“If that happens, I think I’m going to give up the city and move out to the country and start a pig farm and find Mr. Rumblebutt a buddy.” I stopped as the door opened and the pizza delivery man entered. He was carrying a stack of five pizzas, and Angel opened her desk, pulling out an envelope. She paid him out of it, and asked him to take the pizzas into the break room. After he left, she locked the front door, and motioned for me to go let the others know that food was in the building.
I glanced into the room used as an armory.
“Come on, guys, food’s on.”
Sticking my head into Yutani and Talia’s office, I told them as well, then went on back to the break room, my stomach rumbling. Angel had opened all the pizza boxes and brought six plates over from the cupboard. I rummaged through the refrigerator and found two large bottles of sparkling water, carrying them to the table.
“Somehow, getting coffee for the guys doesn’t seem like such a big deal here like in my last job,” Angel said with a grin. “At least they don’t take me for granted.”
“Nor will we ever,” Herne said as he entered the room. “Pardon me for eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help hear your comment. I value every single employee of this agency. We all have our duties and we all add into making it a success. And that success is integral to keeping peace. So thank you both for doing your best to fit in.” He paused at the table and rubbed his hands together. “Ooo, pepperoni.” He looked up, a gleeful expression on his face. At that moment, his gaze landed on me, and once again, I felt a ripple through my body as his gleeful look turned to desire, and he blew me a silent kiss.
“I saw that,” Angel said. She glanced at me, then at Herne. “Just be careful, you two. I can see the connection between you two. I could from the beginning. Just do me a favor and if you have a fight, leave me out of it.”
Chastised, both Herne and I stared at the food, making no comment. The next moment, Yutani and Talia entered the room and we all set to eating, Yutani still tapping away on his laptop.
“So, do we know any more than we did before?” Herne began passing around plates. Given there were six of us and five pizzas, I piled my plate high. I liked to eat, and there were very few things that I wasn’t willing to try.
Yutani hit enter, and set his laptop down, letting whatever program he was working on compile while he got himself some food. After a moment, a map popped up on the screen. Leaning forward, he studied it as he bit into a slice of pepperoni and sausage pizza.
Talia accepted a cup of tea from Angel. “I’ve found out something else about Kuveo. If you can get a silver collar on him, it’s like bottling the genie. He has to obey, regardless of his prior commitments. Trouble is, getting close enough to fasten a collar around his neck isn’t easy. And it has to be silver”
“If somebody can hold him down, then we should cut off his tails and destroy him for good,” I said.
“Agreed.” Viktor flexed his bicep. “I have muscles.”
“I have the feeling Kuveo is pretty strong, too,” Talia said with a smirk.
“I agree with Ember. This is one creature we don’t want to leave alive. He’s only bent for destruction, and as soon as he got free of that collar, he’d return to the hunt.” Herne shook his head. “Sometimes total destruction is best. You can’t give a second chance to something that won’t respect it.”
“Given that he’s made a deal, and he has to follow through, we wouldn’t dare send him back to his realm. He would just return to target Névé again.” I took a bite of my pizza, my stomach rumbling. The molten cheese and the tang of the pineapple and the savory flavor of the sausage all went into making me close my eyes and focus solely on the food. Sometimes you had to pay homage to a good meal. When I opened my eyes again, after swallowing, everybody was watching me. I realized I had let out a groan of delight while eating. Maybe a mumbled groan, but a groan, nonetheless.
“Enjoying that pizza, are we?” Viktor said with a laugh. “Don’t be embarrassed. I’m that way about sloppy joes. Give me a good sloppy joe and I’m in heaven.”
Angel piped up. “Give Ember anything from a fast food joint and she’s in heaven. I’m actually glad we’re living together because that’s the only way she’ll get a decent meal.”
“Hey, if I learned to cook then you’d stop cooking and that would be a damn shame. Besides, I live on fast food, and it hasn’t hurt me yet.”
