I sat up straighter, glad to put the awkward meeting with the team behind me—for now.
“This is a trial run, not a permanent gig. You want that, you’ll have to prove you’ve got the chops to work at the MEA level. You can’t keep up—you’re out. You can’t follow orders—you’re out. Got it?”
I nodded.
“That said,” she continued, “this case is only the first in what I hope will be a long-term mission to rid Babylon of the dirty magic trade altogether.”
“Question,” I said. “Why did you agree to give me a try?”
“Honestly? There were a couple of other qualified Adepts on my list, but not one of them is related to Abraxas Prospero. None of them used to cook potions before they were old enough to read. And none of them have that hunger in their eyes.”
I tilted my head. “Hunger?”
“Desperation to prove yourself.”
My jaw dropped. “Screw you, lady.”
“You’ve got some balls, huh?” She smiled like I amused her. “That’s good because this job will test you on every level.” She crossed her arms and leaned back. “Judging from the high scores on your tests combined with the lack of promotions, I think it’s safe to assume you’ve had some issues at BPD because of your background.”
I nodded stiffly. “So?”
“So I want you to know that the BPD might not see the advantages of having an Adept on their squad, but I do. That’s why I convinced the MEA to set up this task force. To leverage the magical knowledge of Adept law enforcement officers to fight the dirty magic problem.”
I glanced at the door. “You mean, everyone’s—”
She shook her head. “Just Mez. And me,” she added almost as an afterthought, “but you already knew that. Shadi’s Mundane and Morales is a … special case.” I already knew who Morales was. I wanted to ask what was special about him besides his being an asshole, but I resisted. I assumed that Shadi was the chick, since she basically screamed Mundane. That meant I’d been right about the guy with the dreadlocks—Mez?—being a wizard.
“Does this mean you’re planning on recruiting more Adepts?”
She grimaced. “The MEA and BPD want to see what we can do with what we have for now.”
Translation: No more resources until we get some collars on the books.
“I’m surprised the MEA agreed to this at all. Most federal agencies refuse to even hire Adepts, except as lab geeks.”
“Well, it wasn’t easy.” Her dry tone implied she wasn’t just referring to how hard it was to get an Adept cop on her team. The fact she’d been able to work her way up to special agent in charge of an MEA task force spoke volumes about her own skills and tenacity. “Have you heard of Sun Tzu?” At my frown, she continued. “The Chinese military strategist. He wrote a book called The Art of War?”
My night-school degree hadn’t covered Chinese military strategy. I grimaced and shrugged.
She waved a hand. “Anyway, he said many smart things. One of which was, ‘If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.’”
I squinted at her. She watched me expectantly, so I smiled and nodded. “Right on.”
“The point is that Adepts understand how magic works better than any Mundane ever could. And you, Kate, you understand our enemies more than anyone else in this city.”
“I’m thrilled you are willing to give me a shot to prove that’s the case.”
“I hope you do. This task force is a sort of pilot program. If we have success, Eldritch agreed to give us more bodies for the team. Plus there’s a possibility the agency will create Adept teams for other hot spots—New York, Boston, LA. We may finally have a real chance to cripple the covens across the country.”
My pulse kicked up and pressure pushed down on my lungs. Suddenly this wasn’t just about my career ambitions or making enough overtime to buy Danny new sneakers. Gardner was talking flipping the script on the entire war on magic.
She slapped her palms on the desk, as if to dispel the heaviness that had settled over the room. “Now, since you’re on the team, you need to know that I only have two rules. First, no excuses. I’m not your mama so I don’t want to hear why you’re running late or that someone else is to blame for your fuckup.” She pointed to the sign on the desk to emphasize her point. “I discourage bullshit after five, too, just so we’re clear.”
“Understood.” I raised my chin.
“Second, we do things by the book here.”
I opened my mouth to tell her that wouldn’t be a problem, but she held up a hand.
“I’ve read your file, Kate. The fact you made it through the academy and came recommended by Eldritch goes a long way to make me ignore your past associations. But please understand: We solve crimes using police work. Mez is the official team wiz. You need a defense potion or evidence analyzed—you go through him. No magical shortcuts to get evidence and no cooking potions—dirty, clean, or in-between—period.” She looked up from the papers she’d been arranging into a neat stack. “No reading potions, either, Prospero.”
I cringed. She really had done her homework on me. Back in the day, I’d had a talent for reading a potion’s energy to figure out the ingredients and sometimes even the identity of its maker. But I could tell from the look in her eye it wasn’t any use trying to explain that I didn’t touch any magic at all anymore. She wouldn’t have believed me anyway.
“Do things by the book,” she continued, “or you’ll find the book thrown with great force at your ass. Am I clear?”
Transparent was more like it. I’d hoped for a fresh start on the task force, but it appeared that the specter of my past haunted this gym just as it had the precinct. Gardner might be an Adept, but she clearly wasn’t letting that shared trait soften her attitude. I didn’t point out to her that my jaded past was part of the reason she’d hired me in the first place.
I raised my chin because I’d danced this dance before. I knew all the right moves. “That won’t be a problem.”
A slow smile spread across her lipstick-free lips. “Good.” With that, she got out of her chair and flung open the office door. “Morales!”
A few seconds later the dick from earlier appeared in the doorway. He slid me a smirk before raising his brows at his boss. “What’s up?”