by Jamie Hawke
“But you’re a witch,” Red said.
“And you’re a fucking saint?” she countered with a glare that quickly changed into a smile. “Sorry, I’m trying here, but—wait, so you’re on their side?” She stared at Sharon. “They let the Big Bad Wolf onto the team, but aren’t sure about me?!”
“I was influenced by the shadows,” Sharon replied sheepishly, but then snarled. “What’s your excuse?”
“Lust for power,” Hekate said, then held up a hand and turned, starting a spell that looked like it was closing the portal.
“And now a lust for these nuts is setting her free,” Chris said, earning eye rolls from everyone.
“Whatever we do here,” Elisa said, already starting to walk, “we need to move.”
“And we’re taking her with?” Red asked, irate.
“Honestly, I don’t give a fuck. What I care about right now is that more don’t show up. What’s worse, us with only her, or us stuck with her and an army of more like her?”
Red scrunched her nose but started walking with the rest of us.
“To be clear, there are none like me,” Hekate noted.
“She’s right,” Chris said, chuckling and taking her by the hand as they walked. He glanced my way and then looked away as he mumbled, “By the way, sorry about… you know. And thanks for coming for me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, very confused about our current situation but glad to know he wasn’t being tortured by the enemy. From what we’d seen when we barged in on him, that hadn’t been a concern regardless, but it was good to know.
I jogged to catch up with Elisa as she finished signaling the car. “Is it possible she has my friend under a spell?”
“Possible, sure, but I’d have sensed it.” She took a moment, then stepped closer, making sure the others were a few steps back as she lowered her voice. “Honestly, I like the idea of having her on board, though we’d have to test her loyalty, of course.”
“Oh?”
“First of all, I can’t imagine the powers this one has. But even on a simple level, having access to their portals! Can you imagine? It means we don’t have to rely on international teams—as long as there’s a portal network in place she can tap into, we can go across the globe in an instant.”
That left me thinking about the possibilities, although I had no idea what they could really mean. On the one hand, her statement had even larger implications. I hadn’t even considered that other culture’s fairy tales would be alive as well. Of course, most of the ones I knew had originated elsewhere, so the thought was silly to begin with. Hans Christian Andersen was Danish, Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm from Germany. Peter Pan originated from a Scottish playwright.
And all of this put a new question in my head. “Elisa… are these Myths and Legends created by the stories, or…?”
“Discovered,” she said. “Probably a better way to say it—which is also why not all of our realities match the stories you’ve heard about us. Many of us have existed for a long time, though some less so, and you can imagine the stories that have gotten around. Some authors finally started writing them down, and maybe they stuck to the facts, or maybe not.”
“Which is kind of why gods aren’t anything more than fairy tales,” Pucky said, joining in the conversation. “For our purposes.”
The others were all standing there now, listening.
I frowned. “But modern stories?”
“Some are just stories,” Elisa replied. “Others… are very much real.”
“Like that Justin Sloan book, Hounds of God,” Sharon said. “So many werewolf characters are bullshit, but from that one? A lot of it was true—Kat is a badass, and a good friend. My only werewolf friend, actually, and helped me through a time in my life.”
“Shit, I think I read that one,” I said, trying to recall something about a woman and her journey to lead an army of werewolves against vampires and witches and whatnot. “She’s still alive and fighting?”
Sharon frowned, glancing away. “It’s complicated.”
Red gave me a nod, but her look told me it was a topic for another conversation.
“Please tell me some of the P.T. Hylton books are real, or—”
Just then the car pulled up, and Pucky put a hand on my back. “We’ll have time for all that,” she said, and I sensed there was something weird about this topic—maybe they found something about how we viewed fairy tales offensive? The government was trying to hunt them down and kill them, after all.
I entered the car and let the topic rest, enjoying the fact that Chris went right into his normal way of taking over a conversation. He was Mr. Chatterbox, and totally into all of this even though he’d always treated my obsession with it before with a bit of contempt. Of course, that was before either of us had known there was truth to it.
It was a great opportunity to apply my recent promotion, so I brought up the screen. First I put the Prana toward speed and agility. Ichor was always more complicated, but one skill looked especially exciting, and led to even better ones—it seemed to be one that would absorb attacks and be able to channel the energy. Even better, it led down a path that allowed Tempest-focused group attacks. Looked like I had a new strategy, so I took the current upgrade and tuned back into the conversation.
“You two,” Chris said, looking from Red to Sharon, “this is for real? The Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood are now on a team?”
The witch looked curious as well, and even the rest froze waiting to hear the response.
“I’m not so ‘bad’ anymore,” Sharon said, glancing hesitantly at Red.
“And I’m not so ‘little,” Red replied. “Big girls can make up their own minds on matters, and not be stuck to fairy tale bullshit.”
“So you’re okay with her being on the team?” Elisa asked.
“I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
Sharon chuckled nervously, but then added. “I’m just trying to make things right. Do good, you know? Because I’ve done enough bad that needs to be countered.”
“And you weren’t in complete control,” Pucky reminded her.
Chris leaned over to Sharon. “Is it like being high? It is, right? I mean, there’s got to be a reason it’s so tempting once you’ve tasted it—the darkness.”
