by Martha Carr
“I got your message from Turner. He said something about you not wanting to meet there. You two on the outs?” Correk took her hand and kissed the top of her head. Leira resisted the urge to look around and see who might have noticed.
“You barely flinched. Well done, Berens,” he said, smiling.
“It’s not that I don’t like it. It’ll take practice. We’re not on the outs, exactly. I don’t need to have his house guest in my face. I have a better day when I don’t have to look at Rhazdon. Can we go for a walk?”
Correk stopped in the middle of the sidewalk as people moved around them, some of them giving him the side eye.
“This is the exact opposite of walking, Correk.”
“Tell me what’s gone wrong, then I’ll walk. I want to see your face when you tell me.”
Leira leaned back, her face breaking into a crooked smile. “Wow… that says a lot about our relationship.” A shudder went through her. “Sorry, that was involuntary. Not used to being someone’s girlfriend. Girlfriend.” She pressed her palm against her stomach. “You’re still not moving. I suppose if I told you to sit down first you’d assume I was dying. Or worse, Costco was closing.”
“Something like that.”
“Well, you can dial it back. It could be good news, you know.”
“Is it?”
“Depends on how you take it. First, there’s still Sam’s Club. Same deal, hardly know the difference and Costco’s not going anywhere.” She pulled on his hand. “You’re still not budging.”
“You still haven’t told me. Spill it.”
“I got offered a kind of new job.”
“Not really telling me anything. What’s a kind of job?”
“The kind that Turner Underwood offers that makes me more of an independent…” Leira shook her head. “I don’t really have a name for it, yet.”
“Maverick. You’re searching for the word maverick.”
Leira made a face, considering the word. “I like it. Independent, make my own rules.” Leira pulled on his hand again as they walked down the sidewalk. “At last, you’re moving, which is ironic because this means I’d be moving. The setup is in Washington, DC. Georgetown to be exact. Fuck, my hands are sweating.” She wiped her hand on her jeans and grabbed Correk’s hand again. “Not usually this nervous. It’s a good central location in some kind of mansion that Turner owns. That dude has got to be worth millions. Is that a normal Fixer thing? Fuck, I’m babbling.” Her stomach did a flip as she got to the hard part. Still rather run down a felon, clink of handcuffs. “And I’m hoping that means you’ll move…”
Correk stopped on the sidewalk again as a man ran right into him. “Hey! A little warning.” The man threw up his hands and walked around them as Correk took Leira’s face in his hands.
“Okay, we’re doing this?” Leira felt her stomach flip again. Sound of handcuffs, easy confessions… fuck it…just go with it Berens. She stood on her toes and kissed Correk. “Fuck who sees us.”
“Stop swearing for just a minute, Berens. Or in your case, talking.” Correk kissed her back and Leira felt the same surge of energy pulse through her, circling around Correk. She pulled back, smiling, her face flushed and warm.
A couple of fraternity brothers walked out of Icenhauer’s bar, tipsy from happy hour. “Alright, alright, alright. Now, that’s a kiss.”
“Fuckin-A. They’re glowing!”
Leira smiled, digging her free hand into her coat pocket. “I don’t suppose they’re really Elves in disguise.”
“No, better. Drunk human males. They’ll never remember.”
“I meant what I said. I want you to come with me. Shack up with me again, but this time in the same room.” She smiled, squeezing his hand but noticed he wasn’t smiling. “Am I going too fast?” The smile faded from her face.
“Leira, you and I are both going to live to be hundreds of years old. Don’t make a joke, Berens. Let me finish. I’ve got at least a hundred years on you already.”
“You’re not robbing the cradle. I’m old in human terms to just be figuring out how to date.”
“Had to make a joke. Elves are different than human beings. We find someone and give our heart away and it’s like that for life. For hundreds of years.”
“I get that. I can do the math.”
“Be sure of what you’re asking because there’s no turning back.”
