by Rain Oxford
“We have a case,” Darwin said. “Want in?”
Henry looked at Scott. “Do you think you can stay with Addie for the weekend?”
“When can I go with you on a case?”
“Someday, Kitten. Not yet.”
Scott stood and tossed aside his pen with a frustrated sigh. “Fine. I’ll be a neutered house kitty.”
Henry glared at Darwin. “Stop teaching my son bad habits.”
“I’ve never said that to him. I might have said something like that around him, but not to him.”
Henry took Scott to Addison’s room. Darwin and I went to my room. First, I tried to induce a vision using the blood, but all I saw was the man sneaking up on Mariah, getting bitten, and attacking me.
“Time for plan ‘B’.” I got out a map of the state and a crystal pendant. Although I didn’t arrive to the school with the plan to use this spell, crystals were standard magic supplies, and maps were used in a lot of locating spells, so both were part of my kit.
I laid the map on the floor, smeared a few drops of blood on the crystal, and dangled the crystal over the map from its chain. If I had a name, it would have worked better, but the blood was enough. I had faith in my magic, because otherwise, it wouldn’t work. I closed my eyes and visualized the man.
After a few minutes, the crystal started swinging. I moved my hand slowly and the crystal swung faster until it actually pulled. “There we go.” I let it guide me and it pulled harder until it was like a magnet. When I was confident, I let go, and it slid across the map. It stopped, hovering on its pointed tip, indicating a location in a forest in the mountains that was twenty miles away from Drake’s club.
Henry arrived then and we left right away.
* * *
Saturday, August 27
We took Henry’s maroon, extended-cab pickup. Darwin and I napped while Henry drove for a few hours, then I drove while Henry got some sleep. Although Darwin was brilliant, he never learned to drive. When Darwin demanded we take a break, Henry drew the fae couple as I described them. I couldn’t give him enough detail, though, so I sent him a mental picture. From that, he drew them perfectly.
We reached a mountain home as the sun was rising. It was an old Victorian home with a wraparound porch. Whereas the paranormal schools were creepy, this house was warm and welcoming. My instincts warned of danger nevertheless. “I’m going to check it out. Be ready to run.”
“Be careful,” Darwin warned. “Unlike the fae at Quintessence, these ones are going to fight when you enter their territory.”
“I have stolen from fae before,” Henry said. “I will go in first and make sure it’s safe.” He got out of the truck, stripped, and shifted. He was the size of a large jaguar and black as ink with glowing gold eyes and saber fangs. Then he vanished. Darwin and I got out of the car as well, but we stayed back.
I opened a mental link between the three of us. “What do you smell?” I asked Henry in his mind.
“There is magic everywhere, masking the scent and confusing my cat,” he responded with a frustrated growl.
“I don’t like this,” Darwin said. “Dad always warned me not to fight fae on their tribe’s territory. They’re better than wolves at defending their pack because everyone has a vital part to play, everyone knows what their part is, and there is never any dispute over their part.”
My instincts were getting more insistent by the second. “You’re right. We know where they are, we need to pull back and draw them away.” In Henry’s mind, I said, “Come back. We’ll come up with a safer plan.”
“I’m trying to see in through a window to find out how many people we’re up against.”
“It’s not worth it,” Darwin said.
“It’s more important that we get out okay,” I reiterated.
“Your mind control works on fae, so we’ll be fine.”
Henry’s jaguar loved the hunt. Unfortunately, I hadn’t told them about the chain. “My instincts are telling me this is a bad idea.”
After a brief hesitation, he said, “Okay. I’m headed back now.”
“Once he’s back in the car, I’ll try to read the minds of the fae to see who and what we’re up against.”
“Try?”
“I’ll explain later.” I opened the door and was about to tell Darwin to get in when we both heard Henry roar. I grabbed Darwin by the back of the hoodie as he tried to run towards the sound.
“We can’t leave him!”
