Whiskey Storm

by F. J. Blooding

  Paige had almost forgotten the best thing about having a dryad was that they had direct connections to trees everywhere.

  She vaguely remembered hearing about private sector prisons. At the time, she really hadn’t thought about it much. She’d had had bigger fish to fry. She always did.

  At the time, the ruckus had been that the private sector prisons had quotas that needed to be filled. That if those quotas weren’t met, then the government had to pay these private owners lots of money. Millions of dollars. Trumped up charges. Stricter sentencing. People going to jail for things they didn’t do all because it was cheaper to imprison them than to let them be free.

  But now, they had an inrush of people being herded to these prisons.

  But at least that gave them a location. With the location, Paige could open a door, and they could get these people out, they could take them to safety.

  That had to be something. “Do you happen to know of at least one of them?”

  Michelle gave Paige a very hard look. She was pissed. “I have the location of several of them. They don’t know how to hide from us.”

  Danny frowned. “What are you?”

  Right. He didn’t know. “Dryad.”

  Danny’s eyes flared. “How many of you are there?”

  Michelle turned a cold hard gaze to Danny. “What are you trying to get?”

  “I’m a reporter.” He held up his hands. “And if we can use dryads to get the news out there, that could help us spread our network.”

  Michelle glanced over at Paige.

  That might work better than the dark net. Paige had no idea how that worked, but if the government could control the internet, then chances were they could control the dark net too. “If you have someone you can spare, I think it’s worth it.”

  Michelle slid her gaze elsewhere but then nodded once. “I’ll send someone over, but you won’t sideline me.”

  She had addressed that last statement to Paige.

  “I would never dream of it.” Paige got the sense that Michelle wasn’t just upset with the way the paranormal’s were being treated. She was also upset because her team had been hit by one of their own.

  And that was something Paige was going to have to deal with as well. But not right then. At that moment, they had a prison to break into. And that was exactly what Paige intended to do. But not before she handed off the baton. “Danny, talk to Tru. See if he can help get the technological infrastructure in. Then, set up with Michelle’s contact. Build on what you’ve already set up.”

  Danny took a step to turn away get to work.

  “And Danny?”

  He stopped and turned back toward her his expression filled with eagerness and excitement.

  “Understand that what you’re building here might be bigger than you anticipated.” Paige wanted him to understand the full repercussions of what was going on. This wasn’t just about the town of Troutdale. This wasn’t just about trying to save the paranormal’s from being abused or enslaved or incarcerated. “So make sure the bones are good.”

  They were getting dangerously close to declaring war on an entire nation.

  The realization of their reality settled on Danny shoulders. It was visible. The eagerness and the excitement disappeared and was replaced with cold resolve. He nodded once and then left.

  Paige had her own mission. She needed to see if they had the power and the ability to retrieve their people. And if that was the case, then perhaps, they could take the power away from the President. If they could do that, they might be able to blow out the fuse before it was fully lit.

  25

  Paige invested some time reading her new books on ancient magicks, and wrangling children, teaching her twins that some of their favorite shapes—like the elephant—wasn’t necessarily great in small spaces, though they were unlikely to be able to use their cars for much longer.

  She had learned some “interesting” stuff about ley-line magick and the creation of the three witch-lines—more of them, actually. There were eight. She couldn’t say she’d made a lot of progress with that, though. She still didn’t know why she was able to absorb the ley-line energy and still have her magick wiped out.

  But she could finally say she were doing something good for the climate.

  She and the kids walked past Pete’s Garage in animal form with Bobby riding her horseback and was a little surprised to see all the bays open and four mechanics working. She had no idea what they were doing, but they seemed pretty excited about it.

  The protection network plan would rely on two witch families working together. She had called and found out that Phoebe was doing a volunteer stint at the high school, so that’s where Paige went. The twins and Bobby loved it at the high school. She didn’t know what it was, but they frolicked all the way up to the main office.

  The receptionist just gave the twins a withering look. “No shifting outside of class.”

  Paige smiled at her. “They’re two weeks old.”

  “Hmm.” The woman didn’t seem receptive to changing to her mind.

  But Paige could understand that. She was part of a small contingent whose job was to herd a small army of cats. They weren’t real cats. They were teens, so a little worse.

  “I need to speak with Phoebe. Is she currently in a class?”

  A drum sounded.

  The twins scurried to their mother in cat form and the Bobby looked around intrigued.

  Of course he did.

  The receptionist smiled up at her and told her what room Phoebe was in, and then reminded her that her kids needed to be in human form if they were school.

  Leah’s going on a ghost hunt later tonight. She’ll be up until 3 am the next morning when Leslie finds Kammy’s grown.

  Well, that wasn’t likely to happen. Baby humans had to be carried. Baby kitties could walk.

  So, Paige gave the twins an alpha warning to find a form, pick the form, and stick to it until they left.

  They stared at each other, and then both picked baby elephants, which was great for Paige because they managed to clear a path through the meandering sea of teens.

