangling my friend.

With a sly smile, the bitch said, “You’ve been down and out for fifteen hours. As you did some good work during the break, Mellisa thought you deserved some rest. She isn’t surprised you’re fatigued, but if you sleep much longer, you’ll screw your sleep schedule up. It’s morning, and you need to have breakfast. As I have some mercy, we brought it in here for you to have. We brought extra, as you two had devoured every scrap of your last meal.”

“Thanks. I’d only meant to close my eyes for a few minutes.” I stretched, yawned, and poked my mate. “We might have some work to do.”

“Tomorrow,” he mumbled.

As I was usually the one trying to avoid getting out of bed, I narrowed my eyes. “Are you not feeling well?”

“I’m fine, Karma. But unless the work is more than talk about how other people are going to do the work, I’d rather go back to bed.”

I chuckled, as once Jake woke up, he’d be eager to do a great deal in bed, none of which involved actual sleep. “Charles Desmond sent us some pictures. We might get to work through the examination of brutally murdered bodies and related evidence.”

That got my husband to come out from under the covers. “That sounds like actual work.”

“We’re the fighters for this jaunt, Jake. We will have to be patient until it’s time to fight, then we have guns and other weapons available to us. But if we want to get to the fighting, we have to deal with the rest of the work.”

Jake’s eyes flashed gold. “You have my attention.”

Amelia laughed. “You’re not the only one itching for a fight. Karma, your parents are pleased that you were sleeping on the job, as they wanted to avoid you seeing just what they were doing with those first two ghosts. It was pretty ugly. I wish I’d been uninvited to witness it.”

“What happened?” I demanded, getting up off the floor and helping the Fenerec restore the bed to rights.

“Your mother summoned the spirits, and your father bound them to a pair of komainu.” Amelia gulped. “You know those guardian statues we saw throughout Tokyo?”

“The dogs?” I asked.

“Yes, those. They’re called komainu in Japan, and as Aiko seemed to find their penance fitting and the Chinese delegation turned various shades of green upon seeing what your parents were up to, we’ve decided to go with the Japanese naming of them. Your parents have bound them to become komainu, and they have been given very specific directions on what they must do if they want any hope of restful slumber. It was presented as a single chance to balance their scales or be put through an eternity of suffering. The spirits believed them.”

I would, too. “All right. So, they animated these dog statues with their spirits?”

“Yes, that is correct. They were also questioned about Greenwich. That’s part of why you got to sleep through the night without anyone bothering you.”

“Were they involved?” Jake demanded, getting to his feet.

“We think so, but not directly. The Murphys were smart enough to know Normals couldn’t find out about them, and the Greenwich operatives who talked to them were Normals. From what we know, they’re all Normal. So, these operatives were asking questions about men and women who could become foxes. To avoid punishment, they went through our lineup of potential Greenwich operatives. We got a hit, and Inquisition operatives are making a move to bring them into custody. Well, some into custody. A few are being assassinated for their crimes, quietly and without remorse. The Murphys were able to provide unassailable proof of wrongdoing. They’re Normals, but they’re Normals working with Greenwich, and they were in a position to use weapons we do not wish any rogues to be using.”

While that went against my belief in a fair trial, I also understood why the Inquisition—or the government—might wish to act in such a way.