Rose pushed a button on the remote control and on the screen of the TV appeared the young man once again, this time on a clear picture. It was a mugshot.

‘His name is Mario Jones,’ said Rose. ‘He is a small-time criminal, pickpocket, hired muscle, car thief, that kind of stuff. He is only 21 but he already spent half of his life in jail or detention home.’

‘That’s great, right?' asked Remy. 'Then the police will just arrest him and that's it.'

Rose shook her pretty head. Jenna forgot her eyes on the line of her neck until Robert poked her in the ribs.

'I'm afraid that's not that simple. Yes, the Met sent four patrolmen to pick up Mario…'

'Wait, what?' frowned Jenna. 'Why regular coppers, why not the SRU?'

'There is no SRU anymore' said Marcus grimly. 'Deputy Commissioner McLoad sent all of them to an indefinite leave, overnight, nice and quiet so there is no media coverage. She said they are compromised and further investigation needed to determine whether they can be trusted or not. She claims that a new Priest could pop up at any time.'

Jenna shook her head to clear her thoughts.

'That's bullshit. There are no more necroes. And anyway, who will do the SRU's job? Most of the magic-wielding coppers are dead, no?'

'They are,' nodded Rose. 'But McLoad doesn't give a damn about that. She is a big old racist, she hates vampires and sorcerers alike. My dad used to work with her back in the '90s… He says she was always efficient and only a little more brutal than it was necessary, which was considered kinda good back there, but she used to have these long, angry rants about sorcerers oppressing everyone… I imagine she didn't get better as time went by.'

'They never do,' said Robert sadly. Jenna took his hand.

'But she is just a temporary placeholder, isn't she?' asked Remy. 'There will be a real Commissioner soon.'

'They already have appointed her for the post permanently,' answered Marcus. 'They will announce it in January, probably, or even earlier. And from that moment she will do everything in her power to destroy my uncle's legacy, starting with the SRU.'

'Shit,' said Jenna, then she brightened up. 'It doesn't matter, guys! We only have to make it through for a few months with her, then my father is gonna be Mayor and he…'

'...won't do anything,' completed Robert. 'The Mayor of London has no power over the Commissioner of the Met, because the rank isn't only means the commissioner of London, but England and Wales. She will outrank him.'

'Shit,' repeated Jenna. 'Double shit. I mean, I never liked those creepy bastards, but I still want them on our side.'

'Especially now,' added Robert. 'Without them the city is basically unprotected against any magical attack.'

'Why don't we just focus on Mario for now? He escaped, I guess,' said Remy.

'Yeah, the patrolmen were no match for him now, with his fancy new power,' answered Rose. 'One dead, three hospitalised, one of them in a coma.'

Jenna sighed.

'That is not a good sign,' she said.

'Mario is just one person,' pointed out Robert. 'Him hurting people doesn't mean the Goddess agreeing with it.'

Jenna seized his hand a little.

'No assumptions,' nodded Marcus. 'We get it. All we know for now is that someone has to arrest Mario, and McLoad's men don't look like they are up to the task.'

'Here we go again,' murmured Rose. 'Might as well have become a copper in the first place…'

'C'mon, Blondie, it will be fun,' said Jenna. 'The whole gang together, hunting down insane murderers… Just like in the good old times, a week ago…'

Rose grinned.

'Worst pep talk ever,' shook his head Remy. 'So do we know where to find this Mario guy?'

'We know his address,' said Rose. 'He won't be there though. But he has a girlfriend, so that's as good of a spot to start as any.'

'Do you think he will be that stupid? Hiding at his girlfriend's place?' asked Jenna.

'Once again, criminals aren't really smart,' said Robert. 'Besides, when you needed a place to hide, you came here.'

'That was different. Your flat was the last place anyone would have looked for me. We were mortal enemies and whatnot.'

'We still are, as far as the public is concerned,' said Robert. 'So shall we pay a visit to the surely remarkable lady of Mario's heart?'

'What, right now?' looked at him Remy. 'I was promised dinner, not a gravely dangerous adventure!'

'Don't be so dramatic,' said Jenna, getting her leather jacket. 'You won't die, probably.'

'I seriously don't know why am I hanging out with you guys,' said Remy, but he put on his coat.

'So I guess I have to reinstate you all as the official advisors of the MAGE,' told them Marcus as they went down the stairs. 'You are allowed to act as law enforcement while we are getting Mario Jones.'

'Yaaay,' said Rose sarcastically. 'I assume we still won't get paid, though…'

Marcus' new Audi was much bigger than Robert's car, plus it didn't threaten with falling apart somewhere halfway, so they took that.

Mario's girlfriend lived in a shared house in a suburb area which reminded Jenna of the flesh-golem neighbourhood a little too much. Marcus parked the car across the road and a couple of houses down the street, just in case.

'According to the file, the girl rents a double room on the first level,' he said. 'There are five other rooms, we don't know who lives in them, you know how shared houses are, people are constantly moving.'

'So what, we are gonna just walk up to the door and ask for Mario, hoping he won't turn us inside out?' asked Remy.

'More or less, but first, we are gonna stay here and watch the street for a while,' said Marcus.

'Again, I was promised dinner…' simmered Remy.

They split up. Rose and Remy went to sneak into the back garden of the house, in case Mario would come or leave via the back door. Marcus somehow magicked himself on the top of the house right across the street, trying to keep an eye of both the house and the street. Robert checked what kind of public transport options were available in the area, and since there were only a pair of bus stops a few streets further, he went to guard those. Jenna stayed in the car.

