Not Just Another Fae (Vegas Fae Stories Book 4) (2 page)

"Maybe," she replied. "But even then, they
should have left way before morning." She walked over to the front of the
truck, her nose in the air, sniffing. "There's no scent trail, either.
Damn rain is a pain in the ass."

I leaned back into the cab and inspected the area behind the
seats. Pulling up a blanket on the floorboard I found their clothes, neatly
folded, with shoes on top. I pulled them out to show her.

"Well, it sure looks like they started from here,"
I said, holding them up.

Charlie walked up and sniffed them, then started around the
car. A moment later, I watched as his fur bristled, then he ran off northbound
through the desert.

"Where's he going?" she asked.

"I have no idea. But he knows this area pretty well. We're
just going to have to wait until he gets back to find out."

It was about 15 minutes later when Charlie returned. Still
running, he leapt over some bushes and landed next to the car.

"What'd you find?" I asked.

"Two Weres," he replied, panting. "The ones
who were in the truck. They ran north, then crossed toward the mountain where
the next road is."

"I don’t smell anything," Jen said, her brow
furrowing. "Besides, they wouldn’t do that. The highway and roads around
here are forbidden. There's too much traffic and too great a chance of being
seen."

"Nevertheless, that is where these two went,"
Charlie replied.

"So you say," she said. "But it still doesn't
make sense."

"Yeah, well…things seldom do in my world," I
replied. "How many folks did Martin take with him?"

"There're six of them in three trucks" she
answered.
"That was
all that could make it on short notice. We don't know if they're in any real
trouble. More will come tonight if needed; after the sun sets."

"Are they all pack members?" I asked. "The
ones with Martin."

"Yes, why?"

"It's pretty desolate out there. That means they'll be
able to shift and cover a lot of ground, right?"

"I suppose," she replied.

"Then two more won't make a lot of difference at the
moment," I said. "Let's follow this lead. Then we can let Martin know
what we find. It might be nothing. They could have ended up anywhere. But, Charlie's
seldom wrong about this kind of thing. It's worth following up."

"You may be right," she finally agreed. "It's
just that I have no way of contacting him from here to let him know what we're
doing. There's no cell service out there and we'd have to go at least another seven
or eight miles over the ridge for any chance of him hearing a howl."

"Not a problem," I replied. "I have a way to
let him know if we find something."

"All right," she said with a shrug. "Martin
said you were different, and that I should trust your judgement. We'll do it
your way, for now."

"Works for me," I said as I headed back to the
passenger side of the SUV.

Charlie and I got in and, after returning to the highway, she
drove up 95 for about five miles before turning left onto the Lee Canyon exit.
A mile or two later, Charlie motioned for us to pull over. I barely had time to
open the door before he was out and heading north through the desert again;
toward the hills that bordered the highway.

Jen walked a few yards into the desert, watching where
Charlie ran. A moment later, she walked back and leaned against the passenger
side next to me and crossed her arms.

"I hope he knows what he's doing," she said, her
head tilted up, as if she was trying to catch whatever scent he had found.

I didn’t answer. Charlie had changed direction and was
coming back.

"Anything?" I asked as he came up.

"Something," he replied. "But I must go
further. Meet me where the horses roam." Then he turned and took off
through the desert again.

"Ugh… I wish I could shift here," she muttered as
she walked to the other side of the car. "Where the horses roam? Does he
mean Cold Creek?"

"Yeah. We hike up there sometimes. There's a gravel road
we've used. I think it's called Mud Springs. Up past the bend where the road
turns."

Cold Creek was a little town up in the forest, north of Mt.
Charleston. We had to go another five or so miles up 95 to get there. Then go past
two of the State prisons before we'd get to the area she was asking about. It
was known for a series of ponds that were located there, as well as several herds
of wild horses that used to make the place their home.

"I know where it is," she said as she got back in
the SUV. "We run there now and then. But what I can’t figure out is why
they would come this way on foot. There's too much risk of being seen crossing
the roads, even at night. It doesn’t make sense, not when they could have
driven there and hidden the car from view of the road."

