Chaos Burning

by Lauren Dane

  Meriel gave her a discreet thumbs-up.

  “If I may speak?” Nell stood and even with the swell of her growing belly continued to look entirely capable.

  “Yes, please do.” Meriel motioned to Nell to continue.

  “I’ve been quite open about my support for the idea of expanding our hunter teams to specialty units. I do believe that we’d have been far better able to meet the threat those mages posed us two months ago during that showdown if we’d had teams like Gennessee. We aren’t just sage-burning kitten huggers. We face threats darker and larger than we have in several centuries. We were not fully prepared. I think Lark can help us change that.”

  Meriel leaned back and looked them both over. Edwina stayed silent. Meriel had taken the reins of leadership of Clan Owen just a few months prior, but the changes had already begun.

  That had to be hard on mother and daughter both.

  “What is your sense of next steps then, Nell?” Meriel asked.

  “Lark and I have been working closely together over the phone and email since the attack in the warehouse. With the permission of the governance council I’d like to set up some special teams. Get them up and running, get people trained. Lark has offered to help with this project. And in addition, Lark and I, in conjunction with Arel from Rodas Clan and several other hunter team leaders across the United States and Canada, would like to set up one large unified team to deal with the threat the mages pose. We’ve got a turned witch on the loose who’s working with the mages. And that’s just the one we know about. There are others like Gloria Ochoa. There will continue to be others.”

  Dominic Bright, Meriel’s bond-mate and soon-to-be husband, finally spoke. “Nell and Lark are right. Times are changing and if we don’t change with them, we’re at risk. There are groups out there that want to harm us. We need to prepare for that.” His birth mother, Gloria Ochoa, had been a turned witch working with the mages. Because she’d used stolen magick so much, she’d turned, severed her connection to the earth and her own magick and had become a shadow of her former self, a monster seeking yet another fix. She’d tried to kill him during that showdown in the warehouse. And now she was dead. So there was that.

  Meriel took a deep breath and tapped her pen once. “Make it happen. Keep me apprised. Lark, I’d like it if you could help not only the hunters here but our rank-and-file membership.”

  “I’m under orders to share and help as I can.” Which was sort of true. “I’ll work with Nell on that.”

  “YOU handled yourself with her well.” Meriel caught up with Lark outside the conference room they’d just been in.

  “Thanks. Scary as hell, your mother and her sister.” Lark grinned and then moved to give Nell a hug. “Hey you.”

  “Hey yourself. Glad you’re here. How about some lunch before we dig into the plans for training?”

  They walked down a few blocks to a small hole-in-the-wall type place. “Hottest curries I’ve ever had and they make their own naan.” Nell rubbed her belly. “I think the baby has taken over all my preferences of late. And as it includes naan and curry, I’m on board.”

  “Dude, I’m in.”

  They found a small table in the corner and began to catch up. “I think you did well today. The council is fully behind this. I think we can help each other.” Meriel sipped her tea. “Dominic is going to be so mad we came here without him.”

  “I bet he looks even prettier when he’s mad.”

  Meriel laughed. “Totally. He looks pretty all the time. It’s not a trial to wake up to that face every day.”

  “I appreciate your letting me stay at the apartment. Bed is nice. Simon offered to take me grocery shopping, but I told him you’d have stocked the fridge. He still packed a few bags of food for me and also insisted on walking me up and on going through the place to be sure everything was safe.”

  Nell laughed. “Nice of you to let him.”

  “It seemed to please him to think he was in charge.” She shrugged with a grin. “He’s a good guy. He made me steak, gave me some really good liquor. He’s bossy and alpha male and stuff, but he’s still a great conversationalist. It was nice to talk weapons along with books and politics with him too. And damn, his gardens are a thing of beauty. Have you seen them?” The curry was indeed ridiculously hot. Her nasal passages would be clear by the time they left, that was for sure. “I was exhausted and wrung out but the moment my toes touched the earth it was like a shot of supercharged magick straight to my gut.”

