by Carrow Brown
I rounded on the animal-god who had jumped to David. “Do you have to keep biting me?”
“Only when our safety is at risk,” he said, remaining perfectly still on David’s shoulder. “Or are you not aware of your current physical state?”
Still glaring, I noticed how the room appeared brighter and looked down at my hands to see they’d darkened, with the ends of my fingers turning into hardened claws. Mentally cursing, I willed my form back to human. Content when my fingers resembled their pale, short nailed appearance, I shifted my attention back to the whispers, but the dominant voice was gone. “What the fuck was that, Silence?”
Something bad. We should go. There are other days we can break in and steal things.
“No, we can’t.” Worrying my bottom lip, I thought back to my prior assumption about the voices belonging to Outer Ones. “Not if it’s what I think it is,” I said. “We’ll stay and check it out. This is the last place we need them to appear.”
Ratatoskr asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know,” I said, still listening. The sounds returned to their record loop of gibberish. The dominant voice had unnerved me. Not just because I’d understood it, but the feeling about it. A gnawing hunger I understood all too well tainted its words. “I’m hoping nothing. We’ll move with caution for now.”
“It can’t be nothing if you’re spooked,” David said, pointing to my head.
I ran my hand over my writhing tendrils where hair should have been. It took a moment to still them, but I couldn’t get them to return back to their hair-like appearance.
Silence rose up, his presence like a calming blanket over me. “We do need to be careful,” we said, looking back to David. We noted the shift in his expression at the change in us but dismissed it for the time. “Something’s not right, and it’s not whatever the pucks are doing.” Our eyes shifted to Ratatoskr. “Can you go warn Goodfellow? I’m hoping it’s nothing, but I don’t want any Fae casualties if something does happen.”
“Of course. I’ll be back soon.” Ratatoskr leaped off David’s shoulder and disappeared into the darkened hall.
We pulled in a breath to steady my heart and took the lead walking down the hall. It took a few more moments until we came to the section of the wall we knew was close to the Head Magi’s office.
“Wait here,” we said to David. “You’re okay staying in a dark and creepy hallway alone, right?”
David shrugged. “Sure. But if a clown shows up, I’m leaving.”
We smiled at the comment. “Good. We’ll be back in a moment.”
Pulling the lever, the wall gave way, and we stepped out into the hall, we looked one way and then the other. Everything was still, an oddity given that magic was more potent in the evening, but we weren’t well versed on the practices of modern magi. They could’ve shifted to a nine-to-five schedule. It was when we reached the door that the voices faded away to their normal level. We paused and listened, seeking out the thing that had unnerved us.
Silence pulled away from me, and I sighed at the absence of his presence. “Did we imagine it?” I whispered.
No. I don’t like it here and I want to go, Silence said, presenting me with the image of his human-self wrapped about my leg.
“We’ll be out of here within the hour.” I entered the room with as little noise as possible and took in the dark study. I breathed in the faint scent of cigarette smoke and cringed. It was still present as if the smoker still sat in the room, but I didn’t see anything. I took the time to look over the study, curious to see how this new leader treated my son’s haven.
Everything looked neat and orderly. The previous leader had hung elaborate drapes from the center of the ceiling and out to cover the books. Those were absent along with the frivolous carved figures. The shelves held books in neat order. Aged parchment scrolls sat housed in a magical glass case for their preservation. There was still no art in the room, except for a painting behind the desk of a falcon perched on a tree branch. Behind the bird, the viewer could see the details of a castle with a red flag fluttering in some unseen wind. I didn’t need to look closer at the painting to know somewhere on the flag was the emblem of a white dragon. Then again, I’d done the painting myself and knew all the little details of it.
In one corner, I found a liquor cabinet and knelt to check the contents. I couldn’t tell a lot by what alcohol a man keeps but I did judge him for it.
“Well,” a male voice said behind me, “at least I didn’t wait long.”
