“As for what people work with ASSET, yes,” Devon said. “I work to help train their agents, but I’m not privy to anything outside of my gym.”
“All magical personnel are limited. Only Terras are assigned to fieldwork.” Grey lowered his hand back down to his side. “And we agents of ASSET swear an oath to fight for peace. We use force only when necessary.”
“As did the first Terras.” Quarn pointed a finger at the book he’d been looking through.
I am rooted in the earth that bore me. Blood of the ancient magic runs through my veins. The Mother’s light has blessed me, and I am ready to take my place in the great cycle.
As the Mother has shared her light, I will share it and spread her glow around the earth.
As the Mother has given her blood, I will protect that blood from being spilled.
As the Mother has shown patience, I will not be quick to judge.
As the Mother has punished her children, I will punish those who break her laws.
As the Mother has forgiven, I shall remember temperance and mercy when punishing others.
As the Mother has buried her children, I shall remember the great cycle of life ends.
As the Mother has made me her soldier, I, and those who follow in my bloodline, shall follow her orders, from now until the end of time.
“Not exactly the oath we say today, but it sounds about right,” Grey agreed.
“Terras are so noble,” Sylvia scoffed.
Quarn stood and held his book to read. “The Mother offered the fruit of her great tree in peace to those who would have it. Once tasted, their lust for war was quenched by the sweet juices. They ate the fruit whole, leaving not one seed to fall back to the earth. After consuming the fruit, those who had once been at war found they’d lost the magic that had fueled their desires for power and superiority.”
“The fruit that took away their magic,” Sage said, remembering the passage she had read in Devon’s book.
Quarn cleared his throat, silencing the room before continuing. “Fearing they would be vulnerable to their brother’s power, one by one they fell to their knees, begging for the Mother to restore them. She made them each swear this oath: they, and their children, and their children’s children, in perpetuity, would all be bound to the Mother until the end of time. As a symbol of their agreement, each was branded with the image of the tree, a reminder of the oath they swore, and a way for the Mother to know her people. So long as the oath was honored, they wouldn’t need to fear their brothers.”
“And we don’t,” Grey said casually. “We still honor the oath we swore, as peacekeepers.”
Sage snorted. “You’ve got a funny way of honoring things.” She’d meant to say it under her breath. But he’d heard her.
“You still blame me for your mother?” Gray turned on her. “She was dark. Her light had been extinguished. I didn’t kill her; I saved you from that fate.”
“And using a vampire to bait me into joining you?” she threw at him. “Was that saving me too?”
“Would you rather I had kidnapped you? Forced your compliance? Or was showing you what threats might be out there really that underhanded?” he replied just as quickly.
She had no defense. His methods left a lot to be desired, but even she had to admit he’d done them with good intentions. She’d still punch him in his stupid face before long, though. “Whatever. You’re a boy scout. We should all learn from your example.”
“What we should do is stop squabbling amongst ourselves.” Devon cleared the air with his booming voice. “Quarn has pointed out that perhaps there’s a link between the fruit from the tree of life and whatever this weapon may be.”
“Fruit would rot.” Quarn closed the book. “But the seeds within… those could have been preserved.”
“The book you gave me said something about the Mother saving some of her fruit, in case she needed their power again,” Sage offered.
Grey held up a finger. She could see the wheels turning behind his expression as if he knew something but wasn’t quite sure what to say.
“The book speaks to the juice of the fruit quenching the lust for war. It could stand to reason that the seeds were what actually took away the power.” Quarn nodded thoughtfully.
“Like a sponge,” Grey finally said, his eyes growing wide with newfound realization, though his words were oddly chosen. “Not long ago…” He winced as if struggling for words. Sage could almost see the smoke rising as he gathered the power to run his Neanderthal brain. “I remember…a code word. Sponge. It had to do with an artifact bound for the European archives. A week or so ago, it came through our office with a special team.”
“So you admit to using it?” Silvia hissed at him from across the room.
“Are you listening? We can’t use it!” Grey roared back at her. “I never saw it, though I do remember heightened security as it was scheduled to pass through our office.” He turned to Sage. “Your mother was on the team taking it to Europe.”
Sage’s heart lurched. He’d been one of the last few to see her alive. “Did you know what it was she was carrying?”
“I knew it was special, that’s about all.” His reveal, for all the potential it had, only served to give them more questions. Grey appeared to be struggling for something more he could offer. “I was nosy. I asked one too many questions, tried to chat up the people who were transporting it, and got assigned newbie training as a result.”
If nothing else, his new information gave the group something more to do than squabble. For a few moments, silence fell over the room. Sage should have been thinking about the weapon, but all she could see was her mother’s face. How dark it had been. Miranda was the best. Why would anyone have turned her? She couldn’t have been party to any of the deaths. Terras were not able to use magic. Had she been aware of what was going on or was the weapon stolen from under her nose? Questions she might never get the answer to.
“When it passed through the Las Vegas office, were there any disputes?” Devon asked.