“I don’t plan to, but we need to be halfway smart about it.” I concentrated my power on Henry’s mind and put my ring on to help. It pushed Darwin out, but my vision changed to see Henry in a glowing, green cage, surrounded by fae. One of them had a spear aimed at Henry. I pushed my power into the fae’s mind and tried to make him withdraw his weapon. Not to my surprise, the chain on my arm stung and the fae didn’t obey.
“What do we do?” Darwin asked.
“We’ll go in and try to reason with them. I will use a ward, magic, and my instincts to protect us from attacks as best as I can and shoot them if that doesn’t work.”
“What about me?”
“Stay here.”
“Ha, ha, bro, that’s funny. Say that again and I’ll shift and bite you.”
“Fine. Just use your brain and not your wolf instincts.” We ran towards the sound, which came from behind the house. We found exactly what I had seen through Henry’s mind, except he was visible and a fae was stabbing him with the spear. Henry roared.
The seven fae surrounding him all looked delicate and friendly, despite the spears they were aiming at my friend and the magic cage they trapped him in. “Get off him!” Darwin shouted. The fae who was stabbing jumped back when Henry vanished. He could only hold it for a few seconds before he reappeared.
The fae turned their attention to us and we skidded to a stop just outside the reach of their spears. “We’re not here to hurt you,” I said.
“Not all of you,” Darwin amended.
“Shut up.”
“That’s a necessary distinction to make.”
“Is that why we found your shifter snooping on our lands?” a woman with white-blond hair and gold dress asked. She took a few steps towards us, separating herself from the group slightly. Her expression was stern and suspicious.
“I was attacked by two of your tribe members.”
“If you seek revenge on one of us, you will deal with all of us.”
“I don’t necessarily need revenge. I was attacked. I survived, so I don’t hold a grudge. However, four friends of mine have been attacked by the same two fae and now they’re missing. If they’re still alive, I just want them back and for the attacks to stop. We can make peace for whatever reason they’re attacking, so---”
“Strike that,” Darwin interrupted. “Dev, you have a lot to learn about fae politics. You just agreed to sire and give away a child if it was demanded of you.”
“Then I don’t agree to that.”
“You take back your word before you even finished giving it?” the woman asked.
“I’m just going to let Darwin speak for me.”
“You’re learning,” Darwin said approvingly. He addressed them and his face lost its normal lightheartedness. “I am Darwin Mason of Alpha Wolf Shifter Maseré Mason and Shikta tribe’s Anya Moonfire, born of the Mason-Shikta Peace Pact.”
The fae all simultaneously lowered their spears and the sense of danger faded. “We are allies of Shikta,” the woman said. “I am Luma Stargazer of Osai Storm and Aneth Shikta, born of the Firebreath-Shikta Peace Pact, and leader of this tribe. Welcome.”
“Thank you for your welcome onto this land. I apologize for not announcing myself sooner.”
“The true offense is that your companions are not familiar with our law,” Luma said, glaring at me. “And that you planned to attack us.”
“Our intention wasn’t to attack anyone but to find out what was going on. We wanted to confront the two fae who have been entering my territory to at
tack people. If the attacks were warranted, we will leave in peace, but they should have come to my father for permission.”
“You are correct. I was not informed that anyone in my tribe left the land. What are the names of the offenders?”
“We don’t know their names. When they last attacked my wizard friend, he collected a sample of blood, which he used to track them here. My shifter friend,” he gestured to Henry, “has drawn the two offenders. Please release him.”
The fae looked to Luma, who wasn’t willing to give in easily. “You are pushing the limits of our treaty. If you were not wronged first, you would already be in chains. As it is, if we find you have wrongly accused one of us, we will demand reconciliation.”
“As you would be owed. I don’t make accusations lightly.” In my mind, he said, “You better fucking be right about this, bro, or I’m as good as dead.”
My instincts still weren’t warning me of danger.
“Release the shifter,” Luma said.
The cage around Henry vanished and he shifted into his person form. He was sweating and breathing heavily.
