Not Just Another Fae (Vegas Fae Stories Book 4) (12 page)

I tried to focus, going back through the blackness and up to
the moment it appeared in my time. There was a brief glimpse of something
opening; some kind of gateway, when it was summoned. Some force of magic had created
a hole and allowed it to escape from Hell. There was a glimpse of something
else. Clouds and something glowing. Then it was gone as the images began to
fade. The last of the magic in its blood slipping away to nothingness as
whatever life force the demon left behind finally drifted away. I shuddered,
and stood back up to face McDaniel.

"Any idea how many we lost?" I asked, turning away
from what was left of the creature. I was still weak from the concussion of the
blast. "All I saw was the Were it grabbed and another it knocked aside, plus
the two archers that went down."

"The Were that got stung is dead. Whatever's in that
tail is nasty stuff. I saw your two archers, but I couldn’t tell you how bad
they are. Your Faerie got both of them out of here though. Hopefully that's a
good sign. The other Were got up, limping but alive. I didn’t see where it
went. I had to keep my eyes on the Demon. But all in all, it could have been
worse."

"That it could," I agreed.

A moment later, Charlie returned.

"The injured have been taken to the house," he
said. "The other Weres wish to claim their dead pack member's body."

"That's not going to happen," Browne said, walking
up behind me. "At least not yet. We were watching it all go down. That
thing had some kind of poison in its tail. It'll have to be analyzed before the
body can be released to them."

"You're right, but they're not going to like it,"
I said, turning to face him.

"We've dealt with this before," he replied. "I've
got someone heading their way to talk to them. One of their own kind. He can
explain it to them." Browne walked over to the dead Demon and circled it
before turning back to me. "As per our agreement, we'll take over the
scene from here. I understand you have your own med team. Is there anything
else you need before we begin?"

"No," I replied. "It's all yours. What about
you? You want an after action report?"

"Won’t be necessary" he said. "We've got it
on video. Although we will want to meet in a few days to discuss anything ese
we find, as we also agreed on. You know, I wasn't happy with your decision to
talk to it first, but maybe you were right. At the very least, we now know it
was intelligent."

"Lot of good it did," I replied.

"Yeah, well," he said. "I never said it was
smart. The two aren’t necessarily the same." He turned to talk to one of
the other agents that had come with him before continuing." Now get out of
here, Hoskins. Go get your wounds tended to. Fae Lord or not, you're bleeding
all over my scene."

Looking down, I saw that he was right. What the hell? The
damn thing should have closed up by now. I put out a call to Sendy, who
appeared almost immediately. A moment later I was back in my kitchen. Then she
was gone again; on her way to fetch Charlie. I started the coffee and leaned
against the counter to wait.

"My Lord!" Askel, the Fae healer said as she
walked into the kitchen. "You are wounded."

"It's just a scratch," I replied as I filled my
cup.

There was a faint pop as Sendy and Charlie appeared.

"Nevertheless, you are bleeding all over your kitchen,"
the healer replied, taking my arm. "Fae Lord or not, you are making a
mess."

Even with the healing power
of a High Fae, some things still needed attention. I could shut out the pain, so
it was easy to forget the wound was there. But even though I could heal a lot
faster than the others, it still never hurt to have something like that looked
at. Especially since I hadn’t expected it to still be bleeding. Maybe the
poison I had encountered had done something; or perhaps it was the blade. My wounds
usually heal a lot faster than this, so unless the blade had been poisoned,
this one should have been further along.

"Point taken," I said as I looked at the cut. I
hadn’t thought it was that bad, but I let her lead me into the bedroom anyway.

The room was already full.
Martin and the other Wolf were back in human form; both having their wounds
attended to by Jen. The left side of Martin's face was red and he'd lost a bit
of hair. Other than that, he looked no worse for wear. The other Were was being
bandaged up, but appeared to be in good spirits, despite the occasional wince
as she rolled the bandage across his ribs. One of the Fae archers was on the
bed, naked from the waist up. His side had been cut into by the spear. Leaves
and some sort of green paste covered the wound.

