Blood Bonds

by Adrienne Wilder

  “I’m sorry about them.” And Haley was. Niles might not have cared about Human life, but she did.

  “I know you are.” Garrett looked up and made an angry sound in the back of his throat. “Damn.”

  Haley saw it too. A crowd of people rushed around the edge of the prison yard, carrying large homemade signs slashed with red letters--kill the wyrm.

  Garrett groaned, “Christ on a Cross, don’t these people ever sleep?” His eyes flipped up at the Alchemists who were moving like molasses in January. Obviously giving the protesters enough time to make it around the yard to where they were about to exit.

  Wasn’t this a restricted zone? Unauthorized personnel will be detained and all that? Haley was pretty darn sure the Earth for Humans junkies were not authorized.

  “Someone must have made some phone calls.”

  Garrett grunted in agreement. “Some of the guards here have life memberships.”

  “Great.”

  The first of the protestors slammed into the fence screaming obscenities. Garrett stepped in front of Haley and flashed his ID. If they saw it, none of them cared.

  “Kill the wyrm!” The chanting drowned out any threats Garrett made.

  “I’m sorry about this,” Garrett said.

  But this wasn’t anything unusual. Sad to say it was pretty much standard operating procedure.

  Haley side stepped a protestor’s attempt to impale her through the fence with the sharp end of his sign handle. There weren’t that many of them--fifty tops. But it didn’t take long for all of them to join in. Pretty soon, Haley and Garrett had to step all the way back, to avoid getting hit.

  “Where the hell is their security?” Garrett grabbed one of the sharpened sticks and yanked it through the chain link, shredding the sign and obliterating the photo of mutilated Human bodies that had been stapled to the front.

  Someone spit and Haley caught it on the side of the face.

  “Damn it.” Garrett moved in front of her.

  Haley wiped her cheek and scanned the screaming Humans. She caught sight of a white van pulling into the parking lot. “I think we’re about to have bigger problems.”

  Through the breaks in the waving signs and flailing arms Haley could just make out the Channel Two logo on the side of the van.

  Oh yeah, they were about to get some really big problems.

  Garrett yelled into his cell phone, demanding they get the riot squad out.

  “Cleanse the Earth!” The next round of chants began and someone got out the bullhorn. “No more Children of Cain!”

  Humans and their Biblical references.

  The Channel Two news van opened up and the reporters and camera crew filed out like well-trained SWAT team members. Instead of HK-416 they had the latest Sony HDs.

  Protestors were shoved out of the way as the camera crew and head reporter made their way through.

  Surprise, surprise, Sandra Munly was leading the pack. Seems she was always first on the scene when it came to anti-Kin news. Only thing stopping her from shoving the microphone in Haley’s face was the twelve foot chain link wall. If there hadn’t been razor wire at the top, she would have probably climbed it to get an exclusive.

  Sandra spoke into her microphone, “Haley Night, is it true you attempted to aid serial man-eater,Niles Fury in an escape attempt today?” She stuck the end through the fence like she could skewer a reply.

  Talking to reporters was about as effective as scratching poison ivy. And yet you just can’t help yourself.

  “No. Nothing like that happened here,” Haley said.

  A camera lens hit the fence almost level with her face. Haley let Garrett push her back again. His hand came up in front of the lens.

  “We have no comments.”

  Sandra Munly seemed to be having a hearing problem. She moved her microphone closer to Garrett.

  “We’ve heard reports that as many as five guards are critically injured and three are dead. Can you confirm or deny this?”

  “What part of ‘no comment’ did you not understand?” His eyes went up to the guard tower. “Tell me those bastards are not smiling.”

  Haley took a quick glance. “Looks like they are, sir.”

  Garrett flipped open his phone again and dialed.

  Sandra Munly turned her mic and camera onto one of the protestors.

  “Can you tell us why you’re here today?” Haley caught the sneer the reporter flashed in her direction.

  “To wake up America!” the protestor screamed. “We have to stop these things from polluting our planet, our gene pool, our chances of survival. They are a disease, they are filth, they are nothing but child killers and rapists...”

  Haley turned away. It was better not to listen.

  All of Garrett’s yelling must have finally gotten to someone. The sound of foot falls echoed across the parking lot as an Alchemist team approached, their batons beating in time with every step.

  Garrett growled. “About damn time.”

  Haley wasn’t sure which were worse: the protestors and their bullhorn or the Alchemists and their magic.

  The riot squad filed out and cut the crowd in half. Sandra protested as she was separated from her crew. The gate opened. Garrett led the way. The riot squad did their job but barely. The trail they cut was narrow but it got her to her car.

  When Haley saw it the only thing she could say was, “Shit.”

  Her ‘65 Mustang had all four tires slashed and the words “cunt” and “wyrm” scratched into the primer paint. The back windshield was busted out and it looked like someone had backed their truck into the side. By the color of the paint it was most likely the silver suburban parked over on the other side. It was also the only other car within a hundred feet except for Garrett’s state-issued sedan.

  Something hit Haley in the side of the head. She recoiled from the wetness and slapped at the white bits clinging to her hair.

