by Kimbra Swain
“Upon meeting Miss Vaughn, I knew, she teetered on the verge of madness. She reeked of overdose. She consumed too many souls at once, and Cassidy was completely enthralled. The woman was overtly sexual, so I used it to get her into a side corridor where the Kunoichi were waiting. When I walked through with Vanessa, Cassidy followed us. The other girl,” he wrinkled his forehead trying to remember her name.
“Samantha,” Tadeas supplied.
“Sorry, yes, Samantha lunged toward me. One of the Kunoichi cut her while protecting me. She wobbled over to Vanessa, and I could tell them she was already gone. The stench of blood broke through the enthrallment spell that held Cassidy, and she started to scream. I put my hand over her mouth. I whispered in her ear that her mother had sent me. The Kunoichi surrounded the two of us and took us to a waiting vehicle. I put her in it and tried to get back to tell you, but once I realized you had your hands full, I decided to just give Tadeas a signal. And get Cassidy out of there. I should have stayed,” he said.
“No, you did what I told you to do. I am grateful that you did what I asked. We needed to get her out of there,” I assured him.
“When I got back to the car, she was hysterical. I thought it was about the girl, but she kept screaming that ‘he’ was in there.”
“Who was in there?”
“It wasn't until we got to the airport that she finally told me her father was there. I tried calling you, but you didn't answer. I assumed the two of you had gotten out. I hoped you had. What happened after I left?”
I ignored his question. I felt rage building up inside me and my body tensed up. “Who is her father?”
“Edgar Donovan.”
“Holy shit!” Tadeas exclaimed.
“He’s a Master Wizard,” Lukas said not realizing we knew Edgar Donovan.
“He’s GEA,” Tadeas said. Lukas’ looked shocked and cut his eyes to the team working inside. I saw his eyes rest on Cassidy and tried to ignore any possessive feelings I had for Lukas. They still existed. If he did find happiness, it would please me. However, please, not with my little Half-Fae cousin, Cassidy.
“We need a talk with Miss Cassidy right now,” I stood up and started toward the door as Lukas caught me by the arm.
“For what it's worth Abby, I think she is innocent in all of this,” he said.
“You only think that because she is a nice piece of ass, Lukas!” I couldn’t hold it back.
“Abby, I had more than enough time to take advantage of that child if I wanted to, but I didn't. I'm taking the serum and don't need to feed.”
“Last time I checked, you still have a dick. It’s been a while, though,” I spouted at him.
“Enough,” Tadeas said. I clenched my jaw. I was glad he intervened because I lost my composure. We needed to address Cassidy before she got elbow deep into our computer system. Lukas was stunned. He looked at me and back at Tadeas. He knew there was a time when I would have never let anyone interrupt me. Things had changed. I had changed.
“I'm sorry. Thank you,” I said to him.
“Calculated risk,” he said with a slight twinkle in his eye.
“Let’s talk to little Miss Red,” I said and went in the door, breaking the privacy bubble as I went back into the room
Ashley started chattering the moment we came in the door, “We really should keep her Abby. She's great. So quick on the computer.”
I held my hand up to get her to stop talking, “Cassidy, step away from the computer please.” Tadeas made his way around to flank her just in case. Cassidy looked horrified, but pushed away from the desk and stood.
Ashley looked like she wanted to defend her, but she just backed away.
“Miss Cassidy, what were you doing in Paris with a necromancer?” I questioned. I went with interrogation tone, but wanted to avoid having to use magic. She was my cousin after all. I didn’t fear her, but the last thing I needed was my Aunt Lianne pissed at me for harassing her daughter.
“When she invited me, she wasn't one,” she explained.
“But she was a bad person, right?” I asked as if she were a child to be scolded.
“Yes, but she was always nice to me. She liked me.”
“You weren't interested in her like that, or were you?” I asked. It wasn’t beyond thought. She was Half-Fae, and she was young. It seems the young these days like all sorts of sexual experimentation.
“No.”
“At what point did you realize she had eaten a soul?” I asked.
