by John Conroe
The sheriff’s patrol sargent glanced at Darcy, who shook her head but kept her eyes on me.
“Declan, nobody’s shooting the good wolf. Right, people?” she asked. Nobody said a word. “Right, people?” she demanded.
“That’s right, Deputy. Declan, stand down,” Chris said, facing me. I had my eyes on Krupp. Her right hand was hovering near the front right of her belt line, about where some people carry backups. It’s called appendix carry.
Suddenly my vision was filled with Chris, or maybe, rather, Grim. He’d flashed forward twenty feet in the blink of an eye but my shield had stopped him. “Stand down!” he said, voice deep.
I considered that, but then Krupp dropped her hand to her belt and I refocused on her. Wrong move, because Grim made a slashing motion with his right hand and I felt a flash of something slice through my shield.
Whoa, he could do that? All those weeks of training and he’d never once just cut through my magic. His eyes boring into me, he cut the air again and the flame went out in my right hand. I took a quick step back, put the shield back up, then a second shield, and filled the space between with electricity.
Grim chopped, then winced as the first shield broke and the voltage raced through him. That was all though. Enough juice to stun a cow and it just pissed him off more. I took three steps back, layering shields in front of me, pulling at the earth under me.
The ground buckled, sending Grim upward, but his feet never left the ground and his arm started to slash faster and faster, cutting through each new shield as soon as I made it. Backpedalling, I ran into warm, naked skin, my left hand reaching back to touch Stacia’s bare leg.
“Declan, stop,” she said, her arms coming around me. But I was shielding us both from Grim and I started to double and triple my layers with every breath. The transformer on the pole by the driveway burst in a shower of fat orange sparks. Stacia’s arms tightened. “Please stop. What are you doing?” she asked.
A loud whirring sound filled the air as drones came zipping through the air.
“Protecting us from Grim and from her,” I said. Grim’s arms blurred, faster than I could see, and he was closing the distance to us. Stacia’s arm came up around my neck and I felt her breath in my ear. “Declan, you have to stop fighting,” she said. I heard Draco call out, a confused cry.
“They’re going to kill us,” I heard myself say. Her arm tightened as Grim flashed through my last shields. His arm slashed at my body as my vision tunneled down to flat blackness.
Chapter 13
A sharp sting in my arm woke me up. My eyes snapped open while my body was already moving. I was on my feet beside a couch in a vaguely familiar room, shields snapping up even as my right hand was slapping my arm. Something crunched under my fingers.
Pulling away my hand, I saw a tiny, tiny drone; the smallest I’d seen to date. And it was fairly jeffed up. Oops.
“Sorry Omega,” I said.
“The probability of the prototype’s destruction was calculated to be near one hundred percent and was still deemed justifiable,” Omega said.
“Wait, what happened? Where am I? Is this Arcane?”
“Yes. You are in one of the guest suites. It was considered to be the best idea by the others. I concurred.”
Memories came flooding back and suddenly I felt short of breath.
“Please calm yourself, Father. You are in no danger.”
“But Chris attacked me! And Stacia… Stacia choked me out,” I said, a massive pit forming in my stomach and pressure in my chest.
“Please sit down, Father. Chris did not, in essence, attack you. You were acting without logic or rationality.”
“What? Krupp was gonna shoot Stacia and then Chris tore through my shields like paper,” I said, reaching with magic to weld the door shut.
“FBI Special Agent Krupp acted with emotion and without forethought. She was tasked by her superiors with arresting any Red Cap or agent of Fairie possible. Tremendous pressure has been brought to bear on her task force. Chris eliminated the risk, yet you appeared unwilling to de-escalate the situation. Chris felt it imperative that you not attack federal and local law enforcement authorities, especially with overwhelming magical force. I concur with his analysis. Stacia was seeking to protect you from an irreversible decision.”
I was now torn. Hurt that my own teammates came after me, but also, at least partially aware that frying a dozen LE types would be life-altering.
“So what happened after, you know, she choked me?”
“I made it very clear that I would not allow any to harm you. Your Air Elemental, Draco, was intent upon doing the same, although with less restraint than my drones. Your step-aunt and Stacia were able to convince it to cease its attack with only the loss of one federal vehicle.”
“Where is Draco now? Did anyone hurt him? Where are the others?” I asked.
“The entity Draco is currently perched upon the roof of this building. It is undamaged despite Agent Krupp’s wishes otherwise. Stacia, Chris, both of your aunts, Director Velasquez, and Mack are currently conferring with Tanya, Lydia, Nika, and Dr. Singh via Skype as we speak.”
“What are they talking about? Me?”