  Eggs. The protesters were now throwing eggs. There were so many nasty meanings in that. Eggs were what they had smashed in Texas, back in the eighties, when the Queen of Houston was assassinated by the local people and the Dens were destroyed. Only those eggs had living Kin in them. While Kin accept the strength of the Dominant, the killing of that which has no chance to fight for life was an insult which almost caused a civil uprising--of Draconian proportions.

  Garrett’s coat came down over her head and she let him push her towards his car. The dull splats of bursting chicken eggs followed them. He shoved her into the driver’s seat and she crawled across to the passenger side. Haley didn’t come out from under the coat until she was sure all the doors were closed. Garrett fumbled with the key a second before the engine roared to life.

  Well, at least they’d left his ride alone. Haley glanced back at her car in the rear view. One of the protestors stood on the hood and urinated through a brand new hole in her windshield.

  She sighed. “My car...”

  “You were going to get it repainted anyhow.” Garrett threw the sedan in gear and hit the gas.

  “It’s not the paint job I’m worried about. Do you know how much it costs for leather seats?”

  Garrett slammed on the brakes when one of the demonstrators stepped out in front. Haley caught herself before spilling onto the floor board.

  The man shook his sign at them, screaming. At some point all the insults just blended together until it was nothing more than a rash of unintelligible gibberish. Garrett inched the car forward using the bumper like a cattle pusher until the guy had enough and got out of the way.

  But not before taking one last swing with his military boot and taking out the mirror on Garrett’s side.

  The sedan pulled out into the two-lane and the ADF shrunk away in the distance. It was a while before Haley spoke. “Thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “Back there. For coming to get me. They weren’t going to let me out, were they?” Garrett didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. Haley knew when Kin wound up in holes like
the ADF they usually didn’t get out.

  “They said you shifted without clearance.”

  Her hearts stuttered. If she was getting fingered for shifting, then Niles had to be dead. Why did that bother her?

  “Is he dead?” Haley’s throat felt too tight and her head too heavy. Garrett glanced at her then back at the road. “Garrett...”

  “No, not yet. You didn’t answer me.”

  “No. No, not full form.” She knew better. It didn’t matter if you killed in self-defense or the defense of others, even if it was one of your own. If you did it in full form it was an automatic death penalty. “I pulled a little strength is all. Some claw, scale, but I did not shift.”

  “I told them to send up the surveillance when they sent your briefcase.”

  “I did not shift.” Saying it out loud made Haley feel better.

  “I believe you. I think they were just trying to bide time for Colonel Dobson to get there.”

  “Why?”

  “Because then I wouldn’t have been superior on the scene.”

  “He’d pull rank?” As if that was new. Haley didn’t know much about Dobson, but what she did know was bad. He was a little too Human-Puritan for her taste. And Farley hated him.

  Garrett kneaded the steering wheel, making his knuckles turn white. His scent changed.

  “What is it?” Haley asked.

  He gave her a sideways glance then his eyes were back on the road.

  “Garrett?”

  The man shifted in his seat and the muscle in his jaw ticked. “Dobson’s been sending me promotion forms with your name on it.” Another quick glance as if he might be concerned she was still there.

  “And?”

  “I’ve been denying them.”

  There had to be a good reason for Garrett to deny Haley anything, because he knew she did her job and did it well.

  “What kind of promotion are we talking about?”

  “He wants to give you I-O clearance.”

  Haley leaned back and stared out over the dash. I-O clearance? That was pretty much a free ride card. She’d never heard of Kin having it. Only a few top Human military and Folk internal investigation team members had it. And she wasn’t military and she sure wasn’t Folk.

  “Somehow I get the suspicion that being I-O isn’t all that?”

  Garrett nodded. “If you’re I-O, the Bureau owns you, and the only ones using I-O members are the Director and the Military Branch. Dobson runs military operations. If you had I-O, Dobson would call the shots.” Which meant she could wind up right back in a lab. That was not something Haley wanted to relive again. Sure, it had been done with the intentions of bettering both species, but living like that had been terrifying.

  “And you told him no?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” When she glanced his way he smiled. “I have the feeling he wouldn’t be the type to give me a corner office.”

  “No, he wouldn’t. Dobson is a dangerous man.” Garrett’s hands flexed again and his knuckles popped.

  “And?”

  His smile fell and the tick returned. “After this little incident today, I’ve requested an investigation from upstairs. What happened today shouldn’t have. No one in their right mind would have sent you in with Niles Fury.”

  “I got the email this morning. The D.A.’s office okayed everything with the Director and I went in. I left you a message with Claire.” Haley shivered. “If you think I jumped the fence on this one...”

  “No. That’s not what I’m saying at all.” He glanced at her again and this time his stare lingered. There was a little worry in those storm cloud eyes of his. Haley looked away. Other Humans showed weakness, never Garrett.

  She stared out the window and watched the tree line start to shrink as it was replaced by more and more concrete. “Then what are you saying?”

  “I called the Director after I got the call you were in holding. No one okayed anything with her. She didn’t even know you were gone. I called the D.A.’s and asked around. No one knew anything about the request.”