“When we got ready for the party, she and Sam were in the shower together. When Sam came out her eyes were white. I tried to run, but she put a spell on me. I could not move. She said, if I agreed to go to the party with her, she would let me live. So, I agreed, and she kissed me,” she cringed.
“You made a deal as a Halfling and sealed it with a kiss?” I looked over to Tadeas. He stood solemn and still.
“Yes, but I didn't realize it until it was too late,” she whimpered.
“She marked you. You know what that is?” I asked. I was pretty sure she knew, but I had to make sure that I had all my facts straight. I also didn’t want to leave any openings for my team or Lukas to get the idea that she was completely innocent in this predicament in which she found herself.
“Yes,” she said quietly.
“Who is your father?” her eyes shot open wide.
“Um.”
“Say it!” I yelled, and she flinched.
“Edgar Donovan.” This drew reactions around the room because we knew Edgar Donovan to be part of the GEA.
“Edgar Donovan, the Master Wizard?” I asked for clarification. Part of this was a show for my entire team. She may look innocent, but she certainly was not.
“Yes,” she gulped.
“And daddy knew his sweet little girl was there and marked by a necromancer?” My questions were turning more into statements as I was putting the whole picture together.
“He knew I was there, but I don't think he knew that she marked me,” she defended.
“He's a fucking master wizard. Even Lukas knew you were enthralled,” I shot back at her. Tadeas looked at me when I used that word. I shook my head at him. It was the same with our deal. I was essentially enthralled to him, but different because of what kind of a person he is, and what we're trying to accomplish. I could tell he did not like that at all. For all the joking around about it, the literal meaning of me belonging to him was that I was his thrall for the time proposed by the deal back in the compound when I presented him to the hierarchy of the Agency as my partner.
“I don't know. He sat in the corner and watched. I could see him, but some couldn't,” she explained. Apparently, she did have some magical abilities, however I didn’t feel any magic coming from her now. Fae magic can feel very different from what I used on a regular basis. I certainly could do it that way, but it was far more consuming and seductive. Definitely not practical for the constant uses I had for magic.
“Yes, I know. We couldn't until he approached us and threatened us,” I informed her. I turned it down a notch. I didn’t want to lose my composure as I had with Lukas. “Cassidy, how did you meet Vanessa?”
“I met her at my daddy’s job. He got a secretary position there for me for the summer until I came back to live with mother for the rest of the year,” she explained.
“Your father works for the Geo-Enhancement Alliance?” The GEA was enemy number one. At least the front company for more than just a couple of supernatural bad guys.
“Yes,” it was starting to get to her. Her eyes glossed over.
“Does John Mwenye work for the GEA?” I asked. Knowing the necromancer had ties to Vanessa Vaughn.
“Yes,” she admitted. She was in tears, but I did not let up. She's old enough to know better.
“Does Father Sergio work for the GEA?” I asked and stole a look at Tadeas.
“Yes. He's nice to me,” she explained.
I waved my hand at her. I wasn’t interested in the commentary.
Tadeas gritted his teeth.
“Does Nalusa Chito work for the GEA?”
“Yes.”
“Meredith Spence?”
“I've never seen her there, but I heard her name,” she said honestly.
“Who else?” Now that I had all the others confirmed. We could progress to what I didn’t know or only suspected.
“I don't know them all, and they weren't all based in Philadelphia,” she tried to weasel out of answering.
I looked over to Tommy, and he picked up the phone. “Who else, Cassidy?” I prodded her.
“Milton Trujillo. Botan Doro.” she listed. Tadeas’ eyes flashed with the mention of Milton Trujillo who bought him a drink in a bar in Boulder. He was also sleeping with one of Tadeas’ canvas crew trainees, Samantha, who Vanessa Vaughn killed in Paris.
“Mother fuck,” Lukas said. He had dealings with Botan Doro in the past. She was a Japanese succubus and extremely ruthless. Extremely deadly.
“Who is in charge?” I asked.
“The director,” she said simply. I thought she was being smart, but then I realized she did not know who the director really was. I asked anyway.
