by Martha Carr
Curiosity got the best of her and Lily followed in its wake, glancing over her shoulder. "If this is your office, Ray, I have seriously underestimated you." The spark circled over the large desk in the center of the room, slipping into a drawer on the right near the bottom, spinning around in the lock with a tick, tick, clink.
"On top my ass, Ray. Oh geez." The shallow drawer slid open easily but instead of papers, all Lily found was a necklace with a round gold circle engraved with the royal Oriceran seal. Lily felt a chill go down her back and shuddered, picking up the necklace and holding it up to the light. Along the back were deep red dots of dried blood still clinging to it. On the other side of the circle the name, Fraekin was etched in script.
Lily swallowed hard and slipped the necklace in her pocket, sliding the drawer shut. She straightened up and pushed a few papers around on the desk to confirm whose office it was, but she already knew. "Wolfstan Humphrey... what have you done?"
She backed her way out of the office, making circles with her wand. "Never here, never there." The trail of magic she had created fractured into small pieces, rolling along the carpeted floor and sliding into the cracks. The color was drained from Lily Sharpton's face as she walked quickly to the next office, finally locating the certificates, and running to the elevator, not looking back.
Chapter Fourteen
The large ballroom was silent. A row of young wizards and witches stood against the walls, not even looking at each other.
Toby Wheeler pressed his hands against the wall, leaning forward to get a better look at some of the late arrivals. "Eyes forward," barked a husky wizard walking past them.
In the center of the room the heads of all the old Dark Families were taking their seats around the long, wide table. Banners fluttered over their heads with the different family crests.
Oversized wizards stood at every entrance, their wands poised to quell any threat or annoyance.
The main doors shuddered and opened as the room grew tense. Toby leaned forward again, peering around the wizard on his left but the young witch on his other side dug her nail into the soft spot of his shoulder, giving him a menacing look. "I'm not getting noticed today for the wrong reasons," she hissed. "I have big plans."
Agnes walked in holding her head up, nodding to Philomena and Jackard, two matriarchs from the western region seated at the top of the table.
"Where's Sirius?" whispered Toby, still looking behind Agnes even as the doors were closing.
The young witch, Isabel, rolled her eyes, tucking a blonde curl behind her ear. "How can you be so clueless and still breathing in this family?" she asked in a low voice. "He disappeared a couple months ago after the shifters got away. No one's seen him since."
"I wish I could have disappeared."
"I could still help you with that wish."
Toby did his best to scowl at her, but she smirked and leaned back against the wall.
"Women," he muttered. "They're all some kind of witch."
A bulky wizard growled at Toby and Toby’s eyes widened as he pressed his lips together.
Agnes came and stood at the head of the table, placing her hands flat on the table. "Extemporius!" She flung an arm in the air, sealing the room from outsiders.
"Agnes, you're breaking protocol with this meeting. We had decided to wait till Sirius surfaced," said Jackard, her dark hair pulled back in an intricate bun at the nape of her neck. Holding it in place was a gold clasp in the shape of the infinity sign.
Agnes drew herself up, stiffening her back, her long blonde hair shifting along her back. "Sirius has been gone long enough. No one has heard from him and we are losing time." Her face twitched at the lie. Let Wolfstan have him. "There are certain obstacles to maintaining our rightful place in this world." I will make a better deal. "The greatest aggravation is still Leira Berens." The last words came out through gritted teeth.
She smoothed an eyebrow, collecting herself and remained standing over everyone seated at the table. "That has proven to be more difficult than we expected. But we have a new ally in Wolfstan Humphrey..."
"He's just an Elf," a wizard blurted, slouching back in his chair. "We don't canoodle with Elves."
"The powerful enemy of my enemy is a friend willing to snuff out a Jasper Elf. He has the means to do it. We will help him."
"What if Sirius returns in the middle of your new plans?" Philomena dragged a deep red nail along the top of the table leaving a barely perceptible scratch.
"A problem for another day."
