Enduring Retribution e-book by Kathi S. Barton Page B

setting up a program on the computer to make access much easier and faster. Tristan felt like the rabbit that fell down a hole.

    “No. Not a chameleon. She’s a falcon…I guess one of her forms is a—how do you get a job like that? I mean, do you put an ad in the paper? How do people check your references when all your clients are dead? But I suppose that’s the point, they’re dead.” Tristan had the overwhelming need to giggle.
    He sat there for several seconds, thinking about her. Bailey really was a hired killer and these people, these beings, had hired her. She had been shot the other day, shot by the person she was hired to kill, or the police, but either way, they were directly involved in her getting hurt.
    “She knew the consequences going in, Tristan. It’s not like we didn’t make things clear to her when we approached her.” He stood when a woman of regal bearing walked in and sat down.
    “There were three of them when they started this, a were named Tyler Smith and a Cynogriffon called Griff. We have never met neither Bailey, nor Tyler for that matter. Griff is the only one we have dealt with as he is our only direct contact through the front. He’s very protective of her.”
    “A Cynogriffon? I’m not sure…isn’t that a mythical creature?” Tristan asked as he could almost feel the hole widening even further.
    “Griff? No, he’s as real as you or I. Griff is half eagle and half wolf, an extremely strong and a very intelligent creature. He is very loyal to the other two, or was. He never told us anything about them, not even when they were hurt or killed.” Mel reached into the small basket that hadn’t been there before, Tristan was sure of it. She pulled out an apple and another one appeared to take its place. He decided not to see it, simply not to see anything else or he would surely go insane. Elizabeth continued the tale.
    “Tyler was murdered several months ago during an assignment he was conducting in the States. The only reason we heard about it was because we were asked to stop making payments into his account. It wasn’t until his death certificate was sent to us that we discovered he had been killed. He had been shot twice in the head at close range. We tried to get in touch with the Printer, Bailey I suppose, but she had been working in another country. They all have been working for us for about fifteen years and her record is impeccable.” A stack of folders appeared before him.
    “You talk about her as if she is a Brownie troop leader, not some woman who murders other beings for money.” He just stared at them, ignoring the stack beside him.
    “I brought you those,” Mel said quietly. “They’re the last ten beings that she ‘murdered,’ as you called it, and why we had to call her in. The last one is Salvatore Madison. He was a black mage, dealt in the art of black magic. He was the man she killed the night you went to Paris to save Bailey, the guy that Pete told you about.”
    Tristan picked up the heavy folder and against his better judgment, opened it. As soon as the first picture appeared, he wished he could shut it again and found himself instead flipping through them. They were not only horrific but beyond what a person should know how to do to a body.
    “As you can see, he likes his victims small and helpless, much like Pete Marshall’s body type is,” Mel pointed out. “He played with them, peeling their skin from them while they were alive. He used their terror and pain like you use blood. Their essences sustained him. We couldn’t catch him. His magic in your world protected him and just when we would get close enough to bring him in for a trial, he would disappear.”
    Tristan looked at Sara from a picture of a young man. “That’s Tyler, one of his many victims. I believe he was also one of his lovers. Someone, and now I can only assume it was your mate, found enough information for us to sanction his death. It took her a month, and he was