Sinfully Delicious

Arson

Cingetorix had turned in the direction of the coffee shop the moment that they had left the Guardian's headquarters at the beginning of shift. She had regretted agreeing to wait to address the issue with the human baker with guilt growing the longer it took. Despite their decision to go the next shift, they had been unable to for a couple days, having gone from complaint to complaint from the start of shift to the end until that morning. Murchadh, in uncharacteristic passivity, merely followed his partner silently as they walked.

Cingetorix only paused as she turned a street corner with her partner, reaching up to lay a hand on his forearm and forestall him as she lifted her nose into the air, smelling the very distinct smell of demon smoke wafting around them. "Do you smell that?"

Murchadh let his darkening expression and the slight lift of his own nose into the air speaking for him. His steps were quicker as they resumed their walk, this time leading Torix until they rounded the last corner, and both stopped dead in their tracks. "This..."

Torix frowned as she took in the row of buildings that used to be Vialen's coven's home and now were merely charred husks that sat smoking in the early morning light. They barely held the shape of a building anymore, stray black beams leaning at dangerous angles amidst the charred rubble that had burned so completely it looked more white than black. "I told you we needed to go back yesterday. This is not a coincidence. Something happened."

"Obviously." Murchadh strode forward once more, frowning softly as they came to a stop beside a shapeshifter who smelled of night, possibly a wolf or a large feline species. "What do you know about this?"

"Lucifer's executioner, if rumour is right." The shaggy haired, green eyed man offered idly, though Torix saw his look of disdain when he glanced their way. "Happened a couple nights ago, but since when does your kind care about things like this?"

Torix hissed in a breath, baring her teeth at the young shifter, meeting those green eyes with a fierce gaze of her own. "Who did Baltha execute? And we investigate any unjustified attack, if it's reported to us."

"No one." There was a returned challenge as the shifter bared his teeth right back at her and a slight smirk of defiance. "Happened at night, no one was in the shop. Vialen wasn't harmed, but she was warned. Nothing to investigate in this instance, Lucifer is his own law amongst us."

"What was she warned about?" Murchadh asked idly, his tone clearly unmoved by the man's lack of respect, causing both of them to turn to him. But the blood elf wasn't even looking at them, his gaze was on the spot the shop door used to stand.

The shifter shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "No idea. She was getting pretty cocky. Maybe Baltha just didn't like her attitude, you should go ask him yourself, rumour is he's sticking around. I just wished I had been able to grab another butter tart before this all happened. I'm jonesing for one of them and a coffee, bad."

Torix snorted and gave the shifter a curious look. "I didn't think your kind jonesed for anything other than a fresh kill."

"You've obviously never had one of the butter tarts." He smirked at her, before sighing and wandering away.

Torix watched him leave, before turning to look at Murchadh, who was still watching the shop. "That sounds a little convenient."

"It could very well be a coincidence. I had heard that Vialen had been pushing her luck, growing a little arrogant. And Baltha has been seen around town the last few days, more than usual, Lucifer may have brought him in for something." Murchadh glanced at her finally, his expression curious. "The human could have absolutely nothing to do with this. What would Lucifer and a demon care about a single human?"

"We're back on night shift tomorrow; we could look into it. We have no other files right now, maybe make our presence known in some of his establishments, at least figure out what Baltha is doing in town?" Torix offered as they turned from the shop and started walking back the way they had come. "You're thinking about something else though."

Murchadh nodded, frowning as his teal eyes scanned the streets around them.

"Humans eke out subsistence." Murchadh offered after a stretch of silence so long that she didn't think he was going to answer. The green in his eyes shimmered with the power of his bloodline in a way that reminded her of stars on a clear night. As a blood elf, he was dark skinned with silver hair that he braided down his back, exposing his pointed ears, both of which had nearly twenty piercings each, signifying more battles and accomplishments than he cared to ever tell her about.

His midnight skin contrasted to her golden as they walked side by side, marking them from vastly different tries. Though he had never doubted her abilities as a warrior, even with her pale blue eyes and black hair that signified her coming from the more peaceful, less violent side of their race. The contrast between them seemed to declare to the rest of the world that she had no place walking beside a hunter of his caliber.

Murchadh was tough, he was demanding and exacting, but he was logical and had a reason behind everything he expected from her, never judging her on anything other than her performance. When she had been assigned to him, she had heard the snickers and murmured words that he would chew her up, but she had only ever been given a chance to prove her worth with him.

"So what has happened to her, even if she isn't involved at all?" Torix liked the human, though it was strange to admit that she cared about a human, even to herself. The girl had a way with everyone that was peaceful, a quiet soul that called to her gentler side despite the difference in species. "I know that Vialen was forcing her to work later, was purposely keeping her so long in the shop that she could barely make it home in time for curfew. She was terrorizing the woman."

"Her name is Ferya." Murchadh muttered, side glancing at her for a long moment in surprise. "How do you know this?"

"I had a couple sources look into it the night we saw her." Torix offered a careful shrug, slightly unwilling to admit that she spoke to the small folk, that she had asked the slightly eccentric, flying, sprites to help. "They followed her home. Just the once."

Murchadh thought about it for a moment, before inclining his head and glancing at her. "Next time you see your sources, ask them where she lives. I can't imagine it is a very safe place, and it's probably less so now that she no longer has a place of employment. Humans never seem to afford anything but the basic necessities. And tomorrow, we'll look into what Lucifer is doing here in the city. What Baltha is here for."

"Should we advise the council?" Torix asked, hesitantly, knowing that Murchadh took neutrality of their kind, of the Guard, far more seriously than the rest of their coworkers. It was one of the reasons others didn't get along with him and probably why the Council hadn't released him from his guardianship despite his obvious length of service. He wasn't their spy, he was here for both light and dark, for everyone, as the Praetorian Guard claimed it was.

He was a lone wolf in that aspect and would never see any of his accomplishments celebrated as they should be until he changed his ways. Their superiors had made that quite clear to both of them every time Murchadh did his best to not act with bias. A Tuath Dé of his caliber should have been a commander or back in the wilderness, not walking the streets with a rookie to look after. But he didn't attempt to curry favour with the council, or any of the superiors, he did his job as it should have been done to the detriment of any ambitions he may have once had.

"There are no laws being broken, yet. Lucifer is not violating any rules, and there is no reason for concern as of yet." Murchadh offered a shrug, glancing at her. "The angels have better things to do than spying on Lucifer and his kin."

"Of course." Torix nodded at that, letting out a slow breath, wondering if she could ever achieve his level of integrity, despite all the costs.

Whether she would want to. What was integrity worth to her?

She had no good idea, but she felt weak, when even thinking about it. It was easy to follow him, letting him make the decisions, but she didn't know what she would do when she had to make the decisions on her own.