Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy 1)

“It really is, if you think any of the information we have will help your group figure it out and stop this thing. ” Gosh, was I being brave or what?

“It won't do any good to get us both locked up. I've got another goal besides finding and stopping the killer. ”

I frowned. As much as I liked him, if he was asking me to help him take down IPCA I'd have to say no. It wasn't a perfect organization by any means, but they were doing a lot of good. I, for one, thought the world was a much safer place without free-?ranging vamps and hags and all the rest of the nasty creepy-?crawly blood-?sucky flesh-?eating things of legend. “What's your other goal?”

“I want to get you out of here. ”

“Don't you mean you want me to get you out of here?”

He took my hand--yeah, my hand again. I was liking this. A lot. “No, I mean I want to get you out. This shouldn't be your life. You deserve a lot more. Like a locker. ”

“And a driver's license?”

“Let's not get carried away. ”

I smiled. As much as I wanted to get out and live a real life (whatever that was; I didn't pretend like I knew anymore), I didn't think it would ever happen. If I was classified as a paranormal, IPCA had complete jurisdiction over me. Which meant I couldn't exactly turn in my two weeks' notice.

My communicator beeped. I pulled it out with my free hand. I wasn't letting go of Lend's till he let go of mine. His skin was the coolest thing ever. Warm, but perfectly smooth and soft. Not to mention the happy tingles it gave me that had nothing to do with anything paranormal.

I glanced at the screen. It was Lish. “What's up?”

“Come to Central Processing. There is trouble. Raquel is coming back and the Supervisors are following. You should not be caught alone with Lend. ”

“I'm leaving right now. Thanks, Lish. ” I hooked the communicator back on my belt. Lish always looked out for me. “I don't know what's happening, but Raquel and a bunch of bigwigs are headed to the Center, so I probably shouldn't be here. ”

He gave my hand a quick squeeze (which made my heart do all sorts of happy dances in my chest) before letting go. “I'll see you later, then. ”

I hurried to Central Processing. Lish looked downright panicked. “What's going on?” I could tell by her expression that something big was up, and it scared me.

“The Birmingham Tracking and Placement Center in England was hit today. ”

“Wait, hit? What do you mean hit?”

“Every paranormal there is dead. ” That phrase said in the robot voice was so startling and horrible I didn't know how to react.

“It--was it the same thing?”

“Yes. Just dead, no traces of weapons or anything that should have been able to kill them. ”

“Did anyone see anything?”

“No. It is a small facility. None of the humans saw anything. ”

That was something, at least. Apparently this thing didn't go after humans. I was relieved until I remembered that I might not be quite human. Not very comforting. “Anything else?”

“I do not have any more details right now. We will probably go on lockdown. ”

“What's that?”

It took her a minute to respond; I watched as her eyes darted around all the various screens she was managing. I swear she did the work of twenty people. “Lockdown procedure calls for all our assets in the field and satellite buildings to

be brought to the Center. When everyone is secure, we go into complete lockdown--no one in, no one out. ”

“Oh, wow. ” That was a big deal. “How long until that happens?”

“We should be secure in two hours. ” Gotta hand it to IPCA--for a government-?type agency, they were efficient.

“And how long is the lockdown in effect?”