Chapter 14: Payment

Chapter 14: Payment

This is a hell of a thing, Ray said, looking at the scorched beds in the motel room.

Same guy? Felicia asked softly, hands in her pockets as she looked at the damage with him. The supernatural morgue was their next stop, but the shifters had insisted on having Ray take down the warding before anything else. With the vampires and their hired mage dead, there wasnt anyone who could work the focus and shut it down properly instead of just breaking it.

Since he wanted to see the crime scene, Ray didnt argue too much.

Same guy, Ray said. Sure, the actual methodology is different, but none of these thralls heard or saw a single thing, aside from a solid thump. Probably the mage. From what he understood, the mercenary theyd hired to ward the place had been pretty thoroughly mangled with something blunt. It seems unlikely wed have two ghost assassins operating in the Midwest. Not to mention the targets.

Mm, Felicia agreed. Every single one of them had been one of Master Lavignes satellite nests, and every single one of them had been encroaching on Alpha Chesters territories. Theyd have to talk to Alpha Chester and Master Lavigne themselves eventually, and Ray was not looking forward to that.

It was obvious that the political maneuvering between the Midwest Alpha and the Master of Minneapolis had reached a boiling point. Keeping them in line wasnt Rays job though, or Felicias either. It wasnt likely either of them would reveal the agents they were using, but they had to ask.

I dont like that theyre all the same modus, he said instead. Youd think with different strike teams wed see something different. It feels like this guy is using the GAR transportation network, which would make it an inside job.

Felicia grunted but didnt answer aloud. Of course, they were in public. Once they were alone he could get a better idea of what she thought, though he was pretty sure they were both thinking the same things.

I found one! One of the cleaners trotted up, holding up a tiny plastic bag with a steel bead inside it. Ray took it and puffed air into the bag so he could properly sense the bead, but any lingering magic from their target was long gone. He still wasnt sure what they represented, but they were definitely a weird kind of calling card.

Well, theres confirmation. Ray sighed. How much do you want to bet our victims will have seen nothing? Felicia just scowled. Normally her ability was very useful. For this perpetrator, she was almost dead weight and she hated it.

We need a staff, Ray decided, and Felicia prodded him in the side. No, we do. Theres two more scenes like this, way too many people to question, and you and I are going to be tied up with Chester and Lavigne. And maybe King Ravaeb.

Felicia made a face. Ray wasnt really looking forward to it either, but King Ravaeb was the fae authority over, roughly, the same area. Now that they had a repeat offender, the collective knowledge of the local fae could very well be vital. Under the circumstances, Ray had GARs full weight behind him.

Instead of making a report, he called the head office directly. GAR didnt have the huge number of personnel that a mundane law enforcement bureau might, but for this kind of thing they would take people off less important cases. They might even transfer in people from other regional offices.

Great, thanks, he said, maybe twenty minutes later. Come on, well hit the morgue and when thats useless, well go see Alpha Chester. Felicia nodded, and they decamped.

Did you notice that they use mundane methods? Felicia said when they were back in the car. Their superiors had hustled them out so fast that Ray hadnt even had time to get his glider, though with free license to use the GAR teleportation network, it wasnt like they were slowed down much.

Mundane? They didnt use guns this time around, Ray pointed out.

No, but theres no lingering magic, and I have the autopsy report here. Felicia tapped her laptop. Mage was killed by blunt force trauma with something wooden. The vampires were killed with thermite.

How would you even do that? Ray scowled, trying to conceive of sneaking up on a vampire and hurling burning thermite at their face.

Well, the steel plates were probably part of the delivery method. Maybe there was some enchanted part that was taken away, Felicia speculated. But its all brute force. No use of bane material. No direct spell effects. No shifter claw or toothmarks either.

Now that you mention it, that is quite odd. Ray tapped the steering wheel thoughtfully. You notice they didnt kill any thralls in any of these incidents, either. Just the first.

I keep going back to the silverite chains. I bet the first was done out of passion. Vamps kidnapped someone he liked

He?

I think so. Its so impersonal, even the stuff that looks like he got mad and killed everyone. Using a gun, so he likely wasnt prepared, considering no guns were used for these. These other hits are what its like when hes doing a job.