  High school wasn’t the same as she remembered. The kids here weren’t cruel or mean. They just moved out of the way and exclaimed over the twins. A few knelt down to talk to them. They didn’t have much to say to Paige except for hello, but they liked the twins.

  Everyone did, which was good. Helpful at least.

  She found Phoebe’s classroom and waited outside. Most of the kids had cleared out, but there were two who had stayed behind discussing the class or homework.

  Paige let the twins romp around, with Bobby keeping an eye on them to be sure they didn’t pull a Dexx and destroy portions of the school. He moved desks back into place after Ember knocked into them. He wasn’t very graceful.

  Phoebe looked up at Paige after the two students left. “I didn’t expect you.”

  “I need a favor.” Paige pushed off the wall and gestured toward the door. “I didn’t send them away, did I?”

  Phoebe shook her head. “What can I help you with?”

  Paige knew that taking the leaders to run errands with her was a bad idea. They were needed here. But, like with Michelle, she could ask to borrow someone else. “I need a door and would prefer someone who’s better at it than me.”

  Phoebe nodded with a blink. “Danger?”

  “None. At least, it should be none.”

  Phoebe grunted and held out her hand. A small door opened and a young woman stepped through. “Angela, can you provide your Aunt Paige with a door this morning?”

  “There and back.” Because Paige didn’t want to get stranded.

  “Where to?” The young girl— woman looked far too young to be opening doors for a civil war..

  Paige had to take this girl in. She was a “niece” but she’d never met her. Of course, there were a lot of Blackman witches she didn’t know. She’d kept her distanc
e for good reason.

  But a lot had changed over the past two years and maybe it was time to reassess. “I need to go to Cheechako, Alaska.”

  Angela opened her mouth in a silent “ah,” and then held out her hand. “I’m going to need a pass from science lab,” she told Phoebe.

  “I’ll talk to Ms. Burnstein. But, don’t stay long. Science isn’t your best subject.”

  The girl wrinkled her nose, but nodded. She concentrated and drew the poutline of an imaginary door.

  A portal opened and Angela motioned Paige through. She glanced at Phoebe ”Thanks Aunt Phoebe. Come on kids, let’s go.” Amazingly, all three went through with no trouble and no wrangling.

  She’d have to remember this girl— Angela.

  The door closed behind Angela, and the kids took in their first view of Cheechako, Alaska.

  Well, not time like the present to admit you’ve been an asshole and ask for forgiveness. “So, I don’t know you.”

  “Yeah. I know.”

  They’d touched down in the parking lot that ran behind town. The park was in front of them and the backside of several of the shops were to their right. A series of tall mountains dominated the view on the right, but the trees obscured the view of the other peaks to the left. They were high in the mountains of Alaska along the highway that connected Anchorage to Canada.

  And that was the extent of what Paige knew.

  “You’re one of my brothers’ daughter?”

  Angela nodded. “My dad’s Derrik.”

  Derrick was a good guy and had never been one to set off Paige’s danger-senses. “Well, I’m sorry it took me so long to get to know you.”

  The look on Angela’s face said she didn’t care about her “sorry.”

  Teenaged angst mixed with real wrong-doing was a mess Paige didn’t feel like cleaning up just then. She had plenty enough on her plate.

  But she could sure invest some time into trying to build a relationship with her niece anyway.

  “The place we need to go is up this way.” She pointed up a small embankment. On the way up she talked about small stuff. How the twins were growing up and some of their escapades. And how Bobby’d nearly dumped a vase on Elder Yad’s head the other day. The kids kept things lively.

  Angela didn’t comment much, but she did seem to warm up to her.

  A little.

  Paige led the group to the town hall, and left them out front. She headed to the back where Bertie’s office was.

  It didn’t escape her notice that the town was deserted.

  Cheechako was a paranormal retreat. However, it was one that DoDO knew about. Being on the radar couldn’t be good for anyone, especially in this environment.

  Bertie looked up at Paige with a smile and rolled out from behind her desk, her wheelchair gliding easily down the slight ramp beside her desk. “Didn’t expect to see you here. Saw the big dustup at D.C. Thought you’d be busy.”

  They shook hands, and then Paige moved in for a hug. She needed more hugs and she didn’t even realize it. But things were getting crazy and she needed to know that the people on her team were on her team. A hug didn’t change that aspect. It didn’t make them more likely to rise up or not.

  But it made Paige feel better.

  She called the kids inside where they immediately rampaged around for a bit, as Bertie led the way to the diner.

  “The town’s deserted.”

  “Is it though?” Bertie wagged her dark eyebrows as she cut in front of Paige and Angela to get to the ramp leading up to the diner.

  “It’s still operational?”

  “We’re in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. You can bet your left tit we’re operational.”

  That was good news.

  Paige waited until they got their food and were tucking into their meal before broaching what she’d come for. “There are paranormals all over the States that need wards. And I’ve discovered a few things with them that could potentially help.”

  “Really.”