  “He had us over for dinner last week and I think I annoyed him with all my raving about the place. He hasn’t been living there very long. Dom loves it there too. They all hang out on Tuesday and Wednesdays, the quiet days at the club. Keeps Dom out of trouble.”

  “Spoke with your sister this morning,” Nell said as she forked up some curry.

  Lark took a deep breath. “She told me. She said she’d get the stuff you requested sent this afternoon.”

  “You want to talk about it?” Meriel asked. “I know there’s some difficulty between you.”

  “No.” The last thing she wanted to do right then was get into the situation between her and Helena. “I appreciate the offer. She and I have to work it through somehow. Being away from each other for a while will do us both good.” Shifting gears, she continued, “I think I’d like to go over your duty rosters so we can compare, talk about what’s working for each of us. Then we can schedule the training. Work for you?” Lark looked up to Nell, who nodded.

  “Yes, that’s fine. We’ve set you up with an office next to Gage. He’ll help you with any questions if I’m not around.”

  “Works for me. I’m going out to the range with him tomorrow. I’ve got some fun new stuff to show off. You up for it?”

  Nell’s face lit. “Hell yes!”

  Chapter 3

  AT the shooting range, Simon jogged around the corner and stopped to simply watch Lark in action. Feet apart, posture relaxed but alert, she squeezed the trigger on the weapon and the bullet hit the target. Over and over. Over and over the bullet hit exactly the same spot.

  That she did this while wearing what appeared to be rainbow socks on her arms, heavy boots, a hoodie sweater with a bedazzled line proclaiming FIERCE in glittery letters and jeans so holey she also wore tights beneath only made him like her more, even if he mentally shook his head at her fashion sense. Oh, and the blue-streaked hair currently in a messy knot. She was a dozen crayons half melted in the sun.

  Gage nodded once he caught sight of Simon’s face. “Yeah, crazy huh? The bullets are specially made and enchanted.”

  “Really? Enchanted to be more accurate?”

  She ejected the clip in one easy movement and popped another into the weapon seamlessly and began to shoot the target again.

  Gage laughed. “No. That’s all her. The enchantment has spellwork etched into the metal casing. It’s almost like a virus, breaking down the walls around stolen magick so the turned mage can’t hold it.”

  “No shit? That’s pretty fancy.” And brilliant.

  She turned when she’d finished. He wasn’t surprised that her eye protection was purple.

  “Hey you.” She tipped her chin at him.

  “Gage was just telling me about the bullets. Can I see them?”

  “I wasn’t using those for target practice.” She moved away from the station and took her gear out to the main area before rustling through and grabbing a box, handing it his way.

  He slid the lid back.

  “They’re harmless to hold. At least to you. Your magick is natural. Like mine and any other witch. Those who aren’t stuck or turned anyway. It only works on magick that’s foreign to the person holding it.”

  “Damn, you’re pretty smart for a chick with blue hair.”

  She beamed. “I happen to like blue. Just seemed to me that while we can’t always get a spell close enough to impact, if I can shoot this into someone and it unravels their magic, it would be a great way to debilitate a turned w
itch or mage.”

  Gage examined the bullet he held and looked back to Simon. “We’re going to start making them next week. Lark will teach me how. Arel is here too. He’ll be taking that knowledge back East with him.”

  Arel was the hunter for the Rodas Clan of witches and he’d proven himself a valuable ally against this new tide of humans and mages out to steal witches’ magick, even if it meant harming them to do it.

  Simon respected the man’s strength and intelligence. He was a big part of this new push to deal with the turned witches and mages. Which was important, as there were far fewer clans on the east coast so support from the biggest was integral. And all because Meriel had sought out info from other witches across the country.

  “You should come to the club for a drink tonight.” Simon looked back and forth between Gage and Lark.

