Demon Hero: Dark Fae Hollow 1 (The Dark Fae Hollows), page 14
She shook your head and sniffed angrily.
“Whatever you’re looking for is right there… They gonna use it tomorrow. Then the magic is gonna be gone forever.”
“You’re a Fae,” I said.
Shaking her head, she looked like a dragon as she moved across the rooftop back toward the stairwell.
“This world is more diverse than you are ever gonna realize, child. Tomorrow, that’s gonna happen whether you like it or not. I pity you.”
“Well, thanks for your help, ma’am.”
“Help?”
The woman got so upset that she turned and flicked her cigarette straight at Sol’s broad chest. Her eyes narrowed.
“I pity you, because you had your head up your ass too long and didn’t realize what you were missing. Now it’s gone.” She walked over and stooped in front of Sol, picked up her cigarette, and then hobbled back toward the stairwell.
Turning toward the compound, I saw the first fire truck leave, while a forklift moved an empty tank toward our side of the compound. Then, the reality of the woman’s words hit me.
“Oh, my gods. They’re not even going to wait. Sol, we have to go see Talon.”
We left the rooftop and made our way down the long flights of stairs. We hadn’t made it past the first floor when we passed the old woman. As we passed, she stopped me by placing her arm on my shoulder.
“Take the service elevator. That’s what my boys used to do.”
I was confused for a moment, but then I heard the sirens from next door. The sound echoed through the building like a foghorn. Every person in the neighborhood, regardless of whether they wanted to be or not, was now awake.
The woman turned off her hearing aid and pushed us toward a side door that led down the far side of the building. When we got there, a long metal cable with two sets of modified repelling handles along the thickly woven cord was the first thing we saw.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I put that lock on the roof for a reason. This is the only way you’re gonna make it out, now drop.”
The woman was telling us exactly what we needed to hear. The gravity of the situation sank in. It had been foolish of us to stand so brazenly close to such a high-surveillance building and expect that we would not be observed.
Putting my bravery to the test, I grabbed hold of the climbing gear and flew down the elevator shaft. Sparks flew above my face the entire way down as I fell in a controlled descent, thirty-two floors. Sol came down right after me. I nearly got knocked down by his body weight, but sidestepped on the bottom platform just in time.
The ‘elevator shaft’ turned out to be nothing more than a hollow pit that sank into the ground floor of the building. There was no elevator, and evidence seemed to indicate there would not be one in the future either. Apparently, it had been decided that the cost of raw materials for the elevator itself was more valuable than its functionality.
We sprinted out of the floor-level emergency exit, making our way down the alley toward the Red-Light District. We knew exactly where we needed to go, and neither of us was interested in whatever forms of delay were currently en route to the building we had just left.
The police headed up toward the entrance of the building as we left. The sound of their boots on the ground reminded me of the pain that was associated with that time in the aqueduct with Talon. Suspense and adrenaline ran through my blood, but I couldn’t afford to let it control me. I used the adrenaline for a surge of energy, sprinting harder still through the alleyways of the slums toward Talon’s hideout.
Dawn was spilling its unrelenting light over Cora’s Hollow. My lungs burned, and my muscles ached for oxygen, but I couldn’t stop moving forward.
“Soon,” I promised myself. “Very soon.”
I had to retrace my steps a bit, but slowing down wasn’t much of a problem after a few miles.
“They definitely saw us,” Sol said. “I wouldn’t trust any public servant after a call like that. What an alarm!”
I nodded, still out of breath as I walked through the side streets of the slums. “I need to focus, Sol.”
“What going on?”
“I’m just trying to retrace my steps and head back to the Red-Light District. I got a bit turned around.”
“We’re going in the right direction. I’ve got friends who own clubs in that area. Nice people.”
We headed toward the Red-Light district, and I began to feel a certain level of comfort when we passed some of the true party aficionados, headed home after a long night of debauchery.
I laughed as we passed the two women I saw the time before. They were helping a man home. One woman smiled at me, giving a glance toward Sol. I smiled politely and let them go about their way.
Soon enough, we made our way to the back alley where I first got out from inside Talon’s building. I pounded on the door and stood there waiting with Sol. Briefly, I contemplated what the repercussions would be if I were to walk through the front of the club. I was certain it was closed at this hour, or at least was in some sort of restorative phase of operation.
I wasn’t confident the people inside would take to me walking straight into Talon’s operation with a man who looked like Sol. Of course, I hadn’t paused much to think at all about how Talon would respond to the two of us showing up here after our last experience.
Can’t be helped now, I thought while starting at the dull paint on the club’s emergency exit. After another long few moments, the door opened, and we were greeted with the barrel of a gun.
Chapter 23
“Get inside. Now! Little fuck hole and her big bad wolf…we’ve been waiting for you.”
The other guard shook his head in an exasperated motion, while the one with the weapon pointed in my face mouthed off. Sol let out a growl, which I was sure didn’t help the case against him.
