Chapter 3 - Chasing the Charm

It was just a little past 4:30 when Julian parked the Cutlass on the street outside the Arcana Augurum, the same place he'd been earlier this morning. Julian wasted no time in getting out of the car and hurrying into the magic shop. To his surprise, there was not a buxom Middle Eastern girl behind the counter, but instead a kindly older woman with short curly brown hair. She wore spectacles and wore a gray shawl over a floral-patterned dress. Her eyes had a strange look to them, they were a faded sort of blue and here and there they would look almost glassy, like she was blind. She wore glasses though, so... probably not blind?

"Ah, you must be the detective." she smiled. "Mero said you'd be coming around."

"You must be his wife." Julian guessed, and she nodded with another kind smile.

"Yes, I am. I'm Margaret Scott, but you can call me Meg." she said warmly. "I think it's quite sweet what you and Mero are doing for that girl. I hope you find her."

"As do I." Julian sighed. Strangely, Meg did not have a British accent, unlike her husband. Maybe he'd met her in America somewhere?

"Ugh, you're here?" a familiar voice groaned, and Inara came walking out from the workshop. She was dressed differently from how she'd been that morning. She now wore tight black leather pants that adhered like a second skin to her voluptuous hips and shapely legs. Her cinnamon-toned stomach was still exposed, but she wore a red crop top now with a black leather jacket over it. There was silver writing along the sleeves of the jacket, but it was in no language Julian knew. Her glossy black hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, and she had a sword sheathed on her back.

"A sword? Really?" Julian asked wryly, and Inara held up her middle finger.

"We don't all turn into slobbering furry beasts if we feel threatened." Inara smirked. "The sword's enchanted though, the humans won't be able to see it. Worry not."

"I just didn't know djinn used swords." Julian shrugged.

"That's like saying I didn't know werewolves wore clothes. Don't be racist." Inara wrinkled her nose. "You didn't even know what a djinn was until this morning, don't get smart with me."

"Enough arguing, you two." Meg said, looking extremely amused.

"Does Romero know where the charm is at?" Julian asked, turning towards Meg and away from the infuriating djinn.

"I do indeed." Romero announced, stepping through the curtains. He held up a furled up piece of paper about the length of a wrapping paper tube.

"Is that a map?" Julian guessed.

"Indeed. I have prepared the map so it will guide us directly to the charm." Romero said, and unrolled the map so Julian could look at it. Inara pressed in beside him so she could see too, and she bumped her elbow into his ribs in a way that was definitely not accidental.

The map had a very antiquated look to it, but it seemed to be fully up to date with modern place names. Of most note to Julian though, was the glowing red dot on the east side of Griffith Park.

"She's in Griffith Park?" Julian frowned.

"That dot is specifically placed on the abandoned zoo there." Romero nodded. "It seems like her charm is somewhere in there."

"I spoke with her brother, he said she almost never takes it off, so that dot should be where she's at." Julian said. "He'll be joining us as soon as the sun goes down."

"She must be somewhere underground or similarly hidden from the sun." Inara guessed. "If she's still alive, that is."

"Agreed." Julian nodded. "We should hurry over there."

"I'll drive!" Meg offered cheerfully.

———

Julian should have drove.

Instead, he was crammed in the backseat of Meg's Volkswagen Beetle with Inara beside him. Her sword was laid across her legs, and the sheathed tip of it kept poking Julian's leg whenever Meg turned. Meg also, for reasons unknown to Julian, seemed to enjoy Disney music, which was decidedly not Julian's genre. It didn't seem to be Inara's either, and early in the drive, the pair of them had pulled identical faces when the Frozen song came on, before quickly looking away from each other.

Julian's fingers tapped impatiently on his leg as Meg drove along without ever breaking the speed limit. He'd never seen someone actually treat the speed limit as an upper boundary. Julian would have been much happier cruising along in the Cutlass, playing some actual music and speeding the entire way there. At this rate, the sun would go down and Colin would beat them there.

