by T D Raufson
“He’s gone? You destroyed him? Then this is over?” Elaine asked bouncing and crackling beside Charles.
Melissa grinned at her joy over her mate’s death, but she knew now that this was about more than one dragon. He had started a movement and she would have to get to the bottom of the problem before she could say it was over. To get to the bottom she would probably need the talisman.
“No, there are others who share his ideal. We still need to solve the problem with our memories and why we were trapped in the first place.”
Melissa wanted to celebrate their victory but she knew this was not it.
“One less threat is a plus.” Charles grinned an authentic grin and then looked at Melissa with an apologetic wink. “Why don’t we go up and get everything calmed down before your appointment gets here. I expect he’ll be early.”
Melissa carefully put her arm around Elaine to guide the young girl back to the house. Three powerful arcs of magical electricity jumped from her shoulders, numbing the skin on Melissa’s arm. Elaine shrank a little but then settled into the friendly gesture. The air around her still crackled and sparked. Melissa could smell ozone on the air. She was a powder keg of magical power, and Melissa suddenly realized they were very similar. Their magic was controlling them and Kaliastrid could sense the chaos of it.
“I think we can get some control of this mess if you trust me.”
Elaine looked at her with pleading eyes.
They walked into the library. Kaliastrid was pacing in front of the wooden desk. She stopped when they walked through the doors.
“You do realize what could have happened don’t you? You could have destroyed us all.”
Melissa stopped as another of her supporters needed to vent. She did deserve the chastisement, however.
“Yes, Mother. I realize. It was not intentional. It happened too fast, and he was gone before I truly knew what was going on.”
“The amulet did it,” Elaine suggested.
“Well, that would explain why I didn’t really know what was going on.”
“That’s no excuse,” Kaliastrid shouted.
With a little more control, Kaliastrid continued, “You can’t let magic control you, Mel.”
“I know, Mother. I’m not used to having a protective talisman that will not let me be threatened. I had to act to keep it from hurting you as we were falling to the ground.”
“And you thought a closed-in cave with one exit was the best place to fight an angry dragon?”
“Yes… No… I thought it was the best place for everyone. I needed to get the fight out of the air before it attracted attention.”
“Too late.”
The voice came from the second floor library. A strange man in a casual business suit stood next to the timeline and stack of books.
Charles sidestepped away from Melissa and Elaine while dropping to one knee. As part of the same movement, he pointed the rifle at the stranger above them. Melissa heard a loud click as he thumbed off the safety.
“Okay, you’ve got me outgunned, and I’m not really supposed to be here. Why don’t we start this uncomfortable meeting at the top?” His empty hands rose from the rail, and he grinned at them.
Melissa released Elaine and stepped out into the center of the opening where he could see her better. As she crossed in front of Charles, he shifted to keep the intruder covered with his rifle.
“Who are you, and why are you in my home?”
“Loxley, Silas Loxley. FBI. I have an appointment with you in about fifteen minutes.”
Melissa looked over at Charles, who nodded slightly but kept his rifle centered on his left eye.
“Where did you call from, the driveway?” Charles asked.
“Close,” he answered.
A quiet whimper reached Melissa’s ear as the temperature in the room dropped noticeably.
“Okay, Mr. Loxley, why don’t you stay where you are for a moment? Mother, would you please take Elaine to the parlor and continue the conversation we were having about control when we were interrupted.”
Kaliastrid paused to process what she was saying. She noted the static cloud covering Elaine and the temperature drop, then nodded.
“I’d rather everyone stay in this room if you don’t mind,” the agent suggested from the top of the stairs.
“What you want doesn’t really matter. You really have no idea how bad this situation can get. I suggest you trust me. It will be safer for us all if I decide where everyone goes, and you’re an intruder in my home, anyway.”
He shrugged assent and watched from the balcony.
“Charles, put down the rifle. Mother, take Elaine. Mr. Loxley, we’re coming up to you.”
Kaliastrid did not wait for anyone. She walked toward Elaine, collected her by the arm as several sparks zapped her, and passed behind Charles to walk the dangerously charged young woman away from further stimulation.
“Why don’t you call me Silas?”
“I don’t trust him,” Charles said without dropping his aim. “I told you, he reminds me of a guy I worked with in Iraq. I learned I couldn’t trust him if I wanted to live. I’m not dropping this until he’s dead or walking out the way he came in.”
“Ouch. That’s not fair. You’ve just met me,” Silas replied.
“I’ve met the type. You think the rules are for everyone else because you’re protected by your position. By law, I could drop you now and never have to explain why.”
“True, you could, and I took a chance exposing myself like I did. You should ask yourself why I did that.”
“Mel, he’s not what he says he is. He’s a spook. Half of everything he says is a lie.”
“So you can trust half of what I say.”
“Only if you want to die.”
“I see,” Melissa said.
She looked at Charles and could see the intensity of his focus on the man on the upper level. Charles saw him as a real threat, and she had just asked him to be this very person. She could not overlook his concern.
