The Paragon Element (Book 1)

by Jeff Hale

  “So what’s this information that you wanted to give to Aerick so he can complete his assignment?” Bianca asked impatiently, trying to steer the conversation away from herself.

  “Evidently someone in Investigations didn’t do their job when gathering the information about Ms. Dietrich. Apparently a fae was watching her residence,” Dan said, turning and heading back down the hall, motioning for us to follow. I did, but as Bianca started to trail behind me, Dan looked over his shoulder. “Just him. You have work to catch up on, don’t you, Miss Haid?”

  She nodded in deference, turned on her heel and stormed off. I couldn’t blame her. I would have been pissed too if I was her, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I continued on, right behind Dan, and as we turned into the hallway that led to his office the air became cool and slightly damp, like walking into a vast cavern. A mild scent of wet limestone seemed to permeate the air all of a sudden, and I knew without a doubt if I were to close my eyes I could easily fool myself that I was in a cavern miles beneath the surface of the planet.

  The walls took on a rocky texture and I heard a slight rumbling behind them, almost as if the earth itself moved just beyond the walls. The door ahead was made of thick wood, and upon reaching it, I noticed that the wood still seemed alive, as if it was still part of the tree it had been cut from.

  Dan led me into his office, and there the walls still had the rocky texture, though I could see roots weaving themselves at random patterns in and out of them. The floor was hard packed earth, and the desk which Dan moved to sit behind seemed to grow from the ground, as did the various cabinets that lined the walls, and the chairs that were on this side of the desk.

  This was what it meant to be the master of your element. I was impressed. And a bit nervous. I didn’t like the idea of someone I couldn’t trust wielding that kind of power.

  “Don’t get used to the idea of her being your Councilor. Her days are numbered. Likely she’ll be in research before the year is out. Anyway it seems that Agent Steven Wirth was scared off by the prospect of a fae watching Ms. Dietrich and decided that instead of doing his job he would leave and file a half-done report,” Dan told me briskly, picking a file folder up from his desk and holding it out to me.

  Fae again. Other than the Cyclopes at the Velvet Flame, I had never dealt with fae and all I knew of them were what MAGE had taught me. They were dangerous creatures of the Aether, said to have powers that far eclipsed our own. We were to avoid them at all costs. I probably would have left too if the shifter was being watched and possibly protected by a fae.

  “Thanks for the information, but too little too late, don’t you think?” I asked, turning to walk out of his office, letting him take my statement however he wanted to.

  “Aerick, keep your eyes open out there. Oh, and eventually you’ll have to choose sides. When you do, make sure you’re on the right one,” he called out as I reached for the door. I had a feeling that Dan Ritter was up to more than he let on, but then that went without saying. I turned back briefly and gave him a searching look.

  “So who was Agent Wirth working for? Which Councilor?” I asked.

  “He was one of mine, why?” Dan said in an off-hand tone.

  “Funny that you can’t control your agents well enough to keep them in the field to do their job. Did he ever think to speak with the local shifter pack?” I asked, a thought coming to mind.

  “He did, and they were unaware of Ms. Dietrich’s presence. They weren’t even able to sense her in their territory, which is rather odd. She does have a brand or tattoo on her that may have been masking her. A hooded skull with filed teeth. It is enchanted, so we are looking into it,” he said, folding his hands in front of himself on the desk.

  “Good. Get back to me when you have any information regarding that. And never for once assume that you can control me, Ritter,” I said as I turned on my heel and left. I was skating on thin ice and I knew it, but I also didn’t care at that moment.

  He was threatening someone who seemed to be a nice enough person, and as far as I was concerned he was threatening to pull me out of where I felt comfortable to work directly for him so that he could force me to march to his drum. Wasn’t going to happen if I could help it.

