White Witch Where Art Thou?



1

A good game of cat and mouse is an excellent way to start the night, assuming you’re the cat.

         I peeked around the corner impatiently.  The hardest part about tagging a naughty fae is the waiting.  My shape-shifting cohort, Dillian, was watching the bungalow from a better angle than me and had yet to signal.  This side of the river had the standard Canadian bungalows seen in any mature neighborhood.  The air seemed to have an almost metallic taste to it, because naturally I was sensitive to iron and its alloys even if I was not anaphylactic shock sensitive like some.  Let’s say I would not be hugging Iron Man soon, or moving to any human dominated cities in Canada.

         Another difference was the wide paved streets rather than the more narrow cobblestone ones.  Then the lack of lush gardens.  In other words, where mundane humans populated I found the areas to be stale, as in they lacked a little luster to them.  It was not just the residential areas either.  The core of Newhaven was high rises, sleek glass and steel buildings and everything the fae abhorred in their environment.  We operated better under conditions more favorable to our breed.  Like all the Long Lived races we also liked our urban environments to be aesthetically pleasing and there was a time when humans had too.  Frankly lingering on this side of the river made me irritable and edgy, which was not the most comfortable state of mind to be in for a stakeout.  Also, a little hungry, but that had nothing to do with the damn near itchy atmosphere on the north side.

         I leaned against the house and rummaged through my hoodie pockets until I found the chocolate bar I stashed there.  I unraveled it carefully, trying not to make any sounds.  When I bit into the chewing caramel delight I groaned and then flicked a look around.  Sugar was like ambrosia to all fae, whether they be Unseelie or Seelie.  It was literally a primary food group.  I could buy any candy or bar at the local gas station and get some satisfaction from it, but this was properly made non-mass produced pure heaven I bought from the Freshmans Market.  Since my people had sensitivities to many human production methods, as in what they did to or added to their food, we were a self sustained city supplied by ethical farms and ranches with several fresh produce venues to purchase our good from, but it was well known that for the best chocolate confections and fudge delights one had to go see Glays the Brownie at Freshmans Market.

         -Dill?- I mind called.  I had a mind link spell to all my employees to handle jobs just like this.  Was it cooler than walkie-talkies?  No.  But they had vetoed my walkie-talkie suggestion. 

         -Yeah, darling?-

         -Our catch here is Peter Meadows, right?  This is the same gancanagh we caught not even four years back?  Getting it on with Bethany who worked at the Lantern?-          

I already knew the answer.  While Peter was going by some other alias he was the only one of his species I had ever seen in the earthly realm.  That only meant others were abiding the rules or out of my territory.  Or no one had noticed some human had died because the life force was sucked from them and perhaps went with the ‘heart failure’ routine excuse for unexplained deaths.

         -That’d be him.  But he was hunting on our side of the river that time.  This time he thought no one would care he was hunting in Newhaven.-

         -Yeah, didn’t really care for him hunting in my city.  A human goes down there and they damn well look for all causes of death, including fae or demon predators.  There’s always the most problems with the fae that kinda feed of humans.  Not that I’d stop them.  Everybody’s gotta eat.  I prefer cheeseburgers, but whatever.-

         -Yeah, but they have to learn to feed on the down low.  They could learn a thing or two from vampires.-          

I shoved the last bit of chocolate into my mouth and had officially run out of things to entertain myself with on this little jaunt.  Boredom was a big problem from my people, myself included, but I like to think when it counts I get things done.  This was not a job that I had penciled into my daily planner though.  This had come to Dill’s attention recently because the plethora of shape shifters who worshiped the ground he walked on ratted out this fae predator.

         Gancanagh look quite human; slim, pale and with an ethereal beauty to them, but human enough in outward appearance to appeal to their food.  Because they fed off sex I generally thought of them rather like incubi demons.  That therein lay the problem.  Gancanagh had an addictive aphrodisiac toxin on their skin.  It was fine if they limited it to one night stands, as was the unwritten law regarding such encounters.  Hells, they were in high demand for one night stands.  Peter Meadows had once again gone too far.  He’d been warned the last time he got someone addicted to him when the toxin got close to the lethal stage.  This would be a strike two and that meant he was going back home.  Play time over.

