by WL Flinn
He looked at me with those big eyes and his face was slack. Finally he smiled. I knew whatever he said was going to be a big, fat lie. I was going to have trouble with him. “Sure, Mom, I promise.”
A few days later Ashe and I met for our evening walk. I was amazed at how fast my body healed. My shoulder was sore, but I could lift my arm. I counted that as a win. The healer was right, though. I was going to have a scar to remind me about Megan every time I looked in the mirror.
“It’s nice to get out and just walk,” I told Ashe. Because I didn’t want to think about anything or about our failures, I had gotten Ashe to take a walk in one of the seedier areas of town. I was in the mood to beat the crap out of someone.
“So, what is wrong?” Ashe asked.
I snorted. “What isn’t wrong? I have one child I need to start training because she is in danger because she turns into an alicorn, a very pretty alicorn at that. And I have a son that wants to catch the Sickness because he wants to be magical.”
Penny sneezed which was generally a heads up to be aware of our surroundings. Ashe turned into her vamp form and I let my arms fuzz out. Ashe looked at Penny. “Whatcha got?”
Something magical ahead and the smell of blood.
Ashe inhaled. “Definitely blood.” We turned down a dark alley. My heart started to race. Beating the crap out of a bad guy was exactly what I needed to ease my tension.
We moved closer to the dark shape near the trash cans. An unconscious girl was at its feet. “Didn’t take you too long to get here,” the shape said.
It turned and raised its hands. Light blue streaks hit us both squarely in the chest. My skin felt like it was on fire. I couldn’t move to get away. “Nice of you to be so prompt.” The shape moved towards us. It had a loose robe on so I couldn’t tell if it was male or female. My eyes were watering in pain. A gray hand reached out and played with one of Ashe’s long curls. I heard her grunt, but that was all she could say.
“You two are causing problems for me. We need you to be gone. So, I am going to ask you nicely…Be gone.” The ghostly pale face smiled and then snapped its fingers and the pain level shot up a zillion percent and everything went black.
Ashe was shaking my shoulder gingerly. “Hey, get up or at least open your eyes.” She was sitting next to me. I opened my eyes and groaned.
“What the heck?”
“Not exactly the words I would have used.” Ashe grimaced.
I sat up beside her. My hand landed in something wet and squishy. I looked around and we were still in the alley. “Well, we weren’t moved.”
“I kind of wish we were. This is gross.” She wrinkled her nose at the smells. I knew she must be hurting because the smell of old urine and garbage was enough to make me sick. Her sense of smell was way better than mine.
“The girl is gone,” she said practically reading my mind. “She was gone when I woke up. So, I don’t know if she was a plant or if she was really hurt. All I know is that blue sparkly crap really hurt.” She kept shaking her hands.
“Yeah, how do I get that power?” We helped each other up. I brushed the dirt off my sweats. There were a few new stains that I didn’t want to know what they were from. “So, what the heck was that about?”
Ashe did a little jig, and a silly smile broke through the grimace. “I guess we pissed off the right people. We are making a difference my friend.” She gave me a high five and hug. We made it to the big time.
Our reputation in the local magical community was starting to spread. We were starting to get regular business. We were getting calls for anything from missing items, which Penny helped with, to tailing cheating spouses. Even though we were getting business, Ashe and I made sure to walk the streets together at least twice a week. We always varied our path and which part of town we went through.
We weren’t too picky. We tried to break up whatever we could, it didn’t matter if was an assault or attempted theft or even small, drug deals. I am not sure how magicals knew it was us, but people began waving to us when we walked at night.
We were out one night and Cal called. “We have a lead. Be here in thirty minutes.”
I tried to ask him questions, but there was silence on the other end. “You heard that?”
Ashe smiled. “Heck yeah. Let’s go.”
We pulled up to the BlackHats office. I recognized a quite a few members of the teams that rescued the girls. Many of the faces were lined in tension. Cal nodded to us as we entered and took seats.
