by Tom Keller
"Give me a break! Hey, did my Mage make it out here before you guys came in?"
"No," she said. "You were the only one we saw. Weren't you a three-man team?"
"The Wizard's at my father's house," I replied. "He got injured after we made entry. My dad's Sky Fae pulled him out. I sent the Mage out for help when we reached Siegfried. We need to get back inside and look for him."
She scowled but shifted back to wolf form. We started for the back entrance, but a large explosion forced us to crouch down and wait. Waves of magic coursed through the air as whatever shield the dark Mages had been using collapsed under the EAB assault. We waited a moment for the after effects to calm down, then continued toward the door.
Whatever spell the dark Mages outside had used was nullified, and confusion reigned as the lesser of the dark creatures stopped fighting. They ran around panicked, dropping their weapons as if they'd just seen them for the first time. We ran through the crowd, seeking out Siegfried, who now stood with Rael. There was no sign of the Demons she'd been fighting. She was bitching up a storm, calling her attackers cowards. Just then, my radio squawked. Communications were back up, now that the spell over this place had been lifted.
"Code A adam," it blared. "Cells are down. A team, concentrate on Mages; B team is escort."
It was time to hook em and book em, as my dad would say. The A-adam code meant arrest. The team comment indicated who was hooking and who was booking. As for the cells reference; we knew they had merged magic with cell phones as a way of transporting between places. It wasn't perfect. No true mixture of magic and technology ever was. I damn sure wouldn’t use it, but with the cells down it didn’t matter. It still needed an open line to work. Between that and the spell supporting the dark creatures being lifted, it was time to clean up. We wouldn’t catch everyone. Any real Mage would have a way out, and the Demons that had been fighting Rael were nowhere to be seen. But you never know, we might get lucky. I rifled through Jazzy's bag as she shifted back to human form; tossing her some clothes as I pulled out a packet of flex-cuffs. Magically enhanced, of course.
"Thank God I don’t have to bite anymore of the bastards," she said, taking a handful from me. We took off into the crowd, tackling and cuffing any Mage we saw. Other EAB agents came up and grabbed them. A few minutes later, we were done. Many of the more adept Mages had disappeared; but we still had a nice group of bad guys in custody, which should keep the agency busy for a while. Hopefully they'd tell us something worth what we went through. Either way, it wasn't my problem anymore, I thought, as we turned over a few dazed Goblins to one of the PD's custody teams. Our job was done for the moment, so I grabbed Jazzy and looked for Siegfried.
"Siegfried!" I shouted, seeing him walking alone toward the rear entrance. "Have you seen my father?"
"No," he replied, turning toward me. "He has not yet returned. I sent Michael to search for him." He looked over at Jazzy and smiled. "Ah. Young Jasmine. You fought well. Your father will be proud."
"Thank you," Jazzy said, with a forced smile. At least I thought it was forced. Siegfried and Martin Chibeaux, Jazzy's father, had been allies for years. She'd just recently returned to Vegas from the New Orleans office, where she'd grown up. According to the rumor mill, her and her father weren't exactly on the best of terms these days. Something to do with pack obligations, from what I'd heard. I could certainly relate to that, but I doubted any of it had been shared with Siegfried.
"Where'd the Demons go?" I asked, meaning Rael and her two compatriots.
"Rael seeks answers," he said. "She has been betrayed; as perhaps have we all. There is much to think about." He pointed behind us. "But first, we must seek out our lost comrades. I beg your leave. The Wizard returns with my Mage."
"Good luck," I replied, as he went off to meet with Cox. I turned to Jesse, who had accompanied him back. "Figured you'd be tied up with the rest of the Mages and Wizards. You got time to help us out? I gotta find my missing team member."
"I got out as fast as I could," he said. "My father and some of the other brass just arrived. They are not in a good mood. Somebody really screwed the pooch on this one."
"No shit," "Jazzy said. "This place is a mess… and Trolls? Since when did Trolls start working with the dark Fae? I thought they were loners."
