Agents, Agreements and Aggravations: In Her Paranormal Majesty’s Secret Service™ Book Three

by Anderle, Michael

  Her head echoed with a thousand poisonous sentiments, the evil thoughts and feelings that had stewed in his mind while he lay in the darkness. Jennie felt them all like a bubbling cauldron of pain. She sought the one she was after, the one weakness she knew the Dreadnought to have, and pushed it to the forefront of his mind.

  Susannah opened the door to her house, surprise on her face. The Dreadnought offering a place by his side as he knelt before her and asked for her hand.

  The rejection from Susannah. The toxic pain that flooded his body, and the fear as she cast her spell, flicking her potion his way before closing her eyes and freezing him on the spot, stilling his heart until his mind was starved of oxygen.

  Susannah rapidly dragging his body to the basement and hurling it into the tomb, sealing the lid with great effort and plunging him into eternal darkness.

  The Dreadnought fell to his knees, for the first time allowing Jennie to feel something inside her body. She used this moment of distraction to wrestle back one arm, then the other. It was working! She forced open one eye and wasn’t sure if what she was seeing was a hallucination.

  Her eye slammed shut, and the Dreadnought growled within her. “No. This vessel is mine!”

  Jennie fought to regain her sight once more, and as the voices came to her, she knew that she had not been hallucinating.

  “Go!” Baxter shouted from somewhere in the darkness she couldn’t break.

  “Richard Haybourne…” Susannah’s voice was soft. The Dreadnought opened his eyes, and Jennie was allowed a glance at the spectral woman kneeling before them.

  A flurry of emotion raced through Haybourne, and Jennie felt all of it. A mixture of confusion, hatred, and love overwhelmed him, and he rooted himself to the spot as he stared into Susannah’s eyes.

  “It’s been so long,” he muttered.

  Susannah nodded, reached out a hand to his cheek. He fell into her palm like a dog stroked by its owner. Susannah smiled softly.

  “You’ve been causing trouble,” she whispered.

  The Dreadnought nodded. “It’s all for you, my love. I never thought I’d see you again.” Suddenly, his demeanor changed as the realization of what had happened during their last encounter sprang to the foreground of his mind. “You killed me.”

  “I helped you,” Susannah corrected. “And I’m here to do so again. Jennie, now.”

  Jennie moved her focus from the Dreadnought to Susannah, a wave of clean energy spiking through her. Where before she had felt like she was trying to breathe smoke, now she was rejuvenated and refreshed. She was still fighting the affliction of being so close to the Dreadnought’s corruption, but now pure power surged through her.

  Susannah’s power.

  Jennie wrapped her arms around the spectral form of the Dreadnought and held on tight. She channeled Susannah’s healing power through her own body and felt it seeping into the very fiber of the Dreadnought’s being. Her mortal body jerked and spasmed as the fight raged within, and the Dreadnought began to scream and protest, shaking in an effort to rid himself of Jennie.

  Jennie shifted her attention to her body, letting the Dreadnought fight his battle against the white light cleansing him. She took control of her arms, then her legs, and with a final surge of effort, she leaped into her material body and ejected the Dreadnought.

  The sudden release forced Jennie to her hands and knees. Mud splashed onto her clothes, and a tingling sensation was left in the aftermath of what had just happened.

  She pushed herself uncertainly to her feet, her energy expended, and spun to face the Dreadnought.

  He was fighting with himself. White strains of the healing power Jennie had cast appeared on his skin like an infection trying to multiply and grow and swallow him whole. He fought it off, the white fading in and out of existence until at least there was no more left.

  The Dreadnought fixed his eyes on Jennie. “You…”

  Jennie glanced beyond the Dreadnought to where a figure was emerging through the rain, appearing like a lighthouse through the fog. She recognized that squat limp, the short stature, the beady eyes.

  The Dreadnought paid no attention, thinking that Jennie was staring at him. He rose to his feet and lumbered toward her, each step an effort. Baxter and Susannah retreated several steps, but Jennie remained where she stood.

