Of Gods and Fae (15 page)

That made him laugh. I would have liked to continue the
conversation, but Bjartr took that moment to peek his head out of the bedroom.

"She stirs," he said.

"I'll be back," I said to Lucius, getting up from
the table. Elithia met me at the doorway.

"She is awake," she said. "She may be drowsy
for a time but the poison has been expelled. If you require no further I will
return to Fae."

"Thank you."

"It was simple spell, really. That and a few drops of
Fae blood was all that she required. If you need me I will return," she
said as she headed for the backyard.

I went into the bedroom and saw Delia still lying in bed
with Bjartr standing over her. "I will give you some privacy," he
said, standing. Then he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Delia sat up and faced me as I sat down beside her. Then she
slapped me.

"That is for all the trouble you've caused me,"
she said.

"So much for lifting part of the spell," I said,
rubbing my cheek.

"I have never been able to slap a Fae," she
giggled. "You will be the death of me yet. First the Fae and now my own
kind. That should probably be the last time I accept help from a
stranger."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that," I declared,
trying to look humble. "But I did get you out of there as soon as I heard.
What was all that about anyway?"

"The Elders are not happy," she replied, getting
out of bed as I moved over. "Even with the spell partially removed they
fear what is to come. Several of the older ones were angered after hearing of
my receiving your blood, saying that it was a violation of the decree. They
were going to sacrifice me as an example. I was forced to drink something and
that was the last I remembered until I was awakened just long enough to be rushed
to a car, only to be drugged again and find myself here. "

She hesitated for a moment and I thought she was going to
say more. Instead, she bent down and kissed me, deeply, on the lips. "… and
that is for saving me. Bjartr told me what you did. It appears I owe you my
life, again."

"I would not be here if you had not fought beside me on
Olympus," I said, standing and taking her hand. "You owe me
nothing."

"I do not know what to do now," she said, the
moment lost as she bowed her head and tears formed. "Bjartr says I can
return to the bar but I fear the Lilin will have no more to do with me. I have
been cast out. They will shun me if I try to return. Even my friends will
disavow me rather than face the Elders punishment."

"It's my fault that you're in this mess," I
finally said. "I am truly sorry. I can’t fix that, I'm afraid. Hell, your Elders
won't even see me. But I might have an idea, if you're willing."

"What would that be? Even shunned, I will not betray my
kind."

"Nor would I ask you to," I said in return. "But
you could be my emissary, of a sort."

"Emissary?" she asked.

"Sure. Go back to work with Bjartr. Eventually the
Lilin will have to deal with me, and you could be my go between when that time
comes."

"Oh, great," she cried. "Then I would truly
be seen as a traitor to my kind."

"Perhaps by some," I argued. "But you can’t
tell me that there aren’t some Lilin yearning to be free of Demeter's curse.
For that's truly what it is, a curse. Eventually they'll have come
around."

"There is some truth in what you say," she agreed.
"I appear to have little choice in the matter. Once again I am thrust into
the business of the Gods. Not a position I have ever aspired to."

I knew exactly how she felt.

I asked Bjartr to come in and the three of us discussed the
possibility of her being some kind of emissary. He was, to my surprise, not as
opposed to it as I had thought he would be. Then again, he was an Elf, and he
deeply cared for the Lilin, even one that was being shunned. Besides, as far as
freeing the Lilin went, anything I could do to improve their lot would be ok
with him. After talking some more, Delia agreed to consider the matter if such
a time arose.

 He had also agreed that she could return to Danu's. I asked
him about issues with his other Lilin employee, Rayna, but he said that he
could handle that. She could make any other decisions later. Then, after Delia
left the room to freshen up, I discussed another matter with Bjartr. With his
agreement, there was still one more thing to do.

"Lucius," I said, returning to the kitchen while
Delia was still in the bathroom. "How would you like a job?"

"Excuse me," he sputtered.

"I need someone to look after Delia for a while."

"The Elders would frown upon that," he replied. "She
is to be avoided."

"And yet you were the one assigned to bring her here,"
I noted.

"That was different," he said. "I was ordered
to do so by those same Elders."

"True," I agreed.  "But I don't need you to live
with her, or even socialize with her for that matter. I only want you to keep an
eye on her. Just to make sure she stays safe."