"Rock Trolls are ancient enemies of the Dryad." I replied. "If someone expected my father to be here, that could have enticed them out of their holes. He believed Marissa's Mages were behind arming the rogue Goblins. I wouldn't put anything past them."
"Wouldn’t he know it was a trap?" Jazzy asked.
"He wouldn’t care," I sighed. "To him, it's only a trap if you don’t know about it."
"Sounds like my father," Jazzy said.
"And mine," Jesse agreed.
I'd met them both, and as any leader of our kind, they were more than confident in their abilities. We'd never really talked family over a beer; but our circumstances were similar. We were all legacy kids, and had our father's images to live up to.
"We've got to get moving," Jesse said, a moment later. "Let's go find your Mage before someone dreams up something else for us to do, like start our paperwork."
That would come soon enough, I thought, as we headed back to the second floor where I had last seen the Mage. He'd been with Diantha, my father's friend. I'd left him up there as back up when my father and I jumped into battle with the dark Mages soon after entering the building.
Of course, Diantha was more than just that. She was the prior Oracle of Delphi. While human, she'd been granted long life and beauty by the God, Apollo. Sure, sure, he wasn't really a God. He was actually a High Fae, like my father. He'd given her a magic necklace made with the eye of the dragon he'd slain at Delphi. While she wasn't a warrior, the spell had made her immortal; a great bonus to have in a partner. I think they were lovers too. But that's not usually a topic of discussion when we get together.
We were headed upstairs to the second floor when it happened. A wave of energy passed over me. It was like looking through ripples of heat. Everything around me shimmered and flickered. Then it was gone.
"What was that?" I asked as I stopped to look for more signs of the wave.
"What was what?" Jazzy asked. She was in front of me, but had stopped for Jesse, who had paused on the landing.
"You felt that?" he asked, turning back to look at me. His eyes roamed, like he was waiting for something else to happen.
"Felt it. I saw it," I said. "It looked like a wave of magic, but like nothing I've seen before.
"No manches… " Jesse murmured. "This is not good."
"What are you talking about?" Jazzy asked, now looking around the stairwell herself. "What's not good? I didn’t see anything."
The wave came back, passing through us again.
"Mierde!" Jesse said. "Okay. Both of you, get up the stairs. Don’t ask questions."
Jazzy started to protest, but Jesse waved her on. "Go! I'll explain later."
I wasn't sure what was going on, but I wasn't going to argue with the son of the EAB's top sorcerer. At least not where magic was concerned. Jazzy apparently felt the same way. She passed Jesse and continued up the stairs as I followed. When I reached him, he grabbed my arm.
"Do you trust me?" he asked, a frightened expression on his face.
"Yeah, of course," I replied. None of us were friends in the traditional sense, but we'd all been brought into the EAB at about the same time. We'd gone through training together and I knew he had my back.
"Then just listen," he whispered. "This is really important. You didn't feel anything. You didn't see anything. I can’t explain now. We never had this conversation. Got it?"
"Geez, Jess? What the f…?" I started to say.
"You'll thank me for this Jay." he said, leaning in closer. "Remember the mind probe?"
I didn't have to answer. It was something you didn't forget. I'd had to have a polygraph when I first hired on as a regular Homeland Security agent; but when they
found out I was Fae, they transferred me to the EAB. Sitting strapped to a chair with sensors taped to your body while someone asks you questions for hours is one thing, but having a Wizard climb into your brain and start carving out memories is quite another. At least they didn't remove anything like they do with humans who learn too much; but they also don’t weave a spell to make you forget. Even though I'd submitted to it voluntarily, I shuddered at the thought of somebody hacking their way through my brain again.
Whatever had just happened was significant. They didn't subject agents to a mind probe, other than to verify your loyalty when you first came on, unless it was a last resort. As the Protector of the Dryad realm and son of a High Fae, I often had to keep secrets. I guess as a Wizard and the son of a Sorcerer, Jesse had to do the same. Whatever it had been frightened him. I didn’t like it, but I knew enough to keep my mouth shut until I could find out more.
"All right, Jess," I said, clasping my hand over his. "But what if I get asked about it?"
