by Jamie Davis
“I’m not angry with you. I wish you had asked permission first, though. I know you were only doing what you thought I wanted. I have to remember to be more careful when I ask you to do something.”
“You’re really not mad?”
Quinn put her hand on his massive forearm. “No. We’re all still learning. We were just talking about whether we could leave you alone to watch the six of them.”
Tadpole’s eyes brightened. His head bobbed up and down in an enthusiastic nod. “You absolutely can, Quinn. I would be extra careful and make sure nothing happened to them, I promise.”
“It’s something we still need to think about, bud. After this, Avery will be hard to convince you’re the man for the job.”
“I won’t do this again. I always follow your rules. All we will do is watch movies if that’s what you want. You can give me a list with everything to do, and I’ll follow it.”
Quinn laughed. “You can’t read, buddy.”
“You could draw pictures for me.”
“I could.” She shook her head, chuckling at the thought of what that list would look like. “I’ll think about it. Go change out of your armor. I need to talk to Avery.”
The other Huntress stood at the far end of the armory, having a stern talk with the girls. Judging from their expressions, they were as clueless about what was wrong as Tadpole had been.
Quinn walked over. “Avery, send them into the other room to watch the rest of the movie. I want to talk to you.”
“You heard what she said. Go into the other room and stay there. Don’t go anywhere else until I get there.” She glanced at Quinn. “Are you going to tell me to relax?”
“No, but they are all doing really well. No one got hurt, and they told you they’ve had weapons training. I’m not saying we should make this a regular thing, especially unsupervised by anyone but Tadpole, but if they’re staying here and will be part of the clan, we’ll have to train them eventually.”
“What did you tell the orc?”
“I told him I wasn’t angry with him.” When Avery made a face, Quinn added, “He’s sorry, Avery. He takes things very literally. It’s my fault for not being more specific. I have to remember to ask him questions to make sure he understands what we want him to do.”
“I’m not sure, Quinn. I don’t want to screw this up, but I’m learning as I go too. I just know I can’t let anything happen to them.”
“Hey, me either. It looks like you’ve done a decent job so far, though. They seem like good kids. Let’s just do the best we can. In the end, that’s all anybody can expect.”
“I guess so.” Avery shrugged. “I want to sit with them for a while to make sure they’re settled.”
“I’ll come with you. We can watch the movie together.”
Avery reached out, her fingers intertwining with Quinn’s. Quinn gave a squeeze, which brought a brief smile to her girlfriend’s face. The two of them went back into the darkened training room and sat on the mat behind the girls as they watched the show. Soon all were laughing at the antics on the screen. For a moment, Quinn thought things were almost normal. She knew it wouldn’t last, but she savored it while it was happening.
Chapter Twenty-Four
It turned out Quinn’s belief in Taylor’s magical and technical abilities wasn’t unfounded. Not only had the tech witch been able to bring the second full-sized VR rig online faster than expected, but she also got a hit on a standard facial recognition bot she’d deployed to search for Gemma.
With Clark’s and Naomi’s help, they were able to confirm the face on the convenience store surveillance video was Gemma. She was definitely hiding somewhere in town near the Fae quarter. Now it was time to see if the Fae magistrate’s clerk would lead them to her.
In the workshop, they had set a second table up for Avery beside the one Quinn used. Both women now sat on the edge of the tables facing each other. Taylor’s desk was between them, with her triple computer monitors displaying program readouts. She had the system ramping up for both rigs.
“So, what’s this like?” Avery asked.
“It’s a little disorienting the first time you go in. Don’t worry, I’ll be there right beside you. Just remember to call in on the commlink if you need anything or we get separated.”
Avery’s hand dropped to her waist to check the comm system belt pack. Her earpiece was in place, and they’d already verified everything worked.
“Relax,” Quinn said. “This is just a recon mission. We follow the guy and hope he leads us to Gemma. If it looks promising, we can investigate further. If not, we can return and work on another plan.”
“Easy for you to say. You’ve done this how many times?”
“Enough. I’m interested in what your experience is like in there. There are things I bring back to the real world from inside. Maybe you’ll be able to do that too. If we get into a fight, remember what I told you about the HUD. It might help you access extra power and abilities.”
Taylor looked up from her computer screens. “I’m all set. You two ready?”
Avery and Quinn both nodded. Avery added, “Let’s do this.”
Quinn shifted so she could lay back on the table. Avery did the same. Quinn settled the headset goggles in place and stared at the workshop’s stone ceiling, waiting for Taylor to begin.
The tech witch started chanting.
The familiar tugging began at the back of Quinn’s mind. She relaxed and waited for the transition. The process seemed to take longer this time. Instead of the quick drop she expected, Quinn fell backward into the blackness in slow motion. The last thing she heard was a gasp of surprise from Avery.
Quinn woke in the alley on the block next to the hidden Fae bar. She knelt in place and gathered herself, tamping down the headache that always accompanied the transition. It was worse than the last trip, but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been the first few times.
“Oh, my God,” Avery said. “It worked.”
Quinn glanced to the right. Avery knelt there, twisting her head to get her bearings.
