Head Down

by Jan Stryvant

  "Sacramento International Airport. I had a friend tow it out of the lot so we could examine the parking ticket, to get an idea of when she left it there."

  "And?"

  "It was parked there early Saturday morning, March tenth, the day after you were attacked."

  "Any idea where she went after that?"

  Anthony shook his head, "It's a pretty big airport with flights everywhere. There's no telling at all."

  Sean sighed, "Arrange with Steve to have it brought back here, he can store it in his shop with the motorcycle for now."

  "Well, at least you know she got away," Anthony said.

  "Oh," Sean blushed, "she left a message on my cell phone," he paused to think a moment, how many weeks ago was that now? "About a month ago. Sorry I didn't tell you. But I haven't heard from her since, nor have I been able to call her back."

  Anthony nodded and smiled, "Well, I'm happy to hear she's okay, and don't worry about it. I'm your lawyer, not your family."

  "Is there anything else I need to know about?"

  "Detective Schumer stills wants to have a word with you, but nothing urgent. The investigation into what happened at your Mother's home and Sampson's home is still ongoing, but at this point arson has been ruled out."

  Sean blinked, "How the hell did they rule that out?"

  "Both homes had bottled gas, they're claiming now that coyotes or something chewed on the lines, which led to a gas leak. The first was sparked off by the thermostat in your mother's trailer, and Sampson's was then set off by your mother's blowing up."

  "Wow, that's pretty hard to believe!" Sean shook his head, "People are falling for that?"

  "Apparently. I expect the insurance companies will settle up by the end of May."

  "What about the fire in the house I was living in?"

  "Oh, that was a power surge due to the freak electrical storm we had," Anthony smiled, "Seeing as there was a witness to the cause of the fire and the investigation backs him up, there's nothing to connect you to it at all. Sheer coincidence."

  "Do they always wrap these things up so nicely?"

  Anthony shrugged, "You have to remember, that not a lot of people know what you know. Yes, someone sent a wolf to chew through the gas lines. Then they probably used magic to spark it off. Magic doesn't leave much in the way of forensic evidence for modern methods."

  Sean nodded, it made sense.

  "Well, thanks for letting me know about the car."

  "Sure, not a problem. I needed to get my car cleaned anyway. Is there anything I can do for you?"

  "Only if you know of someone I can turn all of my paperwork over to, along with the website work I have to do," Sean sighed. "Who knew that running a small business would require so much paperwork?"

  Anthony nodded, "I'll ask around. I might know somebody."

  "Thanks," Sean said and shaking hands with Anthony, he went back up to his office.

  "Sean,"

  Sean sighed and dropped his head.

  "Now what?" he asked.

  "There's a couple of wolves downstairs that want to join us," Oak told him, "I think you need to come down and see them."

  "Why?" Sean sighed.

  "Cause they've still got their silver pellets in them."

  "Oh Shit!" Sean said and jumping out of his chair he scooped up two of the necklaces they'd made last night and bolted for the stairs. If there was one thing Sean was impressed by, that he'd gotten from his lion, it was his ability to run his ass off, while dodging people, cutting corners, and going downstairs, full tilt, and all without falling flat on his face. Only Roxy did it better, but then she actually ran up along the walls as she did it.

  "Put these on!" he said as he slid to a stop before a couple who looked to be in their early forties.

  "What?" the man said as Sean tossed them the collars.

  "Now!" Sean growled.

  Both of their eyes got wide but they did as they were told and Sean pulled off his silver tag and putting the fingers of the woman around it, he clipped it to her collar. Oak was doing the same with the man.

  "What does this..." the man started then gasped in pain, his body going rigid.

  "It gets rid of silver," Sean said grabbing the woman by the shoulders so she wouldn't collapse. "Now, why are you here? Hell, how are you here?"

  The woman was the first to recover, mainly because he put the tag on her before Oak had on the man.

  "We heard about you from the boys in the shop when we brought our master's car in to be cleaned."

  "Does he know where you are?" Sean asked.

