Dead Ringers

The Road so Far

 As I walk to the stairs to the Night Division entrance, I curse myself for not getting Miles's number. I'm fairly certain I saw his car though, so with luck, he wasn't occupied. 

As I walk in, the redhead behind the receptionist's desk looks up at me. Her eyes flick over me as she smiles questioningly. "Are you looking for Day Division, hun?" Her southern drawl is surprising for a city like Copultin City.  

I pull out my badge as I walk toward her. "I'm from Day Division."

Her smile becomes a thin line. "How many times do I have to tell y'all, without the pre-given authority from my chief, I cannot and will not grant y'all access to records."

"Well, Officer LeClair," I read off her name tag, "I'm actually here to meet with one of the Night Division detectives. He's expecting me."

"If you say so, hun, but I can't just let you walk back there." She picks up a small notepad and a pen. "Who are you here to meet and who should I tell them is here to see them?"

"I'm here to meet with Detective Elijah Miles. I am Detective Winter Fullin. Would you like to see a photo ID as well?" I ask as thinly as the smile I give her.

Her green eyes slowly rise from the pad to look at me. "You're Detective Fullin?"

I nod slowly. "Yes."

Her face fills with delight. "You are better than what I expected based off what Elijah would tell me."

"Um, thanks, I guess."

"Millie, come man the main desk for a minute, will ya, doll?" Officer LeClair calls over her shoulder. Then just like that, she shrinks down to be no bigger than my palm, now hovering where her head had been, supported by green wings that match her new skin tone. Flying to be in front of me on my side of the desk she grows back to her original size, wing disappearing, fading out with the green skin tone. "I'll walk you back."

I stare at her. "You. . . You just- just. . . What?"

She gives me a sympathetic look. "Elijah wasn't kidding when he said you still have a lot to learn." She hooks her arm in mine, leading me to the door that leads out of the office area. "I'm Bellatrix, but you can call me Trix, and I'm a pixie. We pixies can alternate between our pixie and human form. Human form allows us to blend in better, but I don't think I need to explain that, right, hun?" She stops us in front of two desks set up back-to-back. One is unoccupied at the moment, but the other is. 

A sense of unease creeps down my spine.

The man doesn't even glance up at us as Officer LeClair stops us by the desks. "What do you want, Trix?"

"Where is Elijah?" 

"How should I know? He hardly even tells me where he is going when we are working together." He looks up. It's probably a good thing he's focused on Officer LeClair as I'm sure I do a poor job of hiding my shock at his pure black eyes. "If you cannot wait for him to return from where ever it is he went, leave a message and I will give it to him."

"This here is Detective Fullin of Day Division, the one working with him on the case." His eyes come to examine me, accompanying a sense of slight dread. "She's here to meet with Elijah. I'm going to leave her in your capable hands until he gets back from where ever it is he wandered off to."

His eyes flick over me. "She is human and much too large to fit in my hands." His eyes move to Officer LeClair. "Not to mention, it would be a hindrance to my work were I to hold her in my hands until Elijah returns."

"Noted," Officer LeClair says with a nod of her head, "I'll just have her sit at Elijah's desk and you can keep an eye on her."

"Metaphorically speaking?"