Magaestra: Tested: An urban fantasy series

by Katherine Kim

  Lincoln didn't answer out loud, just blinked at Aldric. He nodded slightly, and his eyes drifted closed.

  Aldric watched the detective breathe for a long time, before he sat back with a sigh, scrubbed his fingers through his hair, and pulled out his phone to start texting.

  9

  Faith yawned so wide that she felt her jaw pop. It was six-thirty in the morning, a completely normal time to wake up for most people, but she had gotten somewhat used to sleeping in a little and then wandering into the kitchen around eight when Marc was flipping another batch of pancakes or making more waffles or something for the adults to eat after he fed the kids. This morning, however, something has woken her. A gut feeling that all was not well.

  She stumbled into the kitchen, wondering if Marc was up yet, and found a half-full coffee pot that was still hot, but no Marc. Once she had her mug of morning wake-up fuel, she wandered into the hallway where the offices were, wondering if she could find anyone up.

  "-- then I guess you should stay there until it gets sorted out. I don't want him unguarded." Marc was on the phone, scowling so hard at his computer that she was impressed that it wasn't cowering.

  She stepped quietly into the room and sat down in one of the armchairs in front of his desk and sipped her coffee while she waited. Marc glanced over and his gaze softened slightly.

  "Yeah. I'll tell Faith. She just walked in, actually, do you want to-- Yeah, okay." Marc pulled the phone away from his head and held it out to Faith. "I hope you're awake enough to talk to Aldric. He could use a friendly voice. Hell, I could too."

  "Uh," Faith reached out and took the phone. "Hello? Aldric?"

  "Faith. Good morning." Aldric sounded exhausted. "At least I hope your morning is good. Mine has been stressful."

  "What happened? Where are you?" Faith was pretty sure she hadn't had enough coffee yet and gulped down most of what she had poured. Marc copied her action then stood and silently held his hand out to take her mug.

  "I'm at the clinic right now. I should have been home an hour ago to report to Marc, but the hospital transport met with a gruesome accident that I suspect was far from accidental." His tired sigh came through the handset. "I have spent the past forty minutes organizing a secure transport from here to the nearest hospital. I..."

  "Who's hurt? What's going on?" Faith asked. Marc came back into the room and handed her a fresh cup.

  "I started a new pot," he said and sat down.

  "I am sorry to tell you this. Detective Lincoln was attacked in his home very early this morning. He successfully fought off the vampires who broke into his house and managed to call Marc since calling an ambulance would have required far too many explanations. As it is we had to do some fast talking as to why that was when his police colleagues arrived here."

  "I'll be there in twenty minutes." Faith stood up and started to hurry out of the room when Aldric stopped her.

  "Faith, no. I need to know that you are safe at the house. Kaylee also. You know full well that you are targets. I should have had sentries watching over Detective Lincoln as it was. I should have known that these people would go after him, not only as our ally but because he is also..." Aldric's voice trailed off as someone started speaking in the background. "Faith, I must go. Stay there, and tell Marc I will call back when there is more information, or in an hour, whichever comes first."

  "Aldric!" Faith tried to stop him, but the call cut off. "Goddamnit."

  She scowled at the phone for a moment before handing it back. "He'll call back later."

  Marc grunted.

  "Okay, Marc. What happened?" Faith narrowed her eyes at him, determined to get as many details as she could.

  Marc sighed and grimaced. "I only know what I was just told. This morning at around four I got a garbled phone call from Detective Lincoln. He was clear enough to let me know that he was injured and needed medical help but was reluctant to call an ambulance due to the charred remains of two vampires and a few blighthounds."

  "What?" Faith was half out of her seat, about to run upstairs and grab some clothes.

  "So I called Madeline who took one of the sentries assigned to the clinic and went to get Lincoln and take him for treatment. Then I woke Aldric, who headed over as well. Detective Lincoln has got several claw wounds, a not very deep bite from a hound, a concussion, and probably some bruising on his lungs, though apparently, Madeline doesn't think he cracked any ribs." Marc shook his head and took a deep breath to continue.