Julian had texted the location to Colin not long after this road trip began, and Colin had replied instantly, like he'd been sat waiting for his text. The poor kid was obviously a wreck without his twin sister, and Julian really hoped he'd be able to help her. He usually felt a bit more of a sense of responsibility when it came to things like this, but it was very hard to get into the right headspace for what could be a fight when the soundtrack to High School Musical was playing. What kind of supernatural seer liked High School Musical?

Romero had the map open on his lap in the passenger seat, and from his spot behind Meg, Julian could look over and see the map. The glowing red dot hadn't moved, which was good when it came to finding the red dot, but could be bad for Corinne. It meant she was almost certainly either imprisoned somewhere or... dead. A roving red dot might have just meant Colin was wrong and Corinne had run off for some reason. A stationary red dot could be a bad thing.

"Oh, Romero, before I forget. Do you think I could get a charm for a friend of mine? It doesn't have to do much, but I'd feel better knowing I could find her like this if something happens." Julian spoke up.

"You have friends?" Inara asked with a tone of feigned surprise. "I would have thought your general smell warded off any pesky things like friends."

"Hilarious." Julian said wryly, and Inara gave a little shrug.

"I thought so."

"Yes, I could easily give you a charm that is trackable." Romero said. "I'll give you a map to track it, too. No charge."

"No charge? I appreciate that." Julian smiled.

"He can tell you're flat broke." Inara stage-whispered.

"Do you not have a lamp you can go back inside?" Julian couldn't resist.

"If only. I'd love to not be stuck in the backseat with you and your wet dog smell." Inara shot back.

"Why are you two always fighting?" Meg complained from the front seat.

Julian and Inara glared at each other, but both kept quiet. Something about the djinn just drove Julian to pester her in ways he didn't usually with anyone else. She was quite an annoyance, too.

"We'll be there in a couple of minutes, let's get ready." Romero said after a little while longer. The car ride was mostly silent from that point on, except for the Disney radio that just would not shut the fuck up. The dulcet tones of Simba the lion were playing when the car finally came to a stop, and Julian climbed out of the backseat gratefully.

The ruins of the Griffith Park zoo were open to the public, but it was after closing time by now, and the zoo was abandoned.

"This is definitely the spot." Romero said quietly.

"We should split up to cover more ground." Julian suggested, reaching back to pull his gun from its' holster in the waistband of his pants.

"Can you and Inara be trusted not to kill each other?" Meg asked with a wry smile, and Julian looked towards the djinn, who had replaced her sword sheath on her back, though she now held the blade in her hand. It was a slightly curved, single-edge blade with an ornate golden handle and some gold designs on the blade.

"I think we'll manage." Julian said, making Inara scoff.

Romero and Meg headed right, towards the South America section, and Julian was briefly worried about them, before he remembered that Romero was a powerful enchanter who was likely strapped with a multitude of useful charms. If anything, it was him and Inara who might be the weak link.

"What do you think, Africa or North America?" Julian asked, looking to the left.

"Africa." Inara said decisively, and started walking that way. She was wearing thigh high boots, Julian noted, and moved with no small amount of grace. She wasn't a very tall woman, but she did seem fierce, especially with that sword in her hand. Julian followed her, his head on a swivel and his werewolf senses on high alert. The sun had began its' descent by now, turning the sky pink and gold while casting long shadows on the area around them. Inara glanced over her shoulder at him, her lips quirking.

"Your eyes glow." she noted.

"I can control how much, based on how much of the wolf's eyesight I draw on." Julian explained.

"I didn't ask for a biology lesson." Inara retorted, and Julian rolled his eyes. A noise prickled at his ears suddenly, and he stopped, looking out over the eerily empty walkways. The place was unkempt, with plants growing freely and on buildings and structures, but it wasn't in full disrepair.

"You know..." Julian said as a thought began to occur to him. "Corinne could be ravenous by now. And when the sun sets, she'll be able to chase us anywhere, if she isn't in danger here."

Inara stopped, and she looked back at him. "Make up your mind, mutt, are we here to rescue a damsel in distress or are we hunting a blood-crazed vampire?"

"I think it could be either or both." Julian said grimly. "We have no idea what we're walking into."

"Wonderful." the djinn muttered. "You've fought vampires before, yes?"

"Uh... not really, no." Julian shook his head.

