Magaestra: Tested: An urban fantasy series

by Katherine Kim

  Tamika in his office had not seen her either, nor had Frankie at the front door, or Uncle Eldridge in the kitchen who seemed to be there to see Lucy. Aldric did not wish to think too hard about how his uncle had come to be in the clan house when the lockdown order had come through. Eldridge was not the sort to disobey an order of that sort.

  "Here." Marc's hand on his shoulder stopped his pacing and brought him back to the present. A mug was shoved into his hands, a blood pack warming in the water.

  "Tamika's on her way in. She says she found something," Marc said. "She also said she wanted to be here when we see it."

  Aldric did snarl at that, but he sat with his blood and drank. Marc was right about that much at least. He would need his energy.

  "Here's the bit you want to see." Tamika was talking before she even entered the room. She carried her laptop and set it on the edge of the desk so that all three of them could watch, then tapped a button and the timestamp started playing.

  The image was from the camera in the garage. It was situated over the door, to show who was leaving or entering in a vehicle, and showed a fair portion of the interior while another was positioned to show the interior door.

  They watched as, at 7:08 a.m. Frankie jogged into the frame, carrying a travel mug and speaking on the phone. Whoever he was speaking to seemed to be doing most of the talking. He went straight to one of the security SUVs and unlocked it, and reached inside for a moment, then turned back to lean casually on the door frame be the driver's seat.

  A moment later he hung up and tapped something into his phone. He was peering at his screen when his attention jerked up to the interior door a second before Faith rushed up to him. He grinned and shrugged when she said something and handed her the travel mug, and her eyes got huge before she gave him a quick hug and took a long sip.

  Frankie laughed and gestured, then turned to the car. Faith scurried around to the passenger side and got in, and was taking another sip as Frankie drove the vehicle out of the shot. By 7:11 a.m. Faith and Frankie were headed away from the clan house.

  Aldric's vision had hazed and he knew he was presenting as fully vampire.

  "I'll get Frankie," Tamika said. "You take a few moments and get yourself together. We need you, Aldric, and we need you not feral."

  Tamika using his name instead of calling him sugar brought him up short and he realized that he had been growling for several minutes. He took the opportunity she presented and breathed deep. Marc watched him carefully but didn't speak. Aldric pulled his temper back with what was likely a visible effort.

  Marc just nodded then flicked his eyes up as Tamika returned with Frankie in tow.

  "We just need to clear something up, and we know you've been here all morning," Tamika was saying as she led the sentry into the office.

  Aldric managed to nod politely, at the man when he came in, all bright and helpful. "Sure thing, whatever I can help with."

  Frankie's smile was wide, but there was always the sadness of recent loss in his eyes now. Aldric was not inclined to feel sympathetic just at the moment, no matter how much he missed Mia as well.

  "Frankie, thanks for your help," Marc said.

  Aldric kept silent, sure that if he opened his mouth he would hiss and threaten rather than use words. They didn't know for certain that Frankie had done anything wrong.

  No, he corrected himself. We know he left the house, with Faith, after the lockdown order went out. That at least was enough to have this conversation with the man.

  Frankie had been making some poor choices the past few weeks. It was understandable, given the strange ways grief works, which is the only reason that Marc and the rest of the inner circle hadn't come down on him harder already. They had each taken the man aside to talk and to let him know that they were there for him if he needed them.

  It was clear that had not been enough.

  "So, we have this video here that we're hoping you can give us some insight into," Tamika was saying. "We'd love to know everything you can tell us about it."

  "Sure, whatever I can do to help," Frankie answered.

  His voice sounded tighter to Aldric as if he had any idea what was coming. Good. He should be aware that he made a serious error in judgment, and would be subjected to serious punishment for it.

  When the video finished, Frankie shrugged. "She said she wanted to go to the clinic. I offered her a ride."

  Marc leaned forward over his desk, and Aldric felt the touch of his friend's authority. "You knew there was a lockdown for security reasons, Frankie. You knew perfectly clearly that nobody was supposed to be going anywhere."

