Page 265 of Sigils & Spells

I bit back a laugh. “Thanks, Norm.”

As he put the tray down on my desk, the three ceramic mugs rattled. Norm glanced at the file. “I see you’re busy. I’ll leave you to it.”

When the door clicked behind Norm, Gavin’s brow furrowed. “Who is that guy?”

“The janitor. Onyx hired him weeks ago.”

“Since when does a janitor deliver coffee?” asked Donovan.

“And how did he know how many mugs to bring?” added Gavin.

“Hey, stop complaining. I trust him. And, it’s free coffee,” I poured a cup and gave it to Gavin. “Norm has grown protective of me during the day, because the vampires are all resting. He keeps an eye on any visitors coming or going. It’s sweet, really.” Though I guessed he was paid to make reports to Onyx.

Gavin grunted.

“Take the coffee.” I handed him a cup. “Whatever’s in this file will be easier to face with caffeine.”

Gavin examined his mug. It was one of my favorites, with the wordsVampires Suckwritten in red text that dripped as if it were dipped in blood. A faint smile lightened his expression as he studied the slogan. He took a gulp. “Tell us about the Fang Hunter.”

Donovan groaned but didn’t refuse the coffee handed to him. It was a red mug, with a black silhouette of Dracula dancing across the words,The Fangdango.

I lifted my mug in a silent toast and took a sip. Pure heaven. Norm had been bringing me coffee every morning since he started working in the academy. We’d swap stories. He would tell me about the old days when he was an engineer on the trains, or of his many travels to the Arctic. Since one man couldn’t experience that much adventure in one lifetime, I doubted all his tales were true, but I didn’t care how much he stretched the truth. I enjoyed his tales. They had become a thing that made living in the house of the rising dead feel more normal. The saying on my cup wasGood to the last bite. I smiled and took another sip.

Gavin got up, locked my office door, and returned to his seat. “So, what’s in the file?”

“A summary report and a flash drive.”

Donovan nodded. “Read it.”

“Incident Report, Friday, filed by René @ sunrise.” I stopped. “You remember René, right?”

“He’s the brainy one,” said Gavin. “With the French accent that makes women purr.”

Donovan nodded. “The savant who runs a gambling business. I recall you saying it was motivational, but I think he’s skirting around a lot of inter-realm laws.” He grimaced. “Yeah, we know all about René.”

I didn’t like his tone, so I stopped to take a long drink of my coffee just to annoy him. It burned my tongue. I continued to read.

“Observations: When we arose at sunset, Xiu, who rests next to me, was missing a fang. It had been pulled.

Victim: Xiu, thirty-year-old vampire of Chinese descent, appears sixteen, slim, healthy, smart—maybe too smart. Sired by Alessandro, he is always in trouble with the norms. His last mistake was passing counterfeit one-hundred-dollar bills to a gang of mobsters in Chicago. They chained him to a cement wall in a duplex and took wagers on how long he could last without blood. Alessandro rescued him and brought him here.

Investigation: Terror spread quickly below ground. Someone had come into our dorm, assaulted Xiu, and escaped seemingly unnoticed. Unable to locate Onyx or Rebel, I took over the role of head of security. I interviewed all the students and faculty. You can find recordings of the interviews on the thumb drive.

Summation: There were no visitors staying in the residences. The doors were locked and secured by Onyx’s mechanical devices and Rebel’s spells. No stranger should have been able to come in, do the crime, and leave. But someone did.

It’s a locked casket case.

Suspects:

A mage did it. Why? Because they hate us. We know they havemotivation. Their magic would be theirmeans. But did they have theopportunity? We need to find out what they were up to that night.

Claudia, the newbie vamp, did it. She has been with us for forty-eight hours and is yet to speak to anyone. She refused to be interviewed. Does she know something?

A stranger did it. The unknown factor needs to be considered. Has a Fang Hunter come to town and infiltrated our security system?”

I putdown René’s report and picked up my coffee.

Donovan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Interesting,” he mumbled.

---