"What? I thought you were some kind of supernatural warrior." Inara frowned.

"Why the hell would you think that?" Julian exclaimed. "I'm a detective who can smell, see, and hear a little better. I don't go around hunting down supernaturals. I mean, I've been in fights, but I'm not a pro at it. That's what the gun's for."

"I should have gone with one of the Scotts." Inara scowled. "At least they're useful in a fight."

"Really? Meg is more useful in a fight than I am?"

"Well... Romero is at least." Inara admitted.

"Uh huh. And by the way, next time we go somewhere, I'm driving." Julian shook his head.

"Not a fan of Meg's expansive Disney music collection?" Inara asked, unable to keep the distaste out of her voice. "My least favorite is the songs from Aladdin."

"Not a Genie fan, huh?" Julian asked, and Inara glared at him.

"Hey, I'll stop making genie jokes when you stop making dog jokes." Julian shrugged.

"What was that, mutt?" Inara raised an eyebrow, making Julian scowl.

He opened his mouth to reply, but then he heard something. His head tilted, and Inara smirked at him, but he ignored her. There was a shuffling noise off to his left, like footsteps. It was still too early for it to be Colin, and all of the humans should be out of here by now, so... who was over there?

"Shut up." Julian hissed. "There's someone over there."

Inara's whole demeanor changed, and she lifted her sword up with both hands. "Where?"

"Over here." Julian whispered, and he moved swiftly and quietly over to the side of a wall, and with his back to it, he poked his head around the corner. Sure enough, standing there was a guy. He wore a camo jacket and combat boots with denim jeans and a white T-shirt. He was younger than Julian, maybe early 20s, but most notable to Julian about him was the long hunting knife strapped to his leg and the crossbow he had resting on his shoulder.

Julian ducked his head back behind the wall, and looked towards an expectant Inara. "There's a guy holding a crossbow." he whispered to her, and the djinn looked confused.

Julian considered his options, then pulled out his police badge. Inara shook her head at him, but Julian was already moving. As he stepped around the wall, he dialed back the nightvision, reducing the glow of his eyes to something more human.

"Hey, LAPD!" Julian called, hefting his badge. "What are you doing with that?"

The guy reacted in startled surprise, almost tripping over himself as he scrambled backwards. "Oh, shit. Uh... I'm going hunting with some buddies of mine, I was just waiting for them."

"You know the zoo's closed, right?" Julian demanded. "Are your friends here, too?"

"What? Oh, uh, no, they're not here." the guy shook his head. Blatant lie.

"Look, you need to get out of here, or I'll arrest you for trespassing." Julian said, and he tucked his badge back away into the pocket of his leather jacket. The guy hesitated, and Julian saw the crossbow in his grasp twitch, like he was considering lifting it and trying to shoot.

"Tom?" a voice called from off to the right, and the guy in front of Julian, Tom, winced.

"Guess your friends are here." Julian scowled. Julian hoped Inara had the good sense to stay hidden as two more guys walked into view, dressed similarly to Tom. They both wore camo jackets, but one of the guys, a tall man with a buzzcut, wore a black shirt beneath his and a pair of dark brown pants. The other wore jeans like Tom was, but had on a green shirt.

"Who's this?" Buzzcut demanded.

"LAPD." Julian sighed, holding up his badge again. "All three of you need to get out of here, you're trespassing."

"What are you doing here, then?" Green Shirt scowled.

"I'm investigating a missing persons case." Julian replied, and he saw a surprised look of guilt flash across Tom's face, though the other two didn't react. "Now, do I need to call some squad cars down here, or are you guys going to comply?"

"We'll comply, officer." Buzzcut said, holding up his hands. At least these two weren't armed with crossbows, though they could have a gun or a knife tucked away pretty easily.

"Great." Julian said, and he pointed back towards the entrance. "I don't need to walk you back to the gate, do I?"

"Not at all." Buzzcut grinned as he and Green Shirt started walking towards Julian. Something about their demeanors raised Julian's hackles, and he tensed up, anticipating an attack of some kind. They didn't attack, though, and they walked past Julian without incident. Tom hurried past Julian next, and Julian turned to watch them go. They rounded the corner where Inara had been, but she clearly wasn't there anymore, as the three guys made no mention of her.

