Category: Novel

Erik

Erik looked at the chained gates of Hope Park. Lady Maritza was not going to be happy when she found out about their activities tonight, which was why Erik hadn’t “borrowed” Nigel and John from her. That was annoying, because Erik could’ve used a couple more good shooters if they ran into the cultists. Erik shook his head at that thought. Of all the things that Joseph managed to dig out of the data he’d stolen from the Americans, the fact there was a cult dedicated to the Outsiders was probably the biggest shock. Didn’t those fools understand the true horror of the creatures they were trying to summon?

“Kurt, go,” Erik radioed. Kurt and Joseph stepped out of the sedan behind Erik’s van. As the two men snuck into the park, Erik felt Jason move closer. The American’s emotions were stormy, to say the least. Erik wanted to exclude the agent from coming on this mission, but he’d walked into the clubhouse as they were gearing up. Erik tried to discourage Jason from coming, but the agent just donned his own set of armor and picked up his suppressed M4.

“This is Hope Park,” Jason said flatly.

“Yes,” Erik said.

“Why are we here?” Jason asked, the anger in his emotions leaking into his normally controlled voice.

“I told you. We received new intelligence on some people that may be helping the Outsiders. It pointed us here,” Erik answered, “Kurt and Joseph are going in to confirm what we were told.”

“And then we’ll call the task force?” Jason asked.

“No,” Erik answered, and Jason’s anger spiked. “If they’re in the park, we don’t have time to wait for your people to show up. According to the intelligence, these helpers are doing something critical for the Outsiders. So, we’ll go in and take them out.”

“First of all, you were told to stay the hell out of this,” Jason said, “Personally, I figured that would be impossible based on what you told me on how Avalonians view the Outsiders, so I didn’t say anything back at the clubhouse. Now, if Kurt and this Joseph person finds something in the park, I’m going to call my people and order that you stand down.” Erik turned and gave Jason a level look.

“No, you won’t,” Erik said, “You and your task force think this is just another cult that just happened to figure out how to use some kind of wild magic. That is not the case. If your agents go in thinking that, they will be wiped out.”

“And you think your team, even with this Joseph person and me, would be able to do so?” Jason retorted.

“If I didn’t, we wouldn’t be here,” Erik answered. Jason wasn’t happy with the answer, but he sat back and didn’t say anything more. Erik could feel Veronica’s and Anne’s anxiety from the argument, and he was fairly certain that Samantha was giving him that familiar concerned look. Well, dammit, Jason should have stayed away from this. At least his coming along gave Erik another gun. Time stretched as the group waited for Kurt and Joseph to report. Finally, Erik’s phone buzzed in it’s pouch.

Party’s here. About fifty or so. Nobody seems to have brought any toys. Kurt texted. Erik put the phone away and ordered everyone out. He made sure to grab the bag with Kurt and Joseph’s weapons and gear. It wouldn’t have been good for their scouts to be caught with fully automatic weapons by the police. These Americans had odd ideas about proper weapons.

Veronica cast a quick glamour over them as Samantha unlocked the gate with the key Erik “borrowed” from Lady Maritza. Well, it was her husband’s park, after all. The five of them quickly moved through the gate. They moved through the wooded grounds of the park, invisible to most eyes. Kurt and Joseph emerged from the woods as they neared where the cultists were supposed to be preparing.

“They are right where they were supposed to be,” Joseph said. The Ranger-turned-hacker had accepted Erik’s offer of more steady employment with the Avalonians. Erik wasn’t sure if it was the generous compensation, or because of the way his emotions flared around Samantha. The two had worked very closely together on the data Joseph had stolen from the Americans. Joseph stuffed a few pouches with spare magazines before continuing. “There are about ten to fifteen of them in dark robes. They look like something out of a B-horror flick. They’re busy digging lines into the grass. The rest of them look like kids that just came back from a metal or punk concert.”

“No weapons?” Jason asked.

“Beyond what looked like a few ceremonial knives and the spades they were using to dig the lines, we didn’t see any,” Kurt answered.

“Well, that will make this easy,” Erik said. “I almost wish I’d let you bring the gimpy, Kurt. We could have just taken them down with machine gun fire.” Anne, Jason, and Joseph all gave Erik horrified looks. “What?”

“You can’t just mow down unarmed people because they have odd religious beliefs,” Anne said.

“Those people have dedicated themselves to the Outsiders!” Veronica protested, “That is not an ‘odd religious belief.’ That is like playing with a nuclear bomb.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Jason said. “We still don’t know who among them truly understand what they are truly dangerous and how many of them are there because they happen to have kooky ideas. Taking out the guys in the robes, fine. We can’t wholesale slaughter unarmed kids just because they got sucked into this cult.”

“Erik, you’re not going to change their minds on this,” Samantha said, “It is fundamental to them as part of their American identity.”

“Fine,” Erik said through clenched teeth. Of all the stupid things to get squeamish over. “Veronica, I want you, Samantha, Anne, and Jason to corral those kids away from the robed cultists. Try not to hurt them too badly, but make damned sure that they stay out of our way. Kurt, Joseph, and I will take down the robes. Will that work, or do you have some more objections?” Anne and Jason shook their heads. Erik muttered a string of curses as the group made their way to the grassy clearing.

Anne

“Wow, you look like you had a rough night,” Anne said as Jason flopped down at his desk. The normally meticulous agent’s suit was rumpled. In fact, Anne was pretty sure it was the same suit he’d worn the previous day. Jason looked up at her with dulled eyes and heavy five o’clock shadow.

“Someone attacked the task force’s offices last night,” Jason replied, with a hint of hostility. “We think it was Arem and a couple of unknown actors. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it?”

“Why would I?” Anne asked, her own anger rising.

“Well, the team decides to work with Arem, and suddenly he’s attacking us,” Jason answered, “Plus, I know that Lady Maritza asked to see the task force’s intelligence and was told it was an internal matter. So, I’m wondering if our two unknowns were Erik and Kurt.”

“Well, I can tell you that Kurt wasn’t involved last night,” Anne shot back. Jason gave her a knowing look, and she felt her cheeks heat. “Well, he wasn’t.”

“Fine, but what about Erik?” Jason asked.

“Honestly couldn’t tell you,” Anne said, “He’s in and out at all hours anyway.”

“Was he out last night?” Jason pressed.

“Like I said, I honestly couldn’t tell you,” Anne answered, “I was kind of occupied all night.”

“Listen Anne, there are good reasons for the task force to do things the way that they do, so if you know anything, I need you to let me know,” Jason said, and then held up his hand, “Sorry, I’m not saying you’re holding anything back from me right now, but if you find something out, you need to let me know. The Avalonians are generally nice people, but they aren’t Americans. Their allegiance is to a foreign power whose interests don’t always mesh with ours.”

“Fine, Jason, I’ll let you know,” Anne said, letting her anger cover the conflict brewing inside her. She intellectually understood what Jason was trying to tell her, but it was hard to believe that any of the Avalonians – even Erik – would do anything to harm her or her country.

“So why did Arem attack the task force?” Anne asked, “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Leading theories are to get us out of the way, or to steal something from us,” Jason answered.

“Was something stolen?” Anne asked.

“I can’t tell you that,” Jason answered, “Sorry, but that’s classified.” He did look contrite, so Anne didn’t push it. “So what do we have on the docket for today?”

