Dreamleaf Blues (The Book Wielder Saga)

by Sean Davies

  “He did mention that he used to work for you,” Genevieve said back icily.

  “For my masters,” Jonathan corrected. “He reported directly to them, and they were very sad to see him go.”

  The statement surprised Genie, and she wondered if he’d handled a lot more than ferrying supplies like he had told her. She assumed it was shady, to say the least.

  When Genevieve didn’t reply, Jonathan put his hands in the air slowly. “You can drop the blade, I’m really only here to talk.”

  “Uh huh…” she replied disbelievingly.

  Jonathan let out a long dreary sigh and then flicked two of his fingers to the side. Genevieve felt as though an invisible car had struck her sword, and it flew from her grasp and fell blade first into the floor. Genie reached for her throwing knives but could only feel her soft pyjamas. Remembering that they were no longer equipped, she flushed with embarrassment and raised her hands in defeat as Jonathan lowered his.

  “Ready to talk?” the Mage asked in an all too kind tone. “That’s all I’m here for, like I said before. You’re not in any kind of trouble,” he added in a less patronising voice.

  Genevieve lowered her hands slowly and then folded them across her chest. “Fine, what is it you want from me?”

  “Word has spread about your natural talents,” the Mage began charmingly. “You see, we have eyes and ears everywhere.”

  Genie wondered who in the Golden Fangs was a Trinity spy, but tried her best not to let it show. “And?” she asked in a blasé tone.

  “Well, my masters and I feel that someone with your ability would be more suited training with the best, for the best!” he said proudly. “You could really make something of your new life under the Trinity’s guidance.”

  “It’s funny, but I haven’t heard anything good about the Trinity, except that you kicked ass in the olden days.”

  “You’ve only heard what the Golden Fangs have told you,” Jonathan said, “and they’re not exactly the trustworthy type, are they?”

  Genevieve grumbled an acknowledgement; he had her on that point.

  “They also like to make an exhibition of themselves,” he said distastefully. “Not enough to be a major overt threat, but enough to continually test our patience. The time will eventually come when my masters have had enough.”

  “And you think I should be with your lot when the shit hits the fan?” Genie assumed.

  “I’d be happy for you to be anywhere other than with them,” Jonathan replied genuinely. “You’re a newly turned Supernatural, and you’re really not their type. I’d hate to see someone so young and full of potential meet a tragic end due to the company they keep.”

  “It’s a tempting offer,” Genie said with a smile, “but I need to stay with them, for now anyway.”

  “Why is that?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Genie chuckled. “I thought you had eyes and ears everywhere?”

  “Maybe not everywhere then, but still enough,” Jonathan conceded. “I heard it’s a family issue, but I couldn’t get a confirmation from my source. Apparently the gilded fools at the fort are mainly talking about two key points when it comes to you; your speed, and your looks.”

  Genevieve blushed. “Oh… well, yeah. They’ve got a proverbial knife to my parents’ throats. That, and they’re helping me find my friend.”

  “The one your neighbour mentioned?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah, she went missing a few weeks back.”

  “You know, we can accommodate for family if I’m given enough time to get them authorised, and I’m sure we could help you track down your friend,” the Mage said kindly. “What is she? Vampire, Werewolf, Mage?”

  “Human,” Genie replied. “She was involved with drug dealing, and someone went through the effort of sending her parents a fake letter.”

  “Ah, of course she’d be a human, or at least she would’ve been at the time…” Jonathan mused sadly. “I’m afraid we don’t watch humans with the same scrutiny as Supernaturals – unless they warrant it, of course – but I’ll still see what I can find. If you would consider my offer, at the very least? Remember, those that they’ve threatened can live safely with us, provided they obey our simple rules.”

  Genevieve took it all in before finally answering. “Okay, deal. I’ll think about it. Maybe we can work something out in the future.”

  She was glad to have another helper in the search for Annabelle, and a possible exit route from the Golden Fang gang that allowed hers and Annabelle’s parents’ safety too. She made a mental note to learn more about the Trinity from a more reputable source than Seth’s gang, and hoped that the cheeky representative wasn’t just having her on.

