Not My Fae, page 13
part #8 of Vegas Fae Stories Series
"Oh," I said, moving over to pet the big dog's head. "Charlie was a friend of my grandmothers. He used to keep an eye on us when we were kids." I turned to face him. "So? You find anything unusual?"
"The perimeter is secure," he replied, glancing over at Michael. "Your associates perform their duties in an exemplary manner, as they should. You have taught them well."
"They didn’t see you," Michael said, sounding disappointed.
"It was never my intent to breach the grounds unless necessary," he replied. "Had I attempted such, I would have more than likely have been discovered. But even the best of us cannot expect to know every creature that roams the desert, especially those outside our sphere of operations, and I did not wish to be seen. I was unable to get close enough without the risk of drawing attention. That is more than enough to know that those within are in good hands."
Suddenly, the fur on Charlie's back bristled and then Michael blocked him as the dog began to turn his body. As I looked behind us, I saw two ghostly forms emerging as if from a fog. As I looked closer, the apparitions took solid shape.
"It's okay. Everybody relax," Michael said, raising his voice and hands to get our attention. "She's with us."
A moment later a female and a Hellhound came into view. She was exotic looking, with a strangely beautiful face but with eyes of black that seemed intense enough to pierce one's soul. Her long black hair flowed down below her waist. Her skintight leather suit, the color of ash, looked more like armor than a statement of fashion. The Hellhound beside her was as big as Charlie, with red eyes that glowed like burning coals. As they got closer, his nostrils flared and smoke poured out, the barest hint of sulphur now mixing with the once sweet air. He parted his mouth, revealing razor-sharp teeth, then snorted as she placed her hand on his head.
"This is Attaria Diabolus," Michael said, relaxing. "Bodyguard to Satan and Commander of his Imperial Legion."
"And his daughter, if that matters anything to you," she said, taking her hand away from the Hellhound and walking toward us. "No need for introductions, I know who you are." She stopped in front of Charlie. "Thank you, Lord of Fae. My own hound, Gehenna, confirms your assessment."
Charlie dipped his head.
"And you cousin," she said, turning to the agent and extending a hand. "Roxana of the line of Samyaza. It is good to finally meet you. Many times my father has spoken of him. I am pleased to see that his line continues on."
"My pleasure," Roxana said, taking her hand.
"Ahh... Robert, son of Gabriele," she said, letting go of her hand and stepping up to me. "You may be the first human I owe a debt of gratitude to. Beelzebub's lamentations at the loss of his pet Demon have been music to my ears these past few days. I will be watching to see what other amusements you may offer."
Michael rolled his eyes as she stepped back.
"Would that we could have spoken longer. But alas, I too have duties I must attend to," Attaria said, lightly slapping her thigh and waiting as her Hellhound trotted back up to her side. "Perhaps we will meet again once this is over." Then she turned around and walked back the main path, the Hellhound beside her as they turned on to one of the pedestrian trails that lead deeper into the resort.
"What was that all about?" Roxana asked as they disappeared from view.
"Probably just what she said," Michael replied. "She wanted to meet you in person. She had to know you were coming. She has access to the same information we all do."
"Interesting, if nothing else," I remarked, raising my eyebrows to make a point. "Maybe she was just sizing up the competition. For later, of course."
"I doubt that she would feel the need," Charlie chimed in. "After all, she has already discovered much about you. I do believe she said that you were amusing, did she not?"
"Wait… did you just make a joke?" I asked as the others burst out laughing. Damn, he really was showing off. I clutched my hands over my heart. "Oh, that was cold. I'm wounded. I really am. But can we get back to business now?"
That got a quick laugh and then Michael got serious again.