“Your tone makes me worry about you,” Sharon replied.
I jumped in, now that I’d had a bit of the taste myself. “It’s nothing like that. Imagine more like you’re having a dream and you’re the bad guy, but you can’t stop yourself. You’re trying to wake up, escape the dream… but nothing works.”
“Damn,” he glanced over at Hekate. “And you’re… in this dream now, or awake?”
She smiled sleepily, rolling her head as one does when drunk and trying to decide how drunk they really are. “Hmm, I’d say waking up.”
“We’ll keep an eye on you, and be sure to shake you good if you drift off again.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Elisa said, glancing out the window. “But if it does, my brothers can help.” At Chris’s look of confusion, she explained, “they show up in the form of swans and bursts of light that help to fight the darkness. It’s this whole thing.”
“Right…” Chris pursed his lips, looking around at each of the ladies. “So you have to tell me—why him?”
“Forget you,” I said, playfully hitting his leg.
“I’m serious. You’re a great friend, really, I mean it. But a Protector? This—I mean, what are you? Best way I can see it, what with the humans after them and all, the Myths are like the Children of the Forrest and you’re the new Night King. Not exactly, but—”
“Dude, fuck that,” I replied. “You see me raising armies of the dead and marching off to kill humanity?”
“Not a perfect analogy, I concede.” He grinned, clearly enjoying getting a rise out of me.
“It’s different on many levels,” Red said, then put her hand on my knee. “And to answer your question, it was
partly because Excalibur had selected him, in a sense. And partly because the enemy knew it was him too—they have their own methods and… actually, Sharon?”
She blinked, confused, then frowned. “Oh, how did I know to go after him? A scent.”
“I showered that morning,” I protested.
“More like an internal scent,” Sharon replied. “It was strong—maybe because of your connection with the Excalibur essence? I can’t explain it, and honestly a lot of those memories are foggy.”
Chris laughed, shaking his head. “Well, good thing our boy wasn’t sick that day or you all would be out of a Protector.”
“Maybe,” Pucky replied. “Thing is, it’s not like only one person fits—but the universe does have a way of putting all the right pieces in place. If he hadn’t been there, maybe it wouldn’t have been meant to be, and then maybe someone else would’ve been chosen. A woman, most likely.”
“So you all didn’t choose him, exactly,” he said, grinning my way. “You’re just stuck with him.”
I was searching my mind for a comeback when Pucky came to my rescue.
“No, but we were the ones who choose to sleep with him.”
Chris almost choked on his words when he said, “What?”
“Yeah, we don’t usually fool around with the Protector, but…” Pucky blew a kiss my way.
When Chris’s eyes settled on me, they were wide. “You’re… I mean… with all of them?”
Not wanting to be the type to kiss and tell, I looked at Elisa as she nodded. “He’s good, too.”
Red lifted a finger. “Technically, I’ve not gone all the way yet, but look forward to it when it’s time. We’re fooling around.”
Chris was staring in disbelief when his eyes moved over to Sharon. “You too?”
Sharon frowned, looked at me, and said, “I’ve only just joined the team, I’m not sure how that part works.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Elisa said, earning a confused look from Red. I had to move in my seat to try and hide the growing boner that imagining fooling around with each of those ladies right then and there was causing.
Hekate noticed and grinned, putting an arm around Chris. “Don’t be jealous. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to play catch up.”
Chris chuckled, taking his hand in hers. “It’s not that, exactly. Okay, maybe a bit. But, more that…” He shifted to look at me. “You’ve never been much of a ladies’ man.”
“I was never the Protector either,” I said. “And until very recently, fairy tales and whatnot didn’t exist. So… anything goes, I guess.”
He laughed. “Anything goes. Good for you, man.”
When he put out his fist for a fist bump, I wasn’t sure it was exactly acceptable, but Pucky took my wrist, helped me make a fist, and did it for me.
“Gotta accept praise when you get it,” she said. “And hell, it’s some accomplishment getting with us.”
“Damn straight,” Elisa said with a hearty laugh.
My libido was taking over, filling my mind with images of me and them rolling around in the car, flesh on flesh and moans of bliss escaping to cars nearby like exaggerated bass. If I didn’t change the subject soon, I was likely to explode in my pants.
“What happens now?” I asked.
Elisa turned my way. “Meaning?”
“Well, Chris knows about you. About a lot of all this. So… do you do one of the Men in Black things and take away the memory?”
“Fuck you,” Chris said.
“I’m just asking.”
Elisa chuckled, considering Chris. “We could, though it’s not exactly like that. I don’t think we will though.”
“No?” Chris perked up.
“You’re a friend of the Protector’s, and have been through a lot,” Elisa said. “Even brought us a new recruit, in a sense.” She glanced over at the witch, who put on her best smile, clearly trying. “What would it hurt to let you in on it? Knowing won’t protect you, but—”
“Like Willow on Buffy,” Chris said, full of excitement.
I laughed, though the others didn’t get it. “Seriously, none of you watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer?”
“We’re a bit busy saving the world most times,” Red replied. “Shows and whatnot take a back seat to that more often than not.”
