“It just doesn’t make sense,” Nestra complained. Nestra brushed her leg, which smarted something fierce, but a regen patch and good coffee were already helping her salvage her evening. Or at least it was trying. She eyed the person sitting in front of her warily. It was the gleam who’d first interrogated her after she’d found the mausoleum, a gray-eyed woman with short dark hair. Her name was Ashjay. Perhaps she’d introduced herself the last time and Nestra had forgotten, or she hadn’t because she was being a bitch. Ashjay was with the Special Crimes division; the department that dealt with users who’d gone bad. Really bad. She was also a fairly strong C-rank metal mage, from her aura. Probably with raiding experience. The last time they’d faced each other, the haughty gleam had complained she wasn’t showing enough respect, but for now the gleam was just being weirdly helpful. It set Nestra’s teeth on edge. “I agree, it doesn’t make sense. Their chances of success were simply too low.” “Right? Between the plethora of cameras and the vicinity of, what, three guild headquarters?” “Only one around, actually. I agree with the logic, however. Even with their obvious preparations, a successful escape would have required the sort of gear and abilities only powerful users backed by technology could have achieved. When you managed to steer the limo away, they should have known their attempt would have been doomed. The fact they were pinched by your aunt… well, it was certainly more timely than the squad that was en-route, but it only accelerated the inevitable.” “So rescue was already on the way, right?” “I get in. You stay here.” It took five minutes for Aunt Claire to finish checking everything, and it must have been thorough because a B-class could move and perceive at absurd speeds. “No signs of, well, anything,” Claire reported. She was still wearing her armor and she was still on full alert, but Nestra breathed a sigh of relief. If the killer had gone in, had touched her stuff, she would have never felt safe in this place again. “Ok, I’ll go grab my stuff.” Nestra did hurry. When she walked down with a small suitcase, Aunt Claire was standing at the landing. Her eyes shone weirdly in the dim light. Nestra couldn’t read her expressions very well. Worry, perhaps. Doubt. “Nestra, you have… a lot of food. Mana food. Are you okay? Should I be worried?” “Ah, it’s fine. Mana food is how I got around my cravings. I just have to eat more than the average D-class.” “Aaaand how do you… get it?” Nestra hesitated. In the end, she decided to go for truthful but not exhaustive. It worked best with old monsters like her. “I buy it, I swear. I can afford it, partly thanks to my severance pay and the Gidung thing. So, the guy I’m buying from might not be the most… on the level, but the quality is ok.” “You buy smuggled food?!” “Not smuggled, more like stored goods that should have been disposed of or are written off rather than sold. You’d be surprised, the amount of stuff people waste. Even mana food isn’t exempt. Discontinued items that didn’t sell, raw material reserved for parties that ended up unused etc etc.” “How very… illegal of you.” “There’s illegal and then there’s unethical. Besides, I’m just buying. What do I know?” Nestra asked, shrugging. That would be her legal position anyway. “I have no valid reasons to doubt their credentials.” “You are wilder than I expected, niece of mine. Alright, enough dallying, this open space is making me nervous.” “If it’s not fortified with brown mana, it’s an open space dearie. Let’s go.” “Wait, I want to drive my own car.” “Nuh huh. Absolutely not.” Nestra groaned. Caught in the compound with no way to leave? Well, there were automated taxis but fuck that, she had a damn pink cool car. “Then at least let me set it up so she follows us, ok?” “She, hmmm? I already inspected your ride, Nestra. Fine then. I’m coming with you to the garage.” It took only a minute for Nestra to find the right option in the AI menu, during which Aunt Claire kept complaining about Nestra’s choice in color. She was still salty about the whole affair. Once this was done, they walked out in the comfortable night air and Nestra locked the entire house down. Kim picked them up without issue. Nestra tried to ignore the car’s sway when Claire climbed in. Kim drove a large black spook SUV, probably given by her job. It still couldn’t handle the weight of Claire’s armor without tilting. “To the Palladian compound,” Kim declared. The ride was mostly silent but Nestra had to ask. “Is