by Amy Hopkins
His eagerness lifted Penny’s mood immediately. “No, Paddy,” she laughed. “I’m here to meet Cisco for a drink, that’s all.” She leaned down and lowered her voice. “It is safe for me to be here, right? I mean, after what we did last time—"
“Don’t worry yerself, dear. Paddy told ye, I own this place. Well, in a manner.” He waved away Penny’s attempt to question that little bit of information. “Regardless, Old Paddy knows it was a matter of national security, what ye did. He said he won’t ban ye from the bar.” Paddy wagged a finger. “But it might be a good idea if ye refrained from doin’ it again, lass.”
“Old Paddy?” The leprechaun had used the name as if speaking about someone else.
“Aye!” Paddy thumped his chest. “I’m the Paddy. Old Paddy and Old Paddy, they’re the ones who do all the business stuff. They bought the bar from Paddy Last, who had it from Paddy Previous, ye see?”
Penny’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “That’s… a stretch.” She snatched her phone out and pulled up the search engine.
Before she could tap in a query, Cisco sauntered over.
“Penny, you beat me here!” He snatched a chair from a nearby table and wedged it in next to Paddy’s, straddling it backward. “Was I late?”
“Oh, lad!” Paddy looked horrified. “A gentleman should never be late for a date!”
“What?” Cisco’s face reddened. “It’s not a…I mean, is it?” He looked to Penny for confirmation.
Penny couldn’t resist teasing him. “I don’t know, Cisco. Do you want it to be?”
“I…uhh…this feels like a trap.” He looked at Paddy. “Is this a trap?”
Paddy leaned up and whispered in his ear. Cisco went from pink to a deep shade of beetroot. “I’m not saying that!” He hissed angrily. “She’d skin me alive!”
“Well, if ye won’t take advice from a leprechaun, yer on yer own.” Paddy hopped off the chair and left, stopping at a nearby table to harass a stunning young woman.
“What did he say?” Penny asked, curiosity biting her.
Cisco shook his head, mute.
“Go on.” Penny grinned. “If you tell me, I’ll buy you a drink.” Still, he was mute. “Two drinks?” Her smile had begun to fall away as she wondered what on earth Paddy might have said. “Fine. No drinks, and I’ll ask Paddy himself.” She glanced over to the leprechaun, still chatting up the girl at a table for one.
“Dammit.” Cisco hid his head in his hands. “He said all I had to do was offer to ‘put a dozen strong babies in you by the end of the night.”
“A dozen?” Penny squeaked. She reflexively crossed her legs. “You were right. I would have skinned you alive.”
“See?” Cisco huffed. “Why aren’t you getting mad at the tiny, green drunk? It didn’t come out of my mouth.”
“It did so, you just repeated it!” Penny let him gape in disbelief a moment before dissolving into giggles. “Oh, Cisco. You’re such an easy catch. I was just having you on.”
Cisco scowled but was quickly pacified by the offer of a drink.
Penny ordered two glasses of Clydes at the bar. Although whiskey wasn’t her usual drink, it seemed wrong not to have it at an Irish bar.
When she returned, Paddy had returned to the table. “I only got two,” she warned.
Paddy raised an almost full glass. “It’s fine, lass. I got meself a drink already.”
Penny slipped back into her seat and took a sip, holding the amber fire in her mouth a moment before swallowing. “Wowser. It really grows on you, doesn’t it?” She raised her glass to clink it against Cisco’s.
“To a new semester,” he toasted. “And long friendships.”
“Did I miss much while I was gone?” Penny asked. “Any big adventures you forgot to tell me about?”
They’d spoken almost daily while she was away, so Penny was surprised when Cisco pursed his lips, then nodded.
“Just before you got back, actually. Not an adventure, but Mr. March came in for a briefing. I was in March’s office when he showed up, and he let me listen in.”
“You mean Agent Crenel?” Penny’s shoulders tightened. “What was it?” An FBI briefing could be nothing, just more information on the academy merger. Or…
“They couldn’t find Tobias,” Cisco said quietly. The cult leader had run during the chaos at the Willamette River. “He’s gone, totally off-grid. Not only that, some of the group members disappeared with him.”
