I went on, “I’m not saying it’s true, but he believes he was wronged by your alpha years ago, and fled north to Canada to find a new pack. He was obsessed with getting revenge, and made plans, although it took him a few years before he could challenge the old alpha and take the pack for his own. He… isn’t a good alpha like Derik, and uses his position to bend his pack to his purposes. Once they were firmly under his thumb he led them down here.”
Derik looked grim and I waited for some indication as to if he wanted me to continue. It just got uglier from there. Derik took over at that point in the story though, confirming what I knew. He looked around making eye contact with each pack member and then spoke. His voice was dispassionate, as if just relating a story that happened to someone else, I wondered if he was in shock, or just holding back his rage.
“Except for my mate, beta, and enforcers most of you have been with the pack less than twenty years. There was a reason we were only five back then. Karl was a part of the pack back then, and we were friends growing up. We… competed at everything. He wasn’t always the way he is now. Things changed though when our alpha at the time started to decline. He wanted to challenge and take over the pack…
“At the time I didn’t see anything dark in him, but the alpha must have, because he challenged me before Karl made his move, and then threw the fight. A last gift to the pack he led and loved. I guess it was then when Karl started to turn bitter, and resist the alpha’s… my authority. You all know this pack is all about family, I wasn’t interested in running a pack if I had to lock everyone down tightly under my orders, but in Karl’s case, that would turn out to be a huge mistake.
“He started to cause disruption and disharmony with his words and actions. I tried to guide him back to where he needed to be, I didn’t want to give up on him. But then Selene showed up looking for a new pack to join. Selene of course, stole my heart the first time I looked at her, and she felt the same. That seemed to be the breaking point for Karl, because he coveted Selene as well out of some twisted need to have whatever I did. He took it as a challenge in his warped mind, and Selene became just one more thing for us to fight over.
“The pack was an unhappy place to be, a couple of the pack even broke ties at that point, and went to find a new pack. That, and his aggressive attitude toward Selene, was when I finally saw the darkness in Karl that I refused to see in my childhood friend up until then. I should have killed him when he challenged me, but when I had him at my mercy, I merely banished him from the pack on pain of death if he ever returned.”
He looked at me like a man about to drown, his stone face breaking, “That’s why he killed Debbie, isn’t it? Not because she was convenient, or separated from the pack, but because she was Selene’s and my child?”
I simply nodded, not wanting to say it out loud. Karl was bitter and insane, and had tortured Debbie simply because she was the child from his enemy, and even more that she was the child of the woman that he’d wanted for himself.
But if Derik thought his story would lose him more wolves, he was wrong. Everyone in the yard gathered closer to him in support, they were a family and wouldn’t be going anywhere. Even if their alpha did screw up. I really understood then that the magic werewolves shared had two sides to it, like everything else. It could be used to strengthen and nurture in Derik’s case, and for Karl, he used it as a leash, to control and enslave the pack beneath him.
The pack went for a run then, some kind of bonding thing I could only understand the edges of, and I waited in the backyard for them to return. When they did, three left to take care of business, because life went on and they had businesses to run regardless of whatever else was happening.
We were sitting around the table. Sierra on my right, followed by Selene, then Derik. Next to Derik was his beta wolf, a second in command, named Clint.
Clint was of similar build to Derik, he looked like a linebacker, and maybe a few years younger. Next to Clint was his mate and one of the pack enforcers, Katie. Katie had fair skin, blonde hair, and like Sierra, an athletic body. Next to Katie and on my left, was the second pack enforcer Gerald.
Derik looked at me, “So we don’t know where they are?”
I shook my head, “Breaking the spell allowed me to see their history, and who they are, but it seems they must have other magic on themselves, that blocks me finding them. I could see their lives up until they left to come here, whatever the spell is it blocks what they’ve done since. Somehow the connection with what happened to Debbie, jumped over that empty spot. I can tell you there are seven of them outside of Karl, and none of them want to be there particularly. Selene, do you have any thoughts?”
She shook her head, “It must be a spell similar to what they’ve been putting on the victims, but to break it I’d have to see it. Of course, at that point there would be no reason to, we’d already have them.”
I sighed, “There are non-magical ways to track people. I could turn the names over to a few cop friends I have, see if they can find anything. But that would be complicated to say the least. The only other thing I can think of is asking a witch. Perhaps they would know a way to overcome the spell where Selene doesn’t, but I don’t know if they would even get involved or want in return if they did.”
It was a shame the vampire council wouldn’t get involved, they had access to police and federal databases, and could probably find them as long as they were using something traceable.
Katie shook her head, “We can’t involve the cops, even if you have a friend. They’ll be in this up to their necks already soon enough due to the murders, we don’t want them sniffing around the pack.”
Clint nodded in agreement before he said, “If you know a witch, maybe you could find out what she’d want for her help? She may not help though, it’s possible it would put her in danger if Karl finds out about it.”
Clint looked at Derik, as if for approval of his idea. Derik nodded slowly, so I took out my phone and called Tara. The six of them watched me intently while I talked to Tara. It was a werewolf thing I decided, they were more intense than humans and it seemed they had no issues with prolonged eye contact, it was still a bit disconcerting though.