"And your thoughts on who his successor should be?" asked Jackard, her eyes hooded.
"Stop baiting me, Jackard," said Agnes, tapping the end of her wand on the table. "You'll find I have a line just as deep and scarred as Sirius that no one should cross." She licked her shiny pink lip. "That brings us to the shifters."
A murmur floated through the room and several at the long table shifted in their seats. The corners of Agnes' mouth curled ever so slightly. She snapped her fingers, a blue spark igniting and a wave of static electricity pulsed out, jolting everyone into silence. "It's true, our plan for the shifters failed. Failed miserably." The memories of Juliana's death still haunted Agnes. "But this is a new day and we have a new plan." She gestured to a group of young witches and wizards against the wall, including the young witch next to Toby.
"Come here, this is your moment. Come, come."
"What do you expect these children can accomplish that we could not?" Jackard snapped at the closest young wizard, making him startle and step back. She smiled, satisfied, draping an arm over the back of her chair. "Lucius will eat them for lunch. Crunch your bones, suck out the marrow."
"Enough, Jackard. They're all family. They can practice by hunting shifters in Lucius' pack and they'll get better at it. One shifter at a time."
"His pack is organized and hunts together. I'm guessing you see a few of our younger cousins as necessary collateral damage?"
"They've been training," Agnes said raising her voice. "You were asked to help them train, Jackard, but were far too busy. Question my place at the head of the family again. Throw doubts on my plans," growled Agnes.
"Cousin." A wizard who had been sitting at the far end quietly listening, stood up.
"Franco, you have something to add?" Agnes waved the back of her hand at the young group, moving them back to their positions along the wall.
"If I may? I believe we are all concerned that things are spinning in circles and not moving forward." He drew a circle in the air with his finger.
"And you have a different plan?" Agnes held her breath, staring him down. She needed to inflict some fear in the others, or her reign would be abruptly and violently cut short.
"All of our focus should be on eliminating Leira Berens," said Franco, looking half bored. It was all Agnes could do not to roll her eyes.
"Keep banging your head against that wall, Franco. I'll do my best to shed a tear at your funeral when she's had enough."
"I put my money on Agnes," Isabel whispered to Toby. "I see a fire in her that is ready to blow. I think she would help the witches rise amongst the ranks again."
Toby chuckled. "I put my money on Franco."
"The bored wizard?"
"He's been around since the invention of the locomotive and has been in his share of battles." He leaned closer, a shudder passing through him at the memory of the fire. "On top of that, Agnes lost her library. All of her oldest spell books are gone."
"She lost one library. There's always been rumors that Sirius kept a second library curated with the oldest magic."
"You're putting children in charge of hunting fur and fangs that even Juliana couldn't stop," said Philomena. Others at the table started to voice their concerns, one talking louder than the next.
"Enough!" Agnes shouted down the other elders. "All in favor of my plan, raise your wands," she said, tapping her wand in the palm of her hand. "We don't have time to stand around and argue."
Toby watched, bare
ly able to take in a deep breath, wondering if mayhem would break out. The elders voted, all but Philomena and Franco lifting their wands, which silenced the room. Agnes straightened her cream-colored Chanel jacket and finally sat down, clearing her throat. "Wolfstan Humphrey wants to get rid of Leira Berens even more than we do, if that's possible. He is asking for our help."
"You mean demanding at the end of a sword." Franco shrugged. "He reminds me of a younger me. We let him in, there will be no getting rid of him."
Agnes smiled. "We have been friends for too long, haven't we Franco. Do we want another enemy who is just as dangerous? Or do we want to take a chance that this Wolfstan can finally take out our greatest threat?"
"What exactly does he want from us?" asked Jackard. "Someone like that will have a very high price."
"He wants a seat at this table." Agnes kept a stony expression, her hand lightly resting on her wand.
Franco sat up straight, leaning across the table toward Agnes. "You want to give an Elf who was once in Trevilsom Prison a seat at the Dark Families table? Next we'll be hanging his banner overhead."
