The Weapon Bearer's Son

by Steven F. Warnock

  “That is a weird metaphor, but I am quite proud of you sticking with it,” Mack chuckled.

  Athena leaned forward toward KC. “Let me buy into Mac & Mac Enterprises. Take me on as a business partner. I’ve got money saved, and the settlement on my house insurance should come out to a pretty nice sum, considering I had nothing to do with demolishing it.”

  “How big of an interest would you be wanting to buy?” KC was leaning forward, too, at this point, her business poker face firmly in place.

  “Small percentage. No more than twenty; no less than five.”

  “How much capital would you be investing to buy this ‘small percentage’?”

  “Right now, I’ve got $750,000 socked away in a savings account. Including other assets I can liquidate for capital, I’d be willing to go as high as one million. I want to keep aside my money market account, investment accounts, and personal checking account to support myself until I start to see a return on my investment in Mac & Mac.”

  “Wise decision,” KC praised. She closed her eyes for a moment and started tapping her chin.

  “She’s calculating,” Mack explained.

  “Aside from Liam and Pilar’s potential investment, since they haven’t fully decided to join us just yet, Mack and I have somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple million in ‘sweat equity’ alone invested in Mac & Mac Enterprises. They would be bringing in about $250,000 including their individual combat talents and outside skills. Your offer triples, in capital alone, what they have to offer, but I don’t feel that it would be morally or ethically right to sell you a larger interest in the company than theirs.”

  “On the other hand, though, my capital investment would benefit them, too, wouldn’t it?”

  KC nodded, eyes still closed, finger still tapping her chin. “Which is why I’m leaning toward offering equal sized shares of Mac & Mac Enterprises to each of you individually. Say, ten percent each?”

  “How about fifteen percent for me, and ten for each of them. That would give them a total of twenty percent that they could vote as a block in the partnership. I am the lone cub in the pack after all, am I not?”

  KC’s eyes opened. “Not necessarily, but I see the validity of your point. Okay, for $750,000 you can buy a fifteen percent partnership in Mac & Mac Enterprises. Having an on-staff lawyer is beneficial, even if it’s the wrong kind of law.”

  “Not a problem. I’m a member of the Bar in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, too. Passing the Bar in whatever state Mac & Mac Enterprises is incorporated in won’t be a problem. I’m also quite familiar with Federal laws involving the Roman Accords. Don’t worry. By the time I’m on board with you guys, I’ll be familiar with everything legal that you have to deal with.”

  “I’ll contact Emma in the morning, and have her start drawing up the partnership agreement. Liaising with our outside lawyer will be one of your duties as in-house legal counsel, and I’m thinking I’ll put you in charge of Human Resources, too.”

  “I can do that.”

  KC stuck out her hand. “Then, we’re in agreement: once you’ve cut ties with your current employer, you will join Mac & Mac Enterprises as our junior partner and in-house legal counsel.”

  “I want to learn how to hunt,” Athena said as she gripped KC’s hand.

  KC nodded. “You’ll be our apprentice in that respect, then, but I will want to know one thing, though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “How do you have sex with a centaur?”

  EBENEZER FOUND MACK in the dining area, staring out into the back yard, a cup of coffee in his hand. Neither KC nor Athena was in sight. Ebenezer poured himself a cup of coffee, added creamer, and joined his nephew.

  “Where are your wife and my lawyer?”

  “KC is taking a shower, and Athena is using the secured phone line in the office to call Boros, Mason, et cetera. She’s covering our asses over the firefight at her house.”

  Ebenezer nodded as he sipped the coffee, which was strong and bitter. “Mack, I’m, um, a bit curious about KC. I mean, I’ve kept track of your life from afar, so I don’t really know either of you, but there seems to be... I mean, KC appears to have taken a, um... interest, shall we say, in Athena?”

  “Are you asking me if my wife likes girls, Uncle?”

  Ebenezer flushed. “You’re right. It’s none of my business.”

  Mack shrugged. “KC is a dhamphir. Have you ever met a dhamphir before, Uncle?”

  Ebenezer shook his head.

