by Voss Foster
"Not before I kill you."
"Maybe not. But I would certainly slow you down long enough, and hurt you significantly enough, that they could find the time to escape." He whipped the tether away, allowing that to dissipate while leaving the rings around Gileal's wrists.
"You cannot stop this. You have no right to stand in the way of our vengeance." Gileal's wrists expanded and, after a few seconds, broke the bonds. But he shrank his body back into proportion again instead of wailing one of us. Instead, he just spat venom. "It is not your place to involve yourselves with any of this. This conflict is ours, and we must do this. We must end this and return Echeni to her place."
"We can help you." It was bluff time. God, I hoped it would work. "We know where they are, and we have access to both palaces. We can help you get Echeni back and unseal your Kingdom and let the Kingdoms know what Al-Sekar did."
"That is not justice for the crimes against us."
"The queens of Tarwald are willing to make amends." Gutt walked up and nodded curtly. Behind his back, his hands still held a blaze of magic, sparking gold, but other than that he was calm…and honestly, not having magic at the ready in this moment would have made me worried for his sanity. Svenson was staying silent—best decision, all things considered—but he'd dropped the torch to his side and was just listening. He had that same look Swift did when he was just taking everything in. I guess that came with power and control. Or maybe the power and control only came once you actually listened and thought that way.
Gileal's eyebrows raised once again. "Tarwald wants to make amends." His voice was slightly soft. Hushed and a little uneasy. But it passed with a shake of his head. "What good is it if they apologize? It won't return anything to us. Echeni was still taken. We were still lied to and abused by Al-Sekar. Tarwald has been punished for their place in this already."
I had to swallow back a swell of hot swearing at that. Calling what they did to Lorath a punishment…this could all be handled later. "Your highness, the first step here is getting us out of your Kingdom. We can't get through the portal on our own." I wasn't even five percent sure how they got us in to begin with. "There's no chance for anything if we don't get out of here alive. That's going to kill any chance you have of ending this." They wanted Echeni back. It was my only card. "We may not have known the nature of the treasure, but my agency has full run of the Sekari palace. They'll figure it out when they see the body of a shapeshifter. And if we don't return intact, they'll destroy it."
"Echeni cannot be harmed!" His eyes widened, face twisting into a fresh scowl. "You will do no such thing."
"It's what will happen," said Svenson. He was playing along, and hopefully wouldn't screw anything up in the process. God knew I'd left enough holes in there for anyone, even the FBI director, to trip in. "It's standard protocol. If we don't make an appearance back in Al-Sekar in a timely fashion, I can't promise that your treasure will be safe. If the elemental children come to any harm, same outcome"
He was good. It was a lie, but they didn't need to know that. "The only way to ensure Echeni's safety is to bring us back and call off the unsealing of the elementals."
Gileal stepped back and his expression sharpened again. "What reason do we have to trust you? We could get out there, or reach the others you have with you, and be murdered on sight. You care about the children, not about us."
Which was right, for the most part. If it came down to a choice between saving those kids or saving the king of the shapeshifters, then there was no contest. "Gutt could have killed you on sight. You're intelligent enough to know that. You're only alive because we chose to show restraint. It's important that everyone comes out of this."
Slowly, Gileal shook his head. "You kept me alive because you need a way out of here."
Okay. This was falling apart. Fast. I didn't know what the hell I was supposed to say to fix this. Normally, this was when you called for backup. No phone. Or you pulled your sidearm…which was also gone.
"Take me as collateral." Svenson strode up and held his arms out in front of him like he was going to be handcuffed. "I'm the director of the FBI. I'm the insurance for your safe passage. Every agent there will listen to what I tell them, and if they don't want me dead, they'll cooperate with what you need."
Gelial looked him up and down, then darted his eyes to me. "The director?'
"Yes. But even if he wasn't, we don't shoot other agents." My throat was tight and full of acid. Sure, Svenson was sometimes an annoying jackass, but turning himself over to the shapeshifters was a hell of a dangerous decision.
And a hell of a negotiating tactic. Gelial wrapped one expanded fist around Svenson's wrists. "Unseal my doors, troll."
We were at a stretch of wall. The same sort of chains that I'd seen in the underground cavern covered a matching domed space here. All in all, the shapeshifters' kingdom didn't glow the same way as the other Kingdoms. Not even as bright as Tarwald's muted light. Maybe that had to do with age, or being disconnected from the rest of the Kingdoms. Or maybe it was about Echeni being missing. Maybe she was so powerful, or every Kingdom had some power source…
I stopped the flow of those thoughts. They were a nice distraction, but distraction was a bad decision. At any moment, Gelial could decide this deal was stupid, and we were already down one agent in the impossible fight. Svenson was in shackles and being led by two other shapeshifters. They were both currently about Gutt's size and build.
Gelial nicked my palm with a knife and I jerked backward. "What the hell?"
"You need to get through." He sliced his own hand as well, then pressed my hand into his. At first I felt only pressure and pain from the slice.
But then came the burning. The burning. I could feel his blood entering into my body, little tendrils and drops of fire creeping up my arm, then my shoulder, my chest. "What the hell did you do to me?"