“If you want the antidote to the poison from our spears, you must provide proof that the offenders are from my tribe,” Luma stipulated.
Fucking fae.
“Devon, would you and Henry please grab the drawings out of the truck.”
“Are you sure you’re okay alone?”
“I’ll scream like a little girl if they try anything, but unless you’re wrong or I do something naughty, they’re not allowed to touch me.”
Henry and I returned to the truck. Although I wanted to be quick about it, Henry wasn’t capable of moving fast. The poison was obviously effective and fast-acting.
I grabbed the drawings. “Maybe you should rest.”
He nodded. “Give me a few minutes and then I’ll join you.”
“Take your time. I think Darwin pretty much has it covered.” I returned to the fae quickly and handed Darwin the drawings. Instead of handing them to the fae, he held it up to show Luma. Her eyes narrowed and her lips tightened. Several other fae looked shocked.
“Bring out Hotreo and Zondel.”
Darwin handed the drawings back to me. It was rare that he was so serious. Four of the fae went inside and returned a few minutes later with the two fae who attacked me. They were both bound by glowing blue, translucent shackles, and they were glaring at me.
“Don’t use any magic,” Darwin warned me. “It could be seen as coercion.”
“You two are being accused of leaving the land and attacking this wizard and four other paranormals on allied territory,” Luma said.
“That is preposterous,” the man said.
“They have no proof,” the woman said.
“They have a drawing of you and tracked you here from your blood, Hotreo.”
“He could have seen me anywhere.”
“Not if you were here, where you belonged.”
“He must have snuck onto our property.”
“I am not a fool,” Luma said. She turned back to Darwin. “These two acted against my direct orders and committed crimes in your territory. Thus, they have lost the protection of my tribe. It is your right to seek revenge against my entire tribe, but I ask that you have mercy on my members, as none of them are responsible for the transgression.”
“Where are the people you attacked?” I asked.
Hotreo struggled against his bindings, trying to attack me. “You’re lying!”
“Where are they?”
“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zondel insisted.
“You will both be branded as liars in addition to traitors,” Luma said. “Do you want to continue adding charges or are you going to answer his questions?”
“We don’t know---” Hotreo was cut off as the fae next to him grabbed his arm and his body was shocked. When the fae let him go, he slumped to the ground, barely conscious.
“They’re in an abandoned house five miles south of here,” Zondel admitted.
“They’re alive?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Why did you take them? And why did you attack me?”
“Because you belong to Drake BaDour.”
“‘Working for’ and ‘belonging to’ are not the same thing. What do you have against Drake?”
“The club belongs to us. We won it from him and when we tried to claim our price, he refused to hand it over.”
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “Are you saying all of this is because he bet his club? You shouldn’t have gambled with someone like Drake in the first place. What about him made you think he honors his bets? You’re lucky he didn’t have Kevin eat you when you beat him.”
“If we find the victims alive and well, I will leave Hotreo and Zondel’s punishments up to you and hold no ill will towards you,” Darwin said to Luma. “This is for the good of our alliance.”
She nodded. At that point, Henry joined us. He was dressed and had gained color back to his skin. “Bring the antidote for the shifter,” Luma said to one of her fae.
“No need,” Henry said. “My body has already overcome it. I should be fine if I get poisoned with it again.”
“Great,” Darwin said, regaining his natural joviality. “Let’s go get Drake’s goons back home and then we can have some fun.”
“Yes, we can head back to the school,” Henry said.
Darwin made a rude sound with his mouth. “Don’t be so afraid of fun, bro.”
“One step at a time.” We thanked the fae for their help and drove south.
When we reached a small, decomposing mobile home, we weren’t sure it was the right location. However, we didn’t find any other homes or buildings within a mile of it. The yard was wildly overgrown and there was a rusty brown Hummer hidden in the weeds. The mobile home was severely water damaged and the deck built up to the door had missing boards.
“What a lovely… petri dish of deadly bacteria, viruses, and parasites,” Darwin said, hovering his hand over the guardrail.
