by SA Magnusson
“They have some ability with sound?”
“Sound, movement, many of the same traits all vampires carry, but they have hearing that is greater than even the shifters.”
She said it with such disgust that I could tell how irritated she was to admit that.
“Why do you think this is families trying to position themselves for power?”
“The Siren family is not active in the Minneapolis area. And I hadn’t expected her to have so many familiars with her.”
“Familiars? Not gangs?”
“Not gangs. Show me those pictures again.”
I pulled out my phone and opened the photo app, scrolling back until I reached the pictures of the shooter and the victim. Ariel tapped on one of the shooter. “What we thought were all runes aren’t. Many of them are, but not all. They are a mark for the family. They use this to signify their position as a familiar.”
“All I know about vampire familiars is from movies and comics.”
“They serve the vampires. Some think that the longer they serve, the more likely it will be that they will be turned, but even that is difficult. With the restrictions in place because of the treaty with the shifters and the mage council, vampires rarely draw others from outside. There is no need, as vampires rarely die.”
“And these familiars…”
“The familiars serve as their conduit. Vampires aren’t able to come out in the daylight, and so they require servants who can.”
“It seems as if these familiars are using power.”
“That is what’s new. I had not expected the vampire families to be clashing in such a way where they involved others.”
“It’s more than just them involving others. If they’re placing these runes, it means that they’re somehow taking power from mages. That’s the only way that they would have that power, so we need to figure out where it’s coming from and what they’re doing to exact it.”
“We?”
“You brought that information to me with a purpose,” I said.
“I brought it to you because you wanted to know, and I thought it was necessary for you to learn, but I am not able to get involved in the vampire dynamics.”
“Because it’s not shifter business?”
“Because it would disrupt the treaty,” she said.
“Even for Aron?” It was a dirty move, and I knew it even as I said it, but I needed her help, and if she wasn’t willing to help, I wasn’t sure what I would do next.
“The archer would not have wanted me to have done anything that would disrupt the Veil. He served the council in a way that wanted to ensure the integrity of the Veil. More than anyone else, the archer would have told you to not push when it came to this.”
“I’m not part of the council, and I’m not a part of the Veil.”
“I think you’re an even greater part of the Veil than me, in some ways. You have a role and responsibility that requires that you not disrupt what is there.”
“But I’m not trying to disrupt it. I’m trying to understand what’s taking place within my city.”
“There you go again. Calling it your city.”
“It is my city. And anything that is happening here, especially if it has to do with magic that disrupts the balance of power, involves me and people that I care about. I’m not going to sit by while that happens.”
“Nor should you.”
“I thought you had just said I needed to stay out of it.”
“No. What I’ve said is that I have to stay out of it, not that you should. You are not a part of the treaty. Your role is different, and because of that, I suspect that you alone would be able to get involved and not disrupt things.”
“Not just me,” I said.
“What else?”
“The Dark Council. They aren’t involved in the treaty, either.”
Ariel grinned. “Good luck.”
“That’s it? You have come here and shared that with me and now you just want me to have good luck?”
“I’ve already told you that there is only so much that I can do.”
“I don’t need your involvement. But now that you’re here, maybe you could come with me. You don’t have to intervene.”
Ariel watched me. “What you ask runs the potential of putting me at odds with the others holding onto the Veil.”
“What I ask is for you to just help me. As a friend.”
“Is that what we are now?”
“Well, I was hoping we weren’t enemies.”
Ariel grinned. “No. I’m quite certain I would not want you as an enemy.”
“Will you help?”
“I will do what I can and promise to let you know if it comes close to creating a situation where I can no longer participate.”
That had to be enough.
I nodded. “Now that I’m up, let’s go and see about a dark mage.”
“You don’t want to sleep so that you can get caught up for work?”
“I don’t know that I’ll be able to fall back asleep, not with what you’ve told me. And if this is nothing more than factions of vampire families trying to gain position within the city, we need to put an end to it before others get involved.” And I needed to alert Gran and Gramps. If mages were being used in this, we needed to figure out how and where.
“I’ll get dressed.”
“I’ll wait,” Ariel said.
As I headed back to my room, I called out to the living room. “You know, all of this would be a whole lot easier if you would’ve been able to find that sword for me.”
“What is it about the sword that you need?” Ariel asked.
She had followed and stood in the entryway to my room, and I hesitated to change with her standing there watching me. Damn her and her comfort in her nudity. I forced myself to change despite her practically leering at me.
“The sword allows me to reach for more power than I would’ve otherwise been able to,” I said. “It somehow bridges the other side of the Veil. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but there is power in it that I didn’t have, and don’t have, on my own.”
