He tapped several drops against the bowl they had on the table. The liquid began to bubble. Not quite like it was boiling over but very similar. Marco set the bottle down and started chanting with his hands over the bowl. Viking didn't know the chant but he could see a slight haze of magic around the other man's hands. There seem to be some time in the chanting when a certain stage was complete because Barrett waited before setting the pictures in the bowl.
Viking had seen them perform a similar spell before. But usually the bowl was bigger, apparently the cauldron was too big to carry around. Because the pictures could usually be set neatly inside. But in this case Barrett almost had to wedge them in, while avoiding touching the bubbling liquid with his hands. Once he set the photographs in he joined Marco in chanting. The bubbling stopped. Barrett then turned to a relatively blank wall and started chanting, arms out, and palms parallel to the wall. The light shot out from the bowl and seem to funnel through Barrett's hands and project onto the wall like a movie. It was a split screen. As if one hand was watching the male assailant and one hand was watching the female.
The male was at a Dick's. There was a heap of burgers sitting in in the middle of the table. He wasn't alone either. There were two other men about the same age sitting with him.
"All three of them are controlled by the being." Barrett commented. "We'll set the spell to track them giving those pictures as sort of the starting point. Bad news is: this means having to go after a bunch of people at once so the being doesn't see us coming.
That made Viking worry. This being was in control of at least four people. They had no idea how many more there were. This was not good. This was something he needed to tell the king.
He looked back up to see the female walking down the street. She had another woman with her with bright red hair.
"They are in Tacoma, I can see the history museum down the street. Both of them have connections to the being. What do you want to bet they are both Sensitives? Either the being has already staked out all the Sensitives it wants or it's chasing several at one time." Barrett said while keeping his eyes on the wall.
"Both are bad news. We cannot chase down every sensitive in the Puget Sound" Poet added, his arms crossing over his chest.
"Have you ever heard of anything like this?"
Viking didn't usually ask Poet about his past. It wasn't something the other man likes to share. However, any insight in this particular situation would help them.
Poet turned his attention to Viking. "Yes. Twice, once when I was very young. My formative years. Meaning I was still in my first life. The second was around the year fifteen hundred. The first time the being was raising an army. It wanted to overthrow the current king. But it was not using Sensitives. It was using regular humans. Just over a legion by the time anyone in authority took notice. The second was just causing strife and it controlled six people. Convincing those people to go on killing sprees. There was no real reason for it. It was simply bored and wanted to cause problems." Poet turned his attention back to the wall.
Part of Viking felt a glimmer of hope at the fact that this situation had been handled before but part of him was pretty sure he would not like the answer to his next question. "How did they stop the being?"
Poet snorted. "Both times the king killed them all."
Marco chimed in quickly so he wasn't taking too long of a break from his chanting. "Something tells me killing everyone is not so much an option. I also don't think this thing is going to stop with just a few Sensitives."
Viking nodded "agreed. Does anyone know where the women are or know which Dick’s that is?"
Mia turned and looked at him for the first time since they came in to the living room. "Yeah, that's the one in North Seattle. It's only been open a couple years."
Viking pulled out his phone. "Okay, I'm going to call the king and see what he wants the course of action to be. If this is as big as we think, moving on without his consent would be a bad idea."
Poet snorted again, "or very entertaining idea."
Viking gave the other Warrior a look before exiting the room. He walked up the staircase and stood in the hallway before dialing the king's office number. Cesar picked up after two rings.
"Why do I think you would only be calling me if there was bad news?"
"Yes, the being bothering my mate is connected to five humans that we know of. We had the MPs run a tracking spell."
Viking filled Cesar in about what just happened. And about the spell Marco and Barrett used. And where they tracked the Sensitives, too. There was silence for several beats on the phone. Viking could almost hear Cesar's mind working.
"Do we have pictures of these individuals?"
"Not at the moment. But we might be able to get the MPs to make us copies, for a price. "
There were several curse words "Fine. Ask. Then take the picture on your phone. Send them to me as well as Raider, Poet, and Apollo. Have them send the pictures to Warriors in the area. The faster we can round the Sensitives up, the better. You need to have them all brought in at once. See what information they can give you about this being. Once we know more we will go from there."
There was silence for a few seconds before Cesar continued. "By the way, congratulations on finding your mate and making your way through the Maddening. You cut that deadline a little closer than I would've liked you to. But I am happy to hear you're still with us." Then Cesar hung up the phone.
It was probably for the best. Because Viking wasn't one hundred percent sure he could've stopped himself from making a quip about how Cesar hadn't been so good about his near miss with the Maddening's deadline either.
Viking tucked his phone into his back pocket. Then jogged down the stairs and back into the living room. He looked directly at the two MPs who were cleaning up all of their supplies.
"The king has asked if you can produce a photo of the assailants so that I can send it out to several different prominent Warriors. While that is being done, the king is contacting people to see if we can round up the Sensitives and find out exactly what this being is doing. Do you think you can retrieve the pictures again?"
Barrett and Marco exchanged glances.