“Due to our campaign, the magical communities have been keeping a closer eye on their children. But there was still a girl taken yesterday.
Ashe and I looked at each other. Neither of us had heard anything about that.
A guy in the back spoke out. “Do we know if it is related to the other girls? Could it just be a random kidnapping? Maybe a runaway?”
“God, how sick are we if we are hoping it is a random kidnapping?” I whispered.
Cal ignored me. “We don’t care why she was taken. We know she is one of ours. So, we are going to go get her.” He looked each of us in the eye. “If this is the reboot of the trafficking ring, it isn’t going to happen on my watch.”
There were a few soft “hoorahs” from the military guys. Everyone knew what was at stake for this girl.
“Everyone who is in, stay seated. If you are not, it is time to leave now.” Not a single person moved. “Good. Thank you all.” He passed around pictures of a teenage girl. She had mousey brown hair and freckles. “I know we didn’t talk details last time. But we are only talking one girl this time. This is Kaylee. She is fifteen. She is a panther shifter. She is a good kid. She doesn’t do drugs; doesn’t have a serious boyfriend and doesn’t run with the wrong crowd. Since we are still mostly locked down due to the Sickness, we believe she was taken when she was coming back from her weekly trip to the grocery store.”
He put a map up on the wall indicating where she lived and where the grocery store was. “She didn’t have a job other than helping with her siblings.”
I raised my hand. “You said you had a lead?”
“George here hacked into the some of the security cameras.” Footage of Kaylee walking down the sidewalk was highlighted on the wall. “She was here on one block, but not on the next. There are only a few cars that passed her at that time. One of them belongs to a minor minion for Carlotta named Rivera. His house is over here.”
A bright light lit up on the map. Then a Google Maps image showed up and zoomed in. “We have had people there all day today. We have reason to believe that she is, indeed, there.”
We spent the evening going over plans and throwing them out till we came up with something we thought would work and be flexible. We weren’t taking any chances. We were going in with the full team. We weren’t going to be overwhelmed this time. I looked at the grim determination on the faces in the room and knew no one wanted a repeat of Team Two. I noticed Cal didn’t even name anyone that for this mission. He didn’t have to, everyone volunteered.
As we got into our positions around the house, my body hummed in anticipation. I knew my fighting skills weren’t so great, so I wasn’t going to be one of the first ones in. Instead, I was left to the perimeter with a rifle and scope. If I could take anyone out as they ran in or out, I was to do so.
Ashe’s speed made her a prime candidate for a surprise attack. So, she was teamed up with a wolf shifter. They were waiting close to the compound waiting the signal to go in.
I kept telling myself nothing would go wrong. We thought through every contingency. I realized I was biting my nails again. I fuzzed my arms. My nails turned black and too hard to bite.
Good choice, Penny said as I dropped my hand to my side. We brought her along so we wouldn’t have to take a shifter off of protection detail. She could scent the girl and tell us where she was exactly.
There was a quiet voice on the earwig. “This is for Megan and Team Two.”
Cal’s voice took over. “Team Alpha, m
ove in. Beta get ready to cover.”
Ashe dashed for the side of the house. A black wolf ran behind her. She waited a heartbeat then broke the window and threw in a flash-bang grenade. The timing matched perfectly with the other team members as the whole first story of the house lit up and there were deafening explosions.
She turned to the wolf and held out her hands. He took a step back and raced into her hands and she tossed him into the window. She jumped in right after him.
That’s when all hell broke loose.
Gunfire and colored flashes erupted from the house. Cal kept his hand on me. “Not yet.” He shook his head. “We need to know we have a path.”
It was killing me to sit here knowing Ashe was in there fighting. Was she okay? Was she kicking butt? Did Kaylee know we were coming for her? I keep trying to look around and seeing Ashe.
I picked up my rifle and scope to watch the action I couldn’t see much through the window Ashe had broken. People were only shadows. There wasn’t enough light to be able to identify anyone to shoot at them. My finger itched to pull the trigger and protect my team.
