Magaestra: Found: An urban fantasy series

by Katherine Kim

  "I can't do much. I can move things a bit. Make that shield. I can make light breezes blow around me, that kind of thing. Crissy was better at lighting candles and stuff than I was, and she never could raise a breeze or a shield. Mom didn't know how to do much either, but she taught us everything she could. She had Grampa’s journal, and he was around the first few years I was learning stuff, but I guess he was pretty young himself when they were sent away, so he didn't know a lot yet."

  Faith remembered the man. He had been quiet and a little grumpy, always retreating to his bedroom to watch sports with the door shut halfway through family gatherings. But he had built her and Crissy a sandbox when they were still very little, and was always willing to help out when they needed it. Faith had been an adult, and her grandfather long gone before she realized that he had simply been deeply introverted, but had done his best by his loud, rambunctious family.

  He had helped Faith and Crissy's mom teach them to control and hide their magic, though, and those were her favorite memories of the gruff old man. Sitting in his lap and watching him do fantastic things in his basement workshop: moving things without touching them, lighting candles, sending showers of rainbow sparks dancing through the air chasing after themselves.

  Crissy had been so excited when she first lit a candle on her own. And they had both been fairly thrilled when Faith had gotten her own magic to bump a glass of water over the desk a few inches before she lost control and it tipped over. It was that skill that eventually turned into her shield, though she hadn't remembered about it since they were kids. She had thought it up one day when they were out in the woods, playing a made up game of dragons and warrior-princesses and she had wanted to fend off the water gun attack from the wicked Queen Crissy.

  "I'm sorry that such a wonderful gift has become a threat to you," Aldric said.

  "So, some vampire covens turned to the dark side," Faith said, trying to break the tension a bit. She figured it worked when Aldric huffed a small laugh.

  "Exactly so. Others tried to stem the tide of the evil, just like some humans tried to shield those the Nazis hunted, and after a long war we succeeded. Tens of thousands of wolves and vampires and more than a few mages died that last week. Wilhelm himself was defeated in a bloody, terrible battle, and several of his inner circle were killed outright. Over the next few months most of the rest were captured or killed. All the main leaders of that coven are dead and most of the membership as well,” Aldric grimaced. "I remember the day my uncle came in with the news. There was such a sense of relief, but the damage was done."

  "All the mages had disappeared, and you thought they were all dead," Faith finished. Aldric nodded. The Frostwalker’s own Magestra was far too old to fight by then, and she lived just long enough to celebrate their victory, such as it was. That had seemed to be the case with all the rest of the magic users that had survived the war.

  "So, what does that have to do with–"

  "Hey, you guys?" Marc's voice was accompanied by a soft knock on the door. "Dinner's ready, and I've got the kids washing up. Also, if you're going to call the police, you should do it sooner rather than later or they'll get crabby."

  "I'm not really hungry," Faith said. There was too much for her to mentally digest for her to let her stomach get in on the action.

  "Will you continue to trust us?" Aldric asked. "I know that we are still essentially strangers, but I would not like to send you and miss Kaylee out into the world unprotected and uninformed."

  "I don't want to go out there where those things could be waiting. Do you have any idea why they were there? I've managed to make it more than thirty years now without even hearing a whisper about the existence of those monsters." She grimaced and slumped a bit. "Or you guys, for that matter."

  “You said that your grandfather's education was incomplete when he was sent into hiding," Aldric said. He stood and held a hand out to Faith, and she felt it was as much good manners as it was an olive branch of sorts. He clearly didn't want her to be afraid of him. Or his friends, for that matter.

  She took his hand and let him steady her as she stood, then she sighed and admitted, “Our education was even less complete. I think we should call the police first, and then later if I'm hungry, I can have leftovers. If that's not super rude?"

  "I believe that is a wise choice of action." Aldric said. "I will accompany you. I am familiar with several of the local officers."

  "Are they..." Faith wasn't sure how to ask what she wanted to know.

