Unsure if they were tracking something as unique as a land-based Nessie or Bigfoot or something as common as a demi fey with a penchant for gold and Chilean items, that solitary moment, when it snatched the item, might be the only chance they would get.
And if we don’t get it this time, she shrugged to herself, we’ll get it again in six months, and I can prepare some capture containers. She wrinkled her nose, uncomfortable with that thought and the possible deaths if they failed.
Her steps echoed in the empty museum as she ran through exhibits and out the employee entrance into the night.
The orange glow from the city lights obscured any trace of stars, and the slow, steady blink of airplanes circling overhead were a piss-poor replacement in the evening sky.
Her fox flicked her tails, frisky at the possibilities to come, and flashed the sleek black fox running through the sacred woods of Greywood, alongside the moon pools, and under the moonflowers that smelled as sweet as Jasmine.
Morgan’s words bounced through her thoughts. She couldn’t resist watching her hand. She clearly had the glamour and aura abilities of a spirit kitsune and the shadow manipulation of the shadow kitsune. If her powers were finally blossoming, there was no telling which abilities she’d inherit from either side. Would she inherit the prized abilities or be limited to the parlor tricks and low-level skills?
Dismissing the rabbit hole of thoughts to later musings and uninterested in getting into it with the stubborn fox, she turned her attention to the task at hand and surveyed the parking lot for anything extraordinary.
A security guard leaned against a handrail and puffed on a cigarette, ignoring her as he sipped coffee from a Styrofoam cup.
She didn’t bother asking him if he had seen anything and walked into the nearly vacant parking lot. The nearest lamppost cast a yellow circle upon the ground, and it flickered each time the breeze gusted. Near the end of the parking lot, a darting yellow glow caught her attention.
She tapped the Bluetooth. “Mira, I think I see it.”
Alex reversed her steps, rocking her foot from the heel to the toe, and crept toward the glowing light. It darted around like an overgrown firefly, and the intensity it glowed made it hard to determine the size. Before she could get any closer, the thing darted up high and disappeared in the glowing city skyline.
Mira and Santiago’s arrival were punctuated by the slam of the security door against the metal railing and Mira exclaiming loudly.
Santiago fought with the door, trying to get it to stay open.
Mira cradled a statue more reminiscent of a fertility statue crossed with Easter Island heads than human. “Think this will work?”
Alex nodded and faced Santiago. “You wouldn’t happen to have some nets, like the ones hanging from the ceiling near the bathrooms, but smaller holes?”
While he disappeared inside, she told Mira about the darting light.
“And you couldn’t make it out?”
Alex shook her head. “It was like looking into a mega LED flashlight.”
“Maybe that’s how come the guard just walked off the roof. He couldn’t see he was at the edge.”
Alex shrugged. It was as viable an option as they had, though she didn’t think that was the case. “It doesn’t explain why he was up there in the first place. Their protocol states that they don’t follow.”
Santiago appeared, carrying a roll net. “They aren’t authentic, but we keep a few extras on hand.” He shrugged as he handed it over.
Alex barely touched the net, noticing the holes were larger than she’d like. “Let’s hope this’ll work.”
The guard’s chuckle drew attention to his pork-bellied self, leaning against the corner of the loading docks. “Going fishing?”
Alex ignored him despite Santiago trying to explain. Her attention homed in on the metal railing and the slight overhang of the eaves. “Got any nylon rope?” She raised a brow, wondering why he was wasting his time with the guard. “Santiago?” She got his attention and asked again for the nylon rope.
He ducked inside and returned with the rope.
“Put the statue there and use the salt stick just in case.” Alex took the rope from Santiago and fished out a few arm lengths. Looking around, she went inside and grabbed a five-gallon bucket.
“I can get a ladder,” he quipped, two steps up on the stairs with the intent of going inside.
“Don’t need a ladder.” Alex tied the rope end to the bucket handle. Watching it swing in her hand, she walked away from the steps. With practiced ease, she tossed it over the exposed beam, and the bucket spun on its descent to the ground.