“Like I said, I don’t know. We had it here for about a week. There were lots of closed-door meetings. But when I got nosy, they reassigned me to all the shit details that kept me away from the office,” Grey replied.
“Well, clearly it was used during that time,” Sylvia reminded the group. “A whole bunch of vampires were destroyed.”
“But not by ASSET,” Grey pointed out. “Terras can’t use it if it is magic.”
“No one said anything about Terras,” Sylvia snarled back at him. She had a point. But it still didn’t seem feasible to have someone from another branch of magic handling it.
Sage added her thoughts. “But if someone else tried to use it, they’d just as easily be drained of their powers, wouldn’t they?”
“Don’t make assumptions about things you don’t understand.” Sylvia had a response for everything that made her or Grey look bad.
Sage bit back her angry reply, choosing to let others with presumably more knowledge take the heat.
“Do we know for certain that the weapon made it to the archives in Europe?” Nyx asked.
“If she went, she never returned alive,” Sage said in a reverent whisper. Her hand instinctively reached for the necklace her mom had given her. She clutched it tightly, hoping to feel some part of her mother still with her. “But I would guess, based on what happened next, that her team never made it off the ground.”
“Her mother was made a darkling,” Devon translated. “Sage has had a rude awakening.”
Nyx fluttered close to Sage’s head. “I’m sorry, dear.”
“Not as much as I am. That’s how I got mixed up in all this.” Sage sucked in a deep breath to get a hold of her emotions, fumbling idly with the pendant, letting her fingers trace the tree’s design.
“So we must work under the assumption that the weapon is a seed. And its last known place of record is here, in our city. But we still don’t know how it was used or by whom.” Quarn brought everyone
back on point.
“We need details about what happened to the seed while it was here. Where did it go? Who was guarding it?” Devon listed the questions on his fingers. “That’s in-house stuff for you Terras to figure out.”
Grey nodded.
“We also need to know more about this seed. Are there any records of them being used in the past? What are their properties? How is their magic activated?” Devon pointed to Quarn. “Do you have any other books pertaining to the old myths?”
“You’re welcome to join me for a look through my library.” Quarn bowed his head.
“And what am I supposed to do?” Sylvia asked.
“We need information – or better yet, witnesses,” Devon replied.
“I’m to be a spy, then?” She huffed but didn’t reject the idea outright.
“Sylvia, you hold a unique position at the Sortilege agency. With as many of the classes as you interact with, there is no one better suited to locate witnesses.” Devon spoke with unquestioning authority. “And Nyx, your contacts on the Strip will help us keep a finger on the pulse of traffic in and out of the city. If anyone can find a witness, I’ll bet it’s one of you two.” Devon challenged Nyx and Sylvia each with a nod, as if inspiring each of them to be the first to find the answers.
“We must find out what happened to this weapon,” Quarn added. “Because if it is still out there, it is our people at risk. More attacks will happen. The Great War could return, with four combatants this time. What would the Mother resort to then?”
“Phoenix reported an attack not too long ago,” Sage offered as a new piece of information, though she wasn’t quite sure how it fit into the puzzle.
“Sounds like someone is following a trail,” Nyx added. “I wonder if the European archive has been attacked too.”
“I can try and look into that too,” Grey replied.
“How did you know about Phoenix?” Devon asked.
For the first time, it seemed Sage knew something other people didn’t. “Mark was like a second father to me.” She shrugged, downplaying the connection she had to him.
“Sorenson?” Grey asked. “He’s got very high-level access. Might be useful to contact him.”
“If you can trust him.” Silvia snorted. “He is a Terra, after all.”
“He’s good people,” Sage said. “I’ve known him my whole life.”
“But did you know what he was?” Silvia threw her doubt slyly, as if trying to plant seeds of her own to create more animosity.
“No. But he was the one to care for me when my mom was out on missions.” Sage wasn’t stupid enough to fall for her weak attempt.
“Protecting the next generation is the duty of Terras,” she scoffed. “You were just another mission. A job that needed doing.”
No wonder the shades got a bad name. Sylvia grated on her nerves almost as badly as Grey. But knowing this, she held her tongue. The Terras oath replayed in her mind: Temperance and mercy. Patience… She couldn’t afford to let Sylvia get under her skin, especially if they needed her to scour the dark places to bring back useful information.
Duty or not, Mark loved her like a father. Even when she had acted horribly, he did his best to guide her with patience.
“We’ll have to bring you back in under the guise of changing your mind,” Grey said, as more of an order than an offer of how to get Sage back inside of ASSET. “Time to go kiss Ava’s royal ass. And when you return, you will follow my lead.”
One way or another, Sage knew she’d end up back in that place. But did it have to be with Grey as her partner?
TWENTY-FOUR
“If I have to be stuck with you, let’s get one thing straight.” Sage crossed her arms, standing rigidly in front of his bike, silently daring him to say something jerky.
“And that is?” Grey reached past her to grab his helmet.
“You treat me with respect. No more lies. No more games.”
“I thought you liked games. At least that’s what it said in your file.” He swapped the helmet for his fedora. A vast improvement, she thought. Maybe he could wear that all the time. She smirked as he stashed the small hat in his saddlebag.
