by Logan Jacobs
Suddenly, the metal door of Limmer’s office clanged open as Danira came back in and muttered something to the rest of my team. Each of the girls nodded agreeably to the commander, and then she made her way over to me.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Milton, but Hasen needs us back at the guild,” she said in the softest tone I’d ever heard her use.
“Go, go,” the dryad collected himself and waved me off. “I’ll keep working at this.”
“You’ll get it,” I assured him, even though I was equally as discouraged.
I’d known this whole thing was a longshot. How could it not have been? I was asking an old man to come up with proof of something that had only been an untested theory, and we’d done it in such a rush.
“We really have to go,” Danira said gently, but her expression was bleak. My stomach fell, and I knew we were being called back to the guild for something very serious.
“I will call you as soon as I get this right,” Limmer promised, and I gave him one last pat before I followed Danira out of the classroom.
“What’s going on?” I muttered as soon as we were out of earshot.
“It would appear that our wonderful interns aren’t just paranoid,” she grunted under her breath. “Someone has gone missing.”
Chapter Six
We drove back to the guild in heavy silence. Even when we’d been on dangerous missions before, none of them had held the weight that this one did.
“I’m sure Professor Limmer will figure it out at some point,” Ariette assured us all after long minutes of silence. “He’s a plant dryad. This is his thing.”
“But even if it’s his thing, that doesn’t mean he’ll perfect it in a matter of days,” Maaren responded darkly. “If we even have that much time.”
An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment before Maaren shook her head and softened her posture.
“Sorry guys, that was a little too emo,” she said grimly. “Blame the Unseelie in me.”
“It’s fine,” I said quickly as the van came to a stop in the guild driveway. “Let’s just see if Hasen has anything that might make our day a little easier.”
As we made our way through the guild, it was eerily quiet, and a bleak heaviness hung in the air. The normally bubbly interns now seemed to walk on eggshells as they crossed through the foyer with their brown clipboards hugged tightly to their chests.
“Milton,” a gruff voice called out as we reached the stairs, and I looked around to see Ilias and Elvira.
The two guild members waved to us from the entryway to one of the rooms at the edge of the round foyer. They strode over to us briskly, and I could see their usually tough exteriors had melted slightly to give way to the grim expressions on both their faces.
“So … it’s happening, isn’t it?” Elvira asked in barely more than a whisper. “Everyone knows it, but no one wants to say it. It’s like this silently forbidden topic.”
I sighed as I looked out at the crowd of guild members. A few tall elves in their long white tunics looked our way with eyebrows drawn in deep frowns, and a young dwarf watched our conversation in awe. A tiny blue fairy flitted by as I turned back to the nymph and dwarf.
“Listen,” I said in a low voice as we all instinctively huddled together, “we don’t know exactly what is happening. All we know right now is that the Phobos are back, and they want to finish what they started all those years ago. But we’re not going to let them.”
“Has word gotten around the whole guild?” Danira demanded.
“Yes,” Ilias affirmed. “Do you think we should urge Hasen to ready troops?”
“Will he even believe us?” Elvira questioned. “I’ve heard he doesn’t believe in all that ‘prophecy nonsense.’”
“We don’t have proof yet,” Ariette said quietly. “Listen, guys, can you get the best fighters ready? Anybody we can trust to stay quiet about it. Our goal is to stop this war before it even happens, but if we don’t …”
“We’ll be ready,” Ilias assured her confidently, and he stroked his thick beard as he looked at us with trusting eyes. “I know I don’t say this to you enough, but you really are the best team in the guild.”
“Oh, Ilias, don’t go getting sentimental on us now,” Danira joked to lighten the mood. “Now, we’d better get going, or Hasen will have our hides before the Phobos even get a chance.”
The commander’s joke fell flat, though, as the nymph and dwarf nodded grimly and then walked off toward the training rooms downstairs.