“Besides getting you some coffee?” Anne asked, “I figured we’d swing by the Korean market again and ask around. I’m still not satisfied that the uniforms did a sufficient canvass. Then, maybe go talk to Mrs. Reynolds about those odd transactions.”

“Let’s get moving before the captain sees me,” Jason said. “You said there was coffee involved, right?”

“That wonderful smell had better be dinner, because I’m famished,” Anne announced to the group as she stepped through the door. Anne and the Avalonians lived in a converted hotel that was owned by Lady Maritza. Although everyone’s rooms had a small kitchenette, the group tried to eat at least one meal together. It helped that Lady Maritza sent some of her staff out to the apartments to “look after” the group.

“Let me guess, you missed lunch again,” Kurt twitted her as he held out her chair. She was getting used to all those small gestures, and wondered why they didn’t bother her when Kurt did them.

“We were busy,” Anne said, “Just before we went to lunch, we caught another case. We were there for less than an hour before some damned rookie came up with our suspect in cuffs. Seems the kid saw our suspect dump the gun and still had the victim’s wallet on him. Then it was just type everything up and send it over to the DA’s.”

“It’s a shame all of your cases don’t go that well,” Samantha said, handing Anne a plate of roast chicken. “I bet Jason was happy.”

“Yeah, about Jason,” Anne said, “Did you know that the task force was attacked last night?” She watched Erik as she asked the question. Anne wasn’t sure what she was hoping to see on Erik’s face, but the man’s blank expression never wavered.

“By the outsiders?” Erik asked.

“No, they think it was Arem and two others,” Anne answered.

“Why would Arem attack the task force?” Veronica asked.

“Maybe to steal something,” Anne said, still watching Erik. God, sometimes the man was worse than Kristen Stewart when it came to facial expression. They locked eyes for the briefest moment before Anne looked down at her plate.

“You think I was with Arem during this attack,” Erik said flatly, almost as if he could read her mind. No, he was just probably guessing based on her emotions. He was scary good at that.

“Let’s say the possibility has been broached,” Anne said. She was expecting an uproar of outrage from the Avalonians, but they all acted as if she’d accused him of buying the wrong kind of pop instead of committing an act of espionage against a government agency.

“Lady Maritza would never countenance such action,” Erik answered, “Such an act could have the American government telling us all to leave.”

“So, where were you?” Anne asked.

“I was meeting with an asset to see if I could find out more about the outsiders,” Erik said. “Hopefully, we’ll have something in a day or so.”

“Jason told us that we’re supposed to stay out of it,” Anne said.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop our investigation,” Erik answered, “It just means we’re going to have to use more subtle means. The Americans may be satisfied that this has nothing to do with you, but my responsibilities are to make sure.”

“We know this puts you in a bad spot,” Samantha said, shooting a harsh look at Erik, “I promise, if we find anything that can help the task force, we’ll turn it over to them.”

“What about Arem? Are you going to turn him over?” Anne asked.

“We have a truce for moment, so no,” Erik said, “Of course, if they catch him on their own, we’re not obligated to help him.”

They ate the rest of the meal discussing minor things. Anne barely paid attention. She knew Erik wasn’t telling her everything, but to be fair, he never told her everything. Still, there was something nagging her instincts about the way he answered her questions. Part of her wanted to press him, but she was scared of the answers he’d give. What would she have done if Erik admitted to being with Arem on the attack? Could she turn any of these people at the table over to Jason and the task force?

Erik

Erik watched Anne during dinner. He could feel the tumultuous mix of emotions roiling around inside her. Erik knew this time would come when Anne would be put between his team and her birth nation. He’d hoped it wouldn’t happen for a bit longer, but he was professional enough to know that fecal matter sometimes impacted the turbine.

Erik worked very hard never to lie to Anne. If he and his team were going to protect her, they needed her to trust them. He was going to have to walk the tightrope until the outsiders were dealt with. He was hoping that then the Americans would go find some other shiny toy to occupy them, and he could go back to dealing with the immediate threats to Anne. Maybe Lady Maritza could talk with her. Anne trusted the woman and Lady Maritza was a gifted politician.

His phone buzzed at his side. The package is ready for your inspection. Joseph. There had better be something useful from the Americans’ files. Erik hated to think he’d risked so much for nothing.

Erik

Erik paced around the warehouse impatiently and swore under his breath. Why couldn’t any elf ever be punctual? It wasn’t like he could afford to wait around all night waiting for Arem to show up. He looked down at the luminous dial of his watch. Eleven o’clock. He swore some more. It was at that point that the circle opened up in the middle of the warehouse.

“You’re late,” Erik snarled as Arem stepped out of the gate. Another man stepped out of the gate. Like both Erik and Arem, the new arrival was dressed in dark business casual clothing. Slung across the new arrival’s torso was a leather messenger bag. For most people, this man would look just like another professional, but Erik had his psi-scent. This man was a professional, but there was a streak of violence hiding just below the surface. Erik recognized it from years of being around Imperial Security agents and freelancers.

“Jaegar, this is Joseph,” Arem said, “He’ll handle the extraction.”

“What do you need from us?” Erik asked Joseph.

“From what Arem described, I’ll need at least ten minutes inside, with access to a computer hooked to their network,” Joseph said, “After that, it could take anywhere from four hours to four weeks before I can get you any data. Best estimate is twenty to forty hours.”

“Then let’s not waste any time,” Erik said, motioning for the two to follow him. Outside the trio got into the car Erik had procured for the night’s activities. They discussed the plan as Erik navigated the city’s streets. The American task force had set up shop in the federal building. Erik’s contact in the building told them that the new agents were using some “swing space” on the fourth floor and managed to procure a master keycard. Arem produced some identities for an IRS field team and even some official-looking paperwork for an audit of some business in the city. Damn, it was good working with professionals on a thrown together operation.

As they got off on the fourth floor, Erik walked to the suite’s doors and waved the keycard. As they stepped through, the trio was met by two stern men in business suits and cradling MP7’s.

“Who are you?” the shorter one asked. Erik held out the ID’s that Arem had passed him on the ride over. The man scrutinized the documents against Erik’s face.

“Kevin Yeagar, from the Cleveland office,” Erik said in his best Midwestern accent, “What’s with the guns guys?”

“Nothing you need to know about,” the tall one said with a menacing look on his face. Erik did his best to look cowed.

“Sure, no problem,” Erik said, “Look, we just want to set up in our office, finish the last of our documentation tonight so that our boss won’t bitch, and then go get checked in with the hotel.” Shorty examined the paper Arem handed him that stated the trio were supposed to have one of the conference rooms assigned to them.

“The problem is that we don’t have anything about an IRS team coming in,” Shorty said, “Wait here while I call this in.”

“Whatever you want, officer,” Erik said. As soon as he felt the two men’s emotions spike, Erik knew that he’d made a mistake. He didn’t wait for them to act. Two blasts of power knocked the men off their feet. Arem placed hands on the two men, and they went still. Erik could still feel their emotions, so Arem had just knocked them out.

