Once a Fae

by Tom Keller

  "Not exactly," I replied, making a right turn on Rancho. "I don’t want to risk us being seen together any more than we already have. No, I've got a little place up on the west side of town that's been in the family for years that I keep a few things at. It's safe and out of the way. We'll switch cars and figure out our next move from there."

  She nodded and continued to look out the window.

  Not surprising, I was taking her to my grandmother's house. There was nowhere else I could get the equipment we’d need to have any chance of success. I wasn’t convinced it was the brightest idea I'd ever had, but since she was a member of whatever Demon hunting group my grandmother had been in, I figured it was probably as safe as anything.

  "Mind if I ask you a question," I asked as we turned west on Ann Road.

  "Of course not," she replied, turning to face me.

  "Your last name," I said. "Are you any chance a descendant of Lucius Camillus?" Lucius had been a Lilin that had fought with me against Marissa's minions. I'd rescued him from Hades after he died the true death back in my world.

  "Yes," she replied, smiling. "Lucius Arruntius Camillus. He was a senator of Rome during the reign of Tiberius. I was named after his sister."

  "Really?" I replied, not having known that. "That is interesting. But actually, I was thinking of a Centurion by that name. One that died in the Battle of Heraclea. I think it would have been around 280 B.C."

  "How could you know of him?" she asked, surprised again. "Do you have a file of my personal history that I am not aware of?"

  "No," I said, smiling. "Can't say that I do. But I recall the name, although not as a senator. I'm sure he was a soldier. I read about him in a book about that battle."

  "Strange, I was not aware that any record of his name survived from that era," she said after a moment. "But yes, there was a Lucius Camillus that fought at Heraclea. There is little known about him. Only that he was a landowner and soldier and that he never returned home. You will have to show me that book sometime."

  A minute later the road turned to gravel and I made my way higher up the hill. As I turned toward the house, I pulled over into the desert.

  "Why are we stopping here?" she asked, looking out into the dark.

  "Okay, Livia," I said, using her given name for the first time. "It's time to get real. What I have planned isn’t a game. We'll be hunting humans, and there's also the possibility that the Knights won’t be the only ones out there. That said, we're almost completely off the grid on this one, at least until we find the Knight. I don't think your Fallen Angel will call in the Feds if we're discovered, but it's certainly a possibility. But she also may not realize we're there to protect her. Which means we may become the hunted if she decides we're part of the problem. We won’t be able to fight back if that happens. I need to know that you're prepared for that possibility."

  "I know my duty and that Rael is not the enemy," she replied. "But how can you be so sure we will find them?"

  "Well that's the next thing," I said, hoping I knew what I was doing. "There's a few items I haven't mentioned yet. I want your oath on that symbol and the Demon Hunters that came before you that what I'm about to show you remains between us. Otherwise, I'll have to turn the car around and let you handle this alone."

  "You want my oath, do you?" she asked, wrinkling her forehead. "Strange that you did not ask me to swear to our Lord. But it does not matter. Your Capitano has vouched for you and I have little choice if I wish to accomplish my task. Very well. I swear on my mother's line and on my own life as a protector that I will do as you ask. None shall hear of it from my lips. Is that sufficient?"

  "That'll do," I replied, putting the car in gear. I hadn’t wanted to offend her by asking her to swear to God and I was betting that this oath would suffice. I continued down the dirt road and turned onto the driveway, going past the mailbox until I stopped in front of the gate.

  "Wait here," I said, getting out to unlock the gate. Like before, it pushed open easily. A moment later, it was locked behind us and I was pulling my car beside the garage.

  "When you said you had a small family property, I was not expecting a villa on such a large estate," she said, stepping out of the car. There was just enough moon to see the grounds. She bent down and ran her hand over one of the flower beds. "It is beautiful. I would not have expected such lushness in the desert." Several of the flowers on the other side of the bed rustled, then a light breeze passed around us as something glittered in the moonlight. "Wait, were those garden Faeries?"

