Playing With Fire

by Adrienne Woods et al.

  ‘That I will,’ I answered honestly.

  It tasted as good as it looked. Fresh flavours, delicate spices, home-baked bread. All to Michelin standards. I ate much more than I had planned. I couldn’t help myself. We chatted between bites. Mostly about me and what I did for a living. I spun the carefully constructed story. It would all be backed up on internet, thanks to Alex. Charmaine told me more about Metisse, his childhood, education and his responsibilities in the family businesses. It was very interesting. Many of the blanks we ran into while researching were filled in. Not that I was planning on telling Alex. I kept him in the dark as much as possible. My doubts about the mission grew every day that I was in Waisland and amongst the Sabres. The information that Cantix and Aquanaris gave me had more holes in it than Swiss cheese. Alex tried to strengthen the lies, but he was so obvious that it was pathetic. He was a bad liar. A bad almost everything, to be honest.

  We finished the lunch with coffee and homemade praline chocolates.

  Charmaine folded her napkin and manoeuvred the electric chair out from under the table. ‘Walk with me,’ she requested as she moved towards the door to the grounds. A woman and a man who had quietly been sipping coffee at the table next to us during our lunch, stood up and followed us at a discreet distance as we made our way out of the conservatory onto the Country Club gardens.

  Someone as important as Charmaine never travelled anywhere without security.

  Chapter 26

  Once we were out of earshot of the busy club Charmaine raised the seat of the chair so that her head and mine were at the same level as we moved over the winding path.

  ‘Thank you for that,’ she said. I looked at her to gauge what she meant. My quizzical features caused her to smile. ‘The whole show for the club’s members,’ she explained. I smiled myself. Yes, that was what it had been about. A show. One to let everyone know that she acknowledged me as her son’s girlfriend and an official member of the family.

  ‘Thank you,’ I answered. ‘For welcoming me that way.’

  ‘I meant what I said,’ she continued. ‘You make my son very happy. He has been searching for his soul mate for a long time. I expect that he had essentially given up before he met you. He deserves to be happy.’

  I refrained from answering. None was required.

  ‘I sense that there is more to you than meets the eye.’ Oh shit, this was where it would start to get hairy. ‘You have depths that my son does not see. There is a single-mindedness and focus about you. I believe that you have a goal, and I would like to know if Metisse is part of that.’

  She was to the point.

  ‘He is,’ I answered truthfully, though not expanding more than that. She didn’t push, just let the silence do its work. I, however, am just as proficient at the use of silence and so not easily intimidated. I left it at that.

  She looked at me and smiled. ‘I trust you Altermichan.’ Why my whole name? Was it to make a point? How much more did she know about me? The tingles running up and down my back made me feel that it was more than I wanted. There was no real obvious reason why she should trust me. She hardly knew me. She didn’t strike me as the kind of person to rely on her intuition alone.

  ‘You will do what is right.’ What the hell did that mean? This meeting was becoming more complicated and frustrating with every step I took. I decided that silence would probably be my best mode of operation for now.

  ‘Do you remember when we first met?’ she broke the silence. ‘At my birthday party?’ I nodded. ‘I was very impressed that you didn’t try to hide your surprise at my physical handicap. Most people pretend that there is nothing out of the ordinary. They avoid looking at me or my legs. I find that extremely irritating. You were a breath of fresh air. I like your directness.’ We walked on past the pond and the beautifully-tended water plants. Colourful ducks swam on the crystal-clear water and herons fished between the water lilies.

  ‘The clan was pushed out of Canada by the Council,’ Charmaine continued. The Council again. We seemed to have more in common than I thought. ‘We were becoming too powerful for them and their solution to such problems is to decimate the threat. Many of my people were killed in the fights that ensued when they attacked us. We had been a peaceful community and our defences were minimal. I blame myself for that. We were complacent.’ There was anger in her voice. ‘The only option we had was to flee. The clan crossed the border and we came here, hoping to distance ourselves from the long reach of our enemies. The reprieve was short-lived. They found us within a year and attacked again.’ The story was taxing her. I felt the tension in the air between us. She was angry and her aura let off sparks.