Julian watched their retreating forms for a minute or two until they turned out of sight.

"That was stupid." a voice said beside him immediately, and Julian about jumped out of his skin as he turned to see Inara standing there, arms folded with her sword back in its' sheath.

"I'm glad you were smart enough to move, at least." Julian retorted, making Inara roll her eyes.

"I'm not the idiot who confronted someone holding a crossbow with the hopes he wouldn't shoot at a cop." Inara glared.

"I was right though." Julian shrugged.

"Those three gave me a bad feeling, though." Inara shook her head, looking in the direction they went.

"Agreed. I thought those other two guys were going to attack, actually, but they didn't." Julian frowned. "Did you see the first guy's reaction when I mentioned a missing person though? Tom looked guilty as all hell."

"You think he was standing guard over Corinne?" Inara wondered.

"Could be." Julian agreed. He let his nightvision return, his eyes becoming more wolf-like, meaning they'd glow in the dark more. Then, he approached the little nook that Tom had been standing in front of. It was a closed iron gate, blocking the way to a staircase that led downwards.

"Let's check it out." Julian said, and he gave the gate a tug, but it just rattled in its' place. "Locked."

Inara pulled out her phone. "I'll text Mero, he's got a charm for that."

Within five minutes, Romero and Meg came bustling over, and Romero pulled from his pocket an old-fashioned skeleton key. Rather than place it into the lock, he just pressed the silver key to the keyhole and muttered some words.

"We saw three men lurking around here." Inara told the Scotts as Romero worked his magic.

"At least one was armed, but I wouldn't be surprised if all three were." Julian added. "I used my badge and sent them off, but we need to be quick. If they really did take Corinne hostage, I can't imagine they'll just let us take her out of here."

Julian glanced up at the sky, but the sun was still very much up. Corinne wouldn't be getting out of here for another half hour, at least.

Romero finished his murmuring, and the silver key pulsed with light before there was a clicking noise and the locked gate swung open.

"Impressive." Julian said, raising his eyebrows. Romero went to grab the gate, but Julian shook his head.

"I'll go down alone. If there's more of them, I'll use the badge again. Unless you start hearing guns go off, try to wait here out of sight somewhere." Julian said. Inara looked annoyed at that, but the Scotts both nodded, and Meg ushered Inara with her. Julian stood and watched as they moved around a bend out of sight, before he turned and opened the gate. He pulled out his flashlight from the inner pocket of his leather jacket, and turned it on as he descended down the steps.

It seemed to be an old storage room of some kind maybe, as it didn't look like an animal enclosure. The room was dark and dust puffed in the air as Julian stepped off the staircase and into the room proper. His nightvision eyes were doing most of the work, but if there were other people down here, Julian would want to have the flashlight on, to keep up appearances. He hadn't heard before of humans capturing a vampire, but there were plenty of historical incidents of humans hunting supernaturals. Could that be what was happening with the other victims? Old crates sat in neat, orderly rows, most of them empty from the looks of it, but the guts of the storage room were intact.

He swept his gaze around as he began down the first aisle, his enhanced senses as enhanced as they'd go. He wouldn't be able to smell her, vampires had no scent, but he should be able to hear her if she was down here. He came to the end of the aisle on the other end of the room, and when he stepped out of the aisle, he saw a closed door. This one thankfully wasn't locked, so Julian grabbed and turned the handle, opening up a small side room.

His stomach dropped instantly as he saw a figure laying sprawled on the floor.

"Shit." Julian swore, and he darted forwards, tucking his gun away. It was a girl, unmistakably, and as he leaned over her, he saw it was indeed Corinne. She was pale as death, even for a vampire, and her eyes fluttered open weakly at Julian's approach. Vampires looked more human the more satiated they were. A hungry vampire looked wrong in the details, a ravenous vampire was damn near a monster, and what lay before him now was a starved vampire. She seemed too weak to move almost, but her eyes were a vivid red with black pupils. She bore her fangs upon seeing him, snarling weakly.

