Aareth was already in the courtyard, when he heard the running footsteps behind him. The warm air and the setting sun touched him at the same time Edison reached his side.
“My God, boy, slow down. I’m not as agile as I once was.”
“Listen, I know you’re trying to help, but this isn’t my thing.” Aareth reduced his pace but continued to move forward toward the exit. “It starts with one town, with one city; we lend a helping hand, and then we want favors in return. Favors turn into allegiances, handouts turn into debts, and debt is just another word for control.”
“You’re exactly right, and that’s why I chose you. You’ve seen it all happen before. You’ve seen the corruption first hand. You’ve been in the middle of it and that’s why it’s so important that you be the one to go.”
Aareth reached the front gates. The fact that Edison wasn’t arguing with him was enough for him to stop.
“You don’t disagree? So you don’t think the Queen can be trusted?”
“I didn’t say that.” Edison put both gloved hands up in a sign of surrender.” The Queen has nothing but the best intentions; however, there are those in the palace who would rather see cities in the Outland pay taxes and tribute rather than become friends and allies.”
“That’s why you need me to be the one that goes.” Aareth crossed his muscular arms and took a deep breath. “I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this.”
“Aareth, the time you spent as an inspector cleaning up the corruption in this city will be an invaluable tool. You were the best undercover detective we ever had at the precinct.”
Aareth stood quiet, torn between what he knew was the right thing to do and the direction every muscle in his body was telling him to go. Two sides of Aareth were locked in a battle; the man he once was and the man he was now.
Edison saw everything. He recognized what the pause in conversation meant, the agitated look on Aareth’s face, even the furrowed brow.
“If you can’t do it for yourself, Aareth, do it for the city; and if you can’t do it for the city, do it for her.”
Aareth was ripped from his internal battle at the mention of his dead wife. A year ago, he would have beat anyone that dared mention her memory. A year ago, mention of his dead wife would have been enough for Aareth to end a man’s life. Today, he knew the anger would only reopen old wounds. Instead, he accepted the memory and embraced the pain.
“She was better than I was.”
“No, Aareth.” Edison’s face softened as he put a gloved hand on his wounded friend’s shoulder. “She was better than all of us. She just brought out the best in you. Go on this mission and keep a watchful eye. Something big is about to happen. I have a feeling whatever it is, it’s going to start with this journey.”
Chapter Nine
Fenrick
“Oh, just in here, if you please.” Fenrick showed the three members of the Queen’s chosen group into an open room with a round table and chairs near a crackling fire. On top of the table were a pile of folders and files full of paperwork and pictures.
“Dinner will be brought to you shortly. In the meantime, feel free to start reading the gathered material.”
The father and son team nodded and walked into the room, followed by the Queen’s captain. Sloan stood by Fenrick’s side before she entered. Without even looking at him, she whispered, “There’s a nasty little rumor among the men that a certain treasurer was seen gambling in the city last night.”
“Captain,” Fenrick swallowed hard but gathered himself just as quickly, “if you are insinuating that I’m gambling with the Queen’s money, I would think twice about the accusation you’re making.”
“And why is that?” Sloan turned her piercing green eyes on Fenrick. “Choose your next words wisely.”
“Because,” Fenrick licked his lips and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “I don’t gamble, but even if I did, I would choose to keep that a secret. You know I’m not the only one with secrets—don’t you, Captain? You know what I’m referring to, of course—a certain less than distinguished upbringing.”
“Be careful who you threaten, Treasurer. Some of us are quicker with the sword than the tongue and would go to great lengths to protect certain secrets.” Sloan walked into the room and shut the door in Fenrick’s face.
Fenrick let his fake smile fade and curled a lip at the closed door.
Children playing at things they don’t understand, Fenrick thought to himself. But events are going better than expected. Aareth has left before the journey has even started. In a game where the players can choose their own pieces, it seems the Queen has chosen poorly: a drunk who already walked out, two simple-minded sorcerers, and a captain with a chip on her shoulder.
Fenrick shook his head as he walked through the palace to the rear of the building. The sun had just set. Only a few servants and guards walked along the palace’s extensive garden grounds. Queen Eleanor had a soft spot for plants and flowers of all kinds. The garden was alive with statues and fountains all designed with bats, pools, and symbols and various symbols of strength, but all of that was still outshined by the level of greenery in the garden.
Fenrick dismissed all the plants and flowers he had seen a thousand times before. Instead, he spent his time looking over his shoulder, ensuring he was not being followed.
After a few turns in the labyrinth of the palace’s garden, Fenrick was content he was alone. He stopped walking and stood next to a tall hedge. Looking through the leaves and small branches of the wall-like plant, he saw the back of a hooded figure sitting on a stone bench on the other side.
“You’re late,” the dark figure spoke in a deep voice.
“Well, that’s not my fault,” Fenrick snarled. “You need to kill the captain. She suspects something. We need to kill her now.”
“Quiet your voice, snake, before someone hears and you ruin everything. They will all be dealt with in time when my master deems it appropriate. What of the team the Queen has assembled to travel to the Outland?”
