It was on the tip of my tongue to ask why I had to be careful. Unless whatever living in Wink Sink No. 2 sprouted legs, I was safe here on the high ground. Right?

“You consulted on the other cases.” The marshal from earlier offered me a rune-covered hand, and I let her haul me to my feet.

“Yes.” Magic blasted through that contact, and I jerked from her grasp. “You’re a legacy.” I rubbed my palm. “A powerful one.”

She was also a half-blood, but I didn’t say so. Most didn’t appreciate the reminder they were half-human.

“A legacy?” She tugged her long black hair up into a ponytail. “I’ve been called a lot of things, but never that. What does it mean?”

“Your mother or father was born in Faerie.” That explained her strength. “The closer the tie to Faerie, the stronger the magic.” She rubbed the markings covering the fingertips of her left hand together. “I hope I didn’t say anything wrong.” The urge to explain myself to her surprised me. “My gift is like a stream of consciousness. Classifications pop into my head and then they fall out of my mouth.”

“That’s a cool talent.” For the first time since meeting her, the marshal locked gazes with me. Her eyes were bright and as sharp as a knife’s blade. “I’m Thierry Thackeray.”

The name rang a distant bell, but as with Shaw, my brutal travel schedule meant my brain was too stuffed with the names and faces of colleagues for me to skim any details off the top.

She indicated the tarp. “Are you finished with the body?”

“No.” A bitter taste lingered in my mouth. “I need to—” I swallowed. “The condition surprised me. The others were…not like that.”

“I won’t tell you it gets easier.” She patted my shoulder, and raw power zinged down my arm. “It doesn’t, but you do find better ways of coping. My favorite is finding the person responsible and—” as though poised to say one thing, she instead said another, “—I make them pay.”

Despite the heat, a biting chill crept over my skin. I believed her.

Someone called her name, and Thierry excused herself. I breathed easier with her out of touching distance. Suddenly I sympathized with Flipper and her hands-off policy.

I was returning to the body when the ground trembled. I caught myself before turning my ankle in one of the smaller cracks, and pressed a hand to my stomach. Everyone on site had gone still. “You felt that too, right?” I asked the remaining marshal.

He held a finger to his lips. “Shh.”

I shushed.