Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

an empty waiting room. I’d never been inside a police station before, and I was more intimidated than I’d expected. Nervousness always made me claustrophobic, so I paced back and forth in the air-conditioned room. It smelled strongly of whatever cleaner they’d used, though I expect that wouldn’t have bothered anyone with a less sensitive nose. Beneath the antiseptic smell, it smelled of anxiety, fear, and anger.
    I must have looked a little wild-eyed by the time Tony came to get me, because he took one look and asked, “Mercy, what’s wrong?”
    I started to say something, but he held up one hand. “Wait, this isn’t private. Come with me.” Which was just as well, because I wasn’t sure what I was going to tell him.
    As I followed him down the corridor, I decided that the problem with deciding to bend the rules was trying to figure out just how far I could bend them.
    The fae weren’t going to step in against Littleton, at least not yet. The werewolves, according to Uncle Mike and Bran, didn’t stand a chance. If the vampires were asking my help, it was a good sign they didn’t know what to do about him either.
    Bran had said that eventually sorcerers fall victim to their demon and all hell breaks loose. It just might be that the KPD would be the people on the front lines when that happened.
    On the other hand, if it ever got back to the seethe that I told the police about their existence, I might as well kill myself right now.
    Tony led me to a smallish office room, and shut the door behind us, closing out the sounds of the department. It wasn’t his office. Even if it hadn’t smelled like someone else, I could have told from the wedding picture on the desk. It was about thirty years old, and both of the smiling young people in it were blond.
    Tony sat on the edge of the desk, set a manila file folder he’d been carrying beside him, and waved me vaguely to one of the chairs against the wall. “You look like something the cat dragged in,” he said.
    I shrugged. “Rough morning.”
    He sighed and tapped his finger on the folder. “Would it help if I told you I have here a report from a concerned citizen who called in at 7:23 this morning. It seems that her nice young neighbor, one Mercedes Thompson, had to fire her rifle in order to drive off a bunch of hooligans last night or early this morning. One of our patrolmen stopped by to see the damage.” He gave me a somber look. “He took pictures.”
    I gave him a wry smile. “I was surprised at how bad it was when I saw it this morning, too.”
    â€œIs this because someone saw you talking to me yesterday?”
    It would have solved a lot of problems if I let him think that—but I prefer not to lie. Especially when that lie might start a fae-hunt.
    â€œNo. I told my neighbors it was probably just kids—or someone angry with my work.”
    â€œSo they came after your trailer with can openers? How long were they there before you came after them with the rifle?”
    â€œAm I under arrest?” I asked brightly. Shooting a rifle where I lived might be illegal, I’d never checked it out.
    â€œNot at this time,” he said carefully.
    â€œAh,” I settled back in the uncomfortably chair. “Blackmail. How fun.” I tried to see the best way through this. Honesty was always the best policy.
    â€œOkay,” I said finally, having decided how much I could tell him. “You were right. There is something that’s causing people to become violent. If I tell you what it is, however, I won’t live to see tomorrow. Also, even if you know what it is, you won’t be able to do anything to stop it. It is not a werewolf, and not a fae. Nor is it human, though it might appear that way.”
    He looked…surprised. “We were right?”
    I nodded my head. “Now, let me tell you this. It came last night and ripped my trailer to pieces, but it couldn’t come in because I didn’t invite it. You have to invite evil into your home—that’s one of the rules. I shot it four times with my Marlin 444, loaded with silver. I hit it at least three times without even slowing it down. You need to stay away from it. Right now it’s in hiding. The rise in violence is just a—a side effect. If you bring it out into the open, there will be a lot more bodies. We’re trying to contain it without getting anyone