The Paragon Element (Book 1)

by Jeff Hale

  Vampiric royalty? If what she said was true, then the lich was a member of the Ur-Nanshe family, who owed their vampiric existence to the King of Hell, Belial. She might have been fae, but even a singular fae couldn’t hold off over three hundred vampires.

  I could feel Aetheric energy rolling off of her, at levels that rivaled anything I had ever felt before. I backed up the last step I could, a new respect coloring my judgment of the creature in front of me. And that’s exactly what she was, a creature, and a powerful one at that.

  “Instead of you killing me here, maybe we can work something out,” I said, and immediately regretted it. It was pure idiocy to make a deal with a fae. They had a penchant for holding a person directly to the letter of such an agreement while they found loopholes that they could easily exploit, something they had in common with demons.

  She looked at me with renewed interest, the anger fading, and I saw what I thought was a flicker of pure lust cross her features. “Perhaps we can at that. You are an interesting human. But you aren’t quite human, are you? But then you knew that. Didn’t you?”

  “I’m human, yes. I just have some abilities that most humans don’t have access to,” I said hesitantly.

  “No. No. You’re more than you believe yourself to be. But I’ll just leave it at that. Now about that deal?” She arched a perfectly sculpted black brow.

  “I don’t know. How do I know I can trust you?” I asked, giving her a candid look.

  “You don’t. And if you’re smart, you won’t,” she said simply. Such honesty from a fae was uncommon. “But, you offered a deal. You can’t retract that.” She held out her hand expectantly.

  I looked at it skeptically. “What do you want, exactly?” I asked. Probably not the wisest move, but I had nothing else to lose at this point.

  “I want a contract to work with you. I need the money, and I could be a big help to you. Besides, then I would be under the auspices of MAGE, so if I did have to kill that lich, I could say I did it because MAGE asked me to, and since it was your organization that caused this mess in the first place, I’d say it’s apropos. Besides, your agency is looking for the lich, and I know how to find him.” She gave me another lust-filled glance, this time licking her lips.

  “Absolutely not. I work alone.” I shook my head.

  “Too bad. Guess I’ll kill you here and now.” She shrugged and power rose around us again.

  “Okay, fine. Partners, but first tell me why you were watching Ms. Dietrich.” I held my hand out and hoped I wouldn’t regret this.

  She gave me a lascivious smile and shook my hand. I wasn’t sure how to take that look. Either she wanted to fuck me right there and then, or she wanted to put me in a trophy case. I couldn’t tell which it was.

  “I was tasked by the fae court to watch her and the lich for… various reasons. None of which concern you. Now. Follow me. My car is just outside,” Raven told me, heading towards the entrance. I sighed and followed, glancing around for Kat or Dave. I didn’t see them, but if they were dancing, they would be lost in the crush of people. Nina was at the DJ booth, so I wouldn’t be able to get her attention. Great. I knew that I had no way out of this, and no way to tell them I had to go.

  I didn’t want to go with Raven. I didn’t want to work with her. And I definitely did not want this deal with her, but what choice did I have? So I followed along.

  Turned out that Raven’s car was a violet ’69 Mustang and as I got in, I noticed that it had black leather interior, and all the amenities: tinted windows, an awesome sound system, an onboard GPS and one of those lo-jack systems. There were a few extra things on the dash that I didn’t recognize, but I could feel the Aetheric energy coming from them, and I guessed that Raven had gotten some enchanted upgrades to her car as well.

  “So I want to write up a contract if we’re going to do this,” Raven said as she shut the door and settled into the driver’s seat.

  “I’m not authorized to do that,” I told her.

  “Fine. Get someone who is, and we’ll meet at a neutral location. Like, your place.” She gave me that smile again, and it gave me chills.

  “No way. Uh-uh.” I shook my head.

  “Then get out so I can kill you and not make a mess in my car,” she said, reaching over me to open the door.

  “Dammit all. Fine!” I muttered.

