by Morgan Wylie
Rylen went to one of the many wall unit intercom systems and pushed a button.
“Mai, Lola, and Enock, report to the Den,” Rylan ordered into the speaker. He looked to Mather. “We need to know what they found out regarding Poppy.” Mather nodded and followed Rylen down the hall toward the direction of the Den.
“I’ll meet you in a minute,” Mather said as he nodded toward the bathroom they were passing. “Gotta take a piss.”
Rylen nodded. “I’ll clear the room.”
Rylen walked into the Den. It was surprisingly quiet for an afternoon at the Lair. There were a few random side operations happening, but overall it was pretty slow right now as far as jobs went. He wondered where they all were. Usually at least a small group was relaxing between missions. Some of his members worked legitimate jobs, some even had families and lived off site. Somehow over the last five years, he had become the arm of the Web that accumulated the more “misfits” of the paranormal world—the ones that didn’t fit, or didn’t want to fit, into any of the others. Some were too violent, and some were not enough. He had a way with the ones that were considered “too violent,” but most of the time they were either misunderstood or didn’t get the training they needed to control their unique powers. Rylen made sure they got the training they needed. He staffed some of the best trainers that were around including himself and Lucius. Luc might not have the best bed-side manner, but he was one of the best trainers especially with the newer members; he had a way with them and they respected him.
Enock strolled into the Den with his hands in his pockets followed closely by Lola and Mai. Mather was not but a minute behind them as well.
“Still in your pajamas, Mai?” Enock teased her.
She had obviously been practicing what Rylen liked to call her “ninja moves” wearing her white karategi for easy movement. Her training was like her meditation, her moves were fluid and graceful as if part of a ballet… a lethal ballet. Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail on top of her head and her feet were still bare. Mai was one of the few awarded an 11th dan black belt in Judo and the highest rankings in karate and several different forms of mixed martial arts. Mai rolled her eyes. “Yes, unlike you who just threw your clothes on when Rylen called for you. I’m so lazy and don’t deserve to be in your very presence.”
“Am I sensing sarcasm coming from you?” Enock looked shocked and held a hand over his chest.
“Where is everyone?” Mather interrupted their banter.
“That is what I was wondering,” Rylen said with a frown.
“There was a small group that were bored and told me they were headed to see if they could find some action at Seattle Center,” Lola pointed out. “But other than that, there should still be some others around.” She scanned the room as if they might just appear. “Oh and I had a couple of the newbie boys take my turn at the grocery store,” she said unapologetically even though Rylen gave her the look. “What? They were bored, so I gave them a task. I was being efficient. Don’t worry, I told them what kind of chocolate to get you,” she said with a wink.
“Good because I’m out,” Rylen gave her a little laugh.
“And I may have told them to get a Costco-sized box of tampons,” she laughed maniacally. “You should have seen their faces! It was priceless. They asked if I was serious.”
“What did you say?” Mai asked, half appalled and half humored.
“I said, unless you want to see some very pissed off women of the Lair with blood all over their pants for reasons other than killing something, they would get over their shit, grow a pair, and buy the fucking tampons without another complaint.” Lola looked smug and proud of herself, challenging the guys with a look to dare and say something.
“Oh my god! I wish I had thought of that when I asked Tom to put some on the list last week.” Mai held her hand up to Lola for a good old fashioned high-five. Their hands smacked as they connected, then followed through all the way down and smacked their hands again on the way back.
The guys knew better than to say anything, but they stood stoic and obviously uncomfortable. The girls burst into laughter.
“Okay so why are we down here, Ry?” Enock coughed trying to change the subject.
Instantly back to business, Rylen stood straight and looked to each of them. “Any word from Poppy? Anything from the witches?”
“She hasn’t returned any of our texts or calls. Tom put a trace on her cell, but it’s right in front of her apartment so it’s probably in her car or on the ground nearby,” Mai said with worry.
“The witches are still working on it, but it’s apparently not a precise or easy thing to do if they don’t have an article of clothing or some belonging of hers to use,” added Enock.
“All right. Mather and Mai head to her apartment and check her car for her cell. We have a copy of her key in the command center safe. Get into her apartment and see if you find anything. I mean anything that looks suspicious, that looks off, or seems out of character for her behavior,” Rylen instructed.
“Excuse me, Boss, but wouldn’t it be better for Lola to go with Mai instead of me? If she is just sick or something, I don’t think she’d appreciate me looking through her space,” Mather said suddenly uncomfortable.
Rylen stared him in the eye for a moment. “Wouldn’t you rather her not speak to you ever again, than to find out she is in trouble and there was something there that only you could pick up on, but you missed it because you were afraid to go into a girl’s apartment?” Rylen challenged him.
Mather growled, and just when he would have stormed out of the room, Gracie came running in. Breathless, she tried to regain herself. She looked around at everyone in the Den finally landing on Rylen.
“What is it, Gracie?” Rylen asked moving quickly to her, gripping her arms to help steady her.
“I see her. I see them. There are a lot of them,” she panted again trying to catch her breath.