This didn't make sense, vampires got stronger the more hungry they were, and a vampire going nearly catatonic like this took months of starvation, not mere days. Maybe they'd done something to her, something that had disabled her somehow. Julian looked over her with a critical eye, wondering if maybe she had some kind of enemy charm on her, but he didn't see anything. The nineteen year old vampire girl wore a black lace tank top, one see-through enough to show off the emerald green bra supporting her generous chest. On her lower half she wore high waisted jeans hugging her shapely body and some old Converse on her feet.

"Corinne, I'm Detective Julian Anderson. Your brother sent me, I'm here to help you." Julian told her, and she closed her eyes in what looked like absolute relief.

"The sun's still up, so I can't get you out of here yet, but don't worry." Julian said, and he awkwardly patted her shoulder. He was a homicide detective, he wasn't used to dealing with victims who were alive. Closest he ever got was grieving family members and friends.

"Are you hungry?" Julian asked her quietly. "I don't know what they did to you, but you seem so weak."

She looked at him hopefully, baring her fangs again.

"Shit. Alright, just... don't kill me, OK?" Julian asked, and Corinne nodded, her eyes big and red, dark with hunger.

He extended his wrist towards her mouth, and she limply rose her head to sink her fangs into his wrist. Julian grunted at the pain, but Corinne let out a groan of relief as she drank eagerly from his wrist. A little bit of color returned to her face, going from chalk white to a more normal porcelain skin tone. After several long minutes of flaring pain at his wrist, Corinne finally tore away, panting. Blood stained her chin, but she wiped it away with the back of her palm, tongue coming out to lick up the rest.

"Oh my-" Corinne began, but choked on the word. Much like Colin, she was new to this.

She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Julian hesitantly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back, and it took him a minute to realize she was sobbing. He squeezed her tighter then, and consolingly rubbed her back.

"What happened to you? Who were those guys?" Julian asked, and Corinne sniffled as she drew back from the hug.

"I don't know." Corinne shook her head. "I was going to meet Colin and then this guy grabbed me. I went to throw him off of me, you know, vampire and all, but he stuck something in my neck first. A syringe of some kind, I guess. I passed out almost immediately and woke up here, feeling like I hadn't eaten in years. Not even my charm from Mr. Romero did anything."

"Well, it did something. That's how we found you. We traced the charm." Julian explained.

Corinne looked so young and innocent, even the fact that she had just drank his blood didn't do much to prevent Julian from seeing her that way. He hated those men up top who had done this to her. And what kind of solution could knock out a vampire? Must have been fucking elephant tranquilizer in there or something.

"I didn't even know he could do that." Corinne shook her head. "I... I'll have to thank him."

"Well, he's right upstairs so as soon as the sun goes down, you'll be able to." Julian said, and Corinne nodded, gazing down at the ground.

"Is there anything else you can remember? Names, places, plans, dates, anything like that?" Julian asked her gently.

"It's all a blur, I... I don't know." Corinne shook her head, blonde tresses swinging. "I think I was drugged or something. Some kind of sedative, I was out cold most of the time. How... how long has it been?"

"You vanished two nights ago." Julian told her, and she swallowed hard, nodding.

"I thought it might have been worse." Corinne said in a small, scared voice, and she shivered. Vampires, Julian knew, did not get cold.

Julian stood, and he began poking around the storage room, giving Corinne some space. Emotional people were tough for Julian to be around, that was usually Abigail's job. He looked in a bunch of the crates and shelves, and didn't really find anything other than a lot of dust and cobwebs. All of the stuff being stored here had likely been moved decades ago.

What interested Julian was that there was nothing here that could be used to garrote or strangle someone, there was nothing that could create magical runes, and the guys up top had not had the meticulous nature he would have assumed this serial killer to have. All of that put together and... it seemed pretty unlikely that this kidnapping had anything to do with the serial killings. Unless, of course, they'd been holding her for the killer to arrive. Julian had assumed it was one guy working alone, but they had so little to go on, it could be any number of people working together.

Disappointed at the lack of clues, Julian returned to Corinne, who was still sitting on the floor. He sat down beside her, and let out a breath.