  I would have to get to MAGE HQ to get this done. Come to think of it, I needed to question Dan and Bianca about the lich. Far as I could tell they were sending me to face a lich who was a member of vampiric royalty, to die, and having a fae as backup wouldn’t be a terrible idea.

  I gave Raven directions to my apartment and found out within minutes that she drove like a complete whack-job. I seriously began to wonder if we would actually make it home on several occasions. She was doing at least ninety, and I was surprised when we passed first one cop, then a second, and third, and they never seemed to even notice us.

  Raven kept glancing over at me with that lustful expression from time to time, but I knew to keep my distance from her, despite my attraction. Fae were notorious for getting attached to mortals in the worst ways, and such unions always seemed to end in tragedy. Fae tended to have very strong emotions that sometimes got out of control, and there were tales of a fae killing their mortal lovers out of misplaced jealousy, or over simple miscommunications that the fae took the wrong way. There was something else as well, something that made this whole situation seem out of place.

  “So, if you’re fae, where’s your swarm?” A swarm was a fae’s personal group that she was attached to. Kind of like a sorcerer’s circle or a shifter’s pack. If one fae was around, you could almost guarantee that there were at least four others around. After hearing her mention she had no one to fall back on, it made me suspicious.

  “Where’s your circle?” she countered, slanting her eyes my way.

  “I’m still a rookie,” I admitted. “I haven’t been assigned to one yet.”

  “Could have fooled me on the rookie part.” She sighed. “Anyway, I um, I’ve been… exiled,” she finally said, obvious shame filling her voice.

  That made this whole thing a bit safer for me. If her court knew she was having any sort of contact with me, they might possibly send assassins after me, but if she was exiled, then they probably wouldn’t bother. Probably.

  “Wait, I thought you said you were working for the fae courts?” I said, recalling her claim earlier.

  “I do. Just not for my court. I’m not originally from around here. But looks like I’m going to need to eliminate that lich now. He’s tied to something bigger. It will be a shame to lose that link,” she said coolly.

  “Then we’re on the same side. MAGE wants that lich brought in or destroyed,” I said.

  Raven barked out a laugh and gave me an incredulous look. “No mortal can take on an Ur-Nanshe lich. You’ll definitely need my help. Look, I have a decent resume. I’ve worked with the police, the FBI and even the Secret Service once. I know what I’m doing.”

  “Still don’t know that Bianca will go for it, but I’ll ask like you want me to. What choice do I have?” I glanced out the window and slouched in my seat.

  “That’s the right attitude, my boy. We’ll get along just fine if you can keep that up,” she purred, reaching over to run her fingers down my neck in a half teasing caress. I jerked away from her and she laughed.

  Once we got to my apartment, surprisingly in one piece, I called in for an emergency teleportation, since as far as I was concerned, saving my ass from a fae constituted an emergency. As soon as I was in the MAGE HQ I headed to the elevator so I could go directly to Bianca with this. I was practically holding my breath when I knocked on Bianca’s office door. I had no idea how she was going to react.

  “Come in, Aerick,” I heard from behind the door. “You’d better have a damn good reason as to why you’re here when I fought to get you the weekend off, Halloween weekend at that, so you could rest. Nice costume by the way.”


  I’d been in such a hurry I’d forgotten to change. Oh well. “Uh, well. I’m here to talk this whole thing over,” I said as I closed the door behind me.

  “Talk what over?” Her voice had a slight aloofness to it.

  “Well, circumstances about the case have… changed.” I licked my lips, which were suddenly dry, as I sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

  “How?” she asked icily.

  “Well, you see, I may have a partner, if you allow it. A partner that could even the playing field against my target… since, as I’m sure you know, is a lich from the fucking Ur-Nanshe family!”

  “Yes. We did know who you were going after. No, we had no intentions of sending you alone against him once you located him. There are going to be no less than six task forces going in after him. Even got a couple on loan from L.A,” she assured me, not losing her cool demeanor.

  “Well, this new partner would make all of that unnecessary.”