Leira laced her fingers with Correk’s, finally taking a deep breath. “It’s too late. It has been for a while. It just took me some time to get that. Come with me and we’ll figure out the rest.” She leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked.
“Fuckin-A,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head.
“You know just what to say, Fixer. Better than flowers.”
“Or pizza.”
“Now I really am flattered.”
“Just as long as you never call me Bert again.”
Leira let out a laugh, picking up her head. “Deal. Wow, that feels like that was a lifetime ago. You know, Rhazdon being back means I didn’t exactly finish the Queen’s mission.”
“I know it does. We’re going to have to figure that one out as we go.”
“I get that. Will take a new rule. I’m all about that. Rule number five. Save the world first, settle old scores later.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Leira woke up to the sound of her phone buzzing on her nightstand. She looked over at Correk sleeping soundly next to her and felt her heart race all over again. His skin felt warm pressed against her hip in the darkness. She was barely able to make out his form under the comforter in the small dark room.
The bedroom was pitch black from the blanket she had hung over the bedroom window earlier to make sure no light escaped. Correk had laughed and said, “No pressure.” But she had been right as the shadows of their forms intertwining had played along the walls.
The blanket had worked like a charm, not letting out any of the ethereal light.
The phone buzzed again as she kissed Correk’s bare shoulder and picked up her phone, flipping it over as she looked at the clock. Three a.m. No good news comes at three fucking a.m. The number was blocked. General Anderson. I suppose I owe him one last mission, especially since I haven’t told him, yet.
“Hello, sir. What’s happened?”
Correk stirred in his sleep, opening his eyes and sitting up. Leira put her finger to her lips as she listened.
“Nothing good,” said the general. “There’s some kind of confrontation brewing in the heart of Paris. This may be the night we lose the battle to keep magic a secret.”
Leira pressed the phone harder against her ear as a shudder passed down her spine. She knew instantly who it was and what they were after. The dark wizarding families. They were making their move to gain real power. The prize was Tess, the seer. Damn.
“We don’t have any kind of official permission from the French, but I’m sending you in anyway, along with a few PDF agents. They’ve got a head start on you. I can have a plane waiting…”
“No need. I can get myself there. Can you text me the coordinates?”
“Already done. Check your phone. There’s reports of Wizards facing off against some new menace. Sounded like they were describing werewolves. Now, that’s just a myth, right?”
“I’ll let you know, sir. Let me get to the area and see what’s happening.” She hung up the phone and checked the coordinates, holding the phone up for Correk to take a look. “Do you know these coordinates? Is this the kemana in Paris? If it is, we have a shit storm that’s about to rain down on us.” Leira was already rolling out of bed, searching in the darkness for her jeans.
She banged her shin on the dresser, swearing as she fumbled for a light. Her phone buzzed again as she zipped up her pants, looking at the caller ID. It was Turner Underwood. She slid her finger across the screen as she grabbed a shirt. “We already know. They’re after Tess. We’re on our way.”
“It’s worse than that. Someone wh
o knew her secret has betrayed her to the dark families.”
Leira stopped getting dressed for a moment as Correk pulled on his boots.
“You mean Lucius, don’t you? Man, he is the gift that keeps on giving. Lucius is playing both sides and somehow he knew all along where Tess was hiding. Tell me Rhazdon didn’t have something to do with this, too.”
There was silence on the other end for a moment. Leira pressed her lips together, willing herself not to say anything more. Justice my ass.
“She says she didn’t.”
Leira ignored him, moving faster as she balanced the phone under her chin. “Turner, we’ll do the best we can to stop it before things get even worse. Worse like shifters tearing apart a few hundred innocent bystanders, or even one average human being minding their own business. We have to go if we’re gonna make it on time.” She hung up without waiting for an answer.
“That was a lot of we, you were throwing around.” Correk pulled a thin sweater over his head, pulling out his long silver hair as it fell down his back.