  I looked through the folder as I waited for the bus that would take me to school. Despite Dan’s comments in regards to the agent’s lack of diligence, there was still more information in the file than what MAGE had provided me. I found some more pictures of Elsa Dietrich, and some of her home. Under the photos was a photocopied form with her address and notes from the reporting agent, Steven Wirth, stating that he had, on several occasions, noticed what seemed to be a powerful fae in the area. He went on to stake out the house for as long as possible before leaving the assignment due to the fae’s presence. There was a hand-written note attached to the corner of the report that stated Dan’s desire to send poor Agent Wirth to a remote, backwater posting due to his abandoning the assignment.

  What a douche.

  ____________________

  Halloween was right around the corner, which meant one of two things for me: either a really quiet night, or complete hell as we tried to plug up any and all holes that other supernatural creatures attempted to create.

  For some reason on Halloween the Barrier was especially thin, creating an excess of Aetheric energy that made us supernaturals more powerful. Consequently, the possibility of a secrecy breech was greater and most supernaturals stayed indoors and flew under the radar, their own societies informing their people to lay low and to not use their abilities. In some cases they were outright forbidden upon pain of death to use any supernatural abilities. But there were always those that figured they could use the chaos of Halloween night to cause some trouble of their own anyway.

  Naturally, MAGE was on full alert for those types, and Halloween was special for us because it was a no questions asked, kill on sight event. If something used its abilities at all, we would be there and the creature in question would be eliminated. Period. So of course I was already neck deep in paper work, and homework, trying to get everything done by Halloween.

  As a result, my friendships were becoming strained. Nina wasn’t happy that I was working all the time. Neither was Kat, who was acting a bit coldly around me now. Not that I could blame her. I never did get a chance to set up a redo on our failed date, and I knew I owed her that. Or did I? After all, I never agreed to a date to begin with.

  On the other hand, Kelly was being nicer and nicer to me, holding actual conversations with me after class. Nothing big really, mainly little things about class or about some event or other that had happened to her or her friends.

  It was the Friday before Halloween weekend, with Halloween night actually falling on a Sunday. As I headed towards the Wall after school, Nina approached me. She was looking particularly in the spirit of the season wearing a short leather skirt, and tight matching corset, with a witch’s hat. She had dyed her hair black with orange and purple streaks.

  “So, I know you’re working a lot, but please tell me you got Saturday off? Please?” she pleaded with me. She was in luck. MAGE was giving me the weekend off while they researched the sigil that was tattooed on Ms. Dietrich and tried to discern the lich’s location. So hopefully, even if things did decide to go sideways on Halloween, I would only get called if they had a shortage of agents and needed me desperately.

  “I actually do. But I could be called in. Why?” I asked, giving her a slight smile as she squealed in happiness and hugged me.

  “Because I was contracted to do a special Halloween rave at a warehouse owned by Lucien. You remember him, the owner of the Velvet Flame? Anyway he wants me to run an all age’s rave and he’s fronting the money to set the whole thing up! Not to mention he’s paying me twenty five hundred dollars for the gig!” she said in rapid fire, enthusiastic about the whole thing.

  “Okay, how much is this going to cost me to get in?” I asked, knowing the other shoe had to drop at s
ome point.

  “Nothing! I’m getting you, Dave, and Kat in for free!” she said, fairly jumping up and down.

  “Okay. Okay. I’ll go. But no trying to set me up with one of your rave rats.” I gave her a stern look.

  “I won’t! I promise! Besides, Kat is going to be there. But you have to get a costume,” she said, before excitedly running back to the group while yelling, “Rick’s gonna be there! He’s doesn’t have to work!”

  I could see Dave give me a thumbs up, but Kat just gave me an indifferent look like she couldn’t care less. For some reason, her attitude hurt me. A part of me really did want her to care and not just write me off. Since I didn’t have a costume, I veered towards the bus stop, deciding to skip the Wall and find a costume shop before I was left with nothing but cheap plastic that wouldn’t impress anyone. I ended up going to a locally owned shop where the costumes were handmade, with good quality materials, but they were expensive as a result. I hated spending that kind of money, but if I was going to get a costume it was going to be a good one.

