by B N Miles
“Okay, okay, sure. Are you the leader of your gang?”
He snorted. “No. Ferric leads the Blossom Sword.”
“Blossom Sword?” Jared narrowed his eyes. “Is that the name of your band?”
Harry shook his head and looked away.
Jared tried another twenty minutes of questions, but the Dryad wouldn’t talk. He considered turning off the cameras and letting Cassie rip him to shreds, but he really wasn’t good at medical magic and never had been, so in the end they got up and left.
Wyatt met them in the hall. “Not bad,” he said. “Some interesting stuff in there.”
Detective Clyde came ambling down the hall next. “I’m surprised he even talked,” he admitted. “Well done. We’ll take a few more cracks at him before we throw him in a hole for a while.”
“That works for me,” Jared said.
Cassie lingered away from the group. He could tell she was uncomfortable around the other men, since they so clearly wanted to throw her in that same hole. Jared couldn’t blame her, but he also wasn’t about to let them.
“Excuse us, Detective,” Wyatt said.
Detective Clyde laughed. “Don’t want to share anything across agencies? Come on, Captain. We have the same goals.”
“Once you start being a little more forthcoming, I’ll play a long.”
“Okay, okay, fair enough.” Clyde shrugged and walked off.
Wyatt shook his head. “They act like they want to work together, but all they want is glory. Fucking assholes.”
“Sir,” Jared said. “What’s our next move?”
“That’s up to you,” Wyatt said. “You have two weeks to track down Ferric and the artifact.”
“They could be anywhere.”
He nodded. “But you’ll figure that out, won’t you?” Wyatt shook his head and walked off, leaving Jared alone in the hall with Cassie.
She stepped up next to him and he could feel her body press against his arm. “We have a move, you know,” she said.
“The tracker.” Jared shook his head as his Captain walked off. “Something strange with him.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not sure what it is. Well, I think I do.” He glanced down at her.
“Oh,” she said. “He hates me. That’s obvious.”
“But I don’t get why.” He turned to her, cocked his head. “Did you do something to him?”
“Nope,” she said. “Never met him before.”
“Did you commit some atrocity? Killed a bunch of kids?”
“Only once,” she said. “But I didn’t get caught.
He laughed. “Come on. Let’s go activate that tracker and find our missing girl.”
He turned to go but she hesitated. He turned back and she looked up at him. “Look, if I’m more trouble than—”
“Stop it,” he said. “Come on.”
She nodded and followed him out.
20
Back at the motel, Jared popped open the trunk of his car, pulled up the false bottom, and found the small tracker hub. It looked like a laptop, but thicker and heavier. He lifted it up, screwed in the antennas, and shut the trunk before putting the hub down on the car.
Cassie leaned against the car and stretched. Her lithe body was beautiful in the afternoon sun, but Jared had to concentrate on the task at hand. The hub booted up, searched for a satellite signal, and then began pulling data.
“Huh,” he said.
“What?”
“It’s not that far away.” He turned the screen to her.
She squinted. “None of that means anything to me.”
“This is us here,” he said, pointing at a small blue dot. “And this is the tracker.” He pointed at a small red dot. “I think it’s somewhere in downtown Pittsburgh. They probably rode most of the day and got lost in some safe house in the city.”
“Are Dryads hard to find in a city?” she asked.
“Depends.” He looked back at the tracker. “There are lots of Metas in big cities like Pittsburgh. Most of them know each other in some way or another. They look human, but they feel each other’s auras and sort of gravitate to the same areas.”
“And humans don’t notice them?”
“No, not usually,” Jared said. “I mean, you’re a Meta. Do you think a human would have any clue?”
“No,” she admitted.
“And you saw the Dryads. Aside from the greenish skin, they look human. It’s the same with the other Metas for the most part. You can’t tell them from a regular human unless you know what you’re looking for.”
“Hiding in plain sight,” she said, her voice soft.
“That’s been the whole point of the Accords,” he said. “They keep to themselves and we keep them a secret, and we all avoid a war.”
“The Accords,” she said with a frown. “How old are they?”
He shrugged. “Old. I don’t remember. You probably learned about it when you were a kid or something.”
“Oh, I don’t think I did.”
He glanced at her. “The Accords are the most important documents in existence. I’m sure you’ve heard of them.”
“Sorry. Doesn’t ring a bell.”
He laughed and shook his head. “You’re odd. You know that, right?”
She smiled and shrugged, like she couldn’t do a thing about it. “Give me the quick rundown. Assume I’m not from this world.”
“Sure,” he said, only half paying attention now as he zoomed in on the red dot, trying to get a better sense of where the Dryads were hiding. “Basically, thousands of years ago, Magi families were formed and started taking land or power or something from the Metas, I’m always fuzzy on that detail. It was this whole war thing. Humans and Metas were constantly fighting each other in those days, and I guess it got pretty dark by the time the Magi families came around. But then some war started and the Magi families were killing Metas left and right, just going wild with power, so a bunch of big Meta tribes and clans teamed up to fight back.”
Jared stared at the screen and frowned. It looked like the dot was in some warehouse in Pittsburgh, but that seemed odd. He took a picture with his phone since it would be a pain to carry the hub around all the time.
