Your Money's Worth: Seattle Elementals, Book 1

by Connie Suttle

  "You could be right," Re-Anne agreed, tilting her head in a slight nod. "What do you think water might do to stem the tide?"

  Of course she'd use water references.

  "Uh, Rob can sense things in the ground," I stuttered. I felt as if I were making this up as I went along.

  "And I can sense things in water."

  "Is that, uh, water anywhere?"

  "Yes."

  "Okay, then can you sense water on a person?"

  "That sounds disgusting."

  "But what if it's necessary?" I said, the idea coming to me slowly.

  "Only if it's necessary," she waved a hand while her hair went through several shades of blue.

  "I think it's necessary," I sighed. "Everybody sweats. Do you think you can detect the poison in their sweat? Can you narrow it down like that?"

  She blinked at me as if I'd grown a second head for a few moments. "If I combine my efforts with air," she sniffed.

  Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.

  * * *

  "Prince Deverill refused to come home, once Re-Anne had her claws in him," Rob huffed later. Averill did apologize, although it was an angry apology, leading to an uneasy truce between him and Re-Anne.

  I hoped Averill's efforts to bring air and water together had worked; he appeared to agree with water in that she and air together could find sweaty, on-the-run escaped prisoners.

  Once that happened, earth and fire could take over, eliminating the problem. Before she left, water had given me a gift, however. In addition to the necklace, earrings and bracelet I wore, I now had a ring upon my right index finger. The blue stone looked as stormy as my emotions as I studied it briefly.

  I'd gotten a cryptic text from Parke, too, but still hadn't figured out what it meant. He'd just said there was an experiment, that vampires would be out hunting after nightfall in the five affected states and that he hoped it would be enough.

  I had no idea what enough encompassed, but as I had little information to go on, I didn't argue the point. Instead, I texted back, asking him what anyone intended to do about Fli-Bi-Net.

  Trey's dept. moving in, he'd responded.

  So far, nobody else had found any evidence left behind at the empty prisons. It had taken Will's ability to find what we had, and the rest of us to connect that to Fli-Bi-Net. The general public had no idea we had evidence linking the company to Shakkor Agdah.

  Fli-Bi-Net had no suspicions that we'd targeted them—at least I hoped that was so. Panic had worsened; every hospital and medical clinic had taken measures to protect their employees and patients from contact with anyone who could be contaminated with the disease.

  Governors and Mayors were busy distributing paper and electronic information on what to look for and what to do if someone were found with the disease. The President was also preparing to address the nation regarding the crisis.

  The information was bleak; there was no known cure and anyone infected would die a painful death on their own. All a doctor could do for anyone affected was administer pain medication, keep the lungs as clear as they could and make the patient comfortable until they passed.

  Every time I heard an update of confirmed cases, I clenched my fists in impotent rage and wished my fire demon could burn Shakkor Agdah.

  "I am still looking, lady demon," Will appeared silently beside me. "I want them as badly as you do."

  * * *

  Parke

  Time was running short. Two more days remained at least, before escaped prisoners started dropping like flies from the disease they carried. In that time, they could infect thousands, who could then infect thousands more. Reports of shootings came in by the handful; state and local police were on the alert everywhere.

  Of course, some had been incorrectly identified as infected and killed outright, that's how bad the panic had become.

  I was strapped into a military plane traveling to Alabama with Trey and Director Logan. We'd left a contingent of guards, human and paranormal, around Frank Hillman's business.

  For now, he and his manufacturing concern were our best bet to combat what we faced.

  National Guard troops had already been called out in most states. Tonight they would have a new objective, rather than merely running checkpoints into and out of any largely populated area.

  In my home state, a special team of agents was silently surrounding Fli-Bi-Net's corporate offices and their manufacturing facility, both located in the Seattle area. Once the business was shut down and arrests made, I hoped they'd get needed information on where Shakkor Agdah was and how to get to them.

  I also hoped Black Myth wasn't scattered throughout the country or worse, throughout the world. That could spell doom more than anything I could imagine, including what we now faced.

  The military jet began to descend; I patted the jacket pocket containing my cell phone. I wanted to see Cassie or at least speak to her, but we had other things to do, first.

  * * *

  Cassie

  The media had come up with a name for those infected—Walking Death. The reality of it was every bit as bad as it sounded. Part of me never wanted to see another news program in my life.

  Another part reminded me that I was Princess of Alabama and needed the information. I couldn't get the images out of my head of medical personnel in protective gear pulling people into quarantined sections of hospitals so they could be treated.

  A handful of churches were condemning the disease as an act of God and telling everybody whose fault they thought it was. If I remembered correctly, the same thing had happened during outbreaks of the plague.

  Politicians, too, were still screaming that mass extermination was the best bet to ensure the safety of their state or constituency. The worst was a small number of militia groups who were gearing up to shoot anyone and everyone they thought could be an enemy. That encompassed anyone who didn't belong to their group.

  In the eyes of all those people, whether believer, politician or militia member, open season on humans had been declared.

