Friends and Enemies (Gwen Farris Book 5)

by P. S. Power

  True, Gwen wasn't supposed to be teletransporting around for a while, to rest, but they could do better than that. Seriously so. Walking came to mind as an option.

  Gwen took a deep breath and tried not to sound like a paranoid street person. It didn't seem to work, given everything. She was feeling a bit out of sorts, thanks to the whole swim in the ocean, and nearly dying thing.

  "So, you're giving me the run around? That's... A bit literal, isn't it? What's really going on here, Beth. I already checked on Mathews, and ended up over the ocean, where we dumped his corpse. He isn't in his Barony, or second house, or in a morgue or coffin anywhere, and you seem to know it. I get the idea of me not killing anyone here, or going mad with power, but this seems a little heavy handed. I don't know, I guess I expect better ruses from the Westmorlands in my life." She was doing a lot of guessing, and could tell that something in what she'd said was wrong, but there was more wincing than doubt on Beth's pale face.

  Replaced after a moment by a faked up look of concern. It was another thing that Gwen was a past master of seeing in other people. Fear, loathing, disgust, pity, and its cousin, false concern. Like the crippled midget girl wasn't going to understand the difference between people that felt sorry for her, and those that wanted others to know how bad they felt for her condition. It was insulting, and she responded to it, using her old reflexes.

  Bethany Westmorland, Detective, Special Service operative and her best friend, lied to her then.

  "I don't know what you mean, Gwen. I got these orders, and we're going to check them out, that's all. As for you using your new abilities to find Baron Mathews... Well, that should be a good sign. We really don't want him to be back from the dead. I know I certainly don't. I doubt you'd make a mistake like that on a subconscious level, but if you were to do so, wouldn't it be with someone like him? He nearly killed you once, with his own hand. You did have him killed. If there were anyone in the world that you might make psychic level mistakes with, he'd be the man, I'd think. It could be an issue." There was so much being hidden that Beth blushed a little about it.

  "Heh. That could be true, but isn't. Besides, that isn't even where his old Barony is. You have it all memorized, so cut the BS." She had to stop then, and let her head tilt. "That means bull shit. Um, big cow droppings?"

  There was a slightly upset nod.

  "I know that. You've used the term before. Why do you think I'm lying to you?"

  "Why are you asking questions to defer my interest and attention, instead of protesting your innocence? Come clean. It will make you feel better. Come on now... You know you want to tell me what's up. I can see it in your eyes. It's right... There!" She pointed and stared into the symmetrical, and pale blue orbs. It really wasn't there at all, but to her surprise Beth broke easily enough.

  Which probably meant it was just the second level of lies.

  "I... Was instructed to keep you occupied while the investigation is taking place here. There truly has been a murder in the Southern section, and the gentleman does look enough like Baron Mathews to cause some interest. My guess is that he was using the name in order to defraud others. How he knew to do so, well, I suspect some form of magic being involved. We didn't leave a lot of loose ends that way, and he isn't anyone from The Peregrine. If one of them told anyone however-"

  Gwen rolled her hands, one over the other, in the air.

  "Right, now what's the actual story? It isn't fair to make me think the dead have risen, Beth. That sounds like either Adam or Ferdinand. If the king didn't want me to stick around he would have just called me up and invited me to take a vacation though. This kind of messy ruse, one that I have to find out about sooner or later, that sounds just like your leader though. So? Explain please, or I'm not going anywhere." It was a bit of a game, actually, since she wasn't planning on doing that anyway.

  Rather than call her on being a moron, or even suggesting she was a paranoid freak, Bethany grimaced.

  "I'm truly not at liberty to say, Gwen. There are things going on that I've been instructed to keep from you. It's for your own protection, but... I need you to come with me. We don't have to go there, if you don't want, but we need to be out of the city here. Tonight. I know I can't force you to leave with me, but if you don't-" She took a deep breath, and then pulled the PC from her pocket. It was all a lead colored silver, and could hold a lot of different fields. Some of them deadly.