I whirled around with my Glock out and pointed to the origin of the voice. But there wasn’t anything there. Narrowing my eyes, I peered into the darkness magically and saw him. I couldn’t see him in detail, just the magic wrapped around him to hide him from me. The markings floated over his flesh, blinding one’s vision to his presence.
He reached forward and set a gem on the table, making himself visible. The gray eyes stood out first, a sharpness and ruthlessness that dominated the rest of his features. His nose had clearly been broken a time or two in the past. Dark brown hair cut without a care and rested as it wound against his head. It didn’t match the beard around his face, neatly trimmed and several shades lighter. I was confident in the light it would’ve been auburn.
He took another pull of the cigarette lit between his lips. “I accuse you of breakin’ and enterin’,” he said, his Scottish brogue so thick I struggled to understand it, “but I’d be wrong on that, wouldn’t I?”
“Only a little,” I said, re-holstering my gun. “You were expecting me?”
“Yes and no. It was in an edict that I sit in this chair today startin’ ten minutes ago an’ wait. I figured I was meetin’ someone since I’m tae give ye this.” He reached over and placed a folded note on the desk between us.
My brow furrowed. “What do you mean an edict?”
He arched a dark eyebrow at me and took another pull of his cigarette. “Ye dinnae know about Merlin’s Edicts?”
I snorted. “I never made a point to poke my nose into my children’s business. Grownups don’t need their mother hovering over them.”
That made him laugh, smoke escaping his lips. “I should send ye tae my maw. She’d have a right row with ye on that.” He reached over for a tumbler on the desk and took a sip from it before speaking again. “Merlin’s Edicts are instructions left for th’ Order to follow after his death. He created thousands of them. Some are who the next leader will be, and others don’t make sense until years later. There was one for me tae be the new leader an’ then another for me be here, as I said.”
“Wait, stop.” I pointed a finger at him. “You’re Aaron Hardin? The new Head Magi?”
His lips pulled back into a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “Heard of me, have ye?” His black eyes looked me over. “You’re Merlin’s maw? Not what I expected, tae be sure.”
I passed a hand over the tendrils. “Bad hair day. Happens to the best of us.”
He lit another cigarette and pointed the glowing end toward me. “I get mixed stories aboot ye. Some claiming ye tae be a daemon an’ others a savior. Which one is truth?”
“Both?” I said with a shrug. “You’re young to be the one in charge. You can’t be more than forty-five.”
He took a pull from the cigarette and blew the smoke up into the air. “Thirty-two. I hold the record for the youngest in this position yet,” he said, crushing the butt of his cigarette into an ashtray. “Trust me when I say I didn’t ask for this shite job. Who wants tae babysit an’ tell a bunch of senior magi what tae do? I’d rather go back tae the trench work.”
The smoke reached my nose, and I breathed in the complex herbal scent of it. Opening my lips, I let it settle over the roof of my mouth to better identify it. I asked, “Witch’s Web? Really? You don’t strike me as the to the type who needs to restrain mythics.”
Aaron shrugged. “How was I tae know who’d be comin’ in here tae yatter at me? I can follow the edicts, but I ain’t a bawheid. Rather protect
meself than be dead.”
My eyes shifted between the man and the box on his desk. “Just for your information, Witch’s Web doesn’t work on me. Unless you want me to sneeze.” I leaned over and took the sealed letter. The magic over the parchment flared about in my hands, breaking the seal and the preservation. My fingers ran over the rough paper before unfolding it to read the words.
Most beloved mother. I hope you are well, but I know you are in the middle of something stressful. You’re distrusting of this letter, naturally. So I will remind you of the time you burnt the roast for Vainya and then claimed it was my fault when I was ten. It is good to see you again.
Your devoted son, Terrwyn.
