After that, she left quickly. I shot Morales a look. “What was that about?”
He slipped on his aviators. “No idea. She’s probably just tired.”
I knew bullshit when I smelled it, but blew it off. Probably Morales and Shadi had plans to go grab a beer or something and hadn’t invited me. Wouldn’t be the first time. I didn’t take it personally. Those two were pretty tight, and, besides, they never invited anyone else, either.
I glanced at Morales as we walked toward his car. Part of me wondered if those two had a thing going on. They never showed any romantic interest at work. Sure, they teased each other, but it always seemed more like two siblings giving each other shit than the way a couple teased each other.
“What?” my partner asked suddenly.
I jumped, guilty at having been caught staring. But, hell, I thought, might as well ask. “Are you two—you know?” I made a vaguely obscene gesture with my fingers.
He stopped walking so fast I was shocked he didn’t get whiplash. “What?”
I waved toward the building. “You and Shadi.”
Instead of answering, he threw back his head and brayed like the jackass he was. I crossed my arms and tried to ignore the heat searing my cheeks. When the laughter finally slowed into chuckles, he gasped for breath. “Jesus Christ, Prospero, that’s the best laugh I’ve had in weeks.” He swiped at his eyes, even though I knew he hadn’t laughed that hard.
“So no?” I snapped.
He stilled and cocked his head at my overly pissed-off tone. “Wait, you’re serious?” At my look, he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “You mean you had no idea Shadi bats for Team Sappho?”
“Fuck off. No she doesn’t!”
“You’re like the worst detective ever.” He shook his head sadly. “That woman sees more snatch than an ob-gyn.”
My face mashed up into a grimace. “Charming.”
He grinned. “No? I thought that was kind of clever, myself.”
“You would.”
“Anyway,” he said, clicking the button to open the SUV’s doors, “not that I’m not into lesbians or whatever—I mean, what heterosexual man isn’t?—but Shadi’s like my sister.”
I climbed into the passenger’s side. Bringing this topic up had been a huge mistake. “Got it,” I said, hoping he’d let it drop.
He buckled his seat belt and put the key in the ignition, shaking his head the whole time. “You’re a trip, Prospero. Me and Shadi. Ha!”
“I said I got it.”
“Besides,” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken, “dating a fellow cop is bad news.” He looked across the car at me. Something shifted in the atmosphere. “Right?”
“Of course,” I said quickly. “I was just making conversation.”
His gaze held mine for a few more seconds, like it was an interrogation and he wanted me to admit something. “Conversation,” he said, finally, “sure.”
“Just drive, jackass.”
Chapter Four
Morales pulled up in front of the building and stared at the facade. “Are you sure this is the right place?”
“Yep.” I set down the unhelpful incident report Eldritch had left us and pointed to a small brass plaque discreetly set beside the revolving doors.
“Temple of Cosmic Love?” Morales read. “Jesus.”
To the uninitiated, the sex magic temple looked like a typical Babylon office building. Four stories of brick and windows that looked like every other office building on the corner of Hope and Bleaker Streets. As it happened that corner was smack in the center of the border between Sanguinarian and Votary territories. That was because Aphrodite Johnson, among other things, was a shrewd strategist. Unlike the blood magic wizards and bathtub alchemists, s/he refused to choose sides in the street magic battles. S/he ensured the O Coven remained the sexy Switzerland of the dirty magic world. But even though the Hierophant kept the coven out of turf wars, that didn’t seem to stop her/m from creating enemies as if it were a hobby.
As I passed through the revolving door, I felt static in the air that indicated some sort of magic detection system was scanning us. It was like a metal detector, only it was trying to catch people bringing potions into the temple. Usually I was annoyed by such invasions. But this time I found myself enjoying the tingle of energy across my skin and the adrenaline surge from the contact with magic. Since neither of us was wearing a protection amulet, we passed through without incident. When I emerged from the doorway, I cleared my throat, hoping Morales wouldn’t notice the slight flush to my cheeks.
A security guard dressed in a sharp business suit met us by the front desk. “The Hierophant is expecting you in the garden,” he said.
“Our task force wizard will be arriving shortly to begin the forensics,” Morales said. “His name is Kichiri Ren.”
He nodded. “I’ll show him to the room where the potions were taken, and you can join him after you speak to Her Holiness.”
I glanced meaningfully at Morales, so he’d take note Aphrodite was presenting as female that morning.
As the guard walked away, I hung back to give my partner some last-minute advice. “Whatever you do, don’t touch anything while we’re out there.”
“That’s a good rule of thumb in most whorehouses, isn’t it?” Morales asked with a cocked brow.
“True,” I said, “but I was talking about her garden.” I used the feminine pronoun since we knew Aphrodite was presenting as female that day.
He paused and shot me a sardonic grin. “I definitely never touch whores’ gardens, Prospero.”
I gave up. He’d see what I meant soon enough, anyway. “Whatever. Just try to behave.”
A few moments later we stepped out into a large courtyard in the center of the building. According to local legend, this space had served as the setting for many an orgy for Babylon’s rich and famous, but it was also home to the madam’s famous collection of poisonous plants, which was famous in Cauldron lore.
Aphrodite herself stood at the rear of the courtyard, bathed in a shaft of sunlight. I was pretty sure she’d planned the position for effect. When we entered the courtyard, she looked up and flipped the long side of her hair back over her shoulder. The left half wore a formfitting red wiggle dress with red stiletto, while the right half wore half a collared shirt, slacks, and a single black wing tip. As she moved forward, she led with the left side and a femme fatale smile.