“So who are you, Silas?”
“I’m the federal agent following up on the report of a local helicopter crew that reported seeing a dragon fly toward this estate before disappearing into a cave beneath it.”
“I see. This is a particularly interesting meeting then, for you. I imagine the conversation you overheard while illegally entering my home has you intrigued.”
“To say the least, but I’m not your average uninformed agent. I already know dragons are real. I just want to know what’s going on. Why is all of this happening? Why did the weirdoes that came out last month just stop? I’m not the only one asking, either.”
“That is an interesting tale. If I told you I might be able to help with that, and that I was looking for a chance to speak with someone higher in the government, what would you say?”
“I would say that I might be the exact person you were looking for. I can make that meeting happen. There is a particular woman I know who is interested. I think she might be high enough in the government for you?” The look in his eyes seemed playful as if he was having fun with this.
“Okay. I think we need to arrange that meeting.”
“Mel,” Charles growled from his position.
“Charles, I have to reach out. I can’t let this happen without trying to warn them. Silas is offering to help.”
“That’s right, Marine. She has a duty.”
She shot Silas a warning look. Charles would kill him if he didn’t walk a careful line, and she needed him alive. Silas got the full meaning of her look and raised his hands from the rail again to emphasize that they were empty and in the air.
“Sorry, didn’t realize he was so sensitive.”
“Silas, let’s focus on this meeting and stop irritating my butler.”
He grinned and nodded with a mildly apologetic look and a surrendering shrug. “As you suggest. Charles, I’m going to reach into my outside jacket pocket very slowly for a card. I’m not interested
in ending this very interesting conversation with a shot to the eye, I’m kinda fond of that eye. I’m impressed that you can keep that bore so squarely pointed at it like that. Your instructor should be proud. You ever do any sniper training?”
“We trained for a lot of things in Iraq. Some of it was not on the books.”
Silas nodded as his hand reached the pocket and slowly extracted the business card. He showed it to them both.
“Now, I need a pen. I’m not going to take a chance with pulling one out of my pocket. I’ll just borrow one of these up here on the table next to this very interesting chart. I’m writing a tail number, time and name onto this card and leaving it up here for you.”
Charles adjusted his aim as Silas moved slowly around to the table and leaned down to write on the card.
“And this information is for?” Melissa asked.
“This is your flight information for tomorrow.”
“I’m flying somewhere?”
“Washington.”
“I see.”
“I’ll make sure the appointments are all handled. If you will allow me to leave the way I came, I’ll see you tomorrow in Washington.” Silas backed away from the table and turned his back on Charles.
As he walked through the hall, down the stairs and out the front door, Charles relaxed his hold on the rifle and stood up. When the door closed behind him, Kaliastrid walked back into the library to stand next to Charles. Melissa backed up to the large desk and sat down on its edge. She was shaking from the confrontation and felt very tired.
“That’s not exactly how you wanted to make your connections was it?” Charles asked her.
“No.” She shook her head and dropped her face into her hands.
“I’m not letting you go to Washington alone.”
“Thank you. I would appreciate your company. I think you scared him a little.”
“I hope I did. He was nearly dead and didn’t know it.”
“I think he knew it. How’s Elaine?”
“Powerful,” Kaliastrid answered calmly “I sent her up to her room to take a break. She was over-stimulated. I’ve never heard of an innate human. If we don’t help her, she’s going to hurt herself or someone else. Humans were never meant to be magical creatures.” Kaliastrid grimaced and shook her head at something in her painful memory. “I think we’ll start training her on that in the morning. When are you two off on your trip to Washington.”
“Tomorrow. Mother, are you sure about this?”
“No, but there’s no choice.” Kaliastrid gave her a look that told her to change subjects. “Are you sure about this trip?”
Melissa shared a concerned but committed look that told her exactly how she felt. “I asked for it.”
They both nodded.
“What about Nethliast’s plan?” Charles asked.
“Yeah, what about Nethliast?” Melissa parroted.
“You are going to have to learn what that talisman is doing,” Kaliastrid said, closing the circle on the interrupted conversation while ignoring the new question.
“Yes, Mother. I will pay more attention to it. Now we have to see what Nethliast has set in motion. I can’t believe it will all fall apart without him. We don’t even know what he’s planning.”
“We should assume whatever he is planning it will be very big and very far reaching and most likely centered in the old country.”
Melissa nodded at the wisdom.
“I wish Valdiest would contact me.”
Melissa let her mother’s sorrow punctuate the conversation, but she was not convinced their suffering was over. Although this was the end of another long day, tomorrow promised to be just as long.
July 24 – 1130 EDT – Washington D.C.
Charles and Melissa stepped out of the chartered Cessna Citation and walked across the tarmac into the midfield, commercial terminal at Dulles International Airport. Charles felt naked in the open field of the airport without his pistol but knew it would be impossible to get through security into the nation’s capital with it. He shook off the feeling that someone was watching them by admitting Silas would most certainly have someone watching them and there was nothing he could do about it. A few steps ahead of Melissa, so he could keep an eye on the crowd, he scanned for signs of the watchers.