"Unless you just want to get a look at the grounds, there's not much more to see," he said, taking a few steps and leaning against the golf cart he'd brought us here in. "Attaria has total control over their internal security. The Cardinal and Rael's folks, the same. The meeting room has already been sealed by the EAB and representatives of all sides have signed off. Your people basically have everything outside already in motion. Of course, I'll have triple the guards here by midnight. Not much else to do except wait till things get rolling. Which, as you know, should be sometime after 4 a.m. They won’t let us to know exactly when until it happens, although I will get a little head's up because the Cardinal's folks are already staying with us. After that, everyone stays on property until it concludes. They've already secured their rooms so that's not an issue."
"Any idea how long this thing is supposed to last," I asked, not being sure of the timetable.
"Two days minimum, probably three to four," Roxanne replied. "It's just like any other diplomatic summit. Since this isn’t a regular thing, the first day will probably be introductions and the setting of rules. After that, it's all about the negotiations. Hard to say how long that will take with this bunch."
"It looks like you have everything covered," I said, moving to get into the cart. "Makes me wonder why I'm here."
"I know someone that can answer that," a voice said, stepping off one of the nearby trails. It was Siegfried. He was accompanied by a 40-something brown-haired woman with green eyes and wearing a deep red wine colored business suit.
"Because my chief bodyguard insisted that you be involved," Rael said, looking more like the one I knew from back home. "Odd, but she has never spoken so highly of a human. You must have made a deep impression on her for her to be so insistent."
"We did spar a bit," I said, thankful that she'd said nothing about the other night but wary at how complementary she was being. I couldn't be sure of what all Paige had told her but it almost appeared by her comment that she was trying to have some fun at my expense. I hadn’t expected that. But what the hell? I'll play along. "She's quite the opponent. I think I'll be carrying a few of the scars from our last engagement for quite some time."
"Of that I have no doubt, " she replied, just a hint of a sparkle in her eye. "Her skills in that area are quite formidable."
"I'll have to agree," I replied, a slight heat warming my cheeks as I wondered how much Paige had told her. "I was fortunate that she allowed me an honorable retreat after the third session. I doubt I could have kept it up much longer."
"Most humans would never have lasted that long," she said. "If you lasted three I can see then why she was impressed." Then she turned to Roxana and smiled, our conversation forgotten for the moment.
"Lovely to see you again, my dear," she said, taking her by the arm. "Walk with me a bit. You must tell me how your father is doing." Then she led her away until they were out of earshot.
"What was that all about?" Michael asked. "You didn’t tell me you had a run-in with one of her Demons."
"I wouldn't exactly call it a run-in," I said, trying to act nonchalant. "I bumped into Paige on a call. I'd say it was more like a dance contest, although I'll agree we were sparring till the end. Anyway, at least we didn’t kill each other. Fortunately, the incident made her reevaluate her opinion of me and here I am."
"Why do I get the feeling that we're missing something here?" Michael asked, shaking his head.
"Aren't we always where Robert is concerned?" Siegfried replied, slapping me on the back. "But it is to our benefit whatever occurred. I for one will be glad to be working with you again. Come, I believe Rael will be tied up with Agent Samson for a while. Unless there is something more pressing, let us go to the dining room to wait. I will leave word for her to meet us there."
Chapter 12
We had a quiet lunch which consisted mostly of Siegfried and Michael tag-teaming me to make sure I seriously considered Meredith's offer of employment. I got the feeling that before I got here, Robert and the two of them had discussed this same issue in length. It sounded like Robert was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the PD but was still committed to staying for a while. Judging by my contact with O'Malley, I could see why that would be the case, but I was still no closer to knowing what Robert actually had in mind. I wasn't sure what kind of job he'd been offered in his earlier discussions. Although his takedown of Marissa paved the way for the RED Hotel and Casino to come on the market, thereby creating a position for him, I doubt he could have factored that into any equation prior to my taking his place.
There was no way for him to have known what the outcome would be if she was taken out of the picture unless, of course, he'd had prior knowledge of when that would occur. From the files I'd seen, he'd been chasing her for quite some time. If it was a conspiracy, I certainly wasn't getting any signals that these two were party to it. Somehow, I doubt he would agree to such a thing unless one of them personally vouched for it. Then again, I could be totally off base in that assessment. We were not the same person. Which, quite frankly, frustrated me to no end. The differences between the Robert from this world and I were fast becoming a problem I didn’t think I could solve.