         -You may be a diplomat but it’s your job to tag these buggers so we can keep the fae image all media friendly.  Maybe he thought by hunting across the river from Haven would mean he was out of your jurisdiction.-

         -Oh, yes, the mighty Accords Council.  Like one representative is going to keep all of us in line.  And my jurisdiction is way larger than just Haven.  Plus Haven is the high density zone for our people, which means I have a lot more tags per month than any other diplomat.  I have to watch the whole region of Seelie live-ins.  It is hard to be tracking down every Unseelie who breaks the rules.  Technically, the human Inter-racial squad should be protecting Newhaven from anything that goes bump in the night.-          

That may sound lazy, like I was slacking on the job, but it was also quite true.  Unseelie were barely a bleep on my radar, but when we did find out something that could be a potential media nightmare I had to do something about it.

         -Look at it this way, Ray, if I’d not gotten that tip things would have been worse, possibly in the news, before Inter ever got you officially involved.  They would‘ve called you in to confirm on it, you still would‘ve done the tag, but would also have to write a report for Inter and report the incident to the Queen.-

         -Point taken.  I do loath reports.  And the Queen.-          

People expected a certain amount of devious or mischievous behavior from the Unseelie breeds, but us Seelie had to be seen as pristine.  That is why my team handled everything else and I tagged fae offenders and handled Accords business.  Besides it was a rush.  A great deal more fun than sitting on the Accords Council for certain.  I chose to ignore the fact that this was my job at my little detective agency because I was no detective.  Sure I could track most fae and tag them as well, but when it came to solving cases not involving the fae or by more mundane methods I neither had to patience or the skill for it.

         I lit a nice herbal smoke and took a long drag hoping the tag wouldn’t take too much longer.  I had a werewolf informant to see and other more pressing concerns like grabbing a beer.  Since my informant picked a human club as the meeting place I was wearing uncomfortably low-ride jeans and a skin-tight T-shirt that revealed some of my abdomen.  I felt the jeans shifting down to places I did not want them to go.  I should’ve rethought the whole underwear thing.  The things I did to blend.  Because I was on the down low I had a glamour designed to make me unnoticeable and bland.  Wore it most of the time really.  I left all the sparkle and glitter to the more media loving Seelie. 

         How long did it take this Unseelie fae to get his groove on?  I was getting antsy.  I preferred to do most of my jobs in two phases.  Phase one; target and stalk.  Phase two; ambush and tag.  This whole stake out thing took too much of my precious, precious time.

         -Dill?-

         -Yeah, darling?-

         He didn’t even sound the least bit annoyed with my pestering.  How disappointing.

         -Have you heard from Viv?-

         -She sent a text and said that job for Vincent is a done deal.-

         I mentally shrugged.  -Good.  One job down.-  I hired my services and my staff’s to anyone that helped maintain a balance.  This made me money, connections and established a safe environment for the fae guests.  Dillian ran the show on most of that.  He liked playing detective.  I had one vamp, a shifter and one human psychic on staff.  I liked to cover all potential job opportunities.  Potentially I would expand and maybe hire some fae to help with some of our Accords jobs, but since I lacked ambition that was not going to happen in the foreseeable future.  My company really just kept me in touch with different races and communities.  There were plenty witch based agencies that took the load of paranormal investigations.

         I sighed and butted out my smoke. 

         -I got movement.-

         My heart rate sped up and I grinned.  Game on.

         -Bout damn time.  Although, really, it just shows the boy has some skills.-

         -I will take the front.  You can come up behind him.-

         Because we were in Newhaven I had to be a little more discrete in my bag and tag methods.  Last time I had a chat with Peter I had caught him in the act, which had been remarkably easy.

         -Got it.  I‘ll paralyze him before he runs.-

         -He’s coming out now.-

         Dill had scoped Peter out a few times to make sure he was returning to the same woman.  Actually, women.  He got around.  Quite the little man-whore.  I peeked around the corner and saw him.  Like most of his race he could alter his appearance on a basic level.  He could be blond and blue-eyed if his prey liked her man candy that way.  This one appeared to go for a more chocolate hair and eyes version.  He looked a little too thin and had effeminate features, but otherwise he appeared quite human.  Peter began to walk up the quiet residential street towards Dill’s spot. 

         “Occultistis exos turpise,” I whispered out a nice invisibility spell.  Nothing grand.  Just to hide me from plain sight if he happened to get nervous and look behind him.  I started to follow him quietly as possible.

         -I’m moving,- Dill said.