  Paige filled in her in on what they’d learned, about how building the wards around ward trees—which were unique to wood witches—gave the wards a kind of… intelligence. They could be talked to and programmed. Kinda. Primitive communication, anyway. She explained what she’d done with the wards around Troutdale.

  Bertie stopped eating and motioned with her bread, intrigued. “Never thought of doing that. But what do you want us to do?”

  Paige quirked her mouth to the side, swallowing her bite of cornbread. “I want you and your coven to put up ward trees so that communities can build their own individual wards.”

  Bertie set her bread down. “And the danger to my coven?”

  Angela snorted. “We’ve already been kidnapped. So…”

  Paige wished the girl had kept that to herself, but the truth did have to be plain. “High. Anything we do, any resource we use will be targeted.”

  Bertie nodded. She wasn’t saying no.

  But she wasn’t saying yes, either. It was time for full disclosure . “Look, Bertie, this isn’t going to just blow over. The President is upset. She’s targeting us. Witches and shifters first, but all paranormals. She’s taking us to prisons that might as well be concentration camps. We know what’s next. We’ve seen this in our history—pretty recent history at that. Paranormals will be picked off. They’ll be mass killed.”

  Paige couldn’t believe that she was spreading this propaganda, but… She had to. People had to realize how serious this was before it got worse.

  Bertie needed proof. She needed real experiences.

  Paige had those. So, she shared them. She told Bertie about what happened at the elf city, and what had happened in Kansas. She told Bertie what the President said and just how serious this was.

  “I’m trying to find a peaceful way out of this. I am. But they’re waging war on us. Kids, elders, everyone is being killed. They don’t care.”

  Bertie raised her chin and then nodded once. “Well, we’ve known this has been coming for a while.” She blinked her dark gaze to the table and then brought it back up to meet Paige’s. “What do we do?”

  Paige used the rest of their lunch making the arrangements to borrow Billie first, and then maybe others as they got more locations, and by the time they got up to leave, the kids had hunted something in the forest and they had their wood witch, Billie Black.

  Angela had the kids under control, but she began to get antsy. “I can’t miss math too,it’s a big test. Science lab is one thing. Math is another.”

  Billie walked through the door with a rucksack slung over her back. “Hey. I thought a tasted something in the air.”

  “Hey.” It was really good to see her.

  Paige turned back to Bertie. “We need to head out, but I’ll send someone back with more information. We’re setting up an information slash communication network and an extraction network.”

  “That sounds promising,” Bertie said. “Keep us informed.”

  Angela didn’t waste any time opening a door back to Troutdale and the high school.

  Angela disappeared to class. Phoebe was already gone.

  It was time to hand Billie off to those who could formulate the plan.

  She led Billie to the mayor’s building. They’d started using it more because it was centrally located and bigger than her house.

  They no more set foot in the door when she was pulled away by Bal.

  He’d been waiting for her in the lobby.

  Balnore was a Lilim, or a demigod, something Paige hadn’t known in all her years growing up with him as her Giles, or her watcher. But now that she did know, things made a lot more sense.

  “Hey, Bal. You remember Billie, don’t you?”

  “I do. Pleased to see you again.”

  “Me too.” Billie smiled pleasantly to him.

  “Hold on just a sec, Bal. Got to take Billie to the Mayor, so they can hammer some logistics out
.”

  She handed Billie off to Suzanne and herded the kids out. She wished more than a little that she still had Angela.

  “What’s up?” Paige asked, rampant kids leading them down the street. They were starting to peter out and she wanted to get them home before they tanked. She didn’t enjoy the idea of having to wait out their nap in town. She wanted to get back to the books and see if she might glean any other information. She needed to figure out how to make her magick work again, while everyone else developed plans.

  Balnore sighed and then touched her shoulder.

  The trip back to the house felt like her stomach had been pulled through her nose, and then shoved back down to her toes. She hated traveling by whatever method he used, which was similar to the method Roxxie used to travel when the angel gate was closer.

  The twins cried, Rai sob-roaring and Ember howl-trumpeting. Bobby just burped.

  “Thanks, Bal.” Paige tried to sound like she actually meant it.

  He shrugged apologetically and then helped to get all three kids into bed.

  When they were tucked in and mostly sleeping, Bal made them both tea. “The answer is that there is no answer.”

  “What are we talking about and what does that even mean?”

  He glanced at the books with a raised eyebrow. “You’ll find theories there, but no answers.” He set a cup in front of her and sat down.

  Someone she didn’t know came running in through the back door, but wasn’t interested in them at all. He just zoomed through house and then the bathroom door clickedshut.

  They were going to need to stock up on toilet paper.

  Ew. And probably flush the septic.

  Which—wait. They didn’t have water without a pump, so how was the toilet working?

  Innovation. She just needed to accept it.

  Right.

  But toilet paper. She could add that to her worry list.

  She was really interested to know how the—wait.

  Balnore had just made tea.

  With the stove.

  She had electricity. She ran to her charge cord and plugged in her phone. She had no idea how it was working, but she’d take what she could get.