"Oh," Jen said as she glanced up. "Sorry,
didn’t recognize you there for a minute."

"How is he?" I asked Askel. She must not have
heard. She just poured some of the green paste over my cut and then placed her
hands over the wound, muttering a healing spell of some kind. I felt the pain
go away as the bleeding stopped and the cut began to heal.

"Do not move," Askel said to the Were when she went
over to him. She pressed hard on his ribs. "Give me a moment." When
she was satisfied, she let go before turning back to me. "You can again switch
to your other form if needed. You will heal."

"What about him?" I asked, pointing to the Fae on
the bed after I switched back to my human persona.

"Ellgar will live," she replied. "He does not
heal as quickly as you. I put him to sleep. He should be awake and able to move
in the morning. Antiopeia was merely stunned. She has already returned to Fae."

"How about you two?" I asked, turning to Martin.

"I feel about the same way you look," Martin said,
his singed hair and eyebrows covered in the green paste that Askel had used on
me. "Randy here is the least injured, except for his pride."

"... and a rib or two," he said with a smile. "Damn
thing was fast."

"Sorry about the other Were," I said. "Browne
said he had to take the body, but he'll return it when they're done."

"I heard," he replied. "I will deal with his
people tomorrow. Seffria was a good pack mate and will be missed. I will make
sure her name goes in the rolls of honor for her sacrifice. It is small
comfort, but the pack has been avenged."

Small comfort, indeed. "Did she have family?"

"Just us," Martin said. "We will honor her in
our own way."

"Okay," I replied. There was nothing else I could
say. "I'm going to go clean up. There's coffee if anybody wants some. You
going to be here when I get back down?"

"No. As soon as the healers release us, we have pack
business that must be dealt with," Martin replied. "But I will call
you soon."

"I understand," I said. "Let me know if you
need anything."

Sendy let me know that she was bringing in the other Fae.
They would return home the same way they got here. I threw on a shirt and
thanked them individually for their service, assuring them that Askel had seen
to their companion's healing. Each one spent a moment at his side, then
returned to Fae via the oak tree in the yard. I thanked Sendy for her
assistance, asking her to let Nikki know what had happened tonight. After that,
she was free to go home to Malcolm. Soon after, I was in the shower, the hot
water washing the blood away.

What had she done? I asked myself as I slid down to the
shower floor and let the hot water run over me. I'd thought I was finished with
her when we took out what appeared to be the last of her minions in the earlier
raid. I knew she would to escape from Tartarus eventually. I just thought I'd
have a little more time before I had to deal with more of her crap. I should
have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

The Wizard who freed the Demon had been corrupted by her as
well. She'd been busy. Spreading cancer cells that just waited for an opportunity
to strike. I wondered how many others were out there, and if any of them knew
about each other.

What really concerned me at
the moment was what I thought this one had done. He hadn’t just summoned a Demon...
or four. The more I thought about it, it seemed like he'd also shattered
something in Hell by doing so. But what? There hadn’t been enough time to
search for details when I'd examined his blood. Was it something local to the
Hell this Demon had resided in? Or was it something else? And just where in the
multitude of Hells had it come from? Shit! This was not good. Had we solved the
problem, or was it just the beginning?

"You ok in there?" Jen asked as she knocked on the
shower door.

"Yeah, fine," I answered, pushing myself back up. Grabbing
a towel, I opened the door. "Everything ok?"

"Charlie said I should come up and check on you,"
she said. "You've been up here quite a while."

"Sorry. Must have lost track of time. Anybody left down
there?"

"Just your Fae archer and Askel. She really knows her
stuff."

"She's one of the best," I agreed. "So what's
next?"

"Martin needs me for a few things," she replied. "I've
got to head out and meet him."

"Okay," I said. "I appreciate your help
tonight."