  ‘There was a young wizard,’ she continued. ‘He was exceptionally powerful. He managed to bring a small party of assassins and wizards into our new territory and threatened to kill our young. There was no depth they would not sink to in order to bring us back into their fold. My family and I were all that stood between the Wizard and our cubs.’ She stopped the chair and turned to face me. Her eyes blazed with the anger I could physically feel. ‘The fight was terrible, bloody. There were casualties on both sides, mostly on theirs. We had the upper hand because of the terrain. Sabres are ambush hunters and we were in-between the trees in the dark. There was little moonlight and the lamps they brought didn’t pierce the darkness. We almost triumphed. Only the young wizard and two assassins were left in a small clearing. We surrounded them and moved in for the kill. The wizard identified me as the leader and cast a terrible spell. I went down, my body convulsing in the curse that was eating away at me. The pain was more than I could take.’

  The story was visibly taxing her. ‘The clan faltered. I was writhing on the ground. More of my body shut down with every wheezing breath that I took. I should have died. Nearly did.’

  ‘How did you survive?’ I asked.

  ‘There was someone else there. An age-old power. He intervened. The Wizard and one of the Assassins escaped in a cloud of smoke as soon as they saw him, the last one wasn’t so lucky and died at his hands. Then he transferred his attention to me. He managed to keep me alive and to stop the ravage that the spell wreaked on my body. My legs he couldn’t save. That was the price I had to pay that day. I did so willingly.’

  ‘Who was he?’ I inquired. Something inside of me was trying to remember something. It eluded me. I had no idea what I was looking for in my memories. I hadn’t encountered something like this before, so how would I know to remember anything?

  She didn’t answer. Just stared at me with those blazing eyes. It unsettled me even more. I sensed that she wouldn’t tell me whatever I did. Not now. Maybe later. I tried a different question. ‘Have they been back? The Council?’

  ‘No, they haven’t.’ She said it slowly. Letting every word land. Did she know my mission? I was becoming more and more convinced that she did know or at least suspect something. That just complicated this job a thousand-fold. Shit. What the fuck was I going to do? Carry on with what you’re doing now. The voice inside me urged. I was in this too deep now to just stop. Besides, I wasn’t actually doing what the Council asked me to do. There were too many doubts. And they had just been boosted.

  ‘They will,’ Charmaine added. ‘And then we will be ready.’ Chills went up my spine. I had to stop myself from shuddering. We looked at each other for what seemed like a long time. It was probably no more than a few seconds, but the intensity made it seem like eternity.

  Then she smiled. ‘But enough of that,’ she said as she took my hand. ‘I trust you will do the right thing, my dear. And that ours will be a long-lasting friendship.’ If that was supposed to make me feel better, it wasn’t working. It actually scared the shit out of me. No pressure, right. Only I had no idea what I was supposed to do, what was expected of me.

  ‘Now,’ she said as she turned the chair around and started back up the path to the Country Club. ‘I have taken up enough of your time. You have better things to do than listen to the ramblings of an old woman.’
/>
  ‘There is nowhere I would prefer to be than right here right now,’ I answered.

  Her laugh was warm and full. Complicating things even more.

  I was lost. I had no idea how to process what had just happened.

  I needed some time to figure it out.

  We circumvented the busy building and went straight to the parking area. A big black van was already parked there with its rear doors open and a ramp ready and waiting for Charmaine. The vehicle was sleek in a menacing way. The interior was customised to the fullest with the upholstery in the clan colours. The driver, another Sabre, stood to the side of the ramp, ready to help in case he was needed.

  ‘Thank you for our little talk.’ Charmaine took my hand again.

  ‘Thank you,’ I answered. ‘For the wonderful lunch and your openness.’

  ‘You are very welcome.’ I knew she meant it. ‘And always will be.’

