The odor hit Aisling as they opened the van doors. Death, decay, and an overused sewer crashed into her before she used a small spell to deaden her sense of smell. “Where are the creatures?” Then she noticed the second spell shield inside the first. This one was tight along the hole and had green oozing marks. She was stepping forward when a greenish, impossibly long, clawed hand slammed up against the shield. A scream came from below and the hand vanished back into the hole.
“There.” Greely looked over the edge into the pit. The secondary shield spell flashed as he got too close. It would limit what they could see, but better that than one of the creatures getting out. Whatever they were.
Caradoc leaned into the shield so far that he was going to have burn marks on his forehead. Not that it would have stopped him. “What are they? Are these the same things that you said died before?”
“We don’t know, yes, and could you step back? I don’t think Bart would appreciate you getting eaten. This shield spell should hold, but we also shouldn’t have monsters collapsing homes in the middle of London.” Greely was taking charge, but he wasn’t happy about it. Aisling just met him, but she could tell there was something more going on than him being burnt out.
Harlie held back and stared at something in the empty space where the mansion had been. “They are fey.” His voice was quiet, more because he was speaking to himself rather than holding a secret. “Long lost fey. We forgot them.” His wide dark eyes looked incredibly sad.
“There have never been underground fey. We would have known.” Caradoc narrowed his eyes. “Are they from the other side of the veil?”
Harlie started swaying a bit. “We’re all from the other side, aren’t we? Except the humans. This was all theirs. We came. Those stayed but came another way.” His speech was slurring and his swaying got bad enough that Reece and Jones each grabbed an arm to keep him upright.
Aisling ran to her brother. “What’s wrong?” She tried to get Harlie to focus on her, but his eyes were rolling back in his head.
Caradoc grabbed his shoulders and shook them, but Harlie started sagging. “Damn it, Harlie, you can’t slip into a trance. Not here or now. We need you.”
Bart ran to the van and opened the side door. “Get him in here. Did anything hit him?”
Caradoc helped Jones and Reece move him. Harlie might not weigh a lot, but he was taller than everyone and had gone completely limp.
“He used to go into trances when he lived in Nepal.” Caradoc adjusted Harlie inside the van. There was no way someone his height could stretch out, but he made him look less uncomfortable. “He hasn’t gone into one since he moved to L.A., though.”
Bart’s scowl dug itself in deeper. “How long will he be out?”
“No idea. Hours, days, weeks?” Caradoc got out of the van.
“What was he talking about, fey we left behind? Things from the other side are coming through the ground now? And they’re fey?” Aisling glanced back into the van. Caradoc might think it was simply a standard trance, but it hadn’t seemed trancelike at all. He’d acted like he was drunk. Or drugged. But no one had been that close to him and the food he ate earlier was shared by all of them.
“No idea.” Caradoc said as he followed Reece, Jones, and Bart back to the hole. “He’ll be fine there.”
Aisling stayed at the van and stuck her head in one more time, but Harlie was snoring softly. She wasn’t certain, but she doubted snoring was part of a trance. She’d trust Caradoc on this for now, but hopefully Harlie would come out of it soon—whatever it was. She was concerned about him. But she also needed him to help her with her weird pendant, whatever happened on the plane, and getting back the magic he’d blocked.
More agents arrived. Most were fey, but there were at least three humans or fey-human breeds. Instead of the standard dark suits, all were fully clothed in white hazmat suits.
That was reassuring.
Aisling hung back; she had no idea what she could do that wouldn’t get in the way.
“What happened? Another building?” Stella appeared at her side so silently, and Aisling had been so focused, that she almost yelled when the tiny woman spoke.
She looked down to where Stella stood next to her watching the goings on. “You weren’t kidding when you said you’d find us. The Area 42 people won’t be happy that you did so this easily, by the way. This doesn’t seem to be another building drop—things are coming up from under the ground now.” She’d expected Stella to share her confusion, but the changeling’s face drained of color and she looked ill.
“When did it happen? How many?” Stella stared at the activity around the hole, but didn’t move forward a single step.
“This one just happened a short while ago, but they said there have been more.” Aisling watched Stella’s freak out level increase. “You know what they are?”
Stella took a few steps back. “I’ve heard of them. My aunt was a witch, one who’d crossed the veil with the first-comers. She told me...where’s Harlie? He should know about them.”
“He collapsed a few minutes ago. Caradoc said it was a trance, and he’s prone to them, but he seemed drunk. Or drugged.”
“That’s not good. None of this is good. My aunt told me tales of the ones left behind.” She dropped into silence and stared at the hole.
“What of them? Harlie mentioned lost fey before he collapsed. But he meant Old Ones, right? The fey all crossed over.”
“No, they didn’t. The High Council wanted everyone to believe all of the fey crossed and they only left behind evil and vile things. They set massively heavy spells to make certain those would be the stories people remembered. But my aunt was strong and kept the old tales.” Stella watched the investigation, her face a combination of fear and annoyance. “There were fey left on the other side.”
“Can we speak to her?”