  "No, he just sent us out to do the shopping and get his car cleaned for tonight."

  Sean turned to Oak, "Have someone drop the car off at the house. Make sure no one knows it was here."

  "Why bring it back?" Oak asked.

  "Because keeping it would be stealing and I don't want to get involved with grand theft auto."

  "But isn't taking us stealing?" the woman asked.

  Sean sighed and rolled his eyes, he was doing a lot of that lately he realized.

  "You're people. Slavery is illegal. I'm setting you free. If you want to join my pack here or any of the other packs in the state, or even go back to working for your former master, that's up to you."

  "Oh, fuck that!" she laughed, "No way I'm going back there, right Eddie?"

  "Oh, definitely not Margie!" Eddie said with a grin, "Wow, free? Who'd a thunk it would ever happen to us?"

  "I need that tag back," Sean said, pointing to his tag on Margie's neck. "You can keep the collar." Turning back to Oak, he continued, "Figure out what to do with them, I need to get back to work."

  Taking his tag back, Sean went upstairs to finish up on the spell details for the simpler machine that he'd been working on.

  "Sean,"

  "What!" he growled looking up.

  "Geez, what's gotten into you?" Daelyn growled back at him.

  Sean sighed, "Sorry, Hon. Been a long day."

  "I got your plate done," Daelyn said and handed him a box.

  "That quick?" Sean blinked.

  "Quick? It's eight o'clock!"

  Sean blinked and looked around. "Where's Rox, and Jo?"

  "Downstairs getting you some dinner."

  Sean looked at his notes. Gathering them up he put them in the box with the plate. Sure enough, it was gold, and it was ten inches in diameter. Nicely made too.

  "We're going to the Sorceress Guild," he told Daelyn.

  "Why?"

  "Cause the only thing people want from me there is my body," Sean growled. "Plus they have a workshop I can borrow while I wait for your folks to finish mine."

  "Aww, you just want to bang Roberta again," Daelyn laughed.

  "Yeah, that too," Sean grinned. "Now, let's grab the other two, borrow a car, and get out of here before somebody asks me to take care of another problem for them."

  "After dinner," Daelyn said, shaking a finger in front of his nose. "You're not the only one that's hungry."

  "How do you know I'm hungry?"

  "Because you're cranky when you're hungry."

  "I'm not cranky!" Sean protested.

  "Sure sounds like it from here!" Roxy called out as she and Jolene entered the room with dinner.

  "Okay, food first. Then we're out of here for a while. Someone tell Oak he gets to deal with things until we get back."

  The Devil You Know

  Harkins looked down the table at the senior leadership of the local Council of the Ascendance. There were now eleven people in the council's senior leadership coven, not counting him. The last several weeks had been brutal, a number of people had actually packed up and left Reno in the last few days, a result of the infighting that had been taking place, as three members of the old council had tried to usurp his position.

  All three of them were now dead of course.

  Harkins had been forced to flood the council seats with people whose loyalty was beyond reproach, so where there had traditionally been ni
ne on the council, he'd replaced the four empty seats, one for Rosen and three for the now deceased challengers, with seven new members.

  That left him with only four members from before the challenge to his leadership, three of whom he knew he could count on, or he wouldn't be here now. The fourth one, Roy Sticks, had refused to take sides. Roy didn't hide his dislike of Harkins, he never had. But he made it clear he would never challenge Harkins' leadership.

  That also left him with only four experienced members on the council. The seven new members were less experienced than he would have preferred. Three of them barely qualified when it came to magical ability, but they all had that most important of qualities: Loyalty. To him.

  Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't move some of them out for better choices after things settled down. Several of the less experienced had made it clear to him that they'd willingly stand aside if someone better came along.

  "Gentlemen," Harkins said as he looked around the table at everyone, quietly waiting there on his pleasure. "With the recent unpleasantness now behind us, I'd like to return our attention to our most pressing problem, the capture of Sean Valens."

