Uncertain Allies

by Mark Del Franco

  “I’ll make the arrangements. In the meantime, I’d keep an eye on your brothers and sisters. If they manifest essence abilities, it could be dangerous without training.”

  We didn’t speak for several moments. Murdock wiped a napkin around the table, then crumpled it on his plate. “My parents were married before you met Moira, Connor.”

  “I know that,” I said.

  He leaned forward, staring in my eyes. “I’m saying it happened before you came along, Connor. She lied to him before you were even part of the picture. Do you understand what I’m saying? This would be happening to me if you and I had never met. It’s not your fault no matter how much you want it to be.”

  Uncomfortable and uncertain, I shifted in my seat. “I never said I wanted it to be.”

  “You didn’t have to. Stop trying to fix things all the time. You have to know when to let things work out on their own.”

  Joe had said as much the night before. “I’ll try. You know it’s not my nature.”

  He slid out of the booth and put his coat on. “Yeah, well, I’m planning on not letting nature control how I live my life. You should give it a try.”

  6

  The angry drone of my apartment intercom sliced through my brain like a buzz saw. Hangovers and unexpected visitors made a bad combination, especially when the visitor announced himself as a messenger from the Guild. I took my time getting down to the front door. Guild messengers were notorious for their imperiousness, so rushing wasn’t going to make the encounter any better. He handed me a request for my presence at a meeting with Acting Guildmaster Ryan macGoren. True to form, the messenger didn’t wait for a response before spinning on his heel and leaving.

  By the time I returned upstairs, Briallen verch Gwyll ab Gwyll had left a message that she was sending a car for me. She had been a member of the Boston Guild almost since its founding, so it was no surprise she had received an invitation to the meeting.

  A little more than an hour later, the two of us sat in a black car inching its way down Tremont Street. I missed having driver service. The Guild disability checks didn’t cover it, and neither did the retirement benefits.

  Briallen had been prickly from the moment she got in the car. On the opposite side of the seat, she cocked an eye at me. “Stop fidgeting.”

  “I am not,” I said.

  “You’re picking at a scab. That’s fidgeting,” she said.

  I chuckled. I was picking at a scab. A small cut on my hand that I didn’t remember getting had healed over, but a sliver remained behind the skin. “You need to relax.”

  “I am relaxed,” she said.

  She was lying, of course. Briallen verch Gwyll ab Gwyll did not like to be taken by surprise, and being asked to the Guildhouse on short notice by Ryan macGoren was loaded with the potential for surprise, especially when she found out I was on his dance card, too. I was suspicious of whatever he had in store, but I had nothing else planned for the afternoon. “I’m only going because you said I should,” I said.

  “Since when have you ever done anything you’re told?” she said.

  Briallen had been my mentor during my teenage years. I had lived at her house a good portion of those years, under her rules. I had been on my own for a long time now, but sometimes she forgot I wasn’t a teenager anymore. I would never admit that I enjoyed it, like when it allowed me to tease her as if she were a cranky nanny. “Maybe if you told me the right thing to do, I would do it.”

  She hit me with a playful slap on the arm. “Fine. Don’t talk until we’re leaving.”

  “What if someone asks me a question?”

  She sighed. “Do you see? Do you see how you don’t listen?”

  Stress showed in the tautness of her face. Druids weren’t immortal, but they lived a long time. Briallen was close to a century in age, maybe older if she had lived in Faerie. Many of the Old Ones claimed not to remember Faerie. Briallen would never answer the question about herself, preferring to keep people guessing. She was ageless to me. She didn’t look a day over fifty, her rich chestnut hair worn short, not a touch of gray in its waves.

  The Guildhouse rose into view as we entered Park Square. The building had started out life in the eighteen hundreds as an armory, a solid granite fortress for an army cadet group that preceded the National Guard in pre-Convergence Boston. When the group fell on hard financial times after Convergence, the Guild bought the place for its Boston headquarters.