  "Yeah, little buggers don’t like being seen," I said, pulling out the map I'd brought from between the seats. I grabbed her bag and handed it to her, then went into the trunk to get a few things of my own. "Come on, we'll look for them later. Let's get inside. We've got work to do."

  She took her bag and followed me to the front, waiting as I sorted through the keys. Following me through the doorway, she paused as we stepped inside. "Does no one live here?" she asked, noticing the empty walls.

  "Not anymore," I replied, then pointed toward the painting over the mantle. "It belonged to my grandmother. She left it to me when she died."

  "I am sorry," she said, turning to look at me.

  "Thank you. But it was a long time ago," I said, taking her arm and leading her further down the hallway. We walked through the kitchen and then I stopped at the closed office door. "In here. We need to get a few things before we can start."

  I opened the door and stepped in, turning on the light as she followed behind.

  "This is quite a collection," she said, walking up to one of the shelves. "I have read many of these. How do they help us?"

  "That's not exactly the few things I meant," I said, reaching up and pulling out the German book which hid the release. "You know what they say. You can’t tell a book by its cover. It's the same with bookshelves. It's what's inside that counts." I pulled on the release and then slid the bookcase out from the wall, revealing the hidden entrance behind. "Follow me."

  "What is this place?" she asked, her hand on my shoulder as I lead her down the dark stairway. I heard her gasp as I turned on the lights, then her mouth dropped as she stared at the rows of shelves filled with weaponry marked with the pentagram symbol of the protector. She turned to face me. "This is where the granata came from that contained the Witches jelly! But why the deception if you knew what I was?"

  "I couldn’t be sure," I replied, going with the simplest explanation. "Not until I saw the ring." I dropped the canvas duffel I'd brought from my car on the floor and made some space on the table in the center of the room. "Look. The truth is, this was all my grandmothers. No one else knows this exists. You're the first person I've met that carries the same symbol. But for what it's worth, I've been fighting Demons all my life. That's what I do."

  "I cannot believe this," she said, moving from shelf to shelf, her eyes wide as she spoke. "Like the granate, many things here are of ancient design. Do you know how rare these are? The methods and articles used in their construction have changed. There are few left that have the skills to make them in this manner. Even the spells that bind them have transformed over the years."

  "Yeah, well, sometimes new doesn’t always mean better."

  "Oh, I agree," she said, picking up a Fae bow. "But to see so many of them together, here and now, it is incredible! But what I cannot understand is how she acquired all these Fae artifacts… and the Garden Faeries? The Fae in my home will have nothing to do with us. They think we are a threat to them."

  "My grandmother could be very persuasive."

  She put the bow down and turned to face me. "Did she teach you of our ways?"

  "Not in so many words," I replied, maintaining the charade. "But she taught me enough. Most of what I learned about fighting Demons I learned from her."

  "What of your mother?"

  "She died when I was young," I replied, unrolling the map on the table. "My grandmother came here from Europe to raise me. Now, you need to save the res
t of your questions for later. We've got work to do."

  "Of course," she replied, moving closer to see the top of the table. "Once again, I am sorry for your loss."

  "I appreciate it, but let's move on," I said, pointing to spots on the map. "Okay, if my intel is correct, your Fallen Angel is staying in a house somewhere near here. If the Knights are aware of her location, they'll be sitting on it, most likely in the desert area here. If they really are planning on making a move, they'll have no less than one sniper. Should be a Null by the name of Belina. But there may be more than one Knight in town, and we don’t know if they're targeting more than one location. Hell, for that matter, we can’t really be sure who else is out there. There could be a number of beings out to stop this meeting. But Rael is as good a place to start as any, and that's the one everyone seems most concerned about. Hopefully, the Feds have your people covered. We can only deal with one thing at a time. But we'll have to be flexible. That said, I think Rael is the most likely target, but she poses another problem..."

