by TR Cameron
A much louder laugh emerged, and heads swiveled to look at her. Men on dates turned their heads away quickly but those without stared a little longer. A few women’s gazes lingered too. “As you well know. But why should we be? Each day, we squirrel away a little more information and a little more treasure. Each day, our power grows. When we return, we will be ready to advance to the nobility. And then the true game will begin.”
Danna nodded. The end goal was the same as it had always been. The destruction of one of the nine families would create a power vacuum the nobility would fight to the death to fill. It was their shared objective to seize that position for themselves. It was the main reason she was so intent on seeing Caliste killed, as that line had dwindled almost completely. When the other family had attacked New Orleans, it had been as if the universe offered them a backup plan. Still, they needed to tread carefully. In New Atlantis, overreach was inevitably fatal. She lifted her glass. “To the game and our victory in it.”
The beautiful blonde across from her matched her gesture and clinked to complete the toast. “To us and all we may achieve together.”
She folded her napkin and placed it beside her plate. “Suddenly, I’m hungry for something other than food. Let’s get out of here.” Her partner’s smile confirmed that he felt the same, and they left the unfinished meal, the table, and the restaurant behind to pursue a different variety of physical delight.
Chapter Eleven
Zeb grimaced as Janice made her way down the long tables and bumped into several of the customers. He had insisted Cali take the evening off because she’d looked more than a little rough at the end of the previous night. When he’d remarked on it, she’d said only that she was tired so he did what he could to address the problem. Hopefully, she was at home sleeping.
The Dragons’ other server wasn’t bad, per se. She merely didn’t have the gift for dealing with people that Cali did. But she was available at a moment’s notice and affable enough with the easy folks. It required a little more of his attention to keep the challenging ones in check with her around than it did when he could depend on the fiery redhead to cut them with her sharp tongue. He shook his head with an internal laugh.
Who knew that the stick of a girl I hired would turn out to be so tough? If asked, he’d claim he’d seen it coming but in truth, he was as surprised as anyone else.
The front door opened and he scowled at the appearance of Cali, Kendra, and Tanyith. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be sleeping at home as opposed to awake at a bar?”
She grinned. “You’re not the boss of me on my days off, Zeb.” The dust on her jeans suggested she had probably been in the hidden refuge her parents had used since it wasn’t fully reconditioned yet.
That might also explain Tanyith’s presence. It could be they’re strategizing for New Atlantis.
They sat at the bar and he groaned as he climbed off his stool to get them bowls of the house stew, thick slabs of that morning’s bread, and mugs of soft cider. They made appreciative noises as he put the refreshments on the bar and he returned to his chair as they started to eat. “So, what are you kids up to today?”
Tanyith snorted. “I’m at least a year further away from being a kid with each passing day.”
“You’d rather be back on Oriceran?”
He shook his head. “Oh, hell no. But a little time for relaxation wouldn’t be bad.”
The dwarf stared at the man’s face and searched for any hint that the healing hadn’t fully completed. Cali had told him about the fight, and a pang of guilt had stabbed him over not stepping in to help despite his vow to keep his prize battle-ax Valerie in retirement. But my fighting days are past. This is a good life.
He frowned as the wards he’d woven into the stones of the Dragons alerted him that someone had arrived in the basement. Quickly, he twisted to face the staircase and noted the alarmed looks on the others’ faces when they realized what he was doing. No one was ready for a replay of the Kraken attack—which had started exactly this way—least of all him. He hadn’t been at the docks but had watched every moment of the battle magically and had felt the deep pain of fear for the safety of those he loved. The stubborn voice inside him commented, Maybe you should have fought, then. He pushed it away.
The purple-haired troll was the first to appear and bounded up the stairs with leaps and acrobatic flips. He seemed to prefer being around three feet tall, based on the couple of times Zeb had seen him, and it was certainly a good size for his aerial games. The short dark hair of his partner Diana appeared next when the agent exited the staircase in her jeans and leather jacket.
She smiled at their stares. “There are no emergencies. Nylotte told me I should think about checking in, so I took a chance that one of you would still be here. I’ve been busy with a…thing.” She shook her head and he wondered what kind of adventure the woman and her team might have been involved with. The Dark Elf had intimated that the agents were focused on the biggest magical threats and since they hadn’t appeared for the Kraken attack, it made him wonder what other greater dangers could possibly lurk out there.
Cali and Tanyith had broken into smiles and Kendra had put her cop face on at the woman’s arrival. The troll, Rath, vaulted up on the bar and down on the Draksa, who responded by rolling over to play fight with him. Diana shook her head and took the open seat closest to the others. “So, you’re heading to New Atlantis?”
Cali nodded. “As soon as we can get it together and go. Do you know anything about it?”
“Nothing more than Nylotte would have already shared. I’ve never been there, nor have any of my people. Our techs found out what they could and they’ve plotted what they believe is the best approach path.” She handed over a black pouch. “Inside this is a waterproof GPS and one of our comms to interface with it. Follow its directions and you should stay on target.”
“Can we use it to contact you?” she asked the agent.