  "No," Aldric grinned. "None of them are paranormal in nature. Purely human, though one of them is married to a clan member. And several years ago we had a vagrant wolf come through town, and I was called upon to assist the police in apprehending him. Poor man. Served our country loyally, but when his injuries were too severe, he had nowhere to go but into a bottle.”

  Faith blinked. "A homeless werewolf veteran with PTSD? Is that what you're talking about?"

  "Indeed. Marc managed to find him a pack where he could be treated and looked after by his own kind— other wolves who had been to war in the modern military and understood his difficulties— and the last we heard he was doing much better.“ Aldric led her back downstairs where Kaylee and Jake were giggling to each other at the table and ignoring the adults chatting around them.

  "Kaylee-bee. Having a good afternoon?" Faith perched on a chair on the other side of her niece from Jack.

  "Oh my gosh, their backyard is so cool! There's a slide and swings and a fort and we pretended to be arresting Miss Tamika for releasing monster dogs into a barn and scaring the cows and then we played tag but then Jake tripped so we played on the swings instead and ohmygosh, Miss Tamika pushed me SO HIGH and it was the coolest and now Jake's my best friend ever and I want to move and go to school here and I'm gonna ask Mom when she gets back and do you think she'll be okay with it?"

  Faith blinked at her niece who was beaming at her and Jake who was grinning hopefully over Kaylee's shoulder and was honestly at a loss for words. "Um," she said. Very intelligent.

  "I think maybe you should let your aunt try to catch up to all of that, Miss Kaylee Sugarmuffin McGee. Go on ahead and finish eating up now, pup,” the woman who had been identified as Tamika said. She had a huge grin on her face and Faith recognized the completely smitten look in her eye. Kaylee had that effect on people.

  "It's so good! Thanks Jake's dad!"

  "I'm glad you like it, kiddo," Marc grinned. "Can I get you two plates?"

  "Could you, perhaps, set some aside for us? We are going to call the police to assist us in our search." Aldric said.

  Kaylee's fork slowed down, and she turned to him. "You can't find my mom?"

  "We will not stop looking, Miss Kaylee. I promise you that. I am certain that we simply missed her at the cabin, and she is out searching for you and your aunt."

  "I bet that's exactly what happened. Those animals made such a mess I bet your mom just freaked out, sweetie. I wouldn't be shocked if we found her at the police station. But do you think it would be okay for you to stay here while Aldric and I go find out?" Faith glanced up at Marc to make sure that it was okay with him to leave her here.

  "I've got some ice cream in the freezer and more Disney movies than you can take in one night. Sound like a good time?" Marc said with a wink at Faith.

  "I get to have a sleepover? Jake! We're having a sleepover!" Kaylee gushed, and Faith laughed as she was immediately forgotten.

  "Well, I guess that's taken care of," Faith said. She found herself feeling better than she would have expected after the events of the day. It was good to feel a little lighter, and at least Kaylee wasn't terrified. Tonight might be a different story, she knew. Sometimes fears didn't show themselves until the nightmares started, and this morning was nothing if not nightmare fuel.

  She was pretty sure that Kaylee wasn't the only one at risk.

  "Well, then let's get this done. Aldric, lead the way." Faith stood up and turned to him.

  "Tami
ka, keep the schedule we discussed until further notice. I do not want to be caught unawares again," Aldric said.

  "Sure thing. And I'll tell Marc all about everything, best I can," she said with a nod of her head that was almost a bow. Aldric nodded a quick acknowledgement and turned toward the door.

  They were in the truck on the way back down the road before Faith turned to him and asked, "Tell Marc what?"

  Aldric grimaced and his expression turned serious. "We scented wolves in town and at your cabin. Unknown werewolves that we have not yet identified. I do not like the idea that there are so many rogue wolves in our clan's territory."