“Then it’s a crutch.”
“You sound like Aron.”
“The archer was wise.”
“It’s not a crutch. It’s a weapon. And with everything that we’ve gone through, having a weapon like that, being able to use power that comes from the other side of the Veil, has value.”
“I don’t dispute that, but as you continue to learn about your ability, leaning on a crutch limits the knowledge that you gain. I would equate it to you needing to continue to borrow knowledge from textbooks while treating patients. There comes a time when you have to have that knowledge within you so that you don’t have to take time to continue to look things up, slowing you down.”
I frowned at her. “That might be the most logical thing you’ve ever told me.”
“I’m not alpha for my looks.”
“I thought you were alpha because of your magical strength.”
“I became alpha because of my cunning,” Ariel said.
I finished changing, throwing on jeans and a comfortable and warm shirt. I wished I had a jacket, some sort of armor the way that Aron did.
“I think I’m ready,” I said.
“Good. Then it’s time for us to go.”
As we left, I pressed my hand on the door, sealing it closed, wishing I could simply go back to bed. Maybe things would finally slow down once I was off the trauma rotation, and maybe then I could finally get the sleep I needed, but until then, it seemed I would be sleep deprived.
Hopefully, it didn’t limit me too much.
16
When we reached the warehouse section, Ariel stared at the door. She pressed her hand on the lock and the electronic keypad lit up, allowing us access.
“That’s your type of ability?” I asked.
Ariel glanced over. There was no movement around us, nothing but a stillness in the depths of the night. A nearly full moon glowed overhead,
illuminating things much more than the streetlights alone would do. The air had a strange odor to it, almost that of a burning, and it reminded me of the electrocautery in surgery. A disgusting image came to mind with that thought.
“As I said, we have the ability to shift past a great number of locks,” she said.
“When we step in there, they’re going to be a little upset by our presence.”
“Most likely. I imagine that you have some way of influencing things?”
I didn’t know that I had influence when it came to Barden. “I have some rapport with the Dark Council.”
“Because you forged a treaty with them?”
“Because I beat them,” I said.
Ariel chuckled softly. “Things aren’t quite so different outside of the shifter world.”
“I didn’t say that I had challenged them.”
“Isn’t that the same, though? By defeating them, didn’t you demonstrate that your magic exceeds that which they possess?”
“I suppose,” I said.
“And with that, you have put yourself into a position of authority. When you do so, you must be ready for the likelihood that another challenger will appear.”
“I’m not trying to position myself in any way.”
“And yet still you have done it, Kate Michaels.”
Ariel pulled open the door and slipped inside. I followed, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. The building was dark, though soft white light glowed from several of the stations scattered throughout the interior of the warehouse. I watched, looking for any signs of movement, but there was nothing.
It took a moment to wrap myself in a barrier. Ariel pulled on her own magic, and I sensed it as a cool chill racing along my spine, that chill that fit with her attempting to shift. She stayed in human form, but her fingers had changed slightly, elongated, and claws extended out from them. Her nose had changed just a little, and she sniffed at the air.
“Do you detect anything?” I asked.
“There is magic here, but it is diffuse.”
“Diffuse?”
“There is an attempt to conceal it.”
I pointed toward the back door. “They have spells around the back part of the warehouse. I don’t really know why, other than the fact that that seems to be their headquarters and they have other activities taking place back there. Once we go through the doorway, the sense of magic will change.”
“How many times have you been here?” she asked.
“More than I want,” I said.
“Interesting.”
“Why?”
“Do your grandparents know that you have spent so much time around the dark mages?”
“I’ve not found the need to share that detail with them.”
Ariel grinned again. “Interesting.”
“Would you stop saying that?”
“Why? Because it’s true?”
“Because it’s not that I’m trying to hide anything. And I certainly wouldn’t be hiding anything from my grandparents.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
I ignored her and made my way around the outer bank of the workstations. Rows and rows of cubicles were set up, and a strange energy came from within them.
“They’ve placed magic on all of these,” I said.
“So it seems,” Ariel said.
“Why?”
“That would be a question for the Dark Council, but there must be some reason for them to do so.”
I couldn’t imagine what that reason might be unless it had something to do with Barden and his underworld and whatever undertakings they had going on here.
There was no one working, and seeing as how we hadn’t triggered any sort of alarms, I was tempted to go and try and figure out what he used this workspace for, but that wasn’t why we were here.
At the back door, Ariel pressed her hand upon it. Magic surged from her.
“Clever,” she whispered.
“Why?”
“Whoever placed the protections on this door must have recognized that we have some way of bypassing them.”
“You can’t get past the protections?”
“We can, but it’s going to require your abilities and not mine.”
