by T K Eldridge
Suddenly, it clicked. “Hang on a second, Grandma. I need to make a call.” I grabbed my phone and called Grampa Walsh.
“Hey Siddie, how…” Grampa started and I interrupted.
“Grampa, Agnes Hutchins’ house. That was the Lamontaine’s house, right?”
“I…huh. You know, I think you’re right,” he said.
“She is right, Liam. I just told her about it,” Grandma Maggie called out.
“And you’re calling, why?” Grampa asked. “If you’re entertaining the Queen?”
“I’m talking with my Grandma and she’s telling me about the last time random acts of violence were spread all around town, focused on shifters. Guess when that was?”
“Just before we banished the Lamontaine crew last time,” he said.
“See? I told her you could still out-think the average supe,” I teased.
“Smartass,” Grampa replied. “Just remember, child, you got some of those brains of yours from me. Now, go rest and let me call your brother. And yes, I will let you know what we find out. Thanks for calling, Siddie.”
“You guys better let me know,” I replied. “Love you, Grampa.” I disconnected the call and looked over at Grandma Maggie. “Shifters have been getting harassed with increasing levels of violence for a few weeks now. We haven’t been able to figure out where the perpetrators were working from. I’m betting they’re at the B&B.”
Grandma got to her feet, leaned over and kissed my forehead, and whispered to me. “I am so glad you’re healing, my darling. I’ll come back and visit again soon. But, right now? I think me and mine are better utilized by Liam and your brother. Stay here and get better quickly, will you?”
I leaned up, kissed Grandma’s cheek and smiled. “Go get ‘em, Grandma Maggie. Put the fear of Fortin into them one more time.”
Her laughter trailed behind her as she went into Gram’s house to collect Finn.
Chapter Fourteen
Sin
I picked up Bastien after his school day was done and we loaded his bike onto the rack I’d installed on the back of my SUV. I spent enough time with him that it made sense to have one available. We decided to stop and grab something quick to eat before heading over to Agnes’ place. Sitting in the parking lot of Bubba’s Burgers, eating our dinner and talking about the latest soccer scores, we were interrupted when my phone rang.
“Hello, Grampa,” I answered.
“Sin, I’m calling as your Commander too. I need you to suit up and meet me and a few others outside Agnes Hutchins’ place. We think the Lamontaine crew are holed up in there.”
“Hang on, sir. I’m sitting here with Bastien Pascal. We were just going over to check on Agnes. He has someone that he’d been paying to help her out and the kid said that some guy wouldn’t let him come in the last three days.”
“Well, sounds like your sister’s hunch is on the money, as usual. I’m going to have to ask Alicia about that whole precog thing. Anyway, suit up and bring Bastien. We’ll see what we’ve got when we’re together, okay?”
“Alright, sir. We’ll be there in about ten minutes or so.” I disconnected the call and turned to Bast. “Looks like Sid had a hunch and called in the cavalry. Let’s go meet them and we’ll at least have some decent backup to help Agnes out.”
“I just want to make sure the old girl is okay. She’s been like a Mom to me and I’ve done my best to help her without injuring her pride,” Bast said.
A few minutes later, I pulled up behind Grampa’s Rover and got out. I handed a vest and earbud to Bast, then got my own gear on. “You stay out here unless we call you in, okay? This will allow you to hear us and speak to us, and the vest is all I’ve got to help you not get shot.”
Bast got the vest on and turned to me. “If she’s hurt, let me in there. I can do some small healing spells.”
“I’ll let the Commander know,” I told him and handed him my keys. “Get in the SUV and stay put otherwise.”
Grampa, Finn, Grandma Maggie, five of her bodyguard guys and three of our team, including Keith Roberts, were standing around the rear of Grampa’s Rover. Keith had been on the team with us when we took down the Purist League, but after that, he took a teaching position at the SPD Academy. With all of the issues we’d had with vandalism, Keith had offered to help out with some stakeouts.
“Were you in this quadrant?” I asked Keith.
