by Logan Byrne
“How did you know what I am?” Charlie asked.
“I’ve been around tons of creatures for almost a hundred and seventy years, so I know what you all smell like. I’ll bring you some beers,” he said, before hobbling away.
“Luckily the other thing doesn’t give off a smell,” I whispered.
“Do we really smell that bad?” Charlie asked, sniffing himself.
Charlie and I sat in the pub for about an hour, minding our own business and scouting what we could. The people here looked so much like the types I’d hung around in my past that I almost wanted to just get up and talk to them, but I knew I couldn’t. That life was behind me, and I had a mission to accomplish.
“That guy looks a bit weird, doesn’t he?” Charlie whispered, with his mouth up to the metal rim of his cup. There was a man in a suit with slicked back hair who glanced around as he talked to the pub owner who’d helped us earlier. The owner nodded towards a hallway, and the two men excused themselves and left the main room.
“We should follow them,” I said.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? We can’t exactly give off our cover just yet, we’ve only been here for an hour,” Charlie said.
“This is the first hint of anything illegal happening, and we need to make sure it isn’t our guy,” I said.
“How about you go and I’ll keep watch out here in case anything breaks out,” Charlie said.
“You just want to keep eating,” I said, rolling my eyes and standing up.
“That too,” Charlie replied with a smirk.
I kept my head down and walked slowly enough not to raise suspicion. I felt my feet stick to the floor with every step, the booze-soaked wood gripping my shoes and trying to keep me from going forward. I continued slowly down the hall, keeping close to the right wall, as I heard faint whispers grow louder.
“You know there’s a price to pay, Gorlon. We’ve appreciated your dedication thus far, but we cannot hold off forever and overlook your shortcomings,” the man said to the pub owner.
“I’ve been around here for centuries, and I plan to be around for a few more. Your threats might work on others, but they ain’t gonna work on me, kid,” Gorlon growled.
“Our lord won’t be happy to hear these things. In fact, he will be quite upset,” the man said.
“Then let the man be upset, I don’t really care. You talk about him like he’s some sort of god. There have been dozens of guys like him throughout history, trying to take over the world, and you really think he’s going to be any different?” Gorlon snarked defiantly.
“I’m afraid I cannot let you speak about my master like that and live to tell the tale,” the man said, and I heard something, probably a weapon, being pulled out.
“I order you to drop your weapon!” I yelled, bursting into the room, my wand pointed at the man in the suit.
“Great, here we go,” Gorlon said.
“You called M.A.G.I.C. on me? How dare you, filthy swine!” the man screamed.
“Pacificate!” I yelled, swinging my wand. The man blocked it with his wand, black and curled in the handle, the sign of darkness. He was formidable, but I had the Mark of Merlin, and I wasn’t going to be defeated so easily.
A loud thump filled the room. The man fell to the floor and Gorlon lowered the large metal vase he used to knock the man out. “There, it’s over,” he said.
2
“I’m going to have to ask you to drop your weapon,” I said, pointing my wand at Gorlon, as he still held the vase in his hands.
“Relax, I knew you were fuzz the moment you walked into my pub. I told you I could smell you, didn’t I? You think you’re the first auditors to step foot here?” he asked, setting the vase down on the table.
“Then why didn’t you rat us out if you knew?” I asked.
“M.A.G.I.C. only comes around these parts if there’s somebody really bad out there causing trouble. It’s better for business if those types aren’t running around. As long as you guys don’t create a scene in my place, and people aren’t afraid to come back, I’m happy you’re cleaning up the streets,” he said.
“Then maybe you can help me find somebody I’m looking for. He’s a naga shifter selling illegal black market venom, the kind that would only take one drop to take down a giant,” I said.
“I’ve heard talk of a man, a naga shifter as you say, but I haven’t seen any of them in my pub in at least fifty years,” Gorlon said.
“What have you heard?” I asked.
“That he’s bad, and he hasn’t been getting that venom through conventional, legal means. Last I heard he’s been milking the venom out of these creatures after killing them, even if they’re willing participants,” he said.
“Why would he do that? Surely he could keep going back for more,” I said.
“Doesn’t want to be recognized, I reckon. Maybe he’s got a noticeable mug,” Gorlon said. “By the way, what are you gonna do with this guy?” he asked, looking down at the man in the suit.
“Pacificate,” I said, my wand pointed at the man, his unconscious body freezing up. “Taking him in, I guess. He did threaten you, and he did attempt assault on an auditor.”
“It’s probably best you two get out of here anyhow. Last I heard the man you’re looking for left Africa in search of selling his wares.”
“Do you know where he went?” I asked.
“London, last I heard. I suppose there’s a big market out there for venom of this caliber, and it’s easy to transport to the rest of Europe. Good luck,” he said, stepping over the guy and leaving the office.
Gorlon must have told Charlie to come to me. He came running into the back, then stopped abruptly when he saw the suspect on the ground. “What happened?” he asked.
“Long story, but I think you’re about to get really lucky. We’re leaving Morocco and going somewhere a bit less arid,” I said.
“I’m in,” he said, smiling.