Even without the mention of the burnt roast, I would’ve trusted the letter when I saw the signature. My son never went by the name I gave him when he ventured out into the world. He knew the power in a name and kept it safe. I brought the paper to my face and breathed in. The spell had been a good one to keep the parchment from deteriorating over the centuries. I picked up the faint whiff of the incense Merlin often burned while he worked. I closed my eyes, and in my mind, I was with him again as he toiled over a desk.
Silence said, I know you didn’t notice, so I am going to point it out to you. What language is this written in?
Frowning, I looked the letter over again and did a double take.
Silence continued, This letter is in modern English. When he was alive, he wrote in Greek.
My thumb rubbed over the edge of the letter. I thought back to the frequency Merlin locked himself up in his tower to read and research, and how he’d worked on developing the same uncanny insight as Vainya, but he did have some ability to see the future.
And what did he mean by “It is good to see you again”? I lifted my eyes to the glaring Aaron Hardin, and my heart sped up. Holding my breath, I shifted my vision to see him magically, trying to focus on Aaron’s threads. I nearly gasped in delight at the purple and blue shifting colors.
A thread of fate, as thick as my forearm, reached from him to me.
My baby boy had been reincarnated!
His glower shifted into apprehension as he leaned back in his chair. “Why ya lookin’ at me like that?”
“No reason.” I couldn’t have removed the shit-eating grin from my face if I had wanted to. “Tell me more about you. Did you get good grades in school? Do people like you? What’s your favorite color?”
Aaron jabbed a finger at me. “Stop that shite now.”
I wobbled my lower lip. “So mean! I’m just trying to know you better.”
He scoffed. “Right. I read about ye when I was chosen for this shite job,” he said, pulling my attention back to the conversation. “There’s rules about ye. Yer allowed tae come an’ go as ye want. Anythin’ ye need here is yers for the taking.”
I re-folded the paper and tucked it away into a safe compartment of my bag. I’d have to consider the meaning and purpose of it later. “And? What’s your point?”
“Well, disrespect intended, but this is a bunch o’ bullshite. All other rules an’ procedures change over time... but that one. It makes me wonder about how frequent yer here.”
My eyes looked over the man, picking my words carefully. “Perhaps once every fifty to a hundred years, depending on what you have. And if you haven’t noticed what’s gone missing, then you didn’t need it.”
“Mebbeh. Mebbeh not. It doesn’t mean ah like it. But I’m wantin’ tae be clear, ye can come an’ go as ye want. The order won’t listen tae me, nor the land. I tried tae have the place re-warded tae keep ye out, and ye know what happened?”
My repose was making explosion sounds while wiggling my fingers around my face.
He glared daggers at me. “Aye. Summit like that. So we can’t keep ye out or stop ye... But when ye leave the grounds”—he leaned closer, eyes burning—“I will hunt ye down an’ take back what’s ours.”
That lack of control must be very frustrating. I encourage you to mock him for it.
I grinned, showing sharp teeth. “Is this a good time to remind you that you’ve taken everything here from somewhere else?” I moved to sit partly on the edge of the desk. “That’s pretty hypocritical.”
His eyes narrowed. “Mah point stands.”
“Point noted. Though, since you gave me a letter, it’s only fair if I give you one as well.” I pulled out my own and rested it on the table.
Aaron didn’t move to take it. “What is it?”
“The reason for my visit. I’ve come to deliver serve papers to you and your Order about a magi purposefully breaking the Pendragon Treaty. The details are listed inside, along with the list of fines.”
His hand tightened on the tumbler. “Yer not serious.”
“Super, duper serious.”
Aaron reached for my envelope and ripped it open ruthlessly. His eyes skimmed over the lines and he slammed the paper onto the desk. “Dammit!”
Moving off the desk, I walked to the corkboard in one corner of the room. Several photos littered the board with cue cards. Looking over them, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Aaron snapped, “What’s so funny?”
I tapped the board with a knuckle. “You track things the same way I do.” My finger rested on Samuel’s picture and I traced the thread to another picture with Caldrin written on it. “What’s the deal with this guy?”