Philomena's eyes narrowed and she tilted her head, looking at Agnes. "What exactly did he threaten you with? You would never even consider it without a good enough reason. It's either power or death and I don't see Wolfstan sharing his power."
"Did he threaten all of us," said Franco with a leering smile. "Does he think he can wipe out all of us?" he asked, waving an arm at the assembly. "This is only a small portion of our numbers."
Agnes swallowed hard to settle her stomach. Wolfstan had made a point to show her the mechanics of what happened on the tenth floor. "I got a personal tour from Mr. Wolfstan of his operations in Texas. I've seen what he's working on with magicals and trust me, if he pulls any of it off, death would be a blessing. Better we stay close to him on his good side and stay out of his experiments. Then, when the opportunity presents itself and he's rid us of that damn Jasper Elf, we will find his vulnerable underbelly and destroy him and that damnable Fleeker machine."
Leira ran her hand along the broad side of the sword, admiring its balance. "This entire thing must be an artifact. I wonder what it does." The white stone on the handle shimmered and swirled just below the crest of Oriceran forged into the hilt. "Correk... Correk?" She glanced over her shoulder and realized Correk was still back in the room with the fireworks.
She tried to step into the hallway with the sword but was shoved back by a protection spell. The sword tugged at her hand. "Okay, I get it. No wandering off with any weapons of a lot of mass destruction." Leira carefully put the sword back on the wooden pegs holding it in place and shut the case, trying again to go back into the hallway. This time the ward let her pass.
"Correk? You're missing some pretty good stuff."
The Light Elf came wandering out of the room, still looking back over his shoulder, his mouth hanging open.
Leira let out a sigh, her forehead wrinkled. "Surely in all the years you've lived you've seen fireworks before. Hell, you've probably seen them in battles."
"I changed it to High Noon. Did you know there's Wi-Fi in there?"
"And a snack station." Leira grabbed Correk by the arm before he could turn back. "You do get that we can buy our own."
"Yumfuck's been eating all of mine. I found tiny claw marks." He shook his head. "I've even tried a glamour on the last stash and he broke through."
"You bothered with a glamour on your Little Debbie's? We may need an intervention. I mean, I'd understand if we were talking bacon." She pulled him down the hallway. "There are rooms that will make that look kind of sedate. Just wait."
"What's in there?" Correk peered inside the weapons room.
"Lots of potential destruction. It seems kind of cool till you get to what comes next. Come on, we can look at those later. We are supposed to meet the Moss' in front of our house by seven. We don't have all day."
"A double date. You're sure this is a good idea? You didn't even meet the husband."
"It's a great idea. We need to do more normal things instead of always blowing shit up."
"It seems so... human."
"You can do it big guy. I believe in you. This is going to be a great day. I can feel it. First this magical wonderland and then we actually make some new friends and go out like a couple. Wait till you see what's behind door number three."
"You're sure you're not overselling..."
"That's what I said, and no," she said, wiggling her eyebrows and getting a laugh out of Correk.
"Pretty confident, Berens."
Leira gave him a crooked smile, pulling him into the room just beyond the armory. She pulled him close, turning around with her back to him and his hands at her waist as a single bubble formed around them. "Prepare to have your mind blown."
She pushed at the doors and they exited the bubble, entering into the endless room. Correk worked his jaw as his ears popped from the change in air pressure. He looked up, pulling Leira closer against his chest, watching a school of red and silver flowerhorn fish dart past them. A fever of stingrays swam overhead, gracefully pushing through the water.
Leira breathed in deeply, slowly letting out air and leaned back against Correk. "We could take staycations in just this room."
"Decompress from battles."
"That's a dark thought. Hey, that's new." Leira leaned forward, watching a mermaid swim closer, coming to the bottom to wave at them. On her wrist was a bracelet with an S and a G intertwined. The mermaid smiled and gave Leira a thumbs up, swimming away, her tail moving up and down in the water as she swam in the wake of a blue marlin.