  "That's one reason Madeline wanted to send him to the city. Their x-ray equipment is better than hers is here. He did break his left wrist, though, and might need surgery to make sure it heals right. Aldric says that he's pretty pale and drained-looking, which I assume is from heavy magic use," he said. "There were two very crispy vampires and one half-burned blighthound corpse, with evidence that another hound ran off, injured. Ori went to track down the injured hound and Kenya handled cleaning up the bodies before the police descended there. But that's not what Aldric just called about." Now he sat back and scowled at his phone

  Faith's knees dropped her back into the chair when they gave up. "There's more?"

  Marc sucked in a deep breath. "Yeah. Madeline called a medical transport so that Lincoln could get taken to an actual hospital-- and let me tell you, I got an earful this morning about how the clinic is not an emergency room nor is it a trauma center, and if we are going to treat it like one we need to pay for renovations and buy her a ton of equipment, and find another doctor we trust to treat paranormals."

  Faith nodded. They had been leaning hard on Madeline this summer. It wasn't anyone here's fault that a paranormal skirmish had broken out in the area, and the wolves-- and Aldric-- needed to be treated by someone that wouldn't freak out about their rapid healing. Still, Madeline was right that there was only so much she was equipped to deal with.

  "Anyway, the transport was run off the road on the way here," Marc said. He met Faith's gaze and the anxiety and determination and anger in his eye made her shiver.

  "Is everyone okay?" she asked. She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

  "No." Marc didn't elaborate. He did start growling though. "Aldric has alerted Tamika and Rod, and the Enforcers are each calling the sentries that they supervise. The whole clan is going on high alert. I was going to come to wake you when I got off the phone. Our whole security force is scrambling right now, and our phone tree is buzzing with warnings of possible hostile forces in the area."

  "Possible hostile forces?" Faith blinked. There seemed to be nothing possible about it!

  "Okay, you're right." Marc nodded in agreement. "Definitely hostile and definitely in the area. They've been poking around for some time, but this is the most blatant attack yet, going after an ambulance and medical personnel that aren't even involved in any of this. Cops are swarming over Detective Lincoln's house now. Kenya barely got out herself. Madeline and Aldric have had officers buzzing all over the clinic, too, and I guarantee I am going to hear about that from her when this is all dealt with, too."

  Faith sat back, her mind buzzing with all this information. Marc scowled at his computer screen and poked a few keys before hitting backspace angrily.

  "I'm still going to the clinic," Faith said and stood up. "Ken needs another mage around if he's as drained as you say. And Aldric is going to need the moral support."

  "Faith, I can't let you run off like that. It's too dangerous to be out there right now." Marc stood and came around the desk. "I understand your desire to help, and I can't thank you enough for being the sort of person who rushes to help rather than to run and hide, but in this specific case, I need to overrule you. I need to know exactly where everyone is right now and keep movement to a minimum. Even Kenya and Ori are hunkered down at this point. Tamika's in Aldric's office trying to organize the search for where the vamps that attacked Lincoln came from and where the hound went after it got away from Ori. Leo is hunting down any possible evidence on traffic cameras, but since it h
appened at around the halfway point on the freeway, he's not very optimistic."

  Marc reached out and gripped her shoulders, his fingers squeezing a bit to reassure her. "We are doing everything we can to sort this out already, and the second I think it's safe for you to head over there, I'll drive you myself. But we don't know where the ambushers went, or if there are more out there waiting for us. So for right now, we need everyone to stay put. Please."

  Faith growled but didn't say anything. Marc knew she wouldn't go alone-- she wasn't entirely stupid-- and if he had ordered everyone to stay put, then she was stuck. He was the chief of the Frostwalker Clan, and that gave him the authority to give the order, and that left her stuck.

  Marc squeezed her shoulders lightly and tried to smile reassuringly, but it looked too tired and stressed to be more than a grimace. So, she stepped back and turned, and headed out the door, grumbling.

  "Thank you, Faith!" Marc's called out after her. "I'll keep you updated!"

