Striking Souls

by Erin R Flynn

  “I can take more than that,” he argued quietly.

  I gave him a look over my shoulder, pausing with my hand on the doorknob to back outside. “No one ever understands what we go through as enchanters. No one ever believes it’s as hard as it is. You won’t even experience the prejudice and judgement much less trying to handle the issues of being a female leader. You never gave me the respect you should have. Did you see me flinch at that? No because lots never do.”

  I left him to stew on his thoughts and whatever else went on in the wolf’s brain. I went to the other circle and sent only twenty-five on that one, as it took more power to activate the spell to make them find peace.

  I glanced out when I heard a grunt, watching Hunt lean over like he’d been punched in the gut. I simply shrugged when he gave me a shocked look. How did people really think magic worked? That there was no cost to us besides calories?

  Idiots. Even workouts cost more than eating the calories. It affected the body. Why wouldn’t doing something others could not be the same?

  “Where are we on the murders?” I asked Helen, not really involved after I’d declared it a non-feral or wolf kill but still curious.

  “Nowhere really,” she sighed. “CPD is blocking us at every turn. They made their move and are shouting all over the place that our procedures are so far off from theirs, it’s time to have the real police handle crimes.”

  “And you leaked some footage with my fight with that officer at the scene, yes?” I checked, smiling when she nodded. I knew her well enough to know her playbook.

  She learned a lot from me after all.

  “Let me know when I’m needed or if it’s just a matter of scaring some idiots.”

  “Will do.”

  “What else?” I asked as we headed back to the lobby. I felt her nerves and knew there was something else she had to push on but didn’t want to.

  “We’re out of room at PI to start this psychic division or whatever. People are already biting and want to meet with you right away before anything else jumps on your schedule, but we just don’t have the room.”

  “What are we zoned for?”

  “Last time we added, we made sure there was room for more. We can add up to seven floors without having to file any paperwork.” She waved me off when I gave her a surprised look. “I’m just telling you where we’re at. We don’t need seven floors. Just one. I wanted you to know we had the paperwork in order.”

  “Okay, figure out what floor you want me to copy, and they know the drill.”

  “Yup.”

  I made my tablet appear and gave it to Hunt. “My schedule updated?”

  “Yes, and I’ve got my people on checking what potions we will need over the next month while you’ll be distracted next week. I do know we need more of the truth telling potion.”

  “Where do you add to the list of what she needs to do?” Hunt asked, leaning into Helen. He shrugged when I gave him a shocked look. “I asked her about your calendar before because it’s cool how organized you are. I mean, it makes sense that you have to, but there never seems to be conflict with as many that guide you from here to there and add so much.”

  “He was impressed how well we had our shit together,” Helen chuckled, preening a bit and well, she deserved it. The three of them really did handle more than just about anyone could.

  Including me and I was no picnic.

  “Got it, thanks,” he said to Helen. “You’ve got a lunch with Tanesha here.”

  “Why?” I asked Helen.

  “She wouldn’t say, but she pushed, and that’s not like her.”

  “No, it’s not. Okay, I’ll handle it.”

  “You always do, boss,” she chuckled before popping away.

  “Tanesha is Alpha of her pride,” I explained to Hunt as we headed to the cafeteria. “An all-female pride of lions.”

  “I’ve never heard of that before.”

  “No, it’s the only one and they move a lot, as it’s not accepted. Nor is a lesbian lion, as a lioness’s job is to give men babies in their outdated society that accepts a bit too much of their animal side without making allowances for the human half. She’s also over three hundred years old, and that makes her a prime mate to males who ignore the fact she’s mated, just to a woman.”

  “Idiots,” he grumbled, shaking his head. “We are more than our animals. It’s easy to fall into their ways, but I’m not just a wolf, I’m also a man.”

  “You forget a lot of human men have no problem subjugating women also,” I reminded him as I made my ID card appear. I swiped it and started ordering. “You won’t feel full like you normally would with what I did to the collar. You won’t have a stopping point but will brim with energy like when you need to shift. Sort of. I’m not sure there’s a real comparison, as I’ve never been on your end.”

  “I get the idea,” he assured me, swiping his own card and ordering on the other touch screen.

  I smiled when I saw Tanesha already sitting at my table, staring out the window. Her head snapped towards me, and a bright grin lit up her face as I approached. She stood and leaned over to hug me.

  “You look well,” I said, hugging the larger woman back.

  “Yes, and your coven flourishes as always. I noted you had more black people than I remember.”

  I shrugged as I let her go and moved away. “Enchanters mostly stem from Europe. It’s not a racist thing, as you know I could care less which race or species people are. We found a village in Africa with a family of medicine people according to them and they were enchanters. No clue they were or that they weren’t human. We’ve had others look for any other such families, but most of Africa is not a friend to us, so it’s tricky.”

  She snorted. “They’re not a friend to me either, and I’m black. I get it. I was just surprised as I’ve only known a few black enchanters ever, Jerome one of them. How is he?”

  “I work him too hard, but he never complains. He loves it.”

  “Such a weird man,” she chuckled, glancing at Hunt. “What day is the new assistant on? Any chance he’ll break the record?”

