The Paragon Element (Book 1)

by Jeff Hale

“What are you about, Mr. Weaver?” Dan asked, sliding back in his chair. I had no idea what was going on.

  “I’m here to reclaim one of my own. You will relinquish your supervisory duties over Aerick Kerensky, and return him to duty under the Fire branch of the agency. Furthermore, you will step down as Lord Councilor. You no longer hold all the cards, mate.” Weaver deliberately stepped in front of me.

  “And what makes you think that I will do either of those, Chris? I am the Lord Councilor. I will just have you removed. You think you have more leeway than Bianca due to your service record. You’d better start rethinking that,” Dan warned, a smug smile crossing his face.

  “That’s just it, Dan, the other Council members agree. You will step down as Lord Councilor. I am now the Council member representing the Fire element, which brings the Fire element back into balance with the rest of the Council, and with that brings Air back into balance against you as well. You will step down or be executed for treason against the United States Government.” Chris crossed his arms and awaited Dan’s response, whose smug look had evaporated and now he just stared up at Chris, his mouth open like a landed fish for a few moments.

  “Very well. You win this round, Weaver, but your victory will come at a costly price in the future. Don’t think this little game is over,” Dan said through clenched teeth, slamming his fist onto his desk.

  “It’s not a bloody game to me, mate. As long as you treat it as such, you will find it to be a fatal mistake.” Chris spun on his heel and stalked out of the door, using sign language to tell Dan in no uncertain terms that he was number one as he did so. I felt that creeping dread and menace coming from Dan again.

  “Wait, you forget something, Mr. Weaver. I hate to brag, but I’ve cheated and have the proverbial ace up my sleeve. Until the paperwork goes through, Aerick is under my supervision, as are any contracts that may affect him. Raven, kill Mr. Weaver, would you kindly?”

  “Yes. As you wish,” she said, turning towards Chris, her eyes dark.

  “Wait? Wha—?” I was worried now. Had Raven’s contract not been broken after all?

  Then Raven whipped around and jumped onto Dan’s desk, all in one swift motion. As she landed, she knelt on one knee and grabbed Dan by the collar of his shirt, lifting him out of his chair. While she did so, the roots in the wall came to life and sped towards her. She said a harsh word in a strange language and all the light seemed to drain from the room, though I could still see well enough, as though the essence of darkness itself filled the room. At that moment the roots veered away from Raven, as if afraid of her.

  “That contract no longer binds me, Mr. Ritter. You’d be wise to never give me an order again. If you do, or even think to use a fae contract to your favor ever again, I will make sure personally that your soul is shredded by pixies and spread to the point that it will never recover. You will never live another life again.” She leaned down further and brought Dan towards her, then I saw her do something that seemed like she was sniffing his neck. “You have been marked. I’ll be watching you.” She dropped him and leapt off his desk to land next to me.

  Dan settled back into his chair and straightened his shirt, trying to regain his composure, but failing miserably. He started to say something, but Raven just held up a warning hand, and he leaned back into his chair, silent.

  As a group we turned and left. Once in the hallway I looked at Chris and wondered what exactly had transpired. I had no idea how Council politics worked, and what I heard in that office had confused me even further.

  “Okay, care to explain to me what just happened? If I’m going to continue to be used as a tool by your Council, I think I deserve to at least know how you guys work,” I said, walking a little faster to catch up to him.

  “Could take a little while to explain, let’s get back to my office first.”

  Once we got back to Chris’s office he motioned to one of the chairs, which I took a seat in. He then went over to one of the blank walls and pushed a button. A panel flipped open and a cabinet, previously unseen, was revealed. He reached in and pulled out a thermos, which he wrapped his hands tightly around. He closed his eyes and seemed to be concentrating. I felt the gathering of Aetheric energy, not a lot, just enough to make me aware of it. A second later his hands glowed briefly and I could smell hot coffee from the thermos.