“Alternate plan,” Erik said, “Arem, fake an attack. Don’t kill anyone. Give us at least fifteen minutes, then extract back to the car. We’ll meet you there.” Arem nodded and picked up the submachine guns. As the elf walked back into the suite, Erik motioned for Joseph to follow him. “As soon as Arem starts causing havoc, we’ll get you into one of the offices.” It didn’t take long before shouts and gunfire to fill the suite. Erik felt around for an office without any emotions. He kicked the locked door open and ushered Joseph inside. Joseph was busily pulling out wires from his satchel as he made a beeline for the office’s computer. Erik braced the closed door with just a bit of power.

“For future reference, you might want to refrain from calling a federal agent an ‘officer,'” Joseph said as he tapped away at the keyboard. Erik let out a stream of profanity. It was always something small. Joseph chuckled. “Have you ever worked in the Latin America countries?”

“No, why?” Erik asked.

“There’s so many ways to screw up down there,” Joseph said, “Tiniest mistake with the local dialect, which of course sounds like every other dialect, and suddenly you’re in front of some narco death squad.” Erik chuckled. Then, he let Joseph get to work as he plotted their escape. The office window looked out onto Bridge Avenue. There was too high of a chance of being spotted by a passerby going out that way. Erik reached out with his empathic sense. Arem was keeping the agents busy at the far end of the suite. Why not walk right back out the way they’d come? They could go down a couple of floors, and then use the masterkey on that suite, which would allow them to go out the window-.

“Time to go!” Arem said, appearing in the office through a gate.

“I don’t have everything,” Joseph said.

“No time,” Arem replied. “They’ve got a pair of sorceresses that are far better than any human has a right to be. Especially on this planet.” Joseph yanked out a pair of portable hard drives and then typed in a command.

“That should give their IT people some fits,” Joseph said, before jumping through the gate. Erik followed Joseph. The gate opened back into the parking garage. The trio piled into the car and Erik casually drove them out. Four blocks from the federal building, they switched to another car. Arem magically scoured the vehicle. A half-hour later the trio split up to go their own ways.

Anne

Anne admitted to herself that the meditation room was pretty cool. The soundproofed walls were a warm pink. Anne could detect the faint scents of flowers. She sat cross-legged in one of the circles drawn into the thick beige carpet. Veronica was in another circle across from her. Between them on a small table were a quartet of lit candles arranged in a diamond. Those helped amplify the weak streams of wild stream that managed to make it into the meditation room.

“Do you think you can try to sling the spell?” Veronica asked.

“I think so,” Anne answered, focusing on the simulcrum that Veronica had summoned for the exercise. Anne looked at the streams of wild magic. There was barely enough earth and dark streams in the room for the complicated binding. Anne reached out with her mind and started to pull the streams together. Her head throbbed as she made one binding and then another. She could feel the block in her mind pressing against her. It was the same anytime she did complicated magic. A spike of pain lanced through her head just as she was trying to finish the last binding. She lost concentration and the spell fell apart. The simulcrum danced at the colorful sparkles as the streams of wild magic went back to their natural positions.

“What happened?” Veronica asked patiently.

“The damned block is what happened,” Anne answered. She stood up and started pacing back and forth. “I should have been able to do that. I should have been able to unravel it when Arem cast it on me.”

“Cast, probably,” Veronica said, “Unravel, I’m not so sure. Especially when you’d never seen it before.”

“You did,” Anne said.

“I also knew of that kind of spell as well as having a significantly better understanding of the basic elements of magic,” Veronica said, primly, “Would you expect an officer just out of the academy, even a gifted one, to know how to properly run a murder investigation?” Anne stopped pacing and grimaced.

“No,” Anne answered, sitting back down in her circle, “It’s just I know that there’s more power and ability behind that block. I just can’t figure out how to unravel it. I wish Samantha could just rip it apart.”

“The mind’s a dangerous place to do that kind of thing,” Veronica reminded her.

“I know. I do. It’s just frustrating,” Anne said, “Samantha can’t even figure out what’s causing it.” A soft knock at the door interrupted them. Almost as if she’d been summoned, Samantha stuck her head into the room. Veronica and Anne traded an amused glance.

“Jason’s finally here, and Erik wants to talk with all of us,” Samantha said.

“Well, we shouldn’t keep him waiting,” Anne said, standing up. Veronica nodded, but looked slightly put out. Well, she never thought Anne had enough practice. Anne followed Samantha down the hall to what had been dubbed the “Crisis Lounge,” much to Erik’s annoyance.

Anne picked up one of the tablets scattered about the room. It read her fingerprints and immediately configured to her preferences. Six big plasma monitors hung around the room were showing feeds from around the city. Anne sat down next to Kurt on one of the two couches. Kurt handed her a mug of coffee, which she rewarded him with a quick peck on the cheek. Jason was ensconced on one of the overstuffed chairs with a bottle of beer in one hand as he looked at the tablet in the other. Samantha poured herself a tumbler of scotch from the bar while Veronica availed herself to a soda. They sat down on the other couch before picking up tablets. Erik was standing next to one of the plasmas.

Erik pushed something from his tablet onto the screen. The picture looked like some of the medieval manuscripts Anne had seen at the art museum. If you discounted the fact that everyone in the picture had pointed ears and that they were fighting a creature unlike any she’d seen before. Just looking at it made her head throb a bit. From the looks on everyone’s faces, they were feeling the same discomfort.

“Erik, why are we looking at the Tableau of Seran?” Veronica asked.

“Because it’s the one surviving account of the last time the elves had to battle the Outsiders. From all accounts, it took the combined efforts of every sentient species on Avalon to stop the Outsiders, and even then the losses were horrendous,” Erik answered. He focused on Anne, Jason, and Kurt. “That headache you feel is extreme cognitive dissonance as you look at something that shouldn’t exist. At least, not in our universe. The story is that the artist went insane after finishing the painting.” He wiped the screen and threw up Reginald Browne’s obituary from the paper.

“Thank you for taking down that picture, but what does these Outsiders have to do with Reginald Browne’s death?” Jason asked.

“Arem and his mistress are convinced that Browne’s death was caused by the Outsiders, or their minions,” Erik answered.

“That’s nice, but one, how can we trust anything Arem says, and two, what does that have to with us?” Jason asked.

“Arem, at the very least, believes he’s telling the truth,” Erik answered, “He’s not immune to my empathic senses.”

“Moreover, no elf, not even a dark elf, would ever joke or mislead using the Outsiders. It just isn’t done. The event was just too terrible,” Veronica said.

“Okay, fine. Give me everything you have on these Outsiders, and I’ll turn it over to the task force,” Jason said. “I’m sure they’ll appreciate the help.”

“Jason, these Outsiders aren’t something that the American government can handle on its own,” Erik said, “You are going to need our help.”

“That will have to be decided on by higher level decision makers,” Jason said, “For the time being, they are the concern of the task force. Your efforts should be focused on making sure that Arem doesn’t use this as an opportunity to snatch Anne.” Erik started to fire back a reply, but he caught the look on Sam’s face.

“Everything we have on the Outsiders is on the network,” Erik said. “It’s not much. You should be able to download it to your flash drive.” Jason nodded and started the download from his tablet. “With Arem back, we’re going to need to tighten your security circle, Anne.” As expected, she grimaced. Erik let Kurt and Sam take over that part of the conversation.

Erik

As the others talked about Anne’s security arrangements, Erik tapped a quick message to Lady Maritza.