“Yeah, me and Mikey over there. We’ve been in this neighborhood at different times of the day for the past two weeks. When the Commander called, we were up the street, so came in to help,” Keith replied.
I stepped up closer to listen to what Grampa and Grandma were discussing, just in time to have them turn and address all of us.
“It is suspected that the perpetrators of the vandalism and destruction are the Lamontaine family. This was their family home at one point, before they were banished from the town. It is also suspected that they have taken Agnes Hutchins hostage and are using her home as their base of operations. They may also have another witch with them, assisting them in their destructive actions. The Lamontaines are Loup Garou, meaning they prefer to, and only will shift into large wolves, or dire wolves. You all have silver core bullets. Use them and don’t aim to wound. They will be trying to kill you once in that form,” Grampa said.
“I will use my skills to muffle the sound and scent of you until you’re up on them. I’m going to go up to the door in the guise of a friend coming to visit, with Finn at my side. If they refuse me entry, I will blow the door off and Finn will rush in. The rest of you go in the side and back doors at that time. Find Agnes, get her out of there, and incapacitate anyone else in the house,” Grandma Maggie said.
Grampa then put us into pairs. He and I were going in behind Grandma and Finn. Mikey and Keith had the side door with one of Grandma’s fae to blow it in and the others had the back. I took a minute to tell Grampa about Bast’s skills and request, and he turned to look at Bast in my SUV, to give him a thumbs up. At that, we all looked to Grandma Maggie as she cast her silence and odorless spell.
Earbuds in place, we whispered to each other as we got into position. Grampa and I were crouched down behind the bushes as Grandma and Finn went up the steps. Grandma knocked firmly on the door. No answer. She rang the doorbell several times, then knocked again.
Finally, she called out, “Agnes Hutchins, it is Queen Margaret. I’m here on official business. I suggest you open the door.” Well, of course she wasn’t, but it sounded good.
A good minute or so later, the door was wrenched open and a man stood there, breathing ragged and glaring at Grandma. “Margaret Fortin, you evil old sow.”
“Philippe Lamontaine, you twisted pedophile. I thought you were banned from this town?” Grandma replied.
“And I thought you were dead. We can fix that,” Philippe replied and reached for her arm.
Finn moved then and it was like watching water flow as he drew a sword from the aether and sliced off Philippe’s arm. “No one touches the Queen of Faery without her permission,” he said as the man screamed and grabbed his bloody stump.
“Guess we’re going in,” Grampa said with a snort of laughter and we rushed the porch and pushed Philippe inside as the rest of the access points were blown in and rushed by our team.
As usual, anticipation and preparation took three times longer than the actual implementation of the plan. Soon the front parlor held a collection of angry men and two women who were too young to be Agnes.
“Where is Agnes Hutchins?” Grampa asked Philippe as he sat with a towel over his stump, a quick spell having stopped the flow of blood.
“Have you checked in her still room?” Philippe said with a sly smile.
Grandma gave Grampa a look and turned on her heel, Finn and I moving behind her. She went to a narrow door under the stairs and whispered an unlock spell. She opened it and the smell of death rushed out. We entered the narrow passage that opened into a secret room that Abraham Ricker would have been proud to call his own. Sea
ted in a chair in the middle of the space was the body of Agnes Hutchins.
Grandma made us wait while she deactivated the spells that protected Agnes’s body, then gestured for Finn and I to come carry Agnes out. I looked at Finn and shook my head. “I’ll get her,” I said. I used the throw blanket on the back of a chair and wrapped her gently before I cradled her in my arms.
“Bastien, we have Agnes, but she’s gone. I’m going to find a bed to lay her on. She was in her still room,” I said, knowing Bast would hear me with the earbud.
His choked response filled my ear. “Her room was the one next to the kitchen. If it’s safe to, please put her there?”
Grandma nodded and led the way, but paused to redo the lock on the door once we were out.
Agnes’ bedroom had been tossed for valuables, but otherwise left alone. Grandma straightened the bed and Finn used magic to sort the rest into order. I lay her down on the beautiful quilt and smoothed her dress into proper placement.
