by Petra Landon
“Something even a Chosen without significant power could work” the Alpha reminded him.
“Agreed” Jason acknowledged. “Let me see what I can dig up. Then, we’ll make inquiries to see if anything is missing or went missing during the Registry affair.”
“Sounds like a plan” Raoul assented. “I also have news from Faoladh’s men in India. The man Matilda Redmayne married in India died last week. His death is being treated as suspicious by his son who is now the new leader of his people. Tribhuvan Rathore was a Chosen — an Ancient who led a group of Magicks called the Naga Log, the snake people.”
Someone gasped in the room. The snake people were a mystical sect of Ancients believed to worship and receive their powers from a Snake God. Over the centuries, their numbers had dwindled down to nothing. Many even believed that these mysterious First Ones had died out, like so many of their brethren capable of working very old magic.
“As Duncan predicted, Lady Bethesda chose carefully and well” the Alpha remarked. “Faoladh’s men are attempting to trace her whereabouts after India, now that we know The Prophecy calls for a third daughter.”
“Is there a daughter in India?” Sienna asked softly.
“Yes, she had twins. The son is the new leader.”
“What of the daughter?”
“All we know so far is that she’s an engineer who works and lives in the nearest city, from where the Naga reside in, at the foothills of the Himalayas. From the early reports we have, she doesn’t seem very involved with her people.”
Much like her, Sienna mused with a pang. Once the blasted locket no longer hung around her neck like a noose, she’d talk to Aunt Minnie about reaching out to her half-siblings, she determined.
“This suspicious death.” Luis asked the question. “Does Faoladh believe it has anything to do with Lady Bethesda?”
“They’re looking into it” the Alpha admitted. “It seems too much of a coincidence.”
Raoul glanced at the Guardian who wore a thoughtful expression on his face. “Now that we believe Lady Bethesda set out to fulfill her husband’s last prophecy, I’d like access to the official version of The Prophecy. It’s the only way to ensure we don’t miss any detail Lady Bethesda has based her ambitions on.”
All they knew about The Prophecy was what Faoladh had shared with the Alpha when he’d first asked Raoul to look into the break-in at The Vault. Three powerful Chosen sisters, born of different fathers, would one day come together to change the very foundations of the Chosen world. Vague and dissatisfactory in the details. And yet, a powerful Wizard had seen something in it, enough to go on a killing spree before faking her own death in an explosion that had killed both Chosen and human alike, including her own husband and nine other Guardians. A prophecy that had inspired an elaborate scheme to birth three powerful daughters the Oracle had foretold would one day wield a lot of influence in the world of Magicks.
While Raoul was confident it was an audacious power grab by the Wizard, he hadn’t yet worked out the details of how she planned to make the play. One thing he had learnt from the investigation so far was that their adversary was meticulous, cunning, ruthless and ambitious. And Raoul intended to make damn sure that they didn’t miss a single trick in the book when it came to thwarting Lady Bethesda. The only way to do so successfully was by understanding the Wizard and her motives.
“I’ll let the First Wizard know that you’d like access to the official records. But I have to warn you that the GCW is going to resist this tooth and nail” Jason remarked.
“Does not the First Wizard supersede the Guardian Council?” Hawk asked with some surprise. To Shifters like him, brought up to believe that the chain of command was paramount to the life and longevity of Wyrs, the infighting within the Wizards was incomprehensible. How did they ever get anything done, he wondered, if they didn’t know whose directives superseded the others’?
“She does.” Jason smiled. “But it is more complicated than that, Hawk. Ever since the election of a First Wizard, there has been a constant power struggle between her and some of the older Guardians. The situation is particularly bad right now.”
For centuries, the Guardians had been the sole protectors entrusted with the welfare of all Wizards, until the post of First Wizard had been created twenty-five years ago to represent their kind on the CoC. Guardians old enough to remember a time when they were accountable for their actions only to their peers resented the First Wizard’s position in their world.
“Is it because Sienna chooses to live in a Shifter Lair?” Hawk asked shrewdly. “Instead of entrusting her safety to the Guardians.”
