The guards started to shake them off, when Reece and Jones came running up. “Drop them now.”
Aisling couldn’t see what badges they both flashed, but it worked on the guards. The cones sunk into the floor and everyone stood aside as the screaming crowd ran out.
“You get to explain why we let potential criminals go.” The front guard growled at Reece. He was a minotaur, and about a foot taller and twice as broad as Reece, the result was almost comical when Reece snarled back.
“Or why you weren’t letting potential victims go. Did you notice that a lot of them had electrical burns? If I were you, I’d go get them some medical help.” Reece ran into the area without waiting for a response. Jones was a silent shadow alongside him.
Aisling started to follow, then stopped since the guards still stood there. “Seriously, those people need help and they might have seen what happened.”
Finally, two of them took off after the screaming masses. The third nodded to her. “I’ll call back up, but we’ll keep the cones down unless things get worse.”
Aisling followed Caradoc and the other two. At first it was hard to see what had caused the screams. There was a large group of unmoving people huddled behind one of the flight boards, but she could only see their legs below the board. They must have huddled there for protection, but she wasn’t sure why they remained there. Reece and Jones had gone around to the other side and both came out waving their arms.
“I’d stay back, it’s not good.” Reece said, but Jones was taking photos.
The smell of burnt flesh hit her as she skidded to a stop. “I do have healing abilities; I might be able to help.”
“They’re dead.” Reece stepped out of the way. He obviously just wanted to warn them, not stop them.
Caradoc gasped, covered his mouth, and stepped back.
Aisling was expecting horror, but this was almost too much. The people whose legs she’d seen were now one giant mass of burnt and slimy flesh. Judging by the number of legs, there could have been twenty or so people there. The legs were untouched but heads and torsos had all merged together. The faces she could see were locked into horrified screams. A green ooze, not unlike the one that had murdered the two Area 42 agents, was dripping down from the bodies and the fried flight board. Arcs of electricity popped from the board but seemed to be weakening.
“I don’t want to step closer, but are those extra bodies in the goo?” The bodies in question were twisted and almost skeletal but they didn’t look to be part of the airport people. There looked to be something in the green mass that sat atop the tortured remains.
“You might be right, study what you can quickly, I’m calling in Bart.” Reece stepped away from them and Jones kept taking pictures.
“Damn it, most of my equipment is in my luggage. But still might be able to get something.” He reached out toward the mass and scanned it with a small device. He got far closer than she would have, but she had no idea what he was scanning for. Caradoc had a gadget for everything, so hopefully this one could give them something useful.
Bart came down the corridor barking orders a few minutes later. He must not have gotten far after dropping them off and most likely left his car at the front of the airport. Rank did have privileges. He had two Area 42 agents trailing him. The remaining airport guard had been joined by three others and it looked like they were debating their options. Bart strode right through them with his badge held high. “Airport security is now under the FBI in this case. Please go down the corridor and make sure all passengers stay clear and the injured are taken care of. Keep any who saw what happened directly in a separate room, my people will want to interview them.”
The airport guards shrugged and left as the two agents with Bart took over their positions.
“What do we know?” Bart came forward alone, but by the checking-in calls coming from his radio, there were a lot of agents coming into the airport.
Everyone stepped back for Bart to see what happened. To be fair, he didn’t gasp, but his face was a shade paler when he stepped back. “Damn it. Are we thinking it’s the same substance as what killed those two agents at the first sinkhole?”
“That would be my guess, except why aren’t they dissolved? At least the new ones don’t seem to be.” Aisling pointed toward the skeletons in the goo. The closer she looked the more they looked disconnected and not related to the mass of bodies. Like maybe they came with the goo. She stepped back a few feet, looking closer wasn’t good for the contents of her stomach. The goo was piled above the bodies, but didn’t appear to have come through the ceiling. Or if it had, it didn’t leave a mark.
Reece shook his head. “Good question and no answer. It looks like the same stuff, but not sure why it didn’t react the same. Those people look like they died immediately though. And there’s no building part here—the goo came through on its own.”
“Damn it, we need to get you all out to the U.K., but I think I need Harlie here.” Bart stepped back and answered some more calls and watched down the corridor.
Aisling saw Captain Driyflin down the way and at least two dozen agents, police, and airport security. None of them looked like they were coming closer, most likely because Bart wasn’t letting them. “Are we even going to be able to fly out? They shut the airport down because of the sinkhole. They might not know these are connected cases, but this one is far more personal for them.” There were at least two reservations desk people who had died in the mass judging by what she could see.
A loud female voice with a distinctive British accent was heard just beyond the agents blocking the corridor to this gate. “I’m with MI-6, let me through.”
Bart leaned around from the flight board and yelled to the agents blocking the way.
Maeve and her carry-on luggage came stomping through. “What in the hell happened?” She paused once she saw the mass. The massive filter for the airport was removing most of the smell, but she still looked ill. “How did that...what is that...” Her words trailed off as she took it all in.