Stella gave a snort. “I know you’re a healer, but she was murdered ten years ago in a forest in Slovenia. I don’t even think you could bring her back.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Eh, she was a handful. At the time I was sad, but not surprised. I believed she had annoyed someone more powerful than herself once too often.”
“And now?” The news was almost not as bad as Stella’s behavior. Dragging words out of her usually wasn’t a problem.
“Now I wonder if someone knew she was right and silenced her for it.”
“Ten years ago? Agent Greely said the ground attacks only started two weeks ago.”
“Exactly. Things move at the time they need to move, and crossing over the veil, above or below, wouldn’t be easy. But given time, they could have done it. They could have been in that part of the world for decades. Appearing as little more than myths and old tales. I should have listened to her more.”
Aisling rubbed her arms. Her mother would know and she was the one person they couldn’t ask.
“Where is Harlie?” Stella shook off whatever darkness she’d gone into.
“This way, we put him in the van.” Aisling brought her over and opened the door. Harlie was still snoring, but also muttering. Unfortunately, it seemed to be in a tongue she’d never heard before. “Okay, do people in trances snore? Or sleep talk? He seemed like he had been drinking nectar before he collapsed.”
Stella climbed into the van and put her hand on Harlie’s head. She stayed there for a few moments, then pulled back. “He’s in a trance, but not one he did to himself. He’s not in danger right now, but I have no idea how long it will take to bring him out of it.”
“Is it something that I could use healing magic on?”
“Not a clue.” Stella grinned. “Can’t hurt to try, eh?” She climbed out and Aisling took her place.
Unlike a physical injury, damage to the mind or psyche was tricker to deal with. Aisling needed to try though. She put her hand on his forehead, first establishing a connection. Physically, he was fine. But there was a fog around his mind. She sent a healing tendril near it but it evaporated.
Knowing she supposedly had access to more magic now, she sent a stronger tendril. No connection with Harlie, but an instant later a force surrounding Harlie shoved her and flung her out of the van, bowling over Stella in the process.
Aisling shook off the residual tingling from whatever pushed her out. It had felt almost like an electrical charge. Luckily, it dissipated quickly. “There is something inside him that didn’t like what I was trying to do.” She got to her feet slowly, it didn’t hurt her so much as startle her. She helped Stella up as Caradoc ran over.
“What happened? Good to see you Stella, but why is the van open?”
“Your brother isn’t in a self-induced trance. Something or someone did this to him. It’s good to see you too.”
Aisling shut the van doors. “I tried to reach him, but whatever took him out has a massive fog on his brain. A vicious one. It flung me out of the van.”
Caradoc opened the door. “He looks calm. Are you certain?”
Aisling folded her arms. “I didn’t toss myself into Stella and push both of us five feet away. There’s something in there.”
“Is he going to be okay? How do we get him out of it?” Caradoc knew nothing of healing or medical issues, and his concern was clear on his face.
“Out of what?” Reece came over and smiled at Stella. “I knew you’d catch up to us. What happened here?”
Aisling repeated everything she’d just told Caradoc.
Reece scowled. “We need a mind healer for him. Area 42 London should have someone. If not, Bart can get him back to New York. He’s not in immediate danger?”
“No,” Stella said. “I’m not a healer or a mind doc, but I am familiar with this. He’ll recover. It just might take a while.”
“Good. Not that it will take a while, Bart was counting on his unique abilities for the case. But good that he’s safe. I wanted to come get you, the creatures seem to be dying.”
They all went to the hole, avoiding the hazmat suited agents as best they could. Stella walked to the edge, looked down, then stepped a few feet back and watched with folded arms and a worried look. There still wasn’t much to see, so Aisling stepped back to her.
“Are these what your aunt knew of?”
“I think so. They are definitely dying, whatever they are. They don’t look right though.”
Aisling watched her for a moment, then finally prodded. “I couldn’t really see them, but why don’t they look right?”
“You have to look at more than just the physical aspects, which, granted, aren’t very visible. I do hope that they will let me see the photos. But regardless, there is an off-ness. They don’t belong here.”
“Because they are from the other side of the veil maybe?”
Stella watched as one of the hazmat covered agents crossed the spell barrier. Thin, gray-green and impossibly long arms reached for him but they were too weak to do anything. “The vallenians have been here numerous times. One was nearby when I was stealing rubble from Area 42, right?” At Aisling’s nod she continued. “I never felt anything wrong. Harlie’s never noticed anything wrong. And they don’t seem to be dying when you’ve seen them, have they?”
“No. They’ve seemed fine. But if both groups are from beyond the veil, why are these dying? Not to mention how in the hell are they crossing through?” A few weeks ago, it had been pointed out that the veil was thinning. Something her mother and her cronies would have been extremely aware of. Yet nothing had been said to anyone even though that could cause serious disturbances all over the world.