"No problem, not that you really needed me," she
replied. "I can’t really compete with a Fae healer."

"I needed you," I said. "As did Martin. It
could have been a lot worse. We were lucky so few were injured."

She didn't answer right away, instead she reached up and
kissed me before walking toward the door. She stopped at the doorway and smiled.
"I'm glad you're okay... and thanks," she said.

****

"She's pretty," Askel said when I came back into
the kitchen a little while later. She was at the table drinking water out of a
glass bottle.

"Not you too," I replied, grabbing a
Star Trek
mug with Captain Picard's picture on it. "You've been talking to Charlie I
see."

"I do not need the Fae hound to tell me what is
obvious," she said, putting the bottle down and walking over to me. "Let
me see your wound."

I lifted my shirt and she placed her hands on it.

"And what is this?" she asked, pointing to the
barest hint of a white scar where the Gallu Demon had sliced me open and
poisoned me with its tail.

"Don’t know what you are talking about," I replied,
filling my cup.

"Your Were is skilled," Askel said. "Yet why
do my Lord's wounds heal so slowly and his scars not fade? You cannot hide such
injuries from me. Did the Demon cause this?"

"The wound, yes. I don’t know why the scar isn't
disappearing," I replied, taking a drink from my cup. "Maybe..."

"Tell me what happened."

I told her the story of my first encounter with the Demon,
and how it had not realized what I was until I revealed myself by using magic.
I explained its use of the stinger on its tail, including how they had to
remove the poison before my body began to heal itself. I also repeated its
conversation tonight, how it said it had drunk the magic of thousands. Then I
explained to her what we'd found out about the Succubus-like Demons. How they
seemed to be attracted to magic as a life force. I also asked for her
confidence, explaining my fears if any sign of weakness got out.

"I have never heard of such a thing," Askel said
when I was done. "A pity there is none of the poison left. Perhaps a
sample can be procured from the others. It would beneficial to know what this
creature carries, should another be encountered. You say the other Demons sought
out magic. Perhaps this one does the same; taking it from those around it, even
as it stalks them for more. As to privacy, I am a healer. In that regard, we
have the same thoughts as all healers. You need not fear your secret will be
learned from me. Now, is there anything else? Something that would indicate
that these Demons alone are not responsible?"

Aw, shit. What do I tell her? Actually there wasn't much,
just a few bouts of dizziness here and there. But I was afraid I knew what was
causing them. Still, in for a penny, in for a pound.

"I felt weak a couple of times before all this," I
said, "But only after expending a lot of magic. That's never happened
before, not until after..."

"After what?" she asked.

"After I told Nikki and Jay," I said. "And
after I used my magic to awaken theirs."

"Then perhaps that is all it is," Askel said.

"All what is?"

"Magic is not infinite." she said. "A
transfer of such power has a cost, as does any use of magic, even the smallest.
You cannot give up so much of yourself without consequence."

"That makes sense," I replied.

"Let us hope it is only temporary," she continued.
"But you must be cautious. Even at full strength you are not invincible.
If more of these Demons are discovered, you are now aware of their powers, and
can wait before revealing yourself."

"That much I already figured out," I said,
thinking she sounded like Bernd, the Dwarf. He had always lectured me about
being careful. "But thank you."

"It is my duty to my Lord," she replied. "I
will say no more of this, unless you come to me for aid."

"I think I could use some rest," I said, refilling
my cup. If there was one thing coffee didn’t do, it was disturb my sleep. "How's
your patient doing? The other one, I mean."

"He is mending," she replied. "I will take
him back after first light. It will be safe to wake him then."

"Do you need anything before I go up?" I didn’t
need to ask any more. She'd spent enough time here patching up folks to know
her way around.

"I will be fine," she answered. "Good night,
my Lord."

"Good night, Askel," I replied, and headed back upstairs.

