Not Just Another Fae (Vegas Fae Stories Book 4) (16 page)

"I'll let you know when that happens," I said. "Anything
else you need from me?"

"Not for the moment," he said. "We'll take
possession of the body, or what's left of it, and then your team can clean the
place up. We're still sifting through the information we gathered at Stockton's
house, as well as from your battle with the Demon. I'm sure there will be some
follow up requests when that's done, especially if we can link this one to the
other. I'll be in touch."

When he left to meet up with his agents, Siegfried and I took
a few minutes to discuss what had happened. We both agreed that there was a lot
more going on than we knew about. Unfortunately, neither of us could figure out
a way to change that. But there was one thing we both knew. We had to find a
way to seal this gateway, or crack, or whatever the hell it was, before we ran
into something we couldn’t handle. Now, we just needed to figure out a way to
do it.

There were a few more things I covered with Siegfried as
well. One of which was to have his technology Mage touch base with Mal. I had
something I needed him to look at and it probably wouldn’t hurt to have
somebody with him when he did.

Sendy and Charlie were waiting when I finally got back to my
car. I let her know that Charlie would drive back with me. Before she left, I
retrieved the cell phone I'd taken from the Mage and handed it to her. I asked
her to have Mal examine it; but only after coordinating with Siegfried's Mage.
Who knew what was on the damn thing or if some kind of spell was in place to
protect it. That done and Sendy on her way, Charlie and I headed home; my
fingers crossed that this day was finally over.

I swear I had just fallen asleep when Charlie head butted
me.

"What?" I asked, pushing his big nose away and
pulling a pillow over my head.

"You must come," he said, nudging me again.

"This had better be good," I said as I sat up and
looked at my phone. It was barely 5:00 a.m.

"Not good," he said. "Come."

Shit! What now? I pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt
and followed him downstairs and into the kitchen. The place was full and Nikki
had already made coffee.

"Dad," she said as she pushed a mug into my hand. "You
need to sit down."

"What the hell's going on?" I asked as I pulled
out a chair. Then I it registered. Lucinda had returned. But what worried me
more was the fact that my aunt, Cacilia, and Nikki were in my kitchen as well.
That was not a good sign.

"There's no easy way to say this," my aunt began. "But
we have received word from Valen. Bernd has fallen."

"Fallen?" I repeated, devastated by the news.
Bernd was my mentor, and the first Dwarf I'd ever met. He was also my friend. "What
happened?"

"Motgnir and Bernd were discovered near Dwarfheim,
Grerin's stronghold in Nidavellir, one of the nine worlds," Cacilia said. "From
what we have been told, they were planning an uprising. Contacting supporters while
Valen was at Svartalfheim, gathering their forces. They were to meet up before
confronting Grerin. Something went wrong, and they were attacked before Valen
could arrive."

"Betrayed," Lucinda hissed. "There is no
other explanation."

"Be that as it may," my aunt continued. "Valen
has returned to Svartalfheim to regroup. With Bernd dead and Motgnir captured,
Valen does not have the numbers he needs to threaten the Dwarf King, and he
fears for Motgnir's safety. For now, Grerin seems satisfied. "

Dealing with all this mythology is a pain. Especially since
some of the shit just doesn't make sense. In this case, Nidavellir and Svartalfheim
are both one of the nine worlds of the Norse. Earth, also called Midguard, is
one as well. Nidavellir was known as the home of the Dwarves. Svartalfheim, was
the home of the Dark Elves. Problem is, they're really the same beings. I mean
they're both populated by Dwarves, which is confusing as hell!

The big difference, as far as I can tell, is that the
Dwarves from Nidavellir, Grerin's bunch, made weapons and other artifacts for
the old Norse Gods. The Dwarves from Svartalfheim were more the counselor type,
giving advice and the like. When
The Fall
occurred, we saw the
difference between the two. Grerin's group sat back and watched the Gods fight
amongst themselves, not giving a shit about the Fae that were suffering as a
result. They figured they would come out better at the end, after the Gods
fell. Valen's Dwarves got involved and tried to help.

"What about a rescue?" I asked.