“Finn, please go straighten the house as best you can. Sin? You go get Bastien and bring him in the back way through the kitchen. I’ll get Agnes settled here with magic, then go help your Grandfather while Bastien says his farewells,” Grandma said.
All was done as the Queen commanded, and soon I stood behind my friend while he knelt beside the woman he’d called his second mother, and sobbed.
“Do you know what her wishes were for her remains?” I asked Bast.
A silent nod, a sniffle, then he got to his feet. “She wanted to be placed with her brother and parents in the family mausoleum. It’s in the Belle Cove cemetery.”
“Did she want any kind of service?”
“No, just the traditional witch farewell. Incense, flowers, candles and a party.”
“Well, we can get that all arranged. My family will help. Grams Fortin was a childhood friend of Agnes’.”
“I appreciate that. She never had children. She said I was like the son she wished she’d had. I’m just so sorry I didn’t realize she was in danger. How could I have been so oblivious?”
“Sebastien St. Jermaine Pascal, you stop that crap right now,” Grandma Maggie said from the doorway. “Agnes had cast a spell on the house that kept people from seeing there was a problem, so no one else would get sucked into the troubles here. She protected you and everyone else, so don’t you dare shame her last act of heroism.”
Bast turned and stared at Maggie, blinked a few times, then just nodded his head.
Grandma walked over to him and pulled him into a hug. “She loved you, Bastien. I can feel it in the spells she wove throughout the house. This place is yours, now. The magic says so. I’m sure her will does, too, but the magic is telling me this is her legacy to you.”
At that, Bast started to sob and I stepped out to give him time with Maggie, his Queen.
Back in the front parlor, I watched my grandfather and Finn question each person and record their statement.
A yell from the side yard and one of the fae guards dragged Nico into the room and tossed him to the floor. “Found this one trying to crawl out from under the house.”
I walked over to Nico, smiled my brightest smile, then slapped him hard enough to sting my hand and knock him over the other way on the floor. “That’s for nearly killing my sister, you piece of shit.”
Grandpa and Finn shared a look, and Finn scooped up the bound Nico and hefted him over his shoulder.
“Where are you taking him?” Philippe called out.
“None of your business,” Finn replied and headed out the door while Nico yelled and struggled.
“I demand to know where you’re taking my grandnephew,” Philippe spat at Grampa.
“You can demand all you want, but right now I’m looking at unlawful trespass, theft, vandalism, disturbing the peace, assault, oh, and murder,” Grampa said.
Grandma joined us a few moments later and smiled serenely at the group. “Where is Damas Lamontaine?”
Philippe spit at my Grandmother’s feet and laughed. “He’s busy, taking care of a debt owed.”
Finn stepped into the room, without Nico, and gestured to me. I went over and he said, “A call came in over the scanner. There’s a fire at Fortin Farm, along the treeline. Not the houses.”
Philippe started really laughing then. “Payback’s a bitch, just like you, Margaret Fortin. Too bad I didn’t get a better taste of that little Marina before she became fish bait. What a set of…”
The blow came from Grampa Liam and the crack of Philippe’s neck was loud in the room.
Grandma sighed. “Dammit, I wanted to kill him, Liam. Did you have to spoil my fun?”
The rest of the clan started to howl and thrash, and Grandma whispered something that knocked them all into an unconscious slumber.
“That should hold them for a while. Noisy cretins. Sin, you take Nico and your grandfather back to the farm and help out there. Finn, the other men, and I will take care of this crew. I’ll need a few more of my courtiers before we can make sure the banishment sticks this time. If you see Damas, bring him back before sunset so I can wrap him up in this, too, would you?”
“Yes, Grandma Maggie,” I replied. “What about Bastien?”
“I’ll see to Agnes’ chosen son. Don’t fret. Now get going.”
I ran out the door, Grampa Liam behind me. We got into his vehicle since Bast had my keys and Nico was in the back of Grampa’s Rover already.
Nico looked like he’d gone ten rounds with the heavyweight champ. I guess Finn was a little upset.
