by Jan Stryvant
"Of course," she said and went to fetch it.
"Pretty trusting of them to leave you here unguarded," Roxy said.
"That's because our guards are all lycans, and he's a lion, so what would be the point?" the man who had escorted them in said, quickly coming back down the hallway.
"Please, follow me."
Sean had to admit, Sapientia's main headquarters were rather nice, almost palatial in their design and decor, but then, if you're dealing with the nation's leaders, you probably have to make sure you look impressive. All the Sapientia council houses he'd been to so far had been nicely decorated, but in a much more understated fashion.
This was not at all 'understated'.
The room they were led into was much more comfortable looking, with one wall completely lined with bookshelves. There were a number of overstuffed chairs, and a fairly large couch.
In two of the chairs, sitting more or less across from each other, were two men. Both Duncan Roberts and Gerald Perkins had been described to Sean in the past, so it wasn't hard to tell the two of them apart. Gerald was also a lot older than Duncan, which helped.
Their guide steered Sean over to the couch, figuring correctly that Sean would want to sit with his wives. But Sean stopped first before the two men and gave a small bow to each, extending his hand.
"Duncan, Gerald, it's nice to finally meet you," Sean said and smiled when they each shook hands with him in turn.
"It's nice to meet you as well," Duncan said. "Arthur has had a lot to say about you, all of it good."
"Joseph has a lot to say as well," Gerald said with a smile. "He never fails to tell me how you leave him with more questions after every meeting than he had before!"
Sean smiled and sat down between Roxy and Jolene.
"It's a skill," he admitted.
"I had no idea you were in Washington. I've heard about what's going on in Mexico and had assumed you were there, as you were in Canada during the campaign there," Duncan said.
"Circumstances are such that I've had to come to Washington to deal with some problems," Sean said with a heavy sigh.
"I have to ask," Gerald said, "why are you so defensive of the Vestibulum's people after you did such a number on their men?"
"Because they were victims? I don't like the killing, Gerald. I only do it when I must, and I often hate it afterwards when I see the destruction I've left in my wake. Actions must have consequences, or those actions won't stop.
"Watkins was possessed by a demon, some sort of possessing spirit that destroys the host and takes over all that he is so that they can better mimic him. If the people of the Vestibulum hadn't been so willing to execute a couple dozen lycans—if they'd stopped and questioned what was going on—maybe the others who'd become possessed would have been spared that experience?"
"And you now believe that Jeremy Mays of the Vestibulum, one of their leaders, is now possessed as well?"
Sean nodded. "It makes sense. Watkins was possessed around the time of Mays' last visit, and I find it hard to believe the late Todd Adams would have decided to assassinate the president all on his own. Someone ordered him to do it, and the only people who could are all in Brussels."
"Adams claims it was a rogue member of his council who attempted the assassination."
"I know. Too bad the 'rogue' died almost immediately, isn't it?" Sean snorted. "I talked to one of the assassins. Adams ordered it. The dead guy was just a patsy."
"What!" Duncan said, bolting upright in his chair. "Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. It's not common knowledge, however, so I wouldn't go spreading it around."
"Why not?"
Sean leaned back on the sofa. "It bothered me for a long time that the Vestibulum would try to do such a thing. It didn't make any sense. At least, not until we found out a member of the president's cabinet had made a deal with the devils and was involved in the attempt as well."
Sean noticed that Duncan and Gerald looked at each other.
"Didn't know about that part either, did you?"
"No, Sean," Gerald admitted. "We didn't."
"It started to make sense then, but I still wasn't seeing the whole picture. Did you know that several lobbyists and a campaign manager had been possessed by devils as well? Right here in Washington?"
"So it was you who killed Scheckley's man?" Duncan asked.
Sean nodded. "He was one of the first we found. There were four more we dealt with almost immediately. So far we haven't found another one, and I don't believe there are anymore here, yet."
"And I take it that explains why the congressmen and senators are opposing the president's order?"
Sean nodded. "They were either being blackmailed, or coerced in other ways. We'll be dealing with that shortly."
"Why?" Gerald asked.
"Why what?"
"Why are they doing this? What's so important about lycans that they would do all this to stop them from being freed?"
"Because we're not susceptible to a lot of things humans are, that even magic users are. When they realized the lions, through me, were freeing and uniting the lycans, they knew they had to do something about it. I suspect trying to get as many of you magic users killed in the process was probably just a bonus.
"I wonder if the Vestibulum held you all back now because of their own stupidity, or if they had help. Demonic help."
"That is a lot to take in, Sean," Duncan said slowly.
Sean nodded. "I know, but it has a lot to do with why we lions are taking an active interest in things once more. You see, we're about to be invaded by a metric shit ton of djevels from Onderwereld."
"How did you know about that?" Gerald asked, looking surprised.
Sean smiled and stood up. "We lions have always known about it. Who do you think has been leading the battle against them every time their world comes close enough to ours for the gates to open? Of course, for some time now their attacks have only been to test our resolve. This one is going to be one hell of an invasion.
"Just one word of warning."
"What?" Duncan asked.