  There was no speaking for a moment. The device shook a little, and her friend, her best friend in the whole world, shook a bit.

  "If you won't come with me willingly, right now, I'll have to force you to."

  Taking a moment to smile, Gwen nodded.

  "I'd wondered. Everyone always lets you down, in the end, don't they? I'd hoped that it would take longer than this though. Still, you've lasted a lot longer than most. Longer than anyone else ever has."

  It was a simple statement, and one that cut through her, right to the heart, even as she spoke the words. Whatever was happening, it seemed that this part of her life was done now. She'd had a friend, and now, there was no one.

  It wasn't really true, but most of the people she knew were Westmorlands. At least to hang out with. If Beth had been ordered to do whatever this was called, then the others probably would be too.

  Fucking with Gwen, came to her, as a name for it. Some weird kind of betrayal in order to... Do something. That was a real factor. Beth might have decided to be bored with Gwen, and slowly withdrawn from her life, true. It wasn't like she was perfect all the time, or anything impossible like that.

  What she wouldn't do however, was pull a weapon on Gwen Farris, after demanding she do something annoying. Orders to go and investigate a thing that didn't need them to do anything just wasn't a good reason for violence, and wasn't a thing that could really be forced. Sure, they could make her go, using armed guards, or in this case potentially forceful Bethany's, but that wasn't a way to ensure great work.

  In fact, it pretty much guaranteed the opposite.

  There was a moment of clarity then, as she got the basic idea of what had to be happening. Bethany wasn't moving on her, or hitting, just subtly threatening. Nervously, too. There was no way in the world that she would have done something that made her that uneasy. Not in a way that she knew might well start a fight.

  Gwen forced a smile, knowing it was strained and looked wrong. She had a weapon being held on her though at the moment, which wasn't her favorite thing in the world.

  "Great plan. I take it Adam decided that I needed to be tested for mental stability? I get it. I really do. I'm sort of known for violent behavior, and here I am, suddenly not only able to rift, but able to do it at a distance. So I could get mad and take out some shit, if I lost it, right? I can see that being something that would make him uneasy. I don't know that forcing me to leave town will really help though. Not after the last bit of training I just had."

  Bethany started blinking, and then slowly pointed the PC down, the light from the glow lamp on the wall making it shimmer a bit. It should have been the color of pewter or lead, and not glitzy like that. This one looked a bit like it had flecks of glitter in it. That probably meant it wasn't real. Gwen let her eyes narrow at the idea. What kind of weapon would Beth try to hold her with, anyway.

  She'd thought it would be deadly, but if Bethany didn't want to hurt her, and was just using a threat, knowing it could lead to a fight... That didn't make sense though. If there was a fight, her friend would need the best weapons she could get. Otherwise she might end up dead. Not that Gwen would hurt her. It made her wonder if Beth knew that, on some level.

  The blonde woman tilted her head a bit, her arms stiff by her side.

  "What? I don't take your meaning." The tone was troubled, but the device did go away.

  Probably because she was being so stable and awesome about this mess, whatever it was supposed to be.

  Gwen grinned.

  "Which part are you confused about? Is it that Adam is a dickh
ead? I know you may not see it that way all the time, because he actually likes you, but pulling this kind of shit is exactly why I hate him. Douche bag. Notice though, calling him names isn't the same as taking some kind of violent drastic action. I'm practically the voice of reason here, aren't I?" She waved at the device in Beth's hands.

  "Noooo." The woman's voice was considering, but also saying the word like Gwen did at times. "I meant the portion where you can rift, and do so at a distance. That wasn't part of your training. You have three full sets of conditioning before that's put into play. It will be years..."

  It was, but Gwen nodded.

