Ritual Magic

why me? If Karonski’s in charge of the Bureau’s investigation, shouldn’t he be in charge of both? Or Rule could handle the Shadow end.” He was second-in– command and knew a lot more about Shadow stuff than she did.
    “You and he will function as a team, no doubt, but I want you in charge. That’s both hunch and logic. I think the Shadow Unit will be needed, but in parallel to the official investigation rather than in support of it. Both investigations will share the goal of finding the person or persons responsible, but the official investigation will of necessity focus on acquiring evidence to prosecute and convict. Your goal will be to stop the perpetrator, period. If that can be done through official means, good. My hunch—a strong hunch—is that it cannot.”
    “I’m not an executioner or assassin.” Unlike Rule. He considered assassination a valid and moral tactic in war. Lily understood his reasoning intellectually, but the idea made her insides roil. “I know this is a war, but I . . .” Could kill whoever had done this to her mother.
Wanted
to kill them. The realization jolted her, then, oddly, steadied her. “There’s a conflict of interest for me. Even more so than with the official investigation.”
    “There are others who can kill should it prove necessary, and I can make that call if you can’t. But killing isn’t the only solution the Shadow Unit can provide that our legal system cannot, just the most obvious. That’s why I want you in charge of that end, Lily. Not in spite of what you call a conflict of interest, but because of it. Your awareness of that conflict, and your visceral distrust for such unilateral action, will make you work hard to find the less obvious solutions, if they exist.”
    Again she didn’t know what to say. “Thank you” didn’t fit. “Damn you” did, but was a little too revealing.
    When Lily had first learned of the existence of the Shadow Unit the previous September, she’d been appalled. For law enforcement officers to be part of an organization whose very purpose was to operate outside the law violated everything she stood for. Grudgingly, she’d come to accept the need. The law simply didn’t cover the sort of attacks the Great Enemy could wield and the wider world didn’t even know there was a war going on, so the law was not going to be changed to apply to wartime conditions. She’d still wanted no part of it, personally. The Shadow Unit had to operate in secret. Secrecy eliminated accountability, and without that, abuse was all but guaranteed.
    But Ruben had been right. She should have known he would be. Lily’s boss was a precog, with the most uncannily accurate precognitive Gift on record. That Gift usually manifested as hunches, but for a time he’d had actual visions of the various ways the country was going to be destroyed if the Shadow Unit didn’t exist . . . and if Lily didn’t take her place within that Unit. In the end, she had.
    If Ruben had a strong hunch the law would be unable to deal with this threat, he was right. She hated it, but he was right. “All right. I’m still lead on the Bureau’s end of things for now, though, so I need to go deal with that.”
    “Of course. Abel is aware of your role in the Shadow investigation. He won’t mention it unless you do, but he’s aware. I haven’t spoken to Rule about it yet. I leave that to you.”
    “Okay.” Her stomach hurt.
    “I’ll see that hospitals in your area are alerted.” He disconnected.
    Lily lifted the cup still in her hand and sipped. And grimaced. She could drink coffee burned and bitter, but cold . . . no. She went to the small sink and poured it out, still holding her phone in the other hand. She had calls to make.
    Then she just stood there, her head down and her eyes burning.
    “You all right, honey?”
    Lily jumped and turned. A woman in blue scrubs stood just behind her, watching her with a gentle smile. Her name tag read ELOISHA MORROWS, RN . “I’m good,” she said automatically. The nurse must think she was an anxious and overwhelmed family member . . . which she was. Not of any of the patients here, however.
    “Well, you just let me know if I can do anything.” The nurse put a hand on Lily’s shoulder and squeezed. “We’re not too busy right now. If you want to talk, you come get me, okay?”
    Lily wasn’t up to explaining, so she thanked the woman, who nodded and left. Thank God. Lily poured more hot sludge into