A Knight's Purpose (Book 1) ✔️

Chapter 23 - A Mage Among Men

April is waiting for me outside, her mouth turned down in her customary frown whenever she sees me. She falls in at my side without unwrinkling her forehead. I guess I just have that affect on people.

"You think I couldn't find my way back down this very scary straight hallway and into Camden's office?" I snark as we reach his door.

"I just didn't trust you not to purposefully take a different route." She hisses before walking into the office to the left of Camden's.

The urge to go snoop through Camden's things is too strong for me to resist though, so I let her be.

I walk in the small office and shut the door behind me, though there's still a small glass window with the typical wire mesh that people could look through. Reasoning that people probably wouldn't be that determined to peak in a closed door I commenced my search.

Camden's office is a pretty crowded place, with a old wooden desk sitting at the end against the back wall. The chair is set with the back to the door, which is an unusual position given how little weres liked to have their backs turned on each other. But, since this functioned like a pack, it probably felt safe enough. 

The left wall is covered by two bookshelves and an alarming number of brown boxes labelled Evidence. Some are half open, others had collapsed sides so the box above it was now sitting at an angle. Surely they couldn't just leave all of this laying around?

Peaking into one that hadn't made it onto the stack yet I notice it is filled with paperwork. Replacing the lid, I nudge a few tops off nearby boxes and note their contents are the same.

I laugh as I replaced the lids. Camden is almost literally drowning in paperwork.

Moving on, I don't bother with the computer knowing how sensitive the password settings could be. The papers on his desk though, those might be important given he'd actually taken time to pull them out. My hands efficiently run over the desk, ruffling the papers that were stacked so I could read them without disturbing their order. 

Most of it is budget requests, though three folders in the corner next to his ancient desktop computer had personnel files, complete with stereotypical head shot, job description, history, and training records. One is a folder labeled potentials - probably people they were considering for training as an Enforcement Officer. Most of the people who worked for Enforcement weren't actually officers, many being logistical or technical personnel, not to mention the sizable legal division.

The second folder is full of people who were currently in his division. Their files had been pulled for a reason so I took time to read each page a bit more thoroughly. If I had to guess I'd say this was the group they are considering for the sting but it is possible they're unrelated.

It is the last folder that holds my interest. The files here are from the other side of the building. Rather than being weres, this folder is full of magical personnel.

Enforcement is a building that was literally cut in half. Down the middle of the rectangular building ran a long concrete wall. On the East, where we'd entered, is the were half while the West housed the magicians.

To get to the other side you had to pass through a set of security doors. They weren't technically locked, but almost no one used them. While the theory of Enforcement was to pair weres with magicians to handle every situation reality was quite a bit different. Each side policed their own and they rarely collaborated unless something forced them to.

So, why would Camden have a list of magicians on his desk? All were young women, their power was mild but they had extended communication ranges. A wide range of specialties had been collected and Camden had crossed out a few of the names. His blocky scrawl had left a few notes - one read: attached. No good. Browsing through her file I saw she listed a boyfriend as her emergency contact.