  “Duck,” she warned.

  The Dreadnought ducked in time to avoid the sword spinning toward him. It missed him by a hair’s breadth, eliciting a raucous laugh from the specter. “You missed.”

  Jennie grinned when she caught the handle of the saber in her palm. She shook her head. “No. He didn’t.”

  The Dreadnought had just enough time to scream in fury as Jennie plunged the Saber of Holy Divinity into the center of his gaseous stomach. The moment the blade connected with his matter, white light exploded and burned their eyes.

  The Dreadnought clutched his stomach, but it was pointless; the blade was doing its work, and there was nothing left to do but watch it happen.

  The light beamed brightly, illuminating the field around them for the merest of moments before it faded into nothing.

  When Jennie was able to see clearly again, the Dreadnought was gone.

  All that was left was the rain.

  Susannah moved to stand beside Jennie. “Are you sure he’s not coming back?”

  Jennie and Baxter exchanged glances and laughed.

  A moment later, she threw up.

  Chapter Seventy-Five

  Richmond, Virginia, USA

  “What about Jiao?” Baxter asked as they ran back toward the fight.

  “She’ll be fine for a while,” Jennie replied, picturing the petite woman stuck in the tunnels. Where could she go? There was no way out.

  By the time they got back to the skirmish, the fight was dying down. A few agents remained engaged in detaining the enemy, but most were lying in the mud, unconscious or exhausted.

  Jennie latched onto Baxter and jumped over the edge of the quarry and into the center of the battle. She held the sword in her hand, its blade pulsing with a faint glow of energy. She was pleased to see that her comrades were still fighting.

  Ula, Triton, Rhone, Rogers, Sturgeon, and the rest of the mortals were doing their piece. Sandra, Feng Mian, and Carolyn fought the remaining ghouls.

  Jennie turned as a ghoul grabbed her ankle. The specter was lying in the mud, its body in pieces. Jennie sighed and drove the saber into its back.

  The flash of blinding light was enough to draw the attention of everyone else in the quarry. Jennie furrowed her brow and raised her voice. “The Dreadnought is dead, and your Dragon has been captured. The time to surrender is now. No more lives need be lost this night.”

  There was a moment of hesitation. Agents glared at the enemy, and the enemy glared at the agents. Some still had hold of each other, and it looked as though they would not obey.

  Sammy Garcia was the first one to throw down his weapon. He tossed his pistol to the mud and fell to his knees. One by one, his men, and the men of the Seven followed suit.

  Jennie nodded at Rogers and Sturgeon, who set their men to arresting those who remained conscious.

  Baxter stood beside Jennie as she watched the agents clear up the mess. She had grown cold, her skin prickling from the constant exposure to the elements. “Is it time to get Jiao, now?”

  Jennie examined the scene for a few moments before finally feeling satisfied. She could just about make out Hendrick sitting at the lip of the quarry, his legs hanging over the edge, reminding Jennie that she would need some extra help to get Jiao free from her tomb.

  Jennie crossed over to the edge of the quarry and found Tanya holding Sandra tightly. Apparently, while the fight had ensued, Sandra had insisted that Tanya hide out of sight while she helped the other specters with the ghouls.

  “I don’t know how you dealt with them,” Sandra explained. “The ghouls were filthy and dirty. They hurt to touch.”

  Jennie smiled in agreemen
t and asked Sandra to accompany her. It took some convincing of Tanya on Jennie’s part. Tanya watched Sandra leave like a mother watching her baby go to college. Maybe she was finally getting used to the idea that as a specter, Sandra could handle herself and wasn’t the innocent child she seemed on the surface.

  “Where are we going?” Sandra asked.

  “Digging,” Jennie replied. She wrapped an arm around Sandra’s shoulder and walked into the earthen walls of the quarry.

  * * *

  “I don’t wanna.” Sandra folded her arms and stared daggers at Jiao.

  The tunnel was smaller than Jennie remembered. Jiao had been sitting with her back against the wall when they melted through and appeared before her. She had been so startled she pressed herself against the wall as though it would swallow her up and hide her.