“Jason refuses to push for our involvement in the Outsiders,” Erik sent to Lady Maritza.

“I told you that would happen,” Lady Maritza replied, “The Americans do not understand the gravity of the situation. What are your plans now?“

“The less you know, the more you can deny,” Erik tapped out.

“Be very careful of how you handle this,” Lady Maritza answered, “Not even the Saint can protect you if the American government decides to expel you. Or just kill you.“

Anne

Anne’s hand darted to the butt of her Glock as she stared up into the smiling face of Arem. Anne couldn’t understand how the dark elf was here. She was sure that when she unraveled the spell Arem cast to drag her back to Avalon had killed him. Of course, Erik thought he had killed Arem before, and he showed back up.

“Please relax, Detective,” Arem said, with a soothing tone in his melodious voice, “I am not here to try and take you back across the gate. Unless, of course, you want to return with me?”

“Not a chance in hell,” Anne growled.

“I thought not, but it never hurts to ask,” Arem said, shrugging his shoulders, “By the way, it’s your turn to order.” Anne studied his face for a long moment before turning around to place her order with the annoyed counterperson. Of course, she didn’t see Arem as a twisted dark elf bent on abducting Anne back to the Dark Towers. Anne hit the panic button on her phone as she paid for her food. She grabbed the bag and walked outside. If something was going down, it would be better for Anne to have a bit more room to work.

“Well, since you’ve summoned Jaegar and his team, we’ll have to make this quick. Meliandre sent me here to warn you about the outsiders working in your city. I think you’ve already come across their handiwork. Be careful dealing with them.” Arem actually looked put out. Anne focused on the wild magic around her. Maybe she could put Arem down on her own.

“I see you’ve become much stronger since the last time we talked,” Arem said, approvingly. “Unfortunately, you’re going to have to be faster if you’re going to try and take me down. Especially with magic.” In an instant, there were bands of magic surrounding Anne. The bindings were more intricate than anything she could do, but Anne could see their deadly purpose. If she even grazed one of the bands, the magic would dump into her and burn her from the inside out.

“I thought your boss wanted me alive,” Anne observed.

“She does, but honestly, if you can’t figure your way out of that little trap, you would be of no use to her,” Arem said. “Besides, you need to learn this little trick if you’re going to deal with the outsiders. They don’t interact with this world properly.”

“Who are these outsiders?” Anne asked.

“Entities that live beyond our universe,” Arem explained. He seemed pleased that Anne wasn’t trying to fight him. “They come from a universe that works very different from ours.”

“So why are they here?” Anne asked. Arem shrugged.

“We don’t know,” Arem answered, “There’s something in our universe that they want. More to the point, something on this world that they want. The outsiders invaded our world ten thousand years ago. They nearly destroyed every sentient being on the planet before they were pushed back out. That’s about all we know.”

“How is that all you know?” Anne asked, “There’s got to be more than that.”

“All of the writings from that are impossible to make sense from. It was like the entire planet when insane. Even the most coherent of the writings read like they were the ramblings of a madman,” Arem said. He looked up and frowned. “We will have to discuss this later.” He walked back into the cafe. Anne found out the reason for his abrupt departure a moment later. Anne felt Samantha connect her to their telepathic link. Anne could feel Samantha, Veronica, and Kurt, and assumed that Erik was with them as well.

Was that Arem? Samantha asked over the telepathic link.

Yeah, and he put in some kind of magic trap. Veronica, can you give me a hand? Anne asked as she focused on the bands of magic.

Damn, but that elf can do good work, Veronica said, examining the bands of magic, I can’t see anything from the outside. Samantha, can you help me see what she’s seeing from her side? Anne felt the odd sensation of Samantha probing further into her mind. It was like having cold water poured into her mind and out through her eyes.

“Kurt, stay with them,” Erik said as he joined them. “I’m going after Arem.”

“Erik,” Samantha said, the caution clear in her tone.

“No, if he’s back, I’m going to deal with him sooner than later,” Erik said. He pushed his way into the cafe.

Erik

Erik ignored the angry glares from the other cafe patrons as he shouldered his way in. He suspected Arem had survived being sucked back to the Dark Towers. Part of him was glad, because Erik wanted to be the one to finally put paid to that elf’s life. Erik scanned the cafe, but couldn’t find the elf among the crowd. Well, Erik had more tools in his toolbox.

Erik reached out with his senses and found Arem’s psi-scent. Erik pushed through the crowd to a side entrance. He followed Arem’s psi-trail down the street and around a corner. It seemed to stop cold in front of a three-story brick office building. Erik looked around the crowded street. No, Arem wouldn’t have gated in the middle of the street, in the middle of the day. Erik looked up. Arem stood on the roof of the building, that infuriating smile on his face. Erik walked back to the alley behind the office building.

A quick thrust of power shot him up to the roof. Erik rolled as his feet his the concrete. He came up with his suppressed pistol in his hands. Arem hadn’t moved. Erik fired two quick shots. As expected, the bullets were knocked aside by a shimmering shield. Erik stood and holstered his pistol. There were ways of dealing with a shield.

“As much as I would love to continue our running fight, Jaegar, Meliandre specifically told me not to on this trip,” Arem said. Erik read Arem’s emotions. The elf was telling the truth.

“Why?” Erik asked.

“The things Anne and you are dealing with are dangerous to everyone, including Meliandre and her kin,” Arem answered. “Far better for you to defeat them here, then let them come across the gate.” Erik felt the well-hidden streak of fear in Arem.

“What are we dealing with, Arem?” Erik asked.

“The outsiders,” Arem answered. Erik so wanted to call Arem a liar to his face, but Arem wasn’t lying.

“How does Meliandre know the outsiders are here?” Erik asked. “Maybe she’s mistaken.”

“She wouldn’t have known if they hadn’t come to this city,” Arem said, “Their activities here gave her enough to figure out their presence on this world. So, she sent me back here to protect Anne.”

“Why does Meliandre think the outsiders are after Anne?” Erik asked, “They could be after something else entirely.”

“Honestly, Jaegar, does that thought make you feel any better?” Arem shot back.

“No,” Erik answered flatly. “Do your cousins know?”

“Honestly, I don’t know and I don’t give a damn,” Arem said, “You can tell them if you want. It’s not like they are going to do anything without spending a month trying to read the stars. We don’t have that kind of time.” Erik chuckled at the dig.

“So, we put aside our fight to deal with the outsiders?” Erik asked, “Is that why you let me catch up with you?”

“A very limited truce,” Arem said, “We will share information on the outsiders’ activities here and make sure that they do not get their hands on Anne.”

“You stop trying to steal her across the gate until the outsiders’ activities are stopped in the city,” Erik said. Arem frowned.

“I won’t stop asking her if she wants to come with me, but I won’t resort to manipulating her,” Arem said.

“Hell, no, Arem,” Erik replied. “I’m willing to work with the Dark Towers, but I’m not about to violate my primary mission. You even think about asking her, and one of my team will end you.” Arem looked like he was pondering Erik’s words. It might have worked better if Erik couldn’t read his emotions.

“Fine. Bring all of your information and we’ll meet in Conrad Park at midnight,” Arem said. Then, he gated away. Erik waited a minute to make sure it wasn’t a trick of glamour so Arem could ambush him. Satisfied that the elf was gone, Erik spent the next ten minutes stomping around the roof cursing.