“Search team, you are clear.” I looked at Cal and he nodded. We slipped through the woods. Penny walking quietly beside me. The front door opened and Cal raised his gun when Jim waved.
“Just thought I would give you an entry point.”
We walked inside and I gave Penny her head. “Okay, girl. Time to find Kaylee.” She started sniffing the floor and headed off down a small hallway, golden tail waving. It looked like it went to a servant’s area, like maybe a nanny. Cal’s broad shoulder nearly touched both sides.
“Stay alert. We don’t know what type of company we will have back here.”
There were burn marks on the walls where magical bursts had hit during the initial fight. Penny picked up a trot. She is close.
“Don’t get too far ahead, girl. We don’t know who’s back here.”
It was eerily quiet in the hall. There were a couple of plain wooden doors Cal checked the doors. Each one led to a simple bedroom. It looked like we had found the help’s living quarters.
Penny stopped and sat in front of a door on the right. Cal tapped her on the shoulder to move over. Instead of checking the doorknob he leaned back and kicked hard. The door creaked in the center but didn’t give. Penny sniffed again and sneezed. It’s got magic.
“Penny thinks it is warded,” I told Cal.
He pounded on the door and nothing happened. He grabbed the doorknob and melted it. The door stayed stubbornly shut.
I looked down the hall and walked into the next room. I moved the bed and felt the wall. “Hey Pen, any magic on this wall?”
She sniffed the wall. Smells clean.
I walked back into the hall. Cal was pounding on the door and cursing at it, ordering it to open.
“Come in here.” I waved at him.
He followed me in. I stripped out of my clothes and shifted into my alicorn. Part of me wondered whether he actually looked at me and part of me was praying he didn’t. Good gravy, I needed to get a grip on myself. All this skin in front of a man was starting to get to me.
I turned my alicorn butt to the wall and kicked out with my hind legs. There was a sharp crack as my hooves made two circles through the wall. I aimed a little higher and kicked out again. Cal put his hand on my rump.
“Nice! We can work with that.” He started pulling the drywall free. It didn’t take long till he could put his head up to the holes and look in. “Looks like she is by herself.”
I shifted back and dressed quickly. I started peeling drywall off the other hole till we had something big enough for me to shimmy through. He helped me go headfirst through the hole. Kaylee watched me with huge eyes but didn’t say a word.
“Hey, Kaylee.” I stood up slowly and brushed the dirt off me. I hoped she couldn’t see any blood on my dark sweats. “I’m Sienna. The big guy at the wall is Cal. We’re here to get you out. Is that okay?”
She looked at me and pointed to her ears and shook her head. Then she pointed to her mouth and shook her head again.
“So you can’t hear me?” I guessed. The reports didn’t say anything about that. But I didn’t know if she was deaf or if her captors had warded her ears and voice or something. Could that even happen?
I held out my hand to her and smiled. I motioned her to come to me. I didn’t want to scare the poor girl. She crawled over to me, and I gave her a big hug. “We are getting you out of here.”
I gently took her hands and pointed them like a high diver into the hole. I put my hand on the back of her head to protect her and helped her through the hole. Cal whispered, “Got her.”
I put my arms through and jumped. As soon as my hands hit the floor I tucked and rolled. I was pretty amazed with my athletic prowess. Cal turned to look at me questioning. “I think she is deaf and can’t talk. I don’t know if she was born with it or if it is magic.”
She watched us talking back and forth. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
“I think it is magical.” He looked at her. “Maybe if we can get her to shift, her own magic will fix it. I don’t want to try and get through here without her being able to hear us or talk to us.”
Suddenly there was a yell down the hall. “Boss if you are back there, we’re coming in hot!”
I looked at Kaylee. Time was up. I pointed to her and me. I stepped out into the hall and shifted and just prayed she would do the same. I felt my clothes explode off me. Penny, did she get it? I was too big to look back over my shoulder in the narrow hallway.
