by Logan Byrne
“I don’t think Xelia would lead us into a place she wasn’t confident about winning,” I said. “Besides, they know we’d do it for them.”
“Yeah, but we keep taking from them and they never even ask us for a stick of gum. I just feel bad is all, like we’re using them,” he said.
“Nah, they know we aren’t. They’ll be okay with it,” I said.
“And if we can just find the supplier, I think we’ll be okay,” Blake was saying, hunched over his desk, as Charlie and I walked up.
“Knock, knock,” I said, tapping on the door.
“Hey, what are you guys doing here?” Blake asked, smiling.
“They want us to help them again,” Britta said.
“See! I told you!” Charlie said, grabbing me in shock.
“Britta, be nice. We’re always happy to help our fellow officers,” Blake said.
“I am being nice, they’re my best friends, but come on guys, another raid?” Britta asked.
“How did you even know?” I asked.
“Oh, please, as if you’re here just to socialize,” she said.
“Maybe we are,” I said, grabbing my hands behind my back.
“So are you?” she asked, her eyebrows raised.
“No, fine, we aren’t, but we really need your help,” I said, walking inside.
“Vampires again?” Blake asked.
“Xelia found their hideout, a motorcycle club in Queens. I think they’re hiding the babies or women, or both, inside. Besides, we have visuals that the men who attacked Charlie and me are there, so we can at least take them down,” I said.
“Yeah, that jerk broke my ribs,” Charlie said, gripping them. “I want to break something of his.”
“Aw, are you going to rub up against him like a little kitty cat?” Blake asked, teasing.
“Hey, shut up, at least I don’t have fleas,” Charlie quipped.
“I don’t have fleas!” Blake yelled.
“Boys, calm down,” Britta said, taking out her wand. “The next one of you to cause problems will get fleas.”
“You don’t have a spell for that,” Charlie said.
“Bro, she has a spell for everything. You wouldn’t believe what she comes up with in the field,” Blake said.
“Anyway, back to the point at hand, are you guys in? Xelia is getting Shira on board, so I think three witches, as well as a vampire, a jaguar shifter, and a werewolf will be able to get the job done,” I said.
“Shira is back?” Britta asked, a surprised look on her face.
“She just got back, apparently,” Charlie said.
“Hm, weird. Yeah, we’re in, but this is the last one, Lexa, I swear,” Britta said. “You guys will have to help us a couple times before we run back again, I mean it.”
“Thank you,” I said, before coming around the table and hugging her tightly, our cheeks squishing against one another.
“You’re lucky I love you,” she said, laughing. “When is this happening?”
“We aren’t sure, we’re waiting on Xelia, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s tonight. She likes to work swiftly, it seems,” I said.
“Well, we’ll be there to help. You can count on it,” Britta said.
“Thank you, guys, we’ll see you later,” I said, as Charlie and I walked to the door.
“That went well,” Charlie said, as we walked back towards Xelia’s office. “Happy they said yes.”
“Can I speak to you about something?” I asked, as we hit a spot where we were alone in the hallway, a prime opportunity to tell him what was on my mind.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, looking concerned. “I didn’t do anything, did I?”
“No! Not at all! I love having you as a partner and I wouldn’t change anything,” I said.
“Phew, then what’s up?” he asked.
“I want to do something, but I think it’s dangerous. I don’t feel like I can tell anybody else,” I said.
“Lexa, what is it?” he asked.
“Do you promise you won’t tell anybody?” I asked.
“Lexa, if it’s serious, I just—”
“Charlie, promise me. As your partner, trust that I’ll seek help if I get in too deep,” I said.
“Fine, I promise, but only for now. If I think you’re going to put yourself in danger, all bets are off,” he said.
“I’m going to that gala. You know, the one we found the invitation to in that guy’s office in the club. I want to go,” I said.
“What? Why would you want to do that? We’re hitting up the club tonight. There’s no reason to go try to find that guy,” he said.
“It’s not for him. Well, it isn’t totally for him. Getting eyes on him would be nice, but I have other motives. Kiren,” I said, whispering the final bit.
“Lexa,” he said, obviously not happy as he put his head back and sighed. “What are you doing?”
“I know he’s going to be there, and I think I can get much-needed information,” I said.
“Like what? What information could you possibly get by being there? What, are you going to go talk to him and make him confess in front of everybody? You’re just putting yourself in danger, with the mark and all,” he said.
“I would have a chance to brush elbows with him, Charlie. When will I ever get another chance like that?” I asked.
“Maybe it’s a good thing you won’t get another chance like that, though,” he said.
“I asked Faus this morning to do a little, well, research into him and about the building where the gala is taking place. Don’t you find it odd that something like this, a magical gala for magical creatures, is being held in the mortal realm?” I asked.
“Well, it’s a bit odd, yeah, but maybe it’s just a good venue. Mortals do have better architecture,” he said.
“Charlie, get real, we both know it’s odd. It’s not a mortal company, that’s why,” I said.
“Well, there have been a lot of magical people and companies over the centuries who have set up shop in the mortal realm. It’s not that out of the ordinary. It could just be a coincidence,” he said.