“I’m a little hesitant to enter as well,” Henry said. He tested the boards beneath him carefully before putting his full weight on them. I was more confident in my footing, but only because I was following right behind Henry. He stepped aside when he reached the door, waiting for my lead.
I drew my gun and knocked on the door. There was no answer, not to my surprise. I reached out with my magic to search for minds. Henry’s and Darwin’s were passed over without hesitation because I was so used to them. Inside, I detected four minds, but before I could figure out who they were, I felt lethargy.
Henry steadied me as I backed out of their minds. “Drugged. They were drugged or knocked out with magic.” I tried the door, but it was locked. Henry kicked it open before I could unlock it with magic.
The inside was disgusting. It smelled of mold and stale water. The furniture was a decade old and in bad shape. Everything fabric and carpet was stained. There was trash everywhere. The kitchen was open to the living room, and there we found Kevin, Pitch, Jorge, and Blue on the yellow, pealing, linoleum tiles.
“What are you doing?” Henry asked Darwin, who was snapping pictures of the house with his cell phone.
“This is what my mother says my room looks like. I’m using this place in my favor. I can now truthfully say my room isn’t the nastiest in the country.”
“Your mother shouldn’t have to clean your room. You need to learn to do it yourself.”
“I don’t like my room clean. Mum likes my room clean. I let her clean it because I know she wants it done. If she wanted me to clean it myself, she would tell me to do it.”
“That is weird,” Henry said.
“We need to worry about getting these guys out of here right now,” I said. “We’ll have to wake them; there’s no way we can carry Kevin or Pitch.”
Henry picked up Jorge. “You two wake them. I’ll get this man and the woman out.”
I reached down and slapped Kevin. He didn’t
stir. “This isn’t going to be easy.”
“Fill their minds with adrenalin,” Darwin suggested.
I could do that if I had my mind control powers. “There’s something I should tell you about…” I trailed off when Pitch stirred. “Hey, Pitch.”
“Sup, Dev,” he said, slurring. “Where am I?”
“In Darwin’s future house.”
“What?”
“You were kidnapped by a ninety-five-pound fae and her one-ten hubby.”
“Oh, gods. Don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t if you carry Kevin out to my friend’s truck so we can get you home.”
He stood clumsily and used the counter to steady himself. The counter crumbled. “Yeah, I can get him, but take us back to the club. Drake is going to be freaking out over Kevin’s disappearance.” Once he was stable, he picked up Kevin easily.
We drove to the club with Kevin, Pitch, Jorge, and Blue in the back of the truck.
* * *
“This is definitely prime fae land,” Darwin said after a while. “It would make good pack lands, too. Dad is talking about expanding our lands. It’s been a summer for pups, apparently.”
“I knew fae sold their children for tribe alliances, but I had no idea they were so political,” I said.
“They’re not all that way. It depends a lot on what type of fae they are and how big their tribe is. Fortunately, my mother’s tribe was a huge one with many allies.”
“How does that work with peace pacts? If I married a fae, would I be part of her tribe?”
“No, she would become part of your family.”
“Because I’m a man?”
“Because any fae tribe is considered superior to all non-fae families. You can’t be married or born to the higher tribe unless it’s a twin union. Thus, I’m part of Dad’s pack, since wolves are considered lower by fae law, rather than my mother’s tribe.”
“That seems unfair to the lesser tribe, since they can’t advance.”
“Actually, it’s just the opposite. It’s easier to explain with two fae tribes. The Canostrof tribe has been at war with the Shikta tribe for hundreds of years. Canastrof was originally the most powerful tribe in the North. They ruled all of Canada. Shikta was a small tribe in Alaska, and they weren’t that powerful. Canostrof wanted Alaska, though. They’re cold-loving fae. Instead of trying to kill off Shikta, they made a treaty with them. The leader of Canostrof, Anasha, and the leader of Shikta, Kanuna, tried to create an alliance by having twins.”