The place was empty when I got up in the morning. Even
Charlie only came in for a minute, taking a few bites from his bowl before
disappearing back out into the yard. The downstairs bedroom looked like it had
never been used. Quite a feat considering it had resembled a portable MASH unit
just a few hours ago. Well, never let it be said that the Fae didn’t clean up
after themselves. Okay then, I thought as I started the coffee. Demon down. Now
what do I do the rest of the week? Actually, that was a no-brainer. The world
didn't stop turning when one problem was solved. There were plenty more to deal
with. Especially since I had a nasty feeling that this was just the beginning.

I started with a few phone calls. One to confer with Jay
about what had happened and to find out when he'd be in Vegas. I wanted to meet
with him and Nikki to go over a few things face to face. I also asked him to
pass a message on for me. I still needed to talk to an expert about what I'd
seen in my vision of the Demon's Hell. Especially now that we knew that Marissa
still had followers out there. Jay had agreed with my assessment that the point
of it all had been to create a gateway out of Hell; with escape from Tartarus being
the most likely plan all along, and the Demon's a terrible consequence. The
question was, if the Wizard had created a gateway, was it still open? If so, could
something else get out? Neither one of us had an answer. But Jay was going it
pass it along, in case anyone else had an idea.

I called Siegfried. Everything was quiet at the Neptune.
Michael was pissed that he hadn’t been able to play at Demon hunting, even
though everything had been quiet on the property, but we both knew that it was
probably just a matter of time before something else popped up. I told him to
tell Michael I would make it up to him. That made him laugh. After a call to
touch base with Martin, and one to O'Malley at the PD, I headed down to the
office to see how the rest of my world was doing.

I parked in the back and walked to the front door. Hailey
was already there, working her own kind of magic on the phone, when I went in. She
held up her hand to indicate that she wanted to speak with me, then continued
her conversation with whomever was on the other end.

Hailey owned a legal services business. Paralegal work,
document filing, subpoena services, that kind of stuff. She'd been in the
business a lot longer than I had. We'd first met me when I was still a young
rookie on the beat. It was a small business, and even with a staff, she acted
as the receptionist and worked the phones herself. I rented office space from
her so that I had a downtown business address and a place to hold meetings. That
saved me a few bucks, not that I really needed that these days, but appearances
are important, too.

Her kind of magic consisted of negotiations. That usually
meant a lot of raised voices and enough expletives to make a truck driver
blush. In this case, she was negotiating prices for some kind of legal work.
Fortunately, she was very good at what she does, and her services, while not
cheap, were sought out by a lot of attorneys. While waiting for her to finish,
I poured myself a cup of coffee and leaned back against the counter.

"I hear there was a lot of excitement out by your place
last night," she said as she hung up the phone. "Did you see it?"

"Excitement?" I asked, almost spilling my coffee. "What
do you mean?"

"The plane crash!" she replied, picking up the
newspaper from the counter and waving it in my direction. "That was just
down the way from you, wasn't it? What do you know about it?"

"Oh yeah," I said, stifling a chuckle. "It
was on the radio. Sorry. Didn’t even hear about it till this morning."

"Oh, you're no help," she said, disappointed, waving
me away. "It said all the roads were blocked and everything. There was
even an explosion! I thought you'd have heard something."

"Sorry," I replied, now laughing. I continued to
sip at my coffee as I went into my office. Sitting down at my desk, I checked
the few messages Hailey had left for me. They were the usual stuff. Calls from
clients and messages from other PI's that hadn't wanted to call my cell phone.
Typical.

I wasn't sure what the Wizard had done, exactly. Perhaps the
spell only opened a gateway for a moment. But what if it had done something
more? I decided to spend the rest of the week keeping an eye out at night, as
daylight seemed to keep these things in check. Well, it had for my Demon.
Knowing I'd be away from the office for a few days, I decided to clean up all
my paperwork and make sure any cases I had going were caught up.