“That, and the fracas at the San Francisco Registry does not help, of course” Jason admitted candidly. “But the simple fact is that the GCW disapproves of the First Wizard requesting Shifter assistance to investigate one of theirs.”
“One of them!” Elisabetta’s voice rose incredulously, punctured by anger. “Lady Bethesda killed ten Guardians and a Registry full of Wizards. And you’re telling me that the Guardians still consider her one of them?”
Jason shrugged in his easy way. “I’m the wrong person to direct this question at. I believe the Alpha’s team is the best one to lead this investigation. You’ve managed to uncover more in the past few weeks than all the investigations twenty-four years ago. That’s the reason why the First Wizard assigned me to this team.”
There was a short pause as the Shifters pondered his words. Sienna attempted to hide a smile, the grim mood precipitated by a recital of her mother’s misdeeds forgotten at Jason’s statement. Trust Jason to disarm them with simple honesty, she mused in silent amusement.
“Hmm, perhaps, it might be better if the request for official records for The Prophecy came from Faoladh” the Alpha remarked perceptively to Jason.
Jason’s chocolate brown eyes gazed back at him good-humoredly. “Certainly can’t hurt, Alpha. Faoladh’s request will definitely carry more weight than mine.” Unsaid were the words that the First Wizard owed Faoladh big for what his Shifters had already uncovered about Lady Bethesda.
“I do have some good news” Jason continued. “The First Wizard has agreed to release all documents from the investigations over the years into Lady Bethesda’s various sightings, as well as some of the original inquiries early on regarding the allegations of murder against her. She would like your team to have access to the reports.”
The Alpha wondered how the First Wizard had managed this in the teeth of the Guardians’ opposition.
“These are all investigations by the Office of First Wizard” Jason explained. “She’s been unsuccessful in persuading the GCW to give you access to any of their investigations. But I figured it couldn’t hurt to look through these reports — we might get lucky and find something they missed the first time around.”
“It’s a good idea.” Raoul agreed whole-heartedly with the Guardian on this. This was a particularly wily and shrewd opponent they faced; it would not do to leave any stone unturned. And he knew just the right person to comb through the documents: someone who’d already demonstrated a surprising knack for getting under the skin of Lady Bethesda to help understand what drove her.
The gold eyes zeroed in on Tasia where she sat with Hawk and Sienna. “I want you to review the documents and summarize all pertinent information in a short report for us.”
“Me?” Tasia was taken aback by his unusual directive.
“You’ve done well so far in piecing together the puzzle.” His voice was very even, the gold eyes direct.
That was a compliment, wasn’t it? That had to be a compliment.
Tasia stared at the Alpha, her astonishment evident. Elisabetta’s beautiful face reflected her surprise while Simeonov merely looked taken aback. The rest of the room simply waited for Tasia to respond, seemingly unsurprised by the Alpha’s statement.
Sure, I can do that. How hard can it be?
“Okay” Tasia assented.
“I can help, Tasia” Sienn
a offered from beside her. “That is, if it’s okay with you, Alpha?”
“I assumed this might dig up unpleasant memories for you.” He chose his words with care.
“No.” Sienna shook her head firmly. “It’ll give me something to sink my teeth into.” Especially given that she was effectively a prisoner in the Lair until the locket could be plucked off her neck.
“I’ve no objections if …” he glanced at Tasia to leave the sentence unfinished, clearly leaving it up to her to make the decision.
“I’d love your help, Sienna.” Tasia shook off her consternation to accept the offer without hesitation.
A brusque compliment. And, allowing me to make the decision on Sienna. Wonders will never cease. Woke up on the right side of the bed this morning, did he?
Accepting Sienna’s assistance was a no-brainer. Tasia liked the other Wizard and could empathize with Sienna’s predicament. Being locked up in this place with a bunch of Shifters was no walk in the park, as she knew. Plus, Sienna’s insights into politics and Wizard machinations would be an asset to any investigation into a Guardian. While Sienna had chosen to make a life away from the Wizards, she had grown up in the bosom of that world. She was Wizard royalty, with connections to many of the major players their investigation touched upon.
