by Laura Wylde
“I saw your fiasco on the emergency broadcast,” a gravelly voice cut into her cheery greetings. You, our fancy FBI agent, had to be rescued by flat-footers.”
“They are a specialized team…” She started to say.
“So specialized they haven’t caught a single perpetrator and according to the victims’ reports, there are still more in captivity.”
“The victims are traumatized, delusional. Right now, they don’t know half what they are saying. We rescued the boy. It’s what we set out to do.”
“That’s it?” The voice at the other end spat. “Your guts got too twisted up to continue the investigation? Where are the smoking guns? Where are the criminals that did this? Urban living has made you soft. I told you that would happen. You’d do better out on the cattle range, shooting rattlesnakes. That’s the best you’ve got.”
It made me realize how difficult it must be to be a federal agent sworn to so much secrecy. Sure, we hid our true identities from humans unless it was necessary to reveal them, but we didn’t have to hide anything within our families. Families were loyal. They all served the same purpose. Even Todd, the first phoenix with leprechaun genes, received the full support, pride and loyalty of his family. Humans didn’t enjoy the same luxuries. Their lives were built around their ability to keep secrets. I won’t say it’s good or bad, just different from the lives of immortals.
I felt sad for her and cradled her head against my shoulder when she hung up. “I couldn’t tell him it’s not over.”
“I know.”
“I wanted to make him proud.”
Adonis took her hand. “You made us proud.”
She leaned against me and pulled Adonis’ arm around her waist at the same time. “Why does he always make me feel like a failure?”
I kissed her sweet lips. “Because it’s the only way he knows of keeping you close.”
We knew a better way of keeping her close. She was all woman. She was beautiful and strong. We held her gently through the night, touched her softly. When we fell asleep, our dreams intermingled, sensuous and deep, fluid and in constant motion.
Tara
I woke in a tangle of arms and legs, all beginning to stir sleepily. We had spent the entire night sprawled out between the couch and a pile of cushions on the floor. I wondered vaguely if it was considered normal for a woman to have a slumber party with four men, then dismissed the thought. Normal had gone out the window a long time ago. Warm, damp breath nuzzled against my neck and I turned my head, catching Adonis’ lips brushing against mine. “Good morning, wild child.”
“I had the strangest dream. We were being pulled together, but we were outside our bodies. It was…” I felt a hand that was not Adonis’ slide over my breasts, holding one and massaging the nipple gently. “Sexual,” I breathed, rolling onto my back and letting the hand slide more liberally.
I caressed Adonis’ head, my fingers buried in his luxurious, dark hair, then drew Thaddeus close as well, dividing my kisses between them. My legs dangled over the side of the couch, one foot resting on the floor. As gently as though he was handling a small animal, Todd picked up the resting foot and began nuzzling it around the ankle, his tongue licking and sucking at the inside flesh as his mouth traveled up over my thighs. I moaned with almost unbearable ecstasy as I felt Adrien’s hands slide up my other leg, climbing up off the floor and onto the couch to continue the exploration.
I took each one of them in turns, twining around and between them, touching them, tasting their warm salty skin, inhaling the scent of cinnamon and incense, pulling them closer until it was like the dream. We were merged together, twisting and writhing, our senses becoming a single touch that we all felt simultaneously. We came together. We came as one.
It was passion. It was raw, surging energy that we passed on to each other. Instead of feeling spent afterward, we were completely charged. After a shower and coffee, I felt renewed. As much as I had tried to shut it out, my father’s phone call had completely drained me. Maybe he carried a spirit-sucking demon inside him. He never really put a great deal of faith in me. His most affectionate nickname for me was “Runt-o”. I thought becoming a federal agent would make him proud, but all he had said when I joined the bureau was, “you’re getting uppity.”
Well, here’s uppity for you, dad. I’m sleeping with four jaw-dropping, mouth-watering phoenix super-heroes, whose existence is the only reason you don’t have goblins lurking in your closet.
