Birthday Blog Story Part 2

“Come in Detective Bronich, come in.” The captain’s fake jovial tone did little to reassure Finn.

Captain Smith was a displaced gnome who had gone into law enforcement after his family’s home had been plowed over by human developers. He had never hidden that he didn’t appreciate Finn’s human genetics even if he didn’t make much of a fuss about it. Smith showed his dislike through crappy assignments and subtle digs. Nothing Finn could call him on, but it was felt anyway.

 Finn entered the office with the send of being the chicken in a room of foxes. He closed the office door behind him and tried not to show his unease. The elves were already eyeing him like a particularly tasty morsel. The draken showed no expression on his scaled face.

The captain spoke up interrupting the staredown between them. “Gentlemen this is Detective Bronich, Bronich this is Commander Spears of the Dragon Force and Detectives Shadowvelt and Nightstorm. They have an assignment for you.”

“For me?” Damn if his voice didn’t crack at the end.

The amused expression on the elves’ face had Finn’s cheeks burning.

“Detective as I’m sure you are aware there are few humans in your department,” Shadowvelt spoke first, his voice gravelly and tinged with smoky magic. It swirled through the air circling Finn until he had to fight back the urge to sneeze.

Finn didn’t fill the silence after Shadowvelt’s obvious statement. He was well aware of the shortness of human staff in the department. Even the administrative workers were some sort of paras.

Nightstorm picked up the conversation. “For that reason, you are the perfect operative to infiltrate the Bright and Night courts.”

“Excuse me? How does being human allow me to enter the fae courts? I would’ve thought it would exempt me.”

The royal courts of the light and dark fae forbade humans unless they were companions or pets and there weren’t enough promotions or money in the world for him to accept either position.

Spears entered the conversational quagmire. “We need someone new that they won’t suspect. Both Shadowvelt and Nightstorm are known in the fae courts as is every other police officer. It’s imperative for our case to have a spy in the courts who can report directly back to us.”

Finn scratched behind his ear. He really needed to get a new lotion. “I’m still not seeing how I can help.”

Shadowvelt cleared his throat. “We have developed a serum that will temporarily transform a human into a para.”

“What!”

“Hear them out Bronich,” Smith demanded.

“Fine.” Finn folded his arms over his chest. He might not be the toughest guy on the force but he wouldn’t be pushed around. Dabbling into experimental medicines sounded like the worst idea possible.

The sweet smiles offered by elves did little to soothe his fears.

“Have a seat,” Smith offered as if he just realized he’d kept Finn standing.

Finn didn’t even glance at the captain as he took a seat in the hard metal chair. The captain wasn’t a fan of encouraging visitors to stay around. Narrowing his eyes at the elves, Finn resumed his arm crossing. “If you want my help I’ll need all the facts.” From the glances exchanged, he knew they were holding back. “I’m not going to change the structure of my body for just anything.”

“I told you it was a stupid idea. I’m not the biggest pro-human gnome out there but Bronich is a solid detective and he’s going to want to know why this is necessary. He’s not an idiot.”

That might be the highest praise the captain ever gave him.

“I’ll do it. You two are too close to it,” Spears said. “There is a killer among the fae. Privately the light fae queen has requested our help in finding who is murdering her subjects. However, it can’t look as if she is requesting help outside of her guards. If anyone finds out she believes the killer is within the courts there will be panic and she isn’t willing to chance that. It is a tricky political move because for the first time in a millennium the light and dark courts are trying to forge a truce between the two kingdoms.”

Finn raised a hand to stop Spears. “Sorry, but who is being killed?”

“Well-placed fae, light and dark. There has been a series of accidents that the queen doesn’t think are accidents. Unfortunately, a great many fae aren’t excited to make a treaty between the two factions.”

“Why not?”

Nightstorm scoffed. “We live long lives. High royals live even longer. If there is peace, there is boredom. Those who live for the thrill of battle, the thirst for blood, to answer the call of the war horn, for people like this the idea of peace is a nightmare born.”

“And you think it is one of these people who is the murderer.”

“Yes.” Spears picked up the conversation. “The trail leads to a high born being involved but there are still too many suspects. We need someone inside the courts who can investigate and narrow down the guilty.”

“And there is no fae around who can do the job? Don’t they allow vampires or shifters into the courts?” He has studied a bit about each kind of paranormal creature as part of his entering the corp.

“They do but only as court guests and playthings. We already have a spy planted but they’ve been unable to do much in their position.”

Finn scratched at the bit of stubble he hadn’t had a chance to shave this morning when he dashed out the door. Coffee had been a higher priority.

He still didn’t trust the trio. He barely trusted his captain. “Tell me more about the serum and I want to review the case files. Will I have any support while there?” He had done a few undercover jobs but this was an entirely different situation. He’d never changed his biological makeup before and he still wasn’t thrilled with the idea.