  “Interesting. What kind of partner would be powerful enough to even the odds that much?” she asked, leaning forward a bit now.

  “She’s fae.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “She’s been exiled, she can help since she knows where the lich is, and she won’t bring any trouble with her. I promise to keep her on a tight leash. She’s worked with the police and FBI before. We’d have to sign her on contractually, but you could do that, as a member of the Council, you have that authority, don’t you?”

  “If you could actually control a fae, you wouldn’t need their help to take the lich down, you’d be able to do that on your own.” She paused for a second, seemed lost in thought, then walked around her desk to stand directly in front of me. “Exiled, you say? I don’t know, even bound by contract, controlling a fae would be near impossible, but a fae may prove to be a great asset.”

  Suddenly she leaned into me and put her face up against my neck. My blood began to race, and my heart felt like it was going to beat itself into my stomach. I looked down at her, afraid to move, and I found myself staring directly down her shirt, which made other things begin to stir. Then she looked up at me and I was inches from her face, giving me a look similar to what Raven had given me earlier, only Bianca’s was full of promises.

  I had the impulsive urge to kiss her. I fought that urge with every bit of will I could muster, and it still was difficult to not act. You try having an attractive person that close to you and see if you don’t react. What was it with these girls all of a sudden? She abruptly moved back a step.

  “Fuck, Aerick,” she said, and I wasn’t too put off by the idea, but I think she meant something else. “That bitch already marked you. You may as well go ahead and work with her, she’s not going to take no for an answer anyway. I’ll go with you so she can sign a contract.”

  “She what? Huh?” I was confused by the statement, and by her unexpected movement away from me. I suddenly wanted her close again, wanted the warmth of her body next to me. I sighed inwardly, and then shook my head to clear my thoughts.

  “She marked you. If another fae were to try anything with you, positive or negative, she has the right to kill them, exile or no. It also serves as a warning to other supernaturals. You’re hers now as far as the supernatural community goes. If you mess around with a mortal, your life is forfeit as far as she is concerned.”

  “Wait. Say what? You mean I have no choice in the matter? Oh, hell no! I’m definitely going to have a word with her about this. She had no right!” I stood as Bianca went to the back of her office and started shuffling through one of her file cabinets.

  “She may have just done it to protect you, or she may have done it to keep track of you because she doesn’t trust you. It may not be a mark of claim. I just know a fae mark when I smell one.” Bianca turned swiftly, a file folder in one hand.

  I didn’t care why Raven had marked me, I was still going to make her remove it and promise never to do it again. “We should get going. Raven’s going to be waiting.” I opened the door and headed out into the hallway and turned to watch Bianca come out and close the door. She put her hand on the door and muttered a few words before a flicker of flame shot across the door. Nothing short of magic at least equal to hers would open that door now.

  “By the way, Aerick,” Bianca said as we headed towards the exit of MAGE HQ, “do you know why fae are so dangerous?” We entered the elevator as the doors opened to a slight ding noise.

  “Somewhat.”

  “Good, then we’ll just leave it at that. I will warn you though, fae can track for miles just based on a person’s Aetheric signature. If they are hunting you they will harry you for days, maybe even weeks, and by the time they catch up with you, you’ll beg for them to kill you. But they won’t. They’ll slowly shred your soul piece by piece and send the shreds into the Aetheric Winds on the other side of the Barrier,” she warned grimly.

  “Okay, I’m just going to hope that the Fae Courts aren’t sending assassins after me for hanging out with one.”

  “An exile? Doubtful. Unless she’s royalty, and they have someone tailing her, both of which is highly doubtful. The Fae Royal Courts don’t exile their family.”

  We were just coming into the parking garage that served as the real world building that accessed MAGE HQ. I followed her to a black GMC SUV with government tags. She beeped the locks on the vehicle and we both climbed in.

  “So, why did you go over your supervisor’s head anyway?” Bianca asked as she started the vehicle.