  "Sure," Frankie said. "But we'll be much safer now, without the vamps coming after her, and the Goldfangs won't have any backup. Everything will be back to normal in a few days."

  There was dead silence in the office as Frankie stood there, an odd but satisfied smile on his face. The moment passed as Aldric's furious scream rattled the house and Frankie found himself pinned to the far wall of the office by Aldric’s hand around his throat.

  11

  Aldric could hear Marc and Tamika shouting, and more voices from the door, but the anger and the grief and the betrayal were screaming in his ears and the only sounds that he could hear with any clarity were the terrified whimpers coming from the worm he had pinned.

  "Where is she?" He hissed the words, his vampiric nature fully in command and his words sounding more like a snake's hissing around his fangs. Nevertheless, he would find her and he would destroy anyone that stood in his way, starting with this wolf. "What did you do to her? Where is my mate?“

  Frankie whimpered and Aldric could smell fear and a touch of ammonia as the dead wolf pissed himself.

  "Aldric." A strong hand landed on his shoulder and tugged him hard enough to shift his attention slightly. Uncle Eldridge stood there, his gentle features twisted by fangs and blood-dark eyes. He was ready to face his nephew if necessary and that fact was what pulled Aldric back from the blind, focussed rage that rode him.

  "Aldric, Frankie can't answer if he can't breathe," Eldridge said. “And your shouting has frightened the children. And several others in the house.”

  None of them had needed to draw on the full depth of their predatory natures since they fought in World War Two, the first time vampires actively hunted mages. Very few of those who were in the clan house at the moment had ever seen a vampire in his full strength. Only those who had been at the lodge when Aldric had torn his way through dozens of bodies to get to Faith and the children.

  Aldric couldn't answer without hissing, so he simply nodded, and lowered Frankie to his feet. He did not release his grip, though he loosened it enough to allow the wolf to breathe. And speak.

  "Holy shit," Tamika said softly.

  "I knew you were holding back some, Aldric, but damn." Marc whistled. "Tamika, go let everyone know we're safe and the situation is handled. We'll pick this up again in a minute."

  "I remember the way your father looked at your mother when they met, you know," Eldridge was speaking to him in a low voice. "And I've seen how you look at Faith when you think nobody is watching. I know, Aldric. I know a little of what you're feeling, but you need to stay calm. Faith needs you to stay calm. You can't help her if you are letting your rage direct your actions. We need answers right now more than we need vengeance."

  Aldric snarled but nodded.

  "Okay. I have him. He isn't going anywhere. You can step back now," Eldridge said. "Marc has Frankie's other arm. There's no way he's going anywhere from here but the interrogation room. Okay?"

  Marc's soft rumble of agreement made Aldric blink. He hadn't even been aware of his friend coming close. He nodded and released his hold on Frankie, then sped to the other side of the room. Eldridge was right. Blind fury had never, in the long history of life on Earth, solved any problem. He needed information from the ex-sentry, and to get them, he needed to find enough calm to speak. To actually be able to hear the answers.

  Aldric
stared out the window into the backyard, seeing not what lay in front of him, but a movie strip of memories of Faith being introduced to the Frostwalkers, of her chatting and laughing with her new clanmates. Of her playing with Kaylee and Jake and defending them during the surprise attack, and smiling at him as they walked in the evening and talked about everything they could think of important or not.

  Aldric would find her. There was no acceptable alternative.

  "I've called Kenya and Ori back here, and sent a trio of sentries to take over at the cabin so Rod can come as well," Marc's voice broke into his thoughts. "We're going to have all hands on deck within the hour. Leo and his friend are hacking every traffic camera, private security camera, and ATM cam they can to track the route Frankie took. They've already traced him as far as the freeway onramp, but there aren't a ton of cameras on the freeway after that, so when you're ready we can go interrogate Frankie."

  Marc huffed out a heavy sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. "We're out of holding cells. We never had this many near-rogues to worry about and holding enemies from a pack war was never what that space was meant for."