“One more thing, Merceau” Jason interjected. “I have confirmation that Gabriel Azevedo, the Guardian who walked away from the GCW a few years before Lady Bethesda, left us to work for the Lombardis — the same Vampires now allied with her. I’m digging more into that connection as we speak.”
Tasia lowered her gaze to the floor, and focused on regulating her breaths. An experienced Shifter could pick up on her heightened emotions, and there were many Shifters in the room tonight, not all of them privy to her secret. Gabriel Azevedo was her father. The Alpha, Duncan and Hawk were aware of this connection — the Alpha had blown up spectacularly at Tasia for keeping it from him after her father’s name had cropped up in their investigation.
“You’re probably catching flak from the other Guardians for accepting Pack hospitality” Raoul commented later to Jason in the privacy of the Alpha’s Room — the smaller sound-proofed room, set aside for his use, accessible only from the vast Pack Room. After the discussion in the Pack Room, the Alpha had pulled Jason in for a private word, away from the rest of the team.
Jason shrugged. “It’s to be expected.”
“I was surprised when you accepted the invitation to stay here at the Lair.”
Jason met the enigmatic eyes of the Alpha with equanimity. “I was certainly surprised when you extended the invitation. Why did you?” he inquired curiously.
Raoul studied the steadfast face of the man before him.
“We make a good team on this investigation. And you’ve shown a willingness to do the right thing, even if it means going up against your fellow Guardians.”
Jason let out a soft chuckle in response. “Yeah, that’s exactly why I’m so popular with my fellow Guardians, as you put it.”
“This is going to put a little kink in my attempts to get you the dirt on Anderson” he warned, a tad soberly.
“How so?” Raoul inquired. Anderson was the Guardian who had let loose Shifter mercenaries on Wizards in San Francisco, culminating in an attempt to harm Tasia in the local Wizard Registry.
Confident that, for now, he had Anderson believing that Tasia Armstrong was not the Wizard the Guardian hunted, Raoul was nonetheless convinced that Anderson had been looking for the witchling all along. Somehow, Anderson had discovered that his former best friend, Azevedo, had fathered a powerful Chosen who lived incognito in San Francisco as a Wizard with little magic. To find her, the Guardian had unleashed a reign of terror in San Francisco with hired thugs who had almost torn apart the Pack’s relationship with the local Wizards, as well as the local Vampire nest. Raoul fully intended to teach Anderson a lesson for the transgression — more than the humiliation he had already heaped on him publicly. But more importantly, he wanted to know why the Guardian had been searching for Tasia here, and how he had come by the information about the witching. He had given the witchling his word to unravel this dangerous mystery that posed such a threat to her.
“The Guardians know that I’m working with you on this investigation, Merceau. Before, they could dismiss it by telling themselves that I had not been able to deny the First Wizard when she’d chosen me for the task. But now, the news of my taking residence at your Lair has spread like wild fire and some Guardians are rethinking my motives. They’re leery of discussing matters they think might get back to you. Anderson’s friends will clam up the moment I make inquiries about him — they’ll guess you’re the one interested in the information.”
Raoul sighed silently. He hated Wizards and their politics with a vengeance. Yet, he needed this information, and Jason was by far his best bet to dig up any dirt on a fellow Guardian.
“I can still get you the information, Merceau” Jason reiterated. “There are other ways of getting it. I’ve friends in the GCW who don’t judge me as harshly as the rest do. Just bear with me and I will get you what you want. It might take a little more time than I’d anticipated though. That’s why I wanted to give you a heads up.”
Raoul contemplated the Wizard silently. He did not trust people easily, and made it a point to never trust a Wizard. His faith in a Wizard’s word had died a horrendous death, in a broken-down barn almost a decade ago. But Duncan had asked him to trust this one, and he tended to give Duncan’s words a lot of weight. Plus, Jason had surprised him with a willingness to work with the Shifters in good faith.
“I owe you for Sienna” Jason added soberly, as the Alpha remained silent. “And I’ll make good on the debt.”
A few days ago, Duncan had perspicaciously remarked on the Guardian’s feelings for the Wizard he protected. Now, Raoul realized that Duncan had been right, as usual, when it came to matters of the heart.
“Alright” Raoul assented.