  With that she drove the chair up the ramp and was swallowed into the vast cavern of the vehicle. The driver pressed a button somewhere and the ramp disappeared into the van and the doors closed. I turned, retrieved my summer coat from the waiter who stood there and made my way towards my Jag, my mind racing at a thousand miles an hour.

  Chapter 27

  I didn’t get it.

  It was so confusing.

  I was sure that she knew a lot more about me and why I was here than she should. And still she trusted me. Or was it all just bullshit? And if so, what kind of game was she playing? The really ridiculous thing about all this was that I actually believed that she was sincere. How’s that for a conundrum.

  Let’s just assume that she’s genuine. Then what could she know about me? She could have spoken with Metisse about me. Or maybe had someone do a search on the net. That avenue wouldn’t have landed her any more information than the smoke screen that Alex had put up. It was bullet proof. He spent most of his day perfecting my image of a jet set business woman. He sent and answered mails. Booked trips that I would never go on. Rented villas in exotic places under my name. All in case someone started researching me as meticulously as we had researched Waisland.

  I had no idea how to continue with Charmaine. Not a clue. I could hardly ask Alex for advice. He would go and pass it on to the Council immediately. I don’t think that they were actively looking for Charmaine anymore, not after they’d wounded her, she mentioned that they presumed her dead, but I couldn’t take the chance.

  Something kept nagging at the back of my mind. I couldn’t get a grip on it. Not in the drive to the farm house, and not during my run through the fields and meadows that afternoon.

  I stood under the hot shower, enjoying the searing hot drops of water as they cascaded over my skin. Then I turned it to ice cold. Shivers ran up and down my back. The cold felt like sharp shards of glass until I got used to them. That was my cue to turn on the heat again. I loved it. It invigorated me. After a ten-mile run, this was the ideal way to recuperate.

  I finally stepped out from under the shower onto the plush bathmat. I grabbed my king-sized towel and started to dry myself off when it suddenly hit me what had been bothering me all this time.

  I dressed and went into the living room where Alex was glued to his laptop again. The guy never left it. He was a wizard geek. The first one I’d ever encountered. He looked up, startled. He always felt my eyes on him and that made him very nervous. I sat down in the chair opposite him. His tic started again. This gig must be hell for the little guy. I was almost sorry for him. Almost.

  ‘Alex.’ He jumped visibly

  ‘I have a few questions for you,’ I continued. He nodded quickly, the tic in his eye still going strong. ‘Aquanaris is the Oracle, right?’

  ‘Yes,’ he answered warily, not sure where this was going.

  ‘What kind of things can she see?’

  The surprise temporarily stopped his tic. I think he was about to ask me why I wanted to know but decided against it at the last moment. Smart move, I wasn’t in the mood to discuss my reasons with him.

  ‘She sees the future,’ he started. ‘And she keeps track of all the Paranormal creatures.’

  ‘All of them?’ What, like some kind of Cerebro from the X-men? Now that would be frightening in the hands of the Council.

  ‘Not individually,’ he explained. ‘But she does see groups and can say what they plan to do now and in the future. That is why we are sent to stop rebellions before they start.’ Hmm, that word “rebellion” again. It was a slip of the tongue and Alex coloured bright red when he realised what he’d said. I chose to ignore it, as if I hadn’t heard. Relief flooded his face. The man was really naive. It would get him killed one of these days.

  ‘So she can see communities of paranormals and pinpoint any trouble that may be brewing there?’

  ‘Yes, like she did with your mission.’

  ‘Ah, yes. And that brings me to my question.’ He was all ears. ‘If she can see groups, how come we had to do the research? Wouldn’t she have seen that we had to go to Waisland? That the clan and the pack here were the ones we were looking for?’

  He looked genuinely surprised. The cogs in his mind creaked as he processed what I had just said.

  ‘You’d think. Wouldn’t you?’ I said in a completely unthreatening manner. I didn’t want him to get his antenna up. If he knew what I wanted to know, badgering him wouldn’t help. ‘I mean, it took you a long time to find this place. Even you.’ I piled on the compliments. ‘It was hours and hours of dedicated research. You nailed it. Of course, you did. But how come you knew, and she didn’t?’ This was bordering on sickening, the way I was sucking up to him.