  “I’ve got some meetings later on. But I’ll be free after nine. Thanks for asking. Dominic says the club isn’t too very far from the apartment so I’ll walk.” Lark put her weapon away carefully. “I’ve got to run now. I’m meeting your archive folks in half an hour. I hear the Kelly sisters like lemon bars so I’ve got some set aside for them.”

  “They’re sort of scary. Just be forewarned.” Gage grabbed his stuff as well. “You here for some target practice?” he asked Simon.

  “Yes. Dominic said you were here and I thought I’d come shoot with you.”

  “All right then.”

  Gage hugged Lark. “See you later?”

  “Yep.” She waved to them both and headed out.

  “So what do you think of her?” Gage asked Simon as they headed back to the shooting lanes.

  Simon paused a moment, trying to decide if Gage meant professionally or if his friend had a thing for their blue-haired friend. He decided to answer the former.

  “Spent a few hours with her night before last at my place. She’s sharp. Vicious. Odd. Direct. I like all those things. I think she’s got a great plan for her witches down south and Owen will benefit from that.”

  “They’ve got more freedom to expand their hunter team. Got a head start on us even though they haven’t seen the same sort of issue with the mages. Yet anyway. But they’ll be prepared. Which is what we need to be. The world is changing and we can’t afford to pretend it’s not.”

  “Meriel and Dominic are both smart people. You’ll get what you need now. Hell, even Edwina can see it by this point.”

  “There’s drama between her and her sister. Witches are an odd bunch. Those two love each other fiercely, would protect the other to the death. But they have issues. It’s all complicated and I hope for everyone’s sake they get it dealt with. Gennessee and Owen are powerful when they’re united. This isn’t a time for old wounds to be reopened.”

  “This is a story I need to hear apparently.”

  “I don’t know much, but I’ll fill you in on what I do after we shoot things for a while.”

  “Deal.”

  * * *

  SHEILA Kelly looked up from the pink box of lemon bars and then at Lark one last time before she harrumphed and indicated Lark sit. The other witch may have been at least in her eighties and couldn’t have topped five feet even in heels but that didn’t fool Lark. Power came in all shapes and sizes and Sheila practically crackled with it.

  “Meriel tells me you’re from Los Angeles.” She said this in the same tone Simon had used when he’d asked if she was a vegetarian.

  “Yes, ma’am. Born and raised.”

  Again the hmph sound as she chose a lemon bar and placed it on a pretty plate next to the matching teapot. “You’ll have tea.”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “Nice manners for a Californian.”

  Lark tried not to smile but it was a losing battle. “I’ll tell my parents you said so.”

  “Please do. It’s rare these days.”

  “To see a Californian with manners?”

  Sheila looked at her, eyes narrowed for a long moment. “You’re not afraid of me. Deferential, which is only right given my age and the fact that you need my help. But you don’t bow and scrape. And you brought something. People always forget to bring something.”

  “Oh, you’re quite scary. But this is your profession. I respect that. My father always says a guest should bring something with they come to visit. Plus it enabled me to eat a lemon bar of my own on the way over. I had to stop in the bathroom down the hall to get rid of the powdered sugar I had on my shirt.”

  “Nicely done. Your father is right of course. And no, not the only Californian with manners. Young people in general seem to forget how to say please and thank you.”

  It was clear what Sheila thought of that trend.

  “I’ve been able to track down some of these older spells you asked about.” Sheila poured out a cup of tea for each of them. “I’ve got them in the file over there. And Gia put them on a USB stick for you as well. She’s more fancy than I am. I told her I would tell you that.”

  Just then Lark missed her sister so much it nearly hurt. Missed the closeness they once shared but had been missing over the last year.

  “I appreciate that very much. I’m trying to arm all my people with as many weapons and protections as I can.”

  “If you’d like to share some of your particular concerns, I may be able to help you better. The information I have is very general.”

