Legacy of the Mad Mages

by Katherine Kim

  What patron? Darien mouthed to her, and she frowned.

  “Cool. And that’s all for tomorrow, I guess. Hey, want a sandwich?”

  Caroline scrunched her face up at Darien, giving him her opinion of the bruiser. He seemed to be a very straightforward goon: he’s paid to do a job and that’s the job he does. No particular loyalty, it seemed, but willing enough to do as he was told.

  “Yes. Tonight is the rally,” Amberlight said, his voice almost sparkling with pride and anticipation. “Several of our political candidates will be here to speak, then afterward we will have a planning session. Tomorrow is soon enough to plan for assisting our patron.”

  “Okay then, boss. I’m going to go hang out and watch TV in my room until my shift for the rally. Later.” There were dull footsteps as the hired minion left the kitchen, presumably to do as he just said.

  Darian tipped his head closer to the window and frowned a question to Caroline. She shrugged back, not sure what else to do either. They were there to keep an eye on the place until preparations were ready for the raid, having relieved Zanna half an hour previously. She hadn’t mentioned any planned visitors to the farm when they met, so it seemed likely that nobody else knew about it yet, and it could easily screw up the planning.

  She pulled her phone out to text Zanna and Greg back at the motel waiting for some more agents.

  There’s something going on here tonight besides the raid. Amberlight referred to both a rally and a meeting. We’ll try to find out more.

  A phone rang inside just as Zanna’s acknowledgment popped up on her screen.

  “Keryth Amberlight speaking. Oh, yes, sir. We hope to see you at our meeting this evening.” Amberlight’s voice warmed considerably. It was almost smarmy, and Caroline could hear the borderline resentment in Amberlight’s voice. It seemed that this was his patron, and while he needed whatever support the man provided— probably money and material support, if she had to guess— Amberlight certainly didn’t like being dependent on the guy.

  “I’m disappointed to hear that, we were looking forward to showing you our recent acquisitions. No. No, sir.”

  Darien met Caroline’s eyes and frowned again, his expression flinty. She grimaced her agreement. They needed to find out who this patron was.

  “No, sir, none of my men have reported seeing a creature like that, but I have ordered them to be on the lookout. We know that we have attracted FPAA attention now, they arrested our enchanter, so they are looking for us I’m certain. You said that it has been seen on some of their raids, so we will be alert. Yes, sir, we have taken precautions. Of course. I look forward to it. Goodbye.” Amberlight must have hung up the phone because he growled briefly, releasing the irritation he felt at having to pander to this man.

  “I will not delay our plans just for the sake of your collections. I don’t care that you want some kind of exotic shifter pet and feel that should take precedence, we are sowing the seeds of a new society! Bringing civilization back to where it should have been for centuries!” Amberlight was getting excited now, and Darien glanced at her. She typed something on her screen and turned it to show him.

  Arrogant, selfish, impatient… the usual better-than-you criminal stuff. I’m more worried about the patron, and what he’s after.

  Darien glanced at the message and nodded, then gestured for the phone. His fingers skittered over the buttons for a moment then he handed it back.

  We need to learn sign language or something. This is ridiculous. I agree, though. We’re going to fall back and regroup with the team.

  Caroline nodded and crept after him, slowly making their way from the corner of the farmhouse to the shed ten feet away. From there they could get to the ragged tree line of the thin strip of wooded land that had probably once served as a windbreak or something. Whatever it was originally, it led back towards the road and their hidden car.

  The tree cover wasn’t very wide, but it was thick with weeds and brambles, and from the farmhouse, it would be difficult to see into. The two of them picked their way through to the far side, a slightly less hard to walk through field full of weeds, and started walking along what was probably a deer path under the bright green of the early summer leaves. They were halfway through the wooded strip when Darien stopped walking and tipped his head, listening.

  After a moment he started walking again, but Caroline could tell that he was ready and watching, so she tried to listen for whatever it was he’d sensed as well. Just because the day had been easy so far didn’t at all mean that would continue. Naturally, just as that thought crossed her mind, a figure stepped out from the trees.

