Magaestra: Tested: An urban fantasy series

by Katherine Kim

  "Yeah. There's been some activity in what I'd say were the Goldfang areas," she agreed. "I've been trying to find any evidence that Faith or Crissy are there, but I haven't seen anything yet. The cameras have no internal storage so if the sisters were there before we found the cameras..." she shrugged.

  "I'm sending you guys what we have. Old blueprints and such. We also have a few solid guesses as to what is where. There's a pretty obvious armory, and the blighthounds are being kept in the caves, I think. Easier to contain them that way," Leo said.

  "I'm going to get back to trying to nail down where our people are." Addison nodded and disappeared off camera again.

  "She's been a superstar," Leo glanced after her. "She's the one that found the cameras and reactivated them."

  "We will find a way to express our gratitude," Aldric nodded.

  "I'm going to call one of the Council members that I talked to the other day. He seemed to think that the whole situation needed more attention and was inclined to send help if we needed it," Marc scrubbed a hand over his head. "I'd say that this warrants the help. Assuming it's not a mediator and some cash."

  Aldric nodded. "I know some people who might be willing to assist in a fight. I don't often call in outsiders, but I speak to a few mercenaries to keep up to date on current news and possible issues coming our way."

  "We can't afford to pay many mercs, but we will do what we can," Marc nodded.

  "We need a plan."

  Marc looked at the screen, then at Aldric. "I have a plan. We rid ourselves of those psychopaths once and for all and get Faith and Crissy back home where they belong. We're going to war."

  16

  Aldric found that once he started moving, he was finally focused and calm. Changing his clothes into something more suitable for a fight stilled his whirling thoughts and let him find a channel for his anger and his fear. Faith would be coming home with him tonight. There was no other way this would end.

  "I have arranged with Tamika to leave me and Lucy and two others here to guard the children and Greg." Uncle Eldridge leaned on the door frame, his expression grave. "This must end tonight. Cherro cannot be allowed to try again."

  Aldric nodded. "We know."

  Eldridge nodded and stayed silent as Aldric sorted through his knives and chose several.

  "I expect you won't need the knives much. Your hunting instincts will emerge quickly against the other vampires," Eldridge tipped his head. "Though I suppose there will be the Goldfangs, as well. And the hounds."

  "Indeed. I would rather have my knives and not need them."

  "Over-prepared beats underprepared, I agree. And the caves?" Eldridge asked.

  Aldric grimaced. "There isn't a great deal we can do about them. The warehouse backs up right onto the cave entrance, so we cannot block their retreat if they try that."

  "You could send a team in from the other side, through the cave system."

  Aldric slipped the last night into his ankle holster and straightened. "We don't know the caves well enough, nor do we know how long it would take to go through them. It would be foolish to send anyone in to possibly get lost or badly injured in a place we cannot reach easily. We will have teams waiting at the known exits, however, once the main assault is over."

  Eldridge nodded again.

  "Be careful, Aldric." Eldridge stepped forward to wrap his arms around Aldric's shoulders and squeezed him tightly. "Come back in one piece, nephew, and bring Faith with you."

  "I will."

  They stood like that for another moment, before straightening and grinning at each other.

  "Uncle Aldric!"

  Kaylee came barreling into the room and leaped at Aldric, barely slowing down to glance around.

  "Miss Kaylee, what are you doing up here? I thought that you and Jake were to be working with Mr. Greg?" Aldric glanced over her head at Eldridge who nodded.

  "I escaped because everyone is talking about Aunt Faith and Mommy and the bad guys and they said that you're going to go get them back and stop the bad guys and that it's scary and there's those horrible dog monsters there and I don't want you to go and get hurt, but I want my mommy." Kaylee's words were almost unintelligible by the end of her statement as she sobbed into his shoulder and squeezed his neck with all her six-year-old strength, which was surprisingly considerable.

  Aldric shifted the girl in his arms and sat on the bed, putting her securely in his lap as she continued to soak his shirt. "Kaylee."