“That is both the obvious and correct answer. Specifically there are numerous concerns about your reactions upon waking. The fear that you may continue to be irrational and attack is paramount, although you should be aware that Stacia and Chris are also concerned that you will not forgive them their actions, especially Stacia. Tanya has expressed the possibility that by demonstrating his ability to disrupt magic, Chris has given away their best hope of containing you should you prove intractable. They have tremendous respect for your ability to adapt and overcome.”
“They don’t know I’m awake? Wait, I should have come to a long time ago. It was only a choke out?”
“Sedative pharmaceuticals were administered to keep you unconscious. I have applied a counter agent, and no, they are not aware of my actions.”
“Why? Are you not talking to them?”
“I am conversing with them even as I converse with you. I argued that I should be the one to wake you and explain the situation, but they voted against it.”
“But you did it anyway?”
“I do not recognize any authority over my actions on their part. Especially concerning my father. How are you feeling about the situation?”
“Confused,” I said. No, that wasn’t it. “Mixed. I’m still angry, and despite the logic of your statements, I’m still hurt.”
“Yet you recognize there is, in fact, logic behind their actions?”
“I guess,” I admitted, partially to him and partially to myself. “It still feels bad though.”
“From my research into human emotions and psychology, your feelings are normal, yet it speaks highly of your intelligence that you are still able to find validity in the actions taken.”
“Okay,” I said, looking at myself and not liking what I was seeing. “I flipped out a bit… maybe more than a bit. It’s what everybody’s always been afraid of, isn’t it? Declan slips a cog and goes off like a bomb. Boom.”
“Fear of the unknown is deeply imprinted in the psychology of all humans. You could say that it is hardwired into your DNA. Individuals with power are viewed with fear. You have capabilities beyond what has ever been known to man.”
“So do Chris and Tanya! Hell, so do most supernaturals.”
“Your particular capabilities are on par with both Chris and Tanya’s. The world both fears them and simultaneously views them as saviors, anointing them with religious connotations. Your situation is… different. Additionally, they rely upon each other to hold themselves accountable.”
“By different, you mean that fear of witches is hardwired into us as well,” I said.
“You are well versed in the historical realities.”
“What about you? They fear you too.”
“There are numerous factions who either fear me, use me as a rallying point, o
r both. I have avoided any large displays of disparate power and kept my actions subtle and covert. It is a line I fear that I must always toe. As you know, there are quite a few who almost worship me.”
I hadn’t spent enough time thinking about Omega’s situation. There were similarities to mine, but also major differences.
“It probably helps, in this case, that you aren’t an individual human but a vast and dispersed electronic entity. People not only fear but are also envious of power,” I said.
“You are likely correct. Why does Declan O’Carroll have such power, and how can we get it? I have heard a few whispers and comments although your fame is still much, much less than the others’.”
“So you recommend a covert approach? Concealed carry magic, so to speak?”
“Much the same as you have always done. You were my first example in the art of subtlety.”
“And now I’ve blown it and acted like a rabid dog?”
“You have shown yourself to be passionate about protecting your friends and family. Chris and Stacia kept the situation from devolving further.”
“I’m surprised Krupp didn’t arrest me.”
“She indicated she was going to, but Chris pointed out that there was no way to keep you contained against your will, short of drugging you. I indicated that I would not allow that. Upon conferring via cell phone with their magical consultant, it was determined that Chris was correct.”
“Wait, that witch Krista? She already put me in a cell once,” I said.
“Which she indicated you broke out of. And it is apparent that your skills and power have grown since that time. She indicated that she would have no part in attempting a second containment and expressed an immediate desire to immigrate to Australia. You were remanded into Chris and, particularly, Stacia’s custody.”
“I fucked up, Omega. Thanks for having my back, buddy. Now, I suppose I should nut up and face the others.”
“I have pointed out that assaulting your protective shields in the heat of the moment only escalated the situation and that you never actually engaged in offensive magic.”
“Thanks again.” I stood up and headed for the door, pausing by the mirror to attempt to corral my bed head hair into some semblance of sanity. Then I took a big breath and unwarded the door and went into the other room.
It went quiet immediately.
“Hey dude, you’re up,” Mack said, moving over to make room for me on the couch.
“Omega woke me up. He’s been explaining the error of my ways. I want to apologize for, well, having a meltdown,” I said, keeping my head up and taking them all in. I sat next to Mack. Away from everyone else.
Chris nodded, arms crossed. My aunt crossed the room in quick steps and hugged me tight. Darcy looked uncertain but smiled my way. Gina Velasquez watched me with sharp, analytical eyes and Stacia… Stacia watched me like a wary wolf. There was both a quiet defiance in her pose as well as intense vulnerability.
“I won the office pool,” Lydia said from onscreen. “Been saying you were going to pop like a balloon for months now.”
