Cursed Moon (Prospero's War) Read Online Free PDF

he said, sounding anything but disappointed. “Since you couldn’t convince him, you’re just going to have to wait until my crews aren’t working overtime to keep the Blue Moon bullshit contained.” Gardner opened her mouth to respond, but Eldritch wasn’t done. “And as for building cases against the covens, wouldn’t working on a case involving one of the covens be right in line with your mission?”
    “Not if we’re busy tracking down false leads on the Hierophant’s behalf!”
    Eldritch’s lips curved. “Shall I call the mayor and ask him to send you an engraved invitation?”
    She blew out a sigh. As it was the MEA’s presence in Babylon was tenuous at best. We were coming up on an election, and Mayor Owens wanted to ensure the feds didn’t steal any of the credit for high-profile arrests. We already had one strike against us after a raid went awry during the Bane case. To be seen as uncooperative with the BPD when the Blue Moon was causing so much havoc would be a second strike we couldn’t afford.
    “Fine. Morales and Prospero will go interview Johnson, but once we close that case, I expect at least one new head count the instant the Blue Moon passes and not a day more.”
    Eldritch sucked his teeth for a moment. The move made his mustache dance on his top lip. “It’s a deal. But I expect to be kept in the loop on this.”
    “No dice. You came to us. That makes this an MEA op. I’ll let you know if we need BPD assistance, but otherwise I’ll be making all the calls.”
    It was clear Eldritch wanted to argue, but a smart leader knew when he’d gotten his way and didn’t push for more out of ego. “Fine. I have a meeting with the chief for lunch.” He glanced at his watch and then at Gardner. “I trust that as we get closer to the Blue Moon, your team will continue to be available to back up their brothers in blue?”
    “And sisters, yes,” Gardner snapped. “Agent Pruitt is out with your Arcane squad as we speak.”
    He nodded and tossed a file folder on the desk. “That’s the initial incident report from the unis who responded to the call. They didn’t find much.”
    “As long as they didn’t fuck with the scene so our team wiz can do a thorough forensics search.”
    He ignored that. “Just be sure you get this Aphrodite case closed fast. We’ll need more manpower, not less, the closer we get to Halloween.” With that Eldritch hitched up his pants and walked out of the office without so much as a good-bye.
    The three of us remaining sat there until we heard his steps start down the staircase. Since he was finally out of range, Gardner let out the frustrated sigh she’d been holding. “Asshole.”
    I bit my lip. Not because I disagreed, but because agreeing too vehemently was also a mistake. The relationship between those two changed depending on who needed favors, so it wasjust as likely that tomorrow she’d be singing his praises if he came through on one she needed.
    “All right, Prospero, are you ready for this one?”
    I nodded. “SSDD.” Translation: Same shit different day.
    “Mez!” she called. A muted response filtered through the gym, which I assumed meant he was on his way.
    “You two go in first with the interview,” Gardner said. “Mez will handle forensics.”
    “Great,” I mumbled.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked.
    “Aphrodite considers herself somewhat of a sexual guru. I’ll probably spend most of the interview defending Morales’s and Mez’s honor.”
    “Defend my honor from whom?” Mez said, sticking his head through the door.
    Gardner quickly filled him in on the situation.
    “Doesn’t sound so bad, if you ask me,” he said with a smirk.
    “Whatever you do, act natural when you see her/m,” I said.
    “Did you say ‘herm’?” Morales’s eyebrows shot up.
    “It’s short for ‘her/him,’ ” I explained. “Aphrodite’s a sacred hermaphrodite.”
    “Oh shit,” Mez said. “Why didn’t you say that to begin with? I’m totally