But would it be better to tell them that their loved ones had become insane hybrid wraithwolves, that they might have been murdered by their husbands and sons and brothers?
Owen didn’t know. He remembered Nadia’s cold anger during their argument. But in the end, she had conceded that law enforcement had a difficult, messy job that didn’t lend itself to quick, easy solutions. Some days were messier than others. Some days offered no good outcomes, only choices of evils.
Today promised to be one such day.
Then Owen sat down, and the day got messier.
The blood ring on his right hand shivered.
“Colonel Quell,” said Tarlia’s voice inside his head. “Please come immediately to the branch commander’s office. Bring Major Giles with you if he is available.”
Owen remembered the day in the hospital years ago when the Royal Guard had brought him to the chief of medicine’s office. He remembered the pact he had made with the High Queen, how he would do anything she asked if she healed his daughters. She had kept her word – the twins were alive and healthy and at school right now.
He kept paying the price for that bargain.
Still…it wasn’t such a steep price, was it? Someone had needed to stop Warren before more people got hurt. And even if Owen had not made his pact with the High Queen, he still would have tried to stop Warren. He just wouldn’t have had the help of someone like Nadia MacCormac, which was the only reason they were successful.
In the end, the High Queen’s price had not been so high. She simply asked him to follow his own nature in her service.
Owen took a deep breath, got to his feet, and walked into the homicide department. Owen circled around the wall and came to Giles’s office. The head of homicide sat scowling at his computer, his face weary. The last week had been exhausting for him as well.
“Jake,” said Owen. “Got a minute?”
“Yeah, what’s up?” said Giles.
“We’ve been summoned to the branch commander’s office,” said Owen.
“Shit,” said Giles, but he locked his computer and stood. “The old man probably wants to chew us out about the amount of overtime we’ve been burning up.”
“Probably,” said Owen. Despite his grim mood, he nonetheless felt a flicker of amusement. Giles was about to get a big surprise.
They took the elevator to the top floor of the building and came to the branch commander’s office. The outer office had a desk for his receptionist, but it was empty. Instead, two Elves in the silver armor and red cloaks of the Royal Guard stood by the walls, motionless as statues, swords and submachine guns on their belts.
Giles faltered for a half-step. “What…”
“We’ve been summoned,” said Owen.
One of the Elves nodded. “Proceed, Colonel. She awaits you.”
Owen crossed the outer office, knocked briskly on the door, and opened it.
The branch commander’s office was a large space with a thick carpet and an enormous polished desk. Framed certificates and awards lined the walls, along with various pictures of the commander shaking hands with politicians. Arnold Brauner and his sons featured heavily among them. Behind the desk was a wide window with a good view of downtown Milwaukee. It had started snowing, heavy white flakes falling from the gray sky.
Two more Royal Guards stood by the walls, watching Owen.
Nadia MacCormac waited next to the desk, wearing her usual combination of work boots, black jeans, and pea coat over a heavy sweater. Owen vaguely wondered if she had ever worn a dress in her life and decided he would rather not know.
Tarlia, the High Queen of Kalvarion and Earth, sat behind the desk. She wore the silver armor of a Royal Guard, her red hair bound back with a golden circlet. Her eerie blue eyes considered both Owen and Giles. In her right hand was one of the Fusion devices, and she was making it jump from finger to finger, like a card shark about to perform a trick.
Giles sucked in a startled breath and then offered a deep bow. Owen followed suit. “Your Majesty. It is an honor.”
“Close the door, Colonel,” said Tarlia, her musical voice quiet. Owen obeyed. “Such an overdramatic way to meet, is it not? But that has its purposes. It is when people are startled that you can often see who they really are.”
Owen didn’t say anything.
“Do you know that this really is defective?” said Tarlia, lifting the Fusion device. “Nadia tells me you taunted Lieutenant Warren with that, and you were more correct than you knew. It is a very clever design, I admit. Typical of Catalyst Corporation technology. But it lacks a vital feature. Properly designed, this should have a…buffer, for lack of a better word, to shield the mind of the user from the malign influence of the wraithwolf. Nothing of the sort was included, and I conclude it was left out deliberately.”