  “Everyone says that like it’s my fault,” I grumbled. “You could keep up if you wanted to.”

  “Yes, but I don’t want to,” she chuckled, shaking her head. “No one works as hard as you, Soraya. It’s not a criticism, but most of us can’t go like you do, so it’s just fun to watch others fail.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Hunt said, dipping his head to the Alpha. “Have you ordered?”

  “Yes, one of her people set me up,” she answered as we sat. She gave him a look that he interpreted correctly given he wasn’t that good with people.

  Or maybe magics because honestly I’d not seen him interact that much with shifters, but Jack got along with him well and he was a good guy so… Yeah, I’d seen Hunt’s bad side only.

  Maybe?

  “I’ll go get your protein shakes and make sure more are ready for this afternoon,” Hunt said, excusing himself, which impressed me that he understood the look and reacted as he should to the situation.

  “That man is so all about you I’m almost envious even if I wouldn’t know what to do with a man,” Tanesha informed me after he was out of range.

  “It’s complicated and not a topic I want to discuss,” I warned her, glad when she nodded and backed off. I was also glad that whoever had brought her over had informed the kitchen, as a few workers brought over a range of fun appetizers. I thanked them, relieved, as she was an important and strong ally and I always wanted her to know we valued her. “You don’t normally ask for a meeting when we hire you, Tanesha.”

  “No, no I do not,” she sighed, dipping a chicken wing in hot sauce. “I actually called several weeks ago to ask for a meeting.” She hurried on when I gave her a shocked look. “I was clear it wasn’t an emergency, just I wanted on your schedule. Helen personally called me a few days later and said she could speak with me immediately or it would be longer as something was going on. It
always is with you, and I get that.”

  “Still, I would have made time for you.”

  She smiled at me. “I know, and you always do, but we need you to sleep too, honey. You burn out and too many of us are screwed.” She waited until I nodded. “We want to come out of the cold. The weather is a bit too much for us.”

  Apparently it was a meeting for shocked looks as I gave her another one. “You love to travel.”

  “We loved to travel,” she corrected. “It used to be fun. New places, new faces, and it helped keep us safe. We both know while our elders have ruled we’re allowed to exist, they can’t rule prides to leave us alone as it’s not our ways, but also, we go against tradition.” She took a bite and waved the wing to hold off my scathing comment. “You have messed up ways and elders too. Cameron does the best she can, but if she pushes too hard and on too much—”

  “She’ll be out and someone in who shakes less up,” I muttered, knowing the game. “I get it.” Then I really got it as I put some wings on my plate. “You don’t just want to come out of the cold but you want to come into my fold.”

  “Yes. I want to still be Alpha, but you have other groups under you that you’ve given protection to and don’t interfere with.”

  I snorted. “When would I have time to interfere? I don’t care what people do as long as they don’t do shit I can’t stand while hiding behind my skirts or whatever the updated phrase is for that.” I studied her as she nodded. “How bad has it gotten, Tanesha?”

  “Bad,” she admitted quietly. “Technology is great, but it makes slipping in and out of areas harder unless you’re actual crooks and know how to do that shit. And people talk more than they ever used to with the internet, so I feel like every time I turn around one pride has let the others know where we’re at or been and the next take over.”

  I pretended not to hear the fear in her voice as I studied the scars from the claw marks her “mate” had given her a few centuries ago. She had been forced to marry an Alpha lion, knowing she preferred women when they’d mated. The scars had happened after people had spoken of him not being able to satisfy his mate and his punishment to her for humiliating him.

  “I never thought you would come out of the cold,” I confessed, seeing the young woman I’d found centuries ago after she’d run from her mate instead of the woman sitting before me. I shook off the memory and sighed. “Yes, technology truly is a double edged sword sometimes.”

  “It is, but if we’re stable, I was thinking we might be able to find more and help them,” she muttered. “We’re twelve now. We picked up two over the past years who were on the run like I was. Like we’ve all been. If we can get word out there is a safe place for lionesses who like women, it would be worth giving up the travel. We’re down to our last pennies, as finding work without all the right papers has been a joke too.”

  “Would you take any gay shifter?” I asked quietly, wondering how big she was thinking. Lions weren’t known for playing all that well with others in general.

  She scarfed down another wing, making me realize she was a lot thinner than the last time I’d seen her. Times were tough indeed. “I think you’d have a problem with some elders or even if it was just cat then the cat elders, and now is not the time you need that problem.”

  “Wolves are pretty open about that and so are our elders,” Hunt said as he rejoined us. “It tends to be left up to the Alphas, and some don’t care but push matings still because they don’t want to be seen as the pack not putting out enough pups or a sanctuary for gays when others look down on not having enough pups. It could be worth having some other females at your backs wherever you end up.”

  “Not a bad idea,” she agreed but kept my eyes. “And I have an idea on the ‘where’ if you’re open to something new?”

  “When am I not?” I snorted. Hell, I loved new and starting trouble.

  7

  “We were traveling around Peru, and we not only loved the area but we were heartbroken to find out how much of the rainforest is being deforested and seeing it with our own eyes,” she explained, handing me an envelope of print shots.