  “I always keep two or three of these in the cooler. Doesn’t take much for our type to heat them up after all,” he said as he poured three cups.

  Chris then spent the next hour making my head spin with MAGE politics and I was sorry I had even asked. It was so convoluted that I wasn’t sure how much actually stuck with me and I doubted I would pass if I was tested on it. I was just glad that I didn’t have to deal with them.

  “So when am I back on duty? Since you are my supervisor now,” I asked, wanting to get right on Serena’s murder case.

  “When Coleen clears you. She is your director, and I won’t take that away from her. I like you, mate, but we have to at least pretend we’re doing things by the book around here. I can’t afford not to after Bianca’s debacle.” He grabbed a file folder from his desk and held it out towards me. “Take this to Ms. Galaway, and she will give you your standing orders.”

  “Alright. Guess everything is back to normal then? Or as normal as they can be around here.” I started towards the door.

  “Not in the slightest, mate. Not in the slightest,” were the last words I heard from Chris Weaver as the door closed behind me.

  I headed back down to the ground level and took the hallway that led to Coleen’s office. I hadn’t seen her since she had read my mind. I hoped she had it under control this time. I didn’t like the idea of her delving into my darkest secrets, even by accident.

  When I got to her door I knocked twice. There was a click, and the door opened on its own. I walked into the familiar office to be faced with an unfamiliar sight. Coleen Galaway was not herself. I could tell because she looked like hell.

  Her hair was down, and it looked as though she had just walked in from a horrendous windstorm. She was pale and wasn’t wearing any makeup. Though she was pretty without makeup, it was not like her to go without it. Her button up shirt was undone about halfway and untucked from her skirt. There were jagged slits up the sides of the skirt, and I was pretty sure it hadn’t come that way. Her nylons were on her desk, as were her under-garments. She was sweating profusely as she stood leaning over her desk. I couldn’t help but look down her shirt since her bra was on the desk, despite my worry. I wasn’t disappointed.

  “Coleen? You don’t look well. Maybe you should…” I began, taken off guard by her appearance and forcing myself to not try to catch more glimpses down her shirt. Just didn’t seem fair.

  “Shut it, Kerensky. Hand me that folder so I can process it,” she said, holding her hand out expectantly. I handed her the folder without hesitation. She went through it and jotted down a few things and signed in several locations.

  “What’s going on with you, Coleen?” I asked as she worked on the contents of the folder. She was affixing a label to it now.

  “Nothing, just... here. You know about as much about your case as we do. The case will be investigated on your prerogative and you will take on the dangers that may come with it at your own discretion. Congratulations, Detective-Agent Kerensky. Now get out of here.” She thrust the folder at me. The new label on the tab read: ‘Murder Case 100879 – Serena Angela Jordon’.

  “I’m not leaving until you tell me what the hell is going on,” I said as I took a seat in one of the chairs that was on this side of the desk.

  “Fine. I’m trying to increase my potential, and it’s getting damned hot in here,” she complained, sitting down and fanning herself with another folder she grabbed up off the desk. “Tell your people to quit playing pranks on me, increasing the temperature in here.”

  “No one’s doing it, Coleen. Maybe you should just rest and take your medication,” I said, standing back up. “And pu
t your clothes back on, we don’t need any more scandals around here.” As I said that I gave her a brief wink and a smirk, letting her know in no uncertain terms that I didn’t mean a word of it.

  “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am just overexerting myself. I have a migraine that feels like an artillery piece went off in my head.” She reached for a tissue and started to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

  “Look, just relax a bit. I’ll get a report to you as soon as I have anything at all on my case.”

  “Good luck, Aerick. I hope you find something. I know she meant… er, means a lot to you.”

  “Thanks, Coleen. You’ve been a good friend. Take it easy, okay? I don’t want to hear you’ve landed yourself in the hospital with an aneurism.”

  “Go get ‘im, Rick,” she said as I left, closing the door behind me.