  "I thought we wanted him dead?" Roy mumbled from his seat, the second one down on Harkins' right.

  Harkins shook his head, "After due consideration, I've decided to return to our original goal of capturing him, draining him of all the magical knowledge we can get our hands on, and after that, we'll dispose of whatever's left."

  "What about our previous problems?" Michael Seavers, the man seated across from Roy asked.

  Harkins sighed heavily as he threw Rosen under the bus, not that he didn't deserve it.

  "I think I erred when I assigned the capture of Sean to Rosen, I hate to admit it, because he was a close and faithful friend. If I hadn't sent him on that task, I have no doubts that he would have been able to survive the attack at our coven house, and would still be with us.

  "So, with that in mind, I have decided to bring in some outside help."

  "What?" Several of the council members, mostly the new ones, looked suitably upset.

  "Now now," Harkins motioned with both hands, waving them down, "it's not like we haven't done business with this particular person before. The last time we hired him, the results were exactly what we desired. I have no doubts that he will perform satisfactorily this time as well."

  "You're hiring the Hyena?" James Roth, who now sat directly on Harkins' right side, asked.

  Harkins nodded, "Yes. He dealt with Bernard Valens for us, as we had requested, and arranged for the geas that the conclave put on Sean, and the oath from Mrs. Valens."

  "Both of which have now been broken," Roy pointed out.

  Harkins nodded, "Yes, and if Rosen hadn't failed in our first attempt, neither of those things would have mattered. That is however, now water under the bridge. We've all heard the rumors about Roger's demise and what happened over at Gradatim? I think it's safe to say that Sean's attention will soon turn to us, if it hasn't already."

  "Any idea as to just why it hasn't turned to us yet?" Roy asked.

  Harkins nodded, "Yes. He ended up with a lot of wolves after what happened at Roger's house, and there was some kind of falling out between him and the Alpha of the Western Packs. As we all know, the animals are not prone to cooperate with each other, unless there is a strong hand forcing them."

  "So he's still consolidating his hold?" Roy asked.

  "Apparently, yes."

  "Well, then by all means, Samuel," Harkins tried not to flinch at the use of his first name, "I agree with your plan and I second the proposal. Anybody opposed?" Roy asked looking around the table in a manner that made it clear what Roy thought of anyone who did.

  Harkins had to admit to being surprised by this strong show of support by Roy of all people.

  "No," Everyone said shaking their heads.

  Harkins smiled, "Thank you, Roy, and thank you everyone. Now, on to other business, of which I daresay there is a lot we need to deal with.

  "The first of which is the Sorceress Guild."

  "What's up with them?" Dave Thompson asked.

  "Yes, what is our concern with them?" Jerry Kinyon, who sat on Harkins' left asked as well.

  "Simply put," Harkins said looking around the table, "we can't let what they did to Preston go unanswered."

  "I thought we were just using him, and his people?"

  Harkins nodded slightly, "To an extent, that was true, and of course now that he's gone we've lost both him and his people as a resource. But I think it sets a bad precedent for the future, if we're not seen as taking some sort of action in response to what was done to him."

  "I don't know," Dave spoke up again, "his troubles with the gals over at the guild he caused himself. It wasn't because of anything that involved us."

  "I think Samuel is right," Roy said, surprising Harkins once again. "If we aren't seen punishing those who go against our allies, regardless of the reason, we look weak. Hell, this might even win us back the support of Totis Viribus. I second Samuel's motion. Anyone opposed?"

  The motion carried with unanimous support, just as the previous one had.

  "Thank you, all," Harkins said smiling. "Now, let us discuss just what we're going to do, before moving on to our more mundane business."

  Two hours later when the meeting broke up, Harkins motioned to Roy as they were leaving the meeting room, and led him away from the others where they could speak privately.

  "You want to know why I took your side?" Roy said bluntly as soon as the others were out of earshot.

  Harkins nodded, "Yes. Honestly, Roy, we've never gotten along, so I'm a bit puzzled by this turn of events."