“I believe there is something wrong with the creatures coming through. My aunt’s belief was that a race was left behind, one more powerful than the elves, but in far fewer numbers. But something made them stay when the rest of the fey escaped. I think the High Council spelled them.” Stella pulled her arms tightly around herself, scowled, then came to some sort of conclusion as she nodded. “Stay here, there might be blow back.” She stepped to the shield, closed her eyes and walked through it. She was walking on air, literally, as she stepped toward the few creatures still trying to get to the agent in the hazmat suit.
Aisling felt a wave of magic flow from Stella as she raised her arms. Comfort. Pure comfort came from the tiny changeling. Reece started after her, but Aisling grabbed his arm. “Let her do what she needs to.”
Stella took a deep breath and spoke softly. The words slowly grew louder so others could hear the spell. “Rest. Go back. This can’t be your world. Go back. Rest. Be at peace.” She repeated them a few times, all while the feeling of immense comfort flowed over the area. None of the agents moved to stop her, or even moved at all. Aisling found she didn’t want to move—most likely a component of the comfort spell.
There was movement in the hole, the beings that had still been moving vanished. Stella stood still for a few moments, then came back across her invisible bridge, crossed through the shield, and collapsed at Aisling’s feet.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Aisling grabbed Stella as all the activity that had been frozen by her spell sprang back into action.
“What did she just do?” Reece looked around frantically as Aisling dropped next to Stella.
“Cast a serious spell.” Aisling checked her pulse, she seemed fine, just unconscious. A moment of panic hit her as she feared that Stella had been struck by whatever took Harlie down. But her healing magic reached out to Stella gently. With Harlie, she’d had to force it. Stella murmured softly as Aisling’s magic revived her.
“Oy, won’t do that on an empty stomach again.” Stella spoke before she opened her eyes, but her eyelids fluttered and then opened. “Are they gone? And does anyone have a snack bar?” She sat up with no assistance and glanced around owlishly.
Reece glanced to the hole. “It looks like the only ones left are dead, but the agents said they’d vanished in the past—these haven’t.”
“That’s good, it will help the agents find out exactly who they were.” Stella gave him a narrow-eyed glare. “But I’ll thank you to remind them these are our sisters and brothers, no matter what they came across as. I expect them to be properly cremated and their ashes released to nature after the examinations.” She put enough force in the words that Aisling knew she’d come back to check.
Aisling was also aware that Reece would have little to say on that, but she knew he’d try.
Bart came over. “Hello, I believe you are Stella. I’ve heard much about you, but we haven’t met.” Bart stuck out his hand. “I’m Agent Barthlinio Churchill, please just call me Bart.”
If he was upset about Stella being there, or at what she’d just done, he didn’t show it.
“Very nice to meet you, Bart. You’ll have to come to my diner when we’re all back in L.A.”
“I shall. Which does bring up why are you here and what did you just do? Greely, the agent in charge over here, is having palpitations.” Bart didn’t look upset at that at all.
“I am here to visit some friends; thought I’d drop by here and see how things were. As for what I did...it’s complicated.” She gave him a broad grin. “However, I believe this is the first time they have bodies remaining, so that might be helpful.”
“They had live ones.”
“Who were slowly dying. They can’t survive here, although they keep trying. I am surprised that they are so far south however.” She looked around as if the London skyline was suddenly going to morph into something else.
“South?” Aisling had been having fun watching Stella and Bart fence without actually fencing. She had a feeling that Stella might have as much background on Bart as he did on her.
Stella nodded with her eyes now fully on Bart. “They should have been aiming for northern Wales. Near the Snowden mountains, where our people first came through. The movements and changes of the two worlds in the last thousand plus years, here and beyond the veil, have thrown them off.” She tilted her head as something flashed across Bart’s face. “Unless there have been some events up there?”
Greely might have felt the glare as he came over and Bart introduced Stella as another consultant.
“Very nice to meet you. If possible, we’d like to debrief you on what you just did? No one seems to know exactly what it was.” He smiled at Stella then turned back to Bart. “You have a large number of consultants for an internal affairs agent.”
Bart shrugged. “This is a complicated case. And getting more so by the hour.”
“I will tell you what I can, but is this the best location? And I really could use some food, that spell took a lot out of me.” Stella gave a charming little old lady smile.
Greely nodded. “I don’t need to be here now, they have it under control. Head back to the safe house and I’ll meet you there.” He looked around. “I don’t see Harlie.”
Bart patted him on the shoulder. “It’s complicated, we’ll see you back there.”
Jones and Reece stayed at the site as well and would come back with Greely, but the rest climbed into the van.
“How is Harlie?” Bart asked as he pulled away. Stella was in the passenger seat, with Caradoc and Aisling in the very back, looking over Harlie.
“Same as before. He looks like he’s sleeping off a serious nectar binge.” Aisling filled Bart in on her attempt to reach him.
Stella turned around to watch Harlie. “Whatever grabbed him, I don’t believe it was connected to the poor souls in that hole. Before I touched them, I’d thought it might be. But now, I don’t believe so. It was taking everything they had just to stay alive.”
An Uncommon Truth of Dying (Broken Veil Book 2) Page 21
