I teleported into their room, now, smiling to see them wrestling over the remote to see who would be able to pick the channel. Nia seemed to have one, settling on HGTV where a couple were looking at some houses that should have been out of their price range. I kept my eyes fixed on the screen while they changed out of their clothes.
When they started dancing and singing off-key, I knew it was safe to look again. They were so sweet, giggling like that over the silliest thing, that it warmed my heart.
A light flashed in the corner of my eye, and Michael appeared next to me. I let myself by herded under the protection of his arm. "Hey there," I whispered, not wanting to break the mood.
"Hey yourself."
"You good?"
"Yup."
That was our routine whenever we were blessed to being in each other’s presence. I wouldn't pry and he wouldn't divulge any information. That way, we would be safe and wouldn't have to worry about unconsciously giving away our locations if either one of us were to be captured.
Plan for the best. Expect the worst.
We both watched on as the young couple were able to be completely normal, watching TV after a long day of sightseeing. This was what it was all about. A normal life with people who loved you.
It shouldn't be a crime to want this. It shouldn't be such a struggle to keep this.
And I would be damned if I let anyone, Fae or no, get in the way of their happiness.
I refused to let them.
"We'll keep them safe, Val. You know we can." Michael whispered.
I simply nodded, enjoying the feel of my head nestled in Michael's chest. Twirling my fingers over the amulet that kept us hidden from view, I focused on winning. As my father taught me, I couldn't close myself off to the possibility of multiple paths leading to the answer I sought.
When Nick and Nia go from casual touching, to something more, I led us out into the balcony. I was happy that Michael was able to stay with me here. He wouldn't be able to maintain his visit for much longer.
"Are you thinking of marking them now?" Michael asked quietly. It was as if he was afraid of eavesdroppers, even here.
The setting sun was beautiful as it descended behind the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan. I sipped my coffee before it cooled. "Yes. I could feel it in my gut. It's time."
I waited a moment to give the couple privacy. They deserved this one last night before their lives were turned upside down. And so, I waited until after the sunset, after Michael faded from me, and well after I finished drinking my coffee before I went back inside the hotel room.
Nia and Nick were nestled in bed, tangled up in each other's arms. I leaned over them and transferred my energy onto Nick the way my father showed me. I did the same for Nia.
As I did, Nia's eyes crack open. I stood still, not sure if she could see me, caught between wanting to leave and wanting to stay and get to know her better.
Of course, I wanted to stay.
Nia sat up, holding the blanket in front of her. Though Nick's arm was still around her waist, he didn't stir. "I've seen you before, haven't I?"
I smiled. So she had seen me in that alley. "Yes. You know for someone who just woke up to a random woman in her room, you're reacting pretty calm."
She shrugged, her silken hair sliding from her shoulders. "If you'd wanted to hurt us, you would have done so already. Besides, there's something about you. Like I've known you my whole life."
Tears sprang into my eyes that I fought to blink away. "I feel the same way."
Nick finally stirred now, and when he saw that there was a stranger in the room, he flinched. "Dude, what--"
Nia placed a hand on him. "Don't worry, Nick. She's a friend. Someone who can actually help us."
Nick blinked the confusion away, sleep still clinging to his eyes. "Did you let her in?"
Nia giggled then. "Go back to sleep."
Surprisingly, he did.
"That was a neat trick," I said.
"Nah, that's just Nick. He can sleep easily."
I made a note on that. Sleeping, and dreams, were vulnerable times to be called to the hunt.
"Listen, I just wanted you to know that I know how much you've sacrificed to be where you are now. It's been difficult to be apart from your friends, from your education. But you need to keep running. There are people still out there chasing you. And sooner or later, they will find you."
Nia clutched Nick's hand. "I didn't want to believe it, but I'd felt as much. There was this feeling, this pull in my gut that something wasn't right."
"Yes. Trust this instinct."
