Demon Accords 8: College Arcane (40 page)

“Nicely done, lad,” my aunt said, her eyes
never leaving the two on the wall.

The old woman raised her chin slightly,
meeting Ashling’s eyes.

“Declan, be a good lad and put the lights
back on, would ye?” Aunt Ashling requested. “Oh, and I think ye can
put them down now.”

After a second’s pause, I complied, putting
the borrowed power back into the lines. One of the bulbs overhead
popped, flashed, and went dark again, but the others all came back
on.

“Sloppy,” the old woman, Macha, said, eyeing
me with disapproval as she straightened her clothes. The young
witch was rubbing her butt where the shock had hit, glaring at
me.

Miststück
!
Sorrow said in my mind. Have to look that one up, but I think
I got the general idea

Aunt Ash laughed, her tone mocking. “That ye
are Macha, that ye are. Declan, if yer done paying yer respects to
Miss Ryanne, there’s some agents what want to talk to ye.”

“Are you sure? Leaving you here?” I
asked.

“Oh aye. That was all the fireworks for the
moment, lad. But should ye feel them do anything else, yer to come
for me. Ye hear, Warlock?”

I nodded as the old lady’s eyes widened at
the word.

“Alright then, Ry. Ladies, Mr. Flynn. I’ll
just be going. Get better fast, Ry. We’re all waiting to hear the
Sisters Eerie play,” I said.

“Oh, I’m feeling better already, I am,” she
said, glancing with amusement at her wide-eyed family who were
still too startled to do more than nod as I left.

Chapter 35

Outside, I found Gina waiting in the hallway.
She looked up at the lights overhead and raised one eyebrow.

“I was under adult supervision,” I said. She
frowned but didn’t say anything as she turned and led me down the
hall.

“Well, first time meeting the woman who drove
my aunt and mother out of Ireland. Bound to be some tension,” I
said. “I don’t really like leaving my aunt in there alone.”

“She’ll be fine,” she said, pointing into her
office doorway as we passed. I could see Toni playing with a tablet
in a chair. She looked up and waved at me.

“I’ve got the big gun nearby in case things
go downhill,” she said. The God Tear necklace wouldn’t allow any
heavy shit near Toni and it might even side a bit with the woman
who helped create it.

We ended up in a room next to Gina’s office,
which put us two doors from the medical offices anyway. I was close
by if Ashling needed me.

Inside, Agent Krupp and Agent Mazar were
sitting in front of a monitor, the screen frozen on a camera scene
from the parking lot fight.

They broke off their conversation and stared
at me.

“As I said before, I’ll be sitting in or, if
you object to that, we can wait for a Demidova attorney to arrive.
Tanya has one ready to helicopter up from the City if needed,” Gina
said.

Wow, word really does travel fast.

“That’s not necessary. Just a few questions,”
Krupp said. “We watched it twice before the power abruptly went out
and came back on.”

“Old building,” Gina said with a little
smile. Krupp frowned, then focused on me.

“You’re a witch,” she stated, then stared,
waiting.

“Um, I know,” I said after a quick glance at
Gina.

A frown flickered across her face before it
smoothed back out. “The other two are like you?” she asked, waving
a hand at the monitor.

“Witches? Yes,” I said, keeping my answers
short like Darci always warned me to.

“So this one attacks Miss Flynn for no
reason?” Krupp asked, pointing to the figure on the monitor of the
woman I killed.

“She attacked without warning,” I said.

“Why do you suppose she did that?” Mazar
asked.

I got a nod from Gina so I ventured forth. “I
think she was likely after our power.”

“To what, drain you?” Mazar asked.

“Yes.”

“Why do you think that?” Krupp asked.

“Because we were following the story of a
circle of witches that were killed in New York. The ritual space
looked like a single witch, possibly the circle leader, had drained
the others.”

“How do you know all that and how do you know
this woman was that witch?” Krupp asked.

“Um, we’re witches. We know rituals and shit
when we see it. And she was wearing a Yankees hoodie, so I leaped
to the assumption that she was from the City. Also, she was
actively trying to beat the shit out of us. She almost killed
Ryanne.”

“Why did she attack Ryanne first, do you
think?” Mazar asked.

After another nod from Gina, I said,
“Ryanne’s female. The witch saw her as the greater threat.”

“So males are weaker?” Mazar asked.

“Generally,” I said.

“But not you?” Krupp asked. I thought about
how to answer, which Krupp must have taken for unwillingness to
answer. “I ask that because the rest of the fight only took about
thirty seconds before you exploded her head.”

I kept quiet.

“What was it you did to her head?” Mazar
asked.

“I, ah, removed all the heat from it—all at
once,” I said, swallowing.

“Is that a common spell?” Krupp asked.

“I don’t know. I was running low on power and
time. She was blinded, but that didn’t make her less dangerous,
just disoriented. Removing the small amount of heat in a head is
easier than, say, adding enough to incinerate it,” I said,
immediately cursing myself for answering too much.

The agents exchanged glances.

“You were attacked and kidnapped as a child,
correct?” Krupp asked.

“Not sure what that has to do with today?” I
asked.

“Another attack, another dead attacker,”
Krupp said.

“He got electrocuted,” I said.

“Yes, fascinating coincidence. The man, an
accomplished serial rapist and murderer, kidnaps a young witch and
somehow electrocutes himself,” Krupp said.

“What’s your point?” I asked.

“Tell us, what did you think of the last few
days’ presentations?” Mazar asked out of left field. I think I got
a little whiplashed trying to stay with the change in
direction.

“They were okay.”

“Just okay?” Krupp asked.