Anne

“MacMurtry, Hearst, bring your case files and notes on the Browne suicide to my office,” Captain Smith asked from his office doorway. Anne gave Jason a questioning look, but he pretended not to notice. He’d been cagey since they’d walked into the squad room. Anne’s instincts were telling her something was wrong. She grabbed the folder with all of her material on the case and followed Jason into the captain’s office. The captain wasn’t alone.

The man and the woman waiting in the captain’s office were both dressed in dark suits that screamed fibbie. The man was older, his brown hair sprinkled liberally with gray and lines etched into his face. His brown eyes were flat and complemented his stern lantern-jawed visage. The woman reminded Anne of Veronica. She had that same dark olive skin and long, straight black hair. She was Anne’s own height with a lean, runner’s build. She tried to match her partner’s stern, no-nonsense look, but it just didn’t work as well.

“Thank you, Captain Smith,” the man said as the two detectives walked into the now-crowded office. There was a trace of a northeastern accent. Boston, maybe? “We appreciate your cooperation in this matter. I hate to impose, but do you mind if we talked with the two detectives privately for a moment.” The captain’s face went neutral, which Anne knew meant he was well and truly pissed. Getting thrown out of your own office would do that to most people.

“I’m going to talk with Welks and Rodriguez about their case,” the captain said to Anne and Jason, pointedly ignoring the two feds. “Let me know when you’re done, and then get back to your open cases.” The stocky man bulled out into the squad room, barely missing the two feds. The woman closed the door and made sure the blinds were closed.

“Was all that drama necessary, sir?” Jason asked, “We could have delivered the files by mail and met you at a restaurant downtown. Now, the interest in this case is going to skyrocket.” The woman agent looked shocked, but her partner smiled. It looked somehow wrong on his face.

“You’re probably right, MacMurtry, but this one is time critical. We think we may actually be ahead of them this time,” the man said. He then seemed to finally notice Anne. “Apologies, Detective Hearst. I’m Special Agent Belushi, and this is Agent Privas. We’re from the task force.” Anne shook their proffered hands.

“So, how do we go about this?” Anne asked, “What do you want us to do?” The two agents gave her peculiar looks.

“You don’t do anything, Detective,” Agent Privas answered, “It’s in the task force’s hands. You walk away.” Her soprano voice was cold and firm. Anne guessed she’d tried for commanding, but failed miserably.

“So you want Jason, me, and the Avalonians to stay out of this?” Anne asked, incredulously.

“Your Avalonians are here for the sole purpose of making sure that you do not fall into the hands of the Dark Towers,” Agent Privas snapped. Her partner laid a restraining hand on her shoulder.

“The task force doesn’t think that the Avalonian team would be able to contribute much to this investigation,” Special Agent Belushi said. “We appreciate your wanting to help stop these nocturnes, but it would be best for all involved if you focused on your mundane cases.” His face hardened. “And your magic.”

Anne grit her teeth. The lines of wild magic glowed to her eyes as she felt her anger rise. It would be so easy to wipe that look off of his face. A little cold, a little air – the binding would be so easy. She forced herself to take a step back. Wild magic was seductive. It wanted to be used. It was one of those traps Anne had discovered over the past few months working with Veronica. The lines faded into the background.

“Fine, we’ll play it your way,” Anne said.

“As if you had a choice in the matter,” Agent Privas snapped. Anne tossed the woman a cold stare before turning back to Special Agent Belushi.

“I think you’re making a mistake,” Anne said, “The Avalonians could be damned helpful.”

“Thank you for your concern, Detective, but we have plenty of our own resources,” Special Agent Belushi replied. “We will let you know if the nocturnes have been captured, but until then, I must remind you to stay out of the task force’s way.” The two agents walked out of the captain’s office.

“Thanks for all the back-up there, Jason,” Anne said, whirling on her partner.

“Don’t get mad at me,” Jason answered, evenly, “In case you forgot, I work for Belushi. And FYI, Belushi is not just another agent of the task force. He’s the special agent in charge of the task force. So, if he says the task force doesn’t want Erik and the gang’s help, that is the final word. Also for your information, Privas is his chief spell slinger. If you’d lost control of your magic in there with them, she’d have turned you into a cinder. So, let’s do what we’re supposed to be doing and forget that case ever came across our desks.” His face had that muley expression, so Anne knew she wasn’t going to get anywhere. The pair let the captain know they were done with his office and walked back to their desks.

Anne sipped her coffee as Jason studied some paper on his desk. She was still angry. Partners should back each other, even if one of them did work for a secret government unit responsible for protecting the nation from supernatural forces. They’d been working together for eight months. That should have bought her a little support. She replayed the conversation with Belushi and Privas in her head.

“Jason, what kind of creature is a nocturne?” Anne asked, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it before.” Jason looked up from his desk with a confused look on his face.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, figuring out what Anne was talking about, “No, nocturnes aren’t creatures. They’re kind of slang for the various things that the task force deals with. Kind of like the special forces teams call terrorists ‘tangoes.'” He looked down at his watch and grimaced. “I’ve got a conference call with Denver in a half-hour on the Allero extradition. Are you going to be good with getting lunch on your own?” Anne just nodded. Jason threw a bunch of files into his messenger bag and dashed out the door.

Anne worked on a couple of her cases for an hour, then decided she’d do better with something other than lukewarm coffee in her. She was still angry and frustrated with Jason and his fibbie friends. She looked down at the flyer at her elbow. The cafe across from the station was serving spice cake today. She deserved some spice cake. Anne grabbed her jacket and purse before walking out of the squad room.

The line at the cafe was long, and Anne wondered if there’d be any cake left by the time she got to place her order. The man behind stepped a little too close to her. A soft, woodsy cologne wafted around them. It was nice, but not enough to lessen her annoyance at someone who didn’t understand the concept of personal space.

“Excuse me detective, but could I buy you some lunch?” the man behind her said. Anne whirled and looked up into Arem’s smiling face.

*Anne*

Anne ducked under the crime scene tape and stepped into the brownstone. A couple of crime scene techs were busily snapping away pictures and laying out evidence markers. In the center of the room, Jason was standing over the body. As Anne’s eyes swept the body, her mind catalogued the details. White male, early 40’s, high-end polo and khaki slacks, expensive shoes and watch. Cause of death was probably that gunshot wound in his right temple. It looked like close range. A quick glance at the victim’s right hand showed powder stains.

“Who do we have here?” Anne asked, walking over to where Jason was standing while pulling on a pair of nitrile gloves.

“Reginald Browne. Forty-one. Partner at an investment house over in Green Market,” Jason answered, “Ex-wife and two kids.”

“Suicide?” Anne asked, kneeling down to take a closer look at the body.

“It certainly looks like it,” Jason said, in a flat voice.

“So why did you call me in on a suicide?” Anne asked.

“Because before our victim here suffered his fatal injury, he called 911 saying that he was being pursued by a group of teens, and was barricaded in his house,” Jason answered, “It was a very peculiar call. Responding unit found the door open and our victim like this.”

“Define peculiar,” Anne said.

“Detective, are you done with the body?” one of the ME techs asked, “The doc wants to know.”