  * * *

  Parke

  Daniel and his crew met us at the military base in Montgomery. Director Logan had cleared the way for them to be allowed on base. We had a long drive ahead of us, as did others Director Logan appointed.

  If this failed, I expected martial law to be instituted in five states, with the surrounding states following suit quickly. The disease was spreading and to say it was terrifying put things in too small a perspective.

  Chapter 17

  Cassie

  De-Leah had been convinced to cooperate quickly, I learned. Together, she and Re-Anne sent their people out, air carrying water sprites like floating soap bubbles throughout five states in search of human escapees. Once Re-Anne's sprites found someone whose sweat indicated they were infected, an alert was issued.

  With her connection to Deverill, Averill's son, the coordinates could be passed to the earth sprites, who would come from beneath an escapee, as long as the infected one walked on open ground.

  Once the infected one was pulled into the ground up to his knees, the fire sprites could take over.

  I was grateful when Will said the deaths were instantaneous.

  * * *

  Parke

  Thousands of tiny drones, armed with five minuscule tranquilizer darts each, lifted and buzzed away from the eighteen-wheeled behemoth we'd driven to the prison. We'd chosen this one for ourselves because it was where the remnants of Fli-Bi-Net's involvement was found.

  Near other prisons, other trucks were releasing their supply of drones.

  Each drone had enough power to fly for twelve hours.

  We had twelve hours, therefore, to do as much as we could against this threat. All of us hoped it would be enough.

  "Every time they dart a target, we'll be notified," Logan studied the tablet in his hands. "We'll have latitude and longitude. Vamps or National Guard will pick up the target, depending on who's closest. All the vamps are wearing GPS trackers so we'll know
who's where."

  "I can only imagine what level of trust that took," I mumbled. No vamp in his right mind would consent to wear a tracking device. It could get him killed.

  "It's easily removed," Logan said. "That was the condition."

  "Where will the targets be taken?" Daniel asked.

  "Back to their prison. We've got some coming who will place returning prisoners in the infirmary. They'll be treated the same as those in a regular hospital until they die. We have to save face with the public as much as possible; I'm sure you understand that."

  It sounded like the lie I knew it to be, but I didn't say anything. I wanted to be as honest as I could with the human population; Director Logan saw things differently. He answered to his superiors, however, and the President was one of them.

  Being Chancellor at this moment didn't mean a thing in the face of human politics and politicians.

  "We have our first," Logan crowed and held up his tablet. Nearby, a group of Logan's agents were huddled around a temporary military computer station. They began sending coordinates to the nearest cleanup team.

  * * *

  Cassie

  Numbers were transmitted by the fire sprites throughout the night; by five in the morning, more than sixteen thousand kills were reported. Throughout that time, I hadn't heard anything from Parke as to whether his experiment was successful or not.

  "Take into consideration that many escapees in Colorado may have died in subzero temperatures," Cliff said. "I've heard they're finding bodies in daylight using helicopters."

  "All the more reason to suspect escapees went looking for the nearest shelter," Will said.

  "I was afraid you'd point out the flaw," Cliff gruffed.

  "Merely the truth, master werewolf."

  "We have little more than an hour before dawn where we are," Rob said. "In every state affected, sprites will continue to work until dawn. This is our contribution to the human races, in an effort to prevent what happened last time. After such an effort, we must rest and replace lost energy."

  "My thanks," I offered a dip of my head to Rob, who suddenly looked embarrassed. "It was a gift to you as well," he whispered to me.

  I had no idea why I deserved the gift. I resolved to ask him later—when I wasn't so tired I could barely see.

  * * *

  Parke

  The vamps retired at dawn; the National Guard kept working. We still had two hours to go and we didn't want to waste any of that time. State troopers and other police departments had been pulled into the loop once dawn was imminent; so far, the effort had proved more successful than we thought.

  Escapees by the hundreds were being transported back to their prisons, where government officials waited to question them while they received medical care. It had taken a heroic effort of coordination on the part of the State Department, the FBI, Homeland Security and dozens of other agencies.

  It surprised me that all of it was done so swiftly, once I'd made the suggestion to go to Frank Hillman.

  That's when I got the text from Cassie. Somehow, she, Cliff and Rob had worked a miracle on their end, employing the four sprite kingdoms to take down what they could by working together.

  The grand total of escapees eliminated through their efforts was nearly twenty thousand.

  I showed the text to Director Logan, whose eyes widened in surprise. "We won't have a full count, but according to what we have so far, that's almost forty out of the fifty thousand accounted for," he breathed. Handing my cell phone back to me, he walked away to make a call.

  "Since when did water start speaking to the others?" Daniel whispered to me.

  "No idea. I didn't know they were working on this," I stared at the message on my phone, terrified it would disappear forever, leaving us where we'd been before. "We're lucky," I said, "that everybody is watching for escapees and suspicious of anybody they don't know—and some they do," I added. "That doesn't mean we'll find all of them, but if we keep our guard up, at least we've eliminated a lot of the problem."

  "I figure Shakkor Agdah won't like that much," Daniel shook his head.

