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Dear Reader
About the Author
Copyright © 2018 Sunshine Somerville
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Sunshine Somerville.
www.SunshineSomerville.com
Cover Art by Sunshine Somerville
Proofread by Christie Stratos at Proof Positive
1st Edition
Books by Sunshine Somerville
The Kota Series
The Prophet: Intro to the Kota Series
The Kota
The Ebonite and Her Earthling
Pharmakon
Zenith Prophecies
The Kota Series Companion Stories
The Woman of the Void
The Poet Heroic
Ebon (2019)
The Alt-World Chronicles
Alterni
Malevolenci
Origini (2018)
A Fairly Fairy Tale
Chapter Guide
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Dear Reader
About the Author
The autumn night was cloudless and unseasonably warm, but Central Park wasn’t tourist-friendly at the moment.
“Left!” Owen shouted to Benja as he fired his silenced gun at a swooping chiroptorx. “A few went left behind those rocks!”
Benja’s black cavali helmet turned. “On it!”
Owen watched Benja run up the rock formation, lift her magic-casting hand, and wave her fingers into a blur. This created a shockwave that caught the pterodactyl-like chiroptorx as they flew around the rocks, and the demons slammed into the ground.
A high-pitched shriek brought Owen’s attention back to the playground where he fought his own demons. Owen raised his gun just in time as a spidery spindlox jumped from the playset beside him. His shot struck the spindlox right between its gaping pincers, and its head exploded. Owen sidestepped to avoid the demon’s body as it fell dead to the ground. He shot three more shrieking spindlox as they scuttled across fallen leaves, but once these were dispatched he saw no more on the playground.
In the distance, Tank’s deep growl rumbled as the half-troll fought off demons that had escaped the playground before the team arrived. Lamplight shone on Dax and Max farther down a sidewalk, and the brothers fired up at a flock of circling chiroptorx. Benja had disappeared to the other side of the giant rock formation, and a fire spell shot into the sky where she’d chased chiroptorx stragglers.
Where’d Esme go? thought Owen as he climbed the high rocks and looked around the lamp-lit park.
Fortunately, the scouts who’d first spotted the rift in Central Park had been quick to alert their conjuri partners. The conjuri had arrived even before Owen’s team, and they’d placed illuso spells around the playground so citizens would see a construction zone and nothing else. This rift was smaller than many they’d encountered over the past several months, and few malevolenci had time to invade before Esme performed the termino spell that closed the rift. The swarm of spindlox had consisted of only twenty. The flock of chiroptorx was giving them more trouble, but Owen saw that his team had it under control.
Good thing we put off leaving another day, thought Owen, still scanning for his alterni. It’s not easy to hide rifts in this city, and a rift here in the open would’ve been a problem. It was lucky we stayed so Esme could close it… Where the hell is she?
Benja, finished with the chiroptorx, panted as she climbed the rocks to stand with Owen. The jinn woman’s long brown braids hung from under her helmet and swayed as she turned her head to scan the area. “Any left?”
“I don’t think so.” Owen pointed to their right. “Tank’s over there somewhere, but he sounds like he’s got it under control.”
Max and Dax, guns still raised and ready, jogged over from the dead pile of chiroptorx they’d left on the sidewalk. The brothers climbed to stand in Owen’s huddle, and everyone kept alert as they looked around.
“Where’s Esme?” asked Dax, the bigger and older of the Hoffman brothers.
“Not sure.” Owen, his concern growing, scratched his forehead under his helmet. “Last I knew, she’d destroyed the rift and was using a whirlwind spell to trap the chiroptorx. We got separated when the spindlox swarm tried to make a break for it across the playground.”
Max pointed back the way they’d come from the city streets. “I saw her take that sidewalk. A handful of chiroptorx were trying to escape, and she was chasing them down.”
Owen nodded with relief. “Alright. Somebody get Tank, and we’ll go find our alterni.”
Benja climbed down from the rocks and trotted in the direction of their troll team member.
Max motioned to the dead demons. “Leave these for our conjuri friends to burn?”
“Yeah.” Owen picked his way off the rocks and started toward the sidewalk Max said Esme had taken. “The conjuri who put up the illuso can dispose of these carcasses easily enough. Mind calling them, Max?”
“No problem.” The big man reached into his cavali uniform where he’d tucked his phone.
While his brother made the call, Dax walked beside Owen. “The conjuri better clean up this mess quick. Night or day, New York is busier than anywhere back home. Demon corpses would be sure to cause a ruckus.” He added with a sarcastic sneer, “Wouldn’t want any citizens to discover their perfect world isn’t such a utopia after all.”
Owen made a noncommittal grunt of agreement and picked up the pace when he saw Benja and Tank jogging to intersect their path and join them.
It’s our job to make sure citizens stay oblivious, thought Owen with a sense of lifelong responsibility. We fight the malevolenci in secret precisely so those outside the Order can live in a utopia. But that’s the thing about utopias – if your world is at peace, somewhere deeper down it’s hell for other people.