Now that I’d knocked that chip off my shoulder, I beamed proudly at my team. It was still my team, after all. I was a part of them. There was something very balanced and smooth about the way they operated, with each one playing a strong role in the decision- making process. There was no real pecking order. They knew each other well and worked together as a single unit.
Their packs weren’t quite standard for an assault unit. Instead of guns and ammunition, they carried a collection of knives and daggers, all with ornate handles and offset with jewels. Thaddeus brought from his room a set of vials filled with concoctions that looked like they had been stolen from a medieval sorcerer. He wrapped them tenderly in an oilcloth and set them carefully inside the pack. “What on earth do you have there, Thaddeus?” I asked, remembering Adrien’s remarks concerning the Romanian’s medical knowledge.
“Antidotes for possible troll toxins. Troll bites and scratches bring nasty infections that can’t be cured with ordinary medicine. They are so foul, contact with them can bring boils. If we see any infected people, they will require our immediate care because the hospitals won’t be able to help them.”
Adrien didn’t sneer so he must be taking Thaddeus seriously. It was seeing them like this, ready to troop out, that it really hit me. We were really going after trolls. With their light packs and wetsuits under their clothes, the men looked more like martial artists than they did a police unit. Me? I was bringing out the heavy artillery. I packed two semi-automatics and an AK-47. I also had an assortment of smoke bombs and some hand grenades. Once the victims were out of the way, I intended to do some serious damage. If I had to blow up a passageway to keep those suckers from escaping, I would. Old King Set needed to get the message that we weren’t on his pets’ dinner menu.
We had all our defenses up as we went down the stairs. Even though we had spent the night consoling each other and agreeing it was all for the best to have another unit join us, our loyalty was toward Adonis. We accepted Adonis as the leader. But what did we know about Daniel Richards? If he was such a nice guy, why was he taking over our turf?
Sulking, a little cool about meeting our new team members, we entered Adonis’ office. Daniel Richards and his men were waiting for us inside. Daniel did not make himself comfortable at Adonis’ desk while he was waiting, or even avail himself of one of the chairs. Instead, the four stood together in a corner, drinking coffee from throwaway cups. He walked briskly over and shook hands with Adonis as soon as we came in.
Holy Moly! The sight of the group made me wonder if all phoenixes are smoking hot eye-candy. Daniel wasn’t quite as tall as Adonis, but he was buff enough to be one of those magazine shoots women pin-up in their lockers and drool over.
It wasn’t difficult to spot which one was Lenny. He looked as young as Adrien. He slouched against the wall, slurping his coffee noisily and sometimes checking his cellphone. He straightened up as soon as his boss called him over and made introductions. “Are you going to remain with Anastos’ special unit?” He asked in a voice that sounded almost boyish.
I laughed, trying not to sound condescending. “The Anastos team is police. I work for the federal bureau.”
“They are going to need more people like you,” he answered in the same guileless voice. “But you’ll need more training to be useful. Some time, you should talk to our human team member, Tanya. She can fill you in on a lot of our resident shapeshifters.”
The one named Jack Cardinal took Lenny by the elbow and ushered him to the ready room where diagrams had been dr
awn out on drafting paper and pinned to a board. Both Adonis and Daniel stood next to the board waiting to have everyone’s attention.It seemed natural Jack would hustle us into the room this way. Jack had an older, wiser, more authoritative air to him. He was a handsome black man with a Vin Diesel build, a manicured goatee and the stylish tastes of the French. I received the impression though, that he was more intent on interrupting our conversation than he was on securing Lenny’s presence at the briefing. I made a mental note to talk with Lenny again.
Adonis tapped a pointer against the central diagram. “This is a map of what the badgers have managed to chart. Here is the main tunnel.” The pointer clicked against the crude drawing of the grate just below the waterline and the access to the forked corridors. “This leads you to the main chamber. The other two corridors have not been completely charted, but they both contain various access points to the network of caves. As you can see…” his pointer drew an imaginary circle around areas where the squiggling lines stopped intersecting and hung suspended on the page. “We know very little about them at this time. Are there other entry points? More hidden cells? We don’t know and we do not want any of you going into unknown territory.”