“Yes, thank you,” Jason answered. He motioned Anne to follow him down the hall while the ME techs carefully placed the body into a bag. “I had the call center send me the recording.” He tapped a command on his phone.

*”Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” asked the operator.*

*”They’re outside!” answered a frantic, high-pitched male voice, “I can see them in my windows!*”

*”Who’s outside, sir?” the operator asked.*

*”Those teens,” the man answered, “They chased me from my car. Oh God, their eyes!”*

*”What about their eyes, sir?” the operator asked, her steady calm flickering at the incongruent statement.*

*”They’ve got black eyes!” the man said, “They keep asking to be let in.”*

*”Sir, don’t let them in,” the operator said, “Police are heading to your address right now. Keep your doors locked and wait for the officers to arrive.”*

*”STOP LOOKING AT ME!” the man screamed, “STOP ASKING TO COME IN!”*

*”Sir, please calm down,” the operator said, “The police will be there in a few minutes. They will handle them. Do you require medical assistance?”*

*”GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” the man screamed, ignoring the operator’s question, “IF I LET YOU IN, WILL YOU GET OUT OF MY HEAD?*”

*”Sir! Do not let them in!” the operator said, “The police will be there soon. Wait for the police.”* The line clicked off.

“They tried calling him back, but he never picked up the phone,” Jason said. “The responding officers secured the outside, came in, and found the body. The captain tried handing the case to Monroe and Benson, but I talked him into giving it to us.” Anne’s eyebrow quirked up. Both of them had a backlog of cases, so why would Jason take a case from another detective? As she looked at Jason’s grim face, Anne understood. There was only one reason Jason would snatch a case. There was something *special* about this case.

“Let me guess – no evidence of these black-eyed teens that Mr. Browne was so worked-up about,” Anne said.

“None. No one saw anything and there’s no physical evidence that anyone was standing outside the windows,” Jason answered.

“Okay, so what makes you think this is a special?” Anne asked.

“Because the task force has had four such incidents in three different cities over the last five years,” Jason answered, “This is the first time someone’s died, but the MO is the same. Strange, black-eyed teens confront the victim. Three times in their home, and once in the car. They stand outside and demand to be let in. No one but the victim sees them. All four times, the other victims let these teens in. The victims who let them in the house said that the teens just walked all around the house and then left. The guy in the car said they just sat in the passenger seat staring at him until he was so creeped out, he fled. When he went back for his car a couple of hours later, the teens were gone. Nothing was ever taken. No property damage inflicted.”

“Okay, I’ll admit that’s weird, but it could just be kids playing an elaborate prank,” Anne said, “Another bizarre internet thing that may have gone a bit too far in this case. Like that whole Slenderman BS.”

“I wish it was that simple,” Jason said, “The task force has evidence that there was something odd going on. Unfortunately, we’ve never been able to get a handle on it. Whoever is behind this just vanishes by the time we get boots on the ground. This time, though, we might just be able to catch the bastards.” There was a predatory gleam in Jason’s eyes, which bothered Anne.

*Anne, as soon as you finish there, we need to talk at the clubhouse,* Samantha said over the telepathic link.

*What’s the matter?* Anne asked, startled by Samantha’s sudden intrusion.

*Something about that house is making Erik and Veronica physically ill,* Samantha said. *Kurt’s waiting for you two outside, but the rest of us are heading back.*

*The house is making them sick? How?* Jason asked.

*I don’t know, and they’re not making much sense right now,* Anne answered, *They just keep saying that something in that house is wrong.*

Anne

“Are you sure he doesn’t want to come inside for some pie?” Anne’s mom said, looking out the window at the man standing under the ancient oak in the front yard. Anne followed her mom’s look. Erik could be so damned stubborn. He couldn’t come in and converse with her parents like any of the other Avalonians. No, he had to do his guard duty outside. At least he looked like he was just lounging under the tree and not standing at attention or something. The neighbors would really talk if he did that.

“He’s fine out there,” Anne said, “He’s just glad it’s warmed up to what he considers a bearable temperature.” Her mom shrugged. She was used to Erik’s odd ways, even though she had no idea why her daughter hung out with a man like that.

“The winter did break early this year,” Mrs. Hearst said. “It looks to be one of the warmest St. Patrick’s days in the last fifty years. The weatherman on Channel 10 said it was because of global warming.” Anne’s mom sniffed her disapproval of that opinion. Barbara Hearst couldn’t understand how humans could do anything to God’s Earth, so all of this global warming talk was just nonsense. Plus, the radio talk shows said it was all a plot by the communists anyway. Anne just took another bite of the cherry pie to hide her own look at her mom’s opinion.

“Are you taking Kurt to the St. Patrick’s Day parade?” Mrs. Hearst asked, trying unsuccessfully to hide the tone of hopefulness in her voice. Anne smiled as she sipped her coffee.

“If we both have the day off, then yes, I will bring him with me to the park for the cook-out, and you can finally show us off to your side of the family,” Anne said, with feigned exasperation.

“I just thought it would be nice for him to see the city’s parade,” Mrs. Hearst said, dismissing her daughter’s accusation. “Why couldn’t you just request the day off, like any other job?” Anne blew out her breath.

“I did, but I’m still on call. That’s what happens when you’re the force’s premier detective,” Anne said, avoiding the real reason why she would still be on call.

“So we can hope no one gets killed in some particularly gruesome way that only you can figure out,” her mom said with a familiar biting tone. Anne restrained the temptation to bang her head on the tabletop. At least her mom only thought Anne had to deal with normal, human murderers. If she knew about some of the things Anne actually chased through the city streets, the woman would probably have a nervous breakdown.

“So, what else has been happening since Kurt and I came for dinner last week?” Anne asked, changing the subject.

“Your uncle Howard got a promotion to vice-president,” her mom said, proud of her baby brother.

“Send him my congratulations,” Anne said.

“I will,” Mrs. Hearst said, “You know what this means, don’t you?” Anne looked up suspiciously at her mother.

“What?” Anne asked.

“He’s going to be able to afford to send Mindy to Delain,” Mrs. Hearst said, dropping the bomb. “We offered to let her take your old room, but Howard says she wants to experience real college life.” Anne groaned. She had no idea how her airhead of a cousin managed to get accepted into an elite school like Delain. The idea of Mindy in her city as a college freshman filled Anne with dread. It was bad enough that Anne wasn’t sure if she could finish her last bite of pie. Determined not to let one girl spoil her mom’s pie, Anne shoved the last bit into her mouth.

Erik

“Then she suggested that Kurt and me show her around the city when she gets here in August!” Anne said as Erik navigated the car through the city streets. Anne had been ranting non-stop since they’d left her parents house. Erik couldn’t understand her frustration, but he knew it was better just to let the storm blow itself out before saying anything.

“You disagree?” Anne said, and Erik felt her emotions shift. Damn, that wasn’t going to work this time.

“She’s your cousin,” Erik said, “Why wouldn’t you help her?”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t, but it’s like Mom’s already planned out half-a-dozen family things when Mindy gets here and figured out what I would be doing,” Anne answered, “Without even asking!”

“So?” Erik asked, before he could stop himself. Anne’s anger spiked.