  “A lot of the modern myths and misconceptions about vampires, especially the more ‘romantic’ notions, have been inspired by dhamphir. The theory is that when the Lemurians created vampires they did so by enhancing ghouls with the demonic energies of jorogumo spider demons and draugr barrow wights. So, when the Atlanteans created the dhamphir as the living counterpart to vampires, they also used the demonic energy of ghouls, but instead of jorogumo and draugr they used incubi and succubi. The result was a Weapon capable of both fighting undead and seducing the living, of being both an assassin and a spy.”

  “What does that mean for KC?”

  “Well, in addition to needing to drink blood to replace having to sleep, it means that she can be incredibly good at putting people at ease and getting them to trust her, very helpful in our work. It also means that she’s got a very active libido, and much like Cupids like Athena, a dhamphir’s primary sexual attraction tends to be more... flexible than normal.”

  Ebenezer was quiet for a moment. “So, um...?”

  Mack laughed. “So, I’m going to deliberately change the subject now, Uncle, but before I do, rest assured, I do not and will not question my wife’s faithfulness. I trust her completely. Now, would you care to explain to me why you appear to have in your backyard what looks like my old Airstream?”

  “That’s not your old Airstream,” Ebenezer stated definitively. “Your old Airstream is in the backyard of a friend of mine in New Mexico.”

  “You bought my old Airstream, didn’t you?”

  “Not directly, of course, but, yes, I did. It gave me a way of helping you and KC out at the beginning of your lives together, and allowed me to have a piece of my sister back with me. I’ve kept it where it is as a tertiary safe house of sorts. My friend officially keeps it as a ‘guest house’, but it’s for me when I visit them. Nice Nephilim family, by the way, very distant cousins, the Studebakers. They’re both doctors. Their oldest daughter is a Program agent.”

  “Okay, then, what’s up with that Airstream?”

  “Well, that Airstream and the pickup truck in the garage to tow it are for you and KC.”

  “Explain,” Mack ordered. “Please,” he added respectfully.

  Ebenezer chuckled. “I purchased both the truck and the trailer in your name about the same time you were buying your new SUV. My Gift of Foresight told me that you would be needing a clean vehicle at some point.”

  “We just bought the Blue Runner,” Mack sighed.

  “And I’m quite sure that Alpha identified it and has the Frateco’s resources looking for a blue Toyota 4Runner even as we speak. Giving up your SUV is not going to be that much of a hardship, is it, if you’re getting a better vehicle in return. I’ll even buy the Toyota from you. I have the resources to do all the necessary title transfers and what not, and you won’t have to do a thing with the truck because it’s already in your name.”

  “That’s more KC’s department than mine,” Mack sighed. “Tell me about the Airstream.”

  “Well, it’s a thirty-foot Flying Cloud 30FB Bunk model with a front bedroom and a rear bunk...”

  “A rear bunk?” Mack interrupted.

  “Yes, it’s basically a nearly queen-sized bed with a twin sized bed above it in the rear corner of the trailer. The bathroom’s squeezed into the other corner, and in the middle is the kitchen with a dinette booth and a sofa.”

  “So, it sleeps five with no modifications and up to eight by converting the dinette and the sofa?�
��

  “I believe that’s what it says in the brochure,” Ebenezer confirmed.

  “What model year is it?”

  “2020.”

  Mack’s eyes bulged. “Brand new?”

  Ebenezer nodded.

  “Uncle, that’s a hundred-thousand-dollar trailer!”

  “Um, happy birthday?”

  “My birthday is in October.”

  “I mean, a belated birthday for KC? Her birthday was just last month, right?”

  Mack nodded. “Yeah, April 10th.”

  “What’s going on?” KC asked, padding through the kitchen to join them.

  “Uh, well, hon, Uncle Ebenezer wants to buy the Blue Runner from us and give us that red Ram pickup in the garage and that Airstream in the backyard. For your belated birthday and my very early birthday,” Mack said.

  KC frowned. “How new is that Airstream?”

  “2020.”

  “Deal,” KC said, thrusting a hand at Ebenezer. “I don’t care how much you want for the 4Runner, I’m sure we’re making a profit in the trade just on the trailer. I also don’t care that the truck is red, Mack. That trailer is worth it.”