“I’m not sure that I can bypass them. When I came here before, I basically announced my presence and they let me in.”
“We could go that route, too,” Ariel said.
I had a sense that she didn’t want to. “Why do you want to sneak in here?”
“Consider it a reconnaissance.”
“You want to spy on the Dark Council?”
“I would like to know what their capabilities might be.”
“Why?”
“When you forged the treaty between the councils, you established peace that hasn’t existed. The council is no longer distracted, focused on the dark mages.”
“Do you think that might have angered someone?”
“That’s always a possibility,” she said. “Everyone has an agenda, and it can be difficult to know whose agenda you’re irritating. Some might have seen you forging a sense of peace between the various councils as a step in the wrong direction.”
“It’s not the Dark Council that would feel that way. They were losing too many mages to the mage council attacks.”
“What if there are some within the Dark Council who feel otherwise?”
“Why?”
“Because they would need to change the way they operate.”
“I don’t think Barden has changed anything about the way he operates. Whatever underworld operation he has remained active.”
“You disapprove?”
I laughed softly. “It’s not my place to disapprove. I don’t particularly care what Barden is up to just so long as I don’t have to worry about dark mages attacking me.”
“And what about the mage council?”
“I don’t have to worry about them attacking me, either.”
“Have you revealed yourself to them?”
“Do we really have to do this now?”
“We don’t, but I thought it was a reasonable question. You have chosen not to reveal yourself to the mage council, though I would wonder why?”
“I don’t know. I feared the mage council for so long during my life that revealing who I am and what I can do now feels dangerous.”
“Do you fear that they would still attempt to burn off your magic?”
“I don’t really know whether they would be able to do so.”
“You might not be a dark mage, Kate Michaels, but they would still have some way of sealing off your magic. That is all that they have ever done.”
“They never burned off the magic?”
“Magic lives within the user. It can’t be burned off. It can be given freely, as you have seen with both me and the Great One, as well as with these rune mages, as you call them. Magic can be used, but rarely is it expended or wasted, and even then, there remains power within the user. Eventually it will return.”
“I always believed the mage council could burn off my magic, and I feared that.”
“Is that why you have remained hidden from the council?”
“It changes a person when they burn it off,” I said.
“Sometimes. Imagine how you would be if you no longer could use an arm. Or if you could no longer walk. It takes a great strength of mind to withstand such a change.”
“What happens to the mages that they seal off?”
“That is a question only the council can answer.”
Would my grandparents even answer that? Now that we had formed the pact with the councils, there would be no reason that those who had once been deemed dark mages shouldn’t be restored, not unless they were dangerous.
And maybe all of the mages who had been burned off were dangerous, though I had a hard time believing that. Had Gran and Gramps the opportunity, they would have done so to Barden, and he had been helpful to us, regardless of whether or not they wanted to believe it at first.
Ariel watched me. “Are you going to open the door, Kate Michaels?”
I reached for the keypad and let magic flow out from me. Rather than surging it into the keypad, I focused, letting it slowly seep out, and when it did, it struck the keypad and surged around it. I didn’t know what I needed to do to unlock the door, but I felt a variation within the magic and used that subtle variation to send a trigger, and the door clicked.
Ariel grinned at me.
The door jerked open.
Three mages stood on the other side.
One of them struck with a spell, and I pushed outward with my barrier, wrapping around the doorframe, so their spell bounced harmlessly off it. Easing back on the barrier, I said, “We’re just here to meet with Barden.”
Another spell built, and it started to crash into the barrier, attempting to creep around the edges. If they managed to bypass the barrier, I would either have to attack—something I wasn’t eager to do, not when I had come here for answers—or I would be subject to their spell.
The paralytic.
I refused to succumb to the paralytic ever again.
I pushed on my barrier, wrapping around all three of them. They were forced together and I squeezed, holding on to them. The barrier became a sphere, without any free edge for them to try to pry loose.
“Move past them,” I told Ariel.
She watched me. “You are holding three mages.”
“Right. The same way I held the vampire.”
“You don’t think that is unusual?”
“I’ll be honest, there’s quite a bit unusual about everything that I’ve been doing these days. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be talking to a shifter, fighting a vampire, and confronting the Dark Council, I probably would have run.”
Ariel barked out a laugh and squeezed past the three mages.
I followed her through, and when I did, I continued to hold onto the barrier with the mages. If it came down to it, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to create another similar barrier and hold more, so I had to hope that Barden would be accommodating.
“His room is down this way,” I said.
The sense of magic bloomed now that we were through the doorway, and it was different than it had been before. Muted sound reached my ears, and it took a moment to realize that it came from someone screaming.