“Danira!” Hasen’s harsh voice called out roughly, and we all turned in unison to see the chunky elf at the top of the stairs.
He had his arms crossed over his chest, and his colorless lips pursed.
“When we’re done with this, someone needs to send that man to a leadership seminar,” Danira grunted under her breath and waved at her superior. “We’re coming, sir.”
The guild master turned on his booted heel and strode briskly down the hallway toward his office, and we all followed quickly behind. For once, Hasen’s angry tone didn’t quite seem to be directed at us. The way he had his shoulder pulled back tightly as he rubbed the back of his neck indicated that he was full of stress. And, for the first time, I actually felt a pang of sympathy for the harsh guild master. It couldn’t be easy to deal with the fate of an entire city on a daily basis, but it must be far more difficult to grapple with the fate of an entire world now. I was sure the rumors had spread to Hasen’s ears, and even without belief in prophecies, it was impossible to deny that the Phobos were back. And with incredibly nefarious intentions, to boot.
When I thought about it, it seemed almost easier to just believe in the prophecy, even for a critical old elf like Hasen. At least the prophecy foretold of victory for the good Fae. If he didn’t believe in the truth of the prophecy, then it seemed like the Phobos might have a chance at winning this war and plunging the whole world into darkness.
But they wouldn’t. No matter how hard they tried, I believed that good would always win out over evil.
“Good of you to join us,” Hasen finally said when we entered his office.
The guild master sank into his large leather chair slowly, and a grimace shot across his face as he sat down. The five of us waited on the outskirts of the room, right near the door. The guild master’s office was never a place anyone enjoyed being in. It was business-like and cold in there, and Hasen’s icy gaze was enough to make anyone ready for a quick exit.
“I’m sorry it took so long,” Danira replied briskly. “We were out doing a team bonding exercise.”
“A team bonding exercise at the university?” the guild master questioned. “How interesting.”
“The … uh …” Danira stuttered, taken aback by Hasen’s knowledge. “How did you--”
Then, Hasen did something I never thought I’d see him do in a million years. He smiled.
I grew tense under his gaze, unsure if he was about to tell us he knew everything we’d been up to and order us to stop. After all, when we’d met Herm, the old hermit wizard who lived on the outskirts of town, during our last mission, Ariette mentioned he’d been kicked out of the guild simply for his belief in the prophecy. I wasn’t sure what Hasen would do if he found out we were actually on a mission to complete the same prophecy, but I was pretty damn sure I didn’t want to find out. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if the Racmoth was jailed by an overzealous guild master. We’d have a massive war on our hands then, and nobody to lead the Fae to victory.
However, Hasen said nothing about the prophecy. His dark eyes held a hint of pride in them as he continued to look us over, and I became somehow even more uncomfortable.
“I do know a great many things, Danira,” he finally rumbled, “and a great many people who will tell me these things. But I’m quite sure whatever you were doing at the university was … important.”
Neither elf said anything for another long moment as their eyes locked tensely. I got the sense that silent communication pas
sed between them, the result of hundreds of years of working together, and they seemed to come away with some sort of understanding.
“Now,” Hasen said as he turned back to look at his desk and sucked in a sharp breath, “I didn’t call you here just to talk about the way you run your team, commander. I have a new task I would like to assign to you, if you have the time.”
Hasen’s left eyebrow quirked up a little as he said his last few words, as if he had laid out a challenge to us and waited to see if Danira would accept.
And she did, with icy calmness.
“Absolutely, sir,” she responded coolly. “What’s the mission?”
Hasen leaned back in his huge leather armchair and waved us forward. I shot a glance at the rest of my team, who answered with frowns and shrugs, before we all crept forward in unison. He motioned hastily to a large manila envelope on his desk, and the motion caused him to wince in pain.
Ariette picked up the large envelope and opened it gingerly to reveal a headshot photo. The subject was a female elf with wavy brown hair and alluring green eyes, and she looked vaguely familiar. The photo was small, about two inches by four inches, and stapled to a piece of white paper with crisp black type on it.