She looked at me with hope. "What does it mean? Surely you can tell me?"
I didn't know how much I was able to tell her without a lot of backstory. I personally needed to experience it all myself before I was able to finally accept my father's offer -- and I had been in Fairy at the time.
Would she believe me?
"I can tell you, but I don't know if you'll believe me."
"Trust me. I will believe you." Her eyes shone with the fevered light of a zealot.
"There is a man. I call him the Wizard, but his name is Ryul."
Nia gasped, and I knew that name meant something to her, but I continued on. "Ryul will stop at nothing to collect people like us. People who have dormant Fae genes that he can switch on and activate. He needs to do that so he can use us like we were puppets. Our collective consciousness fuels him, and makes him like a king. And that is what he desperately wants. He wants to be King of the Wild Hunt. Unfortunately for him, that position is currently occupied by my father."
Nia's sculpted eyebrows shot up. "You're a fairy king's daughter? Cool!"
"Anyway, he won't ever stop trying to get you, any of you. But he needs to be stopped. And the first thing that we need to do would be to prevent him from getting anymore changelings under his grasp."
"Changelings?" she asked.
"Oh, yeah, that's what we're called. Those of us who carry the Fae gene and start life in the mortal world. Anyway, we need to prevent him from getting any more changelings. That way, we will weaken him to the point that he will be killable."
Anger, bright and glorious, flashed in Nia's eyes. "I'm on board just tell me what to do."
The watch that was on the nightstand blared an alarm. Without a word, Nia threw on her clothes. Nick, who had been sound asleep throughout our conversation, flew off the bed. I was grateful that he had been wearing boxers.
"What is it?"
"Perimeter alarms! It's this trigger warning that I put in place to see if enemies were closing in." Nia stuffed random clothes in a bag, while Nick grabbed prepped backpacks from the closet.
I liked that they were prepared to roll out at any moment.
Nick paused to look at me. "Oh. So you weren't a dream?"
I snorted a laugh. It wasn't that funny but given the situation and how urgent everything felt, I couldn't help but give in to the nervous tension. "No. I'm here to help."
"I'll explain later," Nia said as she swept her hair into a ponytail.
Nick nodded. "Cool. So can we go?"
Nia checked her watch. "Damn, they're already in the building. Possibly in the stairwells by now. I don't have visibility." Her eyes were wild. "How in the hell did they get here so fast?"
That would be a question for next time, to be sure. I'd been tracking them for months, and there was never a hint of imminent danger.
I tugged at the amulet around my neck. "Come on. I know a way." As I tugged, the chain around the amulet grew bigger, and I was able to put it around all three of us. "Clear your thoughts. Just focus on something simple. Like a white stone, or a red door. A strong, simple image you can conjure in your mind and keep a focus on. This is important. I need to be the one to direct where we are going, and I don't need another driver behind the steering wheel, if you catch my drift."
They nodded in agreement, and I had to trust in that. "Hold your focus in your mind. Keep it there, please." And then I coun
ted down from five.
I heard the elevator door ding open on this floor.
Four.
Heavy footsteps galloped down the hallway.
Three.
People stopped just outside this door.
Two.
"Police! Open the door!"
One.
From one breath to the other, we were in the concierge office in the hotel lobby. I pulled the chain from around their necks.
They were both nervous and scared, but neither of them so much as whimpered as they looked to me for the next move.
"All right, you're just tourists on your way out. Let's grab this luggage cart and be on our way."
"Excuse me, miss?" A pimply-faced bellhop came up to me.
I gave the bellhop my most winsome smile and gazed deeply into his eyes. "Oh there you are! Could you be a dear and help us with our luggage?"
I didn't know whose luggage was already loaded onto the cart, but it was ours for the moment. I pushed my energy and will into him.
Confusion fogged his eyes before his voice took on a singsong quality. "Of course, Ms. Smith. Anything you need." The bellhop led the way, pushing the overflowing cart through the freight accessible entrance of the hotel at the same time as law enforcement agents streamed through the front door.