“An experiment, then?” said Owen.
“Perhaps,” said Tarlion. “Or?”
Owen blinked. “Or?”
“Or what else could it have been?” said Tarlia. “Do hypothesize, Colonel.”
“A suicide bomber,” said Owen. “Like when terrorists strap on explosive vests and walk into cafes and schools. Whoever gave the Fusion devices to Warren wanted to cause chaos.”
“Most probably,” said Tarlia. “I have looked through the memories of Pablo Leon. A terrified little rabbit of a man whose greed overrode his limited good sense. But, alas, Leon could tell me nothing useful about our mysterious ‘Mr. Hood’ or the Singularity. No matter. Leon will go back to his sewer business, and I will find the answers. But that is not your problem, Colonel and Major. This is. Homeland Security has disappointed me.”
Giles swallowed. “Your Majesty, I take responsibility for failing to see that Kyle Warren was…”
“What?” said Tarlia, irritated. “Do you have a sword? No? Then stop trying to fall upon it. Even with all my magic, I cannot always read people’s hearts, cannot predict what people will do. The whole point of treachery is that it is unforeseen. No. You and Colonel Quell have performed admirably. Homeland Security has lost my confidence. You might have heard that several branches of the department sided with the Rebels during the battle at New York?” Owen nodded. “Before the end of the year, the American Congress will pass a bill, and the President will sign it. The bill will reduce Homeland Security’s powers and give responsibility for law enforcement to local municipal police departments. The Milwaukee branch of Homeland Security will become the Milwaukee Security & Police Department. For the first time since the Conquest, Milwaukee will have a police department.”
“Can I ask why?” said Owen.
“You may,” said Tarlia. “The truth of the matter is that I have two worlds to rule. In the past, I favored large, centralized organizations because they were easier to control from the top. But large organizations are too easily subverted and corrupted. The Mage Fall means that we live in times of great upheaval and change. And that means I need capable local leaders who can face the challenges of their areas.” Her eerie blue eyes fixed on Owen. “I would like you to be one of them.”
“Your Majesty?” said Owen.
“If you accept, starting January 1st, you will be the first chief of the new Milwaukee Security & Police Department,” said Tarlia. “Major Giles will be your first deputy chief, and you can appoint others as you see fit. This will be a challenging task, Colonel. With the Great Gate and the growth of some import businesses,” she turned a dry look in Nadia’s direction, “Milwaukee will become the crossroads of two different worlds. What do you say?”
Owen said nothing for a moment. All that responsibility…
“It’s a rough job, Owen,” said Nadia. “But someone’s got to do it. Might as well be you.”
Owen laughed as he remembered their argument. “High praise.”
“And I would, of course, expect my agents to call upon each other for help should the need arise,” said Tarlia.
“But only if you really need it,” said Nadia.
“Well, Colonel?”
said Tarlia, leaning back in the chair. “The current branch commander is going to retire at the end of the year. I’m afraid he doesn’t have the flexibility of mind necessary for the changes, and it’s time for him to enjoy his RV and his golf club membership. You, however, do have that flexibility. Earth and Kalvarion both are going to have to change, and you can be part of that change.”
Owen hesitated. Part of him wanted to refuse. The thought of taking on such a large job was daunting. Yet he remembered Christopher’s death and how Peter Walsh had almost gotten away with it, how the wraithwolves had stormed into his basement. Perhaps Owen could do what he could to keep such things from happening again. The world wasn’t fixable – that had been Kyle Warren’s mistake. But Owen could do what was within his power to keep evil men from preying upon the innocent. The world wasn’t fixable – but refusing to act at all was cowardly.
“Anything you want,” Owen said in his memory.
“That’s right,” the High Queen had said. “You will.”
Seventeen years after that conversation, Owen took a deep breath and looked at Tarlia.
“I accept,” said Owen.