"Keep her safe," he asked, curious now. "What
do you mean?"

"Just that," I replied. "She will return to
Danu's. Already, as I understand it, a place of neutral ground. I just want you
to keep an eye on the place, and as part of your duties, her as well. I mean
she is an employee. That’s it." I could tell he was considering it.
"You will, of course, be working for Danu's. I can’t believe there will be
an issue if you are employed by an Elf.  I have already discussed it with Bjartr.
He needs some security anyway and is more than willing to hire you. Especially
since you are a former Centurion. With the Lilin now having some autonomy,
thanks to me I might add, such employment is now available, and unfortunately,
probably necessary. Hell, you can even name your own price."

"I can do that," he answered after a moment. Then
named a figure three times what any bodyguard in town would get.

"Agreed," I said. "Bjartr will give you all
the details as you drive them back to the bar."

Unbelievable, I thought to myself as I left Cornwall's
office a few days later. I'd been there for over two hours signing documents
related to my Fae, let's call it, inheritance. Believe it or not the government
had a system in place to tax money brought in from the Fae worlds. What kind of
bullshit was that? Sure, I'd had to invest Fae money in Danu's to cover what
Lucius was gonna cost the bar and some extra to make Delia's life a little better,
but crap, more taxes? I was reminded of a line from one of my favorite movies,
inconceivable
!

The government even had a special agency that acted as
liaison between the Fae and human world. To top it off, I was informed that I
would probably be getting a visit from this same agency sooner or later once my
new position became known to them. Of course, I had heard about these fellows
from Siegfried before, and, believe it or not, my kids had actually dealt with
them when a few Fae bodies showed up on a case they were working.

A short time after I found out about all this Fae stuff, my
daughter, Nicky, a CSI at the local PD had turned up a case with a dead Fae out
at State Line. Coincidentally, my son, JT, who worked for Homeland Security out
of L.A. had caught the same case as part of a series of murders he was
investigating. Of course, they hadn’t known it was Fae that were being killed
at the time. Actually, they still didn't, and I had been trying to keep it that
way as long as possible. Unfortunately, that idea seems to be tossed out the
window after my new found kingship. I still hadn’t decided how to deal with
that, or for that matter, how to even raise the subject with them. But I knew I
was going to have to, and probably soon. Well, at least I didn’t have to today.

Anyway, turns out my old nemesis, Marissa, had been
targeting high powered Fae and having them taken out by some of her Mages.
During the investigation two strange agents showed up and attended the autopsy.
Both my kids described them as spooks, and not just the secret agent type. They
said they were spooky as hell.

Apparently, it wasn't unheard of for Demons to visit the
earthly plane and have a romp with the locals in olden times. They are, believe
it or not, magical creatures and considered to be of the Fae. Which is
confusing as hell. But you have to think of it as if you have magical genes
then you are of the Fae, if not, you're probably human, but I digress.

The offspring of those unions between Demons and humans were
half-breeds and apparently not welcome back home and therefore unable to travel
to the Underworld. To make matters worse, they were also thought of as evil and
unclean here on earth and as a result were persecuted by other humans. Fortunately
for them, since they did have some magical powers, they were able to make pacts
with the sovereigns of the realms they resided in. Protection of the king's
title and lands against attacks by magic in exchange for a safe haven. Bring
that up to modern times and you get a secret branch of the government that monitors
Fae-human contact. And here I thought there were no alien spaceships at Area 51.
But damn, taxes?

I got in my car and drove through the lot, intending to go
to my office. I would have gone on lamenting my new found tax problems as well,
but fortunately for me, the phone rang.

"This is Robert," I answered, not even glancing at
the number that came up.

"Robert, this is Walter Ferrer, I met you at that
little demonstration of yours at Milagre's."

"Yes, Walter, I remember. What can I do for you?"
I replied, recalling that he was some descendant of the Roman God, Vulcanus.

"Good. Good. I got a call from Mr. Cornwall recently. I
may have some information that you might find interesting. I thought we might
meet. Do you have time today?"

"Sure," I answered. Cornwall had said he would
make some inquiries. If nothing else, maybe this would get my mind off my tax
bill. "What time?"