As the lead agents badged the hotel receptionist, the bellhop stood with a placid smile on his face as he waved down a taxi. A moment later, the taxi arrived, and I pushed Nia and Nick inside. I turned to the bellhop. "Thank you so much dear." I pushed a bill in his hand. "Go ahead and take our luggage inside. Oh, and would you please be a dear and report a fire, please."
The bellhop's forehead crinkled just a little bit before that peaceful state overcame him once more. "Of course, Ms. Smith. Happy to help." And he turned and went back to the hotel.
Nia and Nick made room for me in the back of the cab. I took off the amulet and placed it over Nia's head. "Keep this with you. Either wear it all the time or put it in your pocket, just keep this with you always. One day, we will see each other again, and it will be time for the Wild Hunt. Remember what I said. Run, and keep running. Don't stay in one place for too long."
Nia's eyes rounded, but she nodded as if memorizing the information. "We'll keep running."
Nick put a protective arm around Nia's shoulders. "I'll keep her safe."
"Keep each other safe," I replied. Then I met the cabbie's gaze. "You will make sure you drive safe and fast out of New York. You're going to the airport. Which airport, is up to you. But while they are in your cab, you will make sure they are safe, you go it?"
The cab driver nodded fiercely. "Yes ma'am. Of course ma'am."
"Wait!" Nia cried out. "What about you?"
"I'm gonna make sure you escape. Don’t worry about me. I’ll see you soon." I winked at her, and closed the door. I slapped a hand on the cab's roof. By the time the agents realized that Nick and Nia weren't in the hotel, they scrambled out of there, walkies squawking as teams called in their positions.
The taxi blended in with the wave of vehicles headed down the street and away from the city. Helicopters whirred overhead, scouring the streets as if they would be able to see them that way.
It didn't matter. The only chance they would have had to catch up was obliterated when multiple fire trucks fought their way against New York city traffic just as the morning rush hour was about to kick in.
I let out the breath that I didn't realize I held as I felt the pair go farther and farther away from me.
They would be fine for now.
A fiddled with the ring on my finger, turning it a few times and I was back in Fairy.
The lush verdant landscape always soothed my soul. I waved to Alder trimming the hedgerow maze, and met my father inside the manor.
King Thallen was poring over documents in his study. "Back so soon, Valerian? I take it your quest went well?"
I shrugged with a casual quality that I didn't quite feel. "They're alive and safe. Nia has my amulet. I'd say it was a success."
"Good. I would agree with you. Now that the players are in motion, it's time for us to ready our plans." King Thallen took on the deeper aspect of a leader in this realm. His pronouncement took on a weighty majesty to it.
I met his gaze and the fire I saw there ignited the same zeal inside of me. "Let's get to work."
Epilogue: See No Evil
TWO YEARS LATER...
"Nia?"
The sound of my heels clicking against the wooden floor came to a stop as I looked over my shoulder to see my advisor.
"Yes?"
"All that 'information' is in the second folder. Three hours tops?"
A wide grin formed on my lips, sensing the challenge in his words as he questioned my obvious skills.
"I'll have it ready and looking oh so professional in two," I winked and headed into my office, closing the door behind me.
I really would finish in fifteen minutes, but I had a feeling Nick would pass by and bring me some amazing rich coffee.
Not like I hadn't enjoyed two cups already.
With a sigh, I stretched my arms and walked to the large marble desk, looking around the medium sized office that was dedicated to me, Nia H. Simmons.
On paper, Nick and I were married and known as a power couple in solving crime across Las Vegas, NYC, and even California. We'd yet to attempt Chicago, hoping someone who was like us would tackle whatever was going on there.
Stripping all the aliases, I was still Nia Hosaki. The only difference now was that I was engaged.