"I don’t see how," Cacilia replied. "Only the
Dwarves know the way to their worlds, and the gates would be well guarded, as
are our own. Even if we knew where they were, it would be a fool's errand. Nikki
needs the light and the forests of our home to harness power. The dark worlds
are no place for our Fae."

"Sorry, Dad," Nikki said. "It was the first
thing I thought of. But she's right, alone, and in such a dark place, without
our Fae or woods, I'd never be able to repeat what I did the last time we
encountered them."

"What about his body?" I asked. "Was it
recovered?"

"When a Dwarf dies, they go to their own place in the
afterlife. What is left turns to stone," Lucinda said. "There was
nothing left of him to recover."

"Valen sent us this," Cacilia said, handing me his
pipe. "He thought you might want it. To remember him by."

"Thank you," I said, taking it from her. "So
there's absolutely nothing we can do?"

"No," Cacilia said. "But we knew you would
want to know."

Everyone was silent, waiting to see if I would say anything
else. But what could I say? There was nothing I could do. Bernd wasn't the
first friend I'd lost since all this started and I had a hunch he wouldn’t be
the last.

"Where does that leave us?" I asked after a moment.

"To be honest," Nikki said. "Now that Grerin
has Motgnir he seems content to leave us alone. He doesn’t see Valen as a
threat with Motgnir as a hostage. He has even withdrawn his Dwarves from the
Fae worlds. But like you told me before, he's got time on his hands. There's no
way to know what he plans next, or how many spies he left behind."

"Well, that's something," I replied. "Not
that it makes up for Bernd's loss." I hate to be pragmatic, but what could
I do? It's not like I could bring him back. I held my anger in check, knowing
that there was no place for it at the moment. Instead, I spent the next few
minutes bringing them up to speed on the Demon thing. Including the fact that
Marissa had been involved with the Wizard that seemed to have started it all.
When I was finished, I pulled out the orb.

"Then there's this," I said, holding it out in
front of them. "It's a weapon. I took it from a Mage that tried to kill me."

"Jeez, Dad," Nikki said. "Gaea wasn't
kidding, was she?"

"It doesn't appear so." I replied.

"What does it do?" Cacilia asked.

"It uses magic to throw out a metal net that
incapacitates and then kills the target, by cutting them into pieces."

"That's disgusting," Nikki remarked.

"True," I agreed. "But effective."

"Who would make such a thing?" asked Cacilia.

"That's what I'd like to know," I said. "And
why it suddenly showed up now. I had to use it to kill a Demon that attacked us
last night. Something our other weapons were having a hard time doing."

"Maybe Gaea had something to do with it," Nikki
said.

"It's possible," I agreed. "But why bother
doing anything at all? It's too much like a game, and we still don’t know the
rules."

Nikki didn’t have an answer to that.

"Did you learn anything from the Mage that carried it?"
Cacilia asked, getting back on topic.

"He's dead," I replied. "A Keres took him
away. I was thinking of asking her about him."

There was a hiss from Lucinda.

"A Keres is here?" Cacilia asked, with a visible
shudder.

"Yes," I replied. "Is that a problem?"

"They are not like us," she replied, glancing at
the cat. "They follow Death wherever he leads."

"That they may," I agreed. "But they are
still of the Fae."

"Perhaps. But they are not known for assisting the
living," Cacilia said, shaking her head. She got up from the table. "We
have taken up enough of your time. We should return."

"Do what you have to do. Just figure out how to fix
this," Nikki said. Then she hugged me. "And
please
try not to
get yourself killed."

"I'll do my best," I said with a grin.

"Ok, Dad," she said as she followed Cacilia out
the door. Then she smiled. "I'll be in Fae if you need me. I'll be back in
a few days if you don't. Love you."

"Love you, too."

When they were gone, I locked the pipe away in my safe and cleaned
up the kitchen. As I poured myself another cup of coffee, Lucinda jumped up on
the table.

"Tell me of the Keres," she said.

I told her the story of the battle, then went over my
conversation with the Death Spirit.

"You asked for her name," Lucinda said, almost
hissing the words.

"I didn’t know it was such a big deal," I said in
defense. "And no lectures. I've heard enough about it from Michael and
Siegfried already."