“That’s because you’re Fae. If you were human, you’d be piling on the pounds and greasing up that cholesterol.” She twitched her nose at me, smiling. “You know I’m kidding. Except not so much. I still think you’re better off with me cooking, even though I do love pizza.”
“Everybody’s better off with you cooking. I never understood why you didn’t go into the diner business with Mama J. You cook just as well as she did.”
“Heresy, she’s probably rolling over in her grave at that. But yeah, I learned from the best. I just never had the calling for it. I love to cook for friends, but if I had to do it for a living, I wouldn’t love that anymore.”
I glanced around. The others were watching us.
There was almost a wistful smile on Herne’s face, but he said nothing, just returned to his food. I gave him a sideways glance, wondering how many friends Herne actually had. It couldn’t be easy, being the son of a god. Deciding to get back to the matter at hand, I turned to Yutani.
“What’s the map on your laptop?”
He blinked. “Oh, it’s done? So, I think I figured out the exact location of where they summoned Kuveo. Luckily, there were enough markers in the video that Kevin shot that I was able to get a bead on it. It appears there’s an underground chamber about twenty yards from the Castle Hall ruins. My guess is that we’ll find an entrance in the basement. And I also suspect that it ties in with the underground tunnels that riddle the area.”
“It’s a long series of tunnels if it runs all the way down the Eastside.” It was hard for me to imagine.
“Well, as we discussed before, there were a lot of miners around here, so there are tunnels all over the place. There were mines all the way from Renton up to Bellevue, even over to North Bend. It wouldn’t take much to connect them together into a system like the catacombs.”
Yutani turned the laptop so we could all see it. “Here’s the UnderLake District and UnderLake Park, and here’s the Castle Hall residence. And about twenty yards south is where I pinpoint the underground chamber. It’s possible I’m off by a few yards either way, but this is my best estimate.”
“How do we know that Kuveo is going to be there? Isn’t it likely that they moved him?”
“Well, he’s not going to be found aboveground, at least not between the attacks. There’s no way that creature could walk around in public and not be noticed. And since they think they killed the only person who knew about their chamber, it seems likely that belowground would be the most logical place to stash him.”
“Only, since his sacrifices have been made, he’ll start on the attack for Névé.” Talia polished off her food and pushed back her plate.
“Then we better over there as soon as we finish eating. Ember, what about your ability to talk with the water elementals? How far does that extend?” Herne asked. “For instance, if we find a puddle, could you sense anything from it?”
“That depends first on whether there are any elementals in the area. And second, if they’ve seen anything. Unfortunately, it may be far enough away from the water that I won’t be able to pick up anything. But very strong emotions can be imprinted in the water as well as into buildings and the air, so there’s always a chance.” I finished off the five slices of pizza on my plate and looked around. There were still at least two pizzas left. “Anybody mind if I have some more?”
“Knock yourself out,” Viktor said. “I’m still hungry too.”
“Just don’t weigh yourself down too much.” Talia chuckled. “I do like a girl with an appetite. Salad just isn’t mea
nt for human consumption.”
“I don’t mind vegetables on the side, but give me a good piece of meat and bread any day. And cheese. And sauce.” I took another two pieces, while Viktor loaded up his plate. “So what’s our plan?”
“After we finish eating, we head over to UnderLake. We’ll search for the secret entrance to the underground chamber, and see what we find. I think we should forget the collar idea, because we need to kill him and subduing him isn’t going to be any easier. I’m going to pull together my gear.” Herne pushed back his chair. “Viktor, why don’t you get a few extra supplies from the armory. Yutani, you’re with us tonight. Ember too. Angel and Talia, hold down the fort.”
As Herne headed for his office, Viktor shoved the last of his pizza in his mouth and took off for the armory. I washed my hands and helped Angel put the rest of the pizza in the fridge.
“Are you afraid?” Angel asked.