  ‘Yeah,’ he finally answered. Just in time, before I lost my cool and decided to try and beat it out of him after all. ‘You would, wouldn’t you?’

  I let him talk.

  ‘It took a lot of work. Lots of deduction on my part.’ He conveniently forgot that it was I who chose Waisland in the end despite his protests. I just nodded and smiled slightly. ‘Aquanaris can see almost all of groups or locations. But some are hazy. Like they’re in a cloud. She can’t focus on them and see what they’re up to. I tried all the regular groups first, then went to the list of hazy areas. That’s when I came up with Waisland.’

  ‘And Waisland is in one of those clouds?’

  ‘Yes. It is.’

  ‘So where do the clouds come from? Why the haze? I thought she was all-seeing.’

  ‘We don’t know. Maybe some remnant of an old magical settlement. Atmospheric turbulence. Could be anything.’

  Yeah, I thought. Maybe even someone who is adept at pulling the wool over the Council’s eyes.

  ‘Why?’ he suddenly asked.

  ‘No reason. I was just wondering.’ I shrugged my shoulders, stood up and went to the couch where I took the remote and started zapping through the channels.

  Chapter 28

  How to get to know the other target? The Werewolf. The one who would have to die now that I’d decided to pass on killing Metisse.

  Gabriel was the alpha of the Werewolves in Waisland. They were a large pack, bigger than most. Generally, a pack consisted of between six to ten Wolves. Some were larger with twenty to thirty. The Waisland pack had closer to forty members. Their territory to the south and east of Waisland was a lot more extensive than other pack’s. It had to be, to be able to sustain such large numbers and still keep the secrecy that was paramount to life itself. The abundance of prey in the forests around Waisland contributed to the growth in a major way. Werewolves in rural areas had a harder time hunting undetected by humans.

  The only other large predators in the region here were the Sabres. Their presence frightened away any other kind of feline from their territory north of Waisland. Both super-naturals were the apex predator in their area. The Wolves and the Sabres lived in a fragile coexistence. Traditionally they were enemies, competitors for the same territory and food, but they usually steered clear of each other. The Sabres came from Canada. That much I had heard
from Metisse and Charmaine. They were the invaders, maybe that was the cause. But if it was the territory, why the status-quo?

  The Sabres lived in the good side of town. The Wolves didn’t.

  There were more differences than just their origins.

  As I was about to find out.

  Chapter 29

  My arrival in what was generally called the bad side of town caused quite a stir.

  The deep thump of the big two cylinders attracted a lot of attention as I slowly let the bike rumble down the South Main Street on a radiant Sunday morning, just as the good people of Waisland emerged from the stark white chapel at the end of the long straight road. Maximum effect. Exactly what I wanted. The collective congregation stopped their conversations and simultaneously dropped their bottom lip to stand and gawk at what had just entered their God-fearing town.

  The supple leather that hugged my legs and hips was in stark contrast to the homely and prudish long skirts and high-necked blouses of the female church goers. The tank top shirt and short leather jacket finished my look.

  Even the old priest, who must have seen it all, was dumbstruck. He clutched the bible closer to his purple and gold vestment, mumbling some prayer or incantation. The men of the town followed my progress with smiles on their faces. The women nudged them in the ribs or stepped on their toes to get their attention away from the vision that had just upended their quiet Sunday. The effect was exactly what I intended. I had their attention. Now all I had to do was wait and see what came out of the woodwork.

  I steered the bike onwards past the shocked residents, some of whom were hastily crossing themselves, to the end of the street. There I took a hard left and motored on half a mile to the biker’s cafe that I had seen earlier on one of my late-night recognisance trips. It had been almost deserted then. Now the sun shone down on a parking lot full of Harleys and big pick-up trucks, reflecting off the copious amounts of chrome on both.