  “We’ve got a feral wolf issue. Not the normal, run-of-the-mill rogue wolves, these are not part of any pack, not even in an ancillary way. They’re roving groups of criminals who’re content enough to harm humans be they in their human form or their shifted form. We’ve had some problems with them infecting people on purpose.”

  “Hm. That’s not good at all. Have you spoken with the local pack leader?”

  Lark resisted rolling her eyes. “You all have a far better relationship with your local pack than we do. They just tell us it’s none of our concern and that they’ll handle it. But they aren’t. I don’t want any of our people getting victimized by this. We’ve also got problems with the vampires. Oh, and necromancers.”

  Sheila leaned forward in her chair. “Really? Necromancers? Fascinating!”

  Necromancers were wizards. Practitioners of arcane magic. They were said to control the dead, but Lark didn’t believe they had that much power. Frankly, if they could, they’d be charging for it and since they weren’t, she doubted they could raise zombie armies. Still they had enough power and those in her territory were working her nerves. And worse, when more than just a few of them congregated, they messed with harmony and balance.

  She breathed in the smoke of the tea. “Wizards are an interesting bunch. But they mess with the magickal balance in our ground and that has to stop. I guess we have a lot of problems and I need a lot of solutions.” She sent a weak smile to Sheila, who tutted and waved it away.

  “That was a problem back in my day too. Edwina’s mother drove them off. Let me look into our archives for particulars.”

  They had tea and lemon bars as Sheila schooled Lark on their history and the use of some potions in addition to spellwork. She loved this part of clan life. Loved the way the Elders passed on their knowledge and skill to the next generation. She hoped she was half as skilled and wise as the woman she sat across from.

  By the time she left, Lark had a headache, but it was worth it to have received all the information she had.

  Her phone pinged and she pulled it from her bag to catch sight of her mother’s number so she headed back to her temporary digs to answer it.

  “You’re going to make me old if you don’t keep me updated on your whereabouts, darlin’.”

  She smiled, instantly feeling better. “You’re already pretty old, I guess I should be careful. I briefed Helena earlier. I figured she’d talk to you.”

  “She did. But it’s not the same as a daughter calling her mother to let her know she’s safe and not talking to strangers. Your father is going to be jealous I got to talk to you and he didn’t. I m
ay have to lord it over him awhile.”

  “Ha! I got the side eye just now for being a Californian. Lucky for you, I have manners and so I’m supposed to let you guys know you did a good job with me.”

  Her mother’s laugh made things better. “Clearly you didn’t speak to this person long enough to spew any of your colorful insults.”

  She found herself grinning, knowing it was part of why her mother had called and Lark loved her for it. “I miss you guys.”

  “I miss you too.” Rain paused. “You don’t have to be gone, you know. They could have sent someone else.”

  “You and I both know that I had to go for a while.” Lark shrugged though her mother couldn’t see it.

  “She doesn’t blame you.”

  “That’s not quite true. Helena knows I’m not to blame. Which is different from not blaming me. We need some distance between us. I can’t see another way around it if we don’t.”

  Her mother was quiet for a long time and finally sighed. “I love you. Don’t be gone too long. Your father and I didn’t have two daughters to only see one on a regular basis.”

  “I just left two days ago. I don’t think we’re DEFCON one just yet.”

  “You’ve been leaving for months now. Be good and stay safe. Call me tomorrow.”

  “Love you too.”

  She hung up and looked out the window for a while. The sky in the distance was purple like a bruise. She felt a little like that inside.

  Chapter 4

  LARK knew she should have been at Heart of Darkness by then, but she wasn’t ready to deal with anyone just yet. She had a lot of excess energy and a good walk would help with that.

  Where Helena would have written out a long pro-and-con list for whatever was bothering her, Lark preferred the mindless activity of a long walk or drive. She didn’t know Seattle as well as the Southland, but she knew enough that if she walked up a bit she’d arrive at Seattle Center, and then she could tour around and walk back. It wouldn’t take a lot of time, but she’d work off her energy.