there any way for me to get involved in the case? Get access to the information?” “Only as a witness. You are Internal Affairs and on the bench after, arguably, an excellent performance. This is a high profile Special Crime Division case. You are neither qualified nor authorized to follow it.” “And what, Officer Palladian?” Kim asked, suddenly all business. “What are the chances I could at least have access to evidences such as interview transcripts in case there are elements I had not recognized at that time that might —” Nestra did. The officer sighed, then she turned a little abruptly. Nestra could practically hear her teeth grinding. “I will get you a curated selection of evidence that you might have a valuable opinion on in a secure, confidential location, under the provision that they remain strictly confidential. You will not be able to take anything with you.” “Works for me,” Nestra said, The rest of the ride was quiet. The gravel creaked under their tires when the two cars turned into the Palladian compound, gates opening in silence. Mana blossomed on the walls after they crossed the boundaries. It carried the scent of winter on it, with arctic blue mana floating down like a pale veil. “Mom’s work?” Nestra asked, though it wasn’t a question. “Powerful these days. Deborah’s getting back into it,” Claire mumbled. She sounded appreciative. Nestra bid farewell to Kim who promised to arrange things ‘within a couple of days’. The person waiting for them was not who she expected. He stood aloof, wearing a nice polo. One of the sleeves was empty, however, and bandages covered half of his face. “Ulysses? Riel, are you ok?” Nestra asked despite herself. Her brother gave half a smirk. He didn’t seem to be in pain. “It’s being regrown. Fei Alkan comes every day to fix it. She was my classmate, if you remember her.” “It’s, errr, been a while,” Nestra replied. Ulysses felt distant but not overtly hostile. More cold and calculating. But that might have just been her bias talking. “I’ve activated the barrier. All our security systems are active. I’ll stay there, and we have a couple reliable folks coming over.” “Have you contacted Debo and the old man?” Claire asked without warmth. She was looking around again, clearly eager to go out and seek prey. “Yes, of course. They are leaving the raid.” “I don’t want to bother them,” Nestra sullenly replied. “Maybe visit your mother more than once every decade?” Ulysses sweetly suggested. “Not like they were eager to see me. There is no rush now,” Nestra replied defensively. “Nestra, a gleam killer painted eyes on your fucking front door. Hector would have my molars on a platter if I didn’t warn him. Your mom would have been worse. Get in, settle in, and for the love of all that is holy, stay put or I’ll break a tibia,” Claire declared. Then she was gone. Disappeared with the wind. “Looks like I’m the guide now,” Ulysses said with a shrug. “I know how to find my way, thank you very much. I lived here? Remember?” “Oh so you know where you’re sleeping tonight?” Ulysses sweetly replied. Nestra fumed in her shoes. “Follow me. It happens to be your bedroom.” Nestra shook her head while Ulysses walked on with a spry step despite his injuries. He only turned once to give her stern glare. “Mom kept it mostly intact. Even changed the sheets herself, in case you returned.” “Yeah ok I’m feeling like an asshole, thanks. The kidnapping attempt wasn’t enough for you?” “Poor dear. I am more surprised that you would attract enough attention to make an actual enemy.” “I seem to get under the skin of major assholes, somehow.” The next glare told her she’d won that particular exchange. The duel was interrupted by an unexpected arbiter in the form of a squealing mass: Helena. “You’re back! You’re back! Is it for good?” “No, I just have a serial killer on my ass. Maybe.” Her little sister blinked. “That is sooooo wired.” “Is your history essay wired as well?” Achilles warned. “Back to your room. It’s due tomorrow. If mom and dad arrive before it’s done, your weekend is done for.” “Traitor!” Helena bemoaned as she retreated to her room. Nestra had a quick look. It seemed cleaner than last time. A good sign. “You are back for a few minutes and already so popular,” Achilles noted. “Well, I need to patrol a bit seeing as tonight has suddenly become very interesting. There are leftovers in the freezer, if needed. Help yourself.” He left. The last sentence almost sounded like concern. Nestra walked into her room with a feeling of surrealism. It was almost like the way