  Aldric dug deep. "Those rogues that were with Honeyford at the beginning have become much less feral thanks to your frequent visits to the cells, and several have indicated an interest in finding a true pack. Perhaps those individuals can be moved to a less secure location.”

  His voice still had the sibilance of his vampiric anger, but the words were clear.

  "You are very right, Aldric. Perhaps we can shuffle things around a bit. Matthias is already integrating into our clan, a bit. He asked if he could take over meal prep while I was so busy, and he's been a huge help." Marc chuckled. "The first time I thanked him for it, he about fainted. I don't think he is used to being appreciated."

  "It is good to know that not all of the Goldfang wolves are irredeemable." Aldric concentrated and his vision shifted a bit more toward his human self.

  "True enough." Marc nodded. "Hell, not even all Honeyfords are that bad. Greg's a sweetheart and damned clever. You should see what he's doing in the schoolroom I offered to him."

  "Kaylee gets another guard," Aldric said. "And Lucy gets one as well."

  "Already done," Marc said. "And I checked in on them to let Lucy know what was happening and see that the kids were okay after your, uh..."

  "Indeed," Aldric was not ashamed of his reaction to learning of Frankie's betrayal, but he did regret that he may have frightened the children.

  "They're fine. I explained that you were very angry, but not at them. They seemed to understand that, but you might drop in to say hello in a little bit. When you've completely pulled yourself together."

  Aldric nodded. "I did not intend to frighten them."

  "Nobody thinks you did." His uncle smiled at him, a small, encouraging expression. "You can check in with them later. Right now we have a wolf to talk to."

  They all trooped to the basement holding area and Aldric took a few deep breaths before he opened the door to the room they were using as an interrogation room. Kenya and Ori were already there, and the playful expressions they usually wore were nowhere in evidence.

  Frankie sat at the table, glaring at the pair. His chin was up and his shoulders were back, but in his lap, his fingers shook and he squeezed them so tight that his knuckles turned white. He wore sweatpants. now, and Aldric wondered vaguely who had thought of that.

  Wordlessly he stepped into the room, followed by Marc. Uncle Eldridge stayed upstairs in the kitchen to help soothe anyone still nervous after Aldric's surge of temper. He still wasn't calm, but he could pretend he was until they had the information they needed.

  "Frankie," Marc said in the same tone a disappointed father would after being called to a meeting with the principal. "Frankie, tell us what happened."

  Frankie glared around the room until his eyes landed on Aldric, and he sneered.

  "All our problems started when that woman came here. That was when the Goldfangs attacked. That was when the vamps showed up. That was when you all decided to help some random stranger. And for what? She's just a human. There's millions of them out there." Frankie snorted. "It doesn't make any damn sense why everyone wants one boring-looking human woman, but whatever. They want her, they can have her. We're all safer now."

  Aldric blinked at the venom in the man's voice. Marc seemed surprised by it as well and frowned.

  "You do understand that wasn't your choice to make," he said. His voice and posture were relaxed and calm, but Aldric had known him long enough to hear the anger in his tone. "The Frostwalker Clan is dedicated to helping others. To serving our community as a whole, not to pick and choose who deserves our help. The Lathams were attacked by rogues in their own home, inside our territory. That alone is reason enough to give them shelter and protection."

  "But that doesn't explain why those vampires want her." Frankie leaned forward. "And besides that, if you'd just sent them to the cops like you should have, none of this would have happened! My sweet Mia would still be here." With the last sentence, his voice broke and his whole body shook.

  And it all came together for Aldric. Mia was the enforcer that had been killed in the first rescue attempt at the lodge. They had gone after Crissy and the children at the location Jessie Honeyford was holding them in an old rustic corporate retreat, and they had succeeded in rescuing the three from the semi-rogue wolves.

  Nobody had counted on being immediately ambushed by vampires driving nearly a full pack of blighthounds. They had snatched Crissy and very nearly taken Faith and the children as well, but for her magic shield. Mia had died in the second wave attack.