“He has an office there,” I said, smiling and nodding. I finally had my smoking gun against Kiren. Faus found out that there was a small part of the building, hard to find for almost anybody digging, that Kiren rented out under a shell name and used for who knew what. “He doesn’t know that anybody knows about it, he rents it under a fake name and alias. Why would he do that if he had nothing to hide there?”
“Lexa, you’re really playing with fire now. Don’t you think his place will be secured in some way? And how would you get away from the gala and get up to this secret office of his?” Charlie asked.
“That’s something I would have to figure out in the moment. Faus is already working on getting me the blueprints, and I’ll find a stairwell or elevator shaft. I’ll do whatever it takes to get up there and get inside,” I said.
“And you’re doing this all alone, then?” he asked.
“Nope,” I said, raising my chin a little.
“What? Who are you going with?” he asked.
“You, of course,” I said, smiling.
“Lexa, no! I can’t be implicated in something like that,” he said, obviously disturbed.
“You’ll just be my date. Faus is working on aliases for us, whole new identities, and nobody will know who you really are,” I said.
“I also want a mask or disfigurement or something. I don’t want to be spotted later on by somebody who was there. And I want you to know that I’m only going to protect you, not help you,” he said.
“That’s all I ask, to keep me safe and have my back while we’re at the gala. I’ll need a backstory, and that’s harder if I’m there alone,” I said.
“I still think we should tell somebody else, like Blake,” he said.
“Do you think Blake would let me go? He would squeal so quickly and then I’d never get the chance. There’s something up there in that office, Charlie.
I plan to find out exactly what it is, and then we’ll be able to restore order to the realm. It’s been far too long, and I can no longer stand idly by as terror rules us all,” I said.
I kept out what I’d learned about my mark, the spirit aspect of it, from everybody but Mirian. I felt it was too hard to explain, and maybe too personal, to go around telling. I would, eventually, but just not now. For now it was better that Charlie didn’t know about that, even though he was my partner.
“I just hope you get something out of this,” he said, before we started to walk again as officers buried in folders came bustling around the corner.
“I hope so too, Charlie. I hope so too,” I said.
16
“Shira, it’s good to see you,” I said later that night as I walked into Xelia’s office.
“Lexa, how are you?” she asked, embracing me tightly. “I’ve seen the growth you’ve had since becoming an auditor. It’s been a while since that night in the casino, hasn’t it? Mirian has spoken so highly of you.”
“It has been quite a while. A lot has changed, that’s for sure. How were your travels?” I asked.
“They were an adventure, that’s for sure. I must say that I usually enjoy fieldwork, but I didn’t so much enjoy every aspect of this,” she said.
“Where were you located?” I asked.
“I was deep within the rainforests of Brazil, near the Amazon. There was a tribe down there that had been exposed to some unsavory magic that was corrupting their minds and bodies, using them as hosts in a parasitic way. Real nasty stuff,” she said. “But they’re better now, I made sure of it.”
“That definitely doesn’t sound fun, but then again Charlie and I did trek across Morocco for ten days,” I said.
“I heard about that. Did you find what you were searching for?” she asked.
“We did, but it all leads to this, doesn’t it? The cases never just end once you catch the perp. There’s always something bigger connected to it, especially in the magical realm,” I said.
“Ain’t that the truth,” she said, laughing.
“Okay, are we all here?” Xelia asked, as she and Britta walked into the office and shut the door.
“Ready,” Charlie said, his arms crossed.
“Tonight’s mission shouldn’t be too difficult, and I’m only saying that because of the fire power we have in this office. This raid isn’t exactly top secret, but it’s best not to blare it out to the entire precinct. There are a lot of loose lips here, and we want to make sure we can get in and get out without incident,” Xelia said.
“So the target is a motorcycle club? What do they have to do with our realm?” Shira asked, before Xelia pinned the blown-up pictures on a corkboard.
“This club is in the mortal realm, yes, in Queens outside Manhattan, but it’s being used as a front by the vampires, and possibly others from our realm, to stay hidden from M.A.G.I.C. and fly under the radar. We know this is the home base of many of the vampires who escaped from our club raid, including two of the vampires who assaulted Lexa and Charlie and left them quite injured. Our thought is that they’re harboring the vampire babies, as well as keeping some of the kidnapped women they shifted. My guess is that they’re also be pregnant, at least some of them, which would explain why they took those women and not the ones we rescued the night of the raid,” Xelia said.
“Such a shame that they’re doing this. I was in disbelief when I first heard of it,” Shira said.
“Our main objective is to rescue all of them, but also to arrest as many of the vampires as possible, especially these two,” Xelia said, pinning the photos on the board. “These are the two men who assaulted Lexa and Charlie, and because of that we can easily arrest them and charge them on the spot. They might also talk and lead us to the others should they have another location to flee to. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did, if I’m being honest.”
“From your surveillance photos it looks like there are two doors in and out of the place,” Shira said.
“We’ll need two people out back, should they try to escape that way. The other four of us will be pressing in through the front, funneling them inside and sealing the door from the inside. That way they won’t be able to get past us and escape,” Xelia said.