“Who Gracie? Who do you see?” Mather was on her other side concern written on his face.
“Poppy. Others. Others will go missing. They are being taken. I can’t see where, but we have to save them.” Panic laced her words as she fought for air. “They will be kept alive as long as they cooperate. I see Poppy at a computer doing something to it with her magic, maybe trying to fix it. I don’t know. She is tired and afraid, but doesn’t look hurt.”
Mather growled again, making Gracie flinch. He patted her arm, showing her he was in control. “Sorry lil sister,” he whispered into her ear and took a step back.
“She needs us,” Gracie looked straight up into his eyes. “They all need us,” she pleaded with Rylen, a tear escaping her eye and running down the side of her sweet innocent face.
“We will get them all. Don’t worry, Gracie,” Enock said as he took her hand. “And then we will pulverize the people that took what was ours.” He was gentle with Gracie but fierce with his words and the look his eyes said he meant every single word.
“Go, Mather and Mai. Come back as quickly as you can,” Rylen directed. They fled the room.
“What do we do while we wait on them?” Lola asked. “I hate this. I feel helpless. Give me job Rylen. What can I do?” Lola asked with an intensity that bordered on shouting, her features marred with concern and also an extreme protectiveness. She began to pace in front of the stacks which made up the library section of the Den.
“Do what you do best. Take E and hit the streets, see if you can pick up anything from the underground network used for communicating amongst the street kids. If nothing’s there, then you can come with me to visit our allies and see if they know anything.”
Enock and Lola turned to leave when a very tall, very naked, and somewhat angry looking Lucius strode into the room unconcerned with the state of his appearance. His body glistened with sweat and was only enhanced by a few dirt smudges along with a leaf and small twig stuck in his hair.
“Well, helloooo to you too,” Lola said with sultry undertone and a
smirk on her face. Lucius turned to her and glared, but didn’t say anything. He turned back to Rylen, noting a very shocked Gracie with wide eyes and a blush that was about to turn her entire face a different shade completely. He didn’t back down.
“My clothes are in the SUV,” he said through gritted teeth. It wasn’t the first time that Luc had to come back into the Lair naked after shifting into his bird form when no one remembered to set his clothes somewhere he could get them before coming back into the Lair. “I’ll go get changed.”
“Sorry, man. I should’ve thought to put your clothes outside the door. Go change and report back to me. I want to hear if you found anything more on that girl,” Rylen said with humor after seeing Gracie’s face.
“I apologize, Grace,” Lucius said as he turned to leave the Den.
“No need to apologize on my account,” Gracie said quietly with a slight blush on her cheeks as she admired the view of his retreat. Lola and Enock both stifled a laugh after Lucius had left. Gracie shrugged. “With all the changing that goes on around here, it’s not like I haven’t seen a little nakedness here or there. I’m not as innocent as you all think.”
“That was more than a ‘little nakedness,’ Gracie. And we like your innocence,” Lola winked at her.
“Back to your tasks. We have a Poppy to find,” Rylen demanded as he left the Den.
CHAPTER SEVEN
A couple hours later, the returning teams walked in to find Rylen pacing behind his throne. He looked in deep thought almost as if he wasn’t completely there—lost in another place leaving his body in the exact way he left it waiting on him to return. Lucius was there with him, but off to the side, his arms folded across his chest in a very intimidating way that accentuated every muscle in his arms and chest. He approached the others as they walked further into the room.
“What’s happening?” Mai asked half way in wonder.
“He’s meditating,” Lucius responded as if it was obvious. It wasn’t anything they hadn’t seen Rylen do before. Meditating was his way of thinking deeply or going over something he was trying to figure out. It left him in a vulnerable position and he usually did it in private or in a place that was guarded as he was by Lucius now.
“I’ve never seen him do that while he was moving,” Lola pointed out. “That’s impressive.”
Lucius simply shrugged.
“How long?” Mather asked.
“About an hour,” Luc said as he turned his wrist up to look at his watch.
“Should we interrupt him?” Violet asked quietly.
“Where have you been?” Lucius asked her curiously.
“I had a late shift last night. Rylen told me to come in later today, but I would have come in earlier if I had known all this was going on. I’m here now,” Vi stated as she defended herself. She tugged the sleeves of her designer tunic down and crossed her arms. She had wildly expensive tastes that matched her pampered attitude. “You should have called me in,” she pouted.
“To answer your question, no I think we wait him out. Unless you have pressing information from your tasks?” Lucius inquired.
“Not really. E and I didn’t find much on the streets except that there might be more missing than we thought. Several of the kids that like to hang out under the George Washington Memorial Bridge that were regulars haven’t been coming around,” Lola replied.
“Some of the kids believe that something happened to them, but they didn’t have much to go off of. Normal circumstances, it would look like they just moved on, but in light of what we’re facing, I think it fits,” Enock added somberly.
Lucius nodded. “What about at Poppy’s apartment?” He looked at his brother and Mai.