“Fuck it, he might as well get used to it. There’s a we now. Come on, those agents are walking into something they’re not prepared to handle and won’t survive.”
“Lucius must have had a plan all along.”
“Clearly,” said Leira, forming a ball of light between her hands. “The question is still what his end game is, and I don’t think it’s to help out the dark families so it’s hard to say who’s walking into the trap. Maybe all of us.” Leira sang the coordinates into the light, opening a portal as she pulled her hands apart, making it larger. “Grab Yumfuck. We’re going to need him.”
Correk opened the bedroom door and found the troll standing on the arm of the couch in his cowboy boots, ready to go. Correk leaned down and grabbed his bow and quiver leaning against the wall. “Leave the boots this time, Yumfuck. By our honor…”
“We shall be known,” squeaked the troll, kicking off the boots as he leapt into Correk’s hand. Correk walked quickly toward the portal, stepping through onto a Parisian street with Leira right behind him.
“I set us down a few blocks away to give us cover. Figured we would need to see who’s already arrived and what side they’re playing for before we dive into the battle.”
Leira whipped around at the sound of gunfire and screams as Correk set Yumfuck down. “Sounds like we’re late.”
The troll grew to his full measure, standing up at eight feet tall, claws bared as they made their way toward the sounds of a battle already underway. They turned the corner at the end of the long street just as people were running toward them, fleeing from something. The small knot of people took one look at Yumfuck and veered to the right, some stumbling and one man pausing long enough to throw up the contents of his dinner along the curb as they fled.
Leira pulled in energy as the symbols lit up along her skin, flipping over at an ever increasing rate. Correk glanced down to get a glimpse of what the magic was predicting and grimaced. He didn’t like what he saw.
As they got closer Leira formed a fireball in her hands, ready to aim it at whoever or whatever she saw first. At last she got to the side street set among three story brick buildings that must have looked picturesque in better times. But tonight, all Leira could focus on were the shifters growling and pawing at the ground on one side and the Witches and Wizards on the other in close quarters, their wands drawn. Trapped to one side, pinned against a dead end were the PDF agents, or what was left of them. Two were already laying still on the ground.
“Alan…” Leira watched in horror as Alan Cohen moved his gun back and forth between the two sides. He had the same determined look as when he faced down the dark mist.
Correk pulled out an arrow, lighting up the sharp end with a fireball and taking aim at Sirius Pickering standing in the front of the Wizards and Witches.
“Look out!” Agnes swung around with her wand, aiming it right at the arrow but not soon enough to deflect it entirely. The fiery ball caught Sirius in the shoulder, burning a hole through to the bone as he cried out in pain, dropping his wand. He gritted his teeth and picked up his wand with his other hand as he aimed it at the agent standing next to Alan.
Alan fired his gun, but this time Agnes did a better job of deflecting the bullet, creating a transparent shield of energy, sending the bullet around in a ricochet as Sirius sucked the breath out of another agent, dropping her to the cobblestone street, lifeless. Alan made himself stand still and fire again, putting himself between the dark magic and the two remaining agents behind him as the shifters closed in toward them.
Leira threw the fireball in her hand, watching it divide into a hundred smaller balls of blue fire, seeking out their targets, pelting the faces of the dark families standing in the front. The embers hit their targets, burning holes into their skin, not letting up as Leira ran as fast as she could toward the middle, feeling the muscles in her legs responding as she picked up speed.
The shifters growled, pawing the ground and moved in closer toward the agents.
Correk drew another arrow and aimed it at the shifters as Leira yelled to him. “Stop! They’re not attacking the agents. Something is off. Where’s Lucius? Aim at the families. Yumfuck defend the humans. I’m going to find Lucius. He’s here somewhere.”