  Caroline would have laughed if it weren’t for the small crossbow pointed at Darien. The elf looked like he escaped from a cheap Viking themed version of The Hobbit. He had his straight, blonde hair pulled back in a half ponytail but otherwise left free to fall over the top of the forest-green cloak that looked a bit like a blanket wrapped carelessly around his shoulders and secured with a brooch. Under that, he had on a tan tunic that ended just above his knees, baggy brown trousers and actually nice, expensive-looking leather boots.

  “And who are you to trespass on our land?” The elf asked.

  Caroline could no more stop the snort of laughter than she could have hopped up and flown. “Seriously? Trespass on our…. Good grief. My professors are never going to believe this.”

  The elf sneered at her but kept his weapon aimed at Darien. It was the only real evidence of his intelligence since Darien wasn’t at all human and the red sliding over his eyes was more than enough proof of that. Still, Caroline sobered. She reminded herself that it took a lot more than one round of elf-shot to take Darien down, but that didn’t help much. If they could avoid anyone being hit, that would be best.

  “There are a few problems with your question,” Darien said. The calm tone held none of the anxiety or irritation that Caroline could hear so clearly. “First, we’re simply walking while you are aiming a weapon at us. Second, this field belongs to the Connoly Family, and last I checked– which was this morning– they were fully human. Not even an elven in-law.”

  The elf smirked. “That may be, for the moment, but I saw you enter these woods from the other side, which means that your simple walk involved a great deal of trespassing. Given your attire, I suspect it also involved some spying. Now you are caught and I will take you to my chief. I expect you’ll either be dealt with or gifted to our patron. He is a collector, he may be interested, although it isn’t too difficult to find a mere vampire. I understand he has more refined tastes.”

  Caroline couldn’t stop the growl that rumbled out of her chest. She had been hanging out with shifters a lot lately, and some things just rubbed off. Darien flicked a glance at her.

  “Given that we are Federal agents and you are defending an alleged thief and possible terrorist, I’m going to have to disagree. It seems that you are, in fact, coming with us.” Darien said.

  The elf simply smirked and pulled the trigger on his crossbow. The dart flew true and struck Darien just above his heart. As Darien flinched back, Caroline moved.

  The elf hissed out a breath as her blow landed, knocking the weapon from his hand. A moment later he was facedown in the dirt and leaves while Caroline reached for the enchanted handcuffs.

  “Freaking elf-shot,” Darien grunted. He stepped up beside her, dropping the dart into a baggie. He started to reach for the crossbow as well, but groaned and shook his head as if trying to clear it. “Damn. Sunshine. Looks like you’re driving back to the motel.”

  21

  “Well, this is definitely a wrinkle I didn’t want,” Point’s voice over the speakerphone reminded Caroline of the beginning of a rockslide. That quiet whisper of pebbles sliding and bouncing that signaled major problems.

  "You keep saying things like that," Caroline said, grinning. Darien huffed a laugh but didn't add anything.

  “Yeah. Either we call off the raid for tonight, or we hit and take out everyone,” Greg
agreed from where he sat on the edge of one of the beds. He had pulled some soft stress balls from somewhere and was juggling them.

  “This quick raid to end the thefts has become a major political pain in my neck. I’ll send another couple of teams and call the local authorities. Any idea how big this rally is supposed to be?” Point asked. There was some rustling in the background and the muffled click of a keyboard.

  “Well, according to our new guest, the past few rallies have been relatively small and more like parties than political events. Everyone crowds into the barn and there are tables set up and food and drink. Basically they take that old ‘elf feast’ idea and run with it,” Caroline said.

  “Then while everyone is buzzed and happy, Amberlight stands up like some sort of general and stirs them up with visions of the so-called glorious future where elves take their rightful place and all that garbage. It seems that he intends to introduce a couple of potential candidates for national office. Elf mages who are either fully subscribed to this crap or are willing to pretend for the votes they want,” Zanna added.

