by Rowena Rede
“Sorry,” they both murmured in unison. Maya blushed at the awkward moment, then blushed even harder because she was sure he noticed that she blushed. For his part, Park simply offered her the cookie he’d been reaching for as a peace offering. Then rubbed his hands through his hair.
“I uh, didn’t have the patience for it. Curse breaking that is,” She blurted out, hoping to get back on track.
“Yeah, I get it. My mom’s a lawyer. She wanted me to go into it too. I wasn’t interested. I joined the army and then got recruited into Shadownet. Been there ever since. Or at least until recently,” he shifted slightly and fiddled with the cardboard lid on the cookie box.
“You said was in reference to your dad, is he uh…”
“He died about two years ago. Heart attack,” she shook her head and rolled her eyes, “Funny, the man could reverse actual curses, but he couldn’t take the time to lower his cholesterol.”
Sensing the mood was about to go dark, Thatcher regretted his question. To shift it back to a more light-hearted tone, he asked another one.
“So an elemental witch then. Why is that rare and how do you become one?”
Maya sighed causing Thatcher to flinch. He’d misjudged this question as well.
“It’s a long story and no one really knows. Every culture has a different origin story on what elemental witches are and how they come to be. Abuela says it’s because my mother was special. They assume it came from her because there’s no history of elementals in the Morales family. We don’t talk about her much. She left when I was a baby. It was just me and Papi and Abuela for the most part plus a network of Tias and cousins.” She paused and blinked a few times before continuing.
“Anyway, when I was about ten, I found out what I could do. It was just a small thing. I was outside playing with some other kids. One of the boys was picking on us girls. I don’t even remember his name, but I remember being so angry at him and wishing the air would just pick him up and blow him away.”
“Oh my god, did you send a kid flying? That’s not a little thing.” Thatcher was in disbelief.
Maya laughed, “No, but a tree branch flew fifty feet from its original spot and landed right at his feet. It was one of those hot summer days without any breeze whatsoever to help cool us off. I knew I did that. I felt it. This vibrant energy just came alive within me, I could feel the power in my fingertips. From then on, everything changed. Other supernaturals treated me differently. Parents warned their kids away from me, while they treated me with kid gloves. I learned later it was because I’m an oddity.” She laughed ironically, “Can you imagine being the freak in a world full of them? Anyway, Papi taught me to harness and control my abilities. Eventually, using my powers became as natural to me as breathing.” She flexed her hands and frowned.
“You said you had an accident?” Thatcher prodded, hoping she continued.
“Yeah, a few weeks ago, I was tracking down an illegal possession of a cryptid animal. The animal in question was a Stymphalian Bird. In Greek mythology, Hercules got rid of a flock as one of his labors. They can kill humans and maim gods, so the legend goes. Looks like they maim supers too. I’ve been told the effects are just temporary, but I’m not having any luck. My powers are there, but they’re sporadic and uncontrollable. I tried with the werewolf and barely managed to help you out. A month ago, I would have sucked all the air out of his lungs with a flick of my wrist.”
“You could do that?”
“Yeah, I can control the air, no limits unless I set them.”
Her statement sent chills up Thatcher’s spine. He instantly regretted the reaction, even though she didn’t notice, he felt guilty about it. Power like that was terrifying and he understood why she’d been treated the way she had as a child. It didn’t make it right though.
The lull in conversation gave Maya her out. Thatcher was easy to talk to, but she wasn’t in the habit of spilling her life story to every stranger who asked.
“I need at least 4 good hours of sleep if I’m going to be of any use to this case. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, pretty sure the air mattress is in the junk room over there. Blankets and pillows are on the couch. Sleep tight.” She was gone in a flash, leaving Thatcher alone, but not for long. Walking lazily back into the front office, he threw himself on the sofa and grabbed a pillow.
“Hey Ison, if you get tired, there’s an air mattress in the back room. Maya says to help yourself.”
Eight A.M. came too soon, except, it was really ten. “Damnit,” Maya muttered forcing herself out of bed, blindly stumbling towards the kitchen. The smell of hot coffee guiding her. It really was the most powerful potion known to humanity. Rubbing her eyes, revealed a chipper Ison manning the toaster, humming and smiling.
“Oh gods, you’re a morning person aren’t you?”
“I haven’t been to sleep yet. I fell down a few rabbit holes regarding our case,” he motioned toward the coffee pot, “The sooner you wake up, the better. I’ve got a lot to go over.” She quickly made herself a cup and followed him into the office. Ison had made progress. Her walls were plastered with pictures of people she didn’t recognize, red string connecting each one to the scrap of paper they’d found inside Apple’s place. Origin, LTD.
“Well now I feel like an underachiever,” she remarked as she took a sip from her mug, the scalding liquid instantly alerting her senses and lifting the fog from her brain.
“Nah, the underachiever is still asleep on the couch.”
Thatcher was sleeping peacefully on the sofa, mouth open, the smallest amount of drool pooling on his arm which was wrapped tightly around his pillow and cradling his head.