“Who is the director?”
“I don't know. It wears a glamour,” she explained. “A good one.”
“It?” I asked. I could do fantastic glamours, but they were all female. It was near impossible to pull off a glamour of the opposite gender.
“Yes, it's very androgynous. I don't know what it is, but its mean,” she pouted. Sympathy card played.
“Did your mother know you were working for the GEA?”
“No.” That part was a relief. Still, I wondered why Aunt Lianne decided to have a child with a Master Wizard.
“Did you know that the GEA planned to destroy the Boulder compound?” I needed to know specifics now.
“No. That wasn't them. They are a good organization. They help people recover from natural disasters. They are non-profit,” she defended them. She was fully engulfed in tears. I stepped back and let it all sink in. Everyone stood still and quiet. She thought she was working for a legitimate agency. Surely, she was not that naïve. Perhaps she was. I started to doubt my own instincts about her innocence or lack of it. Tommy hung up the phone and shook his head. They had already abandoned Philadelphia. I looked at Tadeas giving him the opening to question her.
“Your turn,” I said. Time to see if she would respond to the good cop.
“Cassidy, here. Sit down,” He gave her a few napkins, and let her dry her face. “The GEA are very bad people. Is there any information you can give to us to help us track them down?” He was kind and played the opposite of the scary wizard lady very well. I kept my back to them. I listened and let him play this round. I looked up to see Lukas’ eyes. Lukas was pissed at me. I didn’t care, and he would have to get over it. There were far too many things at stake to trifle with this stupid child at the moment.
“They were looking for an office in Ohio or in Texas. Somewhere in the middle to be able to help both coasts,” she said still believing the lie. They wanted to get inland. If the coasts fell into the sea as I saw in my vision with Gabriel, then they wanted to be as far from the ocean as possible. I cringed.
“Do you know what cities?” he asked politely.
“The one in Texas was in San Antonio,” she was freely giving him information. This was working to plan. Tadeas picked up on the game so quickly. I heard Tony dialing again, and he stepped into a side room.
“Great that helps. Anything else?” he asked.
“No. Please don't let her kill me, Mr. Tadeas,” I almost giggled at the Mister part.
“She's not going to do that. She's upset. You have to understand that these people killed our friends in Boulder. Destroyed our facility. Our homes,” he tried to explain to her. She nodded. “You would be upset too, right?”
“Yes,” she quietly replied.
Then it hit me. I reached out with my magical senses to where she sat. I felt the power then and only when I went to look for it. She had magic in abundance. I heard her audibly whimper because she could feel me reaching out to her.
“No, Abby. I don't use it. It's there, but I never learned. I don't care anything about it. Mom and Dad are pissed at me about not learning to use it,” she explained with the tears suddenly gone.
“Use what?” Tadeas asked.
“Magic,” I replied. “She is quite powerful.”
Tadeas took a step back and was suddenly wary of her.
“I wouldn't hurt anyone. I promise, Mr. Tadeas,” she fluttered her eyes at Tadeas hoping for some sympathy. She seemed genuine in this statement. Even if she had never trained to wield her magic, it still flowed through her body. She possessed the ability to use it instinctively. She also embraced her Fae side whereas I always rejected mine.
“She is not to touch any of our equipment. Ashley, whatever you were working on with her, you need to start over. Double check everything. Tadeas would you please take her upstairs. I'm calling her mother.” Everyone went to my directions, and the quiet room erupted in movement.
“You believe her?” he asked.
“I don't know.” I replied.
“Neither do I. Maybe Lianne will be more forthcoming,” he suggested.
“I doubt it.”
“Lukas, please stay here if you don't mind,” I asked him. He had turned to follow them upstairs.
“Okay,” he looked puzzled. I wanted him away from her at the moment. He clearly had sympathy for her.
Ashley started on reworking the firewalls and network. Tony still talked to someone on the phone in San Antonio.
“Lukas, we need weapons. Unfortunately, I have no access to the vault. And everything else went down with the compound,” I told him.