The majority of his team together now, Owen hurried back to the street so they could search for their most important member. He wasn’t overly protective of Esme anymore – not since that day on the mountain when he’d told her the truth and they’d come to a shared understanding – but the woman still tended to get herself into trouble.
Owen grinned with pride.
She’s been frustratingly brave since she got here. If anyone else was this reckless, I’d say they had a death wish. But Esme’s all-in committed to fighting for us. And she’s damn good at it. Now that she knows the truth… It’s amazing how much better she’s made my life. I never had a partnership this strong with her other alterni. Telling her the whole truth and telling her my personal crap – it’s made all the difference. And she’s different, too.
He scowled at the sidewalk.
I love her. Even if she doesn’t want to hear it, I do. This agreement we made is so stupid…<
br />
Owen’s focus shifted as the team reached the corner sidewalk between Central Park and Columbus Circle. On this sidewalk, beside a fountain monument, lay a pile of ash. This might’ve gone unnoticed to untrained eyes, but Owen realized it was a destroyed chiroptorx corpse.
Yeah, Esme went this way.
As he looked across the street at the night crowds, however, he saw no sign of her.
Our truck’s parked close, but she wouldn’t have gone there while the rest of us were still fighting. Esme must’ve chased the escaping demons farther into the city somewhere. None of these civilians look like they’ve seen anything out of the ordinary, so she’s probably long gone by now.
Using his werewolf senses, Max sniffed the air. “Think Esme got lost?”
Owen let out a breath. “We better split up to look for her.”
Dax tapped a finger against his brother’s helmet. “Might wanna lose our gear first. Hard to blend like this.”
Owen nodded and led the way down the sidewalk to their borrowed SWAT truck. Once there, they jumped in the truck to strip off helmets, holsters, pads, and the official-looking outerwear of their cavali uniforms. Once in only his plain black cavali pants and T-shirt, Owen emerged outside again and looked around to make sure pedestrians weren’t watching. The street was mostly clear, so he waved for the others to get out.
Owen ruffled his hair where the helmet had crushed it. “Okay. Spread out and look for any sign of Esme. Whoever finds her first, call me and we’ll regroup back here.”
Each gave a nod, then the group split up to head for different avenues. Owen watched them go and was relieved that they looked like average civilians – as much as two half-werewolves, a jinn, and a half-troll could. Blowing out his lips, Owen turned to check for traffic before jogging across the street to search for his partner.
I’m king of this world, but I’ll be happy to get out of New York. From what Hakim tells me… I’ll deal with that later. Come on, Esme. Where are you?
The chiroptorx flying away were the last two. Esme ran along the dark rooftop in pursuit, but she was running out of ground. She’d jumped from roof to roof for blocks, but ahead was a gap so wide that she feared even her best whirlwind spell wouldn’t help her land safely. A block ago she’d used Kayne’s spell from the Chronicle of Alterni Endi to walk on air, but while that was a cool spell, it was too slow.
Gotta get these bastards now!
Esme ran through a rooftop garden and sidestepped a patio chair. With one hand’s castorca she twisted a whirlwind spell to throw at the fleeing demons, and with her other castorca she created a spell that lassoed the chiroptorx wings. Just in time, the spells caught the demons. Esme skidded to a stop, and her heart leapt in her throat as her momentum pulled her forward to look over the short railing at the edge of the roof. Far below lay a parking lot.
Shit, shit, shit!
But Esme looked up into the night sky, keeping her focus on the captured demons. She took a few steps back and held her hands outstretched to control her spells, pulling the chiroptorx back over the rooftop.
The tangled chiroptorx tried to break free of the swirling whirlwind and magical lasso, but they collided in the air and snapped their beaks. Esme continued to twist her hand controlling the wind, but she dropped her lasso spell and instead flicked her fingers to shoot fire at the demons. The sudden burst of hot light made Esme squint, but she stayed focused and burned the flapping chiroptorx. Finally, both giant bats were nothing more than swirling ash in the whirlwind. Esme reached both castorca hands straight forward and flung them apart, and the whirlwind and ash blew away harmlessly into the night.
Esme let out a sigh of relief and wiped a strand of silver-gray hair from her face, turning to see where she’d ended up. In every direction, the lights of the city surrounded her.
Manhattan dwarfs downtown Kansas City. Where am I? I know I ran south out of Central Park. I climbed a fire escape somewhere on Tenth Avenue. It’s bright as day over there, so that must be Times Square. Central Park and our truck are to my left, then.
She didn’t want Owen to have to rescue her, so she left her phone tucked in her cavali pants pocket and turned to find the fire escape. Soon she spotted the ladder and began her climb. Esme smiled to herself as she thought over her battle.
I must’ve looked like a crazy woman, running through the streets like that. Good thing I branded illuso spells into the demons’ wings – anyone who noticed them only saw pigeons. I wonder how the rest of the team is doing in the park.