“Mercenary,” Fenrick’s voice heightened at being talked to in such a way, by someone he deemed lower than himself, “you will speak to me with respect. I don’t care who your master is. I will have soldiers here—”
The cloaked man turned with inhuman speed. He shot a large arm through the thin hedge between them. Fenrick felt ice-cold fingers close around his throat. A second later, he was lifted from the ground.
“I will not ask you again to be quiet, snake.” The hooded figure held Fenrick as if he weighed no more than a handful of sand. “I would kill you here and now, but it seems you are more useful to the order alive. Why, I have no clue.”
Fenrick clawed at the arm holding him suspended above the dirt but there was no use. He stared into the deep hood. The man’s facial features were bathed in shadows, but Fenrick could still make out the long gruesome scar across his pale face. Fenrick nodded as best he could. The hold around his throat was released. He fell to the ground, gasping for air.
“Now tell me all you know about the ones chosen for the journey to the Outland. I want to know everything, when they’re leaving, and what route they’re taking.”
Chapter Ten
Sloan
Sloan sat at a table along with Marcus and Jack. They all opened folders and examined the information provided about the attacks in the Outland. There were news clippings, first hand reports, and interviews from witnesses. What concerned Sloan the most was the quantity of attacks over such a brief period of time.
The first attack were dated two months previously. In that short time, more than two dozen assaults were reported. File after file told similar stories of torn bodies, violent confrontations, and a wild creature no one had ever seen before. The eyewitness reports varied from descriptions of a huge dog-like animal to a large wolf. The things consistent in all the reports were that whatever the mysterious creature was, it was massive and struck quickly. It was covered in dark hair and traveled on four paws.
The noise it made while it attacked were loud howls and there was a lingering odor it left behind.
“Well.” Marcus placed worn spectacles on the bridge of his nose as he accepted a piece of paper from his son. “That’s impossible, isn’t it?”
Jack nodded.
“What is?” Sloan asked from across the table as she put down a folder. “Did you find something?”
“It’s an artist’s rendering of a life-size paw print left by the animal.” Marcus handed her the picture of the paw print that nearly covered the entire page.
Sloan looked down at the paper, at a loss. Sure it looked like a massive paw in dire need of a pedicure, but other than that, she had no idea what she was looking at. Rather than pretend to be in the loop, Sloan decided to admit her ignorance.
“Put me in a fight or a political debate and I can hold my own.” Sloan bit her lip as she examined the giant animal print. “I have no idea what I’m looking at here, sorcerer. It looks like an enormous canine imprint. I would say a dog, but there are no dogs that large, not in that part of the Outland, not anywhere.”
“Well, you’re not that far off, Captain.” Marcus removed his glasses, leaning back in his chair. “It is a paw print of a canine, just not a dog. That’s a wolf print.”
“A wolf? That’s impossible. They get to no more than sixty, maybe seventy pounds.” Sloan shook her head, looking at the picture again. “Whatever made this print had to have weighed hundreds of pounds.”
“Well, that’s the impossible part, isn’t it?” Marcus touched the tips of his fingers together, deep into his own thoughts.
Sloan looked closer at the print.
“The print is one we’ve seen a hundred times before, but…” Jack pointed to the sketch of the paw design once more, “this one is four times as large as any we’ve come across.”
“So we’re ruling out wolves. What else could it be?” The voice came from the doorway. All three members at the table jumped and turned. Sloan’s hand tightened on her saber hilt once again.
“We’re really going to have to work on that, Captain.” Aareth smiled from the doorway. “Every time I talk, you don’t need to draw steel.”
“Well, you haven’t given me much of a reason not to, have you? What’re you doing back? You walked out on your Queen and on your city.”
“I had a change of heart.” Aareth sauntered toward the group. He shrugged off his long black jacket, placing it on an empty chair, and took a seat.
The room was silent as Sloan examined their new ally with a raised eyebrow. Marcus nodded a greeting toward Aareth. The room was quiet.
“Well, we’re glad to have you.” Jack cleared his throat. “At least I am.”
“Thanks. I heard you talking about the possibility of wolves. The canine animals that’re no larger than the size of large dogs?”
“My father and I have tracked our fair share,” Jack continued as he got the fourth member of their team up to speed, “but they’re not naturally aggressive animals. The largest we’ve ever seen couldn’t have been more than seventy pounds.”
“So we have nothing?” Aareth asked.
“It seems like we’re tracking an animal of unknown origin that has been able to elude, well, everyone.” Sloan ignored Aareth and looked only to the sorcerers. “Marcus, Jack, what do you think? Can you find it?”
Father and son smiled as Jack repeated what had become their catch phrase. “If it leaves tracks, we can find it.”
The answer was satisfactory. Even if it was a giant breed of wolf, Sloan felt confident in her own abilities to kill the animal once the magicians had found it.
As she mulled over the details, well-dressed servants brought in large platters covered with silver covers.
“And, mercenary?” Sloan decided to test Aareth. “When we do find this beast, do you think you can kill it?”
“I’m not a mercenary anymore, Captain.” Aareth pushed back a curtain of his long black hair. “But to answer your question, yes. I’ve never met an animal, man… or soldier, I couldn’t beat.”