“I’m right here.”
“This is amazing.” She raised a hand to her forehead. “Except for the headache.”
“Taylor is still trying to iron out the kinks on that one. It has something to do with our Huntress genes or something. It gets a little better every time she dials it in.”
“You mean, it was worse?”
Quinn nodded. “I used to throw up as soon as I landed. It was bad.” She changed the subject. “Bring up your HUD and check the icons and options.”
Avery went through the process as Quinn walked her through the system. She didn’t have any icons other than the map overlay. She had a stamina bar, but no blue mana bar. Quinn wasn’t sure what to do to make the other icons appear for Avery. Taylor had said they might be unique to her. They didn’t have the luxury to sit and play with it right now.
“Okay, time to get on with the mission. We’ll see if you can at least dial up your strength the way I can next.” Quinn pointed at the nearby roof of a row home. “I’ll jump up to that ledge and then leap from there onto the neighboring rooftop. Draw on your stamina and try to follow me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Try this,” Quinn said. “Say to yourself that you need to be stronger.”
Avery looked doubtful, but she stared into space and said, “I need strength.”
Quinn waited for a few seconds. “What happened? Anything?”
Avery shook her head. “You said the stamina thing lowered and gave you strength, right? Nothing happened to mine.”
“Damn, I’d hoped all this would work for you the same way.”
“At least it got me here. Remember that I trained as a Hunter growing up. Maybe this only works on latent powers.”
Quinn shrugged. “Okay, we go with Plan B. I’ll jump up there and find somewhere else you can jump up.”
“I can push myself and jump almost that high normally.”
&n
bsp; Quinn remembered how fast Avery was in training bouts. Her Hunter abilities were fully realized. Maybe they’d work here, too.
“Okay, follow me.”
Quinn drew on her stamina and boosted her strength and speed a little. She ran at the house across the alley, leaping at the last second. She planted a foot on the wall ten feet up and used it to spring the last bit to the ledge. It was an easy leap to the rooftop from there.
She turned in time to see Avery blur into motion, using her innate abilities. She got almost as high as Quinn did. She had to stretch out to reach for the ledge with her fingers. Avery gripped the edge and pulled herself up the rest of the way. Another running leap brought her onto the roof with Quinn.
“Not quite as graceful as you, but I managed it.”
“We’ll get Taylor to work on it from her end. Maybe it’s in the magic she uses.”
Avery shook her head. “I prefer it this way. My abilities seem to be working normally. This way, I won’t be stumbling around trying to figure things out.”
Quinn couldn’t argue with the other woman’s logic. “Okay, let’s hide and head across the rooftops until we can see the back of the home with the Fae bar.”
Leading the way, Quinn muttered “mist” to slip into the shadows. Beside her, Avery did whatever she did to activate the same ability. Quinn had given Avery the amulet she now wore, but she’d developed her skills without it.
Studying the rooftop beside her, Quinn could still see Avery’s shadowed outline, but no one else would notice the shifting shadows running above them.
The two of them leapt from roof to roof until they reached the home next to the Fae bar. They settled into place behind a brick chimney, where they could see the rear door.
Quinn tapped her earpiece. “We’re in position, T. Everything worked pretty well. Clark, Mom, are you there?”
“We are,” Naomi answered. “Just tell us when you locate the eventual destination. We’ll start that way as soon as you have it.”
“Will do,” Quinn said. “One of us will let you know if anything strange happens outside of the plan. Until then, we’re out.”
Quinn shut down the commlink and glanced at Avery. “You still good?”
“I am. I’m still amazed at how this system works. You could go just about anywhere with it.”
“The farthest we’ve tried was when I came down to help you with that attack in North Carolina. In theory, though, you’re right.”
Avery nodded at the door as they watched. “You want to settle in and take turns? That way, one of us can get some rest.”
“That works. You want to go first?”
Avery nodded again. “I’ll tap you on the shoulder if anything changes.”
Quinn shifted until she was fully behind the chimney and settled her back against the bricks. She relaxed and let her mind wander as she stared at the lights of the Baltimore skyline.
She must have dozed a little because she started when Avery tapped her shoulder.
Avery held a finger to her lips and pointed down.
Quinn dialed in her shadow-hiding again. It had lapsed as she dozed. She moved from behind the chimney to look down. The clerk and the bartender walked through the tall grass in the unkempt backyard and into the alley. Once there, the bartender turned one way, and the tall Fae clerk went the other. He strode away from their position.
“We need to keep up so we don’t lose him,” Quinn whispered. She pointed to the adjacent roof leading to the next set of connected row homes. “Follow me.”
She drew some more strength, ran for the roof’s edge, and jumped the gap without a problem. Avery was right behind her, so Quinn kept going. Wreathed in shadow, the two Huntresses followed the clerk to wherever he was headed next.
He stopped at the corner store and came out with a small paper bag. He stuffed it into the pocket of his short overcoat and continued down the street.
Soon the neighborhood turned into better-kept homes, and then they entered a small industrial district. Quinn and Avery had to drop to street level to follow him.