  Haley stared, well aware her mouth was hanging open like a barn door. “I got the email directly from the D.A.’s office. It came from Marco’s email account. I swear.”

  Garrett nodded. He flicked on the blinker, and took the I-20 off ramp and headed into downtown.

  “The email came from the D.A.’s office. I checked it myself before I came and forwarded it to upstairs. Just in case. I had Ken in IT double check what I found. He said it came from the D.A.’s office, too.”

  Good. If Ken said it came from the D.A.’s office, then this wasn’t some figment of her imagination.

  “He verified it as coming directly from the D.A.’s account.”

  Even better.

  “So what’s the problem?” she asked.

  “Paul Marco didn’t send you the request. He decided after Bob...” The “pissed his pants” went unsaid. “He decided whatever Niles had to offer wasn’t worth putting another person through that. They were worried Niles tried to make Bob do something...”

  “You mean push him?” Haley shook her head. “He’s Male. Queens do stuff like that, but not Males. Males just don’t have that kind of metaphysical power.”

  “He’s old, Haley, really old.” Garrett turned onto Industrial Street. “No one’s sure how old he is. Even the old Hatching records, preserved by census, don’t have an exact date.”

  “You could ask his Brother.”

  “What Brother?”

  She shrugged a little. “Niles mentioned a Brother ... what?”

  Garrett gave her a look. “While the dates of his hatching are fuzzy, the one thing that isn’t are the number of eggs in that clutch. And there was only one.”

  Which was unusual. Clutches rarely had less than a hundred. Unless, of course, he’d once been a Prince. Still, why would Niles talk about a Brother he didn’t have? The records had to be wrong. If he really was that old, it was a distinct possibility. After all, it’s not like they make a spell check for stone tablet five-point-oh.

  She glanced at Garrett, but he was watching the road. He took another right and headed up Peach. The CFKR building was only a few blocks on the right.

  He said, “I’ve requested a full I.N.I. on the email, and the D.A.’s office has issued its own full internal investigation.”

  Why would someone send her a trumped up email so she would meet with Niles Fury? What would it accomplish?

  “What are you thinking?” Garrett pulled the car into the back lot and parked it in his usual spot. The thrum of the sedan’s engine made Haley miss her Mustang. Not because they sounded anything alike. Quite the opposite. It was a sad reminder of how good hers felt. She was going to miss the vibrations of the engine biting into her bones.

  “How I’m going to miss my car.” It wasn’t a lie, but it also didn’t fool Garrett for a second.

  “Before that.”

  “Who would want me to talk with Niles and why?”

  He gave a nod. A short quick one that said he was thinking along the same lines. Garrett opened his door and Haley followed.

  “Here.” She started to hand him his jacket then looked down at herself.

  “Keep it until you get changed.”

  Yeah, it was no secret she kept a few extra clothes in the downstairs locker room. Getting bled on wasn’t all that uncommon of an experience when it came to interviewing her people.

  “Thanks,” Haley said. “For everything.”

  Garrett’s gaze was hard. “Nothing about you is ever boring, you know that?” A small dark smile replaced the thin slash of his mouth.

  “Great. Is there an Employee of the Month award for that?”

  The smile cracked and he almost laughed.

  Almost.

  Chapter 5

  Haley was out of the shower in record time. She finished getting dressed and worked on getting her hair dry. Black dominated her wardrobe--it was easier to mix and match that way--but now she wore
a red blazer with a black skirt.

  Her shoes were the same three inch heels she’d started the day in. Garrett didn’t approve of her choice in footwear. But at five-foot-three she needed the heels to give her an extra few inches. The neck cramps from looking up got old. Besides, they made her legs look good.

  Haley knew she was not immune to the kind of vanity that infected Kin from coast to coast. But she hadn’t had the choices of form and shape that so many of her people were given. She was by no means unattractive. The way Human men looked at her confirmed that ample hips and breasts were well appreciated, but she lacked the artificial perfection of god-like beauty.

  Instead of being obsessed with unblemished beauty in her white-scale days, she’d been fascinated with the details of the Human body, such as the hair on their arms, the scars on their skin, the change of pigment depending how much sun their bodies were exposed to.

  The results had been a less than perfect form, flawed in ways synonymous with Humanity. It also made her almost impossible to pick out in a crowd. Unless, of course, the one doing the Where’s Waldo routine could sniff out the difference. Haley had long ago accepted that her lack of Kin perfection was fate, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy nice clothes and expensive shoes.

  Very. Expensive. Shoes.

  As Haley walked down the hall and through the front lobby, she knew the news of what happened that morning was already making its way around the office. She’d have to be blind, deaf and dumb to not notice the averted eyes, the cold glares and muffled whispers. Even though she’d been with the Center longer than the building had been standing, there were still people here who didn’t trust her. Hell, a lot of them didn’t even like her, especially the women.

  Haley couldn’t decide what was worse: the men who thought she was a whore, or the women who also thought she was a whore. Only worse because she wasn’t even discrete about it. She’d given up trying to explain things years ago. Why bother? Her job was to deal with her people, which meant a lot of touching and palm licking.