“Time to wake up!” Ison quickly grabbed the pillow out from under him and whipped it in his direction. It landed hard right on his face.
“Hey, I’m up, geeze,” he groaned in protest. Sitting upright, he wrapped his blanket around his shoulders and frowned. “Not everyone is a cyborg, Will.”
Maya hid her smile behind her mug. Ison ignored the comment and went right into his findings.
Maya sat next to Thatcher on the sofa. Both of them fixed their attention on Will.
“We have over five missing people with two things in common. They all did DNA kit beta testing with Origin LTD. What was interesting is that fifty people were in the initial trial. I had to find out why these people, in particular, went missing.” Ison paused for a minute to catch his breath.
“From the outside, there’s nothing that stands out. This lady here, Lisa Pratt, she’s a middle school teacher. Andrew Martin owns a coffee truck. Rick Ashley is an accountant, and the list goes on. I couldn’t find anything that tied them together. No relationships, they don’t even shop at the same stores.”
Maya absentmindedly handed her coffee to Park, who automatically took a drink. He needed the mental boost that a hot cup of black coffee could give.
“They’re supers aren’t they?” Maya spoke up softly. Ison nodded.
“Yes. I hacked into Origin’s mainframe and gained access to their records. On the surface, their DNA was typical. But when I dug a little deeper, I found an entirely different gene map for each of them. Rick, is a Bear shifter, his DNA markers here, have characteristics of bear DNA, while Andrew is a leprechaun.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Maya waved her arms in the air. “How can they have come up with a way of mapping supernatural DNA? It’s taken centuries to figure out basic human genetics. Growing up, all of us are taught to be wary of doctors and hospitals. There’s a network that provides medical care when needed to safeguard against any odd test results or cases of miraculous healing. What type of incentive would they have had to even volunteer for a clinical trial like this? It goes against everything we’re ever taught.”
“Origin, as we know it, is a subsidiary of Oberon Industries. If you look into his other companies, like Oberon Communications, if they were subscribers, he could easily have access to their cell phones or internet history. It would be easy to hack
into and he would have already known they were supers…” Ison trailed off and Maya jumped back in.
“It still doesn’t explain why they consented or volunteered for the tests. Why these five and not other supers? It still makes no sense.” She got up from her seat and paced back and forth a few times before adding, “I heard them say they found a perfect match for Apple. When I was in that coffin. So, we have specifically, a Fae, a bear shifter, a leprechaun, two witches, and a selkie. What if, the M.O. is the same as it was with Apple? Bloodlines are important among all the supers. Mixing species isn’t mainstream yet, except for humans. They’re always the common denominator. Purists believe the gene pool is getting diluted and shrinking. Leprechauns, for example, are nearly extinct, the same as Selkies. The Fae and witch lines could be more of a quest to try to get the best genetic combinations. Eugenics are popular among the wealthy. With so few families and intermarrying, you would need a complex family tree to make sure you’re not marrying a cousin, or with Fae, a long lost sibling.”
Confused, Thatcher continued to drink Maya’s coffee and squint at his companions as if that would make him follow their train of thought better. He wasn’t having any luck.
“So what you’re saying is that clients were looking for these specific types to hook up with? Supernatural Human Trafficking, er Super Tracking maybe? I have no idea what to call this.”
Both Maya and Ison turned to him and glared.
“What? It’s easier to follow if I can put a name to the crime.”
Ignoring Park, Ison continued talking.
“They put out feelers looking for mates and Oberon saw a lucrative business.”
Maya shook her head in disbelief. “Disgusting. He has more money than he could ever spend in his extremely long lifespan. I knew Fae could be morally ambiguous but fuck; he sold out his own sister.”
“Well I suggest we arm up and go have a chat with Oberon himself,” Thatcher said as he slammed the coffee mug on the nearby side table.
“We can’t just confront Oberon. Not without having solid evidence. This is a paper trail and it’s a convincing one but we need a witness or an insider to beef it all up.” Maya liked the direction the case was heading but to accuse a high prince of a crime of this magnitude would be a mistake. They would be blackballed from everything. Powerful people had a way of ruining the lives of the little people who made things inconvenient.
“Do we think he hired us because he thought we weren’t going to put the pieces together, we’re just part of a show of faith that he was looking?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him. If he has pressure from the royal court, or worse, the king, hiring help outside of his circle would take the heat off. I’m pretty sure the werewolf was meant to bench us early. Take out any possibility that we might crack this case.”
“Ugh,” Park sighed in disgust, “He put a hit on us. I’m kinda glad we threw a wrench in the works with that one. It showed him how efficient we could be.”
“I can do some digging, maybe I can find a former employee from Origin willing to talk to us,” Ison volunteered. Maya nodded in agreement.
“I’m going to put on some real clothes and brush my teeth. If I’m taking down royalty, I need to have on some eyeliner.
