by Tom Keller
"Well look who's getting all warm and fuzzy," O'Malley said, obviously amused. "Next thing you know you'll be going all professional on me and tell me you're testing for captain and want my job." He stepped away from the car and pointed back toward Mountain View. "Get the hell out of here!"
I grinned as I turned the car around and drove back to the house, pulling over and sticking my arm out as I waved to Mal.
"What's up, boss," he asked, leaning into the window.
"Sorry about the press," I said, nodding my head at the group of reporters that were setting up cameras across the street. "But I need a favor."
"Sure," he replied. "Name it."
"Find the reporter or photographer from the Las Vegas Age and have them stick around. Give them a quickie tour when the scene's clear. No official interviews, just let them get a few good shots… and keep it between us. Okay?"
"Whatever you say," Mal replied, looking across the street for a moment before turning back. "But do you mind telling me why?"
"Remember that civilian I mentioned the night the Wyvern attacked? That was Michelle Brickey, the editor of the Age. She buried the story for me. I figure I owe her a favor in return."
"Consider it repaid," he said, slapping the window frame as he turned to walk back to the house. I pulled out and made a U-turn, heading back toward Boulder Highway.
"Now," I said, turning to face Camillus "What is it you really need from me?"
"The Capitano was not entirely correct in describing my position," she said, turning to face me. "While they may be similar, I am not a police officer as you are. I am a Demon Hunter, as was my mother and hers before her. In my assignment to the Vatican Security Service, I have dealt with your Capitano before. But I am actually part of a Vatican military unit, one that predates the politics of the modern Church."
"Which is how you knew what the Witches jelly was," I said, it making sense now. "Got it. So what's the problem?"
"As far as your government is concerned, I am but one of several aides assigned to the Cardinale, and at best, a minor part of his security detail," she began. "But in my other role, the Cardinale has tasked me with ensuring that this meeting happens without interruption. Unfortunately, it is a duty I am finding difficult to perform. It was made clear to us before we came that we were not to be involved in any security details beyond the protection of the Cardinale without the approval of your government. Meaning your Agente Federale has complete authority in the handling of this matter on U.S. soil. He refuses to provide us with anything more than the bare minimum of information. He will not even tell us the exact time and place of the meeting, although I believe it will be held in the next few days. I do not think he understands the forces we deal with. He foolishly believes he can handle this himself. That is why I went to the Capitano for help. He has assisted us in delicate matters before."
"That doesn’t make sense," I said. "Even for the Feds. Why wouldn't they give you what you need to protect the Cardinal?"
"Because this threat does not come from outside, "she said, averting my eyes. "It comes from within the Church itself."
"From within the Church!" I replied, surprised at the revelation. "At least that explains why he's got a stick up his ass. He doesn’t trust you. Join the club. Well, that's what you get for dealing with the Feds. You should have come to us from the beginning."
"We did not have a choice," she admitted. "Your government contacted us. It was their source that set up the exchange. It was only later that the threat was discovered."
"That seems a little strange doesn't it?" I asked. "I mean why wouldn’t someone go to you directly."
"It is not uncommon," she replied. "There are factions within the Church that do not believe we should negotiate with those from below under any circumstances. Those same factions will do anything to prevent the two sides from meeting. They wish to ignite a holy war. Whoever the source is will know this. They must have believed that going to your government was the wiser course."
"I see," I said. "I don't suppose you can tell me who the source is or what it is you're exchanging?"
"What is being exchanged would not be important to you," she replied. "It involves artifacts from the Vatican's vaults. By themselves, they are meaningless to those outside the Church. What matters is that each has something the other wants returned. As to the source, we are not certain, and your government would not provide us with that information. But they are well versed in Church history and powerful enough for Satan to agree to them being his intermediary."
"That's gotta narrow it down a bit. There can’t be that many beings like that out there."
"True," she replied. "There are only two of which our intelligence has identified as being within your country. One is a powerful Mage, the other, a Fallen Angel. Either one…"
"Friggin' bitch!" I exclaimed, stomping on the brake pedal as I pulled over the car. I threw the gear in park and dropped my head to my chest, slamming my fists against the steering wheel in frustration. I knew exactly where this was leading. What the hell were you up to now, Gaea?
"What did I say?" Camillus asked, shocked at my outburst.
"Sorry," I replied, rubbing my chin with my hands. "That wasn’t directed at you. But let me guess. Your Fallen Angel goes by Rael, and that threat from within? That would be the order of Knights known as the Brothers and Sisters of the Sword. Am I right?"
"How could you possibly know that?" she asked, her mouth falling open. "She has gone to great lengths to hide where she is, and no one outside of Washington was given the information about our renegade order."
"Rumors about a Fallen Angel named Rael have been around for a while," I replied, hating that I'd been caught off guard. Fortunately, both Rael and the order were in Robert's files. The information had been sparse, but at least I could talk about them without giving anything away. I held up my hand to stop her before she could ask any more questions. "As for the Knights, they've targeted the Fae before. They were officially banished from Nevada years ago. But that hasn't stopped them from coming back. They're the only Christian sect I can think of that would go to such extremes. Now, give me a minute to think."