“It connects to the AIs that run our base. At need, they can transfer you to one of us, assuming we’re not in the middle of an op.” From behind the bar, Rath’s amused voice added, “Magic ops. We are the law.” Diana shook her head and chuckled at Cali’s expression. “He’s a big movie buff. Has a particular love for Stallone and an even more long-abiding passion for Judge Dredd. I blame myself.” The troll’s cackling laughter followed.
Tanyith looked up from where he had examined the items in the bag. “Thanks for this. We really appreciate it.”
Kendra, who had remained silent throughout, suddenly spoke. “So, what’s in it for you? Why the help and why the equipment?” Her tone was less confrontational than some things Cali had heard her say but definitely came from the detective side of her personality.
Diana shrugged and seemed unoffended by the question. “Our interests are aligned. ARES doesn’t have easy access to New Atlantis at the moment so we hope you will share whatever knowledge you discover and maybe serve as our experts on the city if we need it. Plus, once you’ve established a portal connection, we’d like you to take several of us there so we can create one. It’s far easier than making the swim.”
Zeb had prepared his pipe quietly as the others spoke and now ignited it with a touch of magic and took a satisfying puff. “Wouldn’t an aircraft be able to get closer?”
The agent turned to him with a smile. “It would if not for all the rumors about equipment going haywire in the Bermuda Triangle. We sent a drone in. It didn’t make it far before it simply plunged into the water. The techs took that very personally so they built a waterproof version. It made it about ten minutes closer before an octopus claimed it and dragged it into a cave. They’re currently drawing up plans for an armed, waterproof version despite the fact that I won’t let them use it until after your situation is resolved.”
Cali laughed. “They seem like my kind of people.”
Diana grinned. “All my folks are fantastic. Once this all settles, you should consider coming for a visit.” Zeb frowned at the way
that the younger woman’s face lit up at the offhand invitation. The idea of her leaving anytime in the foreseeable future was not something he was interested in considering. Because I don’t want to have to find another server, he told himself.
The woman continued, “Also, we owe you for letting us use the Tavern as a transfer point and hope you’ll continue to do so.” She nodded at him and he returned it.
Zeb turned to look at the troll and the Draksa, who still wrestled behind the bar. The dragon lizard made playful growls and swiped with retracted claws while Rath imitated him. He grinned at Diana. “Watch this.” A quickdraw of the soda gun dispatched a stream of bubbly water at Fyre, who righted himself and snapped greedily at it although the growls continued. Rath cackled with glee and clapped, then copied him. Everyone laughed and he kept the jet on them for another few seconds before he stopped and slotted the nozzle into place.
Diana stood, then snapped her fingers. “Damn, I almost forgot. We have these for you.” She retrieved papers from her back pocket and extended them to Cali. “Tickets for a cruise ship that’s heading close to where you need to go. It leaves Sunday afternoon, so you have a couple of days to prepare.” The girl sputtered her thanks and the agent waved it away. “Like I said, our interests are aligned, which means I can bring some of our resources to bear. My boss is a stickler sometimes.” The playful fondness that filled the last sentence suggested there was more to that story. “Rath, it’s time to get a move on.”
The troll did an acrobatic flip to land on the bar and jumped down. The agent shook her head. “Sorry. His sense of decorum is sadly lacking.”
“You’re sadly lacking,” her diminutive companion countered, and she shook her head again.
“Honestly, I can’t take you anywhere.” The two descended out of sight and Zeb felt the pulse of magic as they portaled away.
Cali said, “Those two are something else.”
“You’re something else,” Tanyith quipped. Kendra smacked him on the arm, and they both laughed.
The detective stared at where she’d last seen the agent. “I think I need to do due diligence on that group. I wonder who oversees them.”
“I’m not sure it matters,” the dwarf pointed out. “As long as we do things that indirectly advance their cause, we shouldn’t worry about accepting their help. Nylotte has proven trustworthy and they seem to be as well, based on what we know about them.”
Kendra shrugged. “Still. Call it professional curiosity.”
Cali rolled her eyes. “Jealousy, more like. Her leather coat is nicer than yours.”
The jibe turned the conversation, and they went back to planning for the trip to New Atlantis. Again, Zeb considered the question of whether he should play a more active role and again came up with the same answer.
No. My time has passed. Now, the best thing I can do is help Cali along her path.
Chapter Twelve
The plan he had developed had a high probability of success, Ozahl thought. Fort Polk was not a fort in the usual sense of a facility surrounded by a curtain wall and defended by guard towers. It was more like a small city that happened to include military buildings. Given more time, he would have been able to devise something more subtle, but since the clock was running, he had limited options.
He expected the prisoners to be in the SCIF building—the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. It lay a little to the south of where he hoped to find the anti-magic ammunition in the Mission Training Complex. The other possibility was that the Army folks would use the Class VII warehouse for the bullets, which would be far more heavily secured. They tended to be touchy about protecting their tanks and missile launchers, which was why he devoutly prayed they’d select the other building for the transfer. The third possibility was that they’d use one of the base’s other warehouse buildings, which would leave him and his people out of luck since there were too many to search them all.