  Aldric wasn't sure how to soothe her. He had to go, not only because he would be damned if he left Faith in the hands of men so vile, but also because it was his duty. It was his honor to keep his clan safe, and there was no possibility of safety as long as not only the Goldfang Stalkers harassed them, but also while those vampires hid on the edges of their territory.

  It would be only a matter of time before Cherro decided to expand his influence through the Frostwalker Clan lands.

  "Kaylee, sweet girl. I must go. You know my job is to protect the clan," he said after a few minutes.

  She sniffled into his shoulder and nodded. "Uh-huh."

  "Well, part of that is fighting the bad guys when they come," he continued. He ran his hand up and down her back and was relieved when her sobs started to slow as she listened to him. "Unfortunately, many paranormals feel that their strength makes them better than others. Human police can't stop those people, so it falls to me and people like me. And when people like the ones who took your mother show up, it is up to people like me to stop them, too."

  Kaylee sniffled again and peered up at him, her face blotchy and her eyes swimming. "Uncle Marc was talking to someone on the phone when I went past his office. He was yelling about people not getting here in time. Nobody is going to help you?"

  "There are people who want to help us but they are too far away to get here in time to assist,” Aldric answered. It was hard to tell a child that sometimes adults were not as helpful as they ought to be. "And there are people closer that could help but are afraid, or want to help but have no training. I do not think we will be entirely alone in this, however. And I have a secret, remember? The bad guys don't know about that."

  Kaylee's eyes grew wide. "A secret? Like a secret weapon?"

  Eldridge chuckled and she spun to look at him.

  "It is a little like that, yes, Kaylee. Aldric has a secret power that your aunt Faith gave him. But it's very secret. Like the superpowers in the movie you and Jake showed me, remember? "

  Kaylee nodded. "Is it ice powers? He's already super fast and super strong, but he said all vampires are like that, so it can't be that."

  "No, Miss Kaylee, it isn't ice powers. But it may help keep me from being injured if I use it well. I have been practicing, do you want to see?"

  Eldridge cocked an eyebrow in question and Kaylee nodded. Aldric smiled to see the tears drying in her new excitement. "Okay, but you must promise to keep it a secret. You can't tell anyone, okay? Marc and Eldridge know, but nobody else."

  "I promise!"

  Aldric was happy to show off a little bit, to reassure this girl who had lodged herself as firmly into his heart as her aunt had. Kaylee was suitably impressed.

  "We have assistance coming?" Aldric asked. He glanced at the chair he usually chose when discussing things with Marc but couldn't relax enough to sit.

  Marc, for his part, grimaced. "We do, a few enforcers from the Sun Ridge pack and about a dozen soldiers from the coven on the other side of the state. The Ulfred Coven. Their Master served with the Allies as well, and it sounded like he might come himself to assist. But nobody else can get here in time to be useful. They coven soldiers should be here in two hours, Master Arthur said. The wolves should be here soon."

  "Kaylee said that she overheard you speaking of the Council?"

  Marc actually growled now. "It appears that the Council is moving to make themselves more useful. They have formed an investigative branch to support their judicial proceedings. However, they are based in Ohio, so
it will take them at least a day to get here. They suggested that we wait, and let them handle the whole situation themselves." Marc snorted a laugh, but the sound carried no humor. "I hope she didn't hear my response to that. It was not fit for young ears. Or probably adult ears for that matter. Either way, they are sending people out to investigate, but we'll worry about them later."

  Tamika stepped into the room, clothed similarly to Aldric in all black, her braids pulled back into a tight bun, the beads in them silenced. "The rest of the Enforcers are going over a few things with their teams, anyone that wasn't there for the Goldfang's camp raid. I just wanted to check in before I go do the same. Have we got a time frame yet?"

  "As soon as the Ulfred Coven soldiers get here. Eldred and Lucy are staying here with a few sentries, but they'll be in the basement, which is a bit easier to defend," Marc grimaced. "Greg has apparently turned the meeting room into a movie theatre with a projector and blanket forts and some other things. Because my giant TV isn't good enough."