I've said this before, but being a P.I. in real life isn’t
as glamorous as it is on TV. Most of what I do is pretty boring. Still, it has
to be done if you want to earn a living, or, in my case, the appearance of one.
Firing up my PC, I reviewed my case load and got to work. I spent the rest of
the work day returning and making calls, doing research, typing up invoices,
and writing the necessary reports. Pretty damn exciting... NOT! By the time I
was done, it was late afternoon, so I headed back out to see Hailey.

"Just wanted to give you a heads up," I said as I
refilled my cup. "I'm working nights the next few days so I won’t be
around much."

"You slumming now?" Hailey asked, looking up from
the paperwork she'd been absorbed in.

"Not exactly," I chuckled. "Just more
surveillance. It's a pain, but it pays well." At least that was true.

"That it does," she said. "I'll let you know
if anything comes up." She went back to her paperwork.

"Thanks," I said, then returned to my office to
close up.

Just as I powered down the desktop, I got a text from
O'Malley. He's the Lieutenant of Homicide at the PD. He's also a Fae, and the
local contact for anything Fae related that the police might have to get
involved in. He was also one of my closest friends. He'd taken me under his
wing years ago, and was one of my mentors, both before and after I became a
cop. I called him this morning and we decided to meet up after we both caught
up at work. I texted him back and went out to my car, saying goodbye to Hailey
on the way.

I pulled into the underground parking at Tivoli Village, got
out of my car and walked to the escalator. We were meeting at one of my
favorite coffee shops, Leone Café. I really loved this place. The coffee was
good and the scenery even better. Ray was already at a table outside when I
came through the glass doors from the back entrance. After ordering a
cappuccino from a waitress I knew, I sat down and joined him.

O'Malley looked around for a moment, noted a few other Fae
sitting at tables, then spoke softly in an ancient tongue. It was an illusion
spell. One I'd seen him use before. If it's one thing this Aes Sídh (Irish Fae)
was good at, it was the ability to make others see what they wanted. Hell, he'd
done it to me for years before I found out what I was. Like the Wizards and
Mages at the raid the other day, no one would see, or hear, anything, except
what the spell projected. I watched as the people around us seemed to blur a
bit as the spell took hold. A moment later, we were safe from prying eyes, or
ears.

"A friggin barbecue?" Ray said with a laugh. "You
invited a Hell spawned Demon to a barbecue?"

"It was an offering," I replied, chuckling. "Even
if he didn't accept it. Besides, I figured I might as well have some fun with
it at the same time."

"One of these days you're going to go too far," he
said. "But, damn! I wish I could have seen it."

"Yeah, well," I replied. "It was closer than
I would have liked. We lost one Were and I had a few injured folks as well. We
had to take it out in the end."

"The EAB seemed satisfied with what you did," he
said. "The Sheriff sent the report down after he read it. I went over it
this afternoon. He's not too happy about the possibility that the gateway could
still be open. Although who would be? We're putting out a couple Special
Projects cars to keep an eye out, just I case. And there's one more thing."

"What's that?" I asked.

"As usual, he doesn't want us any more involved than
necessary, unless things turn to shit of course." he replied.

"So what does that mean?"

"It means," he said. "Special Projects is
going to notify the ranking Fae in the area, like they always do, if any more
of these Demons show up. Guess what? That used to be Meredith. Now it's you."

"Well that sucks," I replied. "What am I
supposed to do?"

"You handle it," he said. "Just like you did
with the Demons."

"I did have a little Federal help there," I
countered.

"That's what they're there for. But understand, this
isn’t personal. With all the press these days watching everything we do, we
can’t afford for some local reporter to hit the story of a lifetime. Any call
suspected of involving magic will be routed to Special Projects. If it's
anything out of the ordinary they'll contact me, after they notify you. Don’t
get me wrong, they won't bail on you if things turn to crap, but they'll expect
you to know what to do; without letting the rest of the world know what's going
on."