Okay, but if thats true we should have some records of this guy from before.

Unless Felicia said, and Ray sighed.

Yeah, unless its one of GARs troubleshooters gone rogue. I raised that idea before, but maybe now theyll take it seriously.

We need to get a profile of everyone Chesters had contact with. This has to be coming from him, even if we cant possibly prove it. Felicia tapped in a query on her laptop. Im requesting an Archmage look at the profile on this guy though. Even if we dont have clearance to know about GARs pet projects, they will.

What, you think its like a golem or something?

I dont know. Felicia shrugged. Neither do you. Theres just rumors.

During their drive to the supernatural morgue, Felicias laptop pinged as people were directed to the project and they all started acquainting themselves with the details. Most were mages or magic-sensitive humans, as fae preferred field postings and the vamps were all asleep, but there were a few shifters in the mix.

Ray didnt have high hopes for them. Not when considering the nature of the investigation. Now, if it were shifter packs being decimated, thatd be another story.

The hell. When Ray saw the line of essentially headless vampire corpses, he couldnt help but gawk. It was one thing to read the report, it was another to see so many people with identical and unusual wounds. The mage casualty, at least, had more normal injuries, though it was still uncomfortable to think that could be him. The mage in question was Fremont Jackson, and was a fairly successful mage for hire. Not quite as competent as Ray, but not someone who would be easily dealt with.

Cause of death for Fremont was a severed spine, Felicia supplied, seeing where he was looking. Might be our best bet so far. He nodded and followed her to the end of the row, discreetly supporting her as she put her hand on the corpses arm. A moment later she let out a breath, blinking rapidly.

He sensed magic nearby, and his shield formed around him, but something hit him hard enough to get through the shield. It came from directly above, so he didnt actually see anything. Again. She scowled. He was plugged into the wards at the time and didnt sense anything from them. Nothing touched the ground or came through the walls.

So what, did he fly in? Ray muttered, though he already knew the perp had ridiculous stealth ability. His ability to bypass wards was chilling, though any good mage knew that wards were not as secure as most people assumed. Did Fremont have any idea what type of magic it was? Though it wasnt possible to determine the aspect a priori, it was often relatively easy to figure out by the way it, or its effects, acted.

No, but it appeared suddenly and close by. Nothing was sensed traveling toward him.

Maybe an artifact, then? A lot of magical items werent particularly obvious unless they were active, and most mages didnt bother to put anything under that much scrutiny if they were behind wards. Could be related to those metal balls we keep finding.

Maybe, Felicia said, sounding doubtful. Ray agreed with her. There were too many strange aspects to the case that pointed to nothing in particular. It was impossible to do more than blindly speculate. He was certain that Alpha Chester knew, but aside from that, it was difficult to see any gleam of hope in identifying their serial murderer.

They didnt bother with more than one of the vampire corpses. Felicia simply confirmed what theyd expected: the vampire was asleep, and then it was dead. Definitely the same guy.

To get to Alpha Chesters compound, they used the GAR teleporters. In the Midwest they were so sparsely placed that Rays glider was often the fastest means of transportation, since they needed to fly hundreds of miles anyway, and he was tempted to just fly to their destination directly. Alpha Chester did have a network link at his compound, though, so it was more polite to use it, but he stopped by the office to retrieve it in case they had any leads to follow up after their talk.

The wood, sourced from Portal World 1, also known as Faerie, was folded into a box about the size of a person. It could unfold of its own accord, using fae magic, but it also had a built-in focus so Ray could control it. That focus kept it hovering on a cushion of air, tethered to Ray as he took them through the teleporters.

The Midwest branch of GAR was actually located adjacent to the other regional branches, since the teleportation network meant they didnt need to be near the area they served. It was mostly for organizational compartmentalization, though there were always people who wanted to merge it into one whole.

He waved vaguely at the supervisors as they went from the incoming gate to the outgoing, waving his mark at the receiver and requesting 116-A from the operator, the teleportation circle that was outside Alpha Chesters compound. There was a flash of transition and they were in the back of a small, pack-owned restaurant.