         I picked up my pace and hurried into spell range.  I didn’t want Peter to make a run for it.  His species of Unseelie had unusually fast reflexes and speed.  Also since they altered their appearance on a physical level and not a magical one, they could blend right into a crowd.  Which is why I planned to paralyze him before he even heard me utter the words.

         Dill stepped in front of him and initiated conversation.  Dillian looked intimidating even if he didn’t mean to.  Any fae could sense he was a panther shifter and the fact his eyes remained kitty eyes pretty much meant anyone likely could guess.  He was not by any means a large man but he was lean with coiled muscles and packed a mean punch.  From the way Peter froze into inhuman stillness I knew he was about to bolt.

         I pointed at Peter’s back and said, “Habitum, etiam net permovis pareo.”

         The spell spun out of my aura in a flick of light that smacked Peter in the back head.  He tottered a bit and then fell over.  Most Unseelie fae had some inborn resistance to some Seelie magic and so I needed to tag him with the spell that would bind him to Faerie for a century before he shook the paralyze.  A binding oath spell could not be broken and a hundred year term was the sentence for most crimes.  In a hundred years no human would care if they came back.

         I rushed over to them, dispelled my invisibility with a quickly uttered trigger word and gave Peter a stern look. 

         “Peter, I swear we have had this conversation before.”

         “She did, Pete, I was there,” Dill added. 

         “This is your second offence within the last ten years.  You didn’t even try to wait until I forgot.  You didn’t even move to another city.  That’s dumb, man.  Seriously.  So you are recalled to Faerie for a sentence of a hundred earth years.”

         I should’ve seen it coming, but in my defense I assumed the spell would effect him fully.  I think I was too astonished to move when he leapt at Dill and kissed him.  I mean, he kissed Dillian.  How could that not shock me for a moment?  I might have giggled.  Peter pulled away, smirked and then bolted.  Obviously my spell had slowed his speed, since he was running at a human speed with a bit of a drunken stagger to it.

         “Dill, you alright?”

         Dill just gave me a dopey grin.  Great.  He was buzzed off the kiss.  I was never going to let him live that down.

         “Just sit down for me.  I’ll be right back.”

         I dashed after Peter, who looked like he was making for a main street and likely a crowd to blend in with.  Idiot.  Any spell I cast I could see as clear as day and so could trace the residue of it.  Peter was still faster than me and was out of sight in moments.  I would really have liked to blame that on his racial traits or the fact it was dark out, but the fact was, I don’t do much running.  I ended up a street lined with liquor stores, bars and cheque cashing stores.  I slowed down to a fast walk, trying to ignore the stitch in my side and the burn in my lungs.  My spell trail was a bit blurred from the people around me and certainly Peter had altered himself just enough for me not to recognize him.  Now a detective would have remembered the specific details of his clothing.  I had only noticed he wore an ugly red jacket, which of course it would make sense to take off.

         I walked the street slowly, ignoring everyone and just following the sparkling trail of my spell.  Not much of an energy trail really, just popping sparkles of blue and white particles.  When that trail stopped at a bar I made sure Peter had not actually doubled back by assessing the lightness of the trail behind me.  Obviously, he thought the change in appearance would do it.  There were a group of humans smoking close to the door, but none of them were Peter.  For one thing, it would take a great deal of effort for him to change himself into a woman, let alone strip some woman of her clothing.  The men where not similar in dimensions and besides that, their energy aura was pure human.  That left the bar.  I hurried in and found myself inflicted with country music and a bar crowded with people just off work.  I spotted Peter slowly weaving through the tables, making his way to a back door likely.  He had taken off his jacket and completely changed his complexion, but it was him.

         I grinned widely and  ran right at him.  I tackled him to the ground and wrestled with him until he was on his back and I had him pinned.  His species was not all that strong and I had the added strength of being a demon-fae half-breed.  Peter let his features slide to their natural coloration of pale grey eyes and silver hair.  His eyes were what drew me.  In fact, I seemed lost in their depths for a moment.  A kind of smoky, storm cloud grey of mystery and seduction.  I jerked my eyes away and gave him a light slap.

         “None of that now,” I said.  I held his hands in a firm grip and from the pleasurable tingle going up my arm I knew he was releasing his toxin in great amounts.  Not that it was toxic to me, but certainly gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.  Ooh babe, bet he was fun in bed.  I resisted the temptation to rub myself all over him, but just barely.  I made sure I was not in a kissable range, after seeing the effect of that.  “You had to make me run after you.”