"Have you had lunch?"

"No. When and where?"

He mentioned Fat Choy's. An Asian American bistro located
just off the strip in a small local casino. I loved the place. The owner had
started with a food truck and opened there late last year. It was one of Vegas'
hidden gems and frequently made the top restaurant list for comfort food. We
agreed to meet in a half an hour so I hung a left down Paradise Road out of the
parking lot and headed that way.

I'd asked Cornwall to keep an eye out for information about
Dragons. I was convinced that finding that link to Marissa would lead me to
either a base of operations, or at the least, maybe help me locate some of her
followers that had attacked me and targeted the others. In addition to Shoda,
several other powerful Fae had been killed under mysterious circumstances. Each
one, by fire, and they all weren't simply burned, some had been incinerated.

My kids thought they were just dealing with some kind of
industrial weapon but I had known that they were killed by other Fae. Although
to be honest, I thought it was some kind of magic burst such as had been used
against me when I first saved Milagre from the Mages. But now I wasn't so sure.
Although some had had wounds similar to electrocution, a few had been burned
almost beyond recognition. Dragon Fire could do that a lot more effectively
than a wand.

Walter was already seated in a booth as I entered the
restaurant. I sat down across from him as the waitress brought us menus. I
started to ask him why I was here but the waitress was waiting, so we ordered. He
got the house special burger. It was tempting but I went with the duck leg and
rice. The food here really is good. As the waitress walked away we engaged in
some small talk until our orders arrived.

Then he took out a lighter. It was antique and wrapped in
faded leather with an image of a building on it. I watched as he lit it and then
waved his hand over the flame, muttering a few words I couldn’t catch. As soon
as he finished I felt the air around us seem to thicken. Some kind of privacy
spell I guessed. Makes sense, I thought to myself, the line of Vulcanus would
use a flame. I was gonna have to learn to do a few of those spells myself. I
wonder if I can find a
Magic for Dummies
book.

"Nice lighter," I remarked, as he picked up his
burger.

"Yeah, the Vienna Opera house. Got it there in what?
1954, I think. I was on vacation. Still works, too." He said with a smile.
"But back to business. Cornwall tells me you're looking for some
information."

"I could be," I replied. "What exactly are we
talking about here?"

"Dragons," he answered almost in a whisper. He put
his food down and looked around the room as he said it, privacy spell or not.
"Cornwall says I can trust you but we have to have an understanding before
I tell you what I know."

"An understanding?" I asked, unsure of what that
meant.

"Yeah, I just want to make sure of a few things."

"Ok," I said. "Please continue."

"First," he said, his food forgotten for a moment.
"I need your word that nothing I say here today will be attributed to
me."

"I've never burned a source," I replied. "I
don’t intend to start now."

"Good. Second, I need you to promise me that you won't
hold me responsible. It was a long time ago and things were different
then."

"Responsible," I repeated. Just what the hell was
he about to tell me? I thought about it for a second before I answered.
"Done. So long as it doesn’t relate to my immediate family."

"Your immediate… oh, I forgot… your parents. My
condolences… but no, this was way before then."

"Then we're good." I said.

"Ok, then. You need to understand that I was probably
one of the first Fae in the valley. I came her in about '21 or '22. Europe was
still a mess after the war and the desert seemed like a nice change. Anyway,
this place was just a bump in the road in those days. I was working as a
blacksmith then. Horses and trains were still the major mode of transportation
and it does run in the family," he said with a grin. "Didn't get
involved in gambling much till, oh… maybe the '30s. Truth was, being a smith
was a good way to make some money. Hell, it was profitable all the way into the
'50s. Lotta horses and cattle in this town back then."

"Still are," I added.

"True, but you get my drift. And I was a good smith,
when it came to horses. But I never had the power some of my other relatives
did. Oh, sure, you need an unbreakable lock, fix a buggy, or maybe break open a
safe," he added with a wink. "That I can do. Work for humans is easy.
But now and then some Fae would need something, something really magical, you
know? That I would usually have to farm out. Fortunately, I had a few cousins
that were good with that kind of magic. I mean real good."

"So what's that have to do with Dragons?" I asked.

