Helena had repeated her story twice to the officer before the car to take her to the station arrived. It was annoying giving the same speech again, but it had given her time to stop the bleeding. Fortunately she hadn’t suffered any serious internal injuries. Her body was still sore all over, and the shift she was using as a dress was ruined, but she was alive.
When she finished the second retelling the officer tore off the paper from his notepad. “Thank you again Ms. Aoede. I’ve sent word to the squad investigating your apartment so they know what happened, and the car from the precinct will be here any moment.” Helena grimaced at the thought of police searching through her apartment, but it made sense. After all, the whole neighborhood had to have noticed the fight.
The officer stood. “Do you want some coffee?”
“No,” Helena immediately replied. “Do you have tea?”
“Not here,” the officer admitted. “I’ve only got one pot for hot drinks.”
Helena sighed. “I understand.” She’d taken enough of a beating today. She didn’t even want to think about that Turkish swill. “Can you get me sanctuary, or whatever that witness protection thing is?”
The officer hesitated. “That’s up to the captain, but given you’re the only witness, I think it’s likely.”
The oddly muted sound of a modern engine cut off further conversation. Helena looked outside the small police office to see a car pull up. “It seems like my escort is here.” She stood, then her jaw dropped as Kilduff got out of the vehicle.
“Looks like you got yourself into a wee spot of trouble,” Kilduff said as he walked over to the office. “I’ll take her in Myers. Good work finding the devilish lass.”
Myers saluted. “It was pretty easy, what with the big light show Inspector.” The man held out the notes he’d taken. “Witness statement.”
Helena peered closely at Kilduff to make sure she wasn’t being tricked by some illusion but the sleep rings around the man’s eyes and the blessing on his billy club meant he was the real deal. “What are you doing up at this hour? Didn’t you have an assault to plan?”
“Crime doesn’t sleep,” the Inspector rubbed his eyes. “And that means I don’t get to either. Especially when one of the Captain’s hires gets attacked in her home.” He managed a nasty grin. “The Captain got woken up too, so you’ll get to see him at his finest.”
“Blame the jiang-shi,” Helena replied. She stood slowly, wincing at the pain, then walked over to the police car. “Let’s get this dealt with so we can all go back to sleep.”
Kilduff stretched. “First time I’ve agreed with you completely, witch.” He took the notes from Officer Myers with a polite nod, then got in the car. After a bit of fumbling in the dark for her seatbelt, Helena managed to secure herself enough for Kilduff to start driving. “Trip should be faster, this time of night. So long as we dodge the market.”
Helena nodded absently as she stared out the window. The pain came and receded as she sat in the car. She’d healed enough to keep herself alive, but the delicate art of mending bruises and internal injuries wasn’t really her specialty. Being woken up in the middle of the night and beaten half to death hadn’t improved her skills either. Thoughts drifted at the edge of her consciousness like smoke, twisting and dancing and repeating but refusing to solidify, leaving her stuck.
“Hm?” She realized Kilduff had asked her a question. “What was that?”
“I asked if you saw who did this to you?” Kilduff said. “Was the magician there? And what did those undead monsters look like?”
She sat up and pain ripped through her stomach. She hissed in annoyance until it faded, then turned to Kilduff. “The magician wasn’t there. At least I didn’t see him.” Helena closed her eyes. “And that was a good thing. They caught me completely by surprise. If the magician had been there I’d be dead. As it was they beat me.”
Kilduff looked her over. “Aye. Badly it seems. Are you sure you should be so confident about beating the mage behind those creatures?”
“They ambushed me when I was half naked and asleep. I still survived. When I’m awake and armed I’ll do better,” Helena replied.
“Right.” Kilduff didn’t even try to keep his disbelief hidden. “And two? Are you sure?”
Helena nodded. “Certain. Man and a woman.”
Kilduff swore and pulled out a cigarette. “Just what we needed. Didn’t you say those damn things are expensive?”
“Apparently working for the Triad pays,” Helena muttered.
“Any distinguishing features?” Kilduff asked.
Helena took a deep breath. “Other than the incredibly obvious talismans on their head?” She did her best to picture the two from the brief moment the flashlight hit them. “The man was Han Chinese. He had a thin mustache and beard. Nothing too surprising. But the woman wasn’t Chinese. She looked more American, or South American. Dark skin and curly hair.” Helena rubbed her stomach. “Probably used to be a martial artist, because that kick was perfect. The man didn’t try anything fancy so I can’t say what his skills are.”
Kilduff’s expression grew even more grim. “You’re telling me the creatures can keep their fighting skills?”
“Yes,” Helena replied. “It’s hard to do proper martial arts with rigor mortis, but they keep their knowledge.”
“Wonderful,” the Inspector said. “Well, let’s go ruin the Captain’s day with this information. Then we can all be miserable.” He turned off the car and Helena looked up to see they’d reached the station. It was embarrassing how disoriented she was, but spending magic to wake up was a waste. Instead she just got out of the car and followed Kilduff up to the modern building again.
