Going Under (6 page)

“How about I order us up some dinner? We can get to know each other a little and I
can explain to you just why it’s necessary that I’ll be your shadow for the next little
while?”

She sighed. “All right.”

“I’m going to shower and order the food. I’ll be back over in about twenty minutes.”

Molly used the time to change into sweatpants, thick socks and a sweatshirt. She called
her mother quickly while she had the chance.

“I’m sorry it’s so late!” she said when her mother answered.

“I can’t sleep anyway. I’m glad you called. I feel better now that I’ve heard your
voice. So tell me.”

“I accepted the job. I started pretty much immediately. Wrote a press release even.”
She snorted. “I’ve got an awesome dragon as an assistant. She knows stuff and no one
is getting through to my desk unless they deserve to.”

“Good to hear. They’re good people? These Owens?”

She smiled. People sometimes considered Molly’s mother to be a bit of a stone-cold
ballbuster. But underneath the ambition that had driven her to such success was a
person who loved her family. Molly would be seventy years old and her mother would
still worry. That filled her up.

“They seem to be. They’re footing the bill for this hotel I’m in. One of those extended-stay
dealies. They offered to help me find an apartment. My assistant even made me a list
with places they consider safest. I have a driver and a guard.”

“A what?”

Molly sucked in a breath and explained. “This is more than me being a witch and outed
on television. Here I’ll be associated with the clan in a much more open way. They
seem to think it’s a necessary thing so I’m going with it.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Me neither. But what can I do? Hide? Pretend it’s not happening? You should see some
of the background material I read today. There is some seriously bad stuff happening
to Others all across the globe right now.”

It turned her stomach. Outraged her that it had barely even been spoken of on the
news. She needed to remedy that. Humans needed to understand and Others needed to
realize just how threatened they were.

Her mother spoke again, interrupting her mental planning. “When do you think you’ll
be back to pack up?”

“I don’t know. My schedule is already full.” Molly rubbed her eyes, suddenly exhausted.

“I just spoke with Rosa earlier. Why don’t you let us do it? At the very least we
can get your clothes and shoes packed up and sent your way.”

“You’re so good to me, Mom.”

“I’m your mother, it’s my job. Also it gives me something to do so I won’t miss you
so much. So . . . what’s it like? I feel bad, not having you grow up knowing this
stuff. I never meant—never knew it would be like this.”

“Please don’t apologize for the choices you made. I wouldn’t change a thing about
the way I grew up. I promise. It’s different here. It’s not that I’ve never been around
witches. But they’re very, I don’t know, it’s a big part of who they are. I mean,
you should see this building they’re headquartered in. It’s like a giant corporation
of witches. They have a landscaping business. A chain. A legal department. All sorts
of stuff. They offered me lessons. So I can learn how to use my power in new ways.
Classes on clan history, which will be helpful in my job. Some of them are wary of
me. Most of them have been welcoming. I’m overwhelmed, but so busy it hasn’t really
sunk in yet.”

“That’s probably for the best. You always do better when you have lots of things to
do. Anything new on the stuff with the firm?”

“I’m not going to get my job back. Which is pretty much what we knew. I mean, Jim
said he could fight it and maybe we’d win. But the partnership agreement was violated
in that my whatever—existence, identity—had brought negative attention to the firm
and cost it clients. That was true, even though the reasons were stupid. I don’t want
to fight it for years, spending all that money. Their settlement to me will be double
what they offered originally.” And that was a great deal of money. Though, of course,
money she’d made anyway. “They have to change the name of the firm, and Jim crafted
a better statement on my departure that didn’t cast them as saints and me as a witchy
whore.” She sighed. It still hurt.

“I hate them.”

Molly grinned. “Thanks, Mom. It sucks. A lot. But the money will enable to me buy
a great place out here and get a car and still have some in savings. I suppose I need
to look for the bright side for the next little while.”

“It’d be more fun to punch them all in the throat.”

“Ha. Yes, much more fun. Alas, the police look down on such problem solving.”

They chatted a while longer before hanging up and she felt a lot better. More settled
after she’d touched base.

* * *

FAINE
came over shortly after, tapping lightly. She noted the food on the big tray in his
hands gratefully.

“I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until right now.” She stood back and he came in.
They settled at the table and he pulled two beers from a bag.

“Bless you.” She grinned his way as she opened things up and grabbed a carrot.

“I didn’t think to ask if you were a vegetarian or had special dietary stuff.”

“You have very good manners. Your mother must be proud.” She took a long drink from
the beer.

“My mother would not tolerate anything else. She’s not even four and half feet tall,
but no one would dare to disobey her.” Faine grinned.

“So was your, um, world affected by the Magister?”