Penny jolted upright. “What? They just vanished? You don’t think the Kraken…”
Cisco shook his head. “All the footage said they got away clean.”
“But the spell was broken!” Penny realized she’d raised her voice and quickly lowered it again. “They weren’t under his control anymore.”
“Aye, ye broke the spell,” Paddy interjected.
Cisco shrugged. “Maybe they followed him voluntarily.”
The idea made Penny sick to her stomach. “How could they? He was a creep.”
“Absolute creep.” Paddy threw back the last of his drink.
“How could a bunch of emo teens follow a guy who promised them chaos and magic?” Cisco asked dryly.
“Chaos is a big draw,” Paddy agreed. Realizing his two drinking partners were staring, he shrugged. “I don’t have a damn clue what yer talkin’ about. I just don’t want to drink alone.”
“What happened to your friend?” Penny asked. She looked around, but the pretty girl was gone.
“She was only here to see Bacchus,” Paddy admitted. “Once I told her he’d already left, she decided wee Paddy wasn’t so fun to talk to after all.” He stared into his empty cup morosely, then yelled, “Lizbet! Another drink!”
“I’m not your slave, little man.” The girl at the bar continued to polish it, rolling her eyes when she caught Penny looking. “Get it yourself.”
Grumbling, Paddy made his way off his chair and tottered toward the bar.
“Do you think Tobias is still around?” Penny asked. The idea of Tobias still lurking in Portland chilled her bones.
Cisco drew closer. “Crenel can’t say for sure, but there are rumors of a new coven out by the coast. Not the type they usually get, bonfires and orgies. This group is sneaking around putting up shrines to old gods and local myths.”
“Damn.” Penny shivered and downed the rest of her drink. Seeing Paddy was still at the bar, she gave a quick whistle between her teeth, and when the leprechaun looked, she held up her empty glass.
“Two!” Cisco called.
“I can hear him muttering from here.” Penny giggled.
Still, Paddy returned with a glass of whiskey for each of them.
Penny raised her glass to him. “Thanks, little green man.”
“Don’t be getting’ smart, lass.” Paddy winked. “Paddy may be short, but he’s not little.”
Penny groaned, trying to banish the image of a naked leprechaun from her mind. “I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Are ye hard of hearin’, lass?” Paddy climbed onto the table and cupped his hands around his mouth. “WEE PADDY IS HUNG LIKE A HORSE, LASS.”
“Paddy!” Cisco yanked the leprechaun back down to his seat. “Can’t take you anywhere.”
“Ye didn’t take me anywhere,” Paddy said smugly. “Ye came to Paddy.”
“And don’t we regret it.” Penny grabbed the menu off the table. “Look, as long as we’re here, I’m starving. Are we gonna order some lunch, or what?”
Chapter Four
“Wakey wakey, girl with snakey.”
Penny felt a tug on her toe. “Go away,” she groaned.
Amelia persisted, yanking Penny’s blanket off and sending a rush of freezing air over her bare skin. “Seriously! You said you had to get up early today. You made me promise not to let you sleep in!”
“I was an idiot!” Penny snapped. “And a liar. I don’t need to get up early. Not this early, anyway.” She tried to grab her blanket, but Amelia held it just out of her reach.
Amelia tried a different tack. “Boots is hungry.”
“Boots can go months without food.” Penny made to grab the blanket again, but Boots reared and hissed. “Well, you can!”
Clearly outnumbered, Penny surrendered. She rolled out of bed and quickly dressed, hugging her arms to herself until the fabric of her coat warmed against her skin.
“You’re definitely up?” Amelia asked warily.
“Yes. Thank you.” Penny knew she’d have slept until her midday class, if not for Amelia’s insistence.
“What are you doing, anyway?” Amelia slid lipstick over her mouth while she waited for Penny to answer. “Hot date with Cisco?”
Penny spluttered. “Hot date? Why does everyone keep assuming we’re dating? No! I’m job-hunting.”
“Hon, you know my parents are loaded. Anything you want, I’ll buy for you. Well, my dad will buy it for you.” Amelia blotted her makeup.