Before we could even think about traveling to London, we needed to bring our suspect in and question him. A certain sense of joy came from returning to the hulking police headquarters building. After being in the desert for so long, I’d almost forgotten the sour stench of reality that came with going home.
“You’re back,” Blake said with a smile. I ran up and hugged him. His neck smelled musty, a hint of cinnamon trying to mask his werewolf smell. I let go and looked him in the eyes. “That’s quite the hello,” he said, grinning.
“Just happy to see you,” I said, as I felt happiness for the first time in quite a while.
“Lexa!” I heard, before turning around to Britta slamming into me with a hug. I laughed, her embrace was so tight. She leaned back, her hands on my shoulders, smiling. “Our room has been so empty without you, I hate it. How are you?”
“We’re great—I guess. We made some progress on our case, but we’re still kind of at a standstill,” I said.
“After trekking through the hell-like landscape of Morocco, we finally found the oasis,” Charlie said.
“How was it?” Blake asked.
“It would’ve been better if Lexa had let us stay longer, considering we were there for all but an hour and a half after searching for ten days, but I digress,” Charlie said, obviously bitter.
I rolled my eyes. “We had a suspect and couldn’t leave him there or let him go,” I said.
“So you found him?” Britta asked.
“Nope, but we did apprehend a dark wizard who attempted murder on the pub owner. I think he works for somebody,” I said, obviously alluding to Kiren.
“Well, we’re glad you’re safe. Have you seen Mirian yet?” Britta asked.
“No, we were just about to go there now,” I said.
“We’ll come with you, things have been slow,” Blake said.
I caught a glimpse of myself as we walked past a mirror, my skin sandy and tanned, my hair wiry and filled with a few cobwebs, I was sure. Definitely not how I wanted to look when I finally saw Blake again.
We knocked on Mirian’s office door, his head perking up and a smile gracing him as he told us to come in and close the door.
“You’re back so soon?” he asked.
“We ran into a snag, but we did get a lead on where to go next,” I said.
“Lexa thinks it’s a lead, but I’m not sure it can be trusted. It came from the pub owner,” Charlie said.
“And you think he’s lying to her?” Mirian asked.
“I think it’s a possibility. What motive could he have for turning in one of his own?” Charlie asked.
“He told me he doesn’t like criminals of this caliber running around his place, it causes him too much trouble. He wants somebody that bothersome locked up so he doesn’t have to worry about him wrecking the place,” I said.
“He was playing you,” Charlie said, crossing his arms.
“Enough, both of you. Where did he say you should go instead?” Mirian asked.
“He said he heard that the man was headed to London. He said there were buyers out there, and that it was also easier to transport his products around Europe should the suspect have to,” I said.
“He wasn’t lying, London definitely is the place to be if you’re looking to deal in or buy illegal magical goods. It’s far more lucrative than even New York City in many respects, especially for poisons,” Mirian said. “When are you heading out?”
“We just got back in,” I said, a little defeated and in need of a lie-down.
“He might already be out there dealing, Lexa. I know you’re tired, but crime doesn’t sleep just because the sky goes dark,” Mirian said.
“We need to go to London,” Blake said.
“Oh?” Mirian asked.
“There have been reports of ivory and rhino horn dealings between realms, and London came up on our list. Maybe we could all go together and take Faus with us as well for logistic support?” Blake asked.
“Why do I feel like you five just want to hang out together?” Mirian asked.
“It would allow us to help them, and I think you know this suspect is going to be awfully dangerous. Having five officers will be much better to take him down, if he is that bad,” Britta said.
“Fine, against my better judgment I will let you five go, but the first instance of misconduct and you three are to leave and let Lexa and Charlie finish their assignment. Do you understand me?” Mirian asked, his voice stern.
“Yes, sir, we understand,” I said, my cheeks now red from smiling.
“Get out of here,” he said, shooing us away and shaking his head.
“Somebody has to tell Faus! He’s going to be so happy to get out of that lab,” Charlie said.
“Come with me, we’ll go tell him,” Britta said, grabbing Charlie and leaving.
“Looks like we’ve got a little vacation,” Blake said, smiling, his eyes soft.
“Too bad it’ll involve a sociopathic naga shifter and not a beach somewhere,” I said.
“I missed you,” he said, leaning in and kissing me. My butterflies flew high before I pushed him away.
“We’re on the job, we can’t do that,” I said, making sure nobody saw us.
“I understand,” he said, knowing it was far more important to keep our jobs than kiss right now.
“But I liked it,” I said, nudging him and walking towards Faus’s lab.
“But I have so much work to do here,” Faus was whining as Blake and I walked into the lab.
“We need you to run tech and help us out. Who else can we trust for a mission like this? Besides, Mirian gave you the okay already,” Britta said.
“Why don’t I just give you the tech and you guys can run it?” Faus asked.
“Come on, come out with us just like the old times. We never get a chance to be together anymore with work. Besides, consider it a break for a couple days and a chance to use your inventions in the field firsthand,” Charlie said.
Faus rubbed his chin, obviously in deep thought, as he mumbled to himself. “It would be nice to test out some stuff in the field,” he said wistfully.
