Dr. Josefine Wolfe didn't realize there was something wrong until Judge Harford suddenly fell silent. She'd zoned out a while ago when he'd started talking about the Oracles of the Obscure and their latest research, this time into the subject of elemental demons and spirits. Josefine had tuned him out, not because the subject matter was boring, though he seemed to be making a great effort to make it sound that way, she'd tuned him out to observe the other guests at the event.
The party was meant to promote a sense of comradery between the police, FBI, and handful of Private Investigators operating in the island city of Otsha, but Josefine was only good with people when there were strings attached. Even then, most people had a sort of instinctual response to her presence, or more accurately, to the presence of the Monster in her head she referred to as Wolf with something like affection. Josefine was off-putting to anyone with any sort of instinct and most investigators relied heavily enough on it that they tended to know something was wrong about her even without seeing the Monster move behind her eyes. Thus, at this party meant to build feelings of trust, Josefine was an unwelcome presence and most of them made sure she knew it.
She'd started the evening alone against the wall and remained that way until Detective Janzen Andries found her there and approached with an amicable smile.
"How've you been, Jo? Mingling with the law enforcement, I see? Making new connections?" He said cheerily. She raised an eyebrow at him as he leaned against the wall beside her. He seemed to read that she wasn't in the mood for his teasing in her body language; he was probably one of the only people who could read her despite her lack of expressiveness. "I know," he rubbed at the dark scruff along his chin—he looked like he'd come straight from an all-nighter, working some case or another, with two days worth of stubble and the dark circles around his cognac eyes almost as dark as her own. "I heard some of the Feds trash-talking you earlier."
Josefine shrugged noncommittally. "Let them talk," a remarkably prideful and almost sinister smile flickered across her lips before she continued, "I hear their solve rate in violent crimes has dropped considerably since I quit." Quitting was probably too nice of a way to put it when they'd parted after she'd told her boss to breeze off. Really, they'd been looking for a good excuse to chase her out for a while but she refused to give them the satisfaction.
She'd never quite figured out how politics could be more important than investigative skill and deductive reasoning in a job that revolved around solving crimes, but somehow, it was.
Andries laughed at her comment and her matter-of-fact delivery before turning his gaze to survey the room the same way she was.
"I see none of the other PIs seem keen on making friends with you either," he wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a side hug despite the fact she initially flinched away from the contact, "Don't worry about that too much, you're still pretty new to that business, even with your background."
Another smile split Josefine's lips at that, all teeth and no real emotion in it beyond mild amusement.
"Bullshit." Then, the smile was gone and she opened her mouth to say something else when Judge Harford approached them with a jovial smile and an almost empty glass of bourbon.
"Detective Andries, I hear you pulled an interesting murder a couple of weeks ago. How have you been doing with the loose ends of that case?" Andries released his grip on Josefine's shoulder, watching from the corner of his eye as she took a discreet step away as if she planned to run before Harford's attention was turned on her.
"Actually, most of the legwork for that case was done by Doc here. She just recently opened up office as a PI." Judge Harford raised his eyebrows in surprise and turned an appraising eye on Josefine, making her skin crawl. He met her grey eyes and the tapping started—fingers on the side of the untouched glass in her hand.
He barely lasted a second before Wolf snickered and he quickly looked away.
Clearing his throat, he looked to Andries again, "Doc? Well, I think an introduction is in order, don't you, Detective?"
"Yessir." Andries planted a hand on Josefine's shoulder. She supposed it was meant to be reassuring if one ignored the fact physical contact usually still meant pain in her mind. "This is Dr. Josefine Wolfe of Wōden Private Investigations. Jo, this is Judge Jeffrey Harford. He might've handled some of your cases before you left the Feds."
Josefine nodded slightly. She'd heard about Judge Harford occasionally before she'd quit, but she'd never paid much mind to any of it, just enough attention to know he had a reputation for being ruthless in the courtroom and a womanizing alcoholic outside of it.
She knew there was a reason she didn't like the way he was looking at her and supposed that was probably it as she glanced around for another chance to escape. There wasn't one, not now that he'd turned his full attention on her and Andries still had a hand, almost protectively or possessively, on her shoulder. At least he hadn't abandoned her to the judge altogether, she supposed. In another life, they might have been friends, but unfortunately, in this life, Josefine was fairly certain she wasn't really capable of that sort of relationship.
A homicidal Monster living in one's head didn't exactly make for a good foundation for such things.
Judge Harford wasn't deterred or put off by their often one-word or noncommittal replies and kept chattering on, drifting in subject from various cases and what sounded like it was meant to be flattery to talking himself up. He caught Josefine staring absent-mindedly at a silver Infiniti pin on his lapel which he explained represented the Oracles of the Obscure, a group somewhere between cult and secret society that studied magic for wealthy humans who didn't have even a drop of real mana running through their veins. There's an unconscious response to magic in some people in a similar way to how some people are more sensitive to storms rolling in; some are more sensitive to it than others to the point they can differentiate between casters. Josefine had been in the presence of powerful magic before. She knew of two individuals off the top of her head who could probably raze Otsha to the ground with it if they wanted to, so little groups like the Oracles held no real interest for her.