“We’re here to see Talon, and we have information,” I said to the other guard — the one who wasn’t being a total douchebag — but he ignored me.
“We know why you’re here. You don’t think we’ve been watching you? You don’t think we don’t know about your little tip off to the police? Ha!”
After laughing in our face, he walked around and pushed us inside, one after the other. The door was shut and locked behind us, and we were led by the silent guard down the hallway toward Talon’s warehouse.
The hallway had changed. It was more spartan than I remembered.
“Where did all of your shit go?”
“We’re leaving. Can’t stay here after the attack. Honestly, you’re lucky as hell the boss even wanted you to stay alive. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gotten a chance to see our movement take off before the end.”
“The end of what?”
“Well, the end of you, of course, but I’ll leave that for the boss to share.”
Two armed guards were placed in the hallway just before the entry into the main warehouse. It seemed more of a formality than anything else, since they apparently had surveillance cameras or something watching the outside of the building. Regardless of their relevance, they seemed to enjoy their position well enough.
As we walked forward, I was reminded of eager young boys who pretend to be emotionless automatons in the name of their army lord, or whatever it was that children do.
The quiet escort waved the two aside, and the jackass took us inside the main room.
It was a wash of activity and confusion. I tried to get a good glimpse of what was happening, but I didn’t really have enough time to take it all in. What I did see was a stockpile of weapons and munitions so high that any reasonable operator would have used a forklift to get them all. Instead, Talon seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of eager young Fae men — all desiring to be part of something larger than themselves. My reverie was interrupted when a bag was placed over my head from behind.
“Just relax,” Sol advised.
His input was timely, as just then, my wrists were bound behind my back, and I was led forward into the chaos by a hand on my shirt. My hearing was muffled, and I couldn’t see anything. I felt utterly disoriented, but still somehow resilient. Despite the trials I had endured, I had arrived. I was in the right place, and that self-confidence was more valuable than anything else. My own integrity had made betrayal a force I didn’t mind enduring.
“So, you squealed…”
It was Talon’s voice.
“I’m sure Braegin told you that we have already been made aware of your indiscretion. Many of the others didn’t think you would come back here before the big day, but I knew better.”
He walked up to me and grabbed a hold of my chin through the cloth sack on my head.
“One half-breed cock isn’t enough for you, is it?”
He slapped me, but only enough to send shocks down my body.
“She knows the value of a real Fae cock… am I right, boys?”
The crowd around us cheered. Despite the roar, I was walked into a quiet room for some private time with Talon. I was tied to a pole, and Sol was restrained behind me.
“Wish you could have seen the remarkable things that we have going on, but the last time I trusted you with that information, you betrayed me. Sorry, but this is how it has to be.”
The door slammed shut, and he ripped the cloth sack off my head.
“Only because I miss your pretty face. Your fuck boy over there can keep his hood on.”
Talon smiled, though it was a bitter one. As though a huge portion of his soul was in pain.
“That’s not for me, is it?”
He smiled bitterly once more.
“You know… the fact that we hooked up once is not that significant to me. What I think was a greater loss was the fact I felt a kind of kinship with you, because we fought together. I felt like even from that one night, I had found someone with whom I could share my deepest moral compass.”
“Ha!”
His smile grew cruel as he walked over toward Sol.
“On second thought, you can watch,” he said, then lifted Sol’s cloth sack.
“This,” he gestured around the room, “is the planning room. As you can see, it is now empty. That is because the plans have been burned, as they are about to be executed.”
“Talon you--”
“They’re not going to know what hit them.”
“Talon, I came here to warn you…”
“Oh, this should be good.”
As patronizingly as one could imagine, he straddled my legs and stared me in the eyes. He was inches away from my face, looking into my soul. Being that close to him, my body responded, even though my emotions were flooded with fear and trepidation.
“Tell me,” he said, “what do you think you know that I don’t?”
“I’m telling you, Talon. You need to reconsider. They are ready for you. They know you are coming. They’re not just going to hurt you — they’re going to hurt everyone, and then blame you for it.”
He paused and looked at me with a bit less conceit. For a moment, I saw the heart of that idealist who had seduced my passion. That person was present for a moment, but then something inside Talon closed, shutting his heart to me once more.
“You suddenly seem to care a lot about me. I’m not sure why that is. You sure don’t seem very consistent.”
“Damn it, Talon,” Sol said. “Will you just get over yourself?”
“I’d like you to watch a repeat performance of when she fucked me. That’s how badly I’m not eager to get over myself. Know your audience, Sol.”
I tried to ignore him and press forward with the actual issues, but he was too bitter in those moments to hear me out. He leaned in to get close to my lips, rubbing himself on my legs. I started to cry. The tears were so complex I couldn’t even begin to give my sadness a name.