"Hard to say," I replied. "Besides, we really
don’t know what it means yet. They could have gone anywhere from here."

She didn't reply. Instead, she started the SUV, put it in
gear and flipped a U-turn, heading back to the highway.

"Mind if I ask you a question?" she asked after a
moment.

"Sure," I replied. "But I reserve the right
not to answer."

"Martin says you're some kind of God," she said,
ignoring my quip. "Not to be an ass, but you're not what I expected."

"And just what kind of God did you expect?" I
asked. I wasn't sure if she was goading me or just being brutally honest. I
decided to hope for the latter.

"Hell if I know," she replied. "I was thinking
along the lines of a bearded guy in robes, or maybe some golden haired Apollo-like
stud. I can usually spot another non-human, but you seem pretty normal. Know
what I mean?"

"Ouch," I replied.

"Sorry," she said. "Sometimes I come across
kind of abrupt. It's the Were in me. I didn't mean to offend you."

"It's all right," I replied. "No offense
taken." I chuckled before continuing. "What do you know about the
Fae?"

"Just the basics," she replied. "We don’t
really socialize with others. Martin does, of course, and we all work together
if we're needed. Everyone knows the Neptune's Landing. They're our contact with
the others. But I try and stay out of politics, if you know what I mean."

Actually, I did. The Neptune's Landing was a local hotel/casino
owned by the Milagres, Eddie and Meredith. Meredith was Eddie's mother, and a
Fae Lord and Queen of the Nereid. They're water Fae. They'd been among the
first Fae to come to Las Vegas in the old days, and as such, were the focal
point for Fae activity in the area. While most Fae kept to themselves, all the
different types did have to work together; especially since there were rules
about dealing with humans. Believe it or not, there was even a government
agency that liaised with the Fae. But politics was politics and most of that
was dealt with by the leaders of the different clans.

"I get it," I replied. "Actually, the term God
is kind of a misnomer. When you think of the Fae Gods, you usually think of the
Greek or Roman ones, or maybe the Norse. Truth is, they weren't really Gods. They
were a more powerful kind of Fae. What we call the High Fae. Think of them as a
super charged version. Stronger in magic than regular Fae.

"I'm not going to give you a history lesson, but
suffice it to say none of the old ones are around anymore, which makes my
point. If they were Gods, the old ones wouldn’t all be dead. But there are still
a few High Fae among us, which is what I am. My line comes from the Dryad. We're
woodland Fae, as are you Weres. Which is one reason Martin and I are allies."

"I never thought of us as woodland Fae," she said
with a laugh. "It brings to mind cute little Faeries in leafy dresses… something
we definitely are not."

"Sorry," I replied; thinking she wouldn’t look so
bad in a leafy dress, at least in human form. "I use the term Fae to
encompass all magical creatures, or at least most of them."

She made the left onto the Cold Creek road and we headed west
between the state prisons, toward the mountains.

"So you can do magic?" she asked.

"A bit," I replied.

"Could you do something now?"

"Like what?"

"I don’t know," she replied. "Just something
magical."

"Just something magical, eh?" I said with a
chuckle. "I can't exactly do card tricks."

"There I go again," she said. "I'm sorry, I
just meant…"

"I know what you meant," I said before she could
finish. "So would you call it magic when you guys shift?"

"I guess," she replied. "I never really
thought of it that way, but I suppose it is. Why?"

"Well, we don’t look the same as Fae as we do in our
human form."

"I've heard about that," she replied.

Without another word, I
switched into my Fae persona. Suddenly I looked like a 25 year old Fae Lord
rather than a 50 year old human. This is worth noting. You never know what a
true Fae looks like; not really. Unless, of course, they show you. For example,
take Meredith, the Nereid Queen.

If you happen to be at the Neptune's Landing in Vegas someday,
look her up. Hell, her picture is on the wall. She looks to be about 65 years
old. An attractive, stately woman with long grey hair that's usually pinned up.
She'll be wearing an expensive business outfit. If you see her walk through the
casino floor, you'll know she's the one in charge. She just looks like she owns
the place. When you do a double take, it won’t be because of her looks, it'll
be because she's the boss, and everybody knows it. But to see her as a Fae... Well,
you'll be doing a double take all right, but it'll be because of her beauty.