"Please don't go against us or get in our way. We have to work together on this if we're all going to succeed. I'm going to be doing a few things you may not like, and which I find personally distasteful, but they have to be done if we're going to be ready to fight this war."
"One last question then, if you don't mind?" Gerald asked.
Sean shrugged as he helped each of the girls to her feet. "Shoot."
"How are you able to detect those who've been possessed?"
Sean wrinkled his nose, his face in a distasteful expression. "We can smell them. That was why Watkins wanted the lycans in Canada killed. They knew what he was, but of course, no one would listen to them. So they shut up instead."
Sean bowed to both of them. "Now, if you'll excuse us, there's much to do, and so little time left to do it."
And with that, he led the girls out of the room to return to their car, the lycan maid showing up to give Jolene her water as they walked down the hall.
'And you give me grief for messing with them,' the First said to Sean with a chuckle.
'Well, now at least I know how much fun it can be! Do you think they'll heed my warning?'
'They probably will; it seems apparent that they know something big is coming. But there are others who probably won't. They've spent too many years working at odds with each other to start agreeing now.'
Sean almost sighed out loud at that as they walked outside towards their car; he couldn't help but agree with the First's thoughts.
"Arthur was right," Duncan said.
"About what?" Gerald asked.
"That conversations with Sean often leave you with a thousand unanswered questions, even though he tells you more than you asked for."
Gerald nodded. "Joseph has made many of the same observations. But it would seem our seers were right, there is a dark force that'll be trying to take this world away from us. I'm just a little
disappointed that the lions never came to us and asked for our help."
Duncan shook his head. "Would we have listened?"
Gerald looked thoughtful for a moment and then slowly shook his head. "No, probably not."
"Exactly. Now, about those letters the late and unlamented Mr. Adams' attorney sent us?"
Gerald sighed and shook his head. "They definitely back up Sean's claims, or perhaps I should say, Sean's claims lend credence to their words."
Duncan nodded in agreement. "And leads to even greater suspicions about exactly what's going on in Brussels. However, what can we actually do about it?"
"That is the pertinent question for the moment, isn't it?"
Weapon of Choice
"So, now what?" Roxy asked as they settled back into the office.
"Now we round up all of our problem children so I can have a little discussion with them," Sean said with a frown.
"Wait, we're going to do what?" Roxy said, looking shocked.
"Well, not 'we' as in the five of us," Sean said. "But I'm going to have Granite send out teams tonight to grab all four representatives, and the five congressmen we know for sure were cooperating with the enemy."
"You mean, being bribed or coerced," Roxy corrected.
"They're still doing as they're told. So in my book, they're cooperating."
"I don't think a mass assassination of members of the government is the kind of thing that'll go unnoticed," Jolene said, looking at Sean disapprovingly.
"I'm not going to kill them."
"Then why are you going to kidnap them?"
"Like I said, I think it's time I had a conversation with them and educated them on the realities of the world today."
"Do you really think they'll believe you?"
"Oh, I fully intend to prove it to them."
"And if they say no, what then?"
"Then I'll just have to use more persuasive arguments."
"And that's what worries us," Peg said with a chuckle. "Your 'persuasive' arguments often involve broken bones, blood, and even death."
"They're useless to us dead," Sean said, rolling his eyes. "I not only want them to change their stance on the EO, I want them to introduce a bill that explicitly grants those rights to lycans, fae, elves, dwarves, etc."
"Ah ha!" Roxy said. "Now I know why you wanted to stop by Sapientia's this morning! You're going to out the whole kit and caboodle! All of them! Oh, they're not going to be very pleased with you after this one, Hon!"
Sean shrugged. "I'm not going to mention magic users in the bill at all, so not my problem." Standing up, Sean stretched. "Well, I'm gonna go talk to Granite and get the planning going on this. I'm sure it's not going to be easy rounding them all up."
"Just be careful you don't give him a heart attack when you tell him!" Daelyn said with a laugh.
Sean shook his head, but Granite's reaction when Sean took him and his staff aside and told them what he wanted done wasn't that far removed.
"Sean! Are you sure you want to do this?" Granite said after the shock had worn off.
Sean nodded. "Yes, I do. Bag 'em all and bring 'em in. I want all of them tied to chairs with hoods on their heads, and a werewolf standing behind each one. Oh, make sure the chairs are bolted down, too, while you're at it.
"And when do we have to have them here?"
Sean shrugged. "Any time after ten tonight would be good, but if it has to be later, it can be later. Look, we've got blackmail material on several of them; we've been watching them for over a week now, so we know their habits. If you need help with planning, talk to Sheila. She understands this kind of thing quite well."
"Still, Sean. All of them? At the same time?"
"Hey, if I didn't think you could do it, I wouldn't have asked you, now would I?"
Sean smiled as they all puffed up a little bit in pride at his praise.
"Come on, they're not magic users, and they're not really all that important. Well, Conway is a little, but I'm sure you can figure this out and deal with it. If you need any magical help, let me know."
Granite nodded. "You got it, Boss." He turned to the rest of his staff. "Get everyone in here, we're going to need a lot of help to pull this off. It's already after two! Come on, move people! Hop to it!"