“Then what?” Cassie prompted.
“Oh, uh, the war got bad I guess, killed a lot of people. The families and the Meta clans came to an agreement. The Metas would live with normal humans, but wouldn’t reveal their true nature, so long as the Magi families promised never to start a war with them again. The Accords are these crazy magic-enchanted documents that binds people to those agreements to this day.”
“Really?” Cassie asked. “Even after thousands of years and all these generations?”
Jared nodded and began taking the hub apart. He removed the antennas and stashed everything away. “I know. It’s some wild, powerful magic. I can only imagine how strong the Magi were back then.”
“Why would the Magi care about keeping the Metas secret?” she asked.
He frowned at her. He’d gone over the story of the Accords a million times as a kid, so much that it was more or less second nature to him.
But never once did he think to ask that question. It just seemed natural to him that they’d want to keep normal humans away from the Metas. He figured it was because they’d all flip out and their minds would go insane if they knew the truth of how deep and magical the world actually was.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I never asked.”
She snorted. “Of course not. Typical human.”
“Hey,” he said. “It’s just history. What’s it matter?”
“You’re still bound by that history. You might as well try and understand it.”
Jared shook his head. “I don’t know what their goals were back then, but the Accords work now. They keep certain Metas from running amok and feeding on humans like they used to. They keep other Metas safe from ignorant, stupid humans with guns. All in all, it works, and we’re all happy for it.”
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“Are you sure?” she asked. “You ever ask the Metas what they think?”
Jared hesitated. “No,” he said. “I’ve been sitting behind a Marshals desk for the last six years, up until you arrived and screwed up my life.”
She laughed and cocked her head. “Maybe think about it.”
He sighed. “Look, we have a job to do, okay? Let’s catch our prisoner and bring him in, then maybe we can try and consider the mysteries and motivations of some ancient long-dead Magi.”
“Yeah, okay, that’s fair.” She grinned at him. “Are we heading out?”
“Might as well. Let’s get packed, check out, and start driving.”
“Road trip.” She laughed and skipped toward their room. “I love a good road trip.”
“It’s just an hour into the city,” he grumbled and followed along.
21
Jared parked the car two blocks away from where the hub said Jessalene was hiding. He leaned back in his seat and stared down the block.
It had likely been an industrial area a long time ago, back when Pittsburg was still an industrial powerhouse. Now it was a mixed block, residential with a few shops with some abandoned enormous warehouses mixed in. It wasn’t a nice part of town, but it also wasn’t the worst.
“I’ve never been to this city before,” Cassie said. “Is it nice?”
“You tell me.”
She looked around. “Not really.”
He laughed. “There are some nicer sections.”
“Are you from here?”
“No,” he said. “My family is based in Philadelphia. That’s where I live.”
She arched an eyebrow. “I got the sense that you’re not close with your family.”
“True,” he admitted. “But Philly is the only place I’ve ever known, so I ended up there. anyway.”
“Huh,” she said, and turned her attention back to the street.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“You can’t just go ‘huh’ and make a face then not follow up.”
“I can and I will.”
He sighed and let it go. He didn’t care what she thought about his relationship to his family. Truth was, he didn’t understand it himself. The whole thing was complicated.
“We should make sure she’s still here then scout it out,” he said. “Stay in the car.” Jared got out, popped the trunk, and put the hub together again. When he was finished, Cassie was leaning over his shoulder. He looked at her but said nothing.
The hub booted, got a lock, and showed the red dot. Sure enough, Jessalene was still in the warehouse just down the street from them. Jared looked down the black and frowned at the building. The windows were boarded up and there was graffiti on parts of the walls. He couldn’t feel any auras in the area, but that didn’t mean anything.
“Come on,” he said to Cassie, putting away the hub. “Let’s go take a look around.”
“Sounds fun.” She slipped her hand into his. “Think you’ll use more magic?”
He tensed. “I hope not.”
“Oh, I hope you do.” She grinned up at him. “Use as much as you want.”
He sighed and slipped his hand out from hers. He checked his service weapon, then pulled his light nylon jacket tighter as they headed down the block. Cassie grinned at him like she just won the lottery.
They walked past the building first and around the block. It was as normal as these places went. There were a few people out, but not many. As they came around a second time, Jared noticed a side door down the small alley between the warehouse and a bunch of smaller row homes.
“Come on,” he said. Cassie kept close to him as they walked down the alley. He couldn’t sense anything, no wards or magic buzzing in the air. He didn’t see the telltale lines of enchantments and didn’t spot any runes. That didn’t mean the place wasn’t protected, but it was a good sign.
He stepped up to the door and tried the knob. It was locked, of course. Cassie leaned against the wall. “What now?” she asked. “Break a window?”
“Nope.” Jared pulled a set of lock picks from his back pocket, took out the tension rod, chose a pick, and slid them into the lock.
“What are you doing?”
“Picking this lock.”
“Seriously? Like a spy?”
