A Perfect Blood

. . . men in black. They almost ignore Glenn, even as they seem to be helping. I’m sure they’re the source of the new equipment, the really top-of-the-line stuff. It feels like they’re running the take and letting him have the credit if he stays out of the way.”
    Jenks hummed his wings. “Tell him the guys with the tech stuff smell like the desert.”
    I looked at Jenks, surprised, and he shrugged.
    “The tech people smell like the desert?” Trent repeated.
    “The FIB doesn’t fund Glenn enough to have doughnuts at his weekly meetings,” I said as I flicked my earpiece, hanging down my front. “He’s hiding something from Ivy, too. He’s never been secretive, well, not when it comes to business.”
    “New people running the take . . .” The faint scratching of a pencil came through the phone, sounding alien in the chill dark. “Allowing Glenn apparent free movement in terms of personnel and sharing their equipment. I’ll look into it,” he said, and I heard something clunk. Shoes maybe?
    I frowned. He was brushing me off. “Hey.”
    “I said I’ll look into it,” he said, his voice a tad harsh. “I’m not brushing you off, but I’d like to show at my office, and I’m not dressed.”
    Jenks snickered, and I felt myself warm. “Oh. Sorry.”
    From the earpiece dangling across my front, a tiny voice shouted, “Down! Down!”
    Shit, it had started. “Trent, I gotta go.”
    “My God, you really are on a run,” Trent said, and I stood, flustered.
    “Thanks for the charms,” I said, then closed the phone, cutting him off. Jenks rose up, his dust lighting a good bit of tunnel.
    “Holy crap, that was gunfire!” Jenks exclaimed, landing on my shoulder to hear better. I grabbed the earpiece and held it before us like a candle. If I put it in my ear, Jenks wouldn’t be able to hear.
    “Give me an excuse!” Glenn shouted. “Everyone down! Fingers laced. One twitch of magic, and you will be shot!”
    Chris’s voice was shrill, swearing at Eloy, at Glenn, at me. Why is she swearing at me?
    “Chris! Help!” Jennifer cried, and then she shrieked. There was a masculine grunt, and I tensed, leaning forward. It was a weird feeling, knowing what was going on and not being a part of it. Jenks, too, looked frustrated.
    “Cease and desist!” Glenn shouted. “You are wanted for questioning in the—”
    “Corrumpro!” Chris exclaimed harshly. Gasps of fear rose, and then a cry of pain.
    “Put that out,” Glenn directed calmly, and I heard another crash. “Someone cuff her! I don’t know, shove a sock in her mouth! Use the zip strips!”
    I looked at Jenks. He was itching to fly. “They should have had someone who can do magic there,” I said, and he nodded.
    “Lock her down! Lock her down!” someone yelled. “Gimmie a strap. Shit, she’s wiggly. Ow!”
    Chris screamed, and then her voice became muffled. My lips curled in a half smile. That was one way to stop a curse, but they needed to strap her, and fast.
    There was a quick, three-beat thump in the background. Then Gerald groaned, and I heard him slide to the floor.
    “Strap them! Do it now!” someone shouted, and a crash made me wince. If they didn’t get control in thirty seconds, I was sending in Jenks.
    The sound was muffled for a moment, and then a shuffling scrape turned into heavy breathing. Jennifer was crying in the background, and finally the sound of someone hitting the floor came, loud, followed by a soft grunt.
    “I think that was Eloy,” I said, and Jenks nodded.
    “Get him down !” Glenn shouted, and then a thump again.
    For a moment, silence, and then I heard Glenn swear under his breath. “Don’t move.”
    There was an oof of breath, then Glenn laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. “Go ahead, Eloy. I don’t care if you’re alive or dead at this point.” I held my breath, imagining it, and then Glenn whispered, “Good choice.”
    A masculine voice called for Glenn, and I heard Eloy swear, his voice muffled. “I’ve got this,” Glenn said, his tone telling me it was over—if Jennifer sobbing quietly was any indication. “Put the fire out. Someone put the fire out! I need another zip strip over here. Now! Can we have some lights?”
    In the near distance, I heard Chris snarl, “Shut up!” and Jennifer’s sobs subsided.
    There was a scuffle as I think Glenn yanked Eloy up, and I heard the familiar ratcheting of a zip strip. “You sure it’s him?” someone asked. “He might be