  "Not exactly, but you were there, and I did mention it to you. You just didn't see it, because I'm not a Westmorland. Think Beth, Mona had me teletransporting three objects at once. If I can do that, I can move a single object in three directions. That's what rifting is, as far as I understand the process. There won't be a difference between me doing it with myself and doing that at a distance, either. I keep forgetting that you can't use your powers on your own all the time. I have full control over mine, so if I can see how to do something and have the skills, I can. Isn't that what this is all about? It's why I had you question Kate like that." She waved her hands around, and was rewarded by a troubled look in response.

  "No. I really didn't understand that. I was distracted by other things. That wasn't the training protocol you were given, and I really did forget that knowing how to do something means something very different for you than it would me or one of the others. I... I need to go and talk to someone. Possibly several people. Wait here? I'm sorry. This was a test. And yes, it was Adam that came up with the idea, because of other factors, no one doubts your good will, but... I need to ask some questions. I think we might have made a mistake here."

  Gwen rolled her eyes.

  "No shit? What is it? Am I not supposed to know how to rift until after I go through all the training for it? I can see that, but it isn't that hard to figure out. I have to think more highly of you all if it was just that I wasn't supposed to work this out yet. Then, you never do it at a distance either, do you? Rifting. It makes sense to me though."

  "This is rather different than I'd been thinking, yes. Even if it isn't... We can't leave you running around able to do that, can we? We can't stop you from leaving either, and even in a cell..." She seemed scared, which was better than having a PC in her face, if harder to take.

  Because now her buddy was considering a real betrayal. It almost ripped across every part of her being, and screamed at Gwen with a force that had to be telepathic projection.

  "Honestly? It isn't that big of an issue. The fact is, I won't rift. Anywhere. I won't give away the secret either. Even if it means dying. I can't do it by mistake. It's too hard. Way hard. I pretty much can't be taken over, and you know that I'll die first, before letting anyone do that. Well, Kate can take me over, but you said that she really doesn't have my magical skills? So she knows how to do it, but can't, herself?"

  Beth went pale, but slowly began to nod.

  "That's true. All of it. What are we going to do though? Trying to kill you, which is the only thing I can think of to stop you, would force you to fight back. Adam just wanted me to move you away from this current situation, and to make sure you wouldn't lash out, being under the stress that you are." She pulled the PC again, and shot Gwen with it.

  The wave of light that hit her tickled. A lot. She tried to jump away, but Beth held her under the beam, smiling a bit.

  Enough that even with the shock of it taking place it made her giggle.

  "Okay, enough! Eek! So you weren't really going to force me to go and waste a month of my life? That's good to know. Risky, coming at me with a tickle attack, but I guess I can forgive it, this once."

  She sighed, and shook her head.

  "I really do have orders to get you out of the city here. Adam... You know that he doesn't actually hate you, don't you, Gwen? He really did do all of this with your best interest at heart."

  Gwen let both her eyebrows come up. She really wanted to slam one up, the left one in this case, but couldn't do that yet. It was a shame too, since she really wanted to steal Mr. Spock's line about things not being logical. Instead she went with her own words, which just weren't the same.

  "Sure. He loves me, and secretly wants me to tickle his..." She stopped, not able to think of what he might want rubbed by her that was naughty and silly enough not to sound gross when she said it. "Whatever. This is a convoluted mess now, and it's a bad, bad idea to leave me not knowing what's going on right now. I thought we were past that kind of thing. Haven't I proven myself to you people enough yet? What does it take? I helped saved the world twice in the last year. Is there some reason to hide things from me? I thought it was all about me being too dangerous, but if you didn't know-"

  Bethany Westmorland shrugged. It was strange enough that Gwen got it. She was well and truly confused, too.

  "It could be that Adam and Mona worked it out. Or that they have access to prescient information that says leaving you at Park Street isn't the best plan at the moment. Or it could be a thousand other things. I do know why, but I'm not allowed to tell you. What are we going to do? If we tell them that you can rift, or even think you can, they won't be able to leave you alone, will they?"