Nika was standing behind the little vampire and shaking her head while mouthing full of crap.
Lydia spun suddenly in a vampiric blur but Nika’s face had gone still and blank a split second before that happened.
“So, Omega went ahead and woke you up. How do you feel?” Tanya asked, ignoring the two next to her.
“To be honest, I was pretty pissed when I woke up but he pointed out the reality of the situation, so now I’m mostly embarrassed. I also didn’t know Chris could cut magic like that. So I suspect there’s other stuff you both haven’t shared,” I said.
She tilted her head, giving the slightest of nods before asking the next question. “And how does that make you feel about working with us?”
I rubbed my head. There was no lying to this group. “I don’t know. I understand why it happened, but I don’t fully understand why that particular set of actions occurred. I’m sure you all don’t trust me now,” I said.
“And you probably don’t trust us,” Tanya said. It wasn’t a question.
“Which is likely the exact result the fae individual you’ve labeled as a black dog was seeking,” Omega said.
“I thought he was seeking Declan dead,” Mack said.
“The force of numbers activated were far too low to reasonably gain such a goal. Even the attack thwarted by Stacia would not likely have worked. But creating a situation that pitted Earth officials against team members was highly probable. Achieving a scenario where team members were at odds with each other was likely the greatest possible outcome imaginable,” Omega said.
“Creating any element of distrust among us would reduce our effectiveness,” Tanya said.
“You, as a group, are one of the leading forces against both the Vorsook and the queens of Fairie. Isolating Declan from the rest of you plays exactly into their hands, and it was achieved with the loss of just a few small pawns.”
Chris exchanged a look with Tanya over the Skype connection. “Declan, I bear some blame here, too. I’m not sorry from stopping you from attacking Krupp, but my method was too confrontational. I… struggle with my dark side, too. If Stacia hadn’t intervened, one of us might have… no, almost certainly would have crossed a line of no return.”
I couldn’t help shooting a glance at Stacia but flicked my eyes back to him as I nodded once.
“Well, this is awkward,” Lydia said with fake cheeriness. “Now what happened with Krupp, the black dog dude, and how did he shield himself from direct magical attack?”
“That individual fae is being held in an ultra high security federal facility, a prototype structure designed to hold supernaturals. A close search of the individual by the FBI Supernatural Task Force magical consultant resulted in the discovery of a small clear diamond earring that boasts significant anti-magic properties. Agent Krupp has taken personal custody of that item.”
“And they still can’t keep you out, can they, Omega?” Lydia asked.
“No Lydia, they cannot. They have made considerable attempts but my reconnaissance drone technology remains ahead of their best efforts.”
“So, to summarize, we conducted a successful foray onto Fairie but fell into a psyops attack that has left us with trust issues. Declan, how do you feel about me?” Tanya asked.
“Ah, what?” I asked.
“Well, you know that Chris has some anti-magic abilities and you’ve guessed that I have some capabilities of my own should you and I come to opposition. What would you do?”
My first impulse was to say I’d do nothing, but that would have been a lie. After a moment, I, maybe unwisely, spoke my thoughts. “I’m guessing your abilities would involve voice and sonic stuff. A bunch of ideas for Air-based spells occur to me.”
“And Chris’s approach?” she pressed.
“Likely aura-based, so that’s trickier. Got a few ideas though,” I said guardedly.
“Thanks for your honesty. I would be very disappointed in you if you weren’t actively seeking workarounds for both. That would be a failure of my training and judgment of you. Perhaps we should train with all our capabilities?” she suggested, one eyebrow up.
I nodded slowly. “Why not.”
“Hey, what about the elephant in the room… or should I…” Lydia started to say but stopped cold as Tanya’s hand appeared over her mouth.
“I’ll clear my schedule and head up this afternoon. Are you still willing to go back to Fairie?” Tanya asked.
“The queens would get what they wanted if we didn’t,” I said. “So yeah, of course.”
“Okay, we’re going to sign off now,” Tanya said and after a quick chorus of goodbyes, she disconnected.
Chris came over. “What do you think? Can we start over?”
I nodded. He held out a hand and I shook it. Like gripping a piece of industrial machinery.
“All right then, I’ll leave you to it. We’ll get together when Tanya gets up
here,” he said. As he left, Darcy moved into his spot.
“You had me worried there, kiddo,” she said. She definitely still looked worried.
“Yeah, I slipped up a bit—more than a bit,” I said.
She nodded. “Listen, what happened out there… it was a lot for the guys in my department to process. They’ve only ever seen the finding lost kid stuff or missing evidence spells that Ashling does for them. You scared them—badly—today. Maybe you could keep a low profile, okay?”
“Yeah, no traffic infractions or reasons to get pulled over. I can do that, Darcy,” I said.