I glanced over at Yutani, who was transferring data to his phone from the laptop.
“I can’t lie—yes. I’ve gone up against goblins and their ilk, but never anything like this. My life’s been in danger, but this is big, Angel. This creature thrives on pain and torture. But we’ve got to do something because it’s not going to stop. It’s already killed thirteen people.”
“I’ll say this for the Fae,” Talia said. “When they do something, they go all the way.”
I turned to her. “How long have you worked with Herne? How long has he had this agency?”
“He’s been running the Wild Hunt Agency for several hundred years. But we just came over to the US about one hundred and twenty years ago. When technology started to take off, Morgana and Cernunnos foresaw where things were headed and decided to relocate us, even as some of the Fae were relocating back over the Great Sea. But the lesser queens and kings were scattered around the world and chose to stay where they were.”
“The Great Sea?” Angel asked.
This was something I did know about my people.
“The Great Sea—there’s another name for it, but it is difficult to pronounce in English—runs between the worlds. Originally, both sides of the Fae were from the Lands of Fire and Ice, and they lived in the great cities of TirNaNog and Navane, and others like them.”
“TirNaNog and Navane? Like the districts here?” Angel asked.
“Yes, only they were spelled differently. That’s where the Fae in the two districts took their names from. Thousands of years ago, some of the Fae crossed over to live in this world. They spread around the globe, which is why so many cultures have their own names for the various Fae.” I turned back to Talia. “So, you came over from the UK?”
She nodded. “We met Viktor here. Yutani,” she nodded to the coyote shifter, “came on about what, forty years ago?”
Yutani nodded. “I worked with Microsoft in the early days, and then moved to a startup that folded during the dotcom crash, right about the time that I met Herne. He pulled me into the agency. He had the foresight to see that everything was moving into the digital age, and he wanted to make sure that the Wild Hunt was up-to-date and on track.”
“That’s good,” I said, staring at the laptop. “So if there are other agencies around the world, what are they called?”
“Variations on the theme,” Talia said. She popped a breath mint and held out the container. “Mint?”
I took one, and so did Angel.
“In Norway, their agency’s called Odin’s Chase. And there’s one in Finland called Mielikki’s Arrow. In Italy I think it’s Diana’s Hounds, and so on. Cernunnos and Morgana have connected with a variety of deities around the world to form a worldwide action coalition.”
That sobered me. All around the world, that meant there were groups of people trying to keep the war from breaking out among the Fae.
“The Fae seem to need babysitters everywhere, don’t they? And I know these are my own people. I just don’t like to admit it. It’s embarrassing.” I shook my head, blushing. “We’re no better than a pack of sputtering cats.”
Yutani and Talia laughed. Talia clapped me on the back.
“Honey, if we can’t laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at? But trust me, your people can be incredibly helpful and talented, and you’re magic incarnate, truly. I think someday, you’ll need to make peace with your heritage. I’ve been around for centuries. I’ve seen people run away from themselves, and run away from who they are. You always end up running smack back into the person you left behind until you find a way to integrate that part of yourself into your life. And that’s all I’ll say, because really, it’s none of my business.”
I had the feeling Talia was trying to help me in her own way. I didn’t want to hear it, she was right about that, but one day, I knew I’d have to take her advice. But I wasn’t ready right now, and I wasn’t sure when I would be.
Herne and Viktor returned, laden with weaponry and various other items.
“Let’s get moving. We’ve got a monster to track down and kill.” He nodded toward the door. “Let’s just hope we can get all nine of his tails.”
Chapter 13
BY THE TIME we were heading over the 520 floating bridge—like the I-90, it linked Seattle to the Eastside—night had fallen. The lights of the bridge reflected onto the water, giving off an eerie glow beneath the cover of clouds. I leaned back in the seat next to Viktor, closing my eyes. So much had changed over the past few days that I was almost dizzy with the shifts. Up front, Yutani was poring over the information he had gathered as Herne manned the wheel. I turned to stare out the window into the silent night, breathing softly as I thought about where we were headed and what we were going to do.