The operation called for Strang and his group to target the airfield at the southeast and generate as much light and noise as possible. He’d recommended they find a plane to blow up, but the big man had laughed derisively and replied, “Yeah, if we want them to hunt us forever. We’ll start a few fires. That should do the trick.”
The mage wasn’t convinced it would but he held his peace. If it worked, fantastic. If it didn’t, he had a scapegoat. Forcing Grisham to decide the fate of one of his trusted lieutenants would keep the man off-balance, which was the condition the mage preferred his nominal leader to be in. His only real ally was Danna and he wished confusion and bad luck on everyone else.
Once upon a time, he’d made the mistake of thinking he could be part of a group and subordinate his plans to a greater good. It hadn’t taken long for him to realize the truth that his destiny was too large to include anyone who lacked a similar vision. Finding a partner who shared it had been the greatest stroke of good fortune of his life.
He had a team of nine to support him. The seven he didn’t know well and didn’t care about in the least followed in two black SUVs. The others he did care about—at least to some degree inasmuch as they served his purposes effectively—shared his Escalade with Lila at the wheel while Dalton checked his weapons repeatedly in the passenger seat. They were his go-to assistants as their New York roots provided a smaller chance of conflicts in New Orleans than local talent did. She was tall, blonde, and ferocious, and the man was quietly competent when not busy trying to seduce any woman who paid the slightest attention to him.
Ozahl didn’t trust them, as such, but he felt they could be relied upon to a point and thus required less suspicious oversight than anyone else from the Zatora organization. He reinforced their loyalty by being excessively generous with the loot they acquired together.
Everyone involved was well aware that tonight’s effort wasn’t about treasure, however. Grisham had briefed the teams personally and emphasized the need to retaliate against the group that had tried to attack them. They all wore identical plain black tactical uniforms sourced from an out-of-state police supply store and carried automatic rifles and pistols. Each also had a duffel bag slung over their back to transport whatever they found, with a roll of duct tape and a hoodie inside. They were large enough to hold prisoners.
The tension in his teammates grew as they neared their destination, and he tapped Lila’s shoulder. “Turn right and find the access road.”
They had circled to the north before they moved south on the east side of the base. Trees covered most of the land around the fort and as long as they avoided sensors, cameras, and guard posts, they should be able to reach the SCIF without attracting notice. Darkness had fallen an hour before but the GPS coordinates for the road were locked in. They found it and turned in, followed by the other two vehicles. When they stopped at their destination, they exited and three of the nameless troops they used as drivers moved the SUVs away to the pickup point and left the seven of them on foot.
The journey from their location to the boundary of the lot that held the SCIF building was covered rapidly. Lila and Dalton led wearing night-vision goggles, and two of the other people behind him scanned for electronic emissions that would signal sensors or cameras. He’d doubted there would be many present and turned out to be correct. The base was designed for ease of use rather than defense as it didn’t usually have important guests or tech on hand. I guess we simply lucked out.
At this time of night, only a few cars were still parked in the broad paved area. Another good sign, although we won’t be so lucky when we go for the bullets.
“Tighten up.” The team had been briefed and despite any misgivings they might have had about his skills, they gathered into a close line. He cast an illusion over them that would render them invisible to the cameras above and to any casual glance. A focused stare would probably detect the ripples of magic as true invisibility wasn’t something he or anyone he knew had yet perfected.
He checked his watch, nodded, and noted absently that Lila and Dalton
were stowing their goggles. The timing was perfect, and they had only thirty seconds before the diversion was set to begin.
“Wait one,” he whispered and stretched his neck to the south as if that would help him hear better. The explosions, when they came, were extremely loud. Sirens whooped, and he slid into motion with a grin.
They crossed on a straight line toward the entrance. The structure was built like a blockhouse with no windows at all to grant them a preview of what was within, and a solid set of double doors prevented access. Grisham’s contacts hadn’t been able to provide that information, either.
The street to their right was increasingly active and people shouted as military vehicles flashed past. If all went well, the diversion team would have vanished without being seen and left chaos in their wake. He devoutly hoped not to hear gunfire, which would indicate that the team had screwed it up. A fire would bring one level of alert, but proof of an enemy presence would kick everything into high gear.
He tried the doors after they’d crossed the pavement but they were locked. It was too much to hope for, but still. A little luck would be okay. He whispered, “Here we go,” and flicked his fingers in front of his chest. The doors catapulted off broken hinges, dented and buckled, and hurtled into the room. It was a standard government building lobby with cheap chairs along the sides and a curved reception desk at the back wall with a door on either side of it.
The uniformed guard was already reaching for his weapon. Bad move, Rambo. You should have gone for the alarm. Ozahl located and blasted the camera watching the lobby an instant before any of his team could cross the threshold.
While they had sufficient rifles for the operation, the Zatoras hadn’t managed to obtain an equal number of suppressors. The only silenced weapon in his group belonged to Lila, and it spat softly as she fired a triple burst at the guard. He lurched as two of the three struck home and knocked him away from the desk. She ran forward, vaulted onto the furniture, and expelled another three rounds to finish him.
