Summary: you are a shadowhunter investigating the sudden rise of yin fen in the Downworld, the trail leads you to Small Heath and a blue eyed gangster.
During the past few months, the use of a drug called yin fen had grown exponentially among the inhabitants of the Downworld. The head of the London Institute trusted you enough to put you in charge of the investigation into who was bringing it to England, and worse yet, who was exporting it to America. You were committed to finding out, no matter what it would cost.
Those most affected by its consumption were werewolves, which was expected and somehow broke your heart since you were quite fond of the species. But that was not the end of it, at some point mundanes had discovered the silver drug and had begun to consume it uncontrollably. It could never end well, as a nephilim you had to put an end to it.
After spending the last two weeks busy with the investigation of the shipments, you had finally found a trail that led you to a place called Small Heath.
-
You had heard many names, the most repeated ones had been the Shelby family and the Peaky Blinders. Above all of them, the most frequent was Thomas Shelby. The people you talked to for information seemed to be afraid to even say his name out loud, some of them refused to answer your questions but others went so far as to describe him as the devil himself.
That made you worry. What if that man was a demon? It was a possibility, in that case you should notify the Enclave immediately but first, you needed to be completely sure of it.
It had been raining all day so when the afternoon came, you realised that it was not going to stop anytime soon. You stretched your back and got up from the small table where you had been sitting for hours now. It was cluttered with documents and information about The Shelby Company Limited and its members. You took a quick look at the one-bedroom apartment you had rented, it was a mess. Shrugging, you approached the armchair where you had left your shadowhunter gear in the morning and started getting ready to go outside. Maybe in the Garrison you could find more clues.
You had a glamour on, which meant that you were invisible to the mundane eye. You had also marked yourself with a rune of stealth, so you moved in complete silence. Walking around the interior of the pub and carefully observing the customers, you sighed tiredly. There was nothing suspicious.
You left the pub and took shelter from the rain at the entrance. When you first heard about the Garrison, you hoped it would be some kind of Downworlder lair but you only found a bunch of drunk mundanes. Not even one werewolf or a fairy barmaid.
Two young men came out of the pub too and stood next to you while smoking and talking in a low voice, neither of them noticed your presence.
"You should try it," one of them said. The other shook his head, letting out a puff of smoke. "Why not, Isaiah? It's better than Tokyo..."
The tallest one, Isaiah, threw his cigarette on the ground and adjusted his cap. "I don't know, Finn. I've heard things, none of them good."
"Nonsense," scoffed the first one.
Finn's name was familiar to you, if you remembered correctly, he was one of the members of the Shelby family. Although the possibility of him not being the same one was there, their conversation had caught your attention. They could be talking about any other drug but something deep inside told you that you were in the right place.
As far as you knew, the effect of yin fen in humans was similar to that of cocaine, it was a strong stimulant. You examined the boys, looking for any sign that could tell you that they were addicted to the drug but they looked good with their tailored suits and freshly cut hair. In general, they seemed healthy.
It was very noticeable when someone was a yin fen addict. The drug used to drain the person's colour, leaving a silver coloration in their skin, hair and eyes, as its name indicated: silver powder.
"They're coming," Finn said, pointing down the street with his lit cigarette.
Looking in said direction, you saw a group of men dressed just like the two boys, with nice tailored suits and caps, approaching the Garrison. As they came closer, you moved to the side to let them pass. Despite being invisible due to the glamour, you were still very tangible. They passed by, ignoring you as you were expecting. One of them, a tall man with a moustache, hugged Finn enthusiastically, laughing and gesturing for them to enter the pub.
You watched as they got in, unaware of the pair of blue eyes that were staring at your figure. The man didn't even blink when you looked back at him.
He was pale and had dark circles under his eyes as if he had not slept in days, almost like a vampire. He could have been one except for the fact that he was holding an almost finished cigarette in his hand, and it was well known that vampires avoided fire as much as possible since they could burn like paper. With each drag he took on the cigarette, the tip of it lit up like a small orange eye in the rain.
His blue eyes roamed your body up and down, he then raised an eyebrow at your appearance. You were dressed all in black like most shadowhunters did, with your hair tied in a braid and the tip of two seraph blades protruding over your shoulders. You carried more weapons, but these were not visible to the man.
He could see you.
It made your heart pound in your chest with anticipation. You stared back at him in silence, hesitating about whether you should talk to him or get ready to fight him.
You could not do one thing or the other, because at that moment, the man with the moustache came out of the pub and put his arm over the man who was staring at you. "Tommy! Come in, we're waiting for you. What are you doing here in this rain? You're soaked..."
Tommy as in...Thomas Shelby?
Tommy nodded towards you. The other man looked at your direction, it caused you the same feeling as always when someone looked at you while wearing a glamour, as if instead of seeing you, he saw through you.
"What is it, brother?" he wondered, winking his eyes in a vain attempt to see something.
Tommy looked from you to the other man with a confused expression. You remained silent. He dropped the rest of his cigarette to a puddle and ran a hand over his face, shaking his head. After one last glance in your direction, he turned and lightly pushed his brother towards the pub.
"I think I'm seeing spirits like Polly, Arthur," he muttered in a hoarse voice while they walked away.
The last thing you heard before they disappeared behind the doors of the Garrison was Arthur's muffled laughter.
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