The commercial terminal was not busy, so he didn’t have as much to work with. He scanned the converging hallways and forced himself to relax as the crowd thickened where the concourses merged. Soon they were on their way out the front doors leading to the limousine loading area where the pilot had told them their car would be waiting. Charles refused to relax his scan even as they reached the doors. He didn’t trust Silas.
The automatic doors swept open. The midday sun temporarily blinded him, but he still caught a glimpse of the threat. He threw on his sunglasses and looked back toward the two men he had seen. A pair of completely exposed agent types, wearing matching suits that said “Federal Marshal” in the stitching and sporting obvious bulges under their arms, were standing next to a black Escalade. Charles tensed into combat readiness dulled somewhat by the years away from constant training and actual combat. He stopped where he was and put his body between Melissa and the two men.
“If I say run, do it. Don’t hesitate.”
The marshals stepped away from the black Escalade and moved to encircle them. Charles looked at the closest and shifted his feet to prepare for the attack. The agent smiled, stepped back into a relaxed but ready stance to avoid any physical contact with him. He raised his hands in front of his chest with his palms out and shook his head. Once he had indicated he was not there to fight he pointed to the black Escalade sitting in the white zone. The other agents took a similar stance on his other side and nodded politely to Melissa. She looked to Charles for directions and waited calmly for the men to work out what was next.
“I suggest you load up, Marine. The TSA around here is serious about their rules,” the agent next to Charles said with a practiced military air.
“So you’re our ride?”
The agent pointed to the open door of the Escalade. Charles knew they had walked into dangerous territory but it was nothing less than he expected since he had met Silas Loxley. There was no winning this conflict. The agents would have backup. They were on their home field. He knew that as soon as they had stepped on the chartered jet and expected as much. He nodded, showing his hands in a sign that he was not there to fight and headed toward the open door. In the darker corners of his mind he knew some of the show was payback for last night. As they walked toward the car and the agents fell in behind them, he shifted Melissa in front of him.
When they reached the dark vehicle, he held her back as he stuck his head in to see what they were getting into. The back of the SUV held a U-shaped seating area that circled the cabin of the vehicle like a stretch limousine. It allowed everyone to look at each other as they traveled. There was a socket in the floor for a table if it was needed, and a wet bar was open over the passenger side wheel well. The windows in the back were tinted far beyond legal. The midday sun fought to penetrate them. LED lights in the ceiling cast circles of light onto the black seats. Silas was sitting all the way in the back staring at a metal cube in his lap. When Charles looked in, the agent barely glanced up and then returned immediately to staring at the cube. A curious pair of lenses was sitting on his nose.
Charles handed Melissa up into the seat and followed her in. They sat opposite Silas and waited. The agents closed the doors behind them, and he felt more trapped than he had on the sidewalk.
Silas carefully set the cube into a battered shipping box and removed the lenses from his face. Slipping the lenses into a protective cloth case and placing the case into his breast pocket, Silas glanced down at Melissa’s legs, exposed to the knee by her skirt. He paused at her calves and then slowly scanned back up her body. Charles discreetly cleared his throat and scowled at the man when he looked over at him. Silas held up his hand in an unspoken apology and grin
ned at them both.
“Welcome.” He held out his hand. “I hope you had a good flight.”
Charles ignored it, but Melissa placed her hand in his. He bowed his head to her hand to place his lips just above it. If he had been standing, the full motion of his kiss would have put him into a kneeling position before her. Instead of kissing her hand, he touched it to his forehead and then looked up at her.
“It is good to meet under less stressful circumstances,” Melissa said.
“So, Charles, about that. When did the Marine Corps add butler as an MOS?”
Charles grinned at the playful jest and, for a moment, the atmosphere relaxed. He still didn’t trust the man.
“I have the President’s ear in this situation. I’m not your enemy… unless you’re ours.”
The car pulled away from the terminal, and Loxley motioned for them to scoot on around toward him. “Come on and get a little closer. We’ve got one more passenger. She will join us in a few minutes if I like what I hear.”
Melissa scooted a little closer to the agent, and Charles followed. There was no easy escape from the moving vehicle. They were trapped.
“So, what’s this all about? Why do you want to talk to the President, and what do you want to warn us about?” he asked.
Melissa smiled at him and started to speak. Charles put his hand on hers to keep her from answering. She didn’t want to wait, but she allowed him to go on.
“We came here to speak to someone who can do something. We have important news that you don’t want us revealing just anywhere. You’re CIA, so there’s nothing you can do here. Much like yesterday, you’re breaking several laws right now.”
“I’m here for the President of the United States. I have so many official titles that I lose track of them. The term ‘official’ is no lie, so, if I say I’m FBI, you can believe it. Independent of my actual job title, I represent the President. Would you please let the lady talk? If she wants an audience with the President, she talks to me. That’s how this has to work.”