         We were drawing quite the crowd, which was just fantastic.  These sorts of things were not to be seen by the human population.  Which meant I would have to make them all forget what they saw.  That made me cranky.  I had not pre-spun a spell to handle human interference, which meant it would take a little to complete one on the fly.

         “It is not right,” Peter said, in Gaelic, which suggested he had spent some time with out European cousins.  “Why should I have to choose a different human each night?”

         “Hmm.  Maybe because you kill them if you stick around, you freakin dumbass.”

         “They’re just human.  I’ll starve if you bind me to Faerie.”

         “Should’ve thought of that before.  Maybe you’ll remember when you’re released.  Besides, you can always go to the court to overrule my decision, but then the Queen might just kill you for insolence.  Up to you really.”

         I placed my hand on his forehead.  He tried to buck me off him but before he managed to get free I would have him.

         “Boundis domum parump centuri.  Non contineo terra pro tentatiom.  And presto spamo you are ensnared, my friend.”

         I felt the spell burn into him and his body shook as it seeped into his essence.

         I stood up and I dispelled the paralyze spell with a few muttered words and a flick of my fingers.  I would have to remember that spell only slowed his kind down.  “You have maybe an hour to get back to Faerie before you feel the weight of that binding.  I would not recommend dawdling, cause if you‘re here when it does, your ass is fried.”

         Peter stood up and spat out a few curses, then bolted.  I stood up and brushed myself off.  People were already beginning to ask me questions that I had no ready answer for.  I also had no ready spell to spin at them either.  I had to make sure no one left while I spun one out.

         “You wouldn’t believe the night I have had.  If someone will by me a beer I’ll tell you all about it,” I said, releasing my outer shield just enough to draw the attention of everyone in the room, but not enough to totally bombard them with my fae essence.  Technically that was illegal, letting a human feel the full force of my essence, but in times like this there was no choice.  Crowd control was a little more vital than overwhelming a few people for a little bit.

         The fact my stalling actually worked was likely because the humans living in Newhaven were a little more used to seeing unusual events than people in the rest of the country.  I took a moment to text Viv, so she could collect Dill and then set myself to weaving an entertaining tale while constructing a spell that would effect them all.

         By the time Viv staggered into the bar holding Dill around the waist I had managed to control the occupants of the bar.  I was rather pleased with how I had managed it.  Just a little memory wipe spell threaded into a round of free shots.  Thankfully, this crowd and staff were not the sort to turn down a free drink.  Or at least not when I gave them a subtle push to do so.  All a smidge illegal, but all for the cause.

         “Hey,” I greeted as Viv helped Dill sit down and then made herself comfortable.

         “Jeez, what a dive,” Viv said.  She turned her liquid amber eyes on me and flashed me a grin.  She looked ready for the club scene with her tight black leather pants a flimsy shirt that dropped obscenely in the front.  “I’m totally dying to know what happened.  You wouldn’t believe how I found Dill.  He’s all hot and bothered.”

         Dill had a lazy grin on his face that was just so out of place.  As was the sort of spaced out glaze to his eyes.

         “Dill, man, how are you doing?”

         He muttered incoherently and then slumped forward.

         “That good, eh?” I said.  “What the hells are you doing?” I snapped at Viv as she pointed her phone at Dillian.

         “Come on!  I have to have evidence.”

         “Yeah, right.  Then you’ll have it all over Facebook and your blog.”

         She reluctantly put her phone down all the while giving me a pout.

         I slowly smiled.  “I’ll let you, but only if you send me a copy.  I need a new screen saver.”

         Viv snapped a few shots off.  One of him slumped on the table.  Then one with me holding his head up and smiling.  Then I shot one of Viv the same way.  My the time we were finished we were both laughing so hard we had stitches in our sides and tears rolling down our face.

         “I need details, sugar plum, I can’t mock him without all the juicy details.”

         I tried to smother a smile.  “I can’t be expected to keep track of every trait in every Unseelie breed.  There are thousands of them.  I‘ve never even encountered this one before.  I had to do research on it.  Okay, there was the time prior, but he didn‘t put up a fuss that time cause it was just a warning.”

         “Of course,” she readily agreed.

         “I knew this particular breed were quick buggers so it made sense to paralyze him.”