“Very good, Chief,” said Tarlia. She closed her fist. Purple fire flashed around her armored fingers, and the Fusion device crumbled into dust. “I suggest that you and Deputy Chief Giles began at once. You have a great deal of work to do.”
###
I watched as the stunned Owen and Giles left the office, leaving me alone with Tarlia and the two Royal Guards.
“What do you think?” murmured Tarlia.
“Um,” I said. I wondered why she had invited me here to see this. “About what?”
“About Milwaukee’s newest police chief,” said Tarlia.
“I don’t think he really wanted the job, but he’s going to do his damnedest to do it right,” I said.
“The reward for work well done is more work, or so one of your philosophers claimed,” said Tarlia. “Owen Quell is a creature of duty. He will do that duty.” Her voice grew distant. “Of course, he is a creature of duty because I made him that way.”
I frowned. “Like…personally?”
Tarlia smiled briefly. “On a…societal level, let us say. The schools, the culture, popular entertainment, all of it is shaped towards making humans into creatures of duty. And sometimes it works as it should. Not for you and me, darling girl. No, we’re what Kaethran Morvilind made us to be.”
“What’s that, your Majesty?” I said, a little uneasy. When there was no immediate problem at hand, Tarlia tended to indulge herself in philosophical monologues. Maybe it was to blow off stress. Or maybe she enjoyed unsettling those around her. Or perhaps she was planting ideas in her retainers’ minds that she would use later.
Knowing her, it was probably all three.
“Creatures of loyalty, are we not?” said Tarlia. “You spent a century and a half trying to save your brother. I assumed responsibility for Earth after the Conquest, and here I still am three centuries later, even though there are nobles who would like us to abandon Earth entirely and return to Kalvarion.”
I thought about that, and couldn’t find a way that she was wrong.
“As you say, your Majesty,” I said.
She smiled. “Tell me, how badly did you and Quell fight when you started working together?”
I hesitated. Lying to the High Queen was a bad idea, but I didn’t want to paint Owen in a bad light. “I…um, well, we did quarrel, loudly, and I wound up learning the aurasight spell when he used the mindtouch on me. But we worked it out.”
“Good,” said Tarlia. “I thought you might argue. Your personalities are somewhat divergent. But you will have to work together, and it is better that you learned to do so in a somewhat less fraught situation.”
“Less fraught?” I said before my brain could halt my mouth. “We almost got killed by a mob of hybrid wraithwolves.”
“I told you that great changes are coming,” said Tarlia. “And change is a coin. Upon one side is growth, and the other is ruin. And we’re going to make sure that the coin lands in a way favorable to Elves and humans. I suspect you will need a friend in a high place…and Chief Quell will need someone with your flexibility of mind. Until then, Nadia Moran MacCormac, you have my thanks. You and Quell safeguarded my subjects and destroyed those who would have done them harm.” She smiled again. “You will be paid the standard rate paid to Shadow Hunters for destroying wraithwolves. You’ll have to split it with Quell, of course. He does need to send four daughters to college.”
“I…thank you, your Majesty,” I said with a bow. I had spent so long living on the edge of penury that I never turned down money.
“You have my leave to go,” she said.
I bowed again and turned towards the door.
“Oh, and darling girl?”
I paused. “Your Majesty?”
“Do try to avoid killing Arnold Brauner if at all possible,” said Tarlia. “You have displayed admirable self-control thus far. I’m afraid he really does an excellent job as Duke Tamirlas’s shadow councilor. And the Duke has been a loyal supporter of mine, so it would be poor form if one of my shadow agents killed Brauner.”
I swallowed. “Yes, your Majesty.”
I bowed again and closed the door behind me.
That was the unsettling thing about Tarlia. She wasn’t nearly as harsh of a master as Lord Morvilind had been. For that matter, Morvilind had been all stick and no carrot, and Tarlia was much more generous. But she expected her shadow agents to think for themselves in a way that Morvilind had discouraged. And I suspected that Tarlia did not care how I got results, so long as I did…but I was the one who would have to live with the consequences after.
I was the one who would have to live with myself.
But, hell. I knew that already, didn’t I?