“There’s another problem” Jason continued. “The locket around Sienna’s neck is proving a lot harder to remove than I thought.”
He sighed wearily. “I’ve informed the First Wizard and she shares my concerns about it. We need to get it off Sienna urgently but Vampire magic, though not powerful in the traditional sense of the word, is hard to counteract with Wizard magic. Or any kind of magic, for that matter. No matter what we try, the inherent magic encased in it causes Sienna to hurt herself.”
Raoul understood the Guardian. Leeches might not have powers in the traditional sense, like the other Magicks, but their magic could be just as effective as that of other Chosen when used appropriately. There were many aspects that separated the Clan from the other Chosen. Many in their world did not regard the Undead as Chosen, although now that a leech sat on the CoC as one of the four representatives, other Magicks tended to stay silent on the matter.
“What do you intend to do about it?” Raoul inquired. There was nothing any Shifter could do to help Sienna — their magic was very different. The witchling might be able to help, but Raoul was damned if he’d allow her to place herself in danger by doing so. It would raise the suspicions of the Wizards. They didn’t come any more aristocratic than Sienna, for the Spell Casters. Her blood lines were impeccable, and the Wizards took such things very seriously. Raoul was confident that the Wizards would never allow the locket to hang around Sienna’s neck a second longer than necessary.
“The First Wizard has reached out to ElThor” Jason said steadily.
Interesting, Raoul mused. The First Wizard had obviously lost confidence in her Guardians. ElThor stood for The First One in the tongue of the Ancients — it was the moniker the Ancients had given to their representative on the Council of Chosen. Faoladh had a good relationship with ElThor and his Ancients. They respected the Shifter for his achievements in providing harmony and structure to his brethren, as well as his efforts at bringing all Chosen together under the umbrella of the CoC. The First Wizard, on the
other hand, enjoyed a pricklier relationship with the Ancients. From what Raoul had gathered, this had more to do with the Guardians than her, though. Perhaps her request for assistance might improve the Wizards’ relationship with the Ancients. Not that he gave a damn about any of it. The Wizards looked up to the Ancients but down on all other Chosen. Raoul considered it poetic justice for them to be given a cold shoulder by the only Chosen the Wizards considered worthy of them.
Vancouver, British Columbia
“Send him in” TorElnor directed at the grizzled old retainer who guarded the inner sanctum zealously.
A tall man in his early thirties strode in unhurriedly.
“TorElnor” he greeted the First One politely, his good humor seemingly undisturbed after being kept waiting for the better part of an hour.
“Roman” the Elder responded. “I apologize for making you wait.”
The handsome face relaxed to break into a charming grin. “Figured you had more important business than me to deal with, Chief.”
TorElnor suppressed a smile. He liked the boy. He was whip-smart, shrewd, ambitious, and a natural born leader, able to inspire others to follow him. A little young yet, with a youngster’s penchant for casual disregard of centuries-old traditions and the ways of their people, but TorElnor had never held that against the boy. The boy was as comfortable amongst Si’ffa as he was with his First Ones brethren. That is what had first brought the boy to TorElnor’s attention. To the Elder, this was a quality worth its weight in gold and this young boy before him possessed it in spades. Roman would make a good leader of his people one day — that is why TorElnor made sure to keep an eye on the boy. Man, he should call him man, the Elder reminded himself. To someone a little over four hundred years, though, a thirty-two year old would forever be a boy. The boy was aware of the august responsibility he was being groomed for, of course. That was how it should be, to TorElnor’s mind. The First One to lead their people into the next century would require a steady hand, a shrewd brain, the ability to cobble together coalitions with other First Ones, the acumen to protect his Chosen and enough power to keep his people from straying from the path he chose. And, of course, as always, the leader should possess the charisma to inspire his people to follow him. The ability to work well with others, both Chosen and Si’ffa, had assumed a greater importance in recent years. He was an old man now, by any comparison, but even TorElnor knew that with the advent of the CoC, their world had changed forever. Co-operation with their Chosen brethren was the order of the day now. It would be good for the boy to start young, while still unfettered by any responsibilities. That way, when he did become the leader, he’d have already made his mistakes and hopefully learnt from them.