  “Er uh… well I figured she’d take it straight to the Council itself. I figured if I talked to you about this, I might be able to convince you and avoid the inquiry that would no doubt come from even talking with a fae, exiled or not. I hate paperwork.” I shifted uncomfortably, unsure whether or not I was in trouble regardless of whether or not Bianca liked me or not.

  “It’s not like MAGE has never dealt with fae before, in fact I think one of the offices near the East coast has a group freelancing for them. But, your instincts proved right, again. You’re beginning to make a habit of being lucky enough to make the right decisions on the fly. That luck can’t hold out forever.” She had a slight smile on her face as she said this. I had the feeling she was only giving me this lecture to cover her own ass.

  “Got it, Miss Haid. It won’t happen again, I’ll make sure things go by procedure from now on,” I said stiffly. I didn’t like getting dressed down by anyone, even if they exuded more power from their pinky toe than I could ever dream of controlling.

  “Don’t worry about it overly much, Aerick. You’re a good agent. I just want to make sure that you don’t get in over your head,” she said coolly. She seemed suddenly distant.

  The rest of the trip went uneventfully. Well as relatively uneventful as Vegas traffic on a Saturday night could be. We passed by two accidents: one at the aptly named Spaghetti Bowl, the area of town where all the freeway exits and on-ramps seemed to collide in one big, confusing tangle of concrete; and the other at the intersection of Rainbow and Lake Mead near where I lived. The delays made it so that we didn’t pull into the parking lot of my apartment building until well after ten p.m. I opened the door to the SUV and made my way to my apartment building. Raven was sitting on the stairs that led up to my apartment.

  “I’m beginning to think you like to keep a lady waiting,” she said as she stood up, smiling at me. She was wearing something a bit more functional now than what she had been wearing earlier: tight fitting black denim shorts that were cut high enough on her legs that it barely covered much more than a bathing suit would have, a black low-cut tank top that climbed her stomach, showing a good bit of pale skin, and Doc Marten boots that came to her knees. How she got changed was beyond me. Maybe she had extra clothes in her car. Maybe it was just a fae thing.

  “Sorry, traffic was a bitch,” Bianca said as she caught up with me.

  “Right. Well, anyway, am I working with you?” Raven asked as her gaze shifted to me.

  I was halfw
ay up the stairs, and as I took the next step I nodded.

  “Excellent!” Raven was looking Bianca up and down.

  “Why did you mark me?” I demanded, anger creeping into my voice. Fae or not, I wasn’t going to take this without a fight.

  “That’s so I can use my powers on you, it’s not a mark of claim. Don’t worry.” She flashed a smile at me.

  It almost seemed predatory, and suddenly I wasn’t sure if I could trust her. Fae preyed on mortals, and though I wasn’t completely mortal, sorcerers were pretty low on the supernatural totem pole so to speak.

  “What powers?” I asked, suddenly suspicious.

  “I can cloak everything about your existence, including your Aetheric signature,” she said haughtily.

  It was honestly something that could maybe prove to be useful so I swallowed the rest of my argument and let it drop. “Let’s get inside so you can sign your contract,” I muttered as I opened the door. Bianca and Raven followed me in. Two beautiful girls in my apartment, and me with no time to actually enjoy the idea. Why couldn’t I live a normal life where this would be a good thing?

  Bianca opened the folder she had with her and handed Raven a pen. The pen caught my interest and I decided then and there I needed one. The area surrounding the inkwell was clear, and hollow, with flames flickering inside. The ink came out hot, which engraved Raven’s signature deeper into the paper. Once Raven had signed her last signature, all of the initials and signatures flashed briefly. The pen obviously held some power to it.

  Bianca must have noticed my interest in the pen, because she held it up and said, “Contract pen. It magically binds the contract. If either party breaches the contract they will slowly burn alive, from inside out.” She smiled grimly. “By the way, if you didn’t notice the fine print, Raven, you cannot hurt Aerick in any way. If you do, you breach the contract. You must also protect him from any fae attacks with your life if necessary.”