"You won't," he said, releasing his grip on my arm. "Take Jazzy and find the rest of your team. I'll catch up with you."
I didn't reply. I just nodded and continued up the stairs to where Jazzy was waiting.
"What the hell was that about?" Jazzy asked as I exited the stairwell.
"I'm not sure," I replied. "But for what it's worth, I'm taking Jesse's advice. You should too." I pointed down the corridor. "Last time I saw them they were down there. Let's go, Jesse can catch up to us."
She paused and looked back down the stairwell.
"Fine," she said after a moment. "Damn Wizards and their magic bullshit. Fine! Let's find your Mage before something else happens."
We hurried toward the hallway where I'd last seen Diantha and the Mage and started searching.
Chapter 2
"Theno wants to see you," one of the secretaries said, poking her head through the doorway of my office.
"Okay. I'll be right there," I replied, looking up from the computer. Not to sound callous, but between interviews and funerals, it had taken forever to finish the paperwork. I hit the submit button to upload my latest round of reports, then got up and headed down the hallway to his office.
The place was in turmoil. The agency had been caught off guard with the number of dark creatures working together in the last raid; not to mention the coordination they had shown. We'd lost several agents. More than on any operation in the last 100 years, and we were still licking our wounds. Not only that, someone upstairs was revamping our marching orders. Rumor had it that the agency was going to increase its visibility among the magic community. Something that hadn’t been done since World War II. That was bound to cause problems.
The EAB usually lets the magical community police themselves, at least as a whole. Oh, sure, we were always around; lurking in the shadows until something got out of control. But the community supported that. However, when you start trying to lay down the law on them as a whole… Well, there's a lot more of them than us, and we needed their cooperation to be effective. Not my call though. As long as there wasn't a conflict with my position as Protector of the Dryad back in Fae, there wasn't much I could argue about. Nothing the EAB did here would carry any weight in the other worlds.
Whatever magic spell had passed through us at the raid was still a mystery. Something strange had happened, because people's memory of past events seemed, I don't know… different. I had some thoughts on the matter, but I knew better than to ask too many questions. I'd been through enough life changing events of my own. I'd hoped Jesse would bring it up again, but since he hadn't, I figured it was better left alone, at least as far as the office was concerned. I'd asked my father about it, but he wasn't talking. Of course, he had plenty going on with what had happened to Diantha. The prior Oracle of Delphi's loss of the jewel that granted her youth and beauty had hit him pretty hard. But that was a story for another day.
I paused next to Theno's open office door before announcing myself, wondering what this was going to be about. He was the Agent in charge, and with everything else that was going on, it probably wasn't good.
****
"How's your day so far?" I asked Jazzy an hour later.
"All caught up," she replied, looking up from her desk. She glanced over to the clock next to the picture of her mother. "But I've got office duty this afternoon, so I'm sure that won’t last."
"Not anymore," I said. "Change of assignment. Log yourself out in the field and I'll meet you in the parking lot in 15."
"Change of assignment?" she repeated, a perplexed look on her face. "Since when?"
"Since now," I replied. "I'll see you out there. I've got to grab Jesse, then we'll talk."
"Jesse?" she said, typing a few strokes on her keyboard. Magic and technology don’t always mix, but like every government agency, the EAB stored almost all its data on a secure computer system. They still used paper and parchment of course, especially where spells were concerned; but assignments and reports were handled just like anywhere else. "I'll be damned. General Assignment… and I report to you? When did I become a detective?"
"Just now," I said with a laugh. "I'll tell you all about it when we're all together."
"This ought to be interesting," she replied with a shrug. "I'll see you in 15, I guess."
****
I was standing next to my black government SUV when the two of them came out of the elevator.
"What's going on, Jay?" Jazzy asked as they got into the vehicle. "Or should I be calling you sir?"
"I'd rather you didn't," I replied, honestly. I looked through the rear-view mirror at Jesse who'd gotten into the back seat. He didn’t say a word. "At least not yet. Besides, it's complicated … and a long story. We've got the rest of the afternoon off, and I think we need to take that time to get to know each other a little better… and talk. Feel like taking a little trip? I've got a place in mind I think you'll like."