"The blood and body of Echeni. The original power of our changing shape. It is in all of us…now it's in you."
He released my hand. I glanced behind me to see the same thing happening to Gutt and Svenson. Then Gileal pressed his hand into the center of my chest. The burning intensified, and it spread rapidly to every single cell. I grimaced against the agony.
Then I was nothing. I was looking at massive grains of sand and spiders that could easily eat me. Gelial shrank my body down to almost nothing.
Soon he was next to me and pointing forward. "Our crack is this way. We can discuss breaking the seal later."
It was bizarre, so small, compressed, all after feeling like my body was on fire. But I had to steel myself, get ready. I had a lot of balls in the air right now, including the FBI director's life hanging from a string around my finger. So I walked, and I made sure I could at least keep Gelial in my sights as he led us forward. Mostly because I wanted to have an eye on him in case he decided to do something I didn't like—at the very least I could tackle him and buy thirty seconds for…everyone else to get killed. I tried not to think about that tidbit too much. How completely helpless we were. Gutt was good, he was strong, but he was only so much.
We made it out with no fighting, thankfully. Back into the heat and desert. Back into that cavern with the chains, and clearing easily that space where my thumb had barely fit through into their Kingdom.
Again, I felt the slash of a knife on my palm, and more burning, and more fire, and growing…partway. I was maybe half my normal height. Gelial was still in the lead. "One more time, then we'll be out into the desert proper." He gestured to Svenson. "If this is a trap, he will be killed. Immediately."
"It's not a trap." I shook my head, following behind him.
Gelial opened a portal and led us all through. It was a tempting prospect to just run. I could turn left, get back somewhere into the Mundane. But there was a high likelihood Gelial's portal would just drop me into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And if it didn't, I'd still be a half-sized Dashiel Rourke, looking for a phone and hoping somebody spoke English or remedial high s
chool French.
So I walked straight, along with everyone else, back into the gleaming, glass center of Al-Sekar.
Chapter Fifteen
We made quite the spectacle just by walking. I guess ten years ago, I would have actually been shocked to see an honest to god myth or legend or fairytale accompanying an FBI agent down the street. And if that FBI agent was pint-size, all the weirder.
We passed one of the outposts on the way to the palace, and Ferah, one of the borrowed elven agents from Minneapolis, stepped out, leveling her Glock right at Gelial. Her eyes darted down our lineup, but only for a second. "You have our people. Let them go or I'll have to shoot."
"It's all right." Svenson, still half-size because I guess we were easier to control that way, spoke up behind me. "Give me your walkie."
Her eyes widened for a split second, and she made the smart call and didn't move. "Director Svenson?"
"Yes. It's a long story, but right now I don't have the time or patience to get into it. Give me the damned walkie talkie so I can address everyone."
After another couple seconds, Farrah nodded and bustled it over. Svenson spoke up, and his voice played in double, revealing a couple nearby agents who hadn't come out to join the party. "This is Director Svenson. We have three…shapeshifters with us." That word didn't slide off his tongue naturally, or without a healthy dose of venom. I kind of liked him more for that. Just a touch. "They are under FBI protection until such time as this matter is resolved, so stand down and grant us all free passage to the palace. Otherwise harm will come to me."
He handed it back. "All right. To the palace we go."
It was a well-calculated statement, put out across the Kingdom. It would bring anyone who wasn't nearby back to the palace as fast as they could come. Whether that would be any use, that was another question altogether.
Al-Sekar was still a stunning sight, even with FBI agents scattered among the mostly dead streets and silent buildings. Some things just didn't stop being impressive, and I guess impossibly tall glass spires glowing with magical energy was one of the things I could add to that list.
We made it all the way to the bridge before I finally saw another familiar face. Standing on the platform in front of the giant glass doors—already open, so no diamond dust, thankfully—was the distinctly blonde and robust frame of Agent King. She was also holding her sidepiece, but at least she had the forethought not to aim it straight into us and piss off the shapeshifters.
As we approached, Gileal and the other shapeshifters grew to their normal human size, leaving all of us stupid, silly little FBI agents at a nice disadvantage if things got physical. Well, a bigger disadvantage than we would have been at in the first place.
Finally, we'd crossed the bridge. Agent King moved straight in front of us and stood strong, blocking our way onto the platform. "Do you care to explain what's happening, and why there are three FBI agents shrank down to little runts? Or maybe why I shouldn't plug you in the forehead right now?"
"Stand down, Agent King." Svenson sounded fairly intimidating and authoritarian, but when I glanced back, he was still miniscule.
King apparently wasn't impressed either, not stepping aside or backing up. "We were told not to attack, fine. Sounds good. But I don't think we have any niceties going when you maim FBI agents. Nothing at all."
Gileal stood up taller and stiffer. King just made friends everywhere she went. "They aren't maimed. They are in perfect condition."
She snorted at him. "I don't care how it was done or what magic was involved in making this happen. If someone is missing half of their body, then I consider them maimed. Call me crazy."
She didn't move, and neither did Gileal…until he finally turned and pulled the knife. I saw King immediately whip out her gun. I held up my hands to pause her. "It's okay. This is how they change our sizes."