I scanned the paper to pick up the important information and caught the words “abducted” and “no suspects” before Kalista snatched the envelope from Ariette and desperately scanned the page, as if she thought she could change the words with her gaze.
“This is Karna Zoohan,” the dwarf whispered to the paper. “I know her. She’s the head of our IT department. What happened?”
“The head of IT?” I muttered as I glanced at the paper over Kal’s shoulder. “That’s who I heard the interns talking about.”
Maaren reached out and thumbed through the next few papers hurriedly.
“These are all members of the guild,” she said, her tone shocked. “And they’re all missing? Why haven’t we heard about this before? Why isn’t anyone talking about this? Why haven’t you done anything?”
The hunter’s voice got angrier and louder as she glared at Hasen with furious fire in her eyes. The guild master, however, wasn’t fazed, and calmly folded his hands in front of him on his desk as he waited for her to stop.
“Are you quite finished, Ms. Euphry?” he questioned coolly. “I was about to explain everything.”
“The dates on these abductions span over the last few weeks,” she blazed on, irked by his question. “How--”
“I am aware of that,” he interrupted, his own tone domineering as he established his authority in the room. “They are a bit of a delicate matter. These abductions are solely of high-level Seelie guild members. The head of IT, as you have seen. One of our ambassadors from the Capital went missing, too, as did one of our foremost scientists. The strange thing is that it’s all been within the span of two weeks. I had attempted to keep it quiet and leave the task up to a single, high-level hunter, but unfortunately, he was unsuccessful. And so now, I am turning to you five to discover the culprit. Needless to say, all of this information is classified. We don’t need the rest of the guild panicking, especially with all the strange rumors that are going around. Understood?”
I took a deep gulp as the guild master shifted in his chair and a wince spread over his plump face. This time, however, the guild master bit down on his bottom lip roughly, clearly trying to hide his pain.
“Sir, are you alright?” I asked and stepped forward instinctively.
“Yes, Mr. Bailey, I am quite all right,” Hasen adopted a haughty tone as he spoke, but it didn’t serve to mask the pain on his face. “I simply had a run in with our abductors last night. But I was lucky, unlike Mrs. Zoohan, and managed to escape.”
I glanced through the papers again and noticed each victim had extremely strong Hands of Power. Karna had the Hand of Bone, while the other two had the Hands of Fire and Electricity. If powerful Fae like that hadn’t been able to escape the abduction, I wanted to know how Hasen had. I wasn’t sure what the guild master’s Hand was, but, given the fact that he was plump, it must have been a damn good one.
“How the hell did you escape?” I demanded, my tone a bit more accusatory than I intended.
Ariette shot me a glare that silently told me to keep quiet, but it was too late. My question hung in the air. Kalista shifted nervously, while Ariette and Danira remained stock still, ever the perfect warriors. Maaren’s green eyes met mine before she turned to appraise Hasen with a tilt of her head. I could tell the hunter was just as curious as I was.
The guild master narrowed his eyes at me as he read the underlying accusation in my tone.
“My Hand of Power makes it impossible for anyone to defeat me,” he simply said before he turned to a vase full of bright yellow flowers on his desk.
The guild master raised his left hand and hovered it over the flowers. Immediately, they wilted and shriveled under his touch until they finally just hung there, dead. With a smirk, he lifted his Hand a centimeter more and the process reversed itself. The flowers returned to full bloom as they stood there, brighter and fuller then they had been moments ago.
The Hand of Life.
I looked down at my shoes, slightly chagrined at my hasty accusation. It made sense now. Not even the Phobos stood a chance against an elf who could take their life away with a flick of his wrist.
“Are you quite satisfied that I am not in cahoots with our foe, Mr. Bailey?” Hasen hissed indignantly.
“Yes,” I responded evenly. “Sorry, sir.”