  Tamika laughed. "You know how hard it is to distract a bored kid. Sometimes it just takes a little novelty like a movie projected onto the wall and a temporary fort."

  "I am reassured to know that they are being distracted so well. Kaylee is frightened." Aldric rubbed his fingers against the still-damp fabric of his shirt, reminding himself that it was not merely Faith who was depending on them.

  Marc nodded. "Jake is mad at me that I won't let him come with. I told him that he had to stay with Kaylee to keep her safe and calm." His expression was a mixture of ruefulness and pride.

  "I assume the mention of Kaylee did the trick?" Tamika smirked.

  Marc nodded. "Yeah. And Lucy offered to teach him a few moves, quote 'to use against any bad guys foolish enough to take you on' end quote. I think I'm half in love with that woman."

  Aldric found himself relaxing slightly, the last of the blind rage and panic seeping from his muscles. Marc and Tamika knew full well that he needed to be focused on his task when they left here.

  "You might have to fight Eldridge for her if you want to pursue that, Chief. Those two have been chatting and grinning almost since she got here." Tamika turned a sly smile on Aldric. "Guess it runs in the family for these Latham ladies."

  "I can't say I blame either of them," Marc grinned himself. "They're both remarkable. I can't wait to meet Crissy."

  "I doubt she is in any frame of mind to enter into a courtship, but the best of luck," Aldric said, keeping his tone dry. He was about to continue when the doorbell rang and they all tensed. A minute later, Rod stepped into the doorway.

  "Enforcers from the Sun Ridge Pack, Chief Keller," Rod announced formally, then stepped aside. A tall, whippet-slim man with bright red hair stepped into the room wearing all black clothing and a cocky smirk.

  "Chief Keller." He bowed slightly at Marc then flicked his glance between Tamika and Aldric, and nodded to them as well. "I am Redmond Stagg of the Sun Ridge Pack, and I hear you've got a slight psychopath infestation you’d like some help with.”

  "You heard correctly. We have two clanmates kidnapped by an alliance between the Goldlfang Stalker Pack and the remains of the Immortal Thirst Coven."

  Redmond whistled low. "Damn. I've always heard that when a Frostwalker does something they do it right. You sure don't go halfway with your enemies."

  "I will not be lax in my destruction of them, either," Aldric growled.

  Redmond blinked at him for a moment. "You must be Aldric Donelly. I've never met a vampire warrior before, I look forward to seeing you in action."

  Tamika snorted. "One of the kidnaped Frostwalkers is his girlfriend. Once we get there you're not likely to see anything but a trail of bodies once this one catches her scent."

  Redmond looked delighted and clapped his hands together. "So we're not even pretending to play nice, then? Excellent! I brought a dozen of our best fighters with me. What's our plan?"

  "We can confirm details when the last of our allies arrive, but here is what we were thinking." Marc stood up and swiveled his monitor around to go over the plan and see where Redmond thought his people would do the most good.

  17

  Faith shivered on the stupid chaise lounge that she sat on. Screw the expensive upholstery, she pulled her feet up to curl into a ball and conserve as much warmth as she could. Conti had left her sitting there without so much as a glass of water, let alone a blanket. A bored-looking man was playing on his phone a few feet away, presumably on babysitting duty.

  The most insulting part was that if she wasn't so cold and hungry, she probably could have taken him out even without her magic. Tamika's self-defense lessons were no joke. But the cold of the space had seeped into her bones and she couldn't stop shivering. How long had she been here? It felt like hours. And she had no way to even guess how long she had been drugged unconscious for. Aldric and the clan must know she was missing by now.

  Faith shivered and tried to use her magic again. She had been testing herself every so often, trying to keep alert and positive, and the magic was getting easier to hold on to. Hopefully, soon she could actually manipulate it again. As long as she was alive, she could fight, after all. Somehow. If nothing else she could punch the shit out of those vampire jerks. The sudden memory of Cherro's hands squeezing her wrists flashed into her mind and she shivered for a completely different reason.

