by Dave Ferraro
***
“So, she didn’t say why we’re bringing Serene?” Krystal asked Shanna again as she looked away from the window, where all she could see were clouds beyond the wing of the plane. It was like the whole world had been reduced to dunes of white fog. It was unnerving, not being able to see the ground beneath them, like the earth had been swallowed and they were the sole survivors.
Shanna sighed beside her and looked up from the comic book she was reading. “I told you she didn’t. She just said we’d need her expertise.”
Krystal glanced back toward the rear of the plane, where Serene sat beside Hunter in the back row, looking out of the window forlornly. She was a beautiful Asian girl with long flowing black hair that looked silky and healthy, catching the light whenever she moved. It was hard to believe that beyond that beautiful exterior was a creature that had destroyed men’s lives for centuries. A siren.
Krystal bit her lip. She really wasn’t being very fair. Back in Greece, Serene had tried to help the hunters, had battled her sisters directly to try to save them. She wasn’t like the other sirens, clearly, who had been psychotic and all too happy to kill anyone who moved. She had shown compassion…humanity. And just a few weeks ago, she had been the only one of them who could stop a demon that had invaded a few of the hunters’ dreams. She had used her powers to lure the demon to them, had helped them destroy it. That certainly earned her a place among them, right?
Even if Serene had helped them out a few times, they were still cautious, and for good reason. She had been their enemy. There was a tracker on the siren, so if she left the mansion without supervision, it would inject a tranquilizer into her bloodstream and knock her out. Hunter had reset it to a different radius for the duration of this mission, so that she had to be near him at all times. There would be no escape for her into the busy streets of New Orleans.
Serene suddenly looked up and caught Krystal staring, and she smiled politely. Krystal quickly turned away, heat rising to her cheeks. She glanced over at Shanna. “What can Serene do for us? She’s mute. She can’t use her siren song. She can’t fly.”
“She’s still super strong,” Shanna shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask. Valor was busy at the time.”
“With the suits?” Rachel peaked up over the seat in front of her and rested her chin on her arms. “I saw them on the way out. What was their deal?”
“They’re from the government. General Kagan and Agent Ross. They’re checking in on The Agency.”
“Checking in on it?” Rachel frowned. “Some big wigs prance into the mansion unannounced and Valor suddenly needs us to take our pet monster with us? Sounds like she was trying to hide Serene from them before they realized what she is.”
Krystal frowned. “Why would she do that?”
“Because we’re harboring a monster?”
Amelia appeared atop the seat next to Rachel and leaned against the cushion. Krystal wrinkled her nose. Amelia smelled of sage today. She hated when she smelled like that, all herbal and smoky. If she was so powerful, why couldn’t she come up with a spell to cover up the smell?
“We’re killing monsters for the government,” the redhead said, glancing over at Shanna. “They might not be too happy about our arrangement with Serene. Did Valor look upset?”
Shanna frowned. “Yeah,” she admitted. “Like she was trying to tell me something when she looked at me. And the way she was talking, she wanted us all out of there, quickly and quietly.”
“She’s protecting all of us,” Amelia nodded.
“All of us?” Rachel blinked. “What does that mean? Serene’s the only monster at the mansion.”
Amelia shrugged and looked at Krystal. “We have a necromancer among us. Suppose the government finds her to be a threat?”
Krystal sat up straight. “I’m no monster. I wouldn’t do anything…monstrous.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t,” Amelia agreed, “But I doubt Serene would either, and I don’t think they would tolerate her presence at all.” She cocked her head. “Think of all the good monsters we’ve met. Noel. Damien.”
Shanna perked up at the vampire’s name. She was…involved with the hot dark-haired immortal, but Krystal wasn’t quite sure just how involved.
Amelia cocked her head. “I think our employers have a very black-and-white view of monsters. They want them eradicated, no matter what. What they don’t understand is that like humans, some of them are good and some of them are bad. They don’t look beyond their differences, past the aspects of the creatures that make them ‘monsters.’ And they certainly don’t ask them. They just want them gone. And they want us to do it for them.” She paused and glanced at Krystal. “So, do you really think if they want us to kill common vampires that they’re going to allow an uber-powerful necromancer who can summon armies of the undead, to walk around freely?”
Krystal swallowed hard. “I’m not a monster.”
She felt Shanna’s hand cover her own and turned to see the blonde hunter smiling at her. “We know, honey,” she said. “But some people don’t care about the details. All they’re saying is that Valor might be shielding us from some of that…ignorance. Keeping us out of their sight so it doesn’t escalate into a situation.”
“Maybe Valor will be able to convince them differently,” Rachel shrugged. “Who knows? But I have no doubt that that’s why Serene’s here with us right now. To keep her from prying eyes. And I bet that if you,” she said, looking at Krystal, “hadn’t been a part of this mission already, we would have suddenly needed your ‘expertise’ as well.”
Rachel and Amelia sat back down in their seats and Krystal stared at the red velvet fabric of the seat cover in front of her. Was that really how people thought of her? Sure, other necromancers practiced some dark things, but her? She was only fourteen. Hardly a threat to anyone. People would want to get rid of her just for who she was? She shuddered, wondering if the people she was working for were the very ones she should be hiding from.