Agent Danforth, a shifter who had to be nearly eight feet tall rumbled, already in war form. Agent Black. He nodded to each in turn. Obviously Chester had been expecting them, even if they hadnt called ahead.

Greetings, Ray said, flipping open his credentials by force of habit. If you could take us to see Alpha Chester?

Right this way. The shifter didnt bother to change to human form as he led them out the door and across the street, the folded glider bobbing behind them. It was actually quite nice to be completely surrounded by other supernaturals. If only Alpha Chester werent one of the major issues Ray and Felicia had to deal with.

They were shown through several layers of security, shifters in war form prowling everywhere, until they reached an office. Chester himself was in human form, but wasnt much smaller than most war form shifters at that, making an oversized laptop look rather miniscule.

Welcome, Alpha Chester said, not rising. Even though neither of them were shifters, Chesters presence was palpable, pervading the room. Be seated.Follow current novels at novelhall.com)

Thank you, Ray said. Im assuming you know why He was cut off as a phone buzzed on the table to Chesters right. The Alpha looked over it and scowled, the temperature of the room seeming to drop.

One moment, he told them, and picked up the phone. Chester here, Im afraid Ill have to call you back. I have some guests at the moment. He powered off the phone and set it aside, turning back to them. There. Now, as you were saying?

We have some questions to ask you about yesterdays incidents, Ray told him. Chester smiled, and Ray knew he wasnt going to get anything useful.

***

I guess it doesnt matter, he said. Anyway, I looked at your books and I have a few questions before I try digging into them.

Sure, Harry said, sounding unenthusiastic.

How would someone see through a glamour? Callum didnt have any idea how to even begin framing the question so he could find it in a book, and it was one of the major mysteries he wanted to solve.

Huh? Well, breaking a glamour takes

No, no, not breaking it, Callum corrected him. See through it as if it werent there.

Oh. There was a pause. Huh. A longer pause. Well, thats complicated.

Im listening, Callum said. Already, he was glad most of the information was in book form. The guys manner was incredibly irritating.

Its really dangerous, actually, Harry said. Using vis internally. With fire vis you could cook your own brain, with water vis you could burst your cells, that kind of thing. But some Archmages and GAR agents know how to use their vis to reinforce their senses. Its said that they can see past glamours and sense mana from miles away.

I see. Callum took a moment to digest that. Apparently hed been using magic all his life and never knew it. Not that he had any idea how, or why, because hed always been able to see through glamours. But it was internal magic, and hed already noticed it was incredibly difficult if not impossible to sense the inside of a supernatural.

Then there were the dangers. He could see how most types of vis would be dangerous to use if their effects manifested inside the body, but space magic didnt seem to have much of any effect by itself. The projectile sphere spell came to mind. Every other type of mana seemed to have some effect, but not space.

He had his own theories as to why. Mostly, it was because unless space changed very rapidly very quickly, things just moved in it as normal. For something more common like fire or ice or water or anything physical, that wasnt the case. Healing might be safe, but hed suggested some offensive applications himself and that kind of thing running rampant through the body could kill someone instantly.

The question was how he could stop doing that. Or if he could, if it was something hed been doing unconsciously for thirty years. It was weird that hed been running vis through his senses, or maybe his brain, since before he could walk or talk so it might be something he had no control over.

Okay, well. Thats actually very useful information, thank you. Callum looked at the books again. The enchanting books. Do they have the technique for translating spells down into enchantments? Or at least the basic vocabulary for it?

In the second volume, Harry said, sounding offended. Though of course the most advanced enchantments are only known to the Enchanters Guild.

That does not surprise me. What about foci? Im guessing Id have to go to the Enchanters Guild if I wanted to get one of those.

Of course. Harry sounded a little baffled. Most mages will make some of their own, but they do the best stuff.

Thats what I thought, thanks. He decided to leave the interrogation about where exactly all the mage infrastructure was until later. It wasnt like he dared walk in and order a multifunction focus for himself. But still, all the guilds and families and so on had to have land and property and stores somewhere that normal people wouldnt see them. Though with glamours, they could be hidden in plain sight.

What aspect does the mage youre asking for have? Harry asked, sounding marginally energetic. I can give you some recommendations based on what youre looking for.