she’d left it but… wrong. It smelled disused. The colors of her posters had faded. Her old paper books had yellowed. The mass of electronics piled in the corner had probably been dead for a long while, otherwise they were so completely out of date they as to be unusable. Her bed felt smaller, somehow. Too small. The worst was the smell. It wasn’t bad per se, only slightly dusty but… it wasn’t her. This was an old nest now, deserted for so long it had lost her imprint. Nestra dropped her bag on the bed, then sat down heavily. She was ready to sleep but first, there was some planning required. Now finally alone in the privacy of her old domain, she considered the three urgent tasks in front of her. It looked like her chill days of just raiding were over, and human Nestra was going to come out of retirement. The first and most obvious task was to find the killer and eliminate them. The first thing she did was call Sereth, who took a long time to pick up. She had to be sure of a few things first. “Sorry I was spending time with your friend Siobhan.” “Wait, you’re back together? I didn’t know.” “She only said she wanted some space, not that it was over between us. She’s decided that she didn’t care that I had horns so long as I was faithful. We have kissed while I was in my true form. It was a very novel experience!” “I’m genuinely glad for you two,” Nestra said, and found that she meant it. “So… am I bothering you right now?” “Oh no, she’s resting while I am preparing tomorrow’s slow roast. What was this about?” “Do you know the killer who’s after me?” There was a pause while Seth switched from goofy brother to ‘I will let you die if you do not perform’ brother. The compartmentalization was rather impressive. “Yes, though the term is misleading.” “Do they know what I am?” “But they might suspect?” “Can you at least tell me if it’s one or several people?” “So I do have a chance against them?” “And if they figure out what I am…” “As I told you before, my terms are clear. If I judge you were identified through your own carelessness, you will be forced to depart Threshold and lose your civilian identity. I will add that I am having a great time and I would love not to have to run as well, so you’d better not act in a manner unbefitting of an Aszhii. Yes?” “Ok, fine. I’m on their case then.” “Good luck, little Nezhra.” Nestra dropped her visor on her bed. Ok, so she did stand a chance, so it really was up to her. She would have to either direct the police to the killer, or killers for that matter, or slay them herself. The second option was looking quite attractive. What a good hunt that would be… Yes. Kim said she would keep her appraised so there was that. The rest would be up to demon detective Nestra. And demon detective Nestra could do things the police were not allowed to do, such as setting her human form up as bait… an idea to explore. She could also try to interrogate Teneru. Nestra doubted the extravagant artist would be the culprit — she simply didn’t have the manners of a killer. The way she moved was also too meek, too free. She didn’t breathe danger at all. It remained that she had a stone affinity, and the mausoleums were works of an artistic stone gleam. Perhaps they were working together. If not, Teneru might at least be her way into finding out the true identity of anonymous artists vying for Collective membership. It was a good lead, at least, and one the cops wouldn’t be all over for at least a while, so it was worth pursuing. So yeah, find the killer, kill them. Clear. Simple. The second issue was that she needed to be out to do that. Right now, House Palladian was closed like a clam and Aunt Claire patrolled the grounds. Nestra needed a way to leave. The issue was that she didn’t even know the extent of Aunt Claire’s abilities, not to mention that her mom would be even more competent at detecting stuff. Nestra was a prisoner. That would have to change. Perhaps Seth could help. Otherwise, she could wait a few days and try to get Ragnarok to help her. She knew masked gleams could get some goodies. The alternative was being shut in with her family. The horror. She didn’t even have her own kitchen. Hell, she didn’t even have her own bathroom! Unacceptable. The last issue was… actually it was maybe better if she stayed there for a while. Ashjay was going to dig into her recent past, try to find where she’d been and so on. Camera records of Nestra riding all over the city in her putacycleta would emerge and that was going to be problematic. Kim… wasn’t going to be happy.