  I finally had my full promotion and my case. I could finally get to the bottom of what happened to Serena. I had been waiting for this for two years. I had always felt helpless, like I couldn’t do anything about what happened to her. I might not be able to go back in time to fix it, but I could avenge her and bring her murderer to justice. It felt liberating, like I finally had control again.

  I pictured her in my mind, thinking of her innocence and purity, and how her light was snuffed. The world was a dark place, and was made all the darker with her light no longer in it.

  Don’t worry, Serena. I’ll find him.

  FIFTEEN

  As I entered the lobby on my way towards the research wing, I found Raven waiting for me. She nodded at me as I approached and fell in step behind me as I passed her and turned down the hallway I needed. I wanted to narrow down who had possibly done this, and I had an idea as to how to go about it, I just needed the research personnel to look into something.

  “So what’s the mission?” Raven asked after a few moments.

  I didn’t want help on this one, especially from someone I was attracted to. It just didn’t seem right. Like bringing home a date to meet your girlfriend. Ultimately though, I knew that I was going to need Raven, and if Serena’s murderer ended up being more powerful than me, then I could use the backup. Plus, I might need the transportation if I had to go out of town. I had a healthy fear of driving. I didn’t know if stemmed from the fact that my parents died in a car accident or not, but I never drove.

  “I’m tracking the person who killed Serena,” I said matter-of-factly.

  “Your childhood sweetheart? Wasn’t that a mundane crime?” she asked, perplexed.

  “Not according to some information I received, which was presented to the Council. They would have checked into it, and since they okayed this mission I would think they found that it was not a mundane crime,” I said as I opened the door into the research library.

  I entered the library and looked around for someone to help me find what I needed. The research library was just that; a library, though the shelves held everything from old tomes inches thick to rolled scrolls. There was a plethora of information here: topics ranging from unicorn feeding habits to how a vampire manipulates Aetheric energies were available. And that was just the right side of the cavernous room. The left side held a more high-tech version of the right. Scribes were bustling about transcribing old information into new databanks. That was the area that I was going to need.

  “Well, well. I see things must have gone well. Hmm?” a familiar voice commented.

  I turned and saw Bianca approaching from between two bookcases. She seemed to be in perfect control of herself this time, even as she drew closer to me. She was still wearing the shimmery gossamer from earlier, and it was still just as distracting.

  “Yeah, things are back in balance. Dan stepped down from Lord Councilor, albeit reluctantly. Weaver is making a strong showing as Fire Councilor. You seem a bit—”

  “Different?”

  “I was going to say ‘off’.”

  “I’m adjusting, but I’ll be okay. I like doing research, helps me learn more about the Aetheric creatures out there. So what can I help you with?” Bianca was all business now.

  “Oh yeah, sorry. I need you to look for an energy reading. I’m hoping that MAGE caught it when it happened. It was a long time ago,” I said, trying to pull my eyes away from her cleavage and succeeding, barely.

  “Okay, right this way,” she said, leading us towards the computer area. She sat down at a terminal and looked at me. She must have noticed my discomfort because she smiled slightly all of a sudden. “So what was the time frame and location? We’ll see if we can’t get what you’re looking for. The more precise the location and time index, the more accurate the information of course.”

  “Well, um. Three years ago. January first, around one twenty in the morning. Location would be Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. We’re looking for an air sorcerer signature. Possibly one we don’t have on record.”

  “Okay, this may take a minute.” She typed the information in. Once it was done searching, a map of the Tulsa area came up, and it scrolled over to the suburb of Broken Arrow. A single flashing icon appeared in a residential area.

  “Is that it?” I asked

  “Yeah, that’s it. Only a single air sorcerer signature captured in that area at that time.”

  It was too easy, but I wasn’t going to complain. “Has to be him,” I muttered.

  “What was that?” Bianca asked, looking at me.

  I shook my head. “Nothing. Can you match that signature up against recent activity? I want to know where he is now.” Aetheric signatures were personal. They all had their own unique frequency. The magic equivalent of fingerprints.