  That all made sense, and her first response was to freak out a bit, and plan out how to flee. Run away, probably to Europa, or some different portion of the Western Kingdom, where at least she spoke the language.

  Then she shook her head, Katherine's voice coming out.

  "You Westmorlands are silly, like little children, aren't you? Go and tell them that Gwen can do this, and that you're able to handle her without issue. After all, you just threatened her life, as far as she knew, and what did she do about it? She stood there and discussed the issue with you. You know that I'm not able to do anything she can, so that isn't a problem. Then we'll go and follow the little plan that Adam came up with for us. You know Gwen, I really do think that you're too hard on him. I bet you'd get along better if you had sex with him."

  She rolled her eyes, meaning she had control over herself, even if Katherine was coming out unasked like that, and shook her head.

  "We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. The man can't stand me. If I offered to do him, he'd probably cut it off first, just to keep himself pure and safe from me. He'll probably have me killed over this. I really just figured that he knew already. It should be obvious, shouldn't it? Once you have the needed information and skills, you can rift." She nearly said that it wasn't hard, but that wasn't the case.

  It was nearly impossible. The big thing with the Westmorland program was that they had to nearly kill people in order to get the job done. Erin Debussey had gotten it done too, but no one knew how exactly. Using her new technique, to seize minds.

  Kate did something to their face, around the mouth. It wasn't a smile, or grimace, but she didn't know what it was at first. Then she figured out that it was her fighting a smile.

  Because she was also fighting a chuckle.

  "Don't be ridiculous, Miss Farris... He's a Westmorland. He could no more order your death than he could ask you to the ball. Now the king could have us killed. If what we've been told is true however, I don't see that happening. If he wanted that to happen, he'd just get on the Telestator and tell you to do it, for the safety of all. Which you would, being a bit of a simpleton that way. Why would he risk himself or his people against you, when all that would be needed is a sensible argument?"

  There was a bit of truth to that.

  Beth smiled, but didn't mean it, and did it too hard, the whites of her eyes showing all the way around. That was a thing that Gwen had seen before. Terror. Normally it was all about her, but she could tell that it was a bit different this time.

  The Detective ran out, not looking back, since the thing that scared her wasn't behind her this time. It was in front of her.

  "Great. Well, any bets as to how l
ong we live now?"

  There was a pause, and then an answer, which seemed to be surprised.

  "Oh, I wouldn't worry too much. You dying right now would be a scandal, and one too hard to hide from your supporters. Now, if they could claim I took over, and perhaps killed you in some way, then it would be fine. It's one of the reasons that you're truly safe, Miss Farris. If I did more than you allowed at any point, things would not go well for me."

  It was probably just her, but Gwen felt confused.

  She'd gone from thinking that the Elder Gods had brought a man back to life, to realizing that Adam Westmorland was a prick inside an hour. Her best friend had held her at PC point, but it had been a joke, meant to tickle her. Not kill, or hurt. That was a good sign. She hoped that was the case. A test, meant to see what she would do. What Katherine would do maybe, if threatened.

  She didn't forget the fact that she'd straight up had a legit sense of the Elder Gods coming for her, at some point. That part was odd, since in the main, that kind of thing was no more than a minute or two out from her in time. This felt like it would take a while. Months, or years. So far off that she couldn't see it as relevant, as frightening as she found it all.

  It still kind of hurt that her friend had kind of betrayed her, even if it wasn't for real, so she tried to think her way through it all. What she'd been seeing from everyone was probably all about her mood, and not her new abilities, and the fear that might have brought about. If that was really the case, she might well actually die that day. How anyone could have missed that she'd be able to do things already didn't make sense to her.

  It would happen suddenly, if that was the case. Part of her brain suddenly leaving its rightful skull room. Teletransported away without warning. Gwen would learn about it about the same time she fell down. Coming at her head on, or worse, ordering Beth to kill her, wasn't going to work, was it? Even if she didn't fight using her new ability to rift, she could run from anything now. Armed men? Well, they'd have to catch her first.