  "Please slow down for a moment," she said, stepping back and running her fingers through her dark hair. "I am sorry. But this is all so fantastic. First the ring, then this place, these weapons... Now you tell me that not only have you heard of the Fallen Angel, but you also know her location as well as the identity of the Knight you believe was sent to kill her! One named after a virgin Saint, no less! I do not believe that even your Federales have this information. You could only have heard of our mission in the last few days. How could you possibly know all these things?"

  "Like I said," I replied, trying to find a way to explain that wouldn't make me sound omniscient. But then again, what did it matter? I couldn’t tell her the truth, so one story was as good as another. "You should have come to us first. I know, I know, you weren’t the ones contacted. But look around you. Did you expect to find any of this here? No, you didn't, and what did you think I'd be doing all afternoon, twiddling my thumbs? No. I was gathering intel. Trust me. This is what I do. That said, there's still a lot we don’t know, and we never will unless we get out there and look for ourselves. We'll assume the worst case scenario, so we go in loaded for bear. Now, do you want in, or not?"

  "Yes, of course I do," she said, stepping back up to the table. "I'm sorry. I do not mean to doubt you. It is just a bit overwhelming. This is not what I expected when I asked your Capitano for assistance."

  "Welcome to Vegas," I replied, grinning. "Overwhelming is what we do."

  "So you say," she said, the beginning of a smile appearing on her face. She leaned over the table. "Show me again."

  I went over what information I knew that I could actually rely on, including the fact that Rael had at least a couple of followers that I was aware of, that being the two Demons, Kimar and Paige. While they hadn’t been at her house when I met her there the last time, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be in the area. They'd certainly been attached to her hip most of the other times I'd seen her.

  "That's it then," I said when I was done. "Let's load up what we need and head out."

  We started picking weapons from the shelves and moving them to the table. I'd take my Fae sword and dagger, of course, but I also chose an M-16 and a Remington 700 with a scope, along with a few various grenades for good measure. Grabbing some extra ammo and a suppressor, as well as a few other toys, I placed them and the guns in the duffel bag. Livia, all business now, handed me her own selection. Then she moved to the manikins. Choosing a leather vest with compartments, she laid it out on the table. Then she grabbed an outfit and boots from her bag and began stripping out of her clothes.

  "Wait," I said, retrieving the Fae armor from the shelf I'd seen it at earlier. I pulled out two sets that looked about the right size. "Wear these. They're better than any camouflage, especially in the moonlight. The hood is a balaclava. You won’t need to worry about shoes either. The Fae boots will mold to your feet. " I grabbed a set for me and moved toward the stairway. "I'll change upstairs."

  "This is no time for modesty, Lieutenant," she chuckled as she removed her bra. She dug into the shopping bag and pulled out an athletic one, sliding it over her head. "Those of us that do battle together have nothing to hide from each other."

  If only that were true, I thought to myself. I shrugged my shoulders and began to get undressed. Far be it from me to complain. "But maybe we'd better save the romantic notions for later, assuming there is one, that is. Oh, and please, call me Robert."

  "I'll try to remember that… Robert," she replied, grinning as she racked a round into one of the pistols she'd chosen before laying it back down.

  A few minutes later we were both dressed in Fae armor and vests, our various weapons secure in their places. I pulled out a couple plaid shirts and tossed one to her, sliding my arm into my own. "Put this on. We don’t want to be too conspicuous while we're driving." I slipped the rest of our clothes into the duffel bag. "I'll bring these just in case. We can slip them over the Fae armor if we need to."

  "If you insist," she replied, sliding the plaid shirt over her neck without unbuttoning it. "But you do realize it spoils the look."

  Laughing, I picked up the duffel bag and she followed me up the stairs and out of the house to the garage. I pulled open the garage door and then popped open the rear hatch of the Willy's Jeep, depositing the duffel bag inside. I grabbed a few more things from my work car and then picked up her bag, placing them in the rear seat. That done, I walked over to the gate and opened it.