“It’s not that hard.” He pressed the tension rod in and began to use the pick to push the tumblers up. When he felt one fall into place. He pushed the tension rod in to keep the tumbler up. He moved down the line, one after the other, until each tumbler was in position. It took him less than five minutes, and when he was done, he turned the lock with a soft click.
“Impressive,” Cassie said. “Took forever though.”
He shrugged and put the picks away. “I could’ve used magic, but this way is better.”
“Oh,” she said, sounding disappointed. “Use magic next time.”
He shook his head and pushed the door open. It was quiet and opened up on a dark hallway. He knew Jessalene was in here somewhere, and he had to assume the others were with her. He checked the picture of the GPS he took just to confirm, and then moved into the warehouse.
They entered into what looked like offices. The rooms were empty as they walked down a wooden floor, trying to be quiet. The space was dead and dark, the windows boarded, and Jared was tempted to call up a light. Instead, he took a flashlight from his pocket and turned it on.
Cassie stayed close. “I smell something,” she said.
Jared sniffed the air and frowned. “I don’t.”
“Shifter, remember? There’s definitely someone in here.”
He nodded and released his service weapon from the holster. This time, he would be ready for an ambush. They crept down the hall and came to a staircase and a doorway. He chose the doorway, which opened with a creak onto the main warehouse floor.
It was smooth and covered in vines. The ceiling was high, with windows skirting along the top, most of them broken. He stepped into the space and watched the light beams slice through the air, casting lengthy lines of gold. There were small trees growing through cracks in the floor and he thought he heard a bird chirping somewhere. It looked like a small forest just beginning to spread, except there was no grass, just concrete floor and plants growing up through the cracks.
“She’s here,” he said.
“No kidding.” Cassie sniffed. “She’s nearby.”
Jared tried to feel for her aura, but got nothing. That meant she was keeping it to herself on purpose. She likely knew they were here.
He decided this whole stealth thing wouldn’t get the job done.
“Jessalene,” he said, projecting his voice. “We know you’re in here. Come out with your hands raised and we’ll talk.”
Nothing happened. Cassie glanced up at him and nodded.
“Jessalene,” he said again. “My name is Jared. My partner’s name is Cassie. You met her already, back when you tried to kill us.”
“I didn’t try and kill you.”
Jared looked up toward the catwalk ringing the warehouse floor. A single figure stood up there, back-lit by the skylights.
“Sure felt like you did,” Jared said, shading his eyes. “I seem to recall a lot of gunfire.”
“That was Ferric. Ask your Shifter partner there. I didn’t fire a shot.”
“She didn’t,” Cassie confirmed. “Not a single bullet.”
“Then come down and talk,” Jared said. “We’re not here to hurt you, either.”
“I seem to recall a certain fox monster ripping my friend’s hand off,” she said.
“Harry’s fine,” Jared said. “He’s healed and in custody.”
He could feel her let out a breath. Her aura flexed toward him. He guessed she was worried about Harry, wasn’t sure if he survived or not. “Good,” she said.
“But he’s going to prison for a long time. He did try and kill us.”
“I know.” She sounded pained. “I tried to talk them out of
it. And I tried to warn you away.”
“You know we can’t stop,” Jared said. “There’s too much at stake here. Just come down and we’ll talk.”
She hesitated for a long moment. Suddenly a tree bent toward her, flexing as it moved. She reached out for a branch and it gracefully pulled her into the air. Jared stared as the tree moved and lowered her down to the ground, her feet barely touching, like she weighed nothing. The tree moved back into its original position.
“Very cool. I’ve never seen Dryad magic before,” Cassie said.
Jared shot her a look, then faced Jessalene.
She was just as he remembered from the library. Her long, dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun and her eyes were narrowed as she crossed her arms. She didn’t have any weapons that Jared could see, but he kept his service weapon out, just in case. He wasn’t sure if she was alone.
Her aura licked out at him, tight and hot. It felt like stepping barefoot into a forest covered in snow. He thought he felt anxiety and uncertainty throughout it, but a strange note of resolution. As quickly as it touched him, the aura receded as she pulled it back within her.
Jared tilted his head. “Are you alone?”
She nodded. “I am.”
“Forgive me if I don’t rush to trust you.”
She shrugged. “I can’t blame you for that, but I’m alone. Search the place if you want.”
Jared glanced at Cassie. She sniffed the air and shook her head. “I don’t smell anything,” she said.
“Why did you try and kill us?” Jared asked.
Jessalene shook her head. “I didn’t. This has gotten so far out of hand. I just—” She took a step forward and Jared tensed. Training kept his weapon pointed down at the ground, just at her feet, but she noticed that he twitched and stopped herself. She sighed and dropped her arms, her pretty face strained. “My name is Jessalene Dorvahn. I’m Ferric’s cousin and head liaison for the Dorvahn clan. This has gone on long enough.”
“Head liaison?” Jared asked.
“Public relations.” She shrugged and spread her hands. “I’m giving myself up, officer. You can take me in. I’ll tell you what I know.”
Jared stared at her for a long moment. He felt like this was a trap. Just a day ago, this woman had tried to kill him, even if she hadn’t fired a shot. She was still a part of the group that ambushed him and sprang a prisoner from a transport.