As soon as her feet touched concrete, a police siren blared. Flashing lights lit up the alley, and Esme squinted to see a white police car pull up a short distance from her. She raised her arms on instinct, and the chains of her castorcas jingled against her hands.
Great. Maybe I should have illuso spelled myself to look like a pigeon.
A stocky male officer climbed out of the car. “Keep your hands where I can see them!”
“I’m unarmed,” she told the man as he approached. “I haven’t done anything, I swear.”
“We received calls that someone was prowling around on the rooftops.”
Shit.
The officer stopped a few steps from Esme and eyed her with expertise. “One call reported that a woman matching your description had a flamethrower. A few blocks from here, someone smashed a window to break into an apartment.”
The window had broken as a chiroptorx smashed into it. Apparently the flying demons weren’t adept at city living.
Esme continued to hold her hands up. “I swear, this is a huge misunderstanding.”
The officer looked doubtful. “You’re covered in soot and…is that blood?”
Not human blood.
“Uh… No,” Esme answered lamely.
He frowned. “I’m taking you in for questioning, ma’am.”
Esme sighed, distracted by a thought.
When did I become a ma’am and not a miss? Owen might be right that my hair makes me look like a granny.
She was less amused when the officer pulled out a set of handcuffs.
An hour later, Esme sat in a police station’s interrogation room. They’d removed her castorcas, which made Esme more nervous than anything. Plus, they’d left the handcuffs on her. She glanced at her reflection in the one-way mirror and noted that she looked like crap. As the arresting officer had pointed out, she was covered in soot. The dark blood of a chiroptorx was sprayed over her black cavali pants and shirt. Esme’s shoulder-length gray bob was filthy, and she hadn’t dyed it in so long that a good two inches of roots showed her natural brown color.
Don’t stare at yourself. There’s probably someone watching in there. You look like an idiot enough as it is.
Officer Ferris was a pretty, overweight black woman in her mid-forties. She sat on the authoritative side of the table and tapped her short fingernails on the metal surface. “Why were you running around on rooftops in the middle of the night if you weren’t looking for trouble?”
Esme sighed. “I’m sorry, but I’m not talking until my lawyer gets here.”
“You don’t even have any ID on you.” The woman’s Brooklyn accent grew thicker with her annoyance. “You expect me to believe you weren’t trying to rob those people? You’re dressed like you think you’re some kind of urban ninja. And you’re covered in…whatever that is.”
Esme looked down at the chiroptorx blood.
I don’t know how law works in this world, she realized. Can they detain me without evidence? The Order isn’t as involved in this police system as they are in Kansas City’s, so how screwed am I? I can’t exactly defend myself by saying I was chasing demons and killing them with magic! Even for this city, that sounds nuts. Shit. Can I–
The door opened, and the officer looked up in surprise. Esme turned and for the first time since entering the police station allowed herself a smile of relief.
Thank the gods I know a lawyer in New York City. Here he is, dapper as ever.
Oliv
er Leaflen stood at the end of the table and put a hand on the hip of his gray suit coat. “I’m Ms. Kuchis’s attorney. I’ve spoken with your commanding officer, and Ms. Kuchis is to be released at once.”
Officer Ferris closed her eyes with a sigh of annoyance and rose from her seat. “Give me a second.” With that, she walked to the door and exited, leaving them alone.
Esme eyed the one-way mirror and realized it wouldn’t be wise to speak freely. She looked up at Oliver and grinned. “Thanks for coming.”
The elf swept blond hair off his shoulder, but it remained over his pointed ears. He smiled with a wink. “Glad to get the call. No worries. I reported to Mr. Lord what happened, and he’s already waiting in the lobby. I’ve discussed matters with the staff here, retrieved your jewelry, and left it in Mr. Lord’s care.” He looked pointedly at her hands.
Esme was about to thank him again when Officer Ferris returned. The woman looked exasperated but also too tired to care anymore, and she reached to unlock the handcuffs from Esme’s wrists. This done, she motioned for Esme to stand, then opened the door and waited.
“So I can go?” asked Esme as she stood.
The officer made a face at Oliver. “I don’t know what strings this guy pulled, but I guess you have powerful friends. You’re free to walk right outta here.”
Oliver smiled at the woman. “Thank you for your diligent work, officer. I assure you, Ms. Kuchis is no danger to society. Have a pleasant evening.” He motioned for Esme to go ahead of him.
They stepped into a short hall and walked to the front room of the police station.
This looks a little like the Kansas City police station I’m more familiar with…for less embarrassing reasons. They’ll never let me live this down. Some great and powerful alterni I am – I got nabbed by uninitiated locals.
As Oliver had promised, Owen was waiting in the lobby. The king had shed the outer shell of his cavali uniform, and his bedhead hair looked as good as it did when he actually spent time on it. Owen seemed tired, leaning against the wall, but a look of relief softened his expression when he saw Esme. He nodded in greeting to Oliver as they joined him.
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