  "Right!" she called back, not slowing down. She wasn't even sure where she was going, but she couldn't stand there and glare at Marc for long. She needed to move. Ken was hurt. Aldric was out there in who knew how much danger. And she was expected to just hide at home, like a good little damsel.

  She turned the corner and slammed right into a hard chest.

  "Woah there, everything okay?" Frankie rumbled.

  "There were attacks overnight. Ken was hurt. Everyone's stuck where they are because Marc wants to sort this mess out before anyone does anything else. So, I can't get to the clinic to see Ken or Aldric," Faith practically snarled the last part. "Men!"

  Frankie scrunched up his face. "I'm sure that they're just trying to keep everyone safe."

  Faith didn't appreciate the placating tone in his voice. "I'm not exactly a helpless idiot, you know. I can handle myself."

  Frankie chuckled at that. "I've seen you in the training sessions with Tamika. I believe you."

  They had reached the staircase in the front hall now. Faith sighed. She was being unreasonable and she damn well knew it, but Ken needed her. She knew that, too.

  "Look," Frankie started to say something, then stopped. Faith turned to look at him and he was staring pensively back toward the corner that led to the offices. Something in his eyes flickered and he seemed to come to a decision.

  "I know what it feels like to be left out of the action when someone you care about is in the thick of it. So, I'm not saying anything, you know, but if someone happened to wander out past the garage and toward the overflow parking, it's possible that someone might be able to head out and drive somewhere from there." Frankie shrugged. "In say, ten minutes."

  Faith blinked. "Why would someone do that?" She had to ask.

  Frankie blinked and his gaze shifted. Now he wasn't looking at anything that she could see. He was remembering something or someone, and it hurt.

  "Because I know what love feels like," he said quietly.

  "Oh," she couldn't think of anything else to say. It was very clear that the memory hurt, deeply. There was a story there, she knew, but now wasn't the time to ask. "Thank you." She put her hand on his arm and stretched up to peck a kiss to his cheek. "I'll get dressed. I think I feel like wandering around a bit. In say, ten minutes."

  Frankie just nodded and sent her a stiff smile as she turned to dash up the stairs.

  10

  What a damned awful morning. Aldric slumped in his seat, his head dropping forward to rest on the wheel for a moment before he dragged himself inside to Marc's office. All he wanted was to find Faith and curl up somewhere and have a nap.

  A tap on the window made him jump, and he glared at his friend when Marc grinned.

  "Come on, man. You've been sitting out here for fifteen minutes," he said through the glass.

  "I have?" Damn.

  "I just made some coffee, and you should have a bag of blood. It's going to be a long day." Marc stepped back to let Aldric open the door. "Leo has been hacking every camera he can between the hospital and the clinic and working out from there to try to catch sight of the ambushers. It was three vamps and a half dozen blighthounds. Poor medics didn't have a chance. But they vanished into the forest again pretty quickly and Leo can't find them on any more cameras. That road may be a freeway, but it's not exactly a busy one."

  Aldric dragged himself out of the truck and into the house. The place was strangely quiet for the number of people he could sense in the building. That sixth sense that everyone has for when a space is empty or not almost vibrated with the presence of so many people.

  "I want to check in with Faith, then I will come to your office. Coffee would be very welcome." Aldric needed to see her. To hold her for just a minute and reassure himself that she was safe. Then he could face the next steps in this mess.

  Marc nodded. "I think she's sulking in her room. She didn't like that I wouldn't let her head right to the clinic. Two of our sentries as bodyguards and two cops should be enough to get Lincoln to the city safely enough. You said they snuck him out?"

  "Yes. They are heading in a civilian van, and Lincoln was stretched out across several seats. I sent two of our best, and Steven was one of the police officers riding along," Aldric answered as he headed for the stairs. It was good to know that even one of the humans in the van knew the truth of the matter. Steven was married into the clan, after all. "Oh, Maria is expecting their first pup. I warned him not to get injured or she would kill him."