The jab wasn’t lost on Sloan. Instead of allowing her anger dominance, she was surprised to find a smile tug at her lips.
The rest of the night was spent over a feast. It was a common enough meal for Sloan, but she wasn’t ignorant of the wide eyes on both the magicians. Even Aareth stared at the food as if he hadn’t been invited to a proper meal in months.
The night’s dinner consisted of roasted duck, grilled chicken, skewered salmon, salad, vegetables, rolls with butter, pitchers of wine and beer, and every kind of dessert imaginable.
Sloan unfolded her pristine linen napkin in preparation for the meal. As she reached for her utensils, she noticed she was the only one. Aareth was already serving himself mounds of food on his plate. Marcus and Jack were better behaved, but their confusion as to which fork to use showed their lack of etiquette.
Sloan, and especially Aareth, helped themselves to the wine, while Jack and his father stuck to water. After a mostly quiet meal, Sloan pushed her plate away. “If we’re going to spend the next few weeks together, I’d like us to be honest with each other. I’m not trying to be your best friend, but the most successful teams I’ve ever worked with in the past have had a mutual respect and trust in one another.”
Sloan looked at each one of them in turn. She allowed the silence to build before she began again.
“I’ll go first. As captain of the Queen’s guard, I’m used to leading. That doesn’t mean I’m not a team player. With that said, in this mission, I want to make it clear that I am the leader. I’ll do all I can to make this a quick journey. We’ll go into the town—Jack and Marcus, you’ll find the animal. Aareth and I will kill it and we can all go home.”
“My son and I have been sorcerers of the paranormal for years.” Marcus smiled with pride at Jack. “We’ve tracked everything from shadow spirits to shape shifters. I’m honored to be in a position to help the Queen and the city of New Hope. We’ll find whatever this thing is.”
“I, uhhh, I’ve been practicing the magical arts and tracking ever since I can remember.” Jack stumbled under Sloan’s stern gaze. “My father and I have never failed a job we’ve been hired to complete. This one’s not going to be any different.”
All eyes turned to Aareth, who was wiping his hands and mouth clean of sticky meat.
“I’ve been working—freelance—in the Outland for the last three years. I’m here now and plan on seeing this thing through to the end.”
Sloan cocked her head to the side. There was something like sadness, maybe regret in Aareth’s bright blue eyes. As he remembered the last few years, it was clear he was troubled. Instead of continuing down the line of thought, Sloan reminded herself why she was there.
“We’ll leave early tomorrow, so be ready. We’ll make a quick stop at the armory, gathering any supplies we may need for the journey, and then we’ll be off.” Sloan rose from her chair and looked at the three men sitting at the table. “Rest well. If I’m right, it’ll be the last time we can close our eyes without worry for a long time.”
Chapter Eleven
Jack
Jack and his father were shown to a large room with two beds, and to Jack’s delight, mage lights. Their weapons were waiting for them in their room just as Lieutenant Baker promised.
Jack sat in his bed, switching the mage light on and off. The lamp was on a nightstand next to his bed. The switch to turn the light off and on was so simple to navigate, it was almost comical.
He couldn’t help but notice his father assemble his staff and place it next to his bed. “Expecting trouble tonight?”
“Not particularly.” Marcus ran his hand over the staff and the ancient runes of their order carved deep in the wood. “But it’s better to be safe than sorry, right?”
“Yeah, but I can tell that’s not it, is it? There’s something else bothering you, isn’t there?”
“As perceptive as your mother.” Marcus let out a long sigh. “Yo
u know me too well. It’s our traveling partner that makes me uneasy.”
“Sloan?” Jack stopped playing with the light and gave his father his full attention. “Or Aareth?”
“It’s Aareth. I have a feeling I’ve seen him before. And I don’t mean passing through a town. There’s something off about him, son.”
“Well, who do you think he is?”
“I’m not sure, but there’s something in his eyes. If I had to guess, he’s a hit man, an assassin.”
Jack’s jaw dropped. He heard about assassins while traveling through the Outland. They were professional killers for hire to the highest bidder. As Jack thought about it, he’d heard stories of an assassin with long black hair and piercing blue eyes. Stories of a killer more ghost than man.
“Are you sure, Dad? I mean, why would the Queen allow a person like that to come on this mission? Aareth isn’t going to exactly win the award for personality of the year, but—”
“I’m sure, son. As to why the Queen has allowed him to come with us is another story. We have to trust that the Crown has their reasons. But in the meantime…” Marcus patted his staff gently. “It’s never a bad idea to be cautious. Have you said your prayers?”
“Dad, we’ve talked about this.” Jack rolled his eyes. “I’m eighteen years old. You don’t need to remind me of that stuff or tuck me in or kiss me on the cheek at night.”
“You just turned eighteen, and in my defense, I have done a great job on the no tucking in and kissing thing. You’ll understand one day when you have kids of your own. Goodnight, son. I love you.”
Jack gritted his teeth, but he knew he would regret it if he didn’t say it. “Love you too, Dad.”
The Complete Vampire Project Series: (Books 1 - 5) Page 5