While I'd eaten a light fare, Charlie was on his third porterhouse when Roxana returned. She said she'd had a quiet lunch with Rael and was ready to go. Charlie told me that he had decided to stay a bit longer. For a reason he didn’t disclose, he'd asked Siegfried to set up a meeting with Attaria's Hellhound, Gehenna. I was afraid to ask what that was about. He said he'd meet me here tomorrow or to just whistle if I needed him sooner. Figuring he knew what he was doing, I gave him a nod and then Roxana and I headed to the car for the drive back to town.
"Did you notice the steak Charlie was eating?" Roxana asked as I pulled back onto the 91. "That was Kobe. I looked over the menu; they charge more than $350.00 for that cut. That's as much as they charge for the Helios from Thrinacia, and that comes from Fae."
"You just had lunch with the Fallen Angel that saved your ancestor and met with the Devil's daughter. All within the last couple hours… and you're worried about the price of Charlie's steak?" I said, pulling over to the side of the road. I turned to face her. "I'm almost afraid to tell you that that was his third one. What's going on? You okay Rox?"
"I'm fine," she said, pointing to the road. "Just drive."
"Okay," I said, pulling back onto the roadway. I kept quiet, but I could tell that something was still bothering her. I got about four miles down the road and out of sight of the resort when she grabbed my arm.
"There! Pull over there," she said, pointing just ahead. "Under the bridge."
I couldn’t do as she asked, we were on a curve and there was no shoulder there. But rather than argue, I slowed down and crossed over the travel lane, driving over the curb to reach a clear spot in the dirt. I stopped in front of the hazard sign just shy of the bridge. "Best I can do. Now what?" I asked, slamming the shifter into park.
"I need a minute," she said, jumping out of the car as I followed her. She walked to the middle of the bridge, then suddenly changed into her Nephilim persona and roared. Like her father before her, she looked part Angel and Demon, with black feathered wings and leathery scales on her arms and legs. Similar to Rael, but not exactly the same. She had a more human face like her father. Also, like him, she lacked the horns most Demons sported. Clad in silver armor, her face shined with a dark glow. At a little over nine feet, she was not as tall as Rael, but she still carried the leathery scales that marked the Angel's fall on the rest of her skin. It was too bad Charlie wasn't with me to see that.
"She wanted to use me," Roxana said, staring down at me as she paced back and forth. "Can you believe that? Wanted me to befriend Attaria so I could gather some kind of intel for her. As if I'd break the oath I took when I was sworn in as an agent. I don't care if she did save my forefather. That was out of line!"
"I can see where that might be unsettling," I said, nodding my head.
"Unsettling?" she replied, angrily. "You have no idea. All those years I looked up to her and all she wants from me is to use me to spy on her competition."
"You're probably not going to want to hear this," I said, crossing my arms. "But I'm sure it wasn't personal. Beings with power look at things differently. They're no different than the old Gods or even the human-run corporations. It's all about the big picture in their minds. They use assets as they see fit."
"Well I don't want to be her asset," she replied.
"Yeah, you kind of expect blood to be thicker than water," I said, agreeing with her. "It's kind of a letdown when you find that isn’t always the case. I can relate."
"What?" she asked, pausing her pacing and looking down at me. Suddenly she switched back to her normal self. She brushed a lock of hair from her forehead and faced me. "I'm sorry. Sometimes it's just easier to process anger in my other form. But what does that even mean? Blood is always thicker than water, isn’t it?"
"Oh," I replied, realizing I had just made another blunder. I was going to have to be more careful about what old sayings I used around here. "Just something my grandmother used to say. It means family should always come first.