  Jonathan dug out a jet-black business card with his name and number on it. The card was also marked with a silver triangle, divided into three equal sections by a set of lines running from each corner and meeting in its centre. Genie assumed it was the Trinity of Old’s symbol.

  She scribbled down her contact information on a piece of scrap paper (she was certain the Trinity knew at least half of it, but Genie didn’t want to take any chances) and passed it over.

  Jonathan shook her hand. “I’ll be in touch if I hear anything about your friend, and the minute you get tired of those gold-plated thugs, you give me a ring.”

  “Thank you, I will,” she said with a heartfelt smile.

  Jonathan blushed slightly and went to leave, but before he reached for the door handle he stopped himself and spoke quietly. “Have you tried the Military Peace Keeper stations in the area?”

  Genie nodded and curled her lip. “Yep, less than useless would be an understatement on that front.”

  The Mage shook his head. “No, no, not the officers. The actual stations and outposts themselves; computers, files, notes?”

  Genevieve couldn’t believe what the Trinity’s emissary was implying, and she could almost hear Annabelle praising the power of flirtation. ‘Imagine what useful tips you could get out of him if you went a bit further than a smile…’ the mental image of Anna said naughtily, and Genie accidentally shushed her out loud.

  “You get what I’m saying, right?” Jonathan said, giving her a concerned look.

  “Yes, sorry.” Genie composed herself quickly. “But wouldn’t snooping around like that land me in a whole heap of trouble, with the humans and yourselves?!”

  “Only if you get caught,” he said with a quick wink. “I’d recommend trying the smaller stations and taking cash for bribes – if I approved of such terrible behaviour, that is.”

  Genie chuckled as he walked out of the apartment. “You’ve been a surprisingly big help, Jonathan Knight.”

  “And you make surprisingly good company for a Golden Fang, Genevieve Jameson,” he replied cheekily. “Remember to give me that call.”

  “I might…” she said in her own cheeky way, before closing the door.

  She pulled her Katana out of the floor and cleaned it lovingly before sheathing it again.

  Genevieve added entries to her digital journal on her own interactions with the Trinity representative, the potential implications that their help could bring to her investigation efforts, and her theories on who the Trinity mole was inside Fort Dominia, as she waited eagerly for nightfall. Her money was on either Kaylie or Tanesha.

  When the sun began to set, Genie got changed into a loose black miniskirt and a tight white t-shirt with a cool black and pink rose pattern around the neck and sleeves. She equipped her throwing knives on her thigh, just above where her skirt ended, and put on a long white coat.

  There was a small MPK outpost in Taynulia, the picturesque mountain town east of Fort Dominia and north of Gaelliard city, and Genevieve knew it would make an easy target to infiltrate. There was a larger station in Woodsholme, but Genie assumed its security would be much tighter than one out in the sticks, and she would only risk it if the one at Taynulia didn’t reveal any leads.

  Genie took a towel out of her airing cupboard
and wrapped her Katana up to hide it from sight. She wasn’t planning on using it that evening, as Genie only intended on having a stealthy snoop of the MPK records, but she thought it was better to play it safe, especially on the quiet country roads. She also remembered Jonathan’s advice and took her purse, as she’d much rather bribe her way out of trouble than resort to careless violence.

  As soon as she was satisfied that the sun was gone, Genevieve left her apartment and hopped into her flashy blue jeep. She felt guilty for not taking the car Annabelle had given her, but she couldn’t deny the fact that the jeep was a lot faster and handled the country roads much better. Genie laid her disguised Katana on the passenger’s seat along with her handbag, and headed out into the cloudy night.

  She drove east out of Woodsholme, taking the smooth main roads at first and then diverting off onto the quieter back lanes surrounded by vast fields and sprawling forests, and the mountains that lined the outer edge of the continent of Rura grew taller on the horizon. Her enhanced senses made driving at high speeds a breeze, and it wasn’t long before her jeep was climbing steeper as she approached the main mountain road that would take her south to Taynulia.