Yumfuck turned his back to Correk, roaring at the shifters, swiping at the closest beast leaving a long thin wound along the shifter’s neck and face. Correk stood directly behind him facing the dark families, his bow raised with another arrow, his jaw set. He aimed the arrow high over the heads of the front row at the Wizards and Witches behind them, showering them with blue embers, setting them on fire as they rolled on the ground, screaming. As he hoped, some of the front line turned with their wands to put out the flames and Correk saw his chance, firing off one arrow after another, all aimed at Sirius. Take out the head of the snake.
Alan stood his ground just to the right of Correk, still aiming his gun, not sure what else to do. The remaining two agents behind him aimed their weapons at the shifters, their eyes wide with fear, even as they didn’t give any ground. A shifter leapt at an agent as Yumfuck moved swiftly, catching the beast in the air and whipping him against the nearest brick wall, knocking him unconscious. He quickly shifted back to his human form, laying still on the ground.
The agents looked on in horror as they realized the beasts in front of them were part human. “What the fuck is going on?”
Sirius screamed in anger. His entire plan was blowing up in his face. None of his precious shifters were obeying his commands. Even the ones created from his own former ranks were siding with their alpha. Lucius.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Leira moved down a side alley, sending out a stream of magic ahead of her. Find Lucius. She traced the stream of dark magic to an old patisserie. The front window was shattered and the bakers in dusty grey aprons were spilling out the front. Found him.
She rushed inside, running to the back and found herself face to face with Lucius, his claws wrapped tightly around Tess’ arm, her long white hair falling across her face. Her eyes were a blank stare. An older baker with red hair was standing in front of Lucius, holding a long wooden peel, swatting at the beast as if he were just a pesky fly. A cigarette was firmly clamped in his mouth, smoke pouring out as his breathing picked up, determined to defend the seer from all comers. He wasn’t going to betray his promise.
Leira threw a fireball at Lucius, watching it split into fragments as it found its target, as Lucius raised a claw to shred the lone baker. Leira sent out a pulse of energy, throwing the baker off his feet and out of harm’s way just as the claws came down, barely missing their mark. Now it was between Leira and Lucius and the prize was the seer.
Tess raised her head and turned her face to the left and the right, sensing Leira’s presence. “No…” she hissed. “This was the trap. Run! Get out! Run!”
Leira noticed too late. The black mist swept in, rolling in large clouds along the floor, alr
eady engulfing her legs. It had grown more powerful since Lucius had escaped the world in between. Leira could feel the cries of all the beings the dark mist had trapped. The sound was excruciating.
Lucius smiled, letting out a low growl. “I made a deal with the dark energy that runs through the void. My part of it was to deliver you. Getting Tess is a bonus,” he growled.
Leira reached for the bracelet, taking it off her wrist, ready to fling it in Lucius’ face. “Stop!” yelled Tess, reading the energy in front of her. “Just run!”
“I never run from a fight,” whispered Leira as she raised her hand.
Something powerful shoved her back before she could throw the artifact, knocking her to the ground. She looked up to see Rhazdon standing in front of her, hunched over, facing Lucius.
“It’s me you want, motherfucker!” Rhazdon raised her arms, swirling the black mist around all of them as if they were inside of a tornado, the familiar roar of a train drowning out the fight from the street.
“This was the part of the deal I was after,” yelled Lucius, loosening his grip on Tess.
Rhazdon raised her withered arms, drawing on as much energy as she could through her dying body as she whispered an ancient dark spell. Leira got to her feet, ready to fight.
He can’t breathe. She’s sucking the life out of him. Leira hesitated, not sure who to trust as Lucius bore down, his face grimacing in pain as he struggled to close in on Rhazdon. He let go of Tess as Leira reached out her hand, yanking at Tess’ arm and pulling her close.
Lucius reared back, his mouth opened wide, screaming in pain as he decided to inflict a little pain of his own, grasping at Tess, scraping his claws along her arm. Leira grabbed onto Lucius arm, the artifact still in her hand burning brightly, branding him with the liquid stone. The shifter yelped in pain, pulling back his hand as Rhazdon continued the spell.