They walked through the entryway, then down a different hall into a large room filled with desks. Only a few people were there, all of them sitting in front of glowing screens. Helena ignored the startled looks at their entrance and instead focused on the room. Kilduff led her to the back then through a short hallway to the Captain’s office.
Captain Jacobs looked even more tired than Kilduff. The man pushed a cup across the desk with a yawn. “Coffee?”
“No thank you,” Helena replied, shifting the cup away from her.
“Suit yourself.” Jacobs flopped back in this office chair. “So witness protection. We can set you up in the Bronx until the perpetrators are in custody. Of course you’re going to have to limit your movements but I think in light of-“
“Are you trying to get me killed?” Helena snapped. This garbage wasn’t what she came here for.
Jacobs blinked at her. “Wha-“
A flick of Helena’s hand shut the office door behind them. “I’m a witch. The only reason we’re able to have this conversation is because I’m a very good witch. All of that changes in low magic realms like across the bridge. I lose my strongest defenses, and undead only get stronger in the dark of night. As soon as the Living Dragon figures out how to turn off the lights in a building I’ll be dead along with any poor fools you have standing guard.”
Captain Jacobs glared at her. “Why are you so sure he’ll keep chasing after you? We’re going to be hunting him down. You’re just a consultant, one who’s done your job. You pack up and go, we bring this criminal in and then you can go back to your apartment.”
Helena rubbed her temples in frustration. “Sending assassins to murder someone in their sleep doesn’t mean ‘back off’. It’s a declaration of war. If he wanted me to just skip town he’d have had those jiang-shi jump me in an alley. Maybe sent a strongly worded letter with an explosive charm. He’s committed to a duel. Both of us will be looking over our shoulders until one of us is dead.”
“Fine.” The Captain shrugged. “We’ll move you out into the interior. Just right past the city.”
“Teleportation exists, Captain Jacobs,” Helena said. “That will only make his job easier.”
Jacobs let his arms fall hard onto his desk. “What do you want?! You asked for protection, and now that I’m giving it to you, you’re refusing!”
Helena pointed around the police building. “I want a place to stay here, and I’m going to take this bastard down.”
“Impossible!” The captain began rocking back and forth in his chair. “You’re a contractor, not a trained police worker, and you’ve already gone way beyond what we hired you for!”
Helena glared at the man. “Then you should have paid me earlier. You asked me to find the magician, and now I’ve found him.”
Jacobs glared at her. “So will you be a good girl and accept witness protection if we give you the money?”
“Too late for that.” Helena didn’t let up her glare. “Five hundred dollars won’t do me much good when I’m dead. I’m going to have to finish this matter.”
“Captain, if I might speak?”
Both Helena and Jacobs looked over to where Kilduff was sitting. The Inspector’s eyes were closed but he still seemed alert. “The only reason we send people over the bridge is because that’s the safest place. Since the witch isn’t going anywhere we might as well set her up in one of the empty offices next door. Save us some manpower keeping track of her.”
Helena blinked. Kilduff couldn’t possibly be the most sane person in the room. Jacobs looked equally dumbfounded. “Ryan, you can’t possibly be considering her offer. We can’t let a civilian vigilante hunt down one of our suspects just because she has a grudge against him!”
“No, we can’t,” Kilduff agreed. “I didn’t say we should let the witch run around picking fights. But if she wants to sleep in the station, well, that’s as good as I’m going to get to seeing her in a cell and away from the rest of the realm so I’ll take it.”
Helena shook her head. “The irony of being saved by your bigotry would amuse me if I wasn’t dead tired.”
Jacobs rocked back and forth for a bit, his eyes unfocused as he considered the idea. “Fine. But we’re only letting her stay in the building for protection. She’s not to be anywhere near our operation tomorrow! And if the matter isn’t handled then I want her in normal witness protection as soon as possible. Do you understand?”
“I’ll personally make sure she stays away,” Kilduff said. “And I’ll tell someone to start the paperwork, sir.”
Helena didn’t argue the point. She was too tired. Instead she stood. “Good. If you show me the room we can all get some sleep.”
“Please,” Jacobs said, waving them out of the office.
Kilduff rubbed his eyes and stood as well. “Right. Follow me.”
He led Helena out through the room where the on duty police were mindlessly clicking away at their computers then around and down a staircase. This passage seemed less like a basement and more like a tunnel. “Underground passage to the other building?” she asked.
“Keeps people from freezing in the snow. At least for a few seconds.” He shrugged. “Of course every real cop except the lab crew ends up in the snow anyway so it doesn’t help.”
They continued on down the hall for a while before Helena finally decided to speak up. “Do you really think you can keep me from facing Long Zhou Di?”
Kilduff heaved a great sigh. “I told the captain you wouldn’t be at the raid.” He looked back at her. “But I figured long ago we wouldn’t be rid of you until the matter was settled. Which is why I planned for you to join me ambushing the fellow as he goes home from emptying out the warehouse.”
Helena smiled. Then she winced as her bruised stomach complained again. “Good. I’ve got a lot of things to discuss with him.”
The inspector frowned, but he simply continued on, leading Helena up out of the tunnel and into the old police station.