  Genevieve smiled when she saw the road winding around the dark mountain range; her detour had paid off, and there wasn’t another car in sight. She slammed her foot down on the pedal and her jeep roared through the night. Far below, Genevieve could see the twinkling lights of the villages and towns, and the headlights from all the cars taking the more popular and congested routes.

  Although she was having a blast, Genie still kept an eye out for danger. Her isolated surroundings made for an excellent ambush site, and as the drive went on Genevieve became increasingly edgy. It was her first night alone since she’d learnt of the hidden Supernatural society and Genie was now all too aware of the secret dangers in the world around her. As two pairs of headlights flashed onto her rear-view mirror, her niggling fears erupted into full-blown paranoia.

  Two cars were driving side by side on the road behind her, and they were doing a good job of sticking to the bendy roads at the speed they were travelling. Genie wiggled her mirror to get a better look but all she could see was four bright headlights, and as the cars closed in they arranged themselves into single file on the wrong side of the road.

  Genevieve reached for her blade as the cars neared, but they zoomed past her without incident. She caught a snippet of two young, well-dressed drivers with cans of beer in their hands as they went by. Genie let out a sigh of relief as the two cars fanned out and continued their dangerous drunken race ahead of her, quickly disappearing into the night.

  A short while later, Genie arrived at Taynulia. She made her way past the large country houses and charming cottages that made up the old town and wound her way down towards the modern buildings situated beyond a clear river that divided the old from the new. She drove over a bridge and headed towards the MPK station, and as Genie did she noticed that some of the shops still had their lights on. Genie decided to try her luck with some late-night shopping after her investigation of the station.

  She parked her jeep down a quiet residential cul-de-sac, as Genie didn’t want her impressive motor tipping the officers off to her presence, and walked quickly and quietly to the station.

  The MPK outpost was a drab, unattractive grey cube on the edge of town, the only colour on the structure coming from the World Banners hanging in-between its barred windows. Four black and red patrol cars were lined up outside in the parking lot, just opposite a metal fire escape platform on the first floor with its ladder retracted.

  Genie skirted around the building, trying to appear as casual as possible as she scoped out the outpost. She could only see one officer sitting behind the front desk, and the lights on the first floor were off, so she made her way over to the fire escape. Genevieve bent her knees and then sprang upwards, grabbing the railing and pulling herself over onto the metal platform, and was impressed with her own acrobatic skills. Seth had been right; being a Vampire would greatly assist her investigation. Genie pressed on the door’s metal bar handle and slipped inside. The building’s alarm came on, which Genevieve had been expecting, and she was already crouched behind a nearby desk when someone came to investigate.

  The MPK office was sectioned off into grey cubicles, each containing a powerful PC and a mountain of paperwork, and the walls were covered in white boards, notice boards, and pictures of missing and wanted individuals.

  A woman in a black and red uniform stormed up the stairs and towards the fire exit. Her hair was styled in a neat bun that was brown and grey in colour, and Genie guessed that she was in her late forties. The MPK kicked the metal door with her black boot, and when she was satisfied that it was secure she began swearing and messing with the alarm panel to disarm it. As soon as the beeping stopped she lit up a cigarette, gave the door another kick for good measure, and then strolled back downstairs.

  Genevieve gave it five minutes and then moved out of hiding. She sat down at a desk and powered the computer on. She was amazed at how quickly the small black and silver PC booted to the login screen, and was envious of the military-grade tech. Genie quietly sifted through the piles of paper work, hoping that the desk’s owner had carelessly recorded their password, but stopped as soon as she heard quiet footsteps. She peeked over the grey cubical divider and saw a gun pointed in her direction; the MPK had removed her boots and snuck back up the stairs. The officer flicked on the light switch and Genie quickly ducked down, blinking as she readjusted to seeing in regular light while she desperately thought about her next move.

