Our third character is Elora Long, Thad’s partner. She’s the only woman and the only psychic in the department, and while she doesn’t have a problem with Leo, she’s terrified of Ric.
Her skill allows her to find things that belong together – a missing earring, a dropped chopstick, or a lost sock. She hates using her skill. If she uses it, she’ll pass out and will remain sleeping for a few hours.
Thaddeus does what he can to keep her safe since using her skill leaves her vulnerable, but the two of them have a much worse solve rate than the others in the department – something Ric often reminds them of.
Most people, both humans and magical beings, feared Ric. Thad didn’t, and he’d almost managed to make himself believe it, too. If things went bad, he could always turn him into a toad, and Ric knew it. Though he was a lousy wizard, and if Ric wanted to rip his throat out, he’d do it before Thad could cast a spell.
Slumping on his chair, he did nothing to try to muffle his sigh.
Jaecar straightened his back and stared Ric in the eyes—not many did for more than a second, but Jaecar didn’t lower his gaze for anyone. A sizzle went through Thad. There was so much power hidden beneath the disheveled surface.
Jaecar was a shifter too, but Thad had no idea what his animal was. Something solitary since he didn’t belong to a pack, pride, or family group.
“If I’m not mistaken, you’ve requested a couple days of vacation, starting about half an hour ago.” Jaecar’s voice was cool and controlled, and while Ric didn’t move a muscle, it was as if he deflated.
“Yeah, but a woman’s life is in danger.”
“And Ezax and Long are looking into it.”
Ric snorted. “Might as well tell her family to contact the funeral service, those two will never solve a case. They’re fucking useless.”
Jaecar didn’t respond, but Thad suspected he agreed with Ric. He chanced a glance at Elora who had shrunk several inches during the conversation. Elora couldn’t afford to lose inches, she was short for a woman, and Thad, who was relatively average in the height department, appeared tiny next to the shifters.
Elora was a curvy, quiet woman in her early thirties with skin like melted chocolate and black, close-cropped hair. Thad liked her, a lot, but none of them had any brawn, none of them had the nose of a shifter, and therefore not the tracking ability of one either.
Thad could’ve cast a tracking spell if he’d been more powerful. Had he been anywhere near as powerful as the rest of the members of the Ezax bloodline, he’d be able to find the woman within minutes. Now they had to solve this case like the mundanes did because there was no way in hell he’d admit Ric was right and that it would be better to hand the case over to the shifters.
He glanced at Elora again. Perhaps she’d be able to pick up on something. For once the odds might be in their favor—they never were. He was being unfair. Elora was clairvoyant, Thad had seen it happen, but she never got any clues as to find missing people or murderers on the run. She was formidable at finding a lost glove or sock, which might have been good if she’d worked as a dry cleaner or something. If she accidentally touched a dropped chopstick in a restaurant, she instantly knew where its mate was, but it didn’t mean she’d find missing people.
The most useful Thad had seen her was when she found a lost cufflink at a crime scene. She touched it and told them where the other one was. If it was close by, she could point the correct direction and know when they were getting close, if it was farther away, a map worked pretty well.
Finding a cufflink now would be too much to hope for. Sighing, again, Thad spun the small, ceramic jack o’ lantern bowl Elora had placed there and wished he could go home and hide. Glancing inside the bowl, he pursed his lips when he saw there only were two tiny chocolate pieces left. He’d eaten the entire bowl—the entire super-small bowl of chocolates.
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Detective Thaddeus Ezax is in over his head. He’s the only wizard in Rockshade’s Paranormal Investigations Department, and it was his name that got him the job. The Ezaxs are known as some of the most powerful wizards in the world, but Thaddeus isn’t your average Ezaxs. Is it any wonder his family shuns him?
When a kidnapping case is dropped into his lap, Thaddeus must act fast. While most five-year-olds can cast a location spell, Thaddeus can’t and is forced to get creative. When he finds himself in possession of a black market werewolf skull with a ghost trapped inside, accidentally releases the spirit, and somehow forms a connection with it, things get even crazier.
Sandulf Hunter doesn’t remember dying, but he remembers the last thing he saw before everything went black—a wizard. All wizards must die! The only problem is, the wizard standing next to him smells too damned good, so good Sandy thinks he might have to keep him.
And since wherever Thaddeus goes, Sandulf finds himself yanked along, he might not have a choice in the matter anyway.
Ofelia Grand 