  “You know I was kidding about towing a trailer behind Busster, right?” Mack asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yes, but we can live in that trailer while we refit Busster. Then, we can move back into Busster while we retrofit the trailer with better solar and a larger freshwater tank or not. I mean, hell, we actually could tow the trailer behind Busster, find us some property somewhere and actually build a permanent base of operations for the hunting business.”

  KC’s eyes were twinkling as she sifted through the possibilities.

  “In the meantime, the trailer will give you a comfortable, less expensive place to live as you head back to Big Sky,” Ebenezer said.

  “Come with us,” KC blurted out.

  Ebenezer chuckled. “No, I’ll just be putting you in danger by drawing attention to you. Look at what that’s already done to Athena.” The elder Llewellyn took a deep breath and sighed heavily. “My time is nearly done. I can sense it. I will leave from here once our business transactions are done, and I will pretend to flee from the Frateco, leaving a trail of not too obvious breadcrumbs for Alpha and whatever crew she can scrounge up to follow me. Then, I’ll finish off the other half of their duo. It’ll be up to you, Mack, to find and destroy Avidan.”

  “Really?” Mack scoffed.

  “Beta didn’t murder your parents on his own initiative. He was sent by Avidan. I would have killed Avidan, too, but he’s protected from harm by the very prophecy that predicts his doom. No, Nephew, the only being in the multiverse who can slay Avidan Mac Balor is you. You are the Chosen Weapon.”

  Mack frowned. “I was reading and re-reading the prophecies last night. Each time there’s a specific circumstance, relationship, or both involved, but for Avidan, it’s just me. Does that mean I have to do it with my own teeth and claws, or does it just mean that I have to do it?”

  Ebenezer looked confused. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I’ve recently come into possession of one of the best long range rifle platforms available, the Program’s own selected sniper rifle. I even have a supply of match grade precision ammo made with Kryptonite Omega slugs. I could set up in a sniper hide a thousand meters away and just, you know, pop a round through Avidan’s melon. No muss, no fuss.”

  Ebenezer nodded and motioned for Mack and KC to follow him. “You should definitely try that first, but if that fails, I have something for that close up scenario you seem to want to avoid.”

  The three of them went to the front bedroom that Mack had referred to as an office. Athena was just hanging up the phone when they came in.

  “It seems that a certain Federal law enforcement agency took my case off the hand of the local police. I spoke with a very pleasant-sounding agent named Perkins who seems to know a Program agent that knows Uncle Ebenezer here,” Athena reported. “By the way, Assistant Director Burke sends her regards.”

  “Oh, lovely. I’ll have to give her a call and update her on the situation,” Ebenezer said, “but first...”

  He opened the closet into which had been built a large, heavy-looking safe. After fiddling with the combination lock for a moment, the safe door swung silently open on well-oiled hinges. Ebenezer first grabbed a folder of documents off a shelf.

  “KC, this contains all the ownership records for the truck and the trailer. All of it is already in Mack’s name.”

  Then, Ebenezer reached into the safe and retrieved a long, slender object wrapped in cloth and tied with a golden cord. He reverently placed the item on the desk and unwrapped it to reveal a sheathed sword. As swords went, this particular one wasn’t very large, no more than three feet in overall length. The hilt had what was known as the Celtic Anthropomorphic shape that roughly suggested the human form. The blade was double-edged and leaf-shaped, a form popular throughout Europe and the Middle East in ancient times. In all other respects, though, the short sword was a rather utilitarian piece of cutlery with no decoration at all.

  “The Sword of Light,” Ebenezer intoned. “Carried by Nuada Airgetlam and later by Lugh Lamfada. Passed down among Lugh’s descendants. It is also known as Fragarach, the Answerer.”

  Mack reached out a hand and hesitated.

  “Go ahead and take it, Nephew,” Ebenezer insisted with a chuckle.

  Mack’s right hand wrapped around the hilt, which was entirely too small for him. He nearly dropped the weapon when he felt the handle wiggling inside his fist. Then, he realized that the hilt had just re-sized itself to fit his grip.