Tara was obviously pleasantly surprised to hear from me, and I couldn’t help but notice Sierra’s eyes narrow at Tara’s familiar and almost intimate tone. Her voice changed though to a more normal tone when I explained the problem, she even had me text her one of the pictures.
She said thoughtfully, “I believe I can help, but I need twenty-four hours. Come see me tomorrow afternoon at the store okay? I assume the pack will repay the favor when I have need?”
Derik nodded at me, apparently werewolves had excellent hearing.
“Yes, they will, and thanks.”
She chuckled, “Your welcome Ben,” and hung up the phone.
Sierra said quite firmly, “I will go with you.”
Derik raised his eyebrow at Sierra in surprise, but the rest of the wolves were unreadable.
I was smart enough not to argue with her tone, but I wondered if her motivation had been merely to remain the pack liaison as I helped, or if she’d been jealous of Tara’s tone with me on the phone…
We had a plan for our next steps, so we broke up. It was time for another train ride and I wasn’t looking forward to my fourth trip in one day. Diana had told me once that sorcerers of air could transport themselves from one place to another, but I hadn’t figured out how yet and had no one to teach me. Until I did, it was public transportation or walking for me.
Sierra and Gerald gave me a ride back to the train at Derik’s insistence. Sierra wasn’t to be by herself just like the rest of them, not even for a quick drive. I never had gotten around to asking Sierra out on a date, but between a virtual stranger being there, and Debbie’s death putting a pall over things, it just wasn’t the time for it.
It was past dinner time and I was looking forward to relaxing at home for a bit after getting back into the city, and perhaps a
full night’s sleep. The last two days had been a bit hectic, but it turns out the day wasn’t quite done with me yet.
Chapter 10
Thursday, May 19th, 2016, 07:32 PM
Instead of going home I found myself walking toward my office. I was hungry and it hadn’t been a great day, but I sucked it up, I was sure there’d be a good reason for me to show up. In hindsight later that night I didn’t see how in this situation it was a good thing, but perhaps it would’ve been worse if it didn’t. If that makes sense, call it the lesser of two evils.
I sat behind my desk and waited for some indication of what to do, but I didn’t feel the urge to do any research, and I was all caught up on paperwork. Just when I’d decided someone must be coming to the office I heard the door open and close. A few seconds later a woman poked her head in my office, with a huge smile on her face. She looked really familiar but I couldn’t place her at first.
She said in an upbeat voice, “Hi, I’m looking for Ben Edwards, is that you?”
I smiled tentatively at her friendliness, “Yes, what can I do for you miss?”
Her smile grew larger, and she walked into my office. She had long golden blonde curly hair, a lovely heart shaped face and bright blue eyes. Her figure was willowy and she was dressed in a woman’s pants suit. I realized who she was a moment before she introduced herself and saw a camera man edge into the doorway.
“Hi, I’m Kira Downs, nightly news. I wanted to talk to you about what happened earlier today.”
Oh, this wasn’t good. I’d had to dodge reporters before, I had a pretty good track record as a psychic after all, but in the past it had always been the sensational columns in the rags at the grocery checkout, or a couple of times a blogger of some supernatural website. Most people didn’t take it seriously since I’d debuted next to an alligator boy story. This was the first time someone from a mainstream news station ever tried to interview me.
I tried to remain calm, and not volunteer any information, a lot happened today.
“What happened early today?” I asked brilliantly.
Her smile didn’t falter, but her eyes tightened slightly, “According to our sources, you found and rescued two young women earlier today that were being held captive, we were also informed you revealed the name of the man that had taken them.”
I nodded slowly, wondering what made it news this time around. Sure, it had been a bit more sensational in nature than usual, but…
When I didn’t speak she continued cheerfully, “Would you like to comment?”
I shrugged, “Sometimes I get these feelings, I’ve had some small success in the past finding lost or kidnapped persons. I’m hardly unique in that way, and I’m just happy that both girls are back home with their families where they belong.”
She walked closer and took a seat, crossing her legs as the camera man came in. This couldn’t be a good thing.
She said in a leading voice, “Ben, may I call you Ben?” she waited until I nodded to continue, “I did some research on you after learning it was you that located the senator’s daughter…”
My mind froze for a second, I never did figure out who that second girl was, if I had I would’ve seen this coming. I shook the thoughts off and started listening again.
She continued, “It seems you find people for the police regularly and successfully in almost every case your brought in on, and I’ve heard that not all of what you do is on the books. Chicago’s very own psychic and hero bringing lost children home. Can you tell us about it?”
I tried to downplay it, “I’m a private detective that will sometimes get a feeling. I’m not sure where you’re going with this, a lot of law enforcement agencies use psychics on occasion. I do the best I can and live my life the best I know how.”
She asked, “Did you know the police raided the suspect’s house, they found evidence but it looked like he’d run.”
I shook my head, “I didn’t know that no.”