After explaining the pocket trap, the trio moved the net into place, suspending the front end over the statue and using the rope in junction with the giant yellow concrete pillars to anchor the back end to the ground.
Alex settled on the steps and took a drink from Mira’s overstuffed bag.
Santiago leaned over the railing. “Why aren’t you using magic?” He asked Mira, seemingly have formed a rapport with her in their bait-finding moments.
Mira smiled. “I’m a were. She’s the magic-user.”
“Depending on what this thing is, we could blow up the city if it resonated at the wrong frequency.” Alex cocked her head, listening to something just out of range of being identifiable. A creeping feeling raised the hair on the nape of her neck, and she slowly moved from the steps and turned in a circle. She didn’t see anything, but that nagging feeling of being watched lingered.
Mira hung back, waiting on the steps but ready to move at a moment’s need.
“Wow.”
Alex turned toward Santiago’s gasp of surprise.
He stood with his mouth agape, looking up near the building’s rafters.
A golden glow bigger than a robin but no bigger than a house cat shimmered in the darkness. It landed on the lamppost before stalking toward the stair railing.
A bird. Seeing the bigger version moving about, it became obvious it was a bird. A phoenix would have been an obvious choice if the creature had been bigger and hotter.
“Alex?” Mira whispered.
“I’m not sure. Avian. There’s a lot of birds.”
A lot was an understatement. Every religion and culture had birds. This one looked like an old man with the hunched shoulders and the shaggy feathers, and, even with that, the beauty found within the swirling mass was breathtaking.
“Is this the same one you saw?”
Alex shook her head. “This one’s bigger.”
“Think it’s the mother?”
The bird hopped across the net and leaned over the edge. Its white, beady eye disappeared as it slowly blinked. It hopped sideways, fluttering between the holes in the net, and dropped down to the ground.
“No.”
The bird was smaller than some of the pieces stolen, and the dust size didn’t align with it and the natural laws of magic and size. Ignoring the statue, it hopped a few paces toward Santiago and the guard. It took flight and fluttered around their heads, and the men took a staggering step after it.
Mira reached for the closer man, but Alex stopped her. “I want to see what happens.”
The men bounced and swayed against the wall and the stair railing. They ignored the puddle of icky waterish substance trapped in a pothole from semi-trucks coming and going into the lot. They ambled as if they saw nothing but the golden bird daring around the immediate area before landing on the fence.
Santiago pressed against the fence, but the guard walked in front of the gate sensor, rolling back the massive security gate, and both men walked toward the road.
“Whoa. Can’t let you kill yourself.” Alex grabbed both men by their belts and passed Santiago to Mira.
“Going to be a leash type of job.” Mira chuckled.
Alex’s brow furrow, but the joke went over her head, and she shrugged it off to Mira being Mira.
The little bird zipped between them, staying close to them.
“Alicanto.”
“What?” Mira turned, yanking on Santiago’s arm and causing him to stumble.
“It’s a mythical bird from Chile.” She tried to remember the stories Sahara had told around the fire pits when she was a child. “It was a mountain-dwelling bird.” An ache blossomed across her temple. The information was there, she could feel it, but it wasn’t like a card catalog.
The bird darted away.
“Maybe that wasn’t it?” Mira checked the two men, pleased they were coming out of the trance albeit a little groggy.
Alex shook her head as they approached the loading docks. She didn’t believe that.
The alicanto didn’t have a noticeable smell or taste of magic, and it wasn’t shedding the amount of dust they had found in DC, but it clearly could cause people to enter a trance.
Mira helped the men sit, and she checked their vitals.
The little bird zoomed toward their faces and darted over the roof.
“What is that thing?” the guard asked, coming to with a hacking wet cough.
“Alicanto. The bird of fortune.” Like a lightbulb illuminating a room, it became clear. “Miners could be blessed with good fortune or death based on what the bird saw of one’s soul. They eat gold and silver.”