"Get to know each other, huh?" Jazzy asked, then she smirked. "Sounds a little presumptuous, if you ask me. But I'm game… for now. Where're we going?"
"It'll be easier if I just show you," I replied, as we left the lot. "If you don’t like it, I can always take you home."
"What is this place?" Jazzy asked a half hour later as I turned onto a residential street.
"My dad's house," I said, pulling up to the gate box. I keyed in the code and the gate opened.
"Whoa," Jazzy said, as I pulled the SUV in the garage. "Nice car!"
"Yeah," I replied, eyeing the white and maroon Corvette. "It's my dad's. But that's not why we're here."
"Do you think this is wise?" Jesse asked, getting out of the SUV. "This isn’t exactly what I'd call private."
"Don’t worry. We're not staying," I replied and led them through the side door into the backyard. "I just wanted to hide the car and this was as good a place as any." We went into the backyard and Charlie, my dad's dog, and Fae royalty himself, trotted up to greet us.
"Jay," he said, his tail wagging. "You bring friends."
"I saw you briefly at the battle," Jazzy said, nodding at the big dog.
"Charlie," I said, introducing the two. "This is Jasmine Chibeaux, daughter of Martin, and Jesse Ordunez, son of Javier, the EAB's sorcerer. Guys, this is Charlie."
"Well met," Charlie replied before turning back to me. "Jay, your father is not here. He seeks magic to cure Diantha."
"I knew that. We just came to see Aeva and use the gate. How's she doing?"
"She is alive," the big dog replied. "More I cannot say."
"I understand," I said. Diantha was… is… a complicated person. Although I was sure she was glad to still be alive, I knew she wouldn't have taken the loss of her youth and beauty well. Not that I blamed her. Hopefully, my father could recreate the spell and restore her. "Please tell them both that I asked about them."
"Of course," he replied, then barked a farewell and trotted off into the yard.
"Who's Aeva?" Jazzy asked as we walked further into
the yard.
"A Hamadryad," I replied as I walked up to the oak that stood at the end of the grass.
"A Hamadryad?" she repeated. "What are we doing here, Jay?"
"Like I said, we're going somewhere we can talk and relax a bit," I said, then glanced over at Jesse. "You have a problem with that?"
"No. It should be private enough," Jesse acknowledged.
Jazzy started to protest, but then gaped as a golden glow appeared in front of us. It slowly materialized into the form of a girl, clothed in white. Glowing tendrils of magic floated in the air between her and the tree.
"Welcome, Lord Protector," the Hamadryad said, bowing.
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Jesse said, whispering in my ear. "But couldn’t you have accessed Fae from anywhere?"
"Pretty much," I replied, thinking of the oak root in my pocket. That's what it really was. An extension of Fae that reached out from anywhere. I might possess Fae magic, but I didn't have the ability to transport myself from one place to another by magic alone; like a seasoned Wizard or Mage could, or my father, for that matter. For that, I needed a piece of Fae that I could carry with me; a portable doorway to home, you might say.
"I needed a place to ditch the car and nothing can get through my father's shields," I added. "I figured this was as good a place as any. Besides, I wanted to arrange a few things rather than just pop in." I turned back to the Hamadryad.
"It is good to see you again, Aeva," I said with a nod. "I travel to our lands with Jasmine and Jesse. Is Sophie available? I require proper clothing for my guests, and a quiet place that we can talk."
The Hamadryad stood and looked over at the two, then turned back toward the tree. "She will be waiting," she said a moment later
"Perfect," I replied, then gestured toward the tree, now glowing with golden light. "You guys ready?"
Jesse nodded, but Jazzy seemed apprehensive.
"What's wrong with our clothes?" she asked, looking down at the business-like pants suit she was wearing. It was one-piece, with a zipper in the front for easy removal if she had to shift quickly. Perfect for the human world, but she'd stick out like a sore thumb where we were going.