“It didn’t manifest on our side of the Veil. We knew it was bad. The Magister I mean.
Simon and Lark came to us to warn and get our pledge of support. But we didn’t . . .
we had no way of . . . The night it came was the stuff of nightmares. But even though
I knew about it, I still can’t quite get over it. I came over with some of my family
when we got word about it. Lark nearly died. I don’t know if my brother could have
gotten over it if she hadn’t come through.” He paused and then changed the subject.
“You’re what they call outclan, yes?”

“I don’t know what they call it. I was sort of an extended member of a coven. But
it wasn’t part of my daily existence really. I had a life and my being a witch was
like having blue eyes or a quick wit. Part of me, but nothing I really thought about
a lot. And then suddenly it was everything and I didn’t even know what all was true.”

He pushed her plate toward her. “Won’t do you any good to get sick because you’re
not eating.”

She ate because it seemed as if he wouldn’t unless she did. It was automatic, but
it got the job done.

“I spent pretty much the entire day today reading reports about what’s been happening.
All the assaults, threats, violent attacks, people losing jobs and homes.” She shook
her head.

Molly was used to being good at everything she did. She was in over her head right
then, needing to just go step-by-step, but having someone she could talk to was a
hugely important resource. “I’m still sorry you have to be here babysitting me instead
of out living your life.”

“My life has been pretty much consumed with the aftermath of the Magister. Guarding
you gives me something to do. I’ve been staying with Lark and Simon so it’s a nice
change of pace to have a space of my own. And room service is better than having to
cook. This is my job.” He shrugged. “I’m good at my job.”

“As your job is keeping me safe from thrown eggs and nails in my tires, I’m grateful.”

“You read it yourself. This is far more than egging or mean-spirited op-ed columns
in the newspaper. We’re talking death threats, Molly. Don’t let yourself forget just
how dangerous it is out there. Witches look human, so you’re safer than some Others.
But those assholes in PURITY want you dead just the same. And many have ended up that
way.”

She swallowed hard. “I don’t want other people in danger because of me.”

“I don’t want you in danger because you’re trying to help our people. So, we’re even.”
He winked at her and it broke the tension.

Chapter 6

“HOW’S
it going?” Gage tapped on her door. “Settling in all right?”

The morning sun glinted off the gold highlights in his hair, making him look like
an angel. A fallen one, but an angel just the same.

“I’m just on my way out. I’ve got an interview at the television station.” She held
up some papers she’d been reading over. “This proposed legislation is abhorrent.”

“Yeah.” Emotion crossed his features and she knew she wasn’t going to like whatever
he said next.

She sat. “All right, I’m sitting. Tell me.”

“I must be losing my touch if you could tell it was that bad.” He moved and sat beside
her. “What’s your schedule like later today? I’ve been speaking with the Enforcer
at Cascadia—the local wolf pack—and they’d like to meet you.”

“Hang on.” She pulled her calendar from her bag. “They’re not just any old pack right?
Aren’t they like wolf royalty or whatever? The oldest brother runs the National Pack?”

“You did your homework.”

“It’s my job. I can move things around this afternoon and evening if necessary. I’ll
have to coordinate with Faine as well; I assume I’m supposed to take him to things
like this? What time did they want to meet? And then you can tell me what gave you
that look.”

“The meeting will be with Lex Warden, who is their Alpha and he’s also the representative
to the Council of Others so he’ll be speaking for not just Cascadia but all wolves.”

“Good to know.”

“Four, if you can do it. Faine . . . well, the wolves and Lycians have a tense relationship.
It’s best if I escort you. They tend to spend lots of time on dominance displays.
It’s sort of tedious.”

“Interesting. Shall I have Rita call to confirm then?”

“Yes, that’s good. I’ll check with her on my way out to be sure she has the contact
information. As for my look . . .” He heaved a sigh. “Nice piece in the
New York Times
this morning. You work fast.”

“Part of my charm.” She shrugged. That and the issue was a hot one and she was willing
to talk about it. She knew who to call and what buttons to push, which also helped.

A glimmer of a smile and then it was gone. “You got your first death threat. Record
time. Only two full days of employment.”

She sat back and swallowed, hard. “I’ve always been an overachiever.”

“You’re well protected, Molly.”

Nausea rose, making her skin clammy. “Was it a call? Letter? Is it credible?”

He reached out and squeezed her hand, more than a little impressed with her ability
to continue thinking about the big picture. “An email sent via the website. It ran
through an anonymizer program but we’re working on it. Lark and I have assessed it;
we don’t believe it’s credible, no. In fact, in the days before . . . well, before
all this, we wouldn’t have even told you.”