“That little thing has been eating the items?” Mira’s eyes widened.
Alex wanted to nod, but something wasn’t adding up—the final piece to make it all make sense. She scanned the building, rifling through the books in her mind and searching for the obvious answer, and there nestled among animal behaviors was the key. She shook her head, her hair falling across her face. “No. That’s a juvenile. Which means there’s a momma.” With her hands, she tried to give them a visual of an adult alicanto. “About the size of a German shepherd with a five-foot-plus wingspan.”
“A baby?” the three onlookers chimed.
“You’re saying the babies flew all over the Americas?” Mira asked.
Coming over the low-rise buildings and blending in with the city sky’s orange hue, the mom came with darting balls of golden hues trailing behind her.
“No. In songbirds, they leave food around the nest until the babies are old enough to hope among the branches. And raptors, birds of prey, have been known to go miles to hunt and bring back game until they are old enough to hunt on their own.”
They landed on the gutter, and the soft chirp of a canary called to the baby fluttering around their heads. The smaller forms darted to the statue, and, within seconds, nothing remained in the confines of the salt except a fine dust.
Alex smiled, watching the alicanto encourage the fledglings to eat the gold in the statue with a series of coos.
“What do we do?” Mira asked.
Knowing the consequences would be hell, she smiled. “The only thing we can do.”
13
The room felt cloying, and the orange walls pressed in from all sides, forcing Alex and Fredrick toward the judgment bench that would eventually be filled with council members meant to weigh her actions and dole out punishments.
Fredrick pulled on his cuffs and ran his hands down the front of his suit jacket. He sighed again, refusing to look at or talk to Alex.
Alex tried not to get irritated at his sighing, but a person could only listen to so much. She was happy Mira didn’t have to be here for this, even though the ocelot would have demanded if she’d known about the summons.
Filling the time meant to unnerve those sent to judging chambers, she stared at the giant seal hanging on the wall of lady justice and balanced scales. Fairness in action but not in reason.
The elfin guards dressed in ceremonial garb pushed against the massive doors, swinging them open for the council to enter.
Leading the procession was none other than the pompous vampire master Vlad. His dark cloak dragged against the floor, and his pale skin clashed with his white ruffled shirt. He was the very essence of vampire pop-culture.
Alex rolled her eyes, and Fredrick coughed in reprimand. She squared her shoulders and faced the ensemble, and her heart dropped. Anyone but him.
Bringing up the rear and overshadowing the willow-thin lady in front of him, Orion entered. The once-small room felt like the inside of a sardine can as his broad shoulders cleared the door. His thick biceps and aura left little doubt how he became known as the Demon Lord. His presence alone set every nerve and hair on end.
“Let us keep this brief. You willingly gave an entire collection of irreplaceable artifacts to a bird.” He read from the papers in front of him. “Speak when spoken to.”
“It was an alicanto, sir.”
“You won’t argue your case?” He looked between Fredrick and Alex.
Alex tried to swallow the large lump caught in her throat.
Fredrick did little more than sniffle in his spot.
“Look at me,” Orion commanded, and all within earshot obeyed.
If you can’t stand up to your actions, don’t do stupid shit, she argued with herself before stepping forward and away from the nearly fetal-positioned handler who couldn’t even speak. “The alicanto was classified as an extinct bird. Yes, I gave my team the okay to feed the mother and the fledglings the remainder of the collection. We then transported the family to the Citadel’s cryptozoology department.”
“Are they still here?” Orion scribbled something on the paper.
“Why does that matter? Let us strip this fox and be done with it.” Vlad rolled his eyes as he spoke through fanged teeth.
“I was not talking to you, Vlad.” A long growl clung to Orion’s words.
“Yes, sir. They are. The crypto department believes—”
“I didn’t ask for a play by play. I asked a yes or no question.”