“It’s alright,” he relented to my utter surprise. “I was once a hot-headed young agent on the lookout for a threat in every corner, as well. I’ll let it slide this time, just don’t make it a habit to doubt me.”
“He won’t,” Ariette said hurriedly. “Can you tell us what happened when they tried to abduct you, sir? That information would be very helpful.”
The guild master looked embarrassed for a brief moment as he chewed on his cheek and looked anywhere but at the five of us.
“I expect that what I say will not leave this room, is that understood?” he asked and waited for each of us to nod our agreement before he continued. “At times, I like to leave the guild in order to spend some time with a, uh, lady friend of mine. When I do so, I leave my security detail behind in order to maintain our privacy.”
“You’re having a secret affair with a lady of the night?” Kalista blurted out. “And your wife is none the wiser? Holy shit, this is like an episode of my grandma’s favorite soap opera. You know, the last time one of--”
“She is not a lady of the night, Ms. Gallude!” Hasen all but roared.
Kalista’s violet eyes went as wide as one of Sal’s ostrich egg omelets, and she shrank back as far as she possibly could.
“Sorry,” the dwarf breathed. “Your life is totally not a soap opera.”
“As I was saying,” the pudgy elf continued, the picture of composure now, “last night, I went on such an outing to meet my friend. On the way, I was attacked by four elves. Two men and two women. None of them spoke, but they knew what they were doing. They came at me from all angles and if I had any other Hand of Power, they would have had me. Two grabbed my arms while the other two went to plunge a syringe full of etorphine into my neck. Of course, my Hand killed them before they had the chance.”
“Did you bring them back?” Ariette asked curiously. “Would it be possible for us to interrogate them?”
Hasen shook his head sadly. “Unfortunately, I’m not quite strong enough to bring an elf back to life from death. That’s a feat that has yet to be done. If it had, there would be no death in the world. No, I would have very much liked to interrogate the bastards, excuse my language. There was no identifying information on any of them, and their genetic fingerprint was not in our database. I had the coroners confirm it. For all intents and purposes, these people do not exist. My assumption is that something similar happened to each of our three victims, only they were not able to get away from their
abductors.”
“I’d say that’s a good guess,” Danira grunted before she softened her tone. “Hasen, you can’t leave the guild with absolutely no security. Situations like this are exactly why we have that protocol in place.”
“I know, Danira,” he sighed before he let out a soft chuckle. “I suppose this was a lesson learned. Just promise me you’ll find these criminals.”
“You have my word,” the commander responded.
“Good,” Hasen said before he drew himself back up with his back straight so he could look down his nose at us. Every bit of the haughty guild master facade returned. “Now, go. Solve this case.”
Danira nodded and spun around to stride out of the room.
I paused before I followed her, and then briefly glanced at Hasen. He had turned his attention back to whatever was on his desk, but I could see the way his shoulders were tense and that his bottom lip was red from being chewed on. The attack had shaken him, as it would shake anyone in his position.
These guys must have been Phobos, but I had to wonder why they wanted to target high-level Seelie and abduct them, instead of just killing them right off the bat. They must have an agenda, that much was clear. But exactly what that agenda entailed was completely unclear. The Fae in those positions were trained to withstand torture tactics. They’d die before they gave any information to the Phobos.
“Milton, come on,” Ariette urged in my ear. Her blue eyes were stormy as she tugged on my arm and pulled me back into the hallway.
“Alright, so I’m thinking,” Kalista started, but Danira immediately hushed her.
“Not here, Kalista,” the commander ordered. “Milton’s bedroom, now.”
“Wait, why does it always have to be my bedroom?” I protested, but Danira had already turned and started down the hallway.
“Because you’ve got the most comfortable bed,” Maaren said saucily and threw a wink my way as she followed Danira down the hallway.
“And it’s the closest one to where we are,” Kalista said with a shrug, and then a confused look crossed her face. “Hey, you know something, Hasen said those guys tried to use etorphine to knock him out.”