The thought made me grin in pleasant satisfaction, glancing down at the glimmering engagement ring on my finger. Whenever people asked where my wedding band was, I gave the excuse that I almost lost it on an assignment because it's slightly lost. It was now in the safety of my drawer in our private suite, five blocks from here.
One of our many secret locations that were built to practically hide our existence once entered.
Since the day I'd received the necklace from that woman and were driven off in the taxi, our lives had changed.
The taxi driver explained that he and the woman were a part of an organization called F.C.I which stood for Fae Cooperation Inc.
We had to admit, it was pretty magically sounding and Nick being protective as he is, didn't want to believe it at first, but the man took us to a safe location with anything we could as for. A large room, comfortable bed, all the food we could eat, and all the technology resources I could ever ask for.
The amulet the woman had given me gave me and Nick immunity. Up until this day, we had no clue as to what, but we were accepted into the FCI's protections.
When we'd settled down and absorbed this new change, we had to get completely scanned from head to toe. Then we took a special bath in an interesting pink liquid.
I expected it to burn or sting, but it felt really nice. As though it was rejuvenating my very soul. It was so relaxing both Nick and me had fallen asleep, but it wasn't scary like many times where we'd curl up in the corner of alleyways and hope we wouldn't wake up to guns pressed against our head.
After the "spa" treatment, a man name Thallen stated that we would be able to continue our studies at Harvard with no issue. Even when we expressed our concerns regarding the people chasing us, he promised that with the spa treatment we'd receive, no one would be able to locate us for the next three months.
So every three months, we'd go and get the same treatment, and not only were we able to graduate from Harvard with both our families present, we were hired immediately into F.C.I Secret Criminal Investigation Team.
Think of us as the secret ops and FBI put together. I got to do all the lovely hacking while Nick either got to help me out, or go on the field and chase those who were once chasing us.
It felt as though we'd switched roles, going from being the hunted to now initiating the hunt.
And I loved it.
To be able to have confidence in your skills. The thrill of being able
to hunt these people who were so desperate in capturing and killing us. It excited me down to my core as if this was what I was always meant to do.
Nick felt the same, and it simply made this career so much easier. With a bit of fun attached. We didn't have to live in the shadows or pretend that we didn't see the evil in people's eyes as they tried to blend in and continue to stalk us through the streets.
We could walk outside freely, and had the resources and protection to stop anyone who tried.
It was all thanks to that woman who marked us. The thought made me lift my hand to my neck. Since that day, we'd never seen her again.
I'd been tempted to ask Thallen about it, but he couldn't have known the woman I was referring to. She'd appeared out of nowhere, and saved us when we needed it the most.
This freedom that we desperately needed was thanks to her, and deep within my heart, I wanted to thank her. I felt she deserved to see what her actions had done for us.
I'd always tried to put up the best front. To make it seem as though the running, constant, change and fear of being caught didn't affect me, but my mind was the most fragile.
It didn't matter what I did. Meditation, Yoga, Spiritual Healings. Nothing worked. My mind would be frantic, and I was worried that one day it would shatter with just a bit of pressure.
But now? I finally felt in balance. That I wasn't so easy to be pushed over or affected mentally when push came to shove and the pressure was on with some of our many cases.
Again, it was all thanks to that opportunity of meeting the woman. Glancing at the files on the desk, I moved the first one and opened the flap of the second, quickly scanning the documents.
I swear I have perfect vision but give me a bloody document at 8-font and I feel like a blind old lady.
Reaching for the top drawer of my desk, I quickly tapped my index finger on the scanning pad hidden on the inner side of my desk, hearing the tiny beep of approval before it unlocked.
The top drawer held my important valuables and was fireproof, waterproof, basically everything proof. The chances of our office getting bomb were slim to none, but you never knew in this industry.
Opening it up, I reached for the special glasses that Thallen recommended for me, my eyes drifting to the gold metallic amulet that was on the picture of me and Nick in our graduation gowns, our families on our sides.
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