  Manus ap Eagan had overseen the reconstruction in those early years. He had expanded the concept of druid hedges—essence barriers—into the formidable shield dome. When activated to the extreme, it was visible as a wall of thickened air, impenetrable to everything short of bunker-buster-level bombs. The fey knew how to protect themselves. The dome acted like a body shield for the building, a transparent layer of essence that protected the Guildhouse from attack. Rumor had it that even a nuke would only dent it. High Queen Maeve loved the idea, particularly early on, when humans were more antagonistic to the arrival of the fey.

  In time, floors were added, and the building grew over the Boston skyline, flouting the laws of nature and local zoning. Towers, sky bridges, and random wings joined together in a mishmash of Victorian, Gothic, and fairy architecture. Essence defied the forces of physics, allowing for tall towers to be anchored by slender buttresses or steep-gabled additions to hang off the building with little physical support. Beautiful in a surreal, amusing way, the building had become one part monolith and one part confection. I shuddered to think what a pretender like macGoren would do to the place if given the chance.

  The car engine coughed and recovered as we passed through the shield dome. Engines didn’t work well around essence. Brownie security guards in dark maroon uniforms that offset their pale hair and tawny skin gathered along the sidewalk in front of the lobby. Their security role included community relations, which meant making it clear to the local community that if it didn’t comply with their directions, the guard could go boggie. A brownie in its boggart aspect was a fearsome thing, all tooth and claw.

  Today, the guards remained attentive and at ease. They worked the street level since the people they encountered were human and solitaries, not powerful in the essence department. They might take Briallen down if there were enough of them, but few were powerful contenders. They had nothing to fear from me, of course, provided the black mass in my head stayed put.

  I helped Briallen from the car out of courtesy. She was no invalid. As we walked under the portico to the main entrance, something tickled against me, and my body shield shimmered. It wasn’t a full shield anymore, small patches here and there, and malfunctioned by triggering on its own.

  I paused in the archway beneath the great dragon head carved above the lintel. Gargoyles once clustered on the ceiling and columns of the portico. They were fey in the sense they were sentient stone, even the ones that didn’t look human or animal. They appeared after Convergence, moving without being seen, speaking to people on rare occasions. No one ever sensed essence from them, though, which made them an interesting puzzle. They were attracted to essence and sought it out. Every Guildhouse had them anchored to the walls and ceilings. The Boston gargoyles were all gone now. They had moved to Boston Common and taken up residence around a giant stone pillar there that generated enormous amounts of essence.

  Briallen glanced at me, but I shook my head. Whatever I was sensing must have been a new security measure. “This isn’t a trap. Tell me again this isn’t a trap,” I said.

  “It’s not a trap,” Briallen said. Her expression held a touch of uncertainty, which didn’t make me comfortable. She had nothing to fear, but over the last months, the Guild had been trying to arrest me for one bogus reason or another. Why I was such a threat to them baffled me. I had been involved in more than one major disaster in the city, but I hadn’t caused them and had always been on the side that ended them. Yet the Guild acted like I was the primary reason for all its troubles. I was more than happy to blame
myself for stuff. I didn’t try to imprison myself as punishment for it.

  We rode the elevator to the seventeenth floor. Guild security agents, powerful Danann fairies in black uniforms and chromed helmets, their diaphanous wings undulating, waited for us when the doors opened. Security agents were the mobile powerhouses of protection for the Guild. They were strict, forceful, and aggressive in their jobs. Conversation wasn’t their strong suit.

  “Please follow me to the Receiving Hall,” one of them said.

  Surprised, I murmured to Briallen, “The Receiving Hall? We’re meeting in the Receiving Hall?”

  Briallen licked her lips in distaste. “This is so Ryan. You know he needs his ego stroked even if he’s the one doing it.”

  The Receiving Hall of the Guildhouse served as the room of state for official duties of the Seelie Court. When the Guildmaster sat in the hall, for all intents and purposes, he or she was the voice of the Court and spoke with Maeve’s authority, a privilege with a double-edged sword. No one wanted to speak for Maeve and get it wrong. To my knowledge, Manus ap Eagan, the current Guildmaster, didn’t like to use it. Since he was in a coma and had left no one to act in his stead, no one was around to stop macGoren.