“So?” she nearly screamed. “Don’t you think she should at least have the decency of asking me before she volunteers me to show Mindy around the city? Especially with Kurt?” Erik gave Anne a sidelong glance before pulling into a parking lot. Americans had some very odd concepts when it came to family dynamics.

“Come on,” he said, trying to avert the upcoming argument by changing the subject. He stepped out of the car. Anne’s anger jumped up even further before it was drowned out by her curiosity. She stepped out of the car and stared up at the three-story building.

“What is this place?” Anne asked.

“Our new clubhouse,” Erik answered, and smiled at Anne’s exasperation. She hated when someone gave her cryptic answers. They hung up their coats in the small foyer before they entered what looked like one of those war rooms shown in movies or television. Plasma screens hung from the walls showing news feeds and cameras from around the city. The rest of the team, including Lady Maritza, was lounging on some of the plush chairs scattered about. The only person missing was Jason. Erik felt her astonishment as she looked around.

“When did you guys do all this?” Anne asked.

“Mostly while you and Jason were at work,” Lady Maritza answered. “The point was made that some of your extra-circular activities could point the wrong kind of attention back to the apartments. Plus, it seemed like a good idea to give you some training and logistical space that didn’t interfere with my own people’s.”

“You actually got a company to do construction in the middle of winter?” Anne asked.

“It was more of a renovation, actually, dear,” Lady Maritza answered, “It also helps when the owner’s wife is the one contracting for service.” The two women beamed at each other. Erik hid his own smile. As bad as his relationship was with his nominal superior, at least those two got on like a house on fire. Before Lady Maritza continued, Anne’s phone rang with that annoying song she used for Jason.

“What’s up Jason?” Anne asked. Her emotions became subdued as she spoke with her partner. From the look on Samantha’s face, this was going to be one of those special cases. Erik signaled for Kurt to load up one of the vans and get ready to leave. The Avalonians were moving to the garage.

“I’m sorry Lady Maritza,” Anne said as she hung up her phone, “It looks we caught a really bizarre case.” The older lady embraced Anne.

“And I didn’t even get to show you the secret passages,” Lady Maritza replied with mock severity. “Take care of yourself.” Erik’s superior gave him a curt nod as he followed the rest of the team out to the waiting van. As they pulled out and started following Anne, Erik wondered what kind of insanity this world was going to throw at them this time.

Erik

Erik looked out at the lights of the city. The Colosseum wasn’t the highest point in the city, but it was high enough for him to feel the cold wind whipping off of the river. In so many ways, they had succeeded. The vampire clan was destroyed. The Americans had used what happened to warn off the other clans. They’d found a mole in the city’s police force. Anne was safe, and there were some tantalizing clues as to what the Dark Towers wanted with her. Kurt and Anne had finally gotten together. Erik was surprised at how pleased he was about that, especially considering how hard he was going to have to work to hide that from the Saint. He was pretty sure that Lady Maritza knew, even if she hadn’t told her official self. On top of it all, Mia Gold was safe and out of the vampires’ clutches. All in all, he should have been celebrating with the others. Instead, he was up here brooding. All because the one vampire he wanted dead had managed to slip out.

The access door opened and Erik felt the familiar psi-scent walk up behind him. He’d wondered if this was going to happen, or if Lady Maritza would interfere. To be fair, he would have understood if his nominal superior warned the woman off. Of course, she may have, but Erik doubted even Lady Maritza could have dissuaded this one if she wanted to speak with Erik.

“Samantha knew you’d be up here,” Mia Gold said. She walked up to the railing that Erik perched upon. He looked down on her and gave her an indulgent smile. “When I invited your little team to one of my rehearsals, it was because I wanted you to see. It’s not often I get to show off for my big brother.”

“Sorry Mirya,” Erik said, “I didn’t think about that. I should have. It just seemed like a good time to get away from everyone’s emotions and just think.”

“It’s nice to hear you say my name,” Mirya said. Then her face became serious, and Erik could tell his sister was wary about treading into dangerous ground.

“Go ahead and ask,” Erik said.

“Would you quit doing that?” Mirya said, exasperated. “You and Sam both!” She took a deep breath and collected herself. “Sam told me about what happened. Much to the dismay of Lady Maritza. Why are you doing this to yourself?”

“Could you be a little more specific?” Erik asked in reply.

“Why are you doing this work? It’s not like you needed the money. Is it because of Sam?”

“I’ll admit that was one consideration,” Erik said, “More because I needed to get out of Avalon. I was hurting the family and the firm. Then, I was offered this mission.”

“Are you sure you didn’t leave because of that bitch?” Mirya asked. Erik gave her a cold look. “Erik, any woman who destroys you like Anya did will be a bitch in my book. She was lucky that I was stuck over on this side of the gate. There might have been bloodshed.” Erik couldn’t help but smile. He leapt down off the perch and swept up his sister in a hug.

“Here,” Mirya said, pushing a cell phone into Erik’s hands. “I know we aren’t supposed to be contacting each other, but I can’t know my big brother is on this side of the gate and not talk to him. This is the most secure phone I could buy. I’ve got one and so does Sam.” Mirya lifted herself up and kissed Erik on the cheek. “I know there are somethings you can’t even talk about with Sam. You can send me a text on this thing and we can talk.”

“Love you too,” Erik said, kissing the top of his sister’s head. “I can’t tell you how thankful I was that you were on this side of the gate when all of that hell went down.”

“Are you at least coming to the concert tomorrow?” Mirya asked.

“Yeah, but only because one of my team needs to be on guard while the rest of them watch you do that thing you call music,” Erik answered, with a light tone. He grunted as Mirya punched him in the gut. “I am proud of everything you’ve done over here, Mirya. You’ve done good, little sis.” They hugged again and Mirya walked back to the door.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later then,” Mirya said. She waved and then descended back into the Colosseum. Erik hopped back up onto the railing.

“That was so touching to watch,” a familiar soprano voice said. Erik whirled and drew his pistol. Nao was standing on one of the antennae some thirty feet above Erik. Then she blurred as she moved faster than Erik could track. He didn’t even have time to throw up a shield before Nao plucked the pistol out of his hand and threw him to the concrete of the roof. Stars exploded in front of his eyes. As they cleared, he felt Nao sit down on his chest. She peered deeply into him, but there was none of the psychic pushes that she’d used earlier. Instead, she just lowered her head and kissed him. Erik knew he was supposed to fight, supposed to do something, but it was all hazy the moment her lips touched his.

“I know why you want to kill me,” Nao said, “I honestly didn’t realize what that woman had done to you when I plucked her from your memory. You’re not ready to forgive me yet. I can see that in your eyes. I hope you’ll be able to do so soon.”

“Why?” Erik managed. Nao smiled.

“Because, I can help you heal from what that woman did to you,” she whispered in his ear. Then she was gone.

Lady Maritza

Maritza Holland closed her laptop as her next appointment walked into her office. Overall, she was pleased with the outcome of the recent days’ events. Anne was safe and learning even more magic. How that young woman reminded Maritza of her younger sister. Yanna would have loved Anne Hearst. She looked up as the man in front of her desk cleared his throat. She fixed him with a cold gaze.

“You wanted to see me, Mrs. Holland?” Detective Harvey Welks asked, unfazed by the woman’s glare.