  Marc snorted. "At least there is some good news coming out of this summer. I'll get your coffee then give her a call." Marc waved him off and headed towards the kitchen, and Aldric turned with a relieved sigh to the stairs.

  They were daunting, he was so tired.

  It was more of an exhaustion of the spirit than of the body. He had been woken early, yes, but he had gotten adequate sleep and had only been up for six hours. Aunt Lucy frowned at him when he reached the top of the stairs.

  "You look terrible," she said.

  "I have been up for some time now," he answered simply.

  She nodded and walked beside him down the hall. "I heard. How is the detective?"

  "He is in poor shape but he will heal. I am rather glad that he has let his dislike of me show only in his words, however. I do not think I would enjoy being roasted." He had to admit, Detective Lincoln was a warrior at heart, and a skilled one. Aldric was not at all certain that he could win a full-on battle with the man.

  "I'm glad to hear it. Both that he will heal and that you don't want to get set ablaze. Faith will be quite relieved as well. I understand that she was furious that Marc wouldn't let her go to you." She looked at him with a serious expression. "I have been learning a lot about you over the short time I have been here. I agree with Faith's assessment. You are a good man. More importantly to an old woman, you are good to my girl. She may have been born to my brother and sister-in-law, but she and Crissy are the daughters of my heart. I haven't much cared for the men she has dated in the past, and I think it may be a stretch to call what you have been doing dating, but nevertheless. You have my blessing."

  Aldric stopped just outside Faith's door and stared at Lucy, shocked.

  Lucy chuckled. "Yes, yes. I know. But consider it parental approval. I think they would have like you."

  "Thank you." He didn't know what else to say. Lucy just smiled and patted his shoulder.

  "Now, that niece of mine has been sulking all morning. Didn't even come to have breakfast. You get in there and drag her back into the action, you hear? At least into the planning. I'll go play with the kids and see what else I can do to help. If I can organize a production meeting and herd actors and models through a dozen soundstages, I'm sure I can help plan a war." Lucy winked at him, then turned and walked away.

  Aldric felt like she simply told the truth. He almost felt some pity for the poor vampires who held Crissy. Almost.

  He knocked at Faith's door. "Faith? May I come in?"

  There was no answer, and he wond
ered if perhaps she had fallen asleep.

  "Faith?" he knocked again and listened carefully. The room sounded empty. He turned the knob and pushed the door open to confirm his suspicion.

  With a frown, he pulled the door closed and went searching. She was not in his room or the den or the room they called the library. His frown deepened as he began systematically searching the entire clan house, from top to bottom. Faith was nowhere to be found.

  Aldric stalked into Marc's office.

  Marc's smirk froze half-formed when he saw Aldric’s expression. "Where have you been then? I assumed…”

  "She is not here."

  "I have been searching the house. I wished to do a discreet search here before I started alarming anyone." Aldric knew he sounded calm, his voice steady and even, but inside his mind, he was screaming. The last time he felt this sort of panic was when Kaylee and Jake had been taken, but even that fear had not been this sharp.

  Marc seemed to understand that. He simply reached for his phone. "Tamika? Hey, could you do me a favor and check the security footage around the house? Yes. Since this morning. Um," Marc narrowed his eyes, thinking. "Last I saw her was just after seven. So seven A.M. till now. Yes. Anything you find."

  Marc simply nodded and hung up after that. "She's going to check. You are going to sit down and drink this coffee, then the blood pack I'm going to bring you. If anything has happened we're going to need you at full strength."

  Aldric bit back a snarl and nodded. Lashing out at Marc would do no good. How could someone have gotten into the clan house undetected? They had not taken Kaylee as well, Aldric had seen her in the den with Jake and Lucy and a handful of sentries who all seemed to be enjoying a movie marathon. Any other time and he would have been amused by how invested the adults seemed to be in the animated film.

  He had passed Greg Honeyford on his way back out of that wing as well. The teacher had been carrying a few bags that seemed to be full of craft supplies to set up in the room that Marc had designated the classroom. When asked, Greg had not seen Faith but had heard about the attack and asked after the detective.