  The agent escorted us to another set of elevators. With the additions to the building, elevators were scattered about in order to access odd sections and floors that didn’t reside in a standard vertical. “He’s not Guildmaster. Nigel should be Acting Guildmaster.”

  “Nigel resigned the position before Manus went into the coma. You were there the day he did if I remember correctly,” she said.

  Manus liked having Nigel as his second because he knew Nigel didn’t want the job. If he had any idea that macGoren was acting as de facto Guildmaster, he would have awakened from his coma without outside help.

  “Then you should do it. You were Guildmaster once,” I said. Briallen had been Guildmaster a few times in Eagan’s absence, but not in my lifetime. As the twentieth century progressed, she had found other interests and kept her hand in local affairs only when reason demanded it.

  Brownie guards opened the doors to the hall. “I wasn’t asked, and I have better things to do right now,” she said.

  “No one asked macGoren.”

  “Let it go, Connor. It’s a thankless job that no one except Ryan wants. No one can do a good job at it unless they commit. Let’s hope Gillen Yor figures out how to wake up Manus before Ryan does something stupid,” she said.

  Ten flights higher, we exited onto a narrow concourse in a tower that hung over empty space. We entered a sky bridge that connected the tower to the main part of the building by an intricate mesh of steel holding together a hallway of glass walls and ceiling. The rounded bank of windows to either side showed an amazing view of the Charles River to the north and Boston’s outer harbor to the south. The stark exposure left humans feeling uneasy, but the fey were not afraid of heights.

  The bridge joined the Receiving Hall in a seamless transition. A grand medallion design in the floor marked the threshold, a mosaic of stones set with Maeve’s favorite sigil—three cups arranged in a circle, one each in bronze, silver, and gold, embossed with birds, symbols of her penchant for bestowing valuable gifts at a great price.

  In the hall proper, tall narrow windows of leaded glass let in light that reflected off a gem-encrusted ceiling. Between the windows, pilasters shaped like trees rose, their branches splitting in a uniform symmetrical pattern to form the ceiling vaults. Crystal lanterns hung from the branches and threw subtle golden hues. Power radiated throughout the room, the power of the Seelie Court and the power of essence. It was the heart of the Guildhouse, shimmering with essence in every nook and cranny.

  MacGoren, at least, had chosen not to claim the Guildmaster’s chair at the far end of the hall. Instead, he sat at the head of a table that had been brought in. His pale wings spread up and to the sides, their surfaces shifting in hues of red and gold. He did his best to appear formidable, but his innate smugness prevented him from succeeding. Since coming to Boston, he had become a major player in the city and the social scene, his good looks and money opening doors with ease. I had noticed younger Danann fairies on the street mimicking his hairstyle, wavy plaits of blond that stopped at the shoulders.

  MacGoren had Maeve’s blessing, which made his rise swift and easy. Manus ap Eagan had been ill for the last few years, and Maeve wanted him to step aside for macGoren. As an underKing of the Seelie Court, Manus was entitled to choose when he wanted to retire, but he had refused. He might have been ill, an odd occurrence among the powerful Danann fairy clan, but he never seemed to think he would die, a more rare occurrence. His falling into a coma allowed macGoren to take advantage of the situation.

  My second surprise of the day was finding Eorla seated to macGoren’s left. Rand stood at attention several feet behind her, his gaze in a constant sweep of the room. He trusted the Guild less than I did. Nigel sat to macGoren’s right. While he declined to run the Guildhouse, he always had a hand in the governing of the place. Unlike macGoren, he didn’t care what his official title was or whom it impressed.

  Briallen leaned on my arm as we approached. “Be on your toes because I may not be able to advise you as openly as I’d like.”

  She assessed the two empty seats, then sat next to Nigel and across from Eorla. MacGoren’s lips dipped in annoyance as I took the chair at the opposite end of the table from him. We didn’t like each other. I knew about a few skeletons in his closet. Nothing that Maeve didn’t know, but he would have bad press to deal with if I went public. I hadn’t. He didn’t know I wouldn’t. If I did, I would lose any advantage I had over him.