"I'm getting there," he said, and continued.
"Musta been the early '50s when I met her. Nice looking gal. Said she had
a place up in Alamo. Supposed to be some cattle ranch or something along those
lines."

Alamo, Nevada, was about 90 miles north of Vegas. It had a
long history of ranching. Back in the late 1800s it was also a well-known stop
for horse and cattle thieves moving west to California. Things were getting
interesting.

"She came in one evening as I was closing up. Said her
name was Mary, or something like that. Went on about a problem with some
missing cattle. Of course my first response was to tell her to call the Sheriff,
but that wasn't what she had in mind."

"What did she have in mind?" I asked.

"Dragons," he answered. "Said she was having
a problem with Dragons eating her cattle, or at least, a particular Dragon. Now,
I gotta tell you. I didn’t sense a whiff of magic about this girl. So, of
course, I told her there weren't any such things as Dragons. Next thing I know
she switches into some kinda nymph and tells me that there certainly are. So at
that point, I knew I was dealing with a Fae. Never did figure out what kind
though? Didn't act like a Dryad, assuming this Mary really was Marissa. Not
that I've had a lot of contact with them."

"What did she want from you?"

"Something that could capture a Dragon."

"Did you make her something?"

"I didn't, but I did send her to someone who could,
eventually," he answered after a moment. "But at first I said no. I
didn't mind human stuff but screwing with Dragons is dangerous. Besides, fire
breathers are kinda like part of the family. Well, the real ones are. But she
was very persuasive, and I mean very, very persuasive. And she was Fae. There
wasn't a hint of evil about her, either, and I can usually tell the bad ones. She
swore to me that she was in danger and as she was offering gold as well, I gave
in." He looked embarrassed for a moment and then continued. "Anyway,
to make a long story short I sent her to a cousin. I never saw her again but I
heard he made her something."

"What was it?"

"A collar. One that would hold and bind the wearer. Not
sure if she ever used it but here's the interesting part. My cousin was killed
a few years later. His entire operation burned to the ground. They say the
entire mountain was fused into crystal. Do you know how hard it is to kill one
of us by fire, or to fuse a mountain for that matter?"

"I have no idea," I muttered.

"Almost impossible. You would need great skill in magic.
No normal Fae could do such a thing."

Made sense. That would be like trying to drown a water Fae.
But it would sure make a point.

"Did you ever try to find her again?" I asked.

"No," he answered, putting his hands on the table
and looking me in the eye. "And I don't really want to find her now.
Anyone that can do that is way out of my league. Magically speaking, of course.
But if it was this Marissa, you need to know what you're up against. Dragons
are nothing to trifle with."

"You said the real ones are. What did you mean by
that?" I asked, curious that he had defined some as real.

"You know, real Dragons, as in the old world
kind," he replied. "Not shape shifters."

"Shape shifters? There are Dragon shape shifters?"
I said, realizing I was showing my ignorance of the Fae even as I said it.

"Don’t you know anything about Weredragons?" he
asked in amazement.

"Sorry," I answered. "I never really ran into
any."

"Well," he replied. "It couldn't have been an
old world Dragon, at least not after she described it. Too small. Only 25 – 30
feet tall, the real ones are two to three times as big. Shifters are more
Wyvern sized. Of course there's not much difference in the power of the flame
they produce. Besides, there haven't been any real Dragons around since before
The
Fall
. No, this one had to be a shifter, even if they are pretty rare. So I figured
I was helping her out. Anyway, I didn’t think anything more about it until I
heard about my cousin. By then it was too late."

"How would a collar like that work?"

"Well," he replied. "It's old world magic, first
forged by Vulcanus for the ancient Gods. Even so, it's still just a formula. While
it is a lost art, and takes a better understanding of magic than I have, some
in my line can still forge a collar like that.  Once placed on the wearer the
collar allows you to control them. They used to use them a lot on Weres before
The
Fall
, so they could get them to do their fighting for them. That's how some
of the old Gods made armies during the wars. All you need is the Fae that wants
to bind someone there when the final link is forged. A few magic words and it’s
done. Once the collar is in place, they're yours to command."

He must have seen the look on my face.

"Hey, I never claimed to be a Saint!" he
exclaimed. "Besides I thought I was just helping her out, her being a
Nymph and all."