Aaron looked up from the papers. “Why ye askin’?”
“Because he hired me for a job, and I don’t like how he smells.”
The magi snorted. “And ye shouldn’t. Bad apple, that one. Used to be our best archivist and then he left with a bunch of our books and several disciples. You know where he is?”
“I know where he was. No clue where he is now.”
He scoffed. “What work did he hire ye for? Or can’t ye say?”
“He made this little gem technology thing that enables Hunters to track and abduct mythics, which they’ve been doing.” I scratched my jaw while adding, “I probably should have mentioned that to you first.”
Aaron’s eyes widened until I worried they’d fall out of his skull. “Yer fuckin’ with me.”
Silence cackled. Okay, that expression alone made the trip worth it.
“Wish I were, but I’m not.” I tilted my head toward him. “You didn’t know about it?”
“Fuck, no. I cannot even—Why would—Argh!” Aaron drained what was left in his glass and slammed it down on the desk. He waved me off with a hand. “Get out. Go. Ye’ve left me with right pile of crap to deal wit’.”
“Rude,” I said, twirling toward the door. Pausing on the threshold, I looked back at the magi and cooed, “Nice meeting you, Master Hardin. I wish you luck with your future responsibilities.”
The glower he leveled at me was impressive. “Ye can shove that up yer arse, too!”
A laugh sounded from my throat before I could stop it. I turned and left the room, a wide grin on my face. Aaron Hardin was going to be fun to fuck with.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Kinky-Kinky
The hallway remained empty on my way back to David. I kept expecting someone to jump out in the stillness and go “Boo!”
Silence’s will floated close to mine, ready to merge if needed. Your people skills are worse than mine.
I frowned, peeking around the corner. “Why worse? I thought I was rather civil, all things considered.” Another empty hall. It nagged at the back of my mind, but I hoped it was because of Goodfellow.
First, you let him live. I would at least cut out his tongue for the disrespect despite the letter asking you not to harm him.
I rolled my eyes and moved toward the entrance to my hidden passage. “He needs that to cast spells, Silence.”
And? He’ll live longer without it.
Pressing my hand to the wall, I waited as the magic triggered at my touch and a portion of the wall slid wide enough to allow me to pass through. David pushed himself off the opposing wall at my entrance. Ratatoskr cra
wled over his chest and up around his back to rest on a shoulder.
David asked, “What took so long?”
“The new head honcho was in his office. We had a bit of a chit-chat.”
Ratatoskr leaped to me and curled up about my neck. “Did he tell you anything interesting?”
“A little, but I’ll share it when we’re out of here.” I lifted a hand to lightly scratch the top of the squirrel’s head. Jerking my head down the hall, I gestured David to follow. “Come on, let’s get this done.”
We walked along the dim hallway until I came to a section of wall with a chalk circle over it. Pressing my hand to it, I pushed until the section of wall gave under my efforts enough to let me peek through. I opened the way farther for David to come out with me.
David remained a silent presence at my back as I finished my inspection. I felt kind of bad. It’d taken some magi hours to enchant the floor and all that work was going to be erased. I knelt and pulled Silence free before pressing the end of his hilt onto the floor before me.
You’re a slave driver, you know that?
The corner of my lip quirked up. “I know, I’m terrible. Asking you to eat all this magic. I’ll have you bitching about your girlish figure in no time.”
The magic in the room shuddered; the air around us became static. Keeping my eyes on the ground, I watched the luminous wards and the web they formed slide across the floor toward Silence. The slow movements picked up once Silence had a hold of the first few wards, and he sucked them all up in a matter of moments.
“That thing is handy,” Ratatoskr said.
“He has his uses,” I said as I stood and returned Silence to his sheath. “It’s why I keep him around.”
If you only knew, for our want of blood and gore, fulfilled together. Hrm. I’m getting better at improv. Write it down later.
I picked up my bag and took a step into the room. When nothing happened, I released a breath and motioned for David to come in.