He led them to a large two-story building with metal siding. It looked like a painter’s building, though the sign on the side of the building had faded and was in disrepair.
The clerk knocked on the door twice and waited.
The door opened and he entered, letting it close behind him. She brought up her map overlay. The HUD filled with a view of the building and the immediate surroundings. Inside the building was a collection of moving red dots.
“That’s got to be the place,” Quinn said.
“How do you know?”
“I can see enemies when I’m this close. It’s on the map overlay. Bring yours up.”
Avery stared into space for a second and shook her head. “Nope. I see you and me on the map and the surrounding buildings, but nothing else.”
“Well, take my word for it. That place is chock-full of baddies.”
“How many?”
“At least ten. That’s more than we can handle alone. Let me call Clark and Mom.”
Quinn tapped her earpiece, but nothing happened. There was a brief crackle of static, but that was it. “You try. My batteries must be low or something.”
Avery tapped her earpiece and shook her head. “All I have is constant low static. That’s it.”
Quinn checked her belt pack. When she pressed the button once, the tiny LED lit up green. “It’s not my battery. Maybe something around here is interfering with transmissions. We should move back until we can reconnect.”
Quinn turned to move away from the corner behind which they hid. She stopped as four figures stepped out of the shadows behind them, blocking the way.
“Going somewhere, Huntress?” The brunette demon-kinder leading the group asked. She pulled a curved dagger from her boot.
Avery spun. “Quinn, there are people coming this way from the print shop. We’re trapped.” She brought her arm around, her sword appearing in her hand.
Quinn didn’t wait for the others to act. She charged, drawing her Bowie. She and Avery had to break through fast and get away from whatever had jammed their comms.
Using her forward momentum, Quinn dropped to the ground, sliding in the loose gravel as she ducked beneath the swipe of the curved dagger.
Overextended, the brunette tried to twist to the side to avoid Quinn’s blade. She was unnaturally fast, like all the Hunter demon-kinder were, but not fast enough.
The blessed silver alloy hissed as it sliced deep into the woman’s side. Tendrils of smoke escaped the wound, followed by dripping black ichor.
The demon-kinder gasped and went to one knee. She was down, but probably not out of the fight. Quinn had to keep going and hope it would take the woman time to recover. Blade clashed on blade as more attacks swept in at her.
Luckily, she wasn’t on her own. She parried a heavy saber stroke aimed at her neck. It left her exposed so she couldn’t get around in time to stop in the incoming tanto blade aimed at her back.
Avery’s sword drove in just in time to bat the blade away, and her follow-up stroke took off the demon-kinder’s arm midway between wrist and elbow. The woman howled in pain. She groped on the ground for the dropped weapon with her other hand.
Quinn’s broad blade came down at the back of her neck, severing the spine, and the woman dropped to the pavement, unmoving.
“Keep going,” Quinn called. “We’ve got to break contact before the others come around the corner to help them.”
Avery took down one of the remaining two but caught a narrow slash across her back in the process.
Quinn’s roundhouse kick dropped the final demon-kinder. Lifting Avery upright, Quinn supported her as the pair raced across the street before turning the corner of another building.
Shouts behind them announced reinforcements had arrived. Quinn didn’t think anyone had spotted them turning the corner, but they’d search this way eventually.
She stopped and grabbed the knob on the neare
st building. “It’s locked. Come on.”
Avery said, “Wait.” She reached out with one hand and spread her fingers wide, rotating her wrist.
Quinn picked up on a slight glow of magic. Then the knob turned, and the door popped open.
“Quick, get inside.” Quinn shoved Avery in ahead of her and checked the street behind them before slipping inside and closing the door. “I heard voices, so they’re close, but no one saw us.”
She checked the door from the inside as shouts on the other side grew louder. Spotting what she’d been looking for, Quinn reached up to a sliding metal bolt at the top of the door and pushed it into place.
The voices ran past their hiding place and faded.
Quinn stepped back, looking around.
Avery leaned against the wall, her breathing heavy as she grimaced.
“Here, let me look at that,” Quinn said.
“It’ll be fine, I just need to tamp the pain down.”
“Nonsense, turn around. We have a break now. We might not get one later. Until we can get to someplace where Taylor can pick up our signals, we’re stuck here.”
Avery turned so she leaned against the wall with one shoulder. The blade had sliced away the bottom half of her shirt and left a gash running from her right shoulder blade diagonally down to her lower ribs. Blood ran down her back, smeared with dirt from the metal wall.
“We need to clean this up, then I can heal it.” She spotted an old porcelain washtub against the wall nearby. The rusty faucet above it looked older than she was, but maybe it still worked.
Quinn tore the rest of the bottom half of Avery’s shirt away. “Stay here and try not to move.”
Walking to the sink, Quinn tried the faucet. The lever seemed rusted shut, and for a moment, she was sure she’d break it off. It finally twisted, and water flowed. It was brown and rusty at first, but then it ran clear.
Soaking the scrap of Avery’s shirt, Quinn returned and cleaned the wound and the area around it. The bleeding had slowed to a steady ooze, which helped.
