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And then, without another word, she slung the piglet over her shoulder and vanished into the darkness. Aeval watched her go.
“The Elder Fae were ancient when I was young. They are the backbone of this world. They live in the ages of the Harvestmen and the Hags of Fate and the Elemental Lords. ” She inhaled sharply. “The demons are on the move. I know they threaten Asteria, but there is little my people can do for her. Instead, we train. For war is coming. But do not expect it in the loud clamor of guns or swarms…instead it creeps silently, infiltrates by ones and twos. Shadow Wing is not stupid…like all demons, he will seek to corrupt, to gain allies. What better way to wrest control than to divide and conquer?”
Camille gazed up at the moon. “Asteria mentioned that the dark moon Priestesses of the Moon Mother are her sorcerers. ”
Aeval flashed her a mirthless smile. “The dark of the moon holds power over the unseen. The dark of the moon hides secrets. The veils grow thin during the waning half of the year. Moon Witch you are, and Priestess…but your true power resides in the abyss, in the purple flames of death. Like your cousin Morgaine, you, too, are a child of the dusk, my girl, trapped between worlds. Trapped between races. Trapped between the day and the night. ”
She moved away, gliding over the ground, her long trailing gown light as leaves whispering along the ground. “Camille…be ready. Beltane will come, and the dragons will fly. And the gods will rut. And you, you will ride at the helm of the Hunt—and you and your Priest will learn what it means to belong to the night. The will-o’-the-wisps came out because they live with the spirits, and the spirits are singing a bright song, as of late. ” And then, as the wind whistled by, she vanished as if she’d never been there.
We stared into the yard. The night was silent. There was nothing creeping out there that we could hear. Turning around, we filed back to the house.
We trailed back into the house with more riddles than we had answers for. As we dropped wearily into chairs, staring around at the others, it felt like we had no clear place to start.
“Where are we at?” Delilah asked. “What do we know? What don’t we know?”
“We know that Gulakah is here in Seattle. We know that a bunch of demonic spirits—bhouts—are running loose in the city. We don’t know if the two are tied together, but I’m thinking it’s likely. ” Shade thumb-wrestled with himself.
“Carter told me that the Greenbelt Park District has been haunted for far longer than Gulakah’s been around, but I’m betting it’s an attraction for him, given the amount of ghostly activity there. And the activity has definitely stepped up the past few months. That may relate to the Lord of Ghosts being in town, too. ” I frowned. “What else?”
“We know that those who use magic are being attacked and drained. Lindsey’s coven, Chase…and there are others, I’m sure. The bhouts seem to be responsible for that. If they’re draining the energy from people, is it going directly to feed them, or their controller?” Camille scratched her head.
“Probably both. The bhout attacked Chase in order to possess him. Chase controls the FH-CSI. ” An idea struck me. “Think what Aeval said—Shadow Wing may not wage open war but come in through the back door. What would it mean if he could gain control of some of the more important members of society…those in charge?”
“Mind control…he could arrange anything, then. He could have the three of you deported or killed. But not all government officials have psychic energy,” Smoky said.
“No, but enough must have latent powers to tempt him. We can’t be certain that’s his goal, but we better consider it. ” I pulled off my boots and socks and propped my feet on the coffee table. I’d painted my toenails—they were a brilliant crimson.
“Otherworld is on the brink of open war. Over here, the war is covert. The worlds are vastly different and call for different strategizing. Shadow Wing has to understand that, and so we’re seeing the results of what was probably long-term planning. ” Trillian was sitting on one end of the sofa, Smoky on the other. Camille stretched out between them, her head on Trillian’s lap and her feet on Smoky’s knees. He rubbed her toes gently while Trillian stroked her head.