Maya showered and quickly got dressed. She wasn’t exaggerating about the eyeliner, applying cat eyes perfectly and finishing her look with bold red lips. She didn’t care if it wasn’t exactly a day-time look. If she didn’t have her powers to be intimidating, she could at least look the part.
She emerged from her room to find the office empty, a note from Ison taped to the doorway. They were going back to the hotel room to follow her lead. A shower and a change of clothes would do everyone good.
Thankful she was alone, she strode out to the alley behind her building. She was determined to get her powers back today. She was done feeling helpless and she knew that Oberon had way more than werewolves at his disposal. She was starting to like Thatcher and Ison and she needed to protect them as best as she could. They needed more than silver and iron to do that. As long as Oberon’s faction thought she was in possession of her powers, they would hold back against her. She could be a safeguard for their protection. Setting up a few crates for targets, she started to focus hard on knocking them down.
Her fingers twitched in anticipation while her mind called to the air. Before, she called to it with her mind. Whatever she thought she needed, the air around her listened and obeyed. Concentrating for what seemed like an eternity, yielded poor results. No movement from the crates, and no wind currents tickling her fingertips. Not even a slight breeze in the atmosphere around her.
The crate target practice was a bust. She tried a few more times with the same results before calling it in. Maybe she should start with something a little more simple, although at the moment, she couldn’t think of anything more simple than knocking a stack of old boxes down.
Letting out a frustrated breath, she balled her hands into tight fists, “C’mon, just focus. It’s just like riding a bike.” Words of self-encouragement were not her forte. She felt stupid as soon as the words left her mouth. This whole situation was off. Maybe she needed grounding. Other witches swore that meditation kept them well-conditioned
She tried again with the same results. Nothing.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
Startled at the intrusion, Maya turned around, instinctively clapping her hands together with force.
To her horror, it was Thatcher who had snuck up behind her and was now sailing into the concrete wall next door.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry! You scared me!”
Park sat up slowly and lightly patted himself down, checking for any broken bones or other serious injuries.
“Did you do that? Knock me into the wall? Don’t apologize, it was a good hit. Does that mean your powers are back?”
“I don’t know. That could be a one-time thing. I need to test it some more.”
Before she could react, she felt a pebble hit her face. “Ow! That hurt!”
“Oh sorry, you said you wanted to test it. I was testing you.”
She glared at him, “I said a test, not a pop quiz.” Grumbling, she pushed past him, waving her arms as she walked by, Thatcher felt a gust of wind push him back down against the wall.
“Um, I think you’re back.”
Thatcher’s pop quiz only proved that Maya’s powers were reactionary. She still couldn’t conjure up anything and her precision wasn’t as sharp as it should be. It wasn’t what she wanted but it was better than nothing. She was feeling more hopeful than she had been yesterday. Even if it wasn’t full power, it might be just enough to intimidate anyone who would question her abilities. Ison was putting together a dossier for their surprise interview later.
The former Shadownet Technical Analyst was proving to be invaluable. He managed to find a lab technician who’d resigned from Origin a couple of months ago. Thanks to his brilliant back-office hacking skills, they had a current address and all of Martin Grey’s phone numbers.
“According to this schedule, our friend Martin goes home for lunch every day at noon and returns to the office by two. He’s a consultant for a big pharma lab now, corner office makes his own hours. Pretty cushy set up for someone who resigned without notice. His file at his new gig shows River Oberon himself offered a glowing recommendation.”
“Okay, so Park and I could snoop around his office while he’s at lunch. Maybe you can see what’s up with him in person?” Maya assumed that Will had the better people skills among the three of them, or at least had a better grasp on the ‘nice guy’ act than she or Thatcher.
“Sounds solid. Let’s see what we can find.” Park tightened up his necktie and buttoned his jacket. He’d spent the last half hour dusting it off and gently wiping away the dirt he’d picked up from his earlier encounter with Maya in the ally. Double-checking his custom cuff links, he smiled and stood a little taller. He was all business and ready for action.
“Why do I need to change my clothes. What if you changed? The denim and flannel look worked just fine for you,” she countered, annoyed that he was choosing this time and place to address her clothes. They were already standing at the back entrance of the lab where Martin Grey currently worked. It was too late to be thinking of undercover schemes. “You know if you’d just stuck with the casual look, we could’ve done the lost tourist bit, asked where the bathroom was and been in and out already.”
Thatcher conceded. She was right. They should’ve thought of a way to gain entry before leaving the office. She was right about the other thing too. The lost tourist bit was classic. He wanted to kick himself for not thinking of the obvious.
“Okay, well you gotta work with what you have I guess,” she sighed and began to walk towards a group of women huddled in a corner a few yards away. He started to follow but stopped short. Instinct told him, to stay put and watch.
He couldn’t hear what she said, but within a matter of minutes, she came back with a shiny lanyard in her hand.
“I got our way in,” she smiled mischievously, “ The cleaning staff has access to all the offices. Now let’s go. For the next half hour, I’m Lupe Diaz.”
“How did you convince someone to give up their id badge so quickly?”