I took a deep breath and left the Central Office for the Moran Imports warehouse.
###
Even though I had a late start, I got a lot of work done at the warehouse. I helped get three trucks loaded and then retreated to the office to finish paperwork. Russell had somehow gotten the day off from class, and me and Robert Ross went over the account books with him. It was Russell’s company, and once he finished his last exams, he would work full-time on the business.
There was a knock at the door, and I looked up and saw Riordan standing there.
“Hey,” I said, grinning.
“Riordan, man,” said Robert, and he and Riordan shared a vigorous handshake. “How was the UK?”
“Cold and rainy,” said Riordan.
Robert laughed. “Cold and snowy, here. Not that much difference, I suppose. But our food’s better.”
“Speaking of food,” said Riordan, “I’m going to kidnap Nadia for lunch.”
“Great,” I said, standing and stretching. “Something spicy. I…”
Two of the warehouse workers knocked on the door.
“Yeah, guys?” said Robert.
“Um.” They looked nervous. “The governor’s here.”
“Governor?” I said.
“Arnold Brauner,” said the second man. “You know, the Governor of Wisconsin.”
“Former governor,” I said.
“Yeah, well, he’s here,” said the first worker.
“Send him in,” I said.
A few minutes later, Arnold Brauner walked into the office, flanked by two burly guys in suits. His left arm was in a sling, and his color was a little pale, but he looked healthy otherwise.
“Governor,” I said. “How’s the arm?”
“Uncomfortable,” he said. “It’ll get better eventually.” He reached into his pocket and produced a little rubber ball. “The nurses have got me squeezing this damn thing every hour. Says it will help with muscle recovery.” He grunted and stuffed the ball back into his pocket. “I spent my childhood pitching hay and cleaning up after the cows, and now they want me to squeeze a little ball.”
“It’s a good idea to listen to yo
ur doctors,” said Riordan.
Brauner blinked at Riordan. “You must be the redoubtable Mr. MacCormac.” He held out his hand, and Brauner shook it. “Saw you at that very memorable charity dinner. Not every day you meet a man who can cut a wraithwolf in half. I don’t suppose you’re looking for a job?”
Riordan offered a brief smile. “You couldn’t afford me, Governor.”
“Suppose not,” said Brauner. He looked at his men. “Do you mind if I have a word with Mr. Moran and his sister alone? Should just take a minute.”
The goons in suits left the office. Robert hesitated, and I nodded to him. If this was going to get ugly, we wanted as few witnesses as possible. Riordan remained leaning against the wall, giving the impression that it would take a bulldozer to move him. Brauner didn’t try to ask him to leave, no doubt because he had seen Riordan cut a wraithwolf in half. I sat on one side of the table next to Russell, and Brauner sat on the other, grunting a little as he adjusted his weight.
“Well, Governor,” said Russell, “what can we do for you?”
“There’s no beating around the bush,” said Brauner. “Your sister and her husband saved my life. Saved Duke Tamirlas and his knights, too.” His bombastic voice became quiet. “And you saved my wife and my boy Martin.”
“I saw you,” I said. “During the fight. The wraithwolf was about to rip Tansy in half, but you shoved yourself in front of her. You’re lucky you kept the arm. And your life.”
“There’s nothing more important than family, Mrs. MacCormac,” said Brauner. “Nothing. I know you think me a hard man…”
“Reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed,” murmured Riordan.
Brauner blinked and then smiled. “Yes, just so. The Bible, isn’t it? But you saved my life. I want to show my appreciation.”
“By canceling our one percent donation to the Brauner Foundation?” I said.
Brauner feigned shock. “I wouldn’t dream of it. By contributing to the Foundation, you’re showing you care about our communities here in Wisconsin. And think of the tax benefits. No, I had something else in mind.” He reached into his briefcase and drew out a sheaf of papers. “I had Thomas Hawley draw this up. Basically, it’s a shipping contract for one of my trucking companies. We’re willing to carry Moran Imports produce at cost for a year.”
Cloak of Wolves Page 28