  "So why are we even bothering with the police? I can't imagine that they're equipped for this sort of problem," Faith chewed on her lip and gazed into the gathering dusk. "And where the hell is Crissy?" She felt the ice re-forming in her stomach and clenched her teeth together.

  "I do not know," Aldric said. His voice was low and calm, but there was steel in it. "I have trackers out combing through the woods surrounding your cabin to see if we can find any traces, if they were waiting and watching from somewhere, or scouted in their wolf forms before trying to capture you. And I have sent a message to a friend who will be doing the same in your hometown, just in case."

  "Aldric," Faith couldn't bring herself to look over at him. Staring into the dark on the quiet country road was much easier. Looking at him might make everything all too real. "She said that she’d felt like some creepy guy was watching her back home. That’s why we were here. Maybe it’s not because they just thought she was attractive or something. What if someone found out about us? And they took her because of it? “

  When he didn't answer after a while, she glanced over at him and sucked in a breath. Aldric had the wheel in a grip so hard that his knuckles were white and the claws that had extended from his fingers were gouging the leather. He was snarling silently through his anger, and his fangs were clear.

  For the second time that evening, she was staring into the face of a vampire, but strangely, once again she wasn't afraid of him. She knew that this aggression wasn't directed at her.

  "If anyone has dared to come into Frostwalker territory and take someone– an innocent– right from under our protection, I will find them and make them regret their choices. I will free your sister," he snarled. "That these... creatures possibly came here deliberately in pursuit of your sister– or worse, in pursuit of all three of you– is unforgivable and I will see to it personally that they pay for their crimes. I will identify them. I will hunt them. And I will rip their hearts out of their chests."

  Faith swallowed. She was damned glad he wasn't angry at her.

  "Thank you," she whispered. Aldric simply nodded, like he had to Tamika in the kitchen, and Faith let silence fill the cabin of the truck.

  She was about to reach out and put her hand on his arm to try to calm him down before they hit town in a few minutes, when a loud sound had her jerking her attention back to the road. Aldric slammed the brakes and was out of the truck in seconds, crouching over the body in the road.

  He was standing up again and glaring into the gathering darkness around them and growling softly by the time Faith got over to stand beside him. The corpse– and there was no doubt that the man was dead. She assumed that not even a vampire or a werewolf could live long without most of his throat– was lying half in, half out of the road, as if he had been tossed out of a car without the benefit of slowing it down first.

  "Is..." Faith wasn't even sure what she was trying to ask.

  "I can scent the wolves on him. And significantly more worrying, I can also scent blighthounds." Aldric took another deep breath and peered harder into the gloom. “Shit.”

  He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number. After a moment he spoke again. "Marc. We have a problem. A very messy, very complicated problem."

  10

  Aldric left Faith talking to Steve, their human clanmate in the police. She was officially filing a missing person report on her sister, and given the state of the vampire's corpse here in the road– and her cabin when they sent a patrol car there to check– the police were taking it seriously.

  Unfortunately, with this mauling, the human police might well get in the way of his own investigation. As the head of security for the Frostwalker Clan, Aldric considered himself to be the equivalent of the sheriff with jurisdiction over the paranormal residents in the area. Ordinarily it wasn't a difficult task, to oversee the safety and wellbeing of his community, but this...

  "Mr. Donnelly, I'm awful sorry that you and the lady had to get mixed up in this. At least it was you found this body and not someone who would be prone to panic," the detective said with somewhat forced friendliness. They didn't have a large police force here in town, but there were enough tourists coming through that there was a small station that maintained several patrol officers– like Steve– and two actual detectives who mostly handled thefts and the occasional mugging or lost kid.

  "It's not often we see a wild animal attack like this. And something this large..." the detective– Kenneth Lincoln – shook his head and glanced at Aldric as though waiting for information.

  "Indeed," Aldric simply agreed.