  “Holy cow!” Mack exclaimed as the shape of the hilt began to change and reform itself even more radically.

  “The Sword changes itself to fit its master,” Ebenezer explained. “It turns itself into what you expect it should look like.”

  Even the blade was changing at this point. The hilt had settled into what Mack thought of as a “D-Guard” like his favorite Bowie knife. The blade had gone from a double-edged leaf to a single edged clip point, and it grew another six inches in length.

  “It looks like a larger version of your Bowie knife,” KC observed.

  “I believe that’s a falchion,” Ebenezer corrected. “Good for chopping and stabbing.”

  “Yeah, it is. I’ve always liked falchions,” Mack confirmed. “Look, even the sheath has changed to fit the blade.”

  “The Sword of Light belongs to you now, Nephew,” Ebenezer said. “Use it well.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Chesapeake, Virginia

  Tuesday, May 7, 2019

  MACK SHEATHED THE ANCIENT magical sword and re-wrapped it before placing it in his duffle bag with all his other weapons. Ebenezer still had the safe open and was pulling more documents from the top shelf.

  “Athena, I have a few remaining tasks for you as my lawyer, if you don’t mind?”

  “Not at all, Uncle Ebenezer.”

  The elder Llewellyn smiled at the young lawyer. “I like that. Now, I’ve updated my will. I hope you don’t mind that I used one of your co-workers to do the job, but that’s because you’re now one of my beneficiaries as well as the executor of my estate. Well, ‘John William’s’ estate, I should say. No doubt Alpha knows that I’m John Williams, and that’s why she tracked you down in the first place. This house is officially owned by John Williams, so they’ll eventually come here once they’ve ransacked my cottage in Millsboro.”

  “I guess this means we’re all leaving today,” Mack surmised.

  “Yes, indeed, Mack,” Ebenezer confirmed. “Athena, the main gist of your job as the executor of John Williams will be to sell the Millsboro cottage and this house, and divide the proceeds between yourself, the trust fund for the Double M Ranch group foster home, and Mack and KC, a 25/50/25 split, understood?”

  Athena nodded. “Thank you. That’s very generous.”

  “You’re quite welcome, dear. Once you’ve done that, I want
the balance of my other assets as John Williams liquidated and divided up between the trust fund and Mack and KC, with the exception of some small bequests outlined, and I want full control of the trust fund transferred to Silas and Rosalee Monroe.”

  “You’re talking like you’re already dead,” Athena frowned.

  “John Williams is. As soon as I confirmed that Mack was really my nephew, I set into motion everything necessary for John Williams to die peacefully in his sleep. You should be getting a notification in the next day or two as my listed emergency contact, Athena.”

  “No, I mean, you’re talking like you’re dead.”

  “I’m living on borrowed time as it is, my dear.”

  Mack cleared his throat. “Apparently, Uncle’s Foresight includes the ability to see his own demise. I read about it in the book last night.”

  “Be thankful you didn’t get this gift, Nephew,” Ebenezer chuckled. “This is my plan. You three will leave today. Athena, you should take the Maxima with you. I’m not entirely sure your Lexus will be available. Mack & KC, you should begin making your way home to Big Sky. I will take the Toyota and continue running south. I’ve foreseen Alpha catching up to me somewhere between here and Atlanta.”

  “And you’re okay with that?” KC demanded.

  Ebenezer smiled. “Of course, I am! I have no fear of dying. Not just because I know where I’ll be going in the afterlife, but because I know that things will turn out well for my heirs, the three of you. You should start the process to adopt the boy, Billy, but you and Mack are also going to have at least two other children together, and, Athena, I foresee you happy and fulfilled. The details are fuzzy to me for some reason, but I believe motherhood is in your future, too.”

  “I’ve just found you, Uncle,” Mack stammered.

  “You have the book, and you’ll be taking my laptop with you, too. You’ll find that between the two of those things, you’ll have everything you need to know me by. Oh! I have one more gift for you. Well, it’s actually for Billy.” Ebenezer practically dove back into the safe. He came back out with what appeared to be a couple of sticks with silver cups attached to the top.