I stirred uneasily. It still felt like Adonis was erring on the side of caution. “And if we see a troll slip into one of the other corridors?”
“It could be a trap. We have no idea where either of the corridors lead and do not want to waste manpower on a futile chase. We’ve found three exits from the cave system. One is on land. The bears will be going into this chamber where they will wait here.” He referred to a separate diagram that had a detailed depiction of the land entrance. The opening started large then narrowed down to a small tunnel. “Our volunteer wolf can get through this opening. He will work his way south toward this location just in front of the bay access. There will be two mermen keeping watch in the bay, but they will not engage in combat. They will only notify us of any escaping trolls. Daniel?”
Daniel cleared his throat. “First of all, I want all of you to understand that for this mission, we are working as one team. I will not take charge of the tactical maneuvers. Adonis clearly knows the situation better and is more familiar with the territory. I want everyone to snap photos of the diagrams into their cellphones, so you will all know where you are at any given time. Our com links will include tracking devices for added security. The plan is to block all avenues of escape and drive them toward the main chamber. There are not many places where we will be able to shapeshift effectively. Adonis will fill you in on the details.”
By the time the briefing was over, the other team had a full understanding of their limitations. They were a little more grim-faced than when they came in and checked their own inventory of weapons before leaving. Like Adonis’ men, their weapons looked like museum pieces or martial artist collectibles. Just two weeks ago, I would have been chortling over this bizarre display of artillery, but not today. I had seen these blades in action. They could carve a new belly button where a 45 magnum wouldn’t make a dent.
I caught up with Lenny on the Central Park lawns. “Why do you think the FBI will be needing more people like me?”
Lenny jiggled his hands in his pockets. He liked to wear loose clothing. The back of his shirt collar drooped down below his neck and the shirttails flapped over his crumpled jeans. “If what Bunny says is true, we can be expecting more visitors.”
The name jogged my memory. Bunny, the siren, the one Todd liked to tease Adrien about. “You’re the one whose girlfriend talks to informers.”
He blushed. “Tanya doesn’t belong to anybody. It’s more like we all belong to her.”
I raised my brows. That clarified the situation. “Bunny has this end of the world prophecy about the underworld moving in?”
“Overcrowded conditions. You know how it is. Not exactly the end of the world, just a territorial dispute. The natives versus the invaders.”
“Then why were the harpies trying to raise their own army? Why didn’t they just enlist other underworld species to work with them?”
“Harpies, gargoyles and supernaturally diseased humans all have three things in common. They are underground creatures that relish living above ground. They are self-indulgent and self-motivated. If the harpies are raising an army, it’s to secure themselves prime real estate. They are not going to ally themselves with someone who might want the same territory.
The trolls, however work directly with the descendants of Set. They prefer the underground. They just want to branch out to this dimension’s underground tunnels and caves. Conditions are ripe. The hunting is good. We’ve obliged them with an entire network of man-made underground structures.”
I shuddered, more determined than ever to make an example of these hideous visitors from the nether realm. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, patting me on the back. “It’s happened before. It’s all about being of good heart and great courage.”
His words were oddly comforting, maybe because they came from the throat of a two-hundred-year-old man who looked and sounded completely guileless and boyish. The guileless don’t smooth the path. They just call the shots as they see them, and I needed that more than anything right now.
We had reached the banks of the pond. “So, you think I should have a talk with Tanya about mythological creatures?” I asked as we shed our outer clothing.
“Yeah. She’ll be at the station when we get back. She wanted to meet your forensic guy.”
“The precinct’s forensic guy,” I amended. “I’m not part of the unit.”
“Sure, you’re not.” He waded into the water and dived, leaving me with an argument still dangling on my tongue. Phoenixes! I’m not sure I’ll ever completely understand them. I dived in behind him.