“Why are you crying? You weren’t crying last time.”
“Everything, Talon. I’m crying about everything.”
He got off me, and then walked around the room, grabbing at his hair.
“Do you know why I’m doing this, Vee?”
“Because you care…”
“That’s right. Because I care. Not only do I care, but I care more than the others who are afraid to take any sort of action. I care enough to own my own responsibility for political engagement. I care enough to speak up and let my voice be heard.”
“You’re using more than your voice, Talon. People will get hurt.”
“Sacrifices for a greater good.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way. I think you’re going to push it into a direction that nobody wants to go.”
“I’m going to do the things that people only think about when they are too angry to do anything else. The problem is that when people have that brilliant flash of inspiration — instead of using it, like the fire it is, to provide warmth and sustenance — they stamp it out.”
He wasn’t hearing us.
“They crush it underneath their own heels, just like you, and especially you. You, Sol, are the perfect example of why I need to do what I do, regardless of the circumstances and sacrifices. Because people like you can affect change, but they don’t do anything about it. They kill themselves, in a way. You, Sol, are a suicide case that hasn’t been brought to the morgue.”
Talon nodded in a matter-of-fact way, as though he was dropping some level of illuminated wisdom on the two of us that we had not yet heard. He was giving us the truth, whether we liked it or not.
“These people depend on me, these people you’re so concerned about, and in a way, you’ll come to depend on me as well. Let’s just hope you find that strength sooner rather than later.”
“Talon,” Sol said, “we found the storage tanks for the Naturalization agent. It’s a lot more dangerous than we thought. We went to the White Monument and found them. We saw them loading them into fire trucks.”
“Knew about the tanks, but didn’t know about the fire trucks. Good intel,” he said and patted Sol on the back. “Of course, it doesn’t change anything. We knew about the tanks just prior to the original sight of the police’s modified weaponry. They are trying to take our soul away from us, you know. That’s what the effect of their ‘Naturalization’ is on the Fae physiology.”
“Talon, if you know, then what are you going to do about it?”
“Simple, really. I’m going to use the humans as shields and aggressive elements.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Absolutely not. I’m going to rally the humans and inflict damage onto the police through their own populace. Our agents will be turning the police against the humans, and the humans against police. The war will be won, and if I have my way, not a drop of Fae blood will go to waste.”
“You’re cruel.”
“That’s how wars are meant to be won, my love.”
I shook my head and pleaded for him to reconsider. “Look, I don’t think you are going to get what you are looking for. The whole point of the police is that they are the iron-fist component of a larger entity.”
“Ah, our good friends at the council.”
“That’s right. The council will be implementing policies and using propaganda as a means of diverting harmful attention toward you. That’s the whole point. You can’t win by yourself, and you can’t win by using the same tactics that the people in power are using.”
“Ah, but you forget that the Fae Council was eliminated by a coup.”
“That wasn’t an insurgent military group like yours, Talon. These people lie, cheat, steal, and kill for a living. They have been doing this for thousands of years, in one method or another. Inevitably, some upstart like yourself comes along with a bit of courage, charisma, and idealism, and ends up getting killed for their cause.”
“I’m comfortable fulfilling that archetype.”
“That’s just it though, look at the times when violent revolution was successful. What happens?”
“Why don’t you tell me?”
He walked over toward me so I could see his eyes roll while he spoke.
“They become the new dictators!”
I was losing my patience with him, praying some part of what I was offering was going to sink into his brain.
“A welcomed change. The Fae have been put down for too long. Since the humans have been in power for so long, let the Fae rule for a while. We’ll see how they feel, having to live in the shadows of the Fae.”
“You don’t understand, Talon, we can help.”
“How?”
“All we need to do is rally the people behind a concept of unity. The people are afraid, and manipulating their fear for your own purposes is not going to make anything better. If anything, it is going to make things more complicated for the rest of us.”
“Not to mention,” Sol said, “that they are already doing the same thing to you, and have years of inbred prejudice on their side. But we have an alternative…”
“Ha! You thought I was going to listen to you? Any idea why I would give a shit about what a half-breed coward such as yourself has to say about the freedom of my people?”
The room grew quiet. It was a silence that cut through all pretenses of assistance and ended up pushing whatever compassion Sol might have had for the situation down beneath layers of callous rejection.
“Never mind.”
“Never mind is right. You had your time, and you chose to make my life more difficult with what freedom you had. Now, I don’t have a choice but to take that freedom from you, so that my people can know freedom once more.”
“Talon, we need to warn the humans, not use them.”
His eyes narrowed at me, and I felt all the hatred in his being fixated on me in a single moment. Had I been stabbed with a knife, it wouldn’t have hurt as much.
“You would do that, sympathizer. You would support them even as they reject you. How many years have you hidden in that ridiculous disguise of yours, while the rest of the world went about their daily business?”
“They wear their own disguises,” I said.
