“That's the idea. She's got the hard part out of the way, and she doesn't want people to be hurt like she was.”
Nick patted my shoulder. “That's the ticket. Keep it up, and you'll get a nice little following. Now,” He pulled the six pack out from the basket. “Microwave each bottle on medium for eighty-five seconds. It'll get it to a warm enough drink for a vampire. It mixes well with rum and whiskey, but not vodka.”
“How do you know so much about artificial blood?”
“What, you think I don't hire vampires?” He scoffed. “Come on, Carpenter, it's the twenty-first century. Vampires are people too.”
There was an odd feeling to looking at the new offices of the Knight of the Bay. Namely, it wasn't an office.
As I stood with Serena and Teresa outside, I asked. “So, I ask for an office, and the Council buys a house?”
To be fair, it was a lovely house. The house was the color of sand, with a small garage on the right side and a porch that led up to the house. It looked more like a place for a well-off family than a supernatural lawman's place of business. The room was painted just a slightly darker shade, and peaked over a window on the second floor, which looked out onto the street.
Teresa offered a little shrug. “We wanted some place low key, and that would be out of the way from other businesses.”
“So you picked a place that had more zeroes attached to it than my entire dorm's student loans?” Serena asked.
“We negotiated a pretty good deal for it.” Teresa said as she started to walk up to the porch. “We've got a good agent, and the place did have some historical issues.”
“Wait, what?” I asked. I picked up my pace to pull up beside Teresa. “What 'historical issues'?”
“The previous tenants died in...unusual circumstances.”
“Explain,” Serena had a little growl in her voice. “I may be a vampire, but I've seen horror movies. I am not living in the murder house.”
“It was a fire.” She sighed. “But the law says we have to be informed of any deaths on the premises.”
Serena considered this for a moment. “All right. So, this place seems a bit...big for just a business.”
“This may solve one other problem.” I noted.
Teresa smiled, and she pulled out the keys. She unlocked the front door, and said. “Let's take a look.”
The place was furnished. That was a surprise in itself. It wasn't anything incredibly fancy, but it was still furnished. The sun room to the right of the front hall had been converted into an office, with a pair of desks on the far end of the room, with a coffee table and seating for guests on the near end.
“Well,” I looked around the room. “This looks...good. Really good.”
Serena frowned. “I suddenly feel like I need to buy suits. Oh god, I actually need to buy work clothes.”
“What did you do before this?” Teresa asked.
She shrugged. “Worked at a restaurant. Waitress. Nothing that required an office.”
Teresa smiled just a little. “No one ever said vampires had to come from the same backgrounds. I look forward to showing you what we can do.”
Serena looked to Teresa, and smiled a little. “You should know I have a terrible problem with authority.”
“Oh, I know I'm just going to enjoy that.” She sighed. “Serena, can you leave Eric and I for a moment? Take a look at the upstairs. We've been setting up the rooms, I think you'll like what we've done with it.”
The younger vampire sighed, and shook her head. “All right.” She walked towards the hall, where the stairs led up to the second floor.
I turned to Teresa, and I asked. “So, is this some sort of house and work situation all in one?”
“Matt's place is fine, but you need a place of independent operations.” Teresa explained. She gestured for me to follow.
We walked to the kitchen, which had a screen door leading out to a back patio. Hell, we had a back yard. What were we supposed to do with a yard? The kitchen itself had a tile floor, with an island separating the kitchen from the dining area. The table itself was large enough for six, and part of me wondered who had stocked the house.
Teresa walked to the kitchen. “Beer?” She asked.
“Yeah, definitely.” I leaned against the counter as I watched her walk. There was something so entrancing about her grace, so completely effortless. Hell, she made just about everything she did look effortless. She could take on most humans without breaking a sweat.
She pulled out two bottles of Blood Moon, a local were brew that we both enjoyed. She grabbed a bottle opener and popped the caps. “First drink in the new place.”
“I can live with that,” I said as I approached her. She handed me a bottle, and I lifted it. We tapped out bottles together, and took a drink. I made a soft noise of enjoyment. “So, why did you get me alone?” I asked.
“This is big. If I'm the new vampire count, it means that our relationship got a lot more complicated.”
I shrugged. “We can roll with it, try not to let our relationship interfere with our jobs.”
That got a laugh from her. “Oh, that's grand.” She placed a hand on my arm. “But we can work with that, Eric. Want to go drink on your porch?”
“Sure thing.”
We headed out. Serena joined us a bit later. I watched from the porch of my new home-sure, it was owned by three of the nastiest monsters in San Francisco, but it was my new home. A home I shared with a vampire now, one I hadn't even known two weeks ago.
Witchcraft has all sorts of surprises no one tells you about.
Chapter 29
One of those surprises is that everyone expects you to know everything. Take Breanna Harper, for instance. She had been taken away by the SFPD, but she left the city with the question of what to do with her. Sedation had worked for keeping her subdued while she was being detained. There was now been the question of what one did with the first magical captive of the state of California.