“This needs to be reported to the police.” She sat up straight and took a deep breath.

“We don’t involve human police in clan matters.”

“Yes, well, they know about us now.”

“They don’t care, Molly. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth of it.”

She shook her head. “You misunderstand. I don’t care about that part. I’m not surprised.
But they’re trying to remove our status as citizens just one state over. We will report
this officially or I will myself. We are citizens and we will expect the same service
from the government as anyone else.”

“Why? So they can ignore us and we can waste our time reporting it? You’re overestimating
how much humans care about our lives, Molly.”

She narrowed her gaze and he saw fire there. So much that it sent a thrill through
him. “Listen here, I am many things, including in over my head. But I am
not
stupid. Or naïve. We need to report because we are citizens. We can’t let them allow
us to feel otherwise or in fact, to legislate otherwise. It’s not that I want a lollipop
and a teddy bear from them because I’ve been frightened. It’s that I am a fully vested
citizen of this country and I will be treated as such. Anything else is wholly unacceptable.
We need to stop acting as if it is.” One brow rose as she took him to school.

“Underneath the subtle but feminine perfume and the pretty clothes you’ve got the
heart of a predator.” He smiled.

“I’m not going to allow anyone to make me feel inferior. If a human received a death
threat, they’d go to the cops. Why should I do anything different?” She held a hand
in his direction. “Let me see it.”

“No. It’s ugly. Hateful and ugly and you don’t need to see it. I’ll handle it with
the police.”

“Here’s another fact about me, I don’t like to be handled or managed. I may be new
to the death threat game, but I’m not going to pass out because I’m fragile. Let me
see it. I’m the one making the police report, I have to know what it says.”

Stubborn. Damn, he liked it.

He handed it over and she scanned it. He’d have been lying if he denied being impressed
with how she took another person threatening to disembowel her and let crows eat her
guts. She read it calmly, though he caught the way she’d paled and made notes before
looking back to him.

“Tell me why you feel this isn’t credible. I’m not arguing, I just need to know your
process.”

“Partly it’s the energy of the message. Hate, yes. If the sender saw you on the street
he or she might yell at you, might picket outside a building you were in, but there’s
no intent.”

Her eyes widened and she leaned closer. “You know this how?”

“It’s part of my gift. It’s not infallible, it’s a gut feeling and it needs to be
backed up by other evidence. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all, especially when it’s
a letter or over the Internet. But when it pings my magick, it’s usually because it’s
got a lot of intent. We have a checklist of things we use. This particular threat
is one we’ve received a few times already. Pretty much word for word. It’s almost
like an Internet meme. He’s hateful, but not serious.”

“That’s incredible. What an amazing gift you have. And of course it’s a gut feeling,
that’s where your magick lives.” Her eyes looked so damned blue. The expression of
wonder she wore made her even more beautiful.

He was struck by the sudden and intense desire to haul her close and kiss her senseless.

He shoved that desire far away and decided to stick with amused and flattered. Far
less likely to get slapped that way.

“I never really thought I’d have call to use it. It’s not something we had to deal
with before. Death threats and the like, I mean.”

She sighed and folded the paper into her file. “I’ll take this to the police with
me.” She stood and he caught the scent of her magick, just a brief breath of it. Enough
to bring the hair on his arms to stand from the electricity of it.

He followed, standing too close, but not moving. “We’ll call them and have them come
out. Let’s get you to the studio first. Faine and I are switching places today and
probably tomorrow.”

“Is he all right?” She cocked her head, looking up at him.

“You’re a very public face on Owen. You’re a high-profile target for a lot of attention.
Meriel came by with Dominic to discuss this issue. Lark and I feel you’d be better
with one of us. Faine is great and damned good at his job.” He took her hand and squeezed
it briefly. “But I’m better. I have magick, he doesn’t.” Though certainly one couldn’t
underestimate the power of shifting into a giant wolf with razor-sharp teeth and claws.

“I’m sure you have better things to do with your time than babysit me.”

“No, not really. This meeting later with Warden is huge for us. It’s important I be
there anyway. And in the wake of the piece in the
Times
today, it’s important you continue to represent us in the media. So my being there
is important too.”

“That’s a lot of important, right there.” She said it low, with a teasing smile on
her lips and the air between them thickened.

He stepped back. “It is.”

* * *

SHE
sat across from the interviewer and clicked into her job in a way she hadn’t thus
far.
This
was familiar territory at least. Here she didn’t need to dwell on the sick dread she’d
been choking back since she’d read that death threat.

Molly didn’t get death threats. Sure, being in the PR biz had exposed her to negativity
on multiple occasions. That came with the job. People wanting to kill her didn’t.
Her brain couldn’t process it and so she put it in the place she’d been shoving all
the other stuff she couldn’t process over the last month or so.

