All this time, I thought I’d been a good role model. I’d tried my damnedest to give Danny a happy life. But to hear he saw me as an unhappy person felt as if someone had let all the helium out of my balloon. Not to mention, it never occurred to me to think of magic as something I had a choice in using for good or bad. I’d struggled so much with leaving the coven behind that I’d had to convince myself that being near any magic at all was like exposing myself to poison. Back then it was a matter of self-preservation. Still was. And when I’d decided to become a cop I figured it was a way to balance the scales. Erase all the bad stuff I’d done back in the day. Never once had I considered using magic to make amends.
I shook myself. It was ridiculous. Yeah, some people used magic to help others, but my addiction to cooking had come from a selfish place, not an altruistic one. Besides, I did plenty of good as a cop.
“Yo, Prospero?” Morales’s voice called down the stairs.
“Yeah?”
“You got any beer in this joint?”
And with that, my brief existential crisis skidded to a halt. I didn’t have time for what-ifs or some noble, happy life filled with aiding the downtrodden. I had a raid to plan and a dick partner who sounded like he was going to riot if I didn’t make it Miller Time STAT.
* * *
My kitchen was cramped for a preraid strategy session, but we made do. The blueprints of the Arteries that Shadi scored were spread across the table and held in place by a beer can on each corner.
“Harry said that Bane keeps the stash near his throne room—here,” Morales was saying, pointing to the spot on the map. “Makes sense he’d want it close enough to monitor.”
“Looks simple enough,” Shadi said. “We’ll only have to go down a couple of branches of the tunnels to reach it.”
“Navigating won’t be the problem,” I said.
“What will be?” Mez asked.
“Getting to it before Bane’s Sentinels can destroy the evidence.”
“What’s a Sentinel?” Shadi asked.
“Bane’s blood fiends,” I said. “He pays for their loyalty with blood potions. One or two won’t be a big deal. But he’ll have several guarding the stash and more on the lookout for intruders.”
“Not to mention,” Morales added, “he might have some assholes hopped-up on Gray Wolf waiting for us.”
“Which means we’ll need major firepower,” I said.
“Not a problem.” Shadi smiled. “I’ll take lead on ammo and hardware.”
Morales turned to Mez. “And we’ll need you to bring some magical weapons, too.”
The wizard rubbed his hands together. “Excellent. I’ve been wanting to try this new potion bomb I developed. Causes paralysis and temporary blindness.”
“Remind me never to piss you off, Mez,” I said. He winked at me.
“All right, so the plan is to go in with the tactical wizards, make sure they have the main tunnel under control, and then split off to find Bane and his cache.”
“He’ll know we’re there the instant we breach the tunnel,” I warned. “Probably has an emergency escape route, too.”
“Eldritch will post cops at every exit. Gardner will make sure of it if Eldritch doesn’t.”
“And if he has a secret tunnel or something?” Shadi asked. “Do we chase?”
“Gardner said our goal is to find the stash. That way even if Bane slips away we’ll at least have the evidence we need to charge him.”
“Okay,” Morales said. “Shadi, let’s go over weapons.”
“Prospero?” she said. “You got any experience with assault rifles?”
I grimaced. “Yes.” My mind went back to that day at the academy where I managed to take out the lighting system on the target rig when recoil knocked me on my ass. “None of it good.”
“Really? Hmm. There’s really nothing like the kick of a Colt in your hands.”
“I’m more comfortable with a Glock and a salt flare.”
“We’ll have to work on that. Maybe hit the range together so I can give you some pointers.” She pursed her lips. “In the meantime, Morales and I will lead the charge. You two will have our backs. You with your Glock and Mez with his potions.”
I smiled. Not because I was looking forward to shooting anyone, but because her offer to take me to the range meant she considered me part of the team—one who might be sticking around for a while.
“Okay,” Morales said. “We’re supposed to meet up with Eldritch and the raid team at oh-nine-hundred. Shadi and Mez, go to the gym and make sure we have everything we need. Then try to get some sleep.”
They stood and gathered their things, chattering excitedly about how tomorrow we’d finally blow this case wide open. Morales, though, didn’t look excited as much as resigned. After Shadi and Mez left, he hung back a second. “I need to talk to you about something.”
I stuck my hands in my pockets. “What’s up?”
“I didn’t want to talk about this in front of everyone else because I know it’s a sensitive topic for you.”
I frowned. “Okay.”
“Defensive potions are required of all officers taking part in the raid.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he held up a hand.
“That’s handed down from both Gardner and Eldritch. No patch, no play.”
My shoulders drooped.
“I know how you feel about using magic, so I figured I’d talk to you about it now. If you throw a shit fit in front of Eldritch about it, Gardner will cut you from the case. Period. So make your decision now.”
“I’ll have my wand and salt flare, and I’ll be wearing a ballistics vest with salt slabs. Isn’t that enough?”
He shook his head. “This isn’t a traffic stop, Prospero. Raids are no joke. It’s going to be chaos down there and we can’t chance you getting hit with a potion from one of Bane’s people. If you go down, it’ll put all of us in danger.”
I knew he was right. If I got hit, he and the rest of the team would be too distracted trying to render aid to complete the mission. Also if I got separated from the team, they’d risk valuable minutes trying to locate me. So I couldn’t blame Gardner or Eldritch for requiring the potion for all the cops involved. But that left me with either sitting out and depriving my team of the extra manpower or compromising my principles for the job.