“I’d be a kept woman,” Penny joked. “I’m not that kind of girl. You know that.”
“I know.” Amelia pulled Penny into a hug, her hair clouding around them, and the scent of her makeup heavy in the air. “But still, the offer is there if you need it.”
“Thanks, Amelia.” Although Penny had no intention of taking Amelia up on her offer, it comforted her to know that in an absolute emergency, she had someone to count on.
Hsss. Boots, unhappy with the lack of attention, flicked her tail and disappeared into the crumpled blanket in the corner.
“Sorry, lovely.” Penny shoved a hand into the pile and grabbed Boots, who’d gone as limp as wet spaghetti. “But if you’re going to throw a wobbly, I’m not taking you to breakfast.”
At the word “breakfast,” Boots immediately perked up. She wrapped herself around Penny’s arm and slithered around her shoulders, settling in for a comfortable ride.
“Any more of that attitude and I’ll make you walk,” Penny cautioned.
Boots licked her ear.
“And stop sucking up. You’re better than that!” Penny grabbed her smaller bag, threw in a notebook, pen, and her purse, and slipped her phone into her pocket. “Do you have time to eat, Amelia?”
“Alas, no.” Amelia pressed the back on her hand to her forehead. “I shall have to weather the famine on nothing but a handful of air and the image of the dastardly handsome Professor McClure to nourish me.”
“I wouldn’t let Red hear you talk like that!” Penny warned.
Amelia erupted into laughter. “He agrees!”
“You two are crazy!” She waited for Amelia to step out into the hallway and pulled the door shut behind them. “Good crazy, but still. Crazy.”
By the time Penny saw Amelia again, she had three pages of prospective job ads noted down, had sent her resume to twelve companies, and had filled out nine online applications. She took a seat in Advanced Mythology and pressed her fingers to her eyes.
“Brains falling out?” Cisco asked sympathetically.
Penny nodded. “I really shouldn’t spend three hours web surfing on a tiny phone.”
Cisco ducked his head as Professor Madera entered and whispered, “Why didn’t you use the library?”
Penny grimaced and pointed to her back. As if sensing the motion, Boots peeked out, her eyes dreamy and relaxed. “Because someone was intent on eating herself into a food coma.”
“Penny, I’ve told you before,” Amelia said, taking a seat nearby. “Three plates is more than enough!”
“Shut up, you.” Penny leaned over and gave her a shove, but quickly sobered when Professor Madera coughed for attention.
Rather than start the lesson, the professor looked at her watch and then the door. She glanced at the watch again… and finally, the door opened.
Agent Crenel whipped through, his loose tie and unbuttoned cuffs giving an extra layer of urgency to his deep frown.
“Good morning, students.” He dipped his head respectfully to Professor Madera. “Thanks for letting me take over for a few minutes.”
Crenel walked over to the whiteboard and slapped a newspaper article up, pinning it in place with two magnets. Two rows from the back, Penny couldn’t make out the headline.
“Most of the content in your course has been focused on the supernatural element to this threat,” Crenel said, his voice easily carrying through the silent class. “Unfortunately, that’s not all we have to contend with. Is everyone aware of the events leading up to the Kraken incident?”
A mutter spread through the room. “Some of us didn’t get the inside scoop,” Mara said. “Are we allowed to know what happened?”
Crenel scanned the room. “Yes. I’ll see those case files are distributed to everyone by the end of the day. Our focus right now, however, is on why the event occurred. The Kraken’s appearance was instigated by humans.” Crenel, now deep into his briefing, began to pace across the classroom. “A man named Tobias was given a spell by a group of terrorists.”
Penny heard the collective gasp. Despite already knowing the sequence of events intimately, she still felt the gut-punch of knowing that the monster had been deliberately called.
“Great,” Jason said. “Now the bad guys have weaponized spells.”
“A human with a spell is still less of a threat than an angry mega-squid,” Crenel reassured him. “But, yes. They have weaponized spells.”
“But they’re human,” Mara pointed out. “Aren’t there regular cops who can take care of that?”