“I mean it. You be straight with me. We’re supposed to be a team here. If I can’t trust you…”
“Okay. Fine. No games.” He held out a helmet for her to put on. “And what happens after you learn all the truths? Will you run and hide? Because our world can be a scary place.”
Sage sighed. Was she speaking a foreign language? How had wanting truth become an invitation to insult her further? “I’m not a coward. But I do need a reason behind my actions. Motivation based on facts, not lies and manipulation.”
“Look. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” Grey sounded genuine, but she still couldn’t trust the man. That apology came too quickly, especially after he’d already sworn he would never say it.
“Whatever.” She swatted his words away like a fly. “But I mean it. I need to know I can trust you when we get back in there.”
“I’m a boy scout, remember?” Grey shook the helmet again, reminding her to put it on.
She knew better this time, to hold on tight as Grey took to the streets. His motorcycle might have been made to hold two people, but she felt like she’d slide off the end if she weren’t clinging to him.
“So explain something.” Sage asked as they pulled into parking garage. “The classes. The magical groups. Whatever they’re called. Does that mean there are only three types of magic?”
“Yes and no.”
“Good answer.” Back to pulling teeth again. Getting answers was so much easier from books. Too bad she’d left the ones Devon had loaned her back at the apartment.
“Give me a minute to sum it up, will ya?” Grey pulled off his helmet and replaced it with his fedora. “This isn’t something with a simple answer.”
“In your own time, then.” She took her helmet off. During the ride, her hair had turned into a lion’s mane. As she waited for Grey to answer, she quickly wound it into a high messy bun on top of her head.
“There are three base classes of magic.” He counted off on his fingers. “Elementals can control and manipulate the elements. So like earth, air, fire, water, metal, and so on. They can remake what’s already there. Ethereals can create something from nothing. Did you watch Nyx make the barrier protecting Devon’s gym?”
Sage nodded. That had been the most spectacular show of magic she’d ever seen.
“Okay, so you have the second class.” He continued to list on his fingers. “Third are the Shades. They work within the realm of the unseen. Some are living shadows, as represented by Sylvia, but they’re also much more than just darkness. They’re the most unknown element of magic. They’re the ones that can creep into your mind. They can hear thoughts. Manipulate desires. Probably the most powerful of all. Which is why we know so little of what they’re really capable of.”
And she was immune to it all, thank the gods. Or the Mother. They worshipped a goddess; she made a mental note to remember it.
Grey closed up his hand and turned his wrist over, revealing his mark. “Just like the tree of life is our symbol, it’s a roadmap of how the branches of magic have evolved. From the roots all the way to the crown, you have a base that branches out hundreds of different directions.” He ran his finger along the pattern, following it outward to the circle of leaves surrounding it. “From those base classes come all the other levels of magical creatures. Some, like Devon, for example, have magic woven into their very DNA. From the Shade branch of magic, his people have developed the innate ability of true sight. He may not have much in the way of active magic, but he can see what is not seen... Glamour doesn’t affect him. And I’m sure you’ve seen how he can appear where he wants to at will. That’s a cloaking magic.”
“So Devon belongs to the Shades. And, what about Quarn?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” Grey laughed.
“Elemental?” she said cautiously.
“He’s a creature of water for certain. You might call him a merman, though I don’t know what a creature like him would be doing living in the desert.”
“Yeah, I certainly wouldn’t want to call Lake Mead my home,” Sage replied.
“His kind cannot be away from water for too long. I doubt he lives here full time. My guess is he, like many others, is desperate to find this seed.”
“Now that the word is out, how are our people are supposed to protect this kind of stuff?”
Grey hesitated before answering. “We rule partially based on fear.”
“Rule?”
“Bad choice of word.” He looked to the ceiling as if it might provide him a better answer. “More like…We are respected…for our position.”
Same idea, prettier words. But rather than call him out on it, she waved him on, hoping he’d get to a better point.
“Look. We can’t be harmed by their magic. And we have the distinct advantage to see through their glamours. We’re also very well trained. Our people are here to make sure there is peace, but that peace often comes at a price. Upholding the law is not always pretty.”
He was sounding less Boy Scout and more vigilante by the minute. At least the vigilante was honest. “What do we do to those who break our laws?”
“Magical laws,” Grey corrected, “Not our laws.”
“Okay. Whatever.” Semantics, really. But she wouldn’t get anywhere arguing over minutiae. “So, prison for the accused?”
“We have facilities able to hold criminals until sentencing.”
“Death?”
Grey nodded. “If the crimes are dire enough.”
“So we are the absolute law? I can see why people would be fearful.”
“With great power comes–”
“Don’t feed me that cliché.” Sage groaned. Comic book level thinking. That kind of thing gave people warm fuzzies about power and responsibility. But the truth always came down to the fact that most people were self-serving bastards. “Absolut power leads to corruption. Who polices us?”
“Every year the leaders of each class come together to discuss grievances.”
A Weapon Of Magical Destruction Page 18