“Just make a list. I'll get whatever you need,” He sounded defeated, and I regretted my outburst earlier.
I moved closer to him, and put my hand on his arm, “Forgive me. My emotions are all over the place right now, and I can't trust anyone, Lukas. Not even her. Please be careful.”
“I understand, but you can trust me. You should know that,” he sounded hurt. “Surely you know me better than to fall for a girl like Cassidy. I know very well what a Fae woman can do to a man. I do believe she is innocent though. Just a gut feeling. But, you know me, I’m always on your side.”
“I don't know anything, anymore,” I replied, being completely truthful with him.
“I love you just as much now as I did then, and I would never betray you,” he said sadly. “Nothing has changed for me.” He pulled away and went upstairs. I could feel the truth in him. I didn't have time to worry about his feelings because I barely had time for my own. I picked up the cell and called Aunt Lianne.
The connection crackled when she answered, “Well, hello dearie. I'm out of town.” Which meant she was in the Underworld, the land of the Fae. That's why the connection was horrendous.
“Aunt Lianne, you know she is with me. Come get her,” I said plainly.
“Well, I wondered how long it would take. Where are you? You are hidden to me,” she explained.
The wards must be good here. I took a peek at the outer wall in the spectrum. My grandfather had laid the wards. I told her where to find us. She would be here in a matter of minutes. I hung up the phone and looked at my team. They were working hard
“I'll order pizza,” I told them. I searched for a local number and called in an order.
“Good. I'm starving,” Ichiro said.
“Me too,” Vince added. Ashley didn't even look up. She was engrossed.
“Ash, you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. Later,” she said. I knew I had incurred her wrath for dismissing her new friend. I would find out how badly later, I’m sure. I went upstairs, and Cassidy sat on the couch and sniffled. Tadeas leaned against the wall, while Lukas stared out the window. I had barely reached the top step when the doorbell rang. I opened the door and the Fae goddess that was my Aunt floated into the room
. Like three inches off the floor, floated into the room. She liked to put on a show from time to time. Cassidy refused to look at her like a petulant child. She had a file folder and plopped it down on the coffee table. She turned and put her hands on her hips and stared at Cassidy.
“What do you have to say?” she was in attack mode.
“Nothing, Mother,” the rebellious teenager spoke.
“You better think of something, because I know where you were. And who you were with in Paris,” Lianne said just in case there was any doubt. Cassidy didn't speak. Lianne got in her face. “What possessed you to go to Paris with a necromancer?”
“She wasn't….” she started to say, but Aunt Lianne’s tolerance was even lower than mine.
“Bullshit. Don't give me bullshit,” Lianne shouted. Aunt Lianne made me feel grateful for the first time in my life that I didn't have a mother. Tadeas stalked his way to me and stood close. Lukas kept his eyes outside.
“I wanted to go to Paris,” she tried to explain.
“Then buy a fucking ticket and go. Better yet let me teach you the ways. It would be so much easier,” Lianne shouted.
“I don't want to learn!” she yelled back.
“You are going to learn. I'm sick of you playing around. What was Edgar thinking?” Lianne asked to no one in particular. I wondered how Lianne got tied up with Edgar in the first place.
“Daddy made her swear not to hurt me,” Cassidy said as if that would make it all better.
“You let her mark you!” Lianne screamed.
“I didn't know.”
“You should have. He's babied you for too long. You will learn what I have to teach you,” Lianne resolved.
“I want to stay here,” she pouted and looked at Lukas. He remained stoic and staring out the window. She tried Tadeas, but he blankly stared at her.
“Oh, honey, I know Abigail. There is no way in hell she lets you stay here. You are a liability. Perhaps, if you had learned to use your skills, then you wouldn't be in this mess. You could be part of the team, but instead, you followed a fucking necromancer to Paris,” Lianne was done with her. Cassidy started to cry again. Lukas stepped into the kitchen and came back with a box of tissues. He handed them to her and moved away. If he wasn’t trying to stay on her good side, he could have fooled me. I had to remind myself that I wasn’t jealous.