“Any volunteers to help me?” Shira asked, taking charge of guarding the rear.
“I will,” Britta said, stepping forward. “I think two witches out back could keep the vampires at bay.”
“That’s my girl,” Shira said, smiling.
“Lexa, you’ll need to use your magic to seal the door closed with this after we get inside,” Xelia said, handing me a jar filled with black powder.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s ash from a cherry tree. It will repel the vampires, like two opposite ends of a magnet, and prevent them from escaping out the front,” Xelia said. “Unfortunately, it also works on me, so I’ll be trapped until somebody else breaks the seal.”
“We won’t leave you behind,” Charlie said.
“Great, then, are we all ready to get into position?” Blake asked.
“I think we have everything all set and ready to go,” Shira said.
“Remember to have one another’s backs out there. Once we get inside, these vampires aren’t going to play nice, and they’ll do whatever they have to do to keep themselves preserved. They’ll try to kill you if given the chance,” Xelia said.
“We can do it, I know we can,” Blake said.
Britta, Shira, and I teleported the six of us a block away from the club, where they couldn’t see us. I could hear sirens blaring in the distance as a large dog barked, adding an ominous ambiance to the scene. “Britta and I will go around back and get into position. Give us about five minutes before you go up. Good luck,” Shira said.
“Let us know if you need us. We all have radios,” Xelia said, before Britta and Shira walked off.
“This one feels a bit real, doesn’t it?” Charlie asked, peering around the corner.
“I think it’s just because we don’t have the entire department behind us this time. That’s why it feels so real, but I love it,” Blake said, hopping up and down, his eyes occasionally flashing red.
“You both try to control your tempers. We aren’t here to kill them,” Xelia said to Charlie and Blake.
“I can control myself just fine,” Charlie said, pacing. “Worry about him.”
“I promise I’ll only use the necessary force if I feel my life is in immediate danger,” Blake said.
“Good enough,” Xelia said, shrugging, more as a disclaimer and not because she actually cared.
“Does this bother you at all? Going in and attacking your own kind?” Blake asked.
“No, should it?” she asked.
“I’d have a problem attacking werewolves. I’d still do it, if they broke the law and did these sorts of things, but it would be hard. It’s like betraying your own species,” he said.
“My species? I didn’t choose this, Blake, you have to remember that. I myself was bitten many, many years ago and forced into this world. You might’ve been born a shifter, but my life was taken from me a long time ago, just like these men in here are doing to those poor mortal girls back in that club. I have no remorse for any of them,” she said, fixing him with a cold stare.
Blake shut up, looking down at the wet asphalt beneath us. Her speech even gave me chills, and it wasn’t directed at me. I held the jar of ash in my hands, my wand out as well, as I ran through the scenario in my head over and over. I was so scared to drop it, or mess it up somehow, and ruin this raid, that I over-thought the entire thing. I just had to be calm and know I would do what I needed to do. I was more than capable of doing this, of all things.
“It’s been four minutes. Let’s get walking,” Xelia said.
The four of us walked out of the alleyway through a billow of smoke from a sewer grate, like something out of an action movie. I waited for an explosion in the background to go off, screech
ing music overhead, but nope, it was still just the sound of our shoes slapping against the ground. Oh well, can’t have it amazing all the time.
“I think you kittens are lost,” one of the big half-giant hybrid grunted as the four of us walked up towards the door.
“Oh, I don’t think we are, big boy,” Xelia said, about to walk past him.
“Hey bitch, I was talking to you,” he said, putting his hulking hand on her shoulder.
She hissed at him, her fangs growing outwards as her eyes turned red. “What the?” he asked, in shock.
She picked him up, body-slamming him down, before the other bouncer jolted upwards. She punched him, hard, in the chest, and his massive body flew backwards through a thick wooden post that was holding up the awning overhead. “That felt good,” she said, smiling. “Ready?”
We nodded and she kicked down the door, Blake and Charlie shifting as the four of us ran in. I closed the door behind us, locking it, before screwing open the lid and tossing the entire jar of ash onto the ground. I pointed my wand at it, spreading it across the exit, before turning around and seeing the chaos that had already ensued.
No one wasted any time, neither the vampires nor us, as they started an all-out attack. I noticed three of them running towards the back, about to be ambushed by Shira and Britta, before I started to fling bolts from my wand towards any vampiric body I could find. I saw Blake enraged, his eyes blood red as his face was fully transformed and wolf-like. Charlie was pouncing from man to man, and Xelia was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with her own kind as I stood in shock, not pushing out the shots that I needed to.
I felt someone grab me, and looked to see a vampire with his fangs out, about to attack me. “Rigormorio,” I shouted, freezing him in place like a bad statue before I pushed him over. He slammed into the ground as another came for me, and I snapped into gear and began my attack.
I was slashing with my wand, purple and blue spells flying around me, when I saw a vampire slam into the front door, an energetic shield shocking him, before he fell back to the ground with a plume of smoke rising from his chest. I guess Xelia wasn’t wrong when she said that ash would prevent them from leaving.