Cal slapped my rump and yelled, “Go, go, go!” I heard shots behind me and a yellow ball of energy flew over my head.
I took off down the hall. But I could already see it was a dead end with a picture window. More energy balls flew by and one hit my butt. Hey! Those things hurt!
Behind me a cat a yowled. I guess that meant Kaylee got her voice back. Now I could hear the other people running down the hall. Picking up speed I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and crashed through the window. As soon as my horn was through the glass, I opened my eyes and dropped my front legs to land. I grunted on impact but stayed upright.
I looked around and realized we were in the middle of a firefight. Guns and magical bursts were going off all around us. I didn’t slow down and ran for the nearest car to get a little cover. The panther and Penny followed. My new and improved ear wig was hanging off my ear, but it was close enough to hear. Cal was screaming. “Cover them, cover them! Sienna if you can hear, go to the main entrance.”
I took a second to get my bearings. One of the enemy was raising his hands and aiming at me to fire an energy ball. Heck no, that is not going to happen. I raced at him before he could react and struck him with my front hoof. It hit him in the thigh and he went down with the sound of a snapping bone. Penny make sure she stays on my tail. I sent up a quick prayer the three of us could get out of here safely and back to the SUV.
We took off at a full gallop around several sago palms and through a pink phlox flowerbed. The front entrance gates were knocked down but still together on the ground. There was no way I could get through them without breaking a leg. I stopped and shifted. “Keep going,” I told Kaylee. As graceful as well, a cat, she climbed over the downed gates. Penny followed her. I climbed over as quickly as I could and switched back as soon as I was on the other side.
Out of the shadows of the gate, a person in robes stepped out. I recognized the dark form from the alley.
“Didn’t I tell you not to get involved in my affairs?” it rasped. I still wasn’t sure if it was a man, but I had to assign him a gender. I really wanted to tell this guy to suck it.
I couldn’t talk in this form so I started to trot right by him. He sent a bright purple explosion in front of me. “We aren’t done talking. You are taking something of mine.”
I looked at him. “I am taking everything of yours.” I knew he couldn’t hear me, but I didn’t care. It just felt better sa
ying it and I was going to make it happen.
I looked down at the panther. We couldn’t communicate with each other in this form. Well, that sucked. Penny came up and sat beside me. Well, it looks like a stand-off. We have to get by him.
“Leave the girl, and I will let you pass.”
I snorted at the thought of leaving Kaylee behind and pawed the ground. I knew he could throw fireballs. I was willing to take the shot but I didn’t want to risk him hitting Kaylee or Penny. Neither of them was big enough to absorb that much energy.
Reading my face correctly, the robed guy said, “You can try to take me, but you won’t win. I can see you want me. But can you really kill me?” He tried to move closer to the three of us. “You know, if you would come with me voluntarily, I think I could use you. I know you aren’t some young and tender little girl, but I am sure I could find a buyer for a specimen like you, assuming you are still of breeding age.”
That is a hard no. I took off at the fastest gallop I could build up. I made sure to stare him in the eyes. I wanted him to focus on me and forget my two girls behind me. Penny, get her out of here! Keep her safe. I yelled at her.
The two took off and veered to the left trying to get out of his range. He started hurling yellow, glowing balls at them but quickly realized he had to deal with my huge weight coming at him. He took aim directly at me. I swerved around the first one, but I was charging him fast. So for the same reason he had to treat me as a threat meant that he couldn’t possibly miss me either. The first one hit me and my world flashed yellow and all my nerves screamed in pain.
I shrieked out my pain but kept charging him. His eyes widened as I didn’t go down. He raised his hands but I realized it must take time to make more of yellow orbs. I knew I had him while he recharged. I heard gunshots from behind me. “Go, go, go!” Cal screamed.
The robed figure threw up a purple shield when he saw the team with guns running at him. He must have known he was outmatched. A swirl of mist formed around him and he was gone.