  “I saw you, red-eyes!” the MPK yelled. “I know where you are and what you are, so you might as well get back up!”

  Genie cursed under her breath and reached for a throwing knife, just in case the officer wasn’t up for haggling out a deal. At best, she might be able to disarm the woman and run away. Genevieve got up slowly and watched the MPK intently.

  “What do you want?” the woman asked loudly.

  “Information,” Genie answered while summing up her possible escape routes.

  The officer scowled and holstered her pistol. “Then why didn’t you just come to the front desk and ask for a peek?”

  “I… didn’t know that was an option,” Genie replied, confused.

  “Two-hundred Imperial Credits is the going rate,” the woman said as she approached fearlessly. “Who are you with, gang or organisation wise?”

  “The Golden Fangs,” Genie said while pulling out her cash.

  “Then let’s call it two-fifty,” the MPK said with her hand outstretched.

  Genie sneered. “You’re joking, right?”

  “Does it look like I’m laughing?” the MPK asked in a snide voice.

  Genevieve grumbled, fished out another note, and then passed them all over. Her new-found funds had been decimated in a single night.

  “Thank you.” The officer smiled smugly and then sat down at the desk. She logged onto the PC and looked up at the Vampire. “So, what do you want to know?”

  “Anything you’ve got on an Annabelle Jones,” Genevieve asked eagerly.

  The officer tapped on a bar at the bottom of the desktop screen and typed in Anna’s name. A file instantly popped up on the screen, and the MPK opened it to reveal a picture of the stunning blonde with a column of info running down the side of the screen.

  The MPK studied the text beside Annabelle’s picture. “Looks like the Woodsholme station set up a file on her,”

  “You’re on the network?” Genie gasped. “That was almost instantaneous!”

  “Private military network,” the officer answered as she sifted through the information. “Runs parallel to the civilian net for general info-sharing purposes, but transfers data a lot quicker.”

  Genie once again found herself in envy of the Military Peace Keepers and their advanced equipment.

  “Nothing interesting… out in the open, at least.” The MPK held some keys down on the keyboard and a sma
ll black box with white text appeared.

  Genevieve knew it was a command portal, but she couldn’t understand what the officer was writing in it.

  “Here we go.” The woman pressed enter and the writing beside Annabelle changed into a few notes in bright red text on a black background.

  Genie scanned the writing, but it was all abbreviated or written in code. “What does it mean?” she asked nervously.

  The woman pointed to a section that read ‘DWL.1000.00.PM.SC’. “That means she was on the dealer white list for one thousand Credits per month, for the Shadow Circle. Fuck me, she must have been one hell of a pusher for them to pay that much out.”

  Genie gave the MPK a baffled look. “Sorry, what’s the dealer white list?”

  “You haven’t been doing this for long, have you?” the officer asked rhetorically with an amused smirk. “That’s how much the Shadow Circle gang were paying us lenient MPKs to look the other way when it came to this Annabelle’s drug dealing.”

  Genie’s eyes went wide as she processed the information. The Shadow Circle, another gang of Supernaturals, were her friend’s employers, and if Genie could get a hold of them then she might be a step closer to discovering Annabelle’s fate.

  The MPK pointed at two dated codes at the bottom of the page. “Looks like she was reported as missing by a ‘G.J’, and a few days before that the monthly payments were stopped by a ‘G@OV’. That doesn’t bode well for blondie.”

  Genevieve frowned. “Do you know who G@OV could be?”

  She shook her head. “We keep it vague for a reason. You could try at the Woodsholme station, but you’ll need a lot more cash. The bigger the station, the bigger the bribe,” the woman chuckled. “I wouldn’t go snooping unannounced, either. You lot might think you’re immortal, but you’d be surprised at what lead and fire – not to mention explosives – can achieve. Now, our session is at an end, unless you’ve got another wad of Credits?”

  Genie thought about the solitary Fifty-Credit note in her purse, shook her head, and murmured a goodbye. She was deep in thought as she walked towards the fire exit.