Witchcraft was new to them, and the BAA wasn't sure they wanted it released to the public yet. Vampiric powers weren't even that well known. This was all new territory.
I got a call a few days after Teresa showed us the house. The man on the other end of the line was named Patrick Nguyen. He was the Deputy Director of Arcane Security, a title that had been invented in the last six months. He gave me an address in Alameda to go to.
I ended up at the old Alameda Naval Yards, where I was stopped at a guard booth. A man with a Desert Eagle on his hip strolled out to the car. He had a California State BAA patch on one shoulder. “Name and photo ID.” He demanded.
I pulled out my wallet, showing my ID and the Arcane specialist's badge. “Eric Aiden Carpenter.”
“Go on through. Park in one of the spaces designated, and wait for Deputy Director Nguyen.”
I did as he asked, parking in one of four spaces that were not occupied by government vehicles. I got out of the car, and waited. As I waited, I saw two troopers walking by, around the warehouse this space was devoted to. Each carried an assault rifle, and they glanced at me from behind sunglasses.
I waited five minutes for Nguyen. He was a heavy set man, though he moved quickly. I guessed that he knew how to use a lot of his bulk. “Mister Carpenter. Peter Nguyen, Arcane Security. Welcome to Site One.”
“Site One?” I asked as he got closer.
“We needed a plan to contain Arcanes. For now, the only occupant of Site One is Breanna Harper.”
I looked at the warehouse. “You know, there's two distilleries right down the road from you. You're planning to stash dangerous Arcanes here?”
A little smile crossed his lips. “We're very courteous neighbors, Mister Carpenter. Now, I want to get your opinion on our facilities.” He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a little visitor's tag. I clipped it to my jacket.
“I'll do my best to give my opinion, sir.” I said, though I wasn't sure how much I could help.
He smiled. His small eyes looked
me over, then he shrugged. “Call me Peter. I'm not big on formality, for the assault rifles, black uniforms, and top-secret government facility.” He paused. “By the way, you can't ever, ever discuss this with anyone.”
“Is this one of those 'I can tell you but I would have to kill you' things?” I asked.
Nguyen gave me a pleasant smile. “No, you would just go to jail for a very, very long time.”
I decided to change the subject. “So did my suggestions for how to hold Harper help?” I asked.
“They did, thank you.” He nodded. “She's kept in a cell with padded walls, constantly monitored. She isn't allowed access to sharp objects, and anything she says is recorded and sent off for analysis.”
We approached the door, where Nguyen held out his ID tag for a scan. He then pressed his thumb to a pad, and said. “Peter Nguyen, Arcane Security, plus one Eric Carpenter, Knight of the Bay.”
There was a moment's delay before the door clicked and swung open slowly. It definitely looked too heavy to be the original doors. We walked into the warehouse, which was a large open area. Large metal blocks were arranged in rows and rows, filling the building. Each box was large enough to be a cell. Jesus.
“Like it?” He asked.
I looked up towards the rafters of the warehouse, and saw more uniformed men patrolling them. “I think, for one sorcerer, you have spent quite a lot of my tax dollars.”
“Come on, you really think that ten cent bag tax was going to something like the environment?” Nguyen laughed. “Come on, let's go talk with Miss Harper. Or as she is known these days, subject M-One.”
“How much do you know about Arcanes and their capabilities, Mister Nguyen?” I asked. Something just didn't feel right about this. I wanted to think that this seemed a little too intense for one human sorcerer.
“Right now? What our inter-department coordination can tell us. We know about the Arcane weakness to silver, though all of our tests have shown that Breanna Harper is, in fact, human.”
“Probably not a drop of Arcane blood in her.” I noted. “She's a dabbler. She communicated with Other Siders, and she used that communication to make a deal with them. Power in exchange for favors.”
Nguyen nodded as we walked through one of the aisles of metal boxes. He stopped in front of one, and he whistled. Two uniformed guards came almost immediately, and they stood to either side of the hatch of the box. “We will be transferring M-One to visiting area. This is done by my authorization.” He turned to me. “Let's go, Carpenter.”
As we walked, I saw Nguyen take out a small little silver charm from his pocket. He started to fiddle with it as we walked to the end of the row, and then through another door into a room with a table and chairs.
“Am I allowed to tape our conversation, Mister Nguyen?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Sorry, can't allow that. Just the acknowledgment that Harper is alive can cause some unwarranted attention by people who might want to bail her out for her services.”
“Of course,” I nodded and I took a seat in one of the chairs. I waited for a few minutes before the door opened again.
Breanna Harper didn't look any better for her short stay here. Her trim, athletic form was already slimmer, and her face had lost much of its coloring.
I hadn't ever paid Breanna much close attention before. Previously, she had been either just Yukiko's assistant, or we had been too busy stopping a daemon to really pay attention.