"Turner Underwood has so many alliances and secrets. Do you think that's what you'll be like some day?"
Correk kissed the top of Leira's head. "How do you know that's not me already?"
"Because you talk in your sleep. A lot." She turned around and kissed him, her tongue searching inside his mouth. "Do you think there are cameras in here?"
Correk laughed, "I thought you said there was even better things to see."
"They can wait. I have something to show you right here."
Chapter Fifteen
"I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen you in a dress. It usually takes a mission or a wedding." Correk held onto Leira's hand as she took a short spin on the sidewalk in front of their house. She was dressed in a short orange dress covered in eyelets. "I kind of like it," he said.
"You clean up pretty well yourself. You're actually wearing a shirt with buttons. Cowboy boots are a nice touch."
"I'm an Oriceran from Texas. Yumfuck wanted me to wear the hat too but I vetoed that idea."
"It could have worked." She wound a lock of his long blonde hair around her finger. "This has been a perfect day so far."
"So far." Correk scanned the street. "No one has thrown a fireball at our heads and no magical has suddenly needed rescuing from their own misdeeds."
"What do we tell them if you suddenly have to leave?"
"Turner said to tell anyone who asks that I work for the No Such Agency. Locals would get it and just nod their heads."
"The NSA. Not a bad idea. You're not allowed to talk about your job and they're not supposed to ask." She wove her fingers between his, holding his hand. "Let's hope everyone can take a break from mayhem tonight."
The neighbor's door opened and Angel came out, talking in a steady stream to the tall man with close-cropped hair that was behind her, locking the door. He was giving her the occasional head nod.
"You're here!" Angel interrupted her flow of words to wave at Leira and Correk, going right back to the reminders she was giving for the next day.
"You didn't mention all the talking," whispered Correk.
"I kind of like it. You'll see." Leira squeezed his hand.
Angel was wearing a floral print dressed that was in constant motion as she made her way quickly down the front steps, her hands moving in short gestures while she talked. "This is so exciting! I ha
ve been kerplumphed at the idea of friends who are next door neighbors. There is so much we could do. We could start a game night! Have you guys ever played Stupid Deaths? The best."
"You're right, it's oddly comforting. Like a wave of optimism," whispered Correk. Leira's smile grew as she listened to Angel with her husband waiting patiently by her side.
"We have seven-thirty reservations. Everybody okay with walking? Nice boots," said Angel, not waiting for a reply.
"I'm Matt, Angel's husband." He had an easy going smile, reaching out his hand to Correk to shake.
Angel laughed, covering her mouth with her carefully manicured hand. "I always forget that part. I mean, it already feels like we're friends. This is my husband, Matt. And that's Leira and you must be her boyfriend, Correk. They live right there."
Matt's smile grew as he shook Leira's hand. "How about we head down N Street and we can turn on twenty-third. It's a nice night for walking."
Leira's hand tingled for a moment against Matt's skin but it passed quickly. She took a longer look at him, still smiling. Not a magical. Weird. Let it go, Berens. They're nice people.
"It's a clear night but with all the lights it's hard to see the stars," said Angel.
Leira smiled, squeezing Correk's hand. They had their own planetarium to retreat to whenever they wanted.
"The best place in town is probably Rock Creek Park, right Matt?" asked Angel, as they started to walk toward the restaurant. Her husband nodded, putting his arm around his wife's shoulders. "No matter where you look, up or down, there's something beautiful. I love the walking trails in there. Matt loves to go running through there. You’re a runner too, right, Leira?" Angel lifted her hair off the back of her neck. "Can you believe how warm it is tonight? That happens sometimes the closer we get to spring. Bam! You get this perfect evening for a stroll and then you're back to the heavy coat tomorrow."
Leira looked around at the different buildings as they walked, letting the words wash over her, grateful she didn't have to answer a lot of questions. No Estelle to stop the inquiries. I will have to learn how to do it for myself.