  "You're right. I hope they don't have a second wave to send against us. Frank won't have another batch of these drones ready for a couple of weeks. Parts have to be manufactured, and that takes time."

  "We need to find the bastards before they have time to send a second wave," Daniel said.

  "Yeah. Any new information from your sources?"

  "We have every Prince and Princess searching their state, looking for suspicious activity. Cliff has his people on the lookout, too. So far, nothing of consequence has been reported."

  "I was afraid of that," I blew out a breath. "Fucking Black Myth."

  "I second that."

  * * *

  Cassie

  As tired as we were, our eyes were glued to the television screen as images of tranquilized bodies were hauled into prisons. Yes, we understood this was human damage control; bring in some of the inmates while telling the population the others died of the disease.

  Either way, they'd end up dead. A national news program reported that perhaps ten thousand prisoners, spread across the four affected states, had been tranquilized and captured before they were transported back to a prison in their state. There, they could be given medical care during their final hours, to keep their suffering at a minimum.

  "Every precaution is being taken by prison guards, medical personnel and national security, which is overseeing the operation," a television reporter said. He was dressed in protective clothing, although he was at least a mile away from the prison in Arizona. "I have a message from the President for any prisoners remaining on the outside; give yourselves up; food, shelter and medical treatment are waiting if you do."

  * * *

  Parke

  I used to pull all-nighters in college. That was twenty years ago. I hadn't done anything like it in a very long time. My thirty-six-hour day was catching up to me. The trouble was, the only thing I could think about was pulling Cassie to me in a comfortable bed somewhere and falling asleep.

  I was beginning to think Destiny was right; I should have done something else, rather than let Cassie go. She'd performed a miracle, in my opinion, by pitting the sprite armies against something that could threaten all of us.

  In all my father's lengthy tenure as Chancellor, he'd never accomplished anything such as Cassie and I had the night before. The worry concerning what Shakkor Agdah would do in retaliation troubled me, but my brain was too tired and sleep-deprived to dwell on it for long.

  "Word has it that newly-convicted prisoners will go to the private facility they're building here in Alabama," Director Logan was back. "Locals are scared the disease will linger in these state prisons."

  "I can understand that," I said. "I wasn't aware that they'd voted to allow private prisons in the state."

  "It's an emergency measure—they've agreed to six months, while the state facilities are scrubbed and sanitized."

  "Sure. Whatever it takes, I suppose."

  "I've reserved hotel rooms in Birmingham," Logan said. "For all of us. We'll get a few hours' sleep after the drones run out of juice, then have someone else pick up what they can so Hillman can refurbish them."

  Hillman hadn't asked for that favor, but in my sleep-impaired state, I didn't argue. "I'll be ready for that room when we get there," I yawned.

  * * *

  Cassie

  Eating while you're dead tired wasn't my best choice ever, I decided as I stared at the breakfast sandwich on my plate. Willing myself not to gag, I lifted it to take a bite.

  "Where do you suppose Shakkor Agdah is hiding out?" Gina asked before biting into her bacon, egg and cheese biscuit.

  "I am having difficulty with that," Will said between bites. "In my estimation, they are hidden behind very thick walls and atop a very thick floor. If that were not the case, the earth sprite might find them," Will gave a respectful nod to Rob.

  "They will place a shield about t
hemselves when they go out, so air and water cannot find them as they did the humans last night," Rob said.

  "How much magic do they have?" Gina asked Will.

  "It isn't magic so much as power," Will replied. "The limits on their power are unraveling slowly. We must hope to find them before it unravels completely."

  "How did those limits get there?" I asked.

  "Their ancestors placed those limits, to keep the race in sync with others on this planet," Will said.

  I blinked at him in sleep-deprived stupor—their ancestors did that?

  "Then their ancestors were smarter than the current batch," Cliff huffed and bit off half his biscuit in one bite.

  "Exactly," Will said. "Much, much wiser than these."

  "So, thick walls and stuff, huh?" I went back to the previous topic. Somewhere, there had to be that sort of thing—didn't there?

  "Yes. I suspect it may be fairly new construction, as older construction has a tendency to leak air or water after a while."

  "Like how new?"

  "Within the past forty years or so."

  "Oh, well, that narrows it down," Rob snapped.

  "We all need sleep," I held up a hand. "We'll discuss this when we wake."

  * * *

  Parke

  I saw the breaking news on a television in the hotel lobby; the sight of Fli-Bi-Net's corporate office in Seattle burning didn't surprise me in the least. It was like them to destroy evidence by torching the building.

  As for their manufacturing plant?

  It imploded.

  Just as if explosives had been planted at strategic points by a demolition team. Once Logan's people came close, it caved in on itself. Experts would be digging through rubble for weeks and still might not find anything.

  Logan cursed under his breath for several minutes before turning and heading for the front desk.

  For a moment, I considered getting a taxi to take me to Tuscaloosa, where Cassie was. I realized how foolish that was after a while and went to pick up my key card at the desk.

  * * *

  Cliff

  I woke after three hours, with Will's words on my mind. He'd said it had to be recent construction and didn't leak; possibly built of thick concrete.