“And you’ll get some fresh air and get out of the precinct. When was the last time you even left the building?” Britta asked.
“Six days ago,” he said.
“Six days!” Britta exclaimed. “Faus, you’re coming. Get your stuff ready tonight, and we’ll leave in the morning.”
“Good, so we’re all set on the plan?” Blake asked, rubbing his hands together.
I felt a great sense of excitement as I thought of the five of us roaming the streets of London trying to find this shifter. I loved Charlie, and I loved working with him—he was my partner and I trusted him with my life—but having another mage and a werewolf shifter there would be the icing on the cake to take down this criminal. Faus’s tech alone would shift the tide in our battle and make sure we found him. Now if I could only wash enough of this sand out of my hair in time, I’d be good.
“How about we meet outside my and Britta’s room around eight? We can teleport there in an instant and get on with the job,” I said.
“Sounds like a deal. Come on, Blake, we still have some paperwork to do before we leave for a few days,” Britta said, walking past him.
“See you later,” he said, smiling.
“Are you blushing?” Charlie asked, shaking me out of my trance.
“No way, it must just be from the desert. I bet I got sunburnt,” I said.
“Hey, we all know you two are dating. It’s okay to be honest about it, especially with me, of all people. I’ve got your back,” he said, nudging me before turning around to walk off. “I’m going to go wash this sand off the human way. My tongue can’t take it anymore.”
I shook my head laughing, before getting a whiff of myself. Maybe a long shower would help. I was sure sand had gotten into nooks and crannies I didn’t even know I had.
“Notes for your assignment?” Britta asked later that night as she rubbed lotion on her legs in our room.
“Yeah, I’m just trying to figure out anything else I can on this guy. I don’t understand how he’s run around us so much. It’s like he’s a ghost or something. I don’t even have a picture of him,” I said.
“Well, he is a naga shifter, and they’re snakes, so it makes sense he would be slithering around,” she said, laughing.
“You’re so stupid,” I said, laughing with her. “But really, I just don’t know how we should do this.”
“You’re scared he’s going to get the upper hand on us,” Britta said.
“What if he uses some of his own venom on us? What if one of us is bitten, or he shifts and is huge and constricts us? So many things can go wrong when you deal with a criminal of this magnitude,” I said.
“If you believe something will happen, then it probably will. I don’t see it that way, though. I’m positive we’ll capture him and that nobody will get more than a few bruises, if that. Besides, you do have the mark,” she said.
“I can’t use that!” I said.
“I’m not saying to use it, I’m just saying if things go south, very south, you could always use it to subdue him and save the rest of us,” she said. “It’s better than death.”
Having the mark was both a blessing and a curse. To have it was an honor, or at least that was what Mirian tried to tell me. But I couldn’t help feeling like it really was just a curse, a big horrible curse that was trying to ruin my life. I had to keep my feelings and emotions in check more than anybody else here in the precinct. Not only would the power be too much to handle for me physically if it were unleashed in full force, but Kiren was bent on finding people with this ability. What if he kidnapped me and enslaved me? What if my power was the reason the magical realm fell? The thought of it made me sick.
“I don’t know, I’d rather we just used our wands and the boys used their fangs,” I said.
“And what about Faus?” she asked.
“I’m sure he has some contraption that he could use,” I said, smiling. “Beside
s, if he gets mad enough we won’t need my mark to save us because we’ll have a rage-induced Minotaur there to tear through the naga and make him into a cheap snakeskin handbag.”
“Oh my gosh, imagine him doing something like that,” she said, laughing. “I’m going to hit my pillow, though. We have a long day tomorrow, a long few days, actually, and we both need to get some rest. Goodnight,” she said, turning off the small lamp next to her bed.
I sat awake, my elbow propping my head up as I looked over my case file on my dimly lit desk. I started to drift, catching my head as it started to slip down, though my determination was no match for pure exhaustion.
Suddenly I was standing in a dimly lit hallway with recessed pot lights providing the only illumination. There was a long aquarium on one of the walls, with tropical fish swimming around as corals of different colors and sizes swayed in the gentle oceanic breeze the filter was providing. Where was I?
I heard chatter down the long hallway, but when I looked behind me I didn’t see anyone; the area was longer and darker than pure black itself. Heading towards the chatter, there was a door with a faint shimmer of light shining underneath it. I pressed my ear to it.
“We have intelligence we believe you may want to hear, sir,” a man was saying.
“And?” another man said. His voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. I’d definitely heard it before, but it wasn’t one I’d heard often, or I was sure I’d be able to match a face to it.
“There are talks that the one with the mark resides in the tower,” the first man said.
“Who is it?” the second man asked.
“We aren’t sure of that yet, sir. All we know is that they are an officer and aren’t yet aware of our intentions,” the first man said.
“Is it a man or a woman? This is important to me,” the second man said.
“We aren’t sure, unfortunately. Our agents are working tirelessly to ensure we track them down, but we can’t afford to mess this up. We must be sure,” the first man said.
“I’m not happy, not at all. Don’t keep coming to me unless you’re sure of these things,” the second man said.