Mather took a deep breath and ran a hand through his long dark hair on top of his head. “Nothing. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No sign of a struggle inside. The door was locked and everything in place. She was a neat freak, so we’d notice if something looked out of place. No strange scents inside her place either. It’s an apartment building so there were plenty of scents leading up to the building entry and along the staircase and in the elevator. So that doesn’t really help,” he growled out frustrated.
“But by her car—which we found her cell phone in, by the way—we found a tube of lipstick on the ground under the passenger door by the curb. I looked at it, but it’s not a shade she would wear so I wasn’t even sure it was hers, but dog boy here said it had her scent all over it,” Mai explained.
Mather scowled at her, but kept his mouth shut regarding the dog comment. “Show them what else you found,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Oh right!” Mai got excited and started showing them the lipstick canister. “I kept thinking something about it looked strange. No man would probably ever notice, which I imagine was the point. Look, when I twist the bottom of it to push more lipstick up, there’s a click and the bottom actually disengages.” Mai pulled out the bottom from the lipstick. Inside there was a very small microchip. “I’m going to take it to Tom to see what it is, but maybe it has info on it about what happened. Maybe she tried to tell us what happened. She is so brilliant!” Mai jumped up excited by her find. Everyone else was excited too as they got in closer to take a look.
“Very good, Mai and all of you,” Rylen said from behind them causing Vi and Lola to jump. “Sorry didn’t mean to startle you.” He placed a hand on Violet’s shoulder. “I’m glad you made it in Vi. We are about to put everyone on house arrest so we know who is really here and who is missing.”
“House arrest?” came an incredulous cry from the girls because they knew that mostly applied then to them. “We can help!” Lola added.
“Or at the very least some kind of check in and tracking devices. I just can’t lose you to them,” Rylen said with deep conviction. They understood, but still didn’t like being on leashes. “Mai, please take that to Tom right now and tell him to get on deciphering what it is. I want that information yesterday!” Mai nodded and ran out of the room.
“Instead of waiting on her return, someone fill Mai in when she comes back. I received word from Black Widow regarding what the boys and I found today. For those who don’t know, we found what we believe to be the living quarters for the families of those involved with the Fairfax Human Rights Alliance, not their headquarters. We couldn’t see much, but we met someone who was friendly enough to share intel with us. She seemed forthright in what she told us. I can’t figure her motivation, but either way, I am taking what she said under serious advisement. When I relayed the info to Black Widow, she informed me that however I got my information, it was false and I was to take the building down.” Rylen began pacing again as he brought his team up to speed.
“I’d have no problem burning the building to a crisp if it was the Fairfax headquarters, but if indeed it is filled with innocent women and children… that I do have issue with. It’s not yet their fault who their associations are with. They are too young to see what they are being indoctrinated into.” Rylen stopped pacing for a moment and ran both hands through his hair that had been released from its earlier binding. He looked at each one of his people.
“Thoughts?” he asked them.
It was quiet and thoughtful for a moment. The air in the room grew heavier as one waited for another to speak first. Finally, Lucius spoke. “Their fate matters not to me, but I will follow your lead no matter what that spider wants.” Several heads nodded in agreement.
“I’m with Lucius regarding the fate of those who choose to be involved, but I won’t hurt the little ones, Ry. If that’s your choice, I’ll back you how I can, but I’ll step out of that part,” Enock said honestly.
“I agree” and “Me too” were heard from the others.
“I had no intention of harming innocents, but Widow is calling this one of the last steps in my ‘trial.’ And as she continues to remind me, my time to complete it is running out.” Rylen let out a growl of frustration that echoed throughout the cold cement Throne room. “Damn her
and her games!” he howled as he beat his hand on top of a small side, splintering it down one leg.
“Screw her, Rylen!” Lola shouted. “We’ll go with you if she cuts you out.”
Rylen looked at her with sympathy. “Thank you, Lo. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. I’d do the same for any of you.” He sighed and raked fingers through his hair. “She won’t cut me out… she’ll cut me down. I have no question about that. If I am not loyal to the edge of what she deems necessary, there is no reason I should continue to breathe. She will kill me… or worse.” His eyes widened, wild with unexpected fear, and he barked out a harsh sounding laugh. “I should have said no when she came for me. I should have stayed in hell, at least then my punishment would be mine alone to bear.” He sighed. “If I could go back five years, I would let her do it too.” Rylen looked into each of their eyes and realized he wouldn’t do it. “Now I have you all. I refuse to hand over my family to her or who she deems fit to take charge of you. They will not protect you, they will rule you and that would break you and the others.” Rylen looked up to the ceiling and pleaded with an invisible god, if one existed, to watch over his people. They all had their flaws and their pasts and their own demons, but deep down they were good people and just because they were—for whatever reason—born with or bestowed upon gifts of another dimension that they should be punished was wrong. It wasn’t their fault. It wasn’t because they were inherently evil or bad. Darkness resided in all, but what you chose to do with that darkness was what mattered. Rylen believed that.
Agitated, Rylen took several deep breaths and released slow on the exhale. “I need a drink. Who wants to hit the Black Hole with me?”