  Roy nodded, "Putting it bluntly, Samuel, we can't afford to look weak. Not with what happened to that bastard Roger and his group! I still can't believe Smith was stupid enough to try and push you out! None of these people seem to understand that if you're weak, we're all weak. Just because I don't like you, doesn't mean I don't respect you.

  "I've been doing a bit of investigating of my own, you see. I know that Morgan and his lot are just waiting for us to fail so he can sweep down and remove all of us that have stood against him. This is no time for us to be doing any infighting; it's time to pull together. That's why I stood with you today, to let everyone know that."

  "Thank you, Roy, I appreciate the loyalty."

  "It's not you I'm loyal to, Samuel."

  Harkins chuckled, "And I appreciate that, as well as your honesty even more. You're right, troubled times lay ahead. Why don't you come over for dinner tomorrow night? I'm sure your grandchildren would love to see you."

  "Don't mind if I do, Samuel. I'm sure my daughter will also be pleased."

  Harkins laughed at that, Roy and his daughter hadn't seen eye to eye on anything since she'd married Harkins.

  "I'll be sure to calm the waters first, Roy. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a phone call to make."

  Roy nodded and walked off, leaving Harkins to head to his office. Opening the door and stepping inside, he nodded to the man sitting on the couch, smoking a cigar.

  The man appeared to be older, probably in his late fifties or early sixties. He wore a long dark overcoat, and a black fedora hat, black silk trousers, black shoes, a very dark gray shirt with a black tie. He stood a few inches less than six feet, and didn't seem to be all that heavily built, but with the loose clothing he wore, you really couldn't tell.

  Beyond that, Harkins didn't really know all that much about Hyena, he'd hired him the last time based on recommendations from the council leader in Chicago, who had connections with the gangs back there. Hyena worked for a group known only as 'The Outfit', which apparently had once been part of the Chicago mobs back in the heyday of prohibition and organized crime.

  Now they were a much smaller and more expensive group that dealt solely in assassinations and other tricky jobs involving magic users or other supernatural beings.

  "So, I take it they went for it?" Sal W
oiseman, who was only known to most people simply as 'Hyena' asked.

  Harkins nodded as he went over to sit behind his desk.

  "There was never any doubt in my mind," Harkins smiled back at Sal. "Everyone knows what we stand to lose if we don't deal with this problem now. We also understand what we may gain if we can get Sean to reveal his secrets to us."

  "I'm still surprised that the kid took up magic, I though the geas that the local conclave put on him was supposed to prevent that?"

  Harkins shrugged, "We don't really know what happened. Not yet anyway, which makes it all the more important that we get our hands on him. That he suddenly was practicing magic at a master level shows that he must have been studying it for quite some time. I can only guess that the geas was broken long ago, by some third party, and we just didn't discover it until those gang members from Lithuania tried to grab him."

  Harkins wasn't worried about Hyena discovering the truth behind his lie, none of the councils were apt to talk to each other about what happened in the last conclave meeting, much less so with an outsider.

  "It is true that he's a lion-were now?"

  "Yes, we suspect that his mother's friend bit him after the failed kidnapping attempt, as he was dying."

  "I'm surprised by that," Sal mused.

  "Why?" Harkins asked, curious.

  "It's almost unheard of for lions to infect someone with their brand of lycanthropy."

  Harkins gave a small shake of his head, "I honestly don't know anything about lions or their particular version of lycanthropy, nor do I really care.

  "The myths and stories the lycans tell about each other are just that, myths and stories."

  Sal laughed, "Not unlike the myths and stories told about mages perhaps?"

  Harkins snorted, "There's a difference."

  "And what would that difference be?" Sal asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "We're the ones in power."

  Sorceress Guild

  "Hi, Roberta," Sean said walking up to the gate in his hybrid form with Roxy, Jolene, and Daelyn following along.

  "Sean! Where have you been hiding yourself? It's been what, two weeks?" Roberta said giving him a look that made it clear to him that she wasn't exactly happy.