An hour went by, then another. Nothing happened, Jenna was bored like hell.

'I say, let's knock,' said Marcus on the phone. 'I'm freezing up here. Someone is home for sure, I saw light. Wait a minute… Is that Mario?'

Jenna looked out of the window. A skinny figure walked on the street, towards the house they were watching.

'Hard to tell, it's dark outside and he has his hood on,' said Jenna.

'Maybe let's see where he is going,' suggested Marcus.

'And put everyone in the house at risk? Don't think so,' Jenna opened the door and got out of the car. 'Hey, Mario, babe, is that you?'

The man turned around and looked at Jenna.

'Do I know you?' he asked.

'Yeah, last year, that party… Remember? We danced, we made out a little…' she walked closer as she was talking, hips moving just a bit more than it was necessary.

'Nah, bitch, that ain't me, I have a girl. How do you know my name, are you a copper?'

'Do I look like a fucking pig to you?' Jenna asked.

Mario looked all over her thoroughly and even smiled a little.

'Not at all. But believe me, I'd remember if we made out.'

'My bad,' said Jenna. 'I shoulda get off weed, messes my memory up… Oh, wait! Yeah, weren't you at that place, you know, with the old lady who teaches real magic?'

Mario narrowed his eyelids.

'You mean, the church at Governor Street?' he asked. 'I don't remember seeing you there.'

'Can't believe that worked,' whispered Marcus in Jenna's earphone.

She stopped, close enough to hit the man in the mouth if needed. She figured that if he can't talk, he can't spellcast either, unless he was good enough to do it silently like Robert. Jenna somehow doubted that.

'Yeah, yeah, I saw you, man,' insisted Jenna. 'I remember she taught you the Body.'

'Whatever,' shrugged Mario, but he looked more relaxed now. 'Gotta go. Listen, I'm tryna stay low for a while, there was this… Misunderstanding. So you never saw me, okay?'

'Yeah, sure,' nodded Jenna. 'I'm sure you killed them by accident…'

The man already turned away but spun back now.

'What didya just say?' he asked.

'Now listen to me very carefully, Mario,' said Jenna. 'You are going to jail. You can go as you are, with your balls attached to your body, or you can attack me. Your choice.'

'Who the fuck are you, bitch? You want me to fuck you up or what?'

'That… Was not exactly smart,' murmured Marcus to her ear. 'I'm calling the others.'

'Did you ever hear about Jenna Carano, Mario?' she asked.

The man looked all over her again and she could see even in the poor light of the street lamps that he went pale.

'No,' he said and took a step back.

'Yes,' nodded Jenna.

'Oh, fuck,' said Mario and started to run. He was unnaturally fast: Jenna suspected that he did something with his own body using the Name the Goddess showed him. He wasn't, however, faster than a flying spell, and said spell hit him in the middle of his back. Mario stumbled and landed on his face with a girly shriek.

'Fucking bitch!' he said, rolling on his back, then he added the Name of Movement. A scooter that parked next to the footpath leapt into the air and flew towards Jenna just to stop in front of her raised arm. She used it to block the next curse with it, then waved it aside in two pieces. Mario was on his feet now.

'Can't win this one, Mario,' said Jenna. 'Better give up now.'

Mario sent a handful of fire but Jenna made it explode into unharmful sparks. Next, the man tried his horroristic body-crushing spell, but Jenna used the Rune of Mirror and Mario stopped with a scared little shout when his own spell grabbed his bones. He was sweating now and fighting for air. He might have known Words of the Old Talk but he remained a mediocre sorcerer nevertheless, struggling to use the power he possessed.

'Give up, Mario,' said Jenna. 'It's over.'

'Fuck you,' he answered and tried another fireball with the same result. He couldn't use silent spells, but he was smart enough to whisper, so Jenna didn't catch any new Names.

It seemed like the man wasn’t scared enough of her, so Jenna decided to go in a theatrical way, just for the hell of it. Maybe Mario was superstitious.

The girl made her hair fly, her eyes glow and even let the shadow-hound out. It howled at the Moon. When Jenna spoke, her voice was in unison, as if two people talked at once.

'Bow before me, mortal, or I will destroy you!' A curse came but she deflected it. Then another. Jenna stepped closer and Mario flinched. He tried to cover his face with his hands.

Of course, the whole thing was a bunch of illusions. Jenna used the Runes of Light and Voice, added a little wind from Air and, for the perfect impression, she made the ground under their feet tremble a little. The hardest part was not to burst out laughing, but it worked nonetheless, and Mario not only stopped attacking, but he looked at her in almost religious awe. He barely noticed when Marcus, who climbed down in the meantime, sneaked up on him and marked him with his Signum from behind.

'It's you…' Mario murmured with a shocked face. 'You are the One the Goddess talked about, the One Who Comes.'

'The one who cums?' asked back Jenna. She let the illusions go. 'That's a pretty weird prophecy, although kinda accurate. I do that a lot.'

'I think it's "the One Who Comes", Jenna,' said Marcus, putting handcuffs on Mario, who didn't even try to object. 'As in "coming, getting closer". Care to explain that to us, Mario?'

The man just shook his head.

'Take me away from her, please,' he said. 'She is the One, she will be the End!'

'Yeah, yeah, I'm sure she will be,' nodded Marcus. 'Now say something useful or shut up.'

Jenna watched as Marcus led the murderer away and shook her head. Bullshit, he just watched one too many conspiracy theory videos on YouTube, she thought and went to grab Robert for a quick kiss, who was running towards them, ready for the fight that had already ended.