  When Aldric saw those bruises he was going to go postal.

  Okay, so maybe she could punch the vampire jerks. Either way, they weren't expecting her to fight back, especially if they thought her magic was suppressed. Which brought up another question: if they didn't want to feed until after whatever she was drugged with was totally out of her system, then how did they expect to get to her once she could use her shield again? Presumably, they were aware that the drug and her magic-less state were connected.

  Her guard's phone beeped and he swiped at the screen. He grunted quietly before responding. Faith watched the man texting for a minute before he shrugged and stuffed his phone back in his pocket. He looked over at her and met her eyes for a long moment, his thoughts churning behind his gaze. Then he shrugged, turned, and silently walked out of the room.

  Faith was alone.

  She waited a long time, listening as hard as she could to the muffled sounds from the other side of the drapery walls, but all she heard was the scurrying of feet and a few canine claws on a concrete floor. Sitting here and waiting for someone to come back wasn't an option Faith wanted to explore, so, picking a direction she stood carefully.

  Her legs didn't want to hold her up as easily as usual and she still shivered. Stiff and feeling a bit weak from the cold she stretched first, then headed to the corner of the room opposite from the opening in the curtains that served as a doorway. She stopped to listen again but there was only silence on the other side as far as she could tell.

  It was a damn shame that her magic powers didn't come with enhanced senses like the rest of the paranormal world got. Well, my choices are to take a chance out there or wait in here for Crazy Vampire One and Crazy Vampire Two to come back, she grumbled to herself. Ducking low, she peeked between the edges of the curtain wall near door level.

  What she was, it turned out, was a warehouse. A huge one, apparently split down the middle, with one side mostly clear floor with a few crates and a forklift along one stretch of wall, and tall rows of industrial shelving occasionally interspersed with more curtains. More living spaces, she guessed.

  The corner she was in was where the curtains were hung from the shelves and went back to the actual wall, but there was just enough space between the boxes on the bottom row of the nearest shelf for her to squeeze out. It reminded her a little bit of playing hide and seek with Crissy in the giant Ikea warehouse when they were still kids.

  And that was another question. Conti had implied that Crissy was here somewhere. Or another human mage, at the very least, but Faith was hoping he meant her sister. A plan started to form in her mind to search the roo
ms for her sister and get her out as well.

  She crept from one shelf to another, hiding behind boxes and crates where they were shoved into the storage. It wouldn't really help her, with both the Goldfang wolves and the vampires able to track her scent, but it had to be better than being out in the open.

  She reached another curtain and peeked through the corner. It seemed to be set up as a dining room with a highly polished wood table and fancy padded chairs. Lining the edges of the room was a long, low cabinet that Faith imagined would be used as a serving station or a buffet, and a tall breakfront full of what she could only assume was very expensive china and crystal. The whole room screamed expensive and sumptuous in a very old-fashioned, eighties TV drama sort of way.

  The weird taste of the decorator wasn’t her concern. What Faith cared about was that it was empty, since she had to cross it to get to the other curtain wall. She stayed low and made a dash for it, crouching behind the buffet and crept out.

  She had to do some careful shoving and twisting to get past the crates on the other side of the dining room curtain wall. She took a moment to read over a shipping label as she squeezed by and recognized it as the same as the labels on the crates they had removed from the Goldfang's camp a few days earlier.

  Which meant that these shelves held weapons. A ton of weapons. And explosives, if she remembered right. Oh hell. Faith stifled a growl– she really had been spending time with wolves– and made a note to herself to tell Aldric and Marc when she got free.

  The place was enormous, and the number of shelves felt endless. Faith ducked through two more rooms- the library she remembered someone mentioning and what seemed like a kitchen of sorts. She took a moment to peek into the fridge and found it was sectioned, with half of the shelves full of gourmet brands of food and the other half stacked with enough blood to feed an army, if everyone fed like Aldric did only every few days.

  Pity, she didn’t have time to cook anything, but she snagged some bread and ate quickly as she moved on.