  “I suppose I should thank you for coming,” he said.

  “Don’t hurt yourself,” I said.

  Briallen shot me a warning glance. “What’s this about, Ryan? Where’s Melusine?”

  Melusine Blanc was the director who represented the interests of the solitary fey. She was a water sprite, strange and quiet. Neither the Celts nor the Teuts called her an ally, which gave her more power in close voting. It was unusual for her not to show for a board meeting. The dwarf representative wasn’t there either, but I had never heard of his attending a meeting. I didn’t even know who the current one was. The Guild board of directors had become a strange collection of people, which made Manus’s role challenging, what with all the conflicting agendas. If Manus had to grapple with them, MacGoren didn’t have much hope.

  “This isn’t a board meeting, per se,” macGoren said.

  Eorla folded her hands on the table. “Nevertheless, Melusine sends her regrets.”

  I chuckled at her small smile. Since declaring the Weird under her protection—and the solitaries that lived there—Eorla had in effect become their representative. Melusine might have objected, but she didn’t. She probably liked the power Eorla brought to the table. Eorla had shown a little of that power by making it clear to macGoren that Melusine had spoken to her, not him. I did like her style.

  “Then what is this?” Briallen asked.

  MacGoren pushed a folder toward me. “A compromise.”

  Inside the folder was a series of legal documents with my name written all over them. I skimmed the first few pages. “You’re having the charges against me dropped?”

  MacGoren had done some political maneuvering to discredit Eagan, part of which was helping the local and federal police accuse me of a long list of felonies. Eagan knew what was going on and managed to turn the tables on him. He didn’t have time to clear up my legal problems before he collapsed. I wasn’t sure he would have. I appreciated the problems Eagan caused macGoren, but I had to look over my shoulder every time I left the Weird and Eorla’s protection.

  “In exchange for your agreement to hold the Guild harmless for any past actions,” macGoren said.

  I didn’t have a prayer of holding the Guild legally responsible for anything they did to me. I was broke, and it had the power and resources of the Seelie Court behind it. Tha
t didn’t mean I wasn’t going to expose their actions when I could, but a courthouse wasn’t going to be the best route for me. “Seems easy enough.”

  “There are contingencies involved,” he said.

  The other shoe dropping was expected. I made a show of boredom as I flipped through the documents. “Such as?”

  “You will submit to the jurisdiction of this Guildhouse, present yourself for examination by Nigel Martin, and assist us in bringing Bergin Vize to justice,” he said.

  Of all the things I could have predicted, being offered a job wasn’t on the list. “You’re hiring me back?”

  He pursed his lips. “I wouldn’t put it that way.”

  I glanced at Eorla. Vize wanted her protection, and she had refused to grant it so far. The issue was eating her up, I knew, since she had raised the monster as her own son. MacGoren was sending her a message that the Guild hadn’t wavered from its intention to take Vize out at the first opportunity. “I have no idea where Bergin Vize is,” I said.

  “Finding him should be a keen motivation for the benefits we are offering you. I understand you have personal reasons for pursuing him as well,” he said.

  I pushed the folder back. “I’m not signing. I’m done playing the victim in Guildhouse games, macGoren. Let the feds arrest me. I’m sure you don’t want it public that you bribed a police commissioner and were instrumental in causing the riots in the Weird, to say nothing of a few other things I know you want buried. I can make those charges disappear on my own if it comes to that.”

  He smiled. “I had nothing to do with Scott Murdock’s choices. Unfortunately, he is dead. There is no connection to me.”

  I smiled back. MacGoren didn’t know that the commissioner had had quite the heart-to-heart with his son Leo before everything went to hell. “Maybe. And maybe the commissioner confessed to a credible witness about what happened. You do know that Eagan knew what you were doing? He never told me his sources, but I’m sure they won’t remain quiet for long either.”