The Elder Witches

by R.E. Packer

  Chapter 14

  After things had calmed down and nobody was trying to kill each other I noticed that Reynolds and the vampires were gone.

  “They took their leave when you left. Reynolds wasn’t taking any chances on getting blamed for this,” Maeve said.

  Some of the coven members had gone home, the rest were spoke quietly amongst themselves. Maeve sat with her feet propped up on the table, hands behind her head making her arm look like wings. Her eyes watched Eros more often than she let her relaxed posture dictate. Eros didn’t show any hard feeling at having a girl assault him in his first few minutes here. James sat next to Maeve, his feet up also. He looked to be napping with his eyes closed, leaning slight askew against Maeve.

  Gwen brought a few bottles of wine and a tray of food over for everybody, now that the immediate threats were past. I was pretty sure the remaining coven of witches stayed because they were didn’t want to risk being rude. Most of them were genuinely likable people that looked like your average next door neighbor.

  “What happened to Beady Eyes and the others?” I asked.

  “James helped Fred, aka beady eyes, and his lackeys took the shortest route possible out of the house. There were three members of the coven that were helping him funnel the power from the other witches without their consent.”

  Looking at the thin fatherly looking man napping, I had a hard time picturing him being forceful with anyone.

  Before I could think more about it, a knock at the door drew our attention. Looking through the peephole I saw Reynolds, as dapper as ever, in his bow tie and fedora. He held up a box of donuts and smiled.

  Still smiling and a with slight bow, he said “These are for you. I’ve heard authority figures like donuts.”

  “Cops like donuts. I’m not a cop,” I said. But that didn’t stop me from taking a donut and relishing the powdery goodness. I hadn’t eaten since earlier and I was starving.

  “What happened to you?” I said around a mouthful of Boston creme.

  “We waited— out of sight— to see if, or rather when, you would return.”

  “You must have had some confidence in me if you waited.”

  He shrugged, “I haven’t had much need for most humans since I was turned, long ago. And while I don’t see the power you could have at this time, I do believe in the prophecy.”

  I was pretty sure he just told me, in his diplomatic way, that I was inept but would prove useful… Eventually.

  I flopped down on a chair and put my feet up on the coffee table, Gwen came over and sat next to me, leaning in my direction so she rested softly against me.

  I could feel the warmth from her and I tried not to stare. I still wasn’t accustomed to women giving me so much attention. Especially women that looked like her.

  She scratched Rutger’s head absently. I felt bad for the poor mutt, he had been hiding in a spare bedroom most of the time. Now he laid at my feet not wandering more than a few feet away. Dogs have an incredible sense of smell, it must have been alarming when my scent vanished completely after I went through the doorway to Dashire.

  Reynolds took a seat nearby. He was still dressed like he was headed to a board meeting. His suit and hat had been out of fashion so long they were starting to come back now.

  “Mr. Hopewell, we were hoping to get your professional opinion on our next move.

  Personally I don’t believe in waiting for an adversary to build their forces to attack once they’ve proved their intent but perhaps you might have a superior plan for our invasion.”

  “Invasion? Are we going to war?” I asked.

  “In a sense, yes. But maybe my vernacular is more baroque than is popular today. Some of us have more trouble giving up past habits than others”

  I forget how old some of these people, creatures, are. I could picture Reynolds at one of the queens balls with a powder white wig on.

  “The first thing is to usually secure all assets, assets being people,” I said looking everybody over. “Even though everybody here is stronger than a normal person, you still have weaknesses. It’s what they will go after.”

  “Second, is to secure all information. Anything said in this room should stay in this room unless you can guarantee that nobody is listening or the people who are can be trusted.”

  “Third, is to find their weaknesses. Historically huge armies have fallen to much smaller groups because of poor planning. Smaller numbers are not always a handicap,” I noticed the feral grin on most of the vampires faces as I said this last part, their eyes becoming almost black.

  “I have a friend that might be able to help out with the some computer surveillance. I’ll give him a call,” I said.

  “Excellent. When do we start with the rest of your plan?” Maeve asked.

  “Yes, when do we start?” Eros said. He was holding a donut in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

  Reynolds leaned closer and said, “If you don’t mind my asking… Who is that man?”