“What’s going on? Where are you taking me? I’m innocent…” Nico started and I drew my gun, turned and pointed it at his head.
“Shut the fuck up or I’ll blow you away right here and now.”
“Not in my car, you won’t,” Grampa muttered.
I gave Grampa a look and he sighed. “I’d pull over and throw him on the side of the road before you shot him. Do you know how hard it is to get blood out of leather upholstery?”
Nico whimpered and I turned around before the grin gave me away. My smile faded pretty fast when we got closer to the farm and a thick cloud of black smoke streamed up into the sky.
Grampa skidded to a stop on the field road near the forest line. I jumped out and ran toward the group that worked to keep the fire contained and get it out, while Grampa secured Nico in the back of the Rover so he couldn’t escape.
Grams, Sett, Dad, Benny, and the farm workers were all using elements to keep the fire from spreading into the forest or the fields. Micah was covered in soot and smeared with blood, but he stood with them. A trench surged into a ring around the fire while untouched trees were bowed back. Water was pulled out of the ground to fill the trench and sprayed onto the fire. I added my energy to the group and helped spray the water onto the flames that had engulfed the trailer Micah had called home.
Grampa wasn’t a witch, so he didn’t get into the mix, but then I saw him shift and take off to my right. A few minutes later, I heard the snarls and snaps of a fight, then a yelp and silence. It took a lot of self control to keep from racing over to help, but within a few minutes Grampa came back with a man’s body over his shoulder.
Once the fire was out and a couple of the workers went with Micah to see what could be salvaged, I went to where Grampa was standing over a bound man.
“Damas Lamontaine, I presume?” I said when I got to Grampa.
“That’s my thought. Nico looks terrified and this one looks arrogant, so I’m ninety-nine percent sure,” Grampa replied.
“Let me get Micah,” I said, and headed back over to the group. “Micah, Grampa needs you for a minute, can we borrow you?”
“Sure, there’s nothing to salvage here. It’s all gone,” Micah said, voice raspy with smoke.
Grams patted his arm. “It’s only things, Micah. You’re alive and that’s what’s important. When Liam’s done with you, come up to the house. I’ll get some clothes so you can shower and change. You’ll stay with me for now.”
Dad followed Micah and I over to Gramps. Micah spat on the man on the ground. “Thought you could kill me, eh, Damas? You fucked up. Now you get to pay.”
“Yep, that’s Damas. Let’s get these two back to Grandma Maggie?” I asked Grampa.
It was then Micah saw Nico in the back of the Rover. “Could you let me have my son?” he asked Grampa. “He looks like he’s been roughed up a bit. He’s a good boy. Let me bring him to Maman Alicia and get him fixed up?”
Grampa looked at me and I looked at Micah. “You keep him in those magic-dampening cuffs until I come take them off, understood? We can question him while Grams is fixing him up.” I felt a little guilty since Finn was the one that beat the snot out of him in the first place. “But he put his lot in with the Lamontaine crew so he will have to have their punishment. So, he’ll be going back over to the B&B before nightfall.”
Micah nodded in agreement, so Grampa unlocked the Rover and pulled Nico out.
“I’ll be back to pick you up before nightfall,” Grampa told him.
Nico nodded and then leaned into Micah as his father hugged him.
Dad rested his hand on my shoulder and muttered “Good job” to me before he turned to follow Micah and Nico back to Gram’s house. I knew Dad would keep an eye on things, so I could help Grampa with Damas.
Both of us grabbed Damas and shoved him into the back of the Rover, then climbed in, all in silence.
Damas shifted until he was seated, then started talking. “Nothing you can do will keep us from coming back until everything that was once ours, is ours again.”
We didn’t even acknowledge he was speaking.
“The farm land, the house, it will all be ours. We will come back and spread out and reclaim Belle Cove for the Loup Garou as it was intended to be from the beginning. You weaker breeds will become our servants and pets.”
I faked a loud yawn and turned the radio on. “How about some music, Grampa? The quiet is getting to me.”