“Yes, Detective,” Lady Maritza said after a moment. No, this one couldn’t be intimidated. “I’ve come to understand that you’ve been acting as a fixer for the non-human elements, shall we say?”

“I’m not sure what you mean, Mrs. Holland,” Welks said, with a neutral face.

“Let’s not play these foolish games,” Lady Maritza said, letting her annoyance show, “If I wanted you dead, I would have let Detective Hearst have her way with you and then helped hide your body. Believe me, I can bury the disappearance of a police detective. So, have you been acting as a fixer?” Welks considered Lady Maritza for a long moment.

“I have been known to help factions from outside the city with their unique needs,” Welks admitted. Maritza tossed an envelope at Welks. The burly detective snatched it out of the air with an almost practiced ease. He opened the envelope and stared at the contents before giving Lady Maritza a quizzical look.

“What is this?” Welks asked.

“The paper identifies you as the legal owner of a safety deposit box at the bank listed in Chicago. The key will allow you to access it. You’ve annoyed me a great deal with your actions Detective, but you could also be useful.”

“How?” he asked suspiciously.

“You become my agent,” Lady Maritza said, “Every month, I will put $10,000 worth of bearer bonds from various companies into that safety deposit box. You will keep me informed of any ‘outside factions’ coming into the city, and if they have an interest in Detective Hearst. If you do that, then the money will be yours when you decide to collect.”

“What’s the catch?” Welks asked.

“You do not lie to me. You do not take any action against Detective Hearst. You do not continue to work for ‘outside factions’ after you collect the money,” Lady Maritza said. They traded a long look. There was no need for threats of retribution. Welks put the envelope into the inside pocket of his jacket.

“Thank you very much, Mrs. Holland,” Detective Welks said, and then walked out of the office.

Erik

Well, there was one good thing about this bizzare vampire ritual. They’d killed one of their own as part of it. Eight to take down, including the boss vampire. Erik looked over to Veronica. His sorceress watched the ritual with terrified eyes, which was not a good thing in Erik’s book. Whatever was happening, it held the vampires’ rapt attention. Veronica shot a warning glare at Erik. It must have hit the point Nao had told them about. Time to see if this tossed together plan was going to work.

The basement shook and Erik was deafened as Veronica released the sound spell she’d been building in her mind. Erik felt hot brass hit him as Nigel and John turned their suppressed MP5’s on the two vampires next to them. Erik was already moving. The plastic zip-ties around Erik’s and Kurt’s wrists fell apart with the softest touch of his power. Erik concentrated on the hilt of Far’ling at Nao’s waist. In one smooth pull, the sword sailed across the basement into his waiting hand.

Stumpy materialized next to Erik. The metal claws the vampire had instead of hands lanced out at Erik, but bounced harmlessly off of the invisible shield. Erik dropped the shield for an instant to thrust the elven sword into Stumpy’s chest. The vampire didn’t even scream as he flashed in flame. Erik was turning to fight the next vampire as Stumpy’s ashes swirled around him.

The vampire punched at Erik’s shield. A shotgun blast reduced the vampire to ash before Erik could attack. Kurt must have freed Jason and the others already. Erik didn’t bother looking over. He had to trust his team to do their jobs. With vampires, hesitation was death.

Anne

The explosion of sound was an annoyance. Anne was busy examining the bindings David was doing. By teasing the faint streams of wild magic in the basement, Anne could see through the stainless steel of the bowl David was using to purify her blood. She could pick out her blood in the mix of vampire blood and amplification substances. It glowed with its own unique – frequency? That was the only word that came to Anne’s mind as she watched David pour the streams of bound magic into the bowl. Some of her blood stopped glowing. It looked like the vampire blood, but warmer? Damn, magic was hard to put into words. So, this was what her cousin felt when trying to explain particle physics to her last Christmas. Then, Anne realized what she was seeing. The ritual changed the frequency of her blood into something that vampires could not only consume, but would boost the magic they pulled out of it. Okay, so now how was she going to stop it?

David was directing the flows of wild magic for the ritual. What if he wasn’t the one directing? Anne felt the magic binding her to the ritual. It was strong, probably the strongest that David could throw with all of the amplification from the candles and whatever he’d thrown into the mix. Except, he was only calling on a few of the streams of wild magic running through the basement. Of, they were the strongest of the streams, but without that annoying block in her mind removed, Anne could see so many more. Each was a faint whisp compared to the streams used by David, but combined? Anne teased the faint streams into a new binding and lashed it to the stream running from her to the ritual. Instantly, the flows reversed.

“What?” David screamed, barely audible over the gunfire now filling the basement. He pushed against Anne as she claimed the streams of magic around the ritual. It was kind of pathetic actually. Anne easily batted down his few attempts to reassert control of the ritual. It was hers – and she could see how the bindings were working together. She tugged at the knots, unraveling some, while subtly changing others.

The grazda screamed in pain and horror as the ritual’s streams of bound magic attached to the nearest vampire. He wanted to suck all of the magic out of her blood, so Anne made him feel what it was like. Anne watched the red glow of the vampire’s magic ripped itself out of the grazda‘s body to join with the magic of the ritual. Anne barely saw the withered corpse fall to the ground. She was too busy to see what other vampire she could destroy with this bound magic.

Anne, stop, Veronica said over the telepathic link. How are you holding that much magic?

I don’t know, Anne answered, The block is gone, and all of the sudden– As soon as she thought the words, Anne’s block slammed back down. The magic that seemed so easy to control was now flooding through her uncontrollably. Anne screamed in agony as the magic of the ritual burned her mind.

Dump the power! Veronica screamed into Anne’s mind.

Where? Anne asked.

Anywhere! Veronica answered. Anne felt around the streams, looking where she could dump the excess. She felt the prodding of David attempting to take control of the ritual. More from instinct than any conscious thought, Anne grabbed hold of David’s small stream and forced through all of the magic she was holding. Anne thought she heard someone screaming. Then, the world went black.

A small prick woke Anne. A man dressed in SWAT gear kneeling next to her finished inserting the IV. Anne swiveled her head as the SWAT guy handed the bag off to Kurt.

“It would do me good if you would try to stop nearly killing yourself during these little fights,” Kurt said. The worried look in his eyes belied his light tone. Anne have him a weak smile.

“Who?” Anne asked as she realized the basement was crawling with SWAT-looking guys.

“Jason’s people,” Veronica answered, kneeling next to Anne. Veronica took a look at the IV and shook her head dismissively. Veronica’s fingers danced around Anne’s body while she spoke some elven words in a low tone.

“I can’t feel the wild magic,” Anne said, in shocked sudden realization. “What did I do to myself?”

“Nothing,” Veronica said, a bit coldly. “You burned out the streams around us with the amount of magic you drew and dumped.” Veronica gave Anne a hard look. “Your own magic is depleted, but not burned out, which is to say the very least, surprising. At any rate, you should start feeling something in a few hours. Now, I have to go help Erik and Samantha see if they kind find Nao.”

“She escaped?” Anne said, trying to sit up. Kurt laid a gentle, but firm hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah, and Erik’s pissed,” Veronica answered.

“Alone at last,” Kurt said, softly as Anne laid back down. She chuckled because laughing hurt for some reason. Anne reached up and stroked his face.

“Hey, Kurt, when we get out of here, do you want to go to the Mia Gold concert?” Anne asked.