Marco shrugged and then turned to look at Viking. "We will reproduce the photos for you. But it will be two grand each. Do we have a deal?"
Viking nodded quickly before they could change the terms. "Yes, you have a deal." He stuck out his hand so one of them could shake it.
Since Barrett was closest, he did the honors. Viking felt the tingle that always went with making a deal with an MP. Then both men started taking ingredients out of the bag again. Or at least that's what it looked like. After a few seconds Barrett simply dug through the bag until he found the powder he used earlier.
"Mia, I'm going to have to dive through that head of yours again. Are you okay with that?"
She looked almost baffled but nodded. "You're going to make two grand per picture?"
Barrett smiled down at her as he re-powder at his hands. "Yep. MPs can make a lot of money. No one else can do our services, therefore, we charge basically what we want. Since we happened to like Gwen, a lot, we're giving a lower rate than we normally would for this kind of service." Then he moved his hands to either side of her head and waited a second before touching her as he had the last time.
They went through the same routine they had earlier. Even down to Marco setting out pieces of paper next to them. Once they finished the pictures, Barrett stood up and handed them to Viking.
Viking went into the kitchen and set the pictures on the table and began sending the messages. He made sure to send Cesar’s to Roman, since the king did not have email.
When he looked up, Mia stood next to him giving him inquisitive look. "How are you going to find these people?"
Viking folded the pictures so they would fit in his back pocket. "The king is going to send out other Warriors to hunt them down. They will then bring them back to Gwen's shop. And we will question them."
It then occurred to him that Mia should probably come back with him to the shop. Not only did this issue concern her, but he didn't necessarily want to leave her alone. And he needed to have her nearby. He didn't think he would be able to concentrate on the issues at hand if he didn't know she was safe. He wanted Poet there as well since the other man had encountered this sort of thing before. And he wasn't entirely comfortable leaving Mia in the hands of some of the younger Warriors.
"If you're okay with it, you'll ride with me back to the shop. I'm just not okay with leaving you by yourself quite yet."
Mia nodded. "Are we coming back down here? Or should I bring a change of clothes?"
He had not even thought about that. Viking felt bad she asked so nonchalantly about something that completely rocked her life about.
He knew he would want to spend tonight with her. But he didn't know how late the questioning would go.
"Just in case. I don't know if you'll end up using it but it's better to be prepared."
Mia nodded again and turned to head out of the room. Presumably to go upstairs.
Viking turned to the MPs, who once again started packing up all of their items. "Thank you for your assistance in this."
Both MPs nodded but did not verbally respond.
He then turned to Poet. The other man still stood near the couch. However his usual smirk was not in place. Instead there was a heavy expression. The look of worry on Poet's face was not something to take lightly.
"What is it you are thinking, Poet?"
Poet blinked a few times before looking at Viking. His expression almost turned to surprise. "You are actually asking for my thoughts? Quick somebody note this somewhere." He gave a small smile before going serious again. "I do not like what this means. This is a high level of involvement. It took a good chunk of time for the being to control this many people. I do not like that it has just gone unnoticed. Though I realize it is only gone unnoticed because they are Sensitives. The idea still bothers me. I do not particularly want to live through another war."
Viking didn't really have a response for that. He knew Poet was older than him. But he agreed with the sentiment. He lived through a number of wars himself. And had no urge to fight in another one. So instead he changed the subject.
"Why don't you head back to the shop? Or better yet, why don't you call and let them know you're headed down to Tacoma. Since we're already closer. We also saw that they were downtown, and not on a residential street. So maybe you will be able to beat whoever is sent down there."
Poet tilted his head and watched Viking for second. "That idea is sound. I will head down to Tacoma now and meet you and Mia at home later this evening." Then he headed out of the room.
A few seconds later Viking heard the front door open and close. Both MPs waved at him as they followed the path Poet took. All that was left for Viking was to wait for Mia and head back to the shop.
He knew he couldn't take Mia hunting for either group of Sensitives. He would simply put her in too much danger. So he would head to the shop and try and run it like a command center. He inched to go out and fight this thing. Even though he knew it wasn't in his best interest.
Sighing, Viking decided to take the next few moments and think of how exactly he wanted to interrogate the Sensitives. Though he didn't like the thought of it. Maybe it would be best if he had the MPs there as well. Knowing that was the best idea, he quickly followed them out the door hoping to catch them before they hit the street.
Chapter 15
Mia was grateful for Gwen. The entire ride up to Gwen's shop, and Viking’s home, had been in silence. It wasn't necessarily a strained silence. Mia knew Viking had thought about the best course of action for chasing this being down. She had not wanted to interfere with his train of thought so she hadn’t said anything.
Once they arrived at the shop, Viking set Mia in the lounge and told her he would be back soon. There were several other people milling about. One of whom was the police detective, whose name Mia couldn't remember, who took her statement the day before. He smiled and waved at her when she came in but had gone back to the paper work on the table in front of him and another man she didn't recognize.