“You want a beat cop to walk into a coven full of witches summoning a demon?” Crenel asked. “Because that happened. The beat cop ended up spread across two blocks. They spent a week collecting his intestines.”
Penny’s gut roiled, and more than one student coughed in disgust. Mara whimpered and looked down at her desk.
“That’s why we’re training you. To deal with the kind of threats they can’t. But you need to know that it’s not always going to be a god or a specter causing the threat. It could be a guy with a Mythological weapon. Or it could be a god or a specter, but with human influence behind it.” Crenel plucked the newspaper back off the wall fast enough that the magnets holding it didn’t move. He passed it to Mara in the front row to read and pass on. “Primarily, this is presenting in the form of groups calling themselves covens. We call them what they are—cults.”
Crenel gave a quick explanation of Tobias’s cult. He glossed over details of the Eastern group Tobias had met with, simply calling it a “work in progress” and saying that any real information was classified.
“That’s two groups,” Jason said. “How many are there?”
Crenel lifted his hands. “You tell me. The organizations we’ve come across so far number in the hundreds. They range from highly organized terrorist cells to the more commonly found groups of casual Wiccans dancing around a fire. We’ve seen high school students, lawyers, grandmothers, and even some of our own.”
“The FBI is summoning monsters?” Mara sounded shocked.
Crenel waggled his hand. “Not successfully, and not necessarily monsters. Many of the groups trying to pull entities through the veil are simply looking to strengthen their religion or just have some fun. Which isn’t to say it isn’t dangerous, but their intent isn’t to harm anyone.”
“Is it legal?” Cisco asked.
Crenel raised his hands. “For the most part. If we can’t get them on a charge based on intent to disrupt the peace or deliberately cause harm to others, then our hands are basically tied. Lawmakers are scrambling to deal with it, but finding a solution that’s broad enough to cover all reasonable possibilities—and that doesn’t infringe on people’s basic rights—is harder than it looks.”
“That’s what we’ll be dealing with when we graduate?” Clive tapped his desk impatiently. “Teenagers and soccer moms trying to conjure house fairies?”
“In some cases,” Crenel admitted. “But there is a lot of dangerous stuff out there and not enough people to deal with it yet. Depending on your chosen career pat
hs, many of you will face danger. You will be put into positions where you must risk your lives to save others. And for some of you, it may not wait until graduation.”
Penny met the agent’s eyes and shivered. She knew that she and Cisco could be called up for a mission at any time since both had chosen the fieldwork career path.
Crenel quickly wrapped up his briefing, telling the students he would be a frequent presence at the Academy to make sure the dean was kept up to date with the latest developments. He passed the class back over to Professor Madera.
“Well, students.” Madera pressed her mouth into a thin line. “Let us hope that the next years pass quickly for us, and slowly for everyone else. We will need as much of a head start as we can get. Now, please open your books to page three-hundred and sixty-five.”
Sweat dripped down Penny’s nose and dropped to the floor. She grunted, shoving herself back up on aching arms.
“Backs straight!” Professor Glass barked. “Mara, out. Eighty-eight. Eighty-nine. Red, you’re out. One hundred and Ninety.”
Penny’s shaking arms collapsed, and she hit the floor. Glass barked her name, and she scrambled to her feet and took her position against the wall, watching the final students on the floor. Jason was called next. He’d managed two hundred and twenty push-ups before he collapsed.
Cisco lifted his head just long enough to see Clive was still going beside him. Both of them were shirtless, biceps and backs rippling as they dipped and rose.
Penny, however, only had eyes for one. She didn’t look away even when Amelia nudged her.
“Hot in here, isn’t it Penny?” she teased.
“Amelia, you didn’t even make it to triple digits,” Penny pointed out. “You’ve had plenty of time to cool off.”
Cisco was up to two hundred and forty-one. His arms had begun to tremble, and sweat ran down his back and face. Somehow, he still had the energy to glance at Penny and wink.
“Forty-two. Clive, out,” Glass barked. “Two-forty-three.”
Cisco dipped again, hesitated, then pushed back up with an audible groan. On his two hundred and forty-fifth, he dipped too low, and his forehead touched the floor.