"I see," she said, shaking her head and walking back to the car. "I really do need to apologize. I shouldn’t have lost it like that, especially in front of someone I barely know. That was unprofessional of me."
"Don't worry about it," I said, opening the car door. "I can see where that would piss you off. But I will have to say you're quite impressive in your other form. Love the wings, by the way."
"Really?" she said, getting back into the car. "I'm usually much less bold when it comes to that. Humans tend to freak out when they see one of us switch. The EAB regularly practices combat exercises with human officers just for that reason. Don’t want them freezing in the middle of a firefight when the agent next to them turns into a Demon or whatever they happen to be."
"I can see where that might be a problem," I said, backing up and then pulling back onto the road. "Not that we have that issue here. Most of us grew up around Demons and Fae and folks switching personas all the time. You stop thinking about it after a while. It's the same with nudity. We don’t have a hang-up about it."
"Nudity?" she asked, looking confused.
"I don’t think that came out right," I replied, chuckling. "What I mean is that when you change you immediately switch from clothed agent to armor-wearing Nephilim. It's the same with Demons. Anyway, that's not the way it works with many of the Fae, especially Weres. Like if a Fae has wings, they have to take off their shirt or dress so the wings won't bind up underneath the fabric when they appear. Same thing with Weres. When they transform, their clothes get in the way. So they usually undress first. I've got Weres on my teams. We always have one designated cop that carries a backpack just to hold their clothes on ops."
"I hadn’t thought about that," she said. "I don’t think we have more than a handful of Fae or Weres at the EAB, and they almost all work out of DC. It's mostly Demons in the field, except for the Mages and Wizards, of course."
We made it back to town a little while later and after dropping her off and letting her know when I'd be back out, I contacted both Mal and Roberto by radio. Roberto had already gone home but offered to come back in. I declined, telling him I'd see him later tonight or in the morning since he was working the night shift. Mal was close to the office so I told him I'd meet him there.
"What's the word on the streets?" I asked, knowing that nothing significant had happened. I would have gotten a call if it had.
"Not much," he replied, taking a seat in front of my desk. "Pretty quiet out there. Other than the normal crap that happens all the time, our regular assholes are lying low. Did shakedown a couple wannabees off of Fremont earlier this morning. They were spooked, claimed they'd heard a couple of Hellhounds were in town. Not to drag Souls back to Hell, but just out looking for lunch. I think you called it, the rumor that Satan's in town has them all spooked."
"There's probably more truth to that than you think," I said, thinking of this morning. "I got to meet his daughter this morning. She's got at least one Hellhound with her. This one was stuck to her side like glue but I wouldn’t put it past her to have others out there just to stir shit up."
"Really?" he said, looking intrigued. "I wouldn't have thought they'd both leave Hell at the same time. This meeting is getting more interesting by the minute. Not that they're going to tell us what's really going on."
"Nope," I said. "And all our guys are going to be on the outside, except of course for the Captain, and he's not going to be behind the locked doors. The Neptune and the Feds have that honor. Only way we're going to hear about what happens is if he hears something and tells us. Somehow I doubt we're going to be in the loop."
"You got that right," Mal said just as his phone rang. He had a short conversation and then hung up. "That was Dispatch. NHP has a couple of Lilin stopped in a panel van full of empty boxes off the 170 just this side of Bunkerville. They were following them on the 15 and got suspicious when they turned off. Stopped them on a traffic violation and found it full of boxes. Empty boxes. They're convinced they're up to something. Their guys can't make heads or tails of it and the two aren't talking. Probably bootleggers. I'll send Shirl Ann out on it. She's the only Wizard I have free at the moment with the schedule all screwed up."
"Tell her I'll meet her out there," I said, getting up. Bunkerville was an unincorporated town north of Las Vegas with a long history of farming and ranching. In my world, it had been somewhat overshadowed by the city of Mesquite next door. Here that was still a small town as well. Since they were both near the Arizona border, it didn’t take much to figure out there was more to this than a simple traffic stop.