Morio sat on the floor next to them. “So two different fronts, two different battle plans. ”
“And my people—humans—don’t know that nuclear weapons probably won’t do a lot against demons, but you know the governments here would resort to that if they knew about this danger. Shadow Wing may be worried that they might be effective enough to make things difficult. He doesn’t care if most of the world gets offed in the attempt, but he doesn’t want his forces harmed. No, I’m guessing that he thinks it’s better to infiltrate from within,” Chase said.
I had to agree with them. “You’re probably right. As far as we know, his attempts Earthside have been limited and will probably remain on the down low. However, should he make inroads in Otherworld, the sorcerers might be able to open enough portals to let the demons in that way. And from there, they can access the portals leading over Earthside. ”
“That’s a horrible thought. ” Delilah shivered.
“Damned right it’s a horrible thought. The influx of demons Earthside will be far greater once they gain a stronghold in Otherworld. My guess? Most of his outright efforts are being focused on Otherworld, while here, he’s preparing the reception committee, so to speak. ” My feet hit the ground as I stood. “Mind control here can pave the way for them to come over from OW without a fight. ”
“Which means we need to find and destroy Gulakah and stop the war in Otherworld. Neither of which will be easy. We don’t know where Gulakah is, Carter hasn’t been able to locate him, and there’s enough psychic mayhem going on in the city that—” Camille stopped as the phone rang.
Iris answered it. After a moment, she motioned to me. “Roman on the phone. Wants to talk to you. ”
I stepped into the foyer where I could hear him better while the others continued to talk. I was nervous—I hadn’t spoken to him since Nerissa and I had left his house. “Hey…what’s up?”
“Menolly, I have some information for you. I’m sorry to tell you that one of my guards stumbled over a dead body about ten minutes ago, out in Tangleroot Park. I think it may be your agent. ”
Fuck. Andrees? Dead? My heart sank.
“Crap. I didn’t want to hear that. Andrees is a good man. I hope to hell it’s not him. ” I paused. “You say Tangleroot Park? There’s a rogue portal there. We’ve had one hell of a night so far and it’s not even midnight. ”
“Do tell?”
I was about to tell him about the will-o’-the-wisps and the bhouts when call waiting beeped. I glanced at the screen. Carter. “I have to go, Roman. I have another call that I need to take. We’ll get over there as soon as we can. Will you have your men stand guard over the body until we arrive and tell them not to touch it, please? We’ve got several situations going. I’ll call you back as soon as I can. ”
“Talk to you in a bit, my sweet. My man’s name is Standers, by the way. He’ll keep an eye on the body. ” He hung up, and I clicked over to Carter.
“Carter?”
“Menolly? I have news. I got a call from a compatriot in Portland, Oregon. Something seems to be amiss with the witches and pagans there. A lingering malaise spreading through the communities. ”
“That sounds all too familiar. ”
“Yes, doesn’t it? I’ve talked to the witch who casts my wards. She’s a powerful sorceress, not fully human, but I’m not going to speculate on what her other lineage might be. She said that a week or so ago, she started to notice her energy flagging. She didn’t seem all that interested in talking to me, and I know something must be wrong. ”
“I know what’s going on, Carter, but I can’t talk right now. We found our agent, I think. Dead. We’ll stop by after we get done in the park. ” I paused, then added, “Carter, things are starting to go down in a
really bad way. Watch your back. ” And with that, I hung up and headed back into the living room to give Camille and Delilah the news.
The three of us, along with Shade, Morio, and Chase, headed out for the park. For once, I longed for the pull of the sun. So much had happened the past few nights that everybody was getting worn out, and I knew that Camille and Delilah were pulling long shifts with little sleep.
Morio offered to drive, so we took his SUV. Camille sat in front. Delilah and I were in the middle seat, and Shade and Chase sat in the back.