  "Frankie," Marc sighed. He rubbed his fingers over his forehead and seemed almost like he bowed as he shouldered the weight of this revelation. "We knew that you were grieving. We all are. But–"

  "He's not!" Frankie pointed an accusing finger at Aldric and it took every ounce of self-control for him not to react. Frankie's bravado faded in the face of Aldric's stony, unmoving expression, but he forged on anyway, even as he hunched in on himself. "Aldric's not grieving, he doesn't give a damn! All he cares about is fucking that–"

  Aldric didn't have to move. Ori did it for him, getting right into Frankie's face and snarling, the sound much more wolf than man. "I would not finish that sentence if I were you. You claim to have loved Mia? You want to convince us that you were even worthy to even speak to her? You start behaving like it. Mia would never have looked twice at you if she'd known what you were capable of," he growled out, the words raspy and thick as his tongue tried forming them around teeth too sharp to make it easy for human speech.

  "Mia loved knowing that she was strong enough to protect those who needed it, and anyone that needed her help was welcome to it. All of us are Enforcers for that reason. Not to pick and choose who is worthy, and certainly not to judge who our leaders fall in love with. You say you loved her? Bullshit. You're just another ego-filled asshole who views his partners as possessions. You’re not even worthy to speak her name.”

  Ori spat the last words like they were bullets before retreating to the wall beside Kenya again, growling the whole time while Frankie cringed and whimpered in his chair.

  Marc cleared his throat. He glanced over at Aldric who was seething but kept himself from even twitching. This was a man they had all considered offering an Enforcer spot to? How had they not seen this side of the man?

  "So." Marc dragged the word out a little, visibly organizing his next words. "Tell us about this morning. Who did you call in the garage?"

  Frankie glared at Ori, then at Marc, like a sullen child. "One of the mercenaries the Goldfangs picked up. I knew him a bit a few years back, and he doesn't care. It's just a job to him." Frankie shrugged. "He said to call him if I ever heard something that'd help. He pointed out that getting rid of her would solve more than half our problems."

  Aldric did growl now, and he wasn't alone. Frankie paled further and sent him a wary glance, but the petulant tone
of voice didn't change at all.

  "She wanted to go out, against your orders, Alpha," Frankie whined as if that statement would help him out of the enormous hole he'd dug for himself. "I called my old buddy and told him that we were heading out and that I'd drive real slow and carefully. I already had some sleeping pills since Mia died, so I put them in her coffee and when my buddy showed up down the street, she was asleep. Nobody else needs to get hurt!"

  "So you arranged for a mercenary, who is working for the Goldfang Stalkers, to know the position and movements of the very person we have been trying to keep out of their hands at all costs, thus not only rendering our precautions useless but also making Mia's death mean nothing at all. She died for nothing." Aldric couldn't keep silent any longer. “And now you may have fueled the spark kindling another World War.”

  Frankie jumped his seat and all the rest of the blood drained from his face.

  "I–"

  "This is what revenge does, Frankie," Marc said, shaking his head and sounding every bit like the disappointed father again. "It blinds us. It weakens us. It makes us vulnerable to manipulation. That's what happened here, do you realize that? Your so-called buddy saw that you were a weak point in our defense, and he exploited you."

  Marc sighed and leaned back in his chair.

  "I think it's long past time to answer Aldric's earlier question. Where is Faith now?"

  Frankie slumped and his sulky huff would have done any teenager proud. "I don't know. Why the hell should I know?"

  12

  It was cold and her arms felt like lead, so reaching for the blanket was more work than she wanted to do. Why it was so cold Faith had no idea, but there was a faint breeze, too. It seemed like someone had cranked up the air conditioning and then left the window open.

  Or... something niggled in the back of her mind. Something she should remember. Something important. Maybe it was related to why it smelled a bit like stale socks and dried blood? Or... they did wash the clothes from when they had fallen into that cave, hadn't they? That's what it smelled like. They had gotten out of there, hadn't they? This wasn't some sort of weird situation where she had only dreamed that she fed Aldric and then they escaped the cave and rescued Greg Honeyford and Aunt Lucy knew about magic?