She eyed me and nodded, but she still didn't lower her weapon. I figured that was the best compromise I was going to get out of her. Plus I had a sneaking suspicion she was buying a little time. Maybe for them to prepare inside, or maybe just for Swift to actually get there. She was a hothead, but she wasn't the type to purposefully antagonize someone like Gileal unless she had a reason for it.
I burned one more time, and then I was properly sized again. At least I'm pretty sure. I was close enough. Hell, maybe they gave me a couple extra inches. That would have been okay with me. Honestly, just being able to look another human being in the eye was pretty damn nice.
King nodded and stepped aside. "Since you're supposed to stay protected and safe and all that crap, come this way. Although the FBI director in chains? Nice touch. Can't say I haven't wanted to do the same thing a few times."
"I volunteered, thank you." He nodded. "And you've handcuffed me at least once."
"That was for a joke. These ones would have been real for trying to interfere with OPA business." She gestured everyone forward. "You volunteered?"
"Collateral, to get us here safely. So I would ask you not shoot them, since they're likely to kill me if something like that happens."
King's face flashed for a second into a grimace, but then it all pulled back to a neutral, slightly playful expression. Anyone who didn't know King might think that was good. I knew it was completely abnormal. Abigail King didn't play.
We walked in and headed for the throne room—other agents were blocking off the other doors, so that seemed like the best decision. We were about halfway there when Gileal stiffened in front of me, stopping so short that I almost ran straight into him, and the shapeshifter behind me rammed straight into my back.
"She is here. The treasure." Gileal's voice was faint and hoarse. "Echeni. Mother. She is here. So close. I've never…" His breath hitched in a sob, and even I couldn't help falling a little into that emotion. It was so raw that it leaked out around him, forming a ring of awkward tension. His body actually shook, from the top of his head and the messy dreadlocks, all the way to his knees and his calves. "It's what's been missing. She is perfection."
"Yes, well she can be perfection once we talk about how you and your people are low-life child murdering sociopaths." Swift marched out from the door the other agents were guarding. Calm voice, pissed off words, and just generally smoking as he approached Gelial. He stopped six inches away from Gelial, nose to nose. "If I wasn't under direct orders, there would be a bullet in your knee and as many cuffs on your wrists as it took to keep you under control." Again, his tone wasn't angry, just matter of fact. He was well past being pissed off at some criminals. This was the eye of Swift's storm. It was the scariest place to be, surrounded by the whipping winds, but it was also currently safer than any lashing out, and probably the best space we could attempt to have for whatever negotiations were available.
"I've called off the attack. Who are you?"
"Nathanael Swift. Head of the Office of Preternatural Affairs. You kidnapped children and they're still kidnapped."
"They are as yet unharmed. And I am Gileal, King of Fulak."
"I don't give a damn. I really don't. Release those kids."
"They are unharmed."
"Some of them have been kept away from their families in God knows what conditions for over a month." A blaze of rage tinged Swift's voice at last, and he stepped back. "Don't you dare tell me that those children are unharmed. Children kept away from their parents, children kept in cages or dungeons or basements with people who couldn't give half a shit about them are not fine. I'll send you the damned research on it if you want. But don't tell me they're fine after what you decided they needed to be put through. I don't give a shit who the hell you are. Those children are broken after this. And maybe, if the families are lucky, they can be pieced back together into something that resembles who they used to be." And incredibly uncharacteristically, he spat on the floor at Gileal's feet. "The cards are all on my side, and you sicken me, so convince me that I shouldn't get my dragons to melt this whole palace to the ground with your stupid treasure inside of it."<
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Damn. Go Swift. He was dark and blunt and morose, but he also wasn't wrong at any point in that haze of anger. It was good, in spite of my stomach dropping into the soles of my feet. It was a reminder of exactly what we were dealing with, no matter how religious the experience of walking into the palace seemed to have been for Gileal.
After a few seconds, Gileal cleared his throat. "If you want to speak in so precise and exacting a manner, then I feel it worthwhile to remind you that we could crush dragons in our fists if it came to it. We could bite their heads clean off and drink the dew from their gullets." Gileal was also completely calm in his tone as he spoke. "So if you believe you hold the power in these negotiations, allow me to relieve you of those delusions." He raised a hand and spun it through the air over his head.
A crack and a scream behind me. I whipped around to see one of the shapeshifter guards holding Svenson's now mangled fingers in his fist. Svenson was pale, doubled over.
Swift shoved Gileal back. "If one more part of his body, or anyone else's body, is injured, we burn the body where it sits."
Now that was a reaction. Gileal dropped his hand immediately, and he turned his body just enough that I could see the left side of his face. Jaw slightly open, eye wide. "You know of Echeni's body. You know where it is."
"Well let's see. You walked in here and had yourself a little religious experience. Said that she was close. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put together that you're talking about the creepy floating yellow corpse lady. And no, I'm not telling you where it is. But I do have people at the ready. They'll riddle her full of bullets and light her on fire. So behave yourself." Swift actually smiled, which definitely didn't make him look unstable at all. "Unless you think you can move faster than I can give the order. Is that worth the risk?"