Mia sat there on the couch for about two minutes before Gwen burst in the room. She shouted out into the hallway as she opened the door.
"Really? You were just going to leave her in here basically by herself?" Then she looked at Mia with a smile.
Without even looking up, the man standing next to the police detective responded. "She's hardly alone. There are several of us in here."
Gwen snorted. "That is basically the same thing and you know it, Raider."
She walked over to Mia and sat down next to her. She held two mugs of what looked like tea and she handed one to Mia. "It's a simple Irish Breakfast tea. A blend of green and black. I figured it was probably a little late in the day for coffee. Feel free to turn it down if you'd prefer not to have any."
Mia was touched the other woman thought of her and took the cup, smiling. "Thank you."
Gwen nodded and sipped her own tea before looking out at the room. Then she wrinkled her forehead. "Did anyone introduce you to everybody?"
Mia bit her lower lip. "Not really."
Gwen shook her head "Okay we're going to do this sideline style. I'll give you the play-by-play from the couch. The two gentlemen pouring over the map over there are Lieutenant Carter Tuckman, whom I believe you may have met already?" She gave Mia a questioning look.
Mia nodded
"The man next to him is Raider. He is as close as Viking gets to a BFF. He is his second-in-command so to speak. So odds are you'll get to know him more than most of the other Warriors. Yes I know, the names are bit ridiculous but they do choose their own so keep that in mind.
"The man over there on the walkie-talkie is Craig. Craig is Pride Leader of the local lion pride. He is here because he has several lions out looking for the woman who came after you.
"Over there, in the big leather chair with the cowboy hat over his face pretending to take a nap, don’t be fooled he’s not napping, is Deuce. He got here relatively quickly today. Which, in and of itself, is a little creepy." Gwen said the last part loud enough for the other man to hear her.
He didn't respond much beyond his chest lifting enough there could've been a chuckle if any noise had come out.
"He is our best interrogator. He has honed it down to a unique skill set. So he is simply waiting until the being or the hosts for the being get here.
"And lastly, the younger guy over there on the phone is named Stanley. Stanley is in contact with the Warriors who went up to Shoreline, to go after those guys who were at Dick's Drive-in.
"I believe, about a minute before you got here, they said they had their sights on them. But they didn't want to cause a scene at Dick's in front of all of the other patrons. You know how busy those places get. So they're playing the waiting game until the guys leave. Then they’re going to get them.
"Anyone else who wanders in here, I'll let you know who they are. How are you holding up? It’s a lot to take in." She gave Mia a soft smile.
Mia was touched. She couldn't shake the idea that this woman probably had something more important to do. "Honestly, I'm a little overwhelmed. I'm trying not to think about it. I’m taking it all in to, hopefully, process it piece by piece later. You don't have to sit here with me. I'm not going to be offended if you have something more important to do."
Mia sincerely hoped Gwen didn't call her on her bluff. She really wanted to have someone there to sit with her. This was a strange new world she found herself in. She was almost completely surrounded by strangers. And while the strangers were relatively polite, it was still a lot for her to take in. She would've much rather been at home, called a couple friends over to talk things over with them. But she'd known Gwen a while, even if she didn't know her well. Her presence eased Mia's anxiety a little bit.
The other woman frowned at her and shook h
er head. "I am only in this state because Viking went into Maddening. I came to help in any way I can. There's not a lot I can do as far as tracking things down goes. Beyond sensing the being itself, I'm not going to be terribly helpful.
"I will stay here with you, unless somebody says they need me to astral project somewhere, find someone or something. Then yes, I will probably leave you alone. But that could just as easily be done when the Sensitives get here. So I am afraid you are stuck with me." The other woman smiled.
They did not talk for the next few minutes. Just sat in companionable silence and watched people bustling around them. Then scuffling noises came through the radio.
"Viking!" Craig bellowed. "We have a problem!"
A moment later Viking came barreling into the lounge followed by Poet.
"What? What is it?"
Stanley stood up as Viking spoke. "We may have a problem up north too!" He tapped his phone and the room filled with cursing and shuffling. "All I got was Rochester saying, 'It's almost like they knew we were coming.' Then this."
"Someone get some kind of report, now!" Viking barked.
Several things happened at once. The noise on both the radio and the phone stopped. Then several voice came though. Some male, some female. Mia could hear at least four distinct voices. All of which were flat and emotionless.
"You are not as clever as you think you are. You may cull from the herd, but I can always get more. We have dozens to choose from."
Then the sound seemed to stop. There was no shuffling; no talking. It was almost as if both the walkie-talkie and the cell phone turned off. For a moment Mia thought they had. Until one male voice came over the walkie-talkie.
"Craig, they almost collapsed like limp dolls. They haven't quite passed out because some are moaning. Apparently, that thing did the fighting for them and now they seem to be waking up feeling the effects of the fight we just had with them. I think this being might have let them go. Shall we still bring them in?"
Craig looked up from his walkie-talkie to make eye contact with Viking. Mia turned her attention to Viking as well.
Viking Sensitivity (Night World Series Book 2) Page 17