"If there's anything at all you remember, give me a call." Julian said, and he handed over one of his cards, which she took and looked down at. "I chased off the three guys up top, but I don't know, I don't think they're the ones behind this."

"Three?" Corinne asked, lifting her head and looking towards Julian. "There's five of them."

Julian's eyes widened, and he got to his feet. "I'm going to go see what's happening up top then, are you good here?"

"I'm feeling much better now." Corinne said, and she bared her fangs. "I won't get taken by surprise again."

"Good." Julian nodded, and he hustled across the storage room and back up the stairs. To his relief, he didn't see anyone. Maybe the other two guys hadn't been around at the moment. Hopefully all five would stay away, but if they did come looking for trouble... Julian intended to give it to them. This wasn't something for Detective Anderson, this was payback, plain and simple.

"Is she in there?" Romero asked, poking his head around the corner.

"Yup, she's down there waiting out the sun." Julian nodded. "She's pretty shaken up, but she's alright."

Romero came out from around the wall, quickly followed by Inara and Meg. The three of them crossed the short distance over to Julian, and he explained how he'd found Corinne.

"Your wrist is bleeding." Inara noted, and Julian glanced down at it.

"She was practically catatonic, she needed blood." Julian explained.

"She was in torpor already? There's no way she could possibly have been that hungry so quickly." Romero frowned.

"She also said that she had gotten injected with something that knocked her out. What can knock out a vampire like that?" Julian demanded.

"No natural sedative." Romero shook his head. "It must have been something supernatural in origin."

"Well, from what I found downstairs, these guys weren't the serial killer I'm looking for. It's possible they work for him, I guess, but I'm not sure. This might be something different." Julian shook his head.

"Why did they just capture a vampire and keep her paralyzed for two days?" Inara scowled. "There must have been some reason for taking her."

"Maybe they were waiting for something." Julian theorized, but he shrugged.

"Or someone." Romero pointed out.

Julian glanced towards Meg, who didn't seem to be listening to the conversation. Her eyes had gone glassy, and she was staring vacantly at a random wall a few dozen feet away.

"Is she alright?" Julian asked, pointing at Meg. Romero and Inara both turned, and Romero's eyebrows rose.

"She's having a vision." he explained. "Something of the future."

Julian nodded slowly, then glanced towards the sun. It was steadily sinking lower, it wouldn't be long now until it was safe for Corinne to emerge. Meg's head snapped to the side suddenly, and Julian's eyes widened as she stared straight at him with those unsettling glassy eyes.

"The fallen angel... find her, Julian. She needs your help, she'll die if you don't." Meg spoke in a raspy voice that didn't sound entirely her own.

"A fallen angel?" Inara demanded, but Romero shushed her hastily.

"Dark forces are marshaling in Los Angeles, the body toll will continue to rise. The missing piece you need, she has it, Julian. You have to find her." Meg intoned, and Julian shuddered. It was almost eerie the way Meg was talking, like she wasn't really there.

Meg convulsed suddenly, and her eyes widened. "Not all who die are dead forever. None but ghosts know the truth."

And then the glassy quality to her eyes faded, and she was Meg again. She rubbed at her eyes and shook her head.

"That was a rough one." she coughed, waving off Romero when he moved to help.

"What was that?" Julian hissed, but Inara glared at him.

"Wait until she recovers." the djinn told him fiercely, and Julian held his hands up innocently.

After a moment, Meg seemed to recover from her vision, standing up straight again and looking normal.

"What did you mean by all of that?" Julian asked, and Meg gave him a pitying look.

"I'm sorry, Detective. I don't recall the visions I get." Meg apologized. "I say what I see aloud during them, I am told, and Mero or Inara usually makes note of them."

"Two days before you came into my shop, Margaret had a vision telling us to 'aid the warrior wolf.'" Romero explained, and Julian glanced towards Inara, who wouldn't look at him. No wonder she'd asked him that about being a warrior.

"So you always obey her visions?" Julian asked, and Romero nodded.

"Yes, of course. They've never steered us wrong." Romero said with a loving smile at Meg.

"And so you want me to find a fallen angel?" Julian asked in disbelief. "How am I supposed to do that? I didn't even think angels were real."