We used the buddy system. Since our team knew the way, we each paired up with one of Daniel’s members. Daniel and Adonis led the way, followed by powerful Thaddeus and Jack Cardinal. The two side by side looked like full-backs charging over a football field. Lenny and Adrien were as glued together their interminable invisible wire. They exchanged text messages and images through their cellphones without once speaking, Lenny quick to absorb all Adrien’s suggestions concerning stealth, lighting shields and tactical fighting skills.
As the odd person out, I had two buddies, Todd and Daniel’s remaining member, Jamie. I felt like a thin slice of meat between two thick slices of bread and drew myself up to my full height and fitted the silencer over my semi-automatic weapon, readying it with both hands. “Do you think you’ll blast away a few trolls with that?” Whispered Jamie humorously. His lowered voice had the quality of reeds murmuring in the wind.
Todd was fidgeting with the hilt of his sword, his features gradually becoming more elven with the contact. He chuckled in as low a voice as he could summon, then said, “You don’t have to worry about this lassie. She’s a certifiable troll killer. Just stay out of her way once she starts firing. She can pump off fifteen rounds in ten seconds flat.”
I motioned for quiet. We had come now to the main chamber. The plan was to split up, with each group taking a passageway to a known cell block. If we encountered any trolls along the way, we were to eliminate them as noiselessly as possible. We wanted to release the prisoners within the known cellblocks without the trolls sounding an alarm. If we could get the captives to the main chamber without incident, they could make it through the tunnel on their own, where human rescuers would be waiting. We would remain in the main chamber where the trolls were sure to appear. The trolls weren’t very bright. They would come charging in like pack animals, sure of only one thing. Their prisoners were getting away. We lurked in the shadowy corners.
The caves seemed even darker, wetter and slimier than before. Blotchy, bulbous things clung to the walls. “Troll droppings,” whispered Todd. He pulled a pouch from his belt and sprinkled a powder over the pulsating mounds. The things shriveled up and fell to the floor in a pile of dirt. “Pixie dust,” he explained. “Good for a num
ber of things, including cleaning up after trolls.”
He hadn’t quite finished explaining when Jamie pulled out a long-bladed knife and carved through the air just behind Todd’s shoulders. The two halves of a troll tumbled at our feet. “Stay lively men,” he said cheerily, wiping off his blade and returning it to its sheath.
It made me feel a little foolish. We were supposed to be guiding him and he made the first kill. I deliberately marched two steps ahead of them, my gun gripped firmly in both hands. I saw a flicker. I tried following it with the barrel of my weapon, but it disappeared into the shadows. I waited. It reappeared again, closer, savage yellow teeth flashing as it fastened its gaze at me.
I fired. Trolls are faster on the walls than they are on the ground, and it’s harder to get a good shot at their legs. I fired two rounds into the belly before managing to get one into his thigh and another just above the kneecap. It slowed him down. I readied for another shot, when Todd’s sword slashed through the air, decapitating the beast. “We couldn’t have it warning the others,” he said apologetically, knowing he had interrupted my hopes of killing it.
I nodded. It wasn’t a contest. It was about rescuing the human livestock. Once they were safely in the tunnel, we could keep tally all we wanted. We moved forward, step by uneasy step, feeling even our breathing was too loud. It rang in and out of our throats sharply. We caught one more troll on the way to the cell. Its back was turned as it crouched over its dinner. My mind was too filled with dread to look at what it was eating, but from the smell, it had been charred and roasted. Todd severed its head with one quick sweep of his sword then pointed toward a nearby cave.
Inside, there were four cages. One was empty. One had two teenagers who didn’t look like they had been there long, another contained three occupants in deteriorating clothing, finishing off a bowl of mash. A cage separated from the others contained one man in his mid-twenties who had been receiving special treatment. His clothing was as ragged as the others, his bedding just as soiled, but he was growing plump and tender. So, that was how they did it. They kept their victims on a starvation diet until they were ready to eat them, then plumped them up first. I fought down an urge to vomit.
