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"We can speak in estured to the rooht back, Viktor"

The man nodded, a solemn expression on his face I wondered if he practiced it

Just as Magisters oversaw their pockets of the world and ruled the vaisters ere appointed, Councilors were elected and ruled all witches in their area of the world Six councils in all ruled the with the secretary of state or the vice president

Natalie cleared her throat and I jumped Heat flushed ister I turned quickly and followed Natalie into her s roo her office door behind her

"We have some remains," I replied "A body was burned beyond all identification We’ve determined no accelerant was used We need to find out what else could have burned a body so badly, and whether or not you can get anything off the body to help us identify the victied? Tell me about the circumstances," Natalie said

"Only ashes remained," I explained "Mostly A few more minutes and ouldn’t have been able to deterh was left of the teeth to be certain it was a huet the paranormal unit out there Our sensitive verified the ashes were huy on the body that is OW in nature, but she can’t say for sure if it’s from the victih of it left for Astrid to identify what kind of otherworlder was involved"

"Astrid Holmes?" Natalie asked, voice sharp

"Yes," I said

"Guess she didn’t want to co other leads in the case," I lied

"Humph Sure she is" Natalie pursed her lips "Well, I probably can’t tell you who the victiht do better with a psychometrist But I can tell you what could have destroyed the body" She held up a finger "A witch, for one A not-so-strong one with an affinity for fire could have done it, perhaps Especially if intense emotion was involved A powerful one with no affinity for fire could have done it as well--although that would have required a lot of tier "A sala one" And another finger "A firebird--but again, it would have to be an especially strong one Was there dae was concentrated on the body itself"

"Probably not a firebird, then They aren’t all that accurate"

"What about a phoenix?"

Natalie waved her hand in the air "That’s just another word for firebird--they’re the sauess it could also be some sort of eleic is farelse?"

"Not that I can think of offhand"

"What can you tell ht I was only curious because of the case--not because of Costa And if I told ed "Like all species of otherworlders, they vary in strength, but they are more accurate than a firebird

Most commonly they are fire resistant--maybe closer to immune Their eyes turn black like a true sala intense ehter, in that they can start a sged "Butdid this person burn?"

I frowned "It’s hard to say, but it couldn’t have been more than an hour or so He or she was found in an alley at night, but the bar that used the Dumpsters closed at 2:00 a A bakery on the other side of the alley had workers in by four They found the body at four thirty, and it was already reduced to s, then"

Natalie’s face scrunched, a cute expression on her, and oddly it reminded me of Astrid’s expression back in the alley when she had been concentrating on using her sensitive powers on the pile of ash "If I had to hazard a guess, I would putfire acumen"

"Why not the others?" I asked "Seems like a Covenant witch would be just as likely"

Natalie laughed, a light ue with you that a Covenant witch would be more likely to have that kind of juice, but our numbers are limited

Besides, Viktor has been in town all week No ould one of ours try to pull so like that with a council member in town That would besuicide Professional suicide, of course"

Professional suicide Yeah, right More like physical hoot ahold of the witch

Like the vampires, the Covenant tended to take care of their own problems