Yutani cleared his throat. “Whoever summoned Kuveo has to be well-versed in the magical arts.”
“That may be, but we can’t touch him unless he interferes with what we’re doing. We’re licensed to take out the threat, not to take down the person who summoned it.”
And there it was again, that precarious balance beam we walked. I wondered how many times Herne and his team had gone out hunting. How many times had they stopped one military action or another? If they had been around for hundreds of years, then it stood to reason they had seen a lot of action. At least, he, Viktor, and Talia.
“Have the cops ever interfered with one of your jobs? Have they ever tried to stop you?”
In the driver’s seat, Herne snorted. “They’ve tried, but we’re still here, and the world is still relatively intact, so count on the fact that they have never really succeeded. We—and others like us—have forestalled most of the major conflicts, except for a few blunders.”
“Like?” I was curious as to just what happened when they failed.
“Like the first world war. A mission gone horribly wrong. The Fae were behind that, and a dozen smaller wars, as well.”
I blinked. “Really? What about World War II?”
“World War II was mostly on Hitler. Pretentious prick couldn’t keep his hatred to himself,” Viktor muttered.
Yutani glanced in the rearview mirror. “Some of Viktor’s family members died in the war.” The look on his face told me that it was better if I didn’t inquire any further. Over the years, I had learned that when someone didn’t feel like talking, it generally wasn’t a good idea to push them. In fact, I had been on that side of the fence more than once.
The 520 bridge led us into Kirkland and onto I-405, where we turned north on the freeway. We took the exit for Eighty-fifth Street, following it down to Market, where once again we headed north. Eventually, we ended up on Juanita Drive and from there, we wound through the Kirkland peninsula until we reached the UnderLake District. As we neared Angel’s old neck of the woods, I asked if we could swing by her burned-out place.
“I just want to look, to see for myself.”
“Are you sure?” Herne asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “I know it sounds perverse, but if I see it and tell her, it will make it re
al for her. It’s like when somebody dies and you aren’t able to go to the funeral. Unless you’re actually there, it’s hard to fully accept it. If I see her house, I can help her put it in the past.”
“All right, but it’s not a pretty sight.” Herne swung through her neighborhood. The heavy scent of soot still lingered in the air and as he slowed down in front of what remained of the house, I grimaced. He stopped the car and I quietly got out and walked up to the charred ruins.
Herne was right, it wasn’t pretty. There wasn’t much left—of anything. I couldn’t see clearly in the dark, but Herne was suddenly standing beside me, carrying a large flashlight. The light illuminated the ruins. Even though the fire had been out for some time, the scent of soot and ash hung heavy in the air.
I slowly walked up to what had been the front of the house and stared at the pile of rubble and ashes. Blackened timbers had collapsed on themselves, glass shards were everywhere, and the entire house had collapsed. The garage, too. The skeleton of Angel’s car peeked out from under the rubble. I caught my breath, staring at the destruction.
That someone had actually deliberately done this, that they had targeted Angel, made everything very real, too frightening to think about. I shivered, folding my arms as a gust of wind blew by, scattering ashes around me. At least the rain was holding off, but everywhere were pools of soot-laden water. After a moment, I turned to Herne, who had a grave expression on his face.
“This is so much worse than I imagined.” It was all I could think of to say.
“Yeah. See why I didn’t want Angel to come over? While it might make it real for her, it would make it too real. Sometimes it’s better to leave things to the imagination. Sometimes the imagination isn’t worse than the reality.” He waited for another moment, then asked, “Ready?”
I nodded. There was nothing I could do. Whatever had survived, Herne and Viktor had already found it.
“Yeah, let’s go.” I followed him back to the SUV, where he opened my door for me and took my elbow, helping me in. I didn’t need the help but it felt comforting, and so I just thanked him quietly.