“Some were pretty interesting. The stuff
about the religious groups, the proposed laws, and the terrorist
group that got ripped up by a werewolf was cool.”

“Which ones didn’t you like?” Mazar
asked.

“Well, it’s not like I hated any of them. But
the population assessments on weres and vampires were pretty
funny.”

“Funny? How were they
funny
?” Krupp
asked.

“They overestimated numbers and locations all
over the place. Nowhere near that many of either type,” I said.

“And you know this how?” Mazar asked.

“Ah, I go to school with them. We, like, talk
and stuff.”

“What about witches?” Krupp asked.

“What about them? They didn’t mention them,”
I said.

“Oh that’s right. Must be because they didn’t
know about them. Oracle never said anything about them,” Krupp
said, looking at Gina.

“Hey, don’t look at me. I
don’t work for Oracle. I run Arcane, which is co-sponsored by
Demidova Corp and Oracle. Nobody ever asked
me
about witches,” Gina said with a
shrug.

“Are witches numerous or scarce?” Mazar
asked.

My turn to shrug. “I don’t know. I would say
definitely more than weres and vampires combined, but they vary
greatly. I would guess that most are fairly weak. The strong ones
tend to be born into circles. Then there are the non-magical kind
that just practice it as a religion.”

“Your aunt might know more?” Mazar asked.

“Maybe. She knows more than me, that’s for
sure.”

“Did you know that we can’t find a clear
trail of your aunt’s citizenship? The paper trail is rather murky.
Leaves us with questions as to whether she’s actually a citizen or
here illegally,” Krupp said.

I felt myself go still as the threat settled
over me.

Brennen!
Sorrow suggested. I remembered that one. Burn
them.

“You’re playing with fire, agents,” Gina
interjected, her eyes on me briefly, before flicking to the feds.
“Should you execute on that threat, the Demidova Corp will just tie
you up in court.”

“We can still deport her,” Krupp said.

“Yes, and instantly alienate
the most valuable resource you could ever hope to gain. Face it,
with the exception of DOAA and Oracle, the entire U.S. law
enforcement and intelligence apparatus is reeling from the exposure
of vampires, lycanthropes, and now witches and psy-enabled
individuals. You have no idea who they are, how to detect if they
were involved in a crime, or how to apprehend them if you could
prove it. Which is why you two are here on a fishing expedition.
Congratulations, you’ve found a big fish, big fishes actually. But
you’re just about to scare them off completely,” Gina said. “Did
you watch the video? Did you understand what you were seeing?
Because I’ve been following this stuff for most of my career
and
I
didn’t
follow all of it. I did follow the self-defense part, though. That
was pretty clear. But this part where you to try to threat leverage
a kid who is sponsored by the fastest growing corporation on earth
and is a clear favorite of the Hammer of God, well this part seems
to be poorly thought out. A kid that just defeated another witch
who most likely murdered eleven others and evaded law enforcement
for weeks.”

The two agents stared at her, then Mazar
glanced at Krupp, who seemed locked up. Looking at me and finally
back at Gina, Mazar nodded. “You are right. The world’s police
forces have no idea how to do their jobs. I’m actually seconded to
the FBI from Shabak, which is Israel’s internal police force. As
you say, we are seeking answers. I was chosen, as I have a
background in theology. My father is somewhat famous in those
circles.”

“Thank you for being honest, Agent Mazar. As
it turns out, Declan’s mother was pretty famous in witch circles,”
Gina said. “So you’ve at least chosen well.”

“Maeve Irwin?” Mazar asked. “Who died in
Boston?”

I nodded, my throat suddenly tight.

“So, Declan, can you tell us what happened?”
Mazar asked again. “With the witch in the parking lot?”

“Pretty much what I said before. I’m pretty
sure she was here to drain witches. I have no idea how she found
the school, but she was packing the power of eleven other witches,
so who knows what she was capable of,” I said, sticking with the
truth.

“She took out Miss Flynn,
thinking she was the threat, yet you then beat her in magical
combat?” Mazar said, grimacing a bit over the word
magical
.

“Yes,” I said.

“But she was all leveled up, packing big
guns,” Krupp said. I must have looked shocked as she shrugged. “I
have nephews.”

“Declan’s mother was an extraordinary witch,
both in skill and power. Despite being born with a Y chromosome,
Declan is, from all reports, just as extraordinary.”

Two Y chromosomes, thank you very much, I
thought to myself. That bit of info would be best kept secret,
though.

“You reacted very quickly—very effectively,”
Krupp noted.

“I have some training,” I said.

“Is that what Arcane does for you?”

“Arcane pays for my college, but it does
teach us self-defense, which is what I did.

I self-defended,” I said.

Both agents paused a moment.

“You are heavily connected to Gordon and
Demidova,” Krupp stated, but it felt like a question.

“Declan and his girlfriend, Caeco Jensen, are
the reason Arcane exists. Chris and Tanya are very interested in
their well-being,” Gina said.

I hadn’t ever heard that before, that they
created Arcane with us in mind.

“He’s probably a hero to you or something?”
Krupp asked. I may have nodded. She went on, “And yet he’s done
more to destabilize the world than any ten terrorist groups put
together.”

Hah. We had covered this in Gina’s class.

“Did he? Or did he restabilize it?” I asked,
holding up one finger. Gina smiled to herself and leaned back. “The
U.S. didn’t start World War II, but we finished it with the atomic
bomb. For a short time, we were the only ones with that weapon,
then others caught up.

“Chris didn’t start the issue with AIR that
led to him bombing that base in New Hampshire, but he sure finished
it. And that left him free to clean up the destabilizing forces of
Hell that were the side-effect of science.”