  “Alright.” She gave me a brief scrutinizing glance before punching in the information, then made a noise of surprise. “Believe it or not, most recently that signature has been here locally. You should be able to find him at one of these three locations.” She motioned to the map on the screen, where three icons flashed.

  He’s in Las Vegas? What the hell is he doing here? Not that I would complain, it just made getting to him a lot easier. I noticed that one icon was at a nightclub near the Strip, just west of it. The second icon was in Summerlin, more than likely where he lived, and the third was at Angel Park. Odds were he was using his powers at the club to addle the bouncer’s brains so he could get in with no charge, and then maybe even to victimize women. The signatures at his home and at Angel Park were probably the results of honing his skills in private. I noticed the time indexes of the Angel Park signatures were usually at night, late enough that only stoners and couples wanting privacy might have been there.

  I decided then and there that attacking him at his home would be stupid, and the club was far too public, which only left Angel Park, which still wasn’t the best idea. After all, if he was there sharpening his powers then he would be all warmed up when I attacked him. On the other hand, if I lucked out though, he might be tired from the strain of trying new spells and easier to pick off. “What do those mean?” I asked, pointing to the icons. Next to each one was a tiny blinking question mark. There had been on the one in Broken Arrow as well.

  “It means that whoever you’re after is a renegade,” Bianca answered. “Unregistered with any of the Magic Control Agencies, including Mind & Aetheric Gifted International, which means he’s not even just from out of town.”

  “Also means he’s never been caught,” Raven said grimly.

  “Exactly. We get enough of these, we start investigating. We find out bad things are associated with them, then this is how we know who and where to send you guys after.” Bianca clicked on the Aetheric signature icon and a window popped up with numbers and charts. She skimmed over it with her eyes before sighing and glancing up at me. “Be careful, Rick. Whoever you’re after is showing power levels that would make even a fae hesitate. If he’s still out there, more than likely it’s because agents have been sent after him and they failed. I’ll look into that, and let you know what I find as soon as I can. It can take a few hours.” She shivered and waved a
hand at the charts. “I’ll be honest, Rick, this guy makes that lich look like a pussy.”

  “Great.” I exhaled loudly and sharply. “I have to do this though. I’ll have Raven with me. Between the two of us, we should be okay.”

  “I’ll have that info as soon as I can. Good hunting, detective,” Bianca said. She waved at us as we left the room.

  “Alright, so where to?” Raven asked once we were in the parking garage and sitting in her car.

  “Looks like Angel Park.”

  The trip to Angel Park didn’t take long with Raven using her powers to cloak us so we could weave through traffic like it was standing still. I’d probably never get used to it; it was stomach turning winding through thick evening traffic at a hundred and twenty miles per hour.

  To the north of Angel Park was a large paved lot that wasn’t in use, except when truckers would park their rigs there overnight. I had Raven park the car there, figuring that’s where the sorcerer would appear to practice his abilities. It was isolated, quiet and unlit, except for the occasional high-schoolers parking there to make out or get high. There was no sign of him yet, though it was just barely six-thirty. I settled back into the seat and prepared for a long wait. About a half hour later, my phone rang. I picked it up and heard Bianca’s voice on the other end.

  “Open your laptop and get ready for an information upload,” Bianca said briskly, then hung up. Good thing Raven had picked up the laptop earlier. I pulled it from the backseat and booted it up. After a few minutes I ended up with three files. I mentioned them to Raven, then went over them out loud.

  “Two of the files are field reports. Actually they’re post-mortem field reports. The first time MAGE sent a single agent, one of their best earth sorcerers no less, after this guy, who was going by the name of Christian Franklins at the time. They had to identify their agent by his fillings when they finally found his body. Or… what was left of it. Yech. There’s pictures.” I motioned to several photos of a scorched wreck of what was supposedly a human being. “The second file is another report of the same nature, only they sent an entire Circle after him this time.”