The Judge didn't hold her interest either…
not until he broke off mid-sentence and she glanced his way again in mild curiosity.
"Blood," Wolf pressed against the walls of her mind as Josefine watched the red bloom across the white of Judge Harford's shirt under the suit jacket.
For that one second, time seemed to stand still.
Then Josefine's eyes met the suddenly panicked expression of the attacker—some rookie-beat cop based on his young age—and the young man seemed to recognize that she was a threat on instinct alone.
He let go of the knife and bolted as Judge Harford collapsed into Andries.
Josefine's grey eyes flicked across the room at the shock and panic on other faces, then dropped her glass and went after him with Wolf's calls for a hunt echoing in her thoughts. Josefine had recognized the magic on the attacker almost as soon as she'd recognized the knife in his hands, even if she couldn't quite put it into words. The young officer was fast, but so was Josefine once she'd kicked off her heels on the sidewalk outside; she kept up even if she couldn't quite close the distance on her own. She was just starting to debate handing control over to Wolf for the extra speed of hysterical strength as her hair came loose from the bun she'd tied it up in, weighing the pros and cons without much thought as to her surroundings beyond where her prey was. She didn't see the man about her age step out of the bookstore in front of her until it was too late and they collided with enough force to topple them both over.
Familiar magic sparked in the air around them with the muttering of some kind of spell in an equally familiar voice, cushioning their fall before he reached up as if to grasp at something and a ghostly hand grabbed hold of the fleeing officer before he could get away.
"Hey Josie," the familiar voice reached her ears clearer now, "you alright?"
The only reason Josefine wasn't in a rush to immediately get away from the man was that even without looking or hearing his voice, she knew who it was based on the feel of his magic alone. Still, she lifted away from him to meet his gaze and scan over his expression for any signs he might be in pain after their collision and fall.
"Emil," she forced a smile that was meant to be reassuring even though she knew he was one of the few people who could see right through it, "thanks for catching me," she sat up, though she didn't bother untangling her legs from his just yet; Wolf would laugh at her endlessly for thinking it but human warmth was comforting now and then when it came from someone she felt she could trust.
Emilus Solomon was probably the only person in the world Josefine trusted, at least in part because he was the only one who knew about Wolf and Josefine's extracurricular activities other than Anna Manhattan, who just seemed to know things regardless of how well-guarded they were and felt far too dangerous for trust.
"Thanks for catching him, too," she continued as Emil sat up as well with a quiet groan; she wasn't surprised, she'd hit him pretty hard, it would've been impressive that he'd been able to react quickly enough to cushion the impact with the ground and catch the fleeing officer even in that situation except Josefine knew Emil.
He was one of the two people she knew who could raze the city to the ground, though thunder and lightning were more his forte than fire and brimstone.
"So," he began after a moment of taking in both how she and the officer were dressed and the blood on the officer's hands, "you look pretty and all, but since I'm sort of involved now, would you mind explaining why you were chasing someone down the street barefoot?"
"He stabbed someone to death," Josefine explained as she climbed to her feet and offered him a hand up, "we were at an event for law enforcement and I sensed magic." Emil took her hand and let her help him up, his brow furrowed in question.
"Alright, but barefoot?" She glanced down at her feet and wiggled her stockinged toes against the sidewalk.
"I wasn't going to chase him in heels."
Emil chuckled to himself as he turned to start reeling in the young officer who was struggling frantically against translucent silvery blue binds. "That's reasonable, I suppose." He closed his hand on the back of the young officer's neck and steered him towards the door into Raven's Roost, his book and magic supply store. "Let's move this discussion inside," he gestured toward the door with his free hand and Josefine nodded, moving forward to push the door open and hold it for him to follow her inside with the young officer. She moved around the counter and pulled the chair out from behind it so that Emil could settle him into it.
"I didn't do it," the officer tried to explain, "I just woke up with the knife in my hand—I didn't—" Emil hummed at his words.
"No memory?" He glanced at Josefine, "You said you sensed magic?"
"Yes." He looked down at the frantic and confused young officer again.
"Alright," Emil planted a hand on both arms of the chair and met the officer's gaze. When certain magics run through your veins, divination magic sometimes comes easier, and with it comes the ability to look into a person's eyes and see into their soul. Emil was one such person with abilities to the point he rarely met anyone's gaze at all for fear of seeing too much. Josefine watched as his eyes went cloudy, forgetting to breathe for a moment as she waited. Then she exhaled all at once as his eyes cleared back to the familiar blue.
"What did you see?"
Emil straightened up, taking a deep breath. "You were right," his gaze flicked her way, "he was controlled by something."