Caradoc reached out to steady her. “We don’t know. Right now, Harlie might be staying here to figure it out, but our boss wants us in the U.K..”
Bart nodded. “I’d rather that all of you stayed here, to be honest. But what’s happening over there needs you at the moment. I received new details, I wanted you to get them when you were there, but this isn’t far off from what happened to that village, Noth. Like here, electricity stopped the movement of the attacking substance, but not before ten people were killed and a portion of the village swallowed.” He shook his head. “It’s not my area of expertise, but Noth is a magic nexus. That status is making everyone above me more worried about it than the other drops.”
“But they had a piece of building crash though, I’m missing that here.” Maeve was looking less ill and more pissed and ready to fight. Something.
“That worries me. And there have not been any reports of sections falling since the last one in the ocean. Here or elsewhere in the last two hours.” Bart glared around a bit more, then stalked a few feet away to chase down people on both his phone and radio.
Harlie came through the crowd with all of their carry-ons. It was interesting that no one tried to stop him even though Aisling didn’t see him hold up any type of badge.
“This was an attack.” He studied the body collection with a studious eye. It didn’t shock him; he’d probably known what it was from his seat in their gate area. “The sinkhole was a test, to see if it could come through. This was something more aggressive.”
Reece watched him carefully. “Then we’re sure this came through the veil? Is this some sort of creature your people left behind?”
Considering that he was part fey as well, the comment about their people was undeserved. Aisling wasn’t the only one who caught that.
“Our people, yours included, left many things behind.” Harlie lifted an eyebrow. “Those who left were fleeing for their lives. It stands to reason there were many things
on the other side of the veil to flee from.”
“You don’t know what this is though.” Jones was standing by, looking stoic as usual.
“No. I don’t. I agree I need to stay here after you go to England, but only to gather data. I can look into this from over there as well. I can join you in a few days.”
Aisling was going to ask how Harlie knew Bart now wanted him to stay behind. But there were a lot of things Harlie knew without being told—starting to question them all at this point was useless.
“I can get all of you, even Maeve, out on a military transport.” Bart’s scowl was deep and he raised a hand. “Don’t talk to anyone beyond stating who you are, that you all work for the FBI, and this is a top-secret mission with an extremely intense time issue.” Whoever he had to work on to get them this flight, it hadn’t made him happy.
“What about our luggage?” Caradoc had hidden his scanner, but Aisling was pretty sure Bart had seen it and not said anything. Clothes could be replaced when they got to London, most of his gadgets couldn’t. He’d have a few in his carry-on, but she knew he’d taken almost everything he had that could fit in a suitcase.
“I’ll have it taken off the cart and forwarded to the military. You’ll need to spend a day in London, then go to Noth. Agent Greely will get a hold of you, but that’s where you’ll stay at first.”
Aisling hadn’t known that Area 42 worked with the military, but neither Reece nor Jones appeared surprised.
The rest happened quickly as Bart now seemed determined to get them out of there as soon as possible. One of the agents who first walked in with him led them all to a van and drove them to the Los Angeles Air Force Base. Rather, to the far side of the base that had a fifteen-foot high electrified and spelled wall surrounding a secret airfield. Few people even knew it existed. Jones told them about it on the way over.
“You Area 42 people work with the military a lot, do you?” Maeve asked as they drove through a tunnel out of the official Air Force Base and into whatever the secret area was.
“Sometimes.” Reece looked uncomfortable. “We used to help them out on some odd cases. But now, due to the lack of people left in our L.A. office, we’re relying on them to help pick up the slack.” He glanced over to Aisling and gave her a small smile.
Aisling wasn’t sure if Reece had some sort of siren mojo or not—he shouldn’t. But he also shouldn’t have his other breed abilities. But the fact he didn’t know himself must be hard as hell. And he might have known some of those agents who’d been killed. Cutting him some slack might be viable. For now.
They’d come through a tunnel, but there was no light when the van stopped. The entire area was cloaked both physically and magically. It was strong enough that Aisling felt the spell brush up against her as she got out of the van. No one was going to notice this place unless the people involved okayed it.
The airport was small and filled with so many armed personnel that it felt like they were under siege. Considering what just happened and Harlie’s comments, maybe they were. The rest of the world just didn’t know it yet.
The scanner directly past the entrance was massive and clearly far more intense than the one at LAX. Aisling was the first in line, so she put her belongings on the conveyor belt. The belt stopped on her carry-on bag.
“We need you to open your bag. There is a spell being detected.”
“I have an opal charged spell case.” She tilted her head when the elf in charge didn’t react. “For my clan jewelry?” That should be known to any fey, especially another elf. That was the only reason for the boxes. Granted, hers also blocked that scroll of Maeve’s.
They didn’t react or back down so she, her entire bag, and two guards went to a metal table along the far wall. She pulled everything out—including the opal charging box. They were polite but went through all of her items twice before looking up.
“Please open the case.”
Aisling stepped back. That was as bad of a violation of her privacy as if they demanded she strip down in public. Wearing the clan jewelry was one thing, opening the private case was another. Clan jewelry was vulnerable for the first hour or so when it came out of charging. Attacks could nullify or destroy the power of the stones. Not to mention, she didn’t want anyone seeing that scroll.