  Jiao returned Sandra’s stare. “To tell you the truth, I’m not thrilled about this either.” She threw her hand in front of her and her rings flashed.

  There was a slight change in Sandra’s demeanor, her shoulders slumping, and a goofy smile on her face before Jennie drew the sword and touched it to the skin on Jiao’s wrist. “You try, you die. Simple as that.”

  Jiao growled, then lowered her hand. Jennie held the sword on her and crouched, relieving Jiao of her three gold rings.

  Jennie weighed them in her hand, surprised by how heavy they were. “What are these?”

  “Family heirlooms,” Jiao replied.

  “Fine. Keep your secrets.” Jennie pocketed the rings. “We have ways of making you talk, but maybe our priority should be getting you out of here.” She looked down at Sandra. “Ready?”

  Sandra folded her arms.

  Jennie looked over the top of her glasses and gave the specter a stern smile. “Sandra, don’t make me tell your mother.”

  Sandra rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She grabbed Jiao’s wrist and turned spectral. Then she took a few steps toward the earthen walls, turned her face upward, and started climbing to the surface.

  Jennie waited until they were gone before she examined the three rings in her pocket. They each bore an insignia on their golden faces. One showed a picture of a dragon—the same dragon Jiao had stitched onto her gown. Another showed an image of a crown, and the third one had a symbol she couldn’t quite make out but was almost certain that she had seen it somewhere before.

  Jennie shrugged and pocketed the rings. Without wasting any more time, she activated her power cells to turn spectral and left the tunnels behind.

  * * *

  The rainstorm had masked almost the entirety of the event. The storm had been the worst the city had seen in a decade. The rain came down so hard that most civilians remained indoors, and those who ventured outside were brave weather people and the emergency services.

  The streets were flooded, a few homes had valuables water-soaked and ruined. A single lightning strike had hit a transformer and blown it, leaving an entire quarter of the city without power.

  All told, there were no eyes on the quarry that night. The only sign that anything had happened was the procession of vehicles that carted away those who had been arrested. The convoy skirted the city’s edge and found their way toward the King’s Manor. Detainees were held in cells on the second floor until such a time that the weather abated and they could be shipped to Washington.

  That night, members of the King’s Court, the SIS, the SIA, the Spectral Plane, and even the few remaining brave souls of the GOA celebrated in the isolated manor. The rooms were full, the windows steamed from the heat and mixture of rain still soaking people’s clothes, and the music was loud.

  Jennie worked the bar, enjoying the feeling of peace. For the first time since the spectral realm had come into the knowledge of the United States federal government, all sides were at peace with one another. Differences were resolved, agents let loose and allowed to celebrate a job well done.

  Even she knew that it wouldn’t last long. There was one thing she needed to do, and it was certain to ruffle some feathers. While she shook the metallic shakers and beamed at the crowded room, she was counting down the seconds toward the next stage of her journey.

  A stage that was necessary but tough.

  Chapter Seventy-Six

  Richmond, Virginia, USA

  The lights were out, clothing the house in darkness. Jennie padded along the corridor and down the stairs, hunting through the manor’s endless corridors for the person she wanted to talk to more than anything else in the world.

  She wasn’t sure why she wanted to speak to her so badly. There was a feeling in her gut that wouldn’t settle. To be fair, since Jennie had latched onto the Dreadnought, she had struggled to shift the nauseated feeling deep within her. She felt as if she had just come off a rollercoaster all the time.

  The second floor was nearly silent. On the floor below, there were still some partygoers, but the music had been turned down. Jennie found the holding cell and opened the slit in the door.

  “Mind if I join you?” she asked.

  Jiao shrugged. “It’s your house.”

  Jennie unlocked the door and let herself in.

  Jiao remained sitting on her bed, her knees tucked to her chest and her head resting against the wall.

  “Thought you’d be asleep,” Jennie remarked.