“Before we get started, are you familiar with how this all works?” The PA hooked Molly’s
mic up.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Do you need anything to drink?”

“I’m good, thank you.” Molly smiled and the PA smiled back.

“Good luck.” The PA took a look around before leaning in close. “Just . . . hang in
there.”

Well now,
that
wasn’t hopeful.

The same interviewer who Molly had watched with Meriel just days before bustled into
the studio. He didn’t look at or speak to her at all until moments before the cameras
went live.

He looked up, focused on her and began the interview without so much as a how-do-you-do.
Clearly his mother didn’t teach him any manners.

“I’m here tonight with the new public relations minister for the coven here in town.
Ms. Ryan, some might wonder what you’ve been hiding.”

She cocked her head ever so slightly and stared at the interviewer, a piggish-looking
fellow whose bias against Others was blatantly written all over his posture.

Her smile was perfectly measured to convey how silly she found him. “Minister? Oh
my, that’s grand isn’t it? I’m sorry to say I’m a regular old communications person.
Not nearly as exciting as a minister. And we’re Clan Owen, named after the Owen family
who runs the organization of witches situated here in the area. Did you know the Owen
family is one of the oldest established families in the area? Right up there with
the Denny, Terry and Yesler families. They helped build up Seattle. In fact, one of
their mercantiles is part of the Underground Tour. Deep ties to the land here, to
the people.” She wanted to convey that over and over. They might be witches, but they
had roots in the country. She wanted humans to understand that while their gifts had
been hidden from them, their presence hadn’t been. They weren’t a threat; they were
an asset.

Molly shifted, crossing her legs. “But to be serious a moment, I’d like to talk about
the new legislation being written in Idaho. We’re naturally—”

He interrupted. “You suddenly appeared this week. Why haven’t you been here before?
Just what are you hiding?”

The only way to defeat a troll is to not feed it. This asshole had an agenda and she’d
be damned if she’d descend to his level. Plus it amused her to ignore that and poke
at him. She sent him an amused smile, though it was amused at his expense.

“My mother would be puzzled by that, as she would beg to differ about how I just suddenly
appeared. I’m still paying back my student loans so the University of Chicago might
beg to differ as well.” Deftly, she got back to the subject. “This legislation seeks
to change the constitution of the state to say a citizen would be defined as a human
being. Others would be stripped of their citizenship.”

“What are you hiding, Ms. Ryan?”

“This is an interesting theme. I’m sitting here on television in the middle of the
daytime. You and your station have been provided with my CV. Where I’ve been is clearly
stated. In fact, it’s available on the Clan Owen website where I’ve started doing
video updates and posting pertinent news and information.” She looked to the camera
and gave the URL and then shifted her attention back to him. “Now then, legislation
such as S1046 is dangerous on many levels.”

“What makes you say that?”

The man was so stupid she wanted to laugh. Instead she stuck to her points. “First,
such legislation is unconstitutional. It’s a waste of taxpayer dollars to have legislators
writing legislation they know will not survive a constitutional challenge. Things
are hard for Americans right now; why on earth would we want our elected officials
working on this time-wasting nonsense?”

Gage watched her, impressed as all get out. Christ, she was a shark. This Briggs Anderson
guy didn’t know what hit him.

She adjusted herself, looking delicate and pretty as she did so. But not in a helpless
way. There was something so self-assured about her. It drew him in, made his heart
beat a little faster.

She spoke again. “In addition to those very important facts, this is America. At the
very heart of what this country is, is the melting pot. We’re all different in some
way, yet we share more in common than the sum of our differences.”

“You’re not human beings.” Briggs baited her with his tone and she easily stepped
from the way, never ceding control of the interview for a single moment.

“We
are
Americans though. That’s the point.” She smiled and refused to get pulled into his
angry little trap. “I was born here, in this country. The doctor who delivered me
also delivered my mother, which I think is pretty awesome. I went to elementary school
and made macaroni picture frames for my grandparents. I went to high school and college.
Weezer’s
Blue Album
was the first music I bought with my own money. I am an American. Like you are. Like
the Others in Idaho are.”

Damn, Gage wanted to give her a standing ovation. Briggs just gaped at her in silence,
still not quite getting that she’d just totally dominated him and made her points.

“But you are
not
Americans. You gained your citizenship by deceit.”

“No, Mr. Anderson, that is not true. I gained my citizenship the same way you did.
I was born here. As was my mother. And her mother. My grandfather fought in Vietnam,
his father in Korea. This is my country as much as it is yours, or any of the legislators
pushing this bill.”