Her tail swished but she just turned her head, as if
dismissing me. She jumped down from the table.

Charlie, who'd sat quietly through the entire conversation, finally
got up and came over to me. Butting his head into my stomach, he looked up. "We
must avenge him," he said.

"You got that right," I replied, grabbing the big
dog's head and looking him in the eyes. Now I just need to figure out how.

I was just getting out of the shower when the phone rang.

"Good morning," Agent Browne said.

"Don’t you ever sleep?" I asked, painfully aware
that we had both been up late last night.

"I used to," he said, with a touch of humor in his
voice. "But then I met you."

"Touché," I replied. "What's up?"

"Last minute briefing on the Stockton spell. I was
asked to see if you would like to attend."

"Absolutely," I said. "When and where?"

"It appears I've been tasked to be a driver again. I'll
pick you up in a half hour," he replied. Oh, dress is business casual, and
I won't be taking your weapons this time. Just so you know"

"I'll be waiting." After shaving and getting
dressed, I went downstairs and poured myself some coffee using the same mug
Nikki had handed me earlier. This time I noticed the
You can't scare me, I
have a daughter
saying on the one she had chosen. Well, at least something
made me laugh today. After a quick conversation with Charlie to let him know
what I was doing; almost 30 minutes to the second later, Browne pulled up
outside in his SUV.

"You realize your timing is impeccable," I said as
I got into the back seat.

"I do my best," he said, pulling out onto the
street even before I got the door closed. "I hope you don’t mind, but I
found this one on the way here, so I thought I'd bring him along as well."

He was talking about Michael, who was already in the car.

"Hey, it's your party," I said with a laugh. "But
seriously, what's up?"

"The EAB has deciphered some of Stockton's material,"
Michael said.

"Really?" I said. "Any idea what they found?"

"They haven't shared that yet," he replied.

"That's why we're having a briefing," Browne said.
"And no, I don’t specifically know what information they've developed
either. But Robert, you'll be happy to know that your son will be there. He
should be landing right about now."

"Good," I replied. "He told me he was coming
up, but he wasn't sure when he'd be able to make it." Then I turned to
Michael. "Where's Siegfried? I figured he'd be going to this as well."

"He is," he replied. "And Meredith will be
joining us. They'll meet us there. Siegfried was with her when the call came
in."

We spent the next 15 minutes just chatting about nothing in
particular, and then I brought up the meeting again.

"I can tell you this," Browne added. "Samson
will be here. So whatever they've learned, it's important enough for him to
leave Washington to hear."

"I hear they're bringing a Sorcerer in," Michael
added. "But that's just a rumor."

"Gods, Michael! How the hell did you find that out?"
Browne asked, tipping down his sunglasses and staring at Michael through the
rearview mirror.

"I have my sources," he replied, a crafty smile on
his face.

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that,"
Browne remarked, then began to whistle as he continued driving down the
freeway.

"What's the big deal about a Sorcerer?" I asked,
leaning in to whisper.

"I'm not listening," Browne said, this time not
looking in the rear view mirror.

"Sorcerers are the big guns," Michael said. "There's
only a few real ones in the world and they keep their movements secret. So if
one's involved, then they think this has turned to shit."

"I'm a little confused," I said. "What’s the
difference between a Sorcerer and a Wizard, or is it just training?"

"Oh, this should be good," Browne muttered.

"I thought you weren't listening," Michael said
with a chuckle. When Browne didn’t respond, he continued. "Okay. Let's
keep it simple. We're talking about humans now. Someone
without
Fae
blood. In the case of a Mage, it's more of a traditional position, almost like
a priest."

"I am not a priest," Browne interjected.

"I said
like
a priest," Michael replied. "Do
you want to answer this, or may I continue?"

"Far be it from me to correct you," Browne said. "Please
go on."

"Thank you," Michael said. "As I was saying, they're
all magicians; and I'm talking now of someone who practices real magic, not the
Vegas Strip kind." He paused to wait for a comment from Browne. When one
didn’t come, he continued. "Mages are what we call traditional
practitioners. They follow long-established principles of magic that have been
passed down through generations. It's usually parent to child, but one can, if
they have the right skills, petition to join their circles. They have a formal
training regimen, and ceremonies that date back to ancient times. Acceptance
into their order means that they also have to follow certain rules and exhibit
certain levels of skill, before they can advance through the ranks.