  Not that he would mention it to the detective, but itt was clear to Aldric that the rogue werewolf had been killed by blighthounds, a creature often used by vampire covens as hunting dogs. The fact that the dead man was the source of one of the scents that he had caught in town, and at the cabin earlier, was only adding to the confusion. Aldric could detect several other wolves under the prevailing blood and death scents

  "And there were those dogs loose in Miss Latham's cabin. Seems someone maybe brought them into the area?" Detective Lincoln's voice again held a note of inquiry that Aldric ignored.

  "I hope that Faith's sister is not also mixed up in this, as you put it. Faith and her niece are upset enough, but to imagine a family member being put through something like this..." Aldric clenched his jaw and called on all his available restraint not to allow his vampire side out. As it was, he could feel his fangs dropping, so he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady himself.

  "Well, I hope you're right.” The detective eyed Aldric speculatively. "Whatever did this isn't something to mess around with, to my mind. I wish you’d let me put you and your niece up in a police safe house, Miss Latham.“ He sounded like he was forcing himself to sound friendly, as if good cop wasn’t his normal role.

  “Thank you, but we’re perfectly safe with Aldric and Marc. I’m not worried,” Faith said.

  Aldric nodded. "And any assistance we may provide..." he left the offer open-ended. He didn't think that telling Detective Lincoln that he intended to gut the person that did this would go over terribly well. All he could think was that if he had not been in the right place, it might have been Faith or Kaylee here, cold and on the ground, surrounded by county medical staff and being zipped into a plastic bag for transport to the morgue.

  "Did you say something?" the detective glanced back at him again.

  "No," Aldric denied the growl that had escaped him. A hand gently brushed his arm and he turned to find Faith looking up at him with exhausted worry in her eyes.

  "Are you okay?" she asked.

  "No," Aldric said, drawing in a deep breath while trying to focus on Faith’s scent and not the smells of the crime scene. He looked around at the people working to move the body into the van and to collect any possible evidence they could find in the now dark road. He turned back to face her.

  "I am angry that this happened. I am furious that your sister appears to have been taken by the sort of people who would do this. I am livid that they threatened and frightened you and Kaylee. I don't even have words available to me, in any of the languages I speak, to express my rage that they have done all this here, in my home, and that I have not already laid hands on them."

  Aldric closed his eyes again, afraid that they were turning red as his emotions threatened to sweep away
his good sense, and took another deep breath. Counting backward from ten was not helping enough, so he started over at fifty.

  He drew comfort and warmth from Faith's hand, still resting on his arm. Another hand landed on his opposite shoulder and he opened his eyes to see Detective Lincoln warily watching their interaction. He seemed to be barely restraining a scowl, and Aldric vaguely wondered what that was about.

  “If you’re quite sure about police protection at a secure location, Miss Latham, you should probably go get some rest. We'll get the word out about your sister, miss, and we'll be in touch. I'll come by tomorrow to touch base." And with one last pat to Faith’s shoulder, the detective turned and headed over to speak to the coroner before he left.

  "Come on, Aldric. I'll drive if you're too distracted," Faith offered. He reached over and wrapped his hand over top of hers, where she tugged gently on his arm, and just stood in the moment.

  "We should get back. I want to see the children at the clan house with my own eyes. Neither of them will be alone from here on. Not until we end the threat," he said, then added in a growl, "I won't have them threatened."

  "I can't believe that it was just this morning that the three of us were joking around about brownies for lunch," Faith said as she led the way back to his truck. "It feels like that was weeks ago."

  She kept her hand tucked around his arm, actually wiggling it slightly to wrap it more firmly into the bend of his elbow, almost hugging it. Aldric's rage drained away at the sadness in her voice and he moved her hand so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders in an awkward hug.

  "She will soon be back with you to bake all the confections you could want. I will not stop searching until we find her and bring her home, I promise you." He unlocked the doors and opened the passenger side and helped her up into the seat. After making sure she was safely inside the vehicle, he jogged quickly around the front and climbed in. Faith stayed quiet as he maneuvered the truck to face back toward the clan house