“Do you think that it’s really Andrees?” Delilah asked after a moment, her voice cracking. “I mean…it’s been a long time, but I really liked him. I always wondered what would have happened if I’d actually been brave enough to ask him out. ”
“I’m hoping it isn’t him, but considering how stupid the OIA was, well…” I leaned back against the seat. “Now that we’re on speaking terms with Father again, we really have to reorganize things over there. As soon as we have this situation in hand, we’re revamping the ES side of the organization. ”
“That’s what the FH-CSI was originally supposed to be,” Chase said from the back. “But the OIA refused to talk to us. They fed us what they thought we ought to know, which wasn’t much, and let it go. I had a list of operatives—before they pulled out—but half the time, it wasn’t accurate. ”
“So, as we told Father, we’re going to establish a new base of operations here. We’re working for them on our terms now. ” Delilah grinned.
“We can turn the FH-CSI into what it was meant to be. ” I glanced back at Chase. “You like that idea?”
“Love it,” he said. “I’ve been feeling overlooked and underappreciated since your people first came over—not by the three of you, but by your government. This would make me feel vindicated. I’ve done my best to hold things together for the visitors coming over from Otherworld, but it would be nice to have more support from your superiors. ”
As we pulled into Tangleroot Park, Chase grimaced. “I don’t fancy a revisit to this area, but I’m game. ”
“You still have nightmares about old Spider-Hag?” Chase had been captured by one of the Elder Fae—a spidery freak show who intended to fatten him up and eat him. Luckily, her plans had been nixed and he’d escaped. We thought we’d destroyed her, but upon leaving the plane into which she’d dragged him, we weren’t so sure.
“Her…Karvanak…the Tregarts. I count my blessings I’m still alive. I wouldn’t be if it weren’t…” He stopped, turning sober.
“For the Nectar of Life,” Delilah whispered.
“I was going to say you three. But yes, the Nectar of Life, as well. ” After a moment, he changed the subject. “So, will you know your friend by sight?”
I gave him a nod. “Yes, we should. Andrees…we go way back. We took the same classes when we entered the OIA. Or rather, the YIA—we didn’t originally work for the branch dealing with Earthside affairs. Before we were assigned to specific departments, every agent has to go through what you might call a basic training. ”
Camille turned in her seat, to stare over the back. “We joined the YIA before the portals to Earthside were opened up. Before we even really knew about them. The YIA—Y’Elestrial Intelligence Agency—took care of some of the worst criminal cases in Y’Elestrial’s history. We tracked down the rogue vamps, serial killers, the worst of the worst. ”
Chase nodded. “I thought that might be what it was like. So you met Andrees then?”
“We met him in basic training, yes. What you would think of as the preliminary academic studies. Then he was assigned to Delilah’s department. The YIA is divided up into a number of departments and the OIA started as a branch, then hived off to become its own division. ” I shrugged.
“Did you sign up because you wanted to come Earthside?” Chase had never asked us much about the time before we came over through the portals.
I hesitated, not sure of how to respond. “Not really. We were assigned to the OIA…”
“Oh, just say it. We were transferred to the OIA because of me,” Camille’s face clouded over. “My boss had been gunning for me for years because I wouldn’t fuck him. I managed to make a huge bust—I brought in Roche, a serial killer who had been a member of the Des’Estar. That’s when I met Trillian, in a nightclub I was scoping out. ”
“And that didn’t cement your position?”
“My boss, Lathe, tried everything to get me to fuck him. He’s a sadist. He liked humiliating women. When I tossed Roche’s body at his feet, he couldn’t deny me a raise and a commendation. Three weeks later, Dredge caught hold of Menolly. And after that, Lathe set out to make my life a living hell. ”
“You couldn’t call him on sexual harassment?” Chase looked mystified.
“In Otherworld, sexual harassment isn’t against the law. It’s only an issue when the individual employer forbids it. Among the Fae, it can be a fact of life. Especially for a half-breed like me. ” She grimaced. “When the OIA opened up and they began recruiting agents, nobody wanted to join. Well, almost nobody. But Lathe, he ‘promoted’ me…and I guess they figured they could get rid of all three of us at the same time. We were all assigned to the division. ”