"Wizards, on the other hand, learn magic on their own. They
often start out as apprentices and learn the craft from one already
well-established. There are a few schools of Wizardry, but they're pretty small,
and they are very particular about who they let in. There are also, as you have
already learned, Dark Mages and Wizards, with similar paths to learn the craft;
but they don't mix as a general rule."

"That’s an understatement," Browne said. "Since
they are our enemies.

"And a Sorcerer?" I asked.

"This is where it gets interesting," Michael said.
"Sorcerers are... Well... they're almost like Fae. Pure blood humans that
were born with magical skills."

"I didn’t know that was possible," I said.

"It is," Michael continued. "But they're very
rare, as you might imagine. Most, unless they come to the attention of someone
who identifies them for what they are, never make it to adulthood."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Too much conflict. It eats them up if they don’t
control it. Just think of all that magic kicking in during puberty. Every time
they get angry, or horny for that matter, their senses go into overdrive. Very
few survive without help. You have to understand; they don’t have the support
system of a regular Fae; one that's born into the world of magic. They don’t
know what they are, let alone what's happening to them. Their families usually
don't either and they don't do well in society. Often their minds can't take it
and they just go crazy."

"Which is why we are always looking out for signs of
such individuals," Browne said. "So that we can help them understand
what is happening to them. It's also why we go after any Dark Mages or Wizards
that we come across. Too risky to let them find one."

"There's even a bounty program," Michael said. "Although
you and I don't qualify for it, due to our positions."

The car slowed, then stopped, and I saw that we had reached
our destination, the EAB compound near Nellis Air Force Base.

"You're going to have to continue this lesson later,"
Browne said as he pulled through the now open gate. "We've arrived."

I'd been here once before. That was when I'd first met the
current head of the EAB, Samson. That time I'd been unceremoniously dropped off
at the back door. All my weapons and even my cell phone were taken from me
before I was let in. This time, Browne drove us down a ramp into an underground
parking lot. He parked the SUV in a numbered space not too far from the doors.
We got out of the car and went in through the double doors.

We entered a reception area like that of any government
office. There were couches and chairs and a uniformed agent acted as a receptionist
behind an open partition. Browne checked us in and we were handed
identification tags. They already had our pictures and names. There was a mag
stripe along the top of the back and they were microchipped. Mine had a small glowing
tree symbol next to my name and I glanced over at Michael's to see a picture of
a shield on his. It glowed as well.

"Viking shield," Michael explained, seeing what I was
looking at. "Means I'm Norse. Yours is an oak, Dryad or Wood Faerie, take
your pick. Meredith's will be three wavy lines in blue, symbolizing a Water
Fae."

"How come I didn’t see these last time I was here?"
I asked.

"You weren't cleared," Browne said, pulling his
out of his jacket and clipping it on to the pocket. There was a simple M symbol
on his. He flipped it over to reveal a standard I.D. badge. "We don’t wear
them when someone unknown is in the building since they identify the core group
and source of magic the wearer represents. Not everyone can sense that, so this
just makes it easier. Last time, we had the three of you here, and since we
didn’t know what you were, it was better to keep it simple, just in case. Can't
have the regular folk thinking this is anything other than your everyday, top secret
government office, and we do have a couple human contractors that come in from
time to time."

"If you say so," I replied.

Like I said, I'd been here once before. That time had been a
test, to see if I really was a Fae, and if I was a friend or an enemy. The test
had also included my kids; something I had not been happy about at the time.
But that was then. I'd passed and so had the kids, so here we were.

"Come on," Browne said, and opened the door next
to the partition, leading us into the back.

We followed him down several corridors and into a conference
room, already partially filled with agents. As we walked through the doorway,
Siegfried, seated at a table on the far side with Meredith, waved us over. Ray
O'Malley was sitting at the next table with Amadeus, the Were. I should have
guessed he'd be here.