The Brothers and Sisters of the Sword were a clandestine Christian military sect that had grown out of a 13th century Germanic Order of Knights. They might exist in secret on both worlds, but they made no bones about their holy crusade to rid the world of Demons, or any magical creature for that matter. I'd stopped them from taking a shot at Rael back in my world. Hell, they'd even tried to take one at me. But Rael had returned the favor. Of course, she'd killed the one that went after me whereas I'd only turned mine over to the EAB. Demons were funny like that.
I know she'd mentioned a Mage, but this couldn’t be a coincidence. Based on my previous encounters, I was betting that I knew where someone would go to find a certain Fallen Angel. The only question I had to ask myself was if I was walking into a trap or not. Both Rael and the Knights were nothing to trifle with, especially now that I was just a human. Not that it mattered, I'd made my position on traps clear enough in the past. It didn’t count if you knew you were walking into one. Like I said before, Gaea had warned me that I could die in this world. But what the hell, this was as good a chance as any to prove her wrong again. But first I had to make sure I knew exactly where the trap really began.
"Let me see the back of your neck," I said, turning in the seat and facing her as I drew my gun.
"You can't seriously believe I am one of them?" she asked, her eyes turning cold as she saw what I held. "That I would have lied to you." She swung her head around and pulled her hair to the side. Except for the gold chain she wore, the back of her neck was bare. "Satisfied?"
"You said you were a Demon Hunter. I had to be sure," I replied, lowering the weapon. The Knights weren't that hard to identify. The hard part was getting close enough to do so. Easily hidden, they wore the badge of their order on the back of their neck. An Iron Cross tattoo with a red rose in its center. Below t
hat, along their spine would be another tattoo, this one of a sword. I didn’t need to see any more to know she was clean. It was the symbol of their order and I'd never heard of a Knight that didn’t sport one.
"I can’t believe I'm saying this, but I have to agree with the Feds on this one," I said, shaking my head and holstering my gun. "They don’t trust me because I hunt Demons. The same could be said about you. Just because you aren’t a Knight doesn’t mean you couldn't be sympathetic to their cause. This puts me in a difficult position. For all I know, this could be a ruse. I don’t suppose you can get the Cardinal to meet me and vouch for you?"
"No," she replied, crossing her arms across her chest. "It is impossible. The agents rarely leave his side for fear of his safety. It is only because they think I am one of his aides that we are left alone at all." She turned and looked out the window. As she did so she pulled out the chain that I'd seen around her neck. On it was a small golden cross as well as an all too familiar looking signet ring. "Take me back and do what you must. I will find another way to stop them."
"What is that symbol?" I asked, watching her pull the ring back and forth across the chain.
"Nothing you would recognize," she replied, covering up the ring with her hand.
"That may not be true," I said, trying not to sound cocky. "I'm sure I've seen it before."
She held it up, pointing to the face. It was the same symbol as the one I'd found in my grandmother's house. "It has no formal name. It is the sign of a hunter of evil, a hunter of Demons. One that has existed for a long time. I suppose there is no harm in telling you this. But know that if you see this mark, like me, she that wears it is a protector. This style of pentagram is our symbol. Like the circle that surrounds it, the pentagram is made with the unbroken line. The child lies within. Passed from mother to daughter, it signifies that the line of the protector continues on."
"Whoa, whoa. You’re saying that all your Demon Hunters are female?"
"No, of course not," she replied. "But those that carry this mark are. It was formed long ago, and they were dangerous times. Evil forces, both Demon and human, walked among them in secret. It was safer not to use names, so they chose this symbol. They made a vow to Heaven to protect others from the evil that had taken over the land. I swore the same oath and will pass my duties to my daughter as they did. When I have a child, she too will learn the way of the protector. You do not have to worry. We do not kill indiscriminately as the Knights do. We have learned that identifying true evil is rarely so simple. As is written in John, the Lord has other sheep, and those that hear his voice will come into the fold."
A protector. That was simple enough. I shook my head and had to laugh. Freaking Gaea. Couldn’t just leave me as a Fae. Noooo… had to find some obscure line of female Demon Hunters to stick me into this time. That might explain why the Robert from this world hid everything. Who knows what his grandmother had told him after his mother died. Maybe he was just keeping her secrets. Whatever the case, it seemed that Gaea had struck again. At least I now knew that this one could be trusted. The parallels were just too similar. I also knew what I had to do. Which made my next decision an easy one.
"Why do you laugh?" she asked, looking angry. "Do you still doubt me?"
"Not at all," I replied, putting the car in gear and pulling back onto the highway before pointing to her ring. "But you should have shown me that to begin with. Would have saved a lot of trouble."
"I do not understand," she said, a few minutes later as she tucked the chain back under her shirt. "How can you know of us. I have heard of none of my sisters that operate in your country. Not even here, where Demons are commonplace."