She had bright green eyes, though the rings of exhaustion took away from them. She wasn't tall, and in fact she wasn't very physically imposing at all. She wore a simple jumpsuit, and I noticed it didn't even have zippers, just large buttons.
“Hi, Breanna.”
Breanna turned to Nguyen. “Permission to speak?” She asked. Her voice was soft, tired. At Nguyen's nod, she continued. “I'm not allowed to speak without permission or unless I'm asked a question.”
I winced, and sighed. “Right. Listen, I wanted to talk to you.”
There was just a little smile there. “You want to talk to me? A washed up human dabbler?”
“You're the only other magic user I've met so far.” I replied. “I only met you twice, I think.”
She nodded. “And yet, we have so much in common.” She noted. “Were you the one who told them that magic required calories?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I told them that.”
“They've got me on a bread and water diet.” She said.
I thought about that. “You don't naturally use magic, though. Without blood or other external forces...”
“I am absolutely harmless.” She laughed. “Besides, my athame is sitting in an evidence locker somewhere waiting for the trial I am going to get eventually.”
I looked at her, curious. “You're getting a trial?”
“Well, the proceedings, at least. I have nothing to prove my innocence. I wasn't coerced. I was doing it for money, and I am a public threat now. I don't expect to leave here. But, since you're here and consulting with these...” She looked towards Nguyen. “People, I'll offer you a deal.”
“A deal?” I asked, tilting my head to one side, curious.
“Indeed.” Breanna leaned back slightly, and she crossed her arms across her chest. “Work with them, let them understand that I am the last threatening thing they could ever try to put into a place like this, and I'll share my craft with you.”
I looked to Nguyen. “If I said it was safe, that she could at least have some fruits and vegetables in her diet, would you trust me?”
“Monitored, sure. Nothing that requires utensils.” Nguyen immediately said.
Breanna looked to Peter, then to make. “Thank you, Mister Carpenter. May I call you Eric?”
I thought about that for a moment. “We're colleagues, in our own weird way. Sure.”
“I have a warning for you, Eric.” She said, her voice dangerously quiet. “The matter of the Other Side...Since the Arcane went public, the Other Side has grown more active. They know that magic is due for a return to this world.”
“A return?” I asked.
“After witches went, well, nearly extinct, human sorcery filtered out as well. Industrialization became king. Shapeshifters resisted, and vampires embraced urbanization. Vampire populations have skyrocketed in the past hundred years, and do you know why?”
I thought about it for a moment. “Why?”
“Vaccines!” She snapped her fingers. “Pesticides, tractors. Technology has boomed the human population. Vampires could support better feeding habits, larger groups. Then, with the synthetic plasmas and that Red Angel manipulation of the media, suddenly...boom, the Arcanes are there. In the real life. People are now exposed to the real world of the mysterious around them.”
I considered this for a long moment, looking at her. “You're saying that Four-Thirteen was on purpose?”
“Maybe not the way the Arcane leaders would have liked it, but it happened.” Breanna seemed to be on a roll now. Her eyes now held a little fire. “But even before that. I worked in San Diego examining antique books. It was what sparked my interests in the crafts. I used a ritual to see into the Other Side.” She smiled, fondly. “It's how I first contacted Camelai.”
“Are all daemons like him?” I asked.
“Most daemons couldn't possibly care less about our world. A few, like Camelai, saw that the worlds were growing closer. He predicted that Arcane society would be public soon, and that would further weaken the line between worlds.”
“So you attempted to bring him over then.” I said.
She nodded. “I took my first steps into the underworld of magic and Arcane politics. The rituals, while allowing me access to Camelai's power, were not a success. We decided that we would try later, when there was more magic available.”
“What made you pick San Francisco?” I asked her. The way her eyes lit up at the question, I immediately knew my answer.
“You. I was in Los Angeles, as a human employee of a vampire there. There
was mention of a new Knight up north, one who had killed Lucien, a master vampire I knew well. One who reportedly was not one of our big three. It meant you were a fae, or something...else.”
She laughed a little. “I couldn't believe my luck when I found out you were a witch. It was a sign. Magic was truly back. This time, I ingratiated myself into vampire community via Yukiko. Told her how I could use the mystic arts to give her an ally beyond imagine, to make her Count of the city, or maybe even Duke of Sacramento.” She smiled. “She was a sucker for it.”
“This time the rituals worked, though.”
“Indeed. Had Camelai not been banished, I could have gotten the power.” She shook her head. “However, just because the results are not what I would have liked, it does not mean that the experiment itself was a failure.”
I frowned. “I'm not sure I understand.”
“It means, Eric,” She placed her hands on mine on the table. Everyone tensed for a moment, but I let her do it. “That things are coming. Things that have not set foot in our world for a very long time. The line between our world and the Other Side is so thin that soon, it won't need someone on our side to bring something over.”
That was it. Magic was coming back.
Our world was going to get a lot more crowded soon.
About the Author
Justen Hunter lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He works at a used book store helping good books find good homes.
Blood Sport (The American Arcane Book 2) Page 22