Sean smiled and went back to his office to take a nap. It was going to be a long night, he was sure.
'Are you sure you want to go down this road, Son?' the First asked.
'Bit late to back out now, Dad. Besides, I need to get this done, and I need to get it done now. Yeah, people are going to be pissed, but once the war starts, they'll have other things on their minds, I'm sure.'
'Just don't become too much like me. You're still way too young to become that cynical.'
Sean just nodded. Tonight wasn't going to be something he enjoyed, but it had to be done. Like it or not.
Sean walked into the room Granite had set aside for tonight's little affair. After spending the last ten hours thinking about it, Sean was already fairly certain of how this was going to play out, but he still felt he had to go through the motions first.
There were eight chairs in the room; each one had a person tied to it, with a bag over their head. Four senators, four congressmen from the House of Representatives. Peters, fortunately for him, had left town early, as he had a family emergency. But Sean was okay with that, Peters really wasn't one of the ringleaders, and Sean had already told Steve to publish all the blackmail material they had on him first thing tomorrow morning and let the chips fall where they may.
Sean stopped in front of them, took one last look around, then nodded to the wolves who, grabbing the hoods over the captive's heads, pulled them all off at once.
"How dare you!"
"Who do you think you are!"
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in!"
"Let me go! I demand that you let me go!"
Sean just stood there looking at them impassively as they all blustered and threatened him. After a minute, he realized that it didn't look like they were going to run down anytime soon.
"I should have known shutting up a politician was going to be hard," Sean grumbled loudly. "Now, Shut up!"
They kept going.
"If I slit one of your throats, would that encourage the rest of you to be quiet?"
That made them hesitate for a moment. But only a moment.
Shaking his head, Sean looked up at the eight werewolves. "Put a knife to their throats. If they don't shut up, cut 'em a little."
A moment later, Sean was greeted with blessed silence. They all had sharp blades held against their necks now, and only one of the congressmen, a congresswoman in this case, had any cuts on their necks at all. Sean healed it with a casual flick of a finger.
Looking around the room at them, he smiled.
"You're probably all wondering why I called you here today. It's really very simple, and I'll be happy to lay it out for you. But you all need to stop that senseless babble, understand?
"Now, how many of you are aware that Scheckley's campaign manager, Conway's friend Jared, and Mills, Hathaway, and Hamitt were actually no longer human?"
Sean paused a moment. "Oh right, the knives at your throats." Sean motioned to the wolves. "Put the knives away, guys. But keep 'em ready, just in case."
"What do you mean not human? I've known Jared for years!" Conway thundered.
Sean looked at the others. "Any of the rest of you? Did you know? This one's a freebee; admit it now and I won't kill you. If I find out you lied to me, however…" Sean drew a finger across his neck. "We don't have time for traitors."
The other seven all shook their heads vigorously.
"I'm still waiting for an answer, young man!" Conway said.
"Does this explain what happened with Kevin, my manager?" Scheckley asked suddenly, looking very worried.
"Yes, Senator Scheckley, it does. That's why I killed him. Senator Conway, I know you saw the video we sent you. We didn't kill Jared's c
hildren; the thing that took him over and destroyed him did. Just as Mills, Hathaway, and Hamitt murdered their spouses. Or rather, the thing that possessed them did."
"I have no time to listen to the demented fantasies of a young criminal! Release us now, and perhaps they'll go easy on the jail time!" Markston put in.
Sean snorted. "Jail time? Hardly. How many of you are familiar with the Treaty of York?"
Sean noticed Molson and Lewis' heads both came up.
"Ah, the representatives from Massachusetts! So, were you two simply following the Vestibulum's wishes?"
"Young man..." Markston started but was cut off when Sean took two long strides, grabbed him by the neck, and squeezed. "Speak only when spoken to! None of you know what you're dealing with, or just how much trouble you're in. I suggest you keep quiet until you know that much, at least!"
Keeping a strong grip on Markston's throat, Sean turned back to Molson and Lewis. "Did the Vestibulum put you up to this?"
Molson looked at Lewis, who shrugged. He nodded then, and turned to Sean. "Yes, they told us what was happening, and what we needed to do to protect the country. You're Sean Valens, aren't you?"
Sean nodded. "Yes, I am. If I'd known for certain you hadn't been in touch with the other five, I wouldn't have had you dragged in here.
"Now, do any of the rest of you know about the Treaty of York?"
"I do," Scheckley said.
"I do as well," Warden added.
Sean nodded and, letting go of Markston's throat, Sean walked back to his spot in front of all the chairs.
"Okay, for those of you who don't know, magic is real. There are groups of magic users who live amongst you. Because of the Treaty of York, which was signed back when the United States was first formed, magic users, by and large, are immune to the laws of the country."
"Preposterous!" Janks grumbled.
"I don't believe it!" Markston added.
"He's telling the truth! Believe it!" Scheckley said in a loud voice, causing the others to stop and look at him, falling silent. Sean wasn't sure whether it was Scheckley's admission or that they'd all suddenly noticed there were werewolves standing behind them.
