The Protector by Sara Anderson Page A

Blair’s
neighbors out that had seen where she went. He spotted a troll he didn’t
recognize walking along the grass.   He
didn’t look quite as grumpy as their resident trolls. They tended to be quite
angry little critters, which gave them such a nasty reputation in fairytales.
    Before
getting to city hall, he stopped in the coffee shop. Mandy saw him and turned
to make a coffee for Mitch. Mandy handed over Mitch’s coffee, then turned to Cole. “What can I do for you?”
    Cole
gave Mandy the look he used when asking questions. “Where is Blair?”
      “I don’t know. She said she needed me to work
some overtime, so I did it.”
    Cole
could tell she was not being truthful with him. He would find Blair eventually,
and he would deal with her hiding. Michael would deal with Mandy helping her
hide.
    “Did
she say where she was going?”
    Mandy’s
eyes were wide and full of innocence. “No, Cole. She didn’t tell me where she
was going. Maybe she went on vacation.”
    Even
without his truth sensing, Cole knew she was lying. She had that little smile
on her face that she used when she lied. The trouble was , he didn’t have the heart to really interrogate her. He knew Blair was
disobeying her judgment from Michael, and Mandy was helping. “I will check back
in a while. We aren’t done here.”
    “Ok,”
Mandy said softly.
    Right
before he turned away from her he saw her cringe. She knew where Blair was all
right, and that she would have to face Michael for helping Blair disobey.   She must be close, or Mandy would not worry.
He pushed open the door and walked back out into the Colorado Mountain
sunshine. He hoped Michael would have some clues.
    ****
    Cole
made it to the city hall where Michael’s office was located. Michael’s official
title for the records, and his paycheck, was the mayor of the town. For shifter
records, he was the guardian of the territory. The most respected part of his
position was being Ilithyia’s hand of justice.
Whether a human, shifter, or magical being threatened shifters or their
territory, Michael judged them. Their Goddess, Ilithyia ,
either accepted his judgment, or made her own, but her decision was final, and
shifters accepted it without question.   The less than grand part of his job description was being a mediator.
When shifters had a disagreement they couldn’t solve themselves, they came to
Michael. With the gifts Ilithyia had given Michael,
he was able to understand both sides of a conflict and rule based on facts
rather than emotion.
    Cole
walked up the walkway to the main doors. He wondered what Blair would do if she
knew the real reason Michael had given her this punishment. He had a feeling
Blair would be furious if she knew Michael had been waiting a while for a
chance to hand down this judgment to her. Movement caught Cole’s eye. He bent
his head and saw two fairies playing in the flowers, bouncing on them and doing
flips in the gentle wind. They were better than bees at spreading pollen. It
was a good thing shifters knew to leave bits of fruit and vegetable under the
plants for the fairies to eat. It kept them coming back to play in their
flowers, which was not only adorable, but was good for the flowers.
    Cole
walked into Michael’s office and sank into the chair in front of Michael’s
desk. He had looked carefully the entire way, but she had hidden her tracks
well. Mandy had not said a word, and he knew why. She was a sweet and loyal
friend to Blair, even though she was getting herself into trouble with Michael.
Cole couldn’t bring himself to interrogate her. He would not force Mandy to
break Blair’s trust. He could make
her talk. Not only his gifts as Kelach , but also his
training in interrogation would easily break Mandy. He would never do it to her
though.
    Michael
stared at him for a moment, in that creepy way he used when he was “reading”
someone. “Well? How is it going?”
    “It’s
not. She ran.” Cole crossed his arms across his