This place was a little nicer than the one I'd been brought
to before. This time, the chairs were comfortable leather, and the tables, set
up in a square, were made of granite. The place was obviously designed for the
higher levels of government employees. It appeared that even here, your
position granted you more comfort.

"We the only non-governmental Fae here?" I asked,
whispering to Michael. "Other than the agents, I mean."

"Yeah," Michael replied. "But that's normal.
As the ranking Fae in the area it's our responsibility to pass information
along."

Michael and I sat down at Meredith's table, after having met
some of the others. The room began to fill. It wasn't crowded by any means,
only twenty or so. All agents except for us. Almost all were in business suits.
Many were, according to their badges, part Demon. But there were several other
Mages and Fae in the group. Seated at the head table were Samson and one other
person. This was the Sorcerer, Michael pointed out.

He didn't appear any different than any other human,
although I'd guessed he was somebody important just because of his style of dress,
or lack thereof. His blue jeans and t-shirt stuck out in a room filled with
business suits, and business casual dressed folks like me. At least I no longer
felt underdressed. He reminded me of the eccentric scientist on a Discovery
Channel show. Of Latin descent, he had long black hair, streaked with grey,
tied in a ponytail. An ageless face, with piercing blue eyes and thin, but not overly
so, lips and nose. Just a regular academic; but one that smelled of magic, and
he was looking at me.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice,"
Samson said, standing as the rest sat down and the room quieted. He, of course,
was impeccably dressed in a custom tailored suit. "I'll get right to the
point. This will be a quick briefing. For the agents, most of what you need to
know will be in the folders in front of you. But for those of you who were just
assigned, we'll cover some basics. For our guests, there have been some changes
in our personnel, so I wanted everyone to meet you and know who you are."

He made some quick introductions, recognizing us by our line
and titles, asking us to stand as he did so. Siegfried and Michael, not
surprisingly, were identified as warriors. That completed, a projection
appeared on the wall. It was a picture of the portrait from Stockton's house.

"All right, now to the matter at hand. A few days ago,
we raided a hidden mansion in the Mount Charleston area. The owner was an
unregistered Wizard by the name of Frank Stockton," he said, pointing to
the image. "He was found dead at the scene after conjuring several Demons,
one of which killed him. The female is believed to be his... accomplice, for
lack of a better term. There's a file in your material, but she is believed to
be a Dark Fae, known as Marissa. She is currently a resident of Tartarus, the
Greek Hell.

"We believe that Stockton, who, incidentally, was also
an Alchemist, was trying to open a gateway to free her, but failed. Instead, he
was killed by a Demon that he summoned. Additionally, we discovered that
Stockton had several followers; one of which was also able to bring a Demon
forth. These Demons have since been eliminated. Since that event, we have had a
chance to evaluate the articles recovered from Stockton's residence, as well as
identify more followers, who, after an operation last night, were taken into
custody. I'm going to let Dr. Ordunez take it from here."

"Thank you, Director Samson. For those of you who don’t
know me," the Sorcerer said, in crisp English with a slight Spanish accent,
as he stood. "My name is Dr. Javier Ordunez. As the Director indicated, we
have evaluated the items and information obtained from Stockton's residence, as
well as partially reconstructed the summoning spell that he used. What we have
been able to discover is that Stockton opened up some form of gateway to one of
the Hells of the Underworld. In doing so he accessed a portion of one long
closed, allowing ancient Demons, believed to be Mesopotamian, to escape.

"This is not the first time that something like this
has occurred. Some of you may recall from your academy days, my lecture on the
Etaples, France, incident of 1918. In that case, a dark Wizard, working for the
Imperial Army, attempted to conjure a Mesopotamian Demon to use as a weapon
against the Allied Forces. He was only successful in summoning the Demon here
for a few minutes. Unable to bind him further, the spell collapsed.
Unfortunately, that Demon, one of destiny and fate, also commanded disease.
Through some quirk of the Wizards spell, the Demon was able to curse and infect
the Wizard. Through that curse, and its transmission to the general population,
3% to 5% of the world's population ultimately died. Human history may recall
this as an influenza pandemic, but the truth is, it was started by a rogue
Wizard dabbling in places he should not have been.