Kira continued to try and lock me down trying to find an angle for her story, I just kept downplaying my abilities and was happy when she asked me something I couldn’t answer, it would show I didn’t know everything. Eventually she stood and offered me a handshake, and left me in peace. I sat there for quite a while and wondered how this would play out, and why my power put me here to be interviewed in the first place. I also hoped that would be the last time I’d see the woman, but something in me doubted it.
I got home around eight-thirty and cooked a late dinner. I was in bed an hour later, completely exhausted, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I was pretty sure I was dreaming. I felt like I was floating on air, and I felt a warm air pressure against my side as if something was pushed up against me. It was a weird feeling, because it had no weight, simply pressure. Kind of like the light pressure I would feel if I put my hand out the window while driving around twenty miles an hour. I felt light and free, as if the cares of the world couldn’t hold me down.
I opened my eyes and turned my head toward that warm pressure and looked into two eyes that were beautiful clear skies. Aitheria’s lovely face was familiar, as was her light blue skin, wide smile and her curvy little body. Except, she wasn’t so little anymore, and her body was pasted up against mine, the clouds that normally served as her clothes were doing a very poor job, and I noticed I wasn’t dressed either.
I felt a deep love for her, she’d always been with me, my whole life, but despite our intimacy in this moment there was no sexual tension whatsoever, her body wasn’t real after all, just a… bridge so I could understand her. The intimacy we shared was of family, shared experience, and perhaps spiritual, but not physical love. Still, this was new for me and I had no idea what was going on.
“What’s going on, and why are you human sized?”
She grinned, and actually spoke aloud, her voice was like the wind, choral and sweet, “I pulled you into my dream, how do you know I didn’t shrink you?”
I snorted, “Good point.”
I took a moment to study my surroundings. It looked like my bedroom, sort of. The bed we were lying on looked like my bed, but it was made of thick eddy’s of constantly moving air. My dresser was a haze of clouds, as well as the other furniture. The walls were mostly transparent, and outside was nothing but sky as far as I could see.
“So my dear sweet Ria, why did you pull me into your dream?” I asked in a soft voice.
She looked shy for a moment, “We… you need to know what you are, and you need to push yourself harder.”
I frowned, “But you can’t tell me, or teach me, or even tell me why I need to do either, can you? Although I can guess the last, I have enemies and aren’t nearly powerful enough to face them yet, am I?”
She shook her head and storm clouds gathered in her eyes. I could feel the frustration rolling off of her.
“No, you know I can’t tell you what you are, but I can share with you what I am. It’s not something I’d do lightly though, and I want you to understand that. To do so I must show you the core of what I am, and I’ll be vulnerable when I do so. This… false body protects me. I love you, and I’m afraid for you,” she spoke with passionate intensity with her choral voice, and strong winds rose up around us.
I was a little disturbed actually, but at the same time I felt safe, Aitheria would never hurt me. I was also a little confused, how would showing me what she was help? I also knew by the look in her eyes she’d been very serious.
She smiled serenely and the storm drained from her eyes, and then her body broke into wisps of wind revealing the core of my closest companion. It’s impossible for me to understand fully what I saw, but I think I’d have seen even less if I wasn’t in this dream. Her core was spherical elemental air, but it was so much more than that. She existed in more than just three dimensions, and I knew I’d get a headache if I tried to figure it out, but in essence she was in more than one plane of existence, all at the same time.
There was more as well, in
side her multi-dimensional body there was… spirit. The essence of what she was, perhaps soul is a better word to describe it. She was… transcendently beautiful, and there was something very intimate about me looking at her this way, seeing into her very soul, and I could feel her love and vulnerability in the moment as if we were connected somehow.
Her true elemental body also vaguely reminded me of something else, and I froze in shock when I realized what it was. I didn’t want to look away from her, but I had to know. I closed my eyes and looked inward at the ball of elemental air in the core of my body, and my mind shrieked that what I was seeing wasn’t possible, how could it be possible? I had a mother who bore me, I had a physical body, yet it was unmistakable.
I was also an elemental of air. Somehow.
I opened my eyes and watched Aitheria’s false but familiar body reform around the core of her being while my mind started making all the connections. It was why I couldn’t go underground without freaking out, the same reason Aitheria couldn’t follow me on the odd times I did. A part of me, the nonhuman part of me, literally didn’t belong there. That’s why my core always tightened up and tried to hide, it was an air elemental where such a being didn’t belong at all.
I wasn’t all that sure how knowing that would help me though, except that maybe it told me my enemies possibly weren’t human either. What the hell was I? And how? I didn’t bother asking Aitheria, I knew she couldn’t tell me. She was right about practicing as well. I’d spent time getting a handle on things, then lived my life the way I used to for the most part, minus an occasional job for the vampire council, and now aligning myself with the werewolf pack. I’d learned just enough to get by and control it.
I needed to truly learn to use my powers, but how could I outside of experimentation? I already surpassed what Tara knew about sorcerers, and from all I’d heard of them, I didn’t want to search one out to teach me, and put my life in someone’s hands that I’d just met. Someone that would no doubt understand what I was moments after meeting me. It was a real problem.
Sorcerer: Trouble with Werewolves: Power of Air Book 2 Page 6