  "Ready?" I asked when I got back. She was standing by the passenger side door and got in without another word.

  "The Corvette, it is yours as well?" she asked as we backed out of the garage.

  "Yeah," I said, pulling out and heading through the gate. "But we'll have to take it for a spin another time. It's a little too flashy for where we're going tonight." That got me a smile. I stopped and got out of the Jeep, shutting the garage door and gate behind us before returning.

  "I will hold you to that," she replied, looking at the city lights as I turned toward Ann Road. "How far is our destination?"

  "Other side of town. It's about 20 miles. Figure a half hour drive time, probably a little longer. I may need to scout the area before we go in. We'll be going on foot after that."

  I took the quickest route to the east side of town, then skirted a few developments as I made my way towards Frenchman mountain. When I got to Stewart and North Hollywood, I saw a familiar looking car parked off in the desert a block away. I took a left instead of heading further up the hill. As we passed Linden Avenue, I saw another driving up the street.

  "That's not good."

  "What is the matter?" she asked.

  "I just saw a couple of Bureau cars," I replied.

  She looked at me with a puzzled expression.

  "Fed vehicles," I said, explaining. "The Fae usually build their custom homes on the other side of town, meaning this is mostly an upscale Demon neighborhood. A lot of business owners out here, they're a tad flashier than most, which means they're not exactly partial to boring four-door sedans. But at least it tells us that we're in the right area."

  "How does this affect us?"

  "It doesn’t," I replied, glad that I'd driven out this way last week. "If he brought in the locals, I'm betting the Special Agent hasn’t told them everything either. If not, his people won’t know the area like I do. We’ll come in on foot from the mountain side and take a look around. Worse case is that they've got things bottled up and we can stand down."

  "Do you believe that?"

  "Not really," I replied, continuing northbound. "If the Knights really are opposed to what's happening they won’t be deterred. Their history proves that. Then there's Rael. She's not going to take kindly to anyone telling her what to do. She'll have made her own security arrangements. Which means the right hand won’t know what the left is doing."

  "You seem to know a lot about a being you've never met."

  "If she won’t deal with us, she won’t
deal with them," I replied, making the turn east up Owens. "At least not completely. She's been around a long time. She's not going to let anyone else see to her personal security. You can bet on that." I killed the lights and pulled over just after the pavement ended, where it turned into a dirt road that led further up the mountain. "We'll hang here for a minute to make sure no one's following."

  "And if they are?" she asked, turning to look back down the roadway.

  "Then I hope you're a good kisser," I said, reaching into the back and pulling out two pairs of revealers.

  "Excuse me?" she replied as I handed her a pair.

  "A lot of kids come up here to make out," I replied chuckling. "They're not going to look twice if we're smooching when they drive by. Plus, it won’t be that unusual to see us going further up the mountain on this road. Folks do it all the time to see the city lights." Well… at least they had in my world.

  It was nice to hear her laugh again.

  I waited a bit longer and then continued up the road, keeping the lights off as I drove up the mountain. The revealers came in handy there. There was enough magic in the moonlight to highlight the trail. A minute later, I was turning right onto a narrow path that led between the foothills. It took about a half hour to drive the few miles back to the area where Rael's house should be. The Willy's Jeep was no SXS, but even slower than shit, it kept up with the terrain. Eventually, as I drove down into yet another flood channel, I stopped the vehicle. Turning the Jeep back to face the way we'd came, I put it in park and turned to Livia. "We go on foot from here."

  Chapter 14

  I got out and went to the back, opening up the rear hatch and pulling out the duffel and setting it on the ground. I took off the plaid shirt I 'd been wearing as Livia met me and did the same. Tossing them into the back, I closed the hatch and turned to her.

  "We should be about a quarter mile from where we need to be," I said, pointing in a southwesterly direction. "In the moonlight, with our hoods drawn, the Fae armor will make us almost invisible. I figure we move along the base of the foothills until we're closer, then we just see what we can see."