Reece stepped forward. “Really? A violation of the clan laws?” He whipped out a pad and noted the badges of the two guards. “I’m Agent Larkin, senior FBI. There will be some serious conversations for you later. Right now, get me your commander.”
Aisling had noticed before that Reece stepped into personas even when he wasn’t in disguise. Right now, his voice had deepened, he appeared taller, and he remained leaning into the airspace of both guards even after he wrote down their badge numbers and names.
The first guard didn’t flinch, the second one called someone on a radio. That they hadn’t stood down about such a violation even when they knew who Reece was, wasn’t good.
A fey of mixed heritage strode forward. He was easily eight feet tall, but it was impossible to tell what his heritage was. “Agents Larkin, Jones. What is the problem?” He barely glanced to Aisling, Maeve, or Caradoc but still managed to dismiss them.
“Captain Trillio, you did receive the call from Agent Churchill at oh-nine-hundred, correct?” Reece took a step back so he didn’t have to crane his neck.
“We did. However, he didn’t indicate that there would be violations of our travel procedures. Anything emitting active magic can’t fly on our planes. You know that.”
“It’s a clan spell box.” Reece narrowed his eyes and folded his arms. A move that put his right hand close to his gun. “Those have always been excluded for reasons you can take up with your superiors.”
The captain pulled back and looked at his two guards then at the items on the table. “A clan spell box? It sure as hell looks like one to me. You want to tell me why you’re trying to launch a war against the first families?”
The guards had been sure of themselves, but both looked at each other now.
“We were told to question everything for all non-military personnel.” The first one finally responded.
“These people are to be treated as our own or they wouldn’t be here. What part of that is debatable?” The captain was pissed but he also looked perplexed.
“The Secretary of the military sent a memo...” That had been the second guard, but he let his words stop when he saw the look on the captain’s face.
“I hate to interrupt, but we do have a plane to catch. Class one clearance.” Reece had been watching the back and forth, but finally interfered.
“Understood.” The captain nodded to Aisling’s carry on. “Please accept our apologies. The cases are never to be opened.”
“Thank you.” Aisling gave the two guards her best family glare, gathered her things, and stepped back.
The rest finished their scans and Reece led them down a low corridor as he nodded to Jones. “You want to tell Bart?” He wasn’t running but he was moving fast and his right hand stayed near his gun.
Jones made a call and started talking fast and low. “Yes sir.” He cut the call. “We need to move fast and get on that plane. Something is going on and Bart’s not sure how far it goes, but he’s sending people over to take those two guards into custody.”
Reece picked up speed.
“They think someone has taken over here?” Aisling kept her voice down. She had no idea how whatever happened at LAX would be connected to a potential breakdown of security on a secret military base, but the look on both Reece and Jones’ faces said that’s what they thought.
Reece picked up speed. “Hard to say, but we have to question everything right now. That they broke protocol for a memo? No way that would have happened. Had they questioned our weapons, I’d be less concerned. Those they were fine with.”
Caradoc had been pensively quiet. “Both guards seemed honestly confused at the reprimand. I wish we had Harlie with us, he’s better at reading th
ose things.”
“They did.” Maeve dodged a slow-moving soldier. “They were shocked when the captain not only didn’t back them up but took them down.”
Reece grabbed his phone when it rang, but didn’t slow down. He picked up speed as soon as he disconnected the call. “Regardless, we need to move faster. Bart thinks there could be something seriously wrong with this base. His people are now flying the plane, but we’ll be the last flight out for a bit.”
The corridor was mostly clear, except for a single black-clothed military person. A very heavily armed one. “Larkin?”
Reece raised his badge and the man let them through.
The plane was a military cargo transport, big and lumbering. The passenger accommodations weren’t great but it had seats and belts and that was enough for Aisling. The past few minutes a nasty chill had been climbing up her back. She’d fly on the wing at this point if it meant they could get out of here.
The plane was rumbling and a runway appeared before them.
“How did it do that?” Maeve looked like she wanted to get up for a better look, but a stern glare from Reece kept her seated.
“Optical runway? Wow. You don’t think they’d let me check it out later, would they?” Caradoc was almost drooling.
“No, they won’t. Now sit back, once this thing gets cleared, it’s a fast shot out of here.” Reece pushed himself deep into his seat. A quick look showed that Jones had as well.
Aisling had only briefly heard about the optical runways, or paths, as they could be used for other things besides planes. Most of the details went right over her head. These runways could exist out of phase, then be called up when needed, only to vanish again after they had been used. A scary combination of magic and technology creating something that should never work.
Reece had been right about the shot, it felt like they’d been loaded into a gun at the speed the plane raced across the optical runway and lifted into the air.
The lift off was amazing, if a bit disturbing, but as the initial burst required for take-off leveled out the flight was almost normal.
An Uncommon Truth of Dying (Broken Veil Book 2) Page 14