"I'll have to explain that to you later," I replied, pulling into the station's underground parking lot. "You want my help? Then I've got a few ideas about this Rael. But if this thing is going down soon we need to move fast. The pieces are probably already in play. Without more local support, the Feds are going to be playing defense. That's not the way to do things here. We're going to need to work together if we want to stop the Knights from igniting a war, and that means going on the offensive. But first, we need to figure out how to get you away without being noticed. Maybe you can tell the Feds you're going out to a show or something. Wait, you're Catholic, aren't you? That's not going to work. It's gonna be kind of hard to explain to your Cardinal if you don’t return until morning."
"Slipping past your Federales will not be a problem," she said, a gleam in her eye. "I am but a minor functionary, barely worthy of their time. But I must stress that they must never learn my true position. As to the Cardinale, he trusts me to know what I am doing. Besides, Demon hunting leaves much to be desired. There are certain dispensations for the difficulty of our work."
"I'll leave it to you then," I said, stopping just past the entrance. "Where's your car? I can drop you off there."
"I do not have one," she replied. "I am staying at the downtown Neptune. It is best that I walk from here. Where shall we meet later?"
"There's a bus stop on Second Street around the corner from the Neptune's valet. I'll pick you up there at 7:00 p.m. If you have to dress like you're going out on the town, don’t worry about it. I'll find something that fits the occasion before we head out."
"I will see you then," she said, getting out and closing the door behind her.
I drove on to my parking spot. Then I got out and went to my office. I had plenty of other work to do before tonight, and I still had to talk to Mal about what they'd found after I left.
Chapter 13
"All right, Mal," I said, tossing the report down on my desk as I looked up at the clock. "Not much else we can do until we get some more intel. Go ahead and put a team on it. Better make it a priority." I glanced over at the clock on the wall. "Look, it's getting late and I need a favor. I gotta take care of some shit off the radar tonight. I need you to cover the call-out and keep the radio on. I may need some discreet help on this one."
"You don’t say," he replied, grinning as he got up from the chair.
"What?" I asked, raising my hands and feigning shock. "It's business. Something O'Malley wants to be able to deny if it gets out."
"Right," he replied. "I'm sure it is. It's just a coincidence that the Italian cop who just happens to be in the middle of a bunch of secret agent crap that we're not supposed to be involved in is also quite the looker. But hey, I got you covered. I'll keep my radio on and tuned to the encrypted command channel. If you can give me a heads up on location, that would be appreciated."
"It's not like that," I said, shaking my head. "But if anything does go down it'll be on the east end of town. Probably up on the mountain above Demon town."
"I'll make sure to have someone in the area," he said, standing by the doorway. "But this time, try and call me before everything turns to shit. Not after, okay?"
"I'll keep that in mind," I said, chuckling as I pointed to the door. "Now close that thing behind you. I've still got some work to do before I can get out of here."
I picked up Mal's after action report again as the door closed behind him, wondering what we were missing. There was nothing earth-shattering here, but we had found clothing and property that indicated more than one group had passed through the house on Mountain View. Everything I'd learned so far about Marissa's arrest indicated that a lot of her followers… Okay, that wasn't right. I guess I'd have to call them something else in this world. Anyway, whatever they were, it looked like more than a few of the players in her organization had gotten away.
Robert's initial report had surmised that they'd left town, figuring that there was too much heat on them in Vegas to stick around. While today's report offered nothing conclusive, I was guessing he'd been wrong, and Mal agreed with me. Mountain View probably wasn't the only safe house they had. I was thinking that we might have lucked out after the Dark Mage attacked me at the hospital.
If he hadn’t had such a hard-on for Robert and laid low instead of trying to kill him, we mig
ht never have found out they were still around. I put the report down again. I'd have to deal with it later. Thanks to Gaea, tonight I had other fish to fry. I took care of the rest of my paperwork, grabbed what I needed, then headed down to the parking lot to my car. I had to swing by the house and pick up a few things before I could come back and get my new partner in crime.
I spotted Camillus as she came out of valet. Wearing a blue dress with a white top, she was carrying a shopping bag over one shoulder. I pulled over to the curb and pushed open the door as she walked up.
"What's in the bag?" I asked as she dropped it into the front between us.
"Just my personal kit and a change of clothes and shoes," she replied, pulling the door close. "I do not know what you have planned but I was hoping high heels would not be part of it, and please, call me Livia."
"Will do," I said, chuckling as I pulled back onto the street. "Call me Robert, and you'd be right."
I'd thought long and hard about this. I wasn't sure what motivated the Robert of this world, but I like to think that back home I'd always done what I thought was the right thing. I also figured I had a pretty good idea of what that was here. But with Gaea's mucking around, I couldn’t be sure. If I was right, and things were like they were the first time, she'd be where I expected. But that didn’t mean it would go down the same way. I didn't want to have to kill a Knight, but as a human, my options would be limited. I just hoped that didn’t make me the bad guy.
"Where are we going?" she asked as we headed away from the lights and sounds of the downtown area.
"We're going to search for your Fallen Angel," I said, wanting to keep it simple for now. "There are only a few places in town that someone like her could be. But we need to pick up a few things before we start looking."
"At your office?" she asked, looking out at the city as we drove.