“Point being,” Chris said, holding out his fist to me again. “I accept.”
I chuckled and gave him a fist bump without help this time, then leaned back and watched as we made our return. Red insisted Hekate wear a blindfold, though I very much wondered if it mattered, since the woman was a witch and all.
When we were close, we saw it was too late, anyway. Smoke rose in the distance. I knew it was the safe house before we got close enough to see it.
30
We had the car let us out two blocks away and worked through the less-crowded streets, noting the people gathered and pointing. There was a firetruck with lights flashing out front of the house when we arrived.
“Mowgli, we’re outside,” Red said into her comms.
“Good timing,” he replied.
“You could’ve used the comms at any time,” she shot back, not hiding the annoyance in her voice.
“True,” he replied, appearing at the side of the supposed safe house and coming to meet us. “But that’s exactly what they would’ve wanted, I imagine.”
We all shared a look of confusion. Elisa was the one to say, “Explain.”
“Consider the fact that Arthur can track Excalibur.” He let that linger. “Now if that’s the case, why did they choose to attack here during the small window of time that you were gone?”
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to figure out this riddle. “He can’t?”
“No, we’re sure of that ability,” Elisa said.
“Although,” Mowgli said, thoughtfully, “it’s possible that when Jack became a Tempest the sword formed a bond with him, in a sense, and therefore Arthur’s bond was broken. But I don’t think so.”
“Right,” Red agreed. “This is Arthur and Excalibur we’re talking about here.”
“So why then?” I asked.
Mowgli shook his head. “I’m still trying to figure that one out. Maybe they were after something other than the sword or you? Maybe they figured we’d move the sword to lead them off your trail, so attacked hoping they’d find you? It’s a mystery we’ll find the answer to, but for now I can’t shed light on.”
“It’s a good thing he was gone,” a woman’s voice said, appearing out of nowhere to Mowgli’s left a second later. She had a shimmering blue to her, with pointed ears and eyes of green. I imagined she was some sort of spirit or fairy. She looked me up and down, smirked, and said, “He’s not strong enough yet. Would’ve been killed for sure.”
“Hey,” I protested, but Mowgli scrunched his nose, showing the spirit wasn’t the only one who thought so.
“We’re relocating,” Mowgli said, gesturing us over to several cars that were arriving behind us. “Under the cover of magic,” he added when I glanced at the sky. “She might be able to track us with the sword anyway, but we’re not sure what that situation is anymore, so we’ll take our chances.”
“And then?” Pucky asked.
He grinned. “Three Ninja’s Strike Back.”
“You do watch movies!” I exclaimed, excited. “I mean, from a long-ass time ago, but hey, not bad. Kinda.”
“I’m not following,” Chris admitted, which didn’t surprise me. His knowledge of film extended to anything with celebrity titty shots, his favorite being some corny one from the nineties with Kevin Bacon—I liked to point out that he probably liked it for the Kevin Bacon full-frontal, but he only laughed it off and never denied it, so I left the topic alone.
After a second of Mowgli standing proud and me grinning, Pucky said, “So… that means we are the ninjas in this movie?”
“Yes, and we’re going to find a way to track her down,” Mowgli answered, “find a way to end this.” He led
us toward a car, only then glancing at the witch and saying, “I imagine there’s a good reason a witch is coming with us?”
“We’ll tell you in the car,” Elisa replied.
The ride was uneventful. We filled him in, and he expressed his worry over the recent attack, and how he felt it was like going back a step in the war. At the moment, Morganna had a major advantage over us, so outside-the-box thinking would be needed to regain our advantage.
Before long we were pulling up at our new location. I was excited to see that it wasn’t just a random house or movie-lot stage this time, but a badass oceanfront property.
“How the hell do you all afford this?” I asked, stepping out of the car, Chris whistling at my side.
“Old money,” Mowgli said, nodding at Elisa. “Some of the Originals, especially, have been around for so long, investing in the right endeavors along the way… you’d blow your mind trying to understand how rich they are.”
Elisa frowned his way, apparently having heard. “My affairs are my own business, Mowgli.” She gave me a grin. “But yeah, I’m, how do you youngsters say it? ‘Rich as fuck.’”
I laughed, though it turned into a nervous chuckle. The thought of her being rich didn’t intimidate me, but I had to wonder how old she really was. My humor turned to true awe when we entered to find that the interior was essentially a more Atlantis-themed version of the other fancy house of hers we’d been in. It didn’t have the massive nude painting of her, unfortunately—I could walk up and down hallways like that all day!—but was complete with a swan-shaped chandelier, a courtyard with a fountain of seven swans surrounding Elisa in the center in such a way that their wings covered her where clothes would’ve done if the statue had any. At times I had to wonder if she was really this narcissistic to have so much about her or related to her magic, but I knew her too well for that.
Heading back to the rooms while Mowgli and others set up new defenses and called in reinforcements, we found a snack room and gathered around, hydrating and filling up on protein shakes that Pucky put together. I snagged a Gala apple and sat back, glad to be in one place again, even if it was only going to be for a bit before we figured out our plan of attack against Morganna and Arthur.