Fredrick tugged his tie, and the scent of coffee came in short bursts as he hyperventilated.
“Yes, sir.” She refused to cower, but she couldn’t bring herself to look the man in the eyes.
“The—” The doors slammed open, interrupting Orion. “Excuse me. This is a closed hearing, Sahara.”
Sahara removed her red hat and moved to the center of the floor. “Per our laws, she has the right to family council and support.”
“Very well. These proceedings occur on time, be here next time.”
“Yes, sir. But, as I may add, the appointed hour was six, and it is five fifty-eight, Your Honor.” Sahara gracefully bowed.
Orion flipped his wrist, checked his watch and grunted.
“Sahara. What are you doing here?” Alex whispered.
Sahara grabbed Alex’s hand. “Do you want to stay a guardian? Yes or no.”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m doing the only thing that will keep you one. Now shut up.” She squeezed her hand before letting it go. “Council …” Sahara’s voice was disarmingly charming and soft, grandmotherly even. “This isn’t the first time Alex has been before you. Her very record speaks for itself, but, if you believe this crime of saving one of the most unique animals formed on this side of the veil deserves punishment—”
Orion scoffed. “I heard about the airport incident. Interfering with an assigned operator on assignment.” He leaned back in the chair. “This is more than just the bird.”
“I didn’t know he was on assignment.” Didn’t know he was an operator either. “But the vampire he was hammering hadn’t broken any law. “
Fredrick tried to shush her, and Vlad went from being the most vocal opponent to stripping her of her rank to agreeing with her.
Orion cracked his jaw. “Vlad, shut up.” He pulled the file from in front of the lady. Flipping the pages back, he scanned the text before returning the file to her. “She’s proven multiple times she can’t follow orders. Maybe we need to break the team apart.”
The lady spoke with the delicate sound of the tree dryad. “Her team’s success rate is higher than most pairs and singles.”
“If breaking them apart is out of the question, send her to Greywood for further tutelage, as her shadow
abilities have begun to manifest,” Sahara countered confidently.
Alex ground her teeth against each other. The one place she didn’t want to go was Sahara’s solution.
Orion leaned his arms against the edge of the table. “Family? I do not recall her being one of your grandchildren, Sahara.”
Sahara smiled as if she’d called checkmate in a long, drawn-out game of chess. “She is the daughter of Ava. As Ava’s appointed guardian, since her father never retrieved her, I have all rights of a parent.” She essentially slapped him with the glove, issuing a challenge that couldn’t be answered. She squared her shoulders, discarding the easy-going woman and donning the six-tailed kitsune stature that reminded all that she was not someone easily dismissed.
Orion’s black pupils stared at Alex, burning a feeling she’d never forget into her soul. “She’s Ava’s daughter.” His brow furrowed, and he looked at his hand, turning a silver ring.
What the fuck are you toying with Sahara? Alex had never felt like a pawn in Sahara’s dealings, but now she wasn’t so sure her steadfast ally was really an ally.
“Ronin!” Orion bellowed.
The shifter from the airport rushed inside. He fumbled for his shades as he bowed his head and kneeled.
“This is my decree. Ronin will join your merry band. You will return to Greywood. Unless you fully come into your spirit element, I can’t demand you take her place. You will remain a guardian, but you will go where I tell you and only where I tell you. Fredrick, you and I shall have words after this.”
“My Lord. This is not—”
The tree dryad laid a hand on Vlad’s arm. She pleaded with her bright eyes not to continue, but the vampire refused to listen.
He pulled away his arm, his chin raised in disgust at the contact. “A wise move. The Council is out millions—”
Orion turned his attention from those on the floor to the vampire who didn’t know when to be quiet. In his hand, he conjured a will-o-wisp acquiring the purplish hue of shadow energy mixing with foxfire. Each of his intangible nine tails withered and flickered on the secondary plane, but the raw magic coursing through him was not an illusion.
Silver and Gold (Sanctuary Book 1) Page 7