  I ended up buying a World War II American aviator uniform, complete with pilot’s helmet. At least I would have something to go with my model collection after it was used as a costume. Then I went home to get some rest because I knew that this weekend had the potential to be long if I got called in. Besides, it was nice to actually get some relaxation in. I finished my chess game with myself and played some Civilization on my computer before going to bed.

  Saturday evening rolled around and Nina arrived to pick me up right as I was putting on the costume. I opened the door and my jaw just about hit the floor. Nina stood there in a light-blue minidress that was pretty much see-through. A wide gold belt wrapped snugly around her waist and a gold torque graced her neck. Her makeup was done in an Egyptian style and all her jewelry looked like authentic Egyptian pieces. She must have paid an arm and a leg for quality reproductions like that, and she had an expensive looking cat’s head mask tucked under her arm.

  “And you’re going as?” I asked, thinking maybe Cleopatra for a second before I saw the cat head.

  “Bast? The goddess of kitties?” she said, holding up the mask. “Dave’s going as Ra.”

  “Interesting. Why Egyptian gods?” I asked, curious.

  “I found a good deal on the masks earlier this year and I knew Mom had some heirloom jewelry so I decided to make costumes around them.” She was clearly proud of herself. She should have been. The costume, while distracting for obvious reasons, was really well done. Although I did wonder briefly how her mother was in possession of heirloom Egyptian jewelry. “And you’re going as a World War II pilot.” Nina nodded. “Should have guessed. That’s a really well-made costume. Must have cost a small fortune.”

  “Yeah. It kind of did. But that’s okay. I can put it away with my collection.” I shrugged.

  “Your dad would have liked it,” she said softly.

  “Thanks, Nina. That means a lot,” I said, hugging her.

  “You ready to go then?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Let’s. Where are Dave and Kat?” I looked at the truck as we headed towards it. There was no one in it.

  “Oh, I dropped them off with my equipment so Dave could start setting up. Kat’s helping,” she explained as we climbed in.

  “What did Kat decide to be?” I asked, curious.

  “Do you care?” Nina’s response was cold.

  “I do. Of course I do. Look. I like Kat, my work just makes things… complicated. I mean, would it be fair to her if I only got to see her at school and like one hour a week otherwise?” I pointed out.

  “I guess not. But you need to tell her that,” Nina said matter-of-factly.

  “I know. I just haven’t been able to. I keep thinking she’ll take it the wrong way,” I explained.

  “Just tell her. And she’s wearing my old sexy gothic fairy costume since she didn’t have one of her own down here. I had to do some last minute adjustments, but it looks great on her,” Nina answered.

  My mind raced with that answer. I knew the costume Nina was talking about, and the thought of seeing Kat in it made my heart pick up the pace a bit. We arrived at the party about thirty minutes later. It was in a medium sized warehouse near downtown Las Vegas. It had a wide open area near the center and a high-tech booth had been set up to the right of that. A bar was to the left, and a short, tough looking bartender was getting stuff ready. The whole place was surrounded by a metal catwalk that several sets of stairs led up to.

  The entire building was done up in full blown Halloween decorations, and not the cheap kind. Thick webbings hung all over doors, walls, and windows, and random things jumped out at people and screamed, growled, and groaned when they stepped in the right areas. A low fog from a well hidden machine poured across the floor.

  Once Nina checked that everything was set up, we met up with Dave and Kat. When I saw Kat in Nina’s old costume my heart skipped a beat, and other things took interest. The costume was skimpy and showed a lot of skin. A purple, low-cut corset top cinched in an off the shoulder puffy black shirt, and a short, vinyl black skirt ended well above knee-high vinyl high-heeled boots. It came complete with black and purple gossamer wings and a crown with black and purple roses.