Harry Callum sighed. I cant tell you anything. I know you could be more helpful if I did, but I have to be careful.

Oh, Harry said. Right.

Anyway, thanks for the information. Im sure Ill call again after Ive read through the material you gave me.

Sure, said Harry, and hung up. Callum rolled his eyes and dialed Moneypenny instead, lips twitching at the name.

Hey, big man! Gonna take my offer? She was not only expecting the call, but also knew exactly who was calling. Not that it was difficult to ensure that was the case, even with burner phones and the like. If she did network and communications security, that was the minimum degree of competence anyway.

Maybe, maybe, he told her. I mean, how much do you charge?

Fifty bucks and you can have me for a whole night, she replied promptly, which was so unexpected and ridiculous that he laughed for thirty seconds straight before he could get himself back under control. He was pretty sure it was only the glamour that kept people from staring at him.

Oh, God, he said after he was able to breathe again. I dont think Ive laughed like that in years.

Good to know I still have my touch, Moneypenny said, a touch smugly.

The touch you charge fifty bucks a night for? Callum almost regretted his riposte, clumsy as it was, but Moneypenny just laughed.

Thats the one! Seriously though, I charge Chester by the job. Ill send you a price list, but honestly, Im more into interesting jobs. Its hard being in the supernatural world but not being able to actually do anything supernatural.

You know, to be honest, a lot of that hacking stuff seems pretty magical to me, he told her. But I thought you were a shifter, working for Chester and all.

Nah, Im human. Parents were mages, but I didnt get the spark. She sighed. Kind of makes me second class. Practically a mundane.

Nothing wrong with being a mundane, Callum said, before pressing his lips together. Five minutes in and his lips were already far too loose.

Tell that to a mage, Moneypenny said dryly. Here, Ill text you my stuff. The phone buzzed, and Callum glanced at it.

Ah, he said. You left on your real name.

Yeah, Moneypenny, or rather, Lucile said. Honestly I dont think theyll catch you and if they do, a fake name isnt going to throw them off the trail. Either Chester can protect me or he cant.

Youre not worried about Chester, Callum said, leaning back in his chair. Lucile was a lot easier to talk to than Harry.

Hes practically royalty. He could murder a dozen people in broad daylight and all hed get was a slap on the wrist. I mean, so long as it wasnt an Archmage or master vampire.

Huh. So, Lucile

Lucy, she interrupted. Lucile makes it sound like Im eighty years old.

Lucy, then, he said with a chuckle. Do you have any idea what this whole vampire thing was about?

Vaguely. Exploiting some rules about GAR representation based on territory. The ones you offed werent really supposed to be there, but since GAR chose not to do anything about it, it was down to actual combat aaaand the vamps brought like, ten times more strength than the shifters did for each location.

Ah, Callum said. Selective rule enforcement.

Yeah, that.

Blech, Callum said with disgust, and Lucy made a noise of agreement. So what happened with the pair that I rescued from the vampires?

I hate to say it, but I dont think its anything good, Lucy said. The Department of Acquisitions is notoriously opaque. I could find out for you, though.

Id appreciate it, Callum said, wincing. He should have known better than to let GAR take care of what they considered mundanes. But he could at least hold out hope it wasnt too terrible. Consider it your first job from me. I feel a little bit responsible, since Im the one who pulled them out.

Yeah, Ill bill you, Lucy said, then paused thoughtfully. Wait, how are you going to pay me?

I thought youd have a suggestion, Callum admitted. I can always leave you money in a dead drop but that may not always be possible.

Theres some dark web ways to set up digital transfers that are obfuscated, but theyre complicated enough that you probably dont want to deal with them, Lucy admitted. A dead drop works best, but I can ask Alpha Chester to help with the logistics on that so you have more geography to work with.

Right, he said. How about we start with two kilograms of gold for a retainer. That should give me enough of a tab that I can request things without worrying too much.

Damn, you dont play around, Lucy said. Ill take it!

Great, Ill text you the location in a day or so. He was sorely tempted to keep chatting with her, but he was afraid hed compromise himself. Besides, he had books to read.