As a Fae Queen, Meredith looks to be in her mid-30s, with
long black hair and deep blue eyes, with just a hint of green. Trust me, you
won’t just be looking at her pointed, Elfin ears, either. She has a strong,
taut body, and firm, medium sized breasts. She'll probably be wearing a sea
green wisp of gossamer fabric. One that leaves absolutely nothing to the
imagination. Bottom line, almost all Fae are beautiful... or handsome as the
case may be. It's just a genetic trait they were born with.

Anyway, the point is, a Fae can look like anybody you'd find
in the human realm. Unless you can read the magic aura that most of them emit, or
they've shown you their true selves, you'll never know.

"Oh, shit," she said, swerving over the rocks on
the side of the road when she saw the change. "What a difference!"
She recovered quickly and got back on the asphalt. "Oh, that didn’t come
out right. It's just that you look so young… not that you looked that old
before…" she stammered. She turned her head and I could see her starting
to blush.

"It's okay," I replied with a smile and switched
back to my human form. "Don’t worry about it. I know what you mean. You
should have seen my kid's reaction when they first saw it."

I don’t think she knew what to say to that.

"Can I ask you one more question?" she said as I
pointed out our turnoff.

"Sure."

"Martin said you were a king; or at least you used to
be," she asked. "What's that all about?"

"Long story, and complicated," I said, "Here's
the turn off".

I'd taken heat from some of the other Fae because of my
perceived loss of status when my daughter took over. While her unexpected rise
to the Fae throne had definitely cost me some political power, it was nothing I
couldn’t handle. Besides, what was I going to do? It's not like I could tell everyone
it was all Gaea's idea. I didn’t know what she was really up to, of course. Whatever
the reason, I certainly wasn't going to argue, especially with her involved. Besides,
it never hurts to be underestimated by your opponents, and, I had been holding
it for her all along, anyway.

"I'll give you the nickel version," I continued. "My
Fae, the Dryads, had never had a male leader until I came along. They've always
been led by a female. My grandmother was queen in her time and my aunt was the leader
before I came along. So even when I claimed the title and became king, as was
my birthright, I never took the throne.

"My daughter sits on it now, as is her right. So she's the
queen. But I'm still the king, at least in title, and being a High Fae, I'm sort
of still responsible for things. Of course I was hoping I would get a vacation
out of it when she took over, but as it stands, that hasn't happened."

She didn't say anything.

"That was a joke… the last part anyway," I said
after a moment.

"That's kind of weird."

"What part?" I asked.

"All of it," she replied. "So… what? You
share power with her? That would never happen in the pack. The Pack Master is almost
always a male. He's the alpha. That makes Martin the undisputed leader. I guess
someone could challenge him, but he's the strongest of us."

"Different Fae, different rules," I said. I didn’t
tell her that I had known one Were that would have challenged Martin; but he wasn't
around anymore to do so.

She followed the dirt road until we were completely out of
sight of the main road, then parked in a slight depression that would hide the
SUV from passing cars unless they drove right up to it. We got out and walked
back up the incline to see if we could spot Charlie.

"I think he's over there, by that small mountain,"
she said, pointing southbound to the side of the hill we had seen him running
to from the other road.

"The road seems pretty quiet. I don't see anyone else
out here at the moment. If you want to shift, I'll keep an eye out. You can
head his way and see if he's found anything."

"Do you think it'll be safe?"

"Should be," I replied. "At least for a
little while. Tell you what, give me your keys and I'll honk if anyone comes
close. That way you can go to ground and I can pick you up, if necessary."

She only hesitated a moment before pulling the keys out of
her jeans and started handing me her clothes. I caught quite an eyeful before
turning away after she handed me her bra. She must have thought it was funny,
since she snickered a bit before removing the rest of her clothes and handing
them to me. Not long after, she was in Wolf form and running across the desert.
I picked up her shoes from where she'd left them and went back to the car. I
folded her clothes and put them in the back seat before grabbing a water and
deciding on my next move.