It was amazing how many humans actually knew about us.
Politicians, mostly, like the Sheriff, when you got down to it. But then again,
they weren't all human either, so the number was probably smaller than I imagined.
Of course they couldn’t talk about it with other humans, they were subject to a
spell themselves. Although the Fae numbers might be small, there were actually quite
a few in government agencies, especially in law enforcement, and they couldn't
afford having attention brought down on them.

I remembered the Special Projects guys back when I had still
been on the force, before I found out all about this Fae stuff. They had grown
out of the old Research and Development (R and D) unit. Of course, I hadn’t
known they were Fae at the time. How could I? I just thought they were all assholes.
Like the EAB, when they came into contact with humans, they never said much.
They just jumped your call and told you that they would handle it. It all makes
sense now. But then? Like I said, prima donna assholes. Now, things were
different.

"I understand," I said. "I don’t know if anything
else is coming, but whatever Marissa's done, I doubt she cared much about
collateral damage, or had just one back up plan. I'll deal with it."

"I know you will," he agreed. "Don’t worry, Meredith
already knows. I talked to her about it on my way here. They've been doing this
for a while, so they already have everything in place. What will actually
happen is that they'll call them first, then her people will contact you for
instructions. You can work out the fine print with her later." He sat back
and waited for more questions. When I didn’t ask one, he continued. "Now,
tell me what's not in the report," he said.

"Not much, I'm guessing," I replied. "Although
I haven't read it. But I'm concerned that there's more in play than we know
about. Especially where Marissa's concerned."

"Explain," he said.

"I thought she was gone," I began. "Not
forever. I knew I was going to have to face her eventually. But when we took
out her Mages, I thought that was the end. But when I saw her portrait, I knew I
was wrong. This is just the beginning. I mean, just look at this Stockton guy.
He's been missing for what? 55 years or so. Then all of sudden he pops up,
freeing Demons from Hell in the process. First we killed her followers at
Olympus. Then we killed all the Mages at Four Mile. Now him. This bitch seems
to have her fingers everywhere. And there's something else. Something Ouranos
said when he sent her to Tartarus. He said,
if
she escaped, she would
fight again. That's what she's doing, trying to escape. So there's got to be
more out there. I can feel it."

"That sounds reasonable," he agreed. "And?"

"The phones," I said. "The more I think about
them, the more I think they may be the key."

"Why do you say that?" he asked. "Even if
they were used to transport a Demon, how does that really help us?"

"The kid," I replied.

"Wait a minute," Ray countered. "He's in the
report. He's just a dumb kid dabbling in the black arts. One of many Stockton
used to his advantage. He's even admitted he transported the Demon using the spell
on his phone, but only after Stockton told him what to do. Claims the phone
burned up when the Demon appeared, as did several of his texts and half the
house. There's even an overview of the scene."

"It's not that simple," I replied, somewhat
irritably. "And he's full of shit."

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"Look Ray," I said. "Have you ever met any of
Marissa's followers?"

"Not that I know of," he replied. "You've
seen to that. But I have met their victims, and that's enough for me. But
there's nothing to indicate that this kid..."

"I don’t care what the report says," I said, interrupting
him. "He's as much a follower as any of them and one-time transportation
spells are their M/O. Besides, they're fanatics. You can't believe a word any
of them say." I needed to calm down. "Ray, I'm sorry, I didn’t mean
to go off like that. But trust me. He's as much her follower as he was Stockton's."

"Ok," he replied. "Forget the phones for a
moment, and he isn’t going anywhere. The Feds have seen to that. But even if
you're right, that doesn't help us with the gateway problem. What do you intend
to do?"

"I have no idea," I said. "I don’t even know
if it's still happening. I'm going to take the next few days and see if
anything pops up. I've got a few other things I need to do in the meantime.
Then we'll know, one way or the other."

"Agreed," he said. "Then we'll table this
discussion until we know more." He waved his hand. The spell he had cast
faded away and the world came back into focus. A moment later, the waitress
arrived and set down our coffees. She smiled and we both thanked her. Taking a
drink and letting her know they were fine, she left us to ourselves again.