"Angels and demons are spoken of often in theology, it'd be foolish to discount them. They may not currently walk the Earth, or are not known to at least, but I've long thought that angels and demons once visited Earth frequently." Romero admitted. "A fallen angel on Earth now though is something curious. Presumably she's in Los Angeles, but I've heard nothing about her."

"Are fallen angels powerful? Or would they just be human?" Julian wondered.

"I couldn't tell you, I'm afraid. Though it sounds like you'll be meeting one soon." Romero said with a wink.

That was a scary thought. And what could Julian even do to help her? Surely anything that could kill a fallen angel would absolutely fuck him up. Julian nodded slowly in response to Romero's words. His life had gotten pretty crazy recently, hadn't it? First he wound up trying to identify an actual serial killer, then he wound up finding a missing vampire, and working with an enchanter, a seer, and a djinn to do it. Those guys had seemed like supernatural hunters though, even if they weren't working for or with the serial killer, that would be a problem to deal with, too.

But for now... all they could do was wait for nightfall.

———

It was almost an hour before Colin came running up to them.

By then, Julian had gotten Corinne out of the underground storage room, and she was sitting in the grass beside the Beetle while Meg fussed over her. Corinne assured the older woman that she was fine, but Julian thought part of the girl enjoyed the attention. Vaguely, Julian remembered Colin had said that the Parker twins' parents had died when they were young, so Corinne very well might be enjoying some maternal fussing.

Julian was sat at one of the picnic tables with Inara sitting opposite him, though she'd been studiously ignoring him. Julian rose to his feet when he saw Colin appear, but he only made it two steps before Corinne zoomed to her feet and was embracing her twin brother. Julian paused, wanting to give them a moment before he said anything.

He caught Romero's eye as he waited, and Romero gave him a nod. The slightly eccentric enchanter had been sat in the grass by himself, looking down at something Julian hadn't been able to see. When the twins finally broke apart, Julian walked forwards and Colin gave him a grateful look.

"Detective, I cannot thank you enough for this. I never would have found her on my own, you... anything that I can do for you, ever, you just name it and it'll be done." Colin said fiercely.

Julian chuckled, and he extended his hand. "Don't worry about it, kid. Just try not to kill anybody while drinking blood, and we'll call it even."

"Of course." Colin said gratefully.

Corinne gave him an almost shy look before she zoomed into him for a hug, too. Julian grunted as the sexy blonde shortstack collided with his chest, but he squeezed her in response.

"Thank you again." she mumbled, and Julian smiled at her.

"Happy to help." he said, and Corinne was smiling when she stepped back from the hug.

"Be careful, you two. The guy I told you about, he's still out there." Julian said, nodding purposefully at Colin.

"We'll be careful." he promised.

"Good." Julian said, and the vampire twins raced off into the night.

"For a second there, you almost seemed like a good person." Inara's familiar voice came from behind his shoulder, and Julian turned around, shaking his head and chuckling.

"Can't you just say good job?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Good job for what? Mero found the girl, you just offered up a bit of blood, there's dozens of people who donate blood." Inara shrugged.

"You guys ready to head back to the shop?" Meg asked, and Julian and Inara shared a rare look of agreement.

"Sure, but absolutely no Disney music." Julian said.

"Hear, hear." Inara agreed.

"Are you sure?" Meg frowned.

"Honey, if the two of them agreed on something, we should do it." Romero said, standing up from his spot in the grass. He approached the Beetle, and extended his hand towards Julian. Julian was surprised to see a charm in his palm, a little brass wolf on a simple black cord.

"For your friend." Romero said, and Julian's eyes widened in understanding.

"Oh, that was quick. Thanks, Romero, I appreciate it." Julian said, and he took the charm from the enchanter's hand. "You just had a wolf on hand?"

Romero chuckled, and he unbuttoned his vest, holding open one side of it so Julian could see the easily several dozen little pockets inside it, and Julian began to understand just why this guy was such a good enchanter. How could he not be, with this many charms on him at all times?

The four of them climbed back into the Beetle, and they began the drive back to the Arcana Augurum, thankfully with some non-Disney music playing on the radio, even if it was theater showtunes.