  I wiped my hands and took them, my heart hurting as I saw the devastation. Dead animals killed by uncaring people among so much wasted everything as they cut down trees and took the part they wanted. So much could have been done with the rest, but cruel people didn’t care about such things. “Illegal?”

  “Yes, government land even,” she sighed. “Brazil is trying to handle their own mess, but it’s not going well either as the cartels and mafia have found a new income source that the authorities just don’t have the personnel to fight against. Or they won’t risk it.” She let me flip through a bunch more. “You could fix that, right?”

  Hunt snorted. “She’s not a god. You can’t expect her to try on fixing the fucking rainforest.”

  “He’s new,” I chuckled, not looking up from the pictures. “Would the government sell the land?”

  “Yes, if someone could protect it, and we could,” she answered. “And we could be a stable and regular day care for your munchkins instead of just calling us in when you’ve got events.”

  “That’s what this meeting is?” Hunt muttered, taking some of the pictures I was done with from the back of the pile. “It didn’t have a topic.”

  “We hire Tanesha and her pride when we have a large event and a lot of strangers around, as lots of people see enchanter children as nothing more than batteries and little power generators.” I waited for him to comment and looked at him when he didn’t. “You need to have a conversation with Tommy about how he became a part of my coven before it was a coven like this and I protected several locations of enchanters in hiding that I rescued.”

  “I will,” he agreed, giving me a curious look.

  “People don’t respect enchanters as having much strength,” Tanesha added, giving me a sad look. It was true, so I wasn’t angry at her saying it. “Those people are idiots, but the best protection is a good scare factor, and it’s well known how protective lionesses are of cubs. We protect the kids during whatever they’ve got going on, and they make it clear that’s where the kids are so not only would they risk Soraya’s wrath—”

  “But all lions as you guys band together when it comes to protection jobs, as you’re known for them and it would hurt all lions and their business,” he filled in, nodding. “Smart. Very smart.”

  “We have our moments,” Tanesha purred, giving me a wink. “I was hoping if you could restore it—I guess replanting won’t help as much as then it wasn’t natural—but we could find stuff you needed. Maybe? Not grow like your farms but—this is as far as I got. Help the environment, give us a safe place, your kiddies could have fun day care there and some education, maybe find more stuff with the locals and it could all fit.”

  “It could all fit,” I muttered, bobbing my head. “How much is the land going for?”

  “Shit. And I mean shit, as they decimated,” she answered. “The government can’t even use it as tourist sites or give permits for research. It’s just trash now, and with all the burning they did, it’s not even useable farmland without a lot of work.”

  I bobbed my head as she spoke, my mind reaching for something that I thought would help make everything fit together. We finished the appetizers by the time I had it, the staff clearing the plates and bringing us what we ordered. I reached over and tapped one of the workers.

  “Could you tell the chefs to make several batches of whatever they can that won’t mess them up? Tanesha’s going to take back some food for her pride while they pack and join us here.”

  “Of course, boss. We’ll get it done,” he told me.

  “Thank you, darling.”

  “Why am I not surprised you noticed?” Tanesha sighed, shaking her head.

  I shrugged. “It makes up for the times I miss tons because there’s so much going on.” I waved off whatever she was going to say next. “I think I can make all this work, but I might have to go a
bit dark. Does that work still?”

  “Yeah, sure. What are we talking? Burying bodies on the land, or do you want us mauling people?”

  Hunt’s fork hitting his plate got both of our attention. “Just like that? Sure, okay, just bury bodies or whatever.”

  Tanesha threw back her head and burst out laughing. “Oh, cub, you are so, so young. Give it a few more decades and you’ll change your mind after you endure more of this world and the shit it gives you.”

  “If it shits on me much more, I might end up in a padded room,” Hunt muttered, suddenly focused on his plate. “I’m a cop because I believe in the law and—”

  “Honey, do you think those men who were illegally killing huge areas of the rainforest were donating that money to charity? No, they were cartel or mafia and had big, big guns and doing much worse than cutting down trees.”

  “Were?” I teased her.

  She shrugged. “Idiot is too gamey for my lioness, but hunting is always fun.” She focused on Hunt’s shocked expression that she’d just admitted to murder. “This is who we are, cub. Deal with it before it eats you. Either you hunt the bad and know that you can’t always play by the rules to do what needs to be done to keep people safe, or you fall onto the other side, the darkness consuming you and you give up and join them.”

  “You always make very complicated matters seem plain. I envy that,” I admitted. “I struggle too much, but I won’t chicken out on what I have to do because I know I will feel the guilt.”

  “Which is why I have no problem with whatever your plan is, honey. If you are willing to go dark side, they are very, very bad people and deserve it.”

  “They do, but it’s a line I’m not sure I’m ready to cross, but I have this feeling like I’m not enough anymore,” I admitted to her as she was one of the few people that would understand. “Things are getting worse and fast, and as much as I’ve got the money to protect us from certain fights, there was a whole fucked up everything we didn’t even have a clue about. It can’t be the only one.”