  “So, uh… sorry about… I don’t know. Everything,” I apologized when I got a chance to say something to Kat.

  “It’s okay. I know you’re busy with work. I can’t really hold that against you I guess,” Kat admitted.

  “Look, I promise I’ll dance with you, okay?” I said as a way to smooth things over.

  “It’s a deal.” She flashed me a smile.

  When the rave actually started, I made good on my promise immediately, leading Kat into the crowd of dancers. Let me tell you now that dancing to techno or trance is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. It’s more than just putting on a pretty light show with glowsticks like the movies would have you believe. The intricate movements have to flow, almost like you have no bones, like water. A little bit of popping and locking, and maybe some isolations if the dancer was really good. I had been told I was good, but I wasn’t so sure. Sometimes I felt incredibly silly and self-conscious. Kat opted for just draping herself with liquid light bracelets and necklaces, dancing normally, and I had to admit, hotly, because she was unfamiliar with rave style.

  We’d been dancing for several minutes when a girl caught my eye. She was short, maybe five three without the spiked heels, slender, but also voluptuous in black vinyl pants and a matching bikini top that fought to keep her breasts under control. Her skin was pale, what some people would call alabaster, except I thought it might even go beyond that. Long black hair fell down her back. Her lipstick was deep crimson, and while I couldn’t see her eye color from this distance, her eyes were dark with smoky shadow.

  She was absolutely gorgeous, and I sensed a bit of something else about her as well, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. I didn’t bother to check with my Aether Sight because for all I knew, the whole place might be full of supernaturals and I was off the clock. As I danced with Kat I kept an eye on the girl, but in a way that Kat wouldn’t notice. Wouldn’t do to have her see me looking at another girl while I was dancing with her. I lost the mystery girl after the fourth song. By the time the sixth song ended, I was feeling fairly tired and went to the bar to get a water, while Kat went to find Dave.

  “So, flyboy. Enjoying the view?” I heard a sultry voice from behind me. I spun around and the mystery girl was standing right in front of me. My mouth gaped open briefly as, up close now, the full force of her beauty struck me. Violet. Her eyes were a deep violet color.

  “Er… uh… yeah. I guess?” I stammered. Smooth going there, Kerensky.

  “Good. Good. We need to talk,” she said, grabbing my hand and leading me to a quiet corner. How she found a quiet corner in a packed warehouse was beyond me. Why I followed her without question was also beyond me, but it might have had something to do with her breasts bouncing slightly
as she strode with purpose, not to mention the very shapely ass that I was able to watch as we walked.

  Once we got settled in our little corner she gave me a brief smile and shook her head. That’s when my brain decided to function again to some degree.

  “Wait. Who are you and why did you drag me over here?” I asked suspiciously.

  “My name is Raven, and I’ve been watching you for a little while now. You are a much more capable agent than the other one they sent to watch the shaman,” she remarked with a look of disgust clear on her face.

  It all clicked into place. “You were the fae that was watching the werewolf!” I blurted out.

  “How very astute, Mr. Kerensky. Do you realize what kind of trouble you’ve caused me?” She glared at me.

  Oh, fuck me. I stood, took a step back and started to conjure my shield, purely on instinct. I didn’t think I had the ability to stop her if she wanted me dead, but I would try, and hopefully make her at least regret it in the process.

  “I don’t want to fight you, but I will if you force the issue,” I said, taking another step back and reaching for my daggers but not pulling them. I didn’t have much room here and the wall was close behind me.

  “Do you realize that Elsa Dietrich was working for a very powerful and very influential lich? That lich is now under the belief that I had something to do with his lover’s death!” she said tightly. I thought I saw something flash in those violet eyes and she waved a hand. “Now granted, I could eliminate this lich easily enough, but his family… his family is pretty much the closest you can get to vampiric royalty. I have no one to fall back on right now, and you just potentially brought that entire family’s wrath upon my shoulders, you little worm!” There was anger apparent in every word.