  Jiao fixed her with a neutral stare. “No, you didn’t. You wouldn’t have come if you had.”

  Jennie supposed that was true. She took a seat against the opposite wall. “Why did you do it?”

  Her question hung in the air, unanswered for a few minutes. Eventually, Jiao lowered her legs and crossed them beneath her. Her face was earnest, although Jennie had believed her before and had been proven wrong.

  “It’s in my blood,” Jiao answered. “My family stretches back centuries, each one awaiting their turn in line for the throne. I cannot reject the call. It is a part of my very fabric. You of all people should understand that.”

  Jennie raised an eyebrow.

  “Oh, come on,” Jiao continued. “You’re telling me that you don’t know the plight of the Dragon? That innate desire to rise to the top and be crowned the victor?”

  She leaned forward. “Jennie, you’re already engaged in a battle of your own. You may not entirely see it, but all of this,” she indicated the manor around them, “Is your castle, and you are fighting for dominance. We want the same things, we just approach them in different ways.”

  “I’m not in a battle with the forces of good,” Jennie replied sharply. They quieted as someone walked down the corridor and past the cell.

  Jiao grinned. “Oh, but you are. You may think that the path you’re treading down is going to bring peace, but whether you feel you’re fighting for good or bad, there’ll always be someone gunning for your seat. Power corrupts, even on the side of justice, and it’s obvious that one day your biggest battle will come, and you’ll be forced to make decisions you’ve never thought to make.”

  Jennie shook her head. “No.”

  Yet, although she denied it, she didn’t entirely believe it. No matter what level of Justice she had played at, there had always been some kind of battle. When working for the queen, there were those who were jealous of her, who tried to bring her down while claiming to be on the side of “good.” Now she was in the US, and the SIA was battling to become the dominant organization that dealt with spectral forces. That was Jennie’s goal as well.

  “It doesn’t matter what strategy you formulate,” Jiao continued as if reading her thoughts. “The end result is the same. Others have to bow out to allow you to take your rightful place as ruler.”

  “We’re not a dictatorship, we’re a democracy,” Jennie retorted.

  Jiao shuffled toward the edge of the bed and sat down, her brow furrowed, eyes dark. “The choice you are about to make is going to aggravate people on all sides. What you are thinking about is poaching. Stealing. Let me ask you: is that moral?”

  Jennie lowered her eyes to the floor. Her head was already
clouded with the oncoming conversation she was going to have, only, the difference between hers and Jiao’s way of thinking, is that Jennie wasn’t going to steal. She was going to ask. She was going to offer. Her perfect world respected free choice, and that was what she would give them.

  The other key players may not see it that way.

  Jennie looked at Jiao in earnest. “You’re a great liar, you know that?”

  Jiao shrugged and turned away. “A lifetime of lessons taught me how to be.” She was silent a moment. “You’re truly special, Jennie. Maybe one day when I’m free, you’ll find a place for me by your side. I have powerful connections, I can help you. We can rule together.”

  This elicited a laugh from Jennie. She clutched her stomach and tried to contain it, aware that she didn’t want others to know where she was. “You’re kidding, right? You think I’d ever trust you again?”

  Jiao grinned. “It was worth a shot.”

  Jennie climbed to her feet. “Well, this was a pleasure.”

  “Your sarcasm is unwarranted,” Jiao replied. “And give me back my rings.”

  “Tell me what they do.” Jennie’s face straightened.

  Jiao turned away and laid down. “No.”

  Jennie exited the cell and didn’t look back.

  * * *

  Jennie paused outside her bedroom door. She could hear the others inside, chattering. She placed her hand flat on the door and took a deep breath, preparing herself for what came next.

  “That’s not the Jennie you let the world see,” Baxter whispered, appearing at her side.

  Jennie looked up and down the corridor. “How did you sneak up on me?”

  Baxter nodded over his shoulder. “I’m in the room down the hall. You think I wouldn’t know when you returned. How come I wasn’t invited to your party?”

  “You knew I was here? You were in your room,” Jennie questioned.