  Caroline glanced over at Darien who was listening to the conversation quietly. He had been somewhat subdued since they returned to the motel after dropping the elf off at the local jail. Darien had needed to impress upon the local police exactly how serious assaulting a federal agent was, and then explained in no uncertain terms that they would be hearing from his boss, and possibly his boss’s boss, and the police here grudgingly conceded the use of one of their cells. Caroline didn’t think that Point was going to get a great deal of willing cooperation from them.

  At least the crazy elf wasn’t a local so they had no particular interest in his well-being or anything, and they definitely didn’t buy into the idea that elves and mages were superior creatures to the rest of the world. So that was something, at least.

  “How are you feeling, D? You got hit with elf-shot?” Point returned to the immediate concern.

  Darien shrugged, then grimaced when he realized that Point couldn’t see him. “I’m okay. A bit dizzy still. I don’t think it was a normal elf-shot. Maybe a cheap knockoff. But I’m going to break into my emergency kit in a few minutes, don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

  “You had better be. If you’re not one hundred percent when I get there, you’re staying back. Caroline, you’re in charge of his care until I can see for myself. Darien, you listen to her,” Point grumbled. “We’ll be there in two hours. We have, according to you and your new buddy, three hours until the rally starts and from the sound of things, it will go for a few hours into the night. Start thinking of the best entry points and if you think they’ll be heavily armed or not. And get a damn sample of that elf-shot!”

  “That last thing’s already done, Chief. We took a blood sample from D and we have the remaining darts from his weapon. We’ll see you soon,” Zanna said, barely containing the snicker when she glanced at Darien. She hit the end call button and put the phone back on the table before letting her grin free.

  “Did you just get demoted?” Greg asked his own grin gleefully wide. “I’m pretty sure he just put the intern in charge of you.”

  Darien just sighed and Caroline smacked his arm.

  “Hey! Yes, I’m technically an intern, but I’m not exactly a useless file monkey like the title implies,” She said, poking him in the arm again for good measure.

  "True, but you are still an intern. And fully human, not even a mage. So..." Greg smirked. Caroline just stuck her tongue out at him.

  “All right, children. Settle down, both of you,” Zanna chuckled. “It is kind of funny. How are you feeling, Darien? Just dizzy? Want some more water”

  He shook his head. “Nah. I probably ought to do what I told Point, though. Could you pass me my bag?”

  Zanna reached for the small duffel that Darien took with him into the field. It was a reasonable precaution and one that the agency itself insisted upon. It carried some basic first aid supplies and a change of clothing, but its main purpose was to carry two emergency blood pack rations. The main bureaucratic hangup with having so many species working together in possibly dangerous situations was having first aid ready for all of them. The folks working in the medical suite complained about it fairly frequently, but ultimately it was up to the agents themselves to make certain that the kit contained any specialized supplies that they might need.

  “So…” Caroline didn’t want to bring it up, but she had already gotten a bad feeling from the call they had overheard, and even with the planned raid on the farm, she wasn’t comfortable.

  “What’s up?” Zanna asked, handing the bag to Darien, who started rummaging in it.

  “Well, I got this email a while ago, back before we knew the dolls and the thefts were related.” She scrunched her face up and dug out her own phone. “I mean, it didn’t mean much to me, really, but…”

  She pulled the email up on her phone and passed it to Zanna. Darien leaned over her to try to read over her shoulder, but she batted him away.

  “That blood smells, D. I’ll read it out loud,” Zanna said. She cleared her throat and started reading.

  “Hey, Caroline,

  I just wanted to catch up a bit and let you know that yes, I’m still alive and well and up to no good. I hear you’re doing fine work getting some nasty and illegal enchanted dolls off the streets on top of stopping those thefts you mentioned! I applaud your diligence and thank you for your service. Nasty, creepy things, animated dolls, and ones that are magically animated to move on their own? Ew, no thank you. Worse than spiders!

  I understand its Agent Barnett and another agent taking lead on that case. I do hope that doesn’t mean that your friend Darien is being left out of all the fun. I also hope that Agent Barnett is taking all due precautions when he goes out into the field. It’s a dangerous world, and even more so for anyone that’s special, and there have been very quiet whispers in the shadier areas of the country that have me a bit concerned, to be honest with you.

  I hope you are well and staying out of trouble. Well, as much as you can at any rate. Try not to get yourself kidnapped!

  Your friend,

  Lucas”

  Silence hit the room like a gong as they all looked at Greg. The big man had paled, putting the two clues together just as fast as the rest of them.

  “I mean, there’s nothing specific about either thing. Lord knows what Amberlight was talking about, and Lucas wasn’t exactly specific about what he was hearing. But…” Caroline shivered. Greg reached over and pulled her into a side hug.

  “You’re worried about me and I appreciate that, Kitten. Thanks.”

  “But why would you be targeted by some loony who’s funding Amberlight?” Darien asked. “I mean, federal agents are hardly rare.”

  Greg blinked at him and Zanna turned to stare, too.

  “What?” Darien blinked back. “Oh. Oh!”

  “Yeah. Some days it sucks being the only manticore on the planet,” Greg sighed.

  22

  Caroline watched yet another car drive past and turn into the road up to the farm. People had been arriving for hours now but the stream had slowed down to barely a trickle. If that wasn’t the last arrival, she’d be surprised. She glanced over at Darien, who was back to normal after shaking off the last of the effects from the elf-shot. He just shrugged and kept watching.

  Point, on Darien’s other side, grumbled softly in the back of his throat, an impatient sound. They were waiting for word from the agent who had snuck close to the farmhouse, watching the barn not too far off for signs of the feast in progress hitting full swing. They had gotten a message that Amberlight was heading to the farmhouse shortly with two of his goons— the giant human included— and the politicians and their security. They had all been surprised to find that one of the politicians in question was actually a popular mayor who was expected to win the governor’s race in Tennessee. His name wasn’t exactly widely known outside his home state, but he was climbing in popularity and there we
re rumors of national ambitions.

  Caroline supposed that the rumors were accurate if he was here. Too bad he was about to go down in a tidal wave of scandal and court dates.

  “You and Darien go in and see if you can get a recording of whatever’s going on in there. We’re going to need evidence to take back with us along with the people. Just being here isn’t going to put everyone in jail, unfortunately. A good lawyer will be able to talk their way out of any charges stemming from simply being in the same building as stolen property. God, the paperwork on this is going to drive me to drink,” Point said.

  “You really should pick up a hobby or something, Point. Maybe yoga,” Darien patted Point’s shoulder and crept out of their screened position. Caroline followed him, as quietly as she could. She still wasn’t anywhere close to as silent as her colleagues, but then she was usually sneaking around with actual predators, so she tried not to compare herself too harshly.

  Within a few minutes, they were peering out toward the farmhouse. The agent watching the barn was almost impossible to see, even though Caroline knew where to look for him in the shadows under the edge of the wraparound porch.

  Darien signaled to her and they made their way to the wall of the farmhouse, near the kitchen door. He stopped, standing nearly statue-still, listening under the window they had crouched beneath just a few hours ago. She watched his face shift slightly, the subtle and not-so-subtle changes telling her that he was letting his vampire nature come fully to the forefront in order to improve his hearing.

  He touched her elbow and nodded, carefully opening the unlocked back door. They slunk into the room and glanced around. The kitchen was surprisingly tidy, and Caroline wasn’t sure why that was so unexpected. Just because they were crazy bad guys didn’t mean they were automatically slobs. It was a fairly spacious room, with wide, clean counters, a deep, empty sink, and a dish drainer that had several plates and a handful of silverware stacked in it. A cheerful yellow and blue kitchen towel lay folded over the edge of the sink.