         “Totally following you.”

         “It more like slowed him down.  Still, got up fast enough to kiss Dill.  I‘m talking full out kiss.  There might have been some tongue action too.”

         The look of utter astonishment on Viv’s face had me laughing. 

         “I think the tactic threw off Dill’s game, but also took him out of the game.  I had to run him down here and tag him.  Then do my mojo on the crowd here.  Really, quite an easy tag aside from that amusing part.  So how did the rogue go?”

         “Not nearly as entertaining.  Never are though.  Thirsty, certainly, but not any challenge.  This one wasn’t groomed for the Turn.  He was accidentally turned by some true born vampire.  Dude woke up at his own autopsy and freaked.”

         “Really.  I wonder why,” I said blandly.

         “You know Vinny doesn’t like a Turned vamp who isn’t tied to his maker.  He’ll pay us well for not getting fined by Inter for it.”

         Back when I opened my agency and hired my manic but fun vampire friend we had waited to be contracted to go after a rogue and then get paid.  Viv now found it easier to troll the city, find a rogue and take care of business with no fuss and then demand payment from Vincent for saving him the trouble.  It was ingenious and I wish I had thought of it.

         “Don’t call him Vinny.  You know he hates that,” I said with a smile.  The interesting confrontations Vincent had with Viv were far too amusing for me to stop them.  Viv was a Master in her own right and not tied to his hierarchy, which made her autonomous and a pain in Vincent’s ass.  He tolerated because he knew her longer than I had been in existence and because Viv was a Master without an Estate, as in she had yet to Turn anyone.

         I had to deal with the local Master vampire because the man had the audacity to choose a Seelie fae to mate with.  One that had land rights in Haven.  Which only meant I had to pretend to be nice to him while I carefully watched his wife and made sure when she played her glamour games no one was aware of it.

         She rolled her eyes.  “Pompous, arrogant ass is what he is.  Ever since he grew his estate he has gotten a huge ego.  Now that he has claimed Haven there is no controlling it.  I totally don’t get why older vampires abhor nicknames or short names.  I really don’t.  So melodramatic, don‘t you think?”  She hardly gave me a chance to answer even had I been inclined.  She gave me a sly look.  “You know Vinny and I had a thing back in the day.  During the war.”

         “What war?” I asked, sparing myself the details of that affair.  The only war that concerned me was the one between demons and the fae.  It was currently at an uneasy truce, but the last little outburst of violence, fifty years past, had been what made humans so very aware of the other races living amongst them.  Totally changed all the rules.

         “World War one, of course.  I love humans wars.  So gory and intense.  Vincent has fought in every major war since he was born.  So did I, once us females were permitted.  And what a rush.”

         “How would you even control your bloodlust?” I wondered out loud, knowing how even a vampire with a full stomach would leap on a wounded human.  Predators and wounded prey.

         Dill let out a loud groan before Viv could reply.  He sat up abruptly and looked like he had been slammed over the head by the hangover fairy.

         He furrowed his eyebrows and he slanted in the chair until he rubbed shoulders with Viv.  He gave her a startled look.  “What the heck?”

         “Indeed,” I said, smothering a giggle.  “Knocked out by a kiss.  From a man.”          Dill quirked an eyebrow.  “Yeah?  Some paralyze spell.”

         “We’ll have to put that in our database.  Gancanagh not fully effected by paralyzing spells.  Kiss that totally rocks a shape shifter‘s world.”

         While Dillian sobered up I filled in the gaps.  Viv felt the overwhelming need to insert her opinion on the matter until Dill’s face darkened and his eyes narrowed.

         “Well, that’s done at least.  Nice easy tag, just the way I like them.  Aside from the minor complication.  All the fun parts happen so fast.  Thanks for helping me track him.”

         “Nothing to it,” he muttered.  “Since I was the one that called you in.”

         “Meh.  Semantics,” I said with a wave of disinterest.  I looked around the room.  It felt like everyone was staring at me, but given my nifty glamour, they were likely just ogling Viv.  I flared my nostrils slightly.  “Is it me, or does it smell like sweat in here?”

         Viv flashed me a grin.  “It does.  Air conditioning is out I think, plus there is a table of five rather deliciously sweaty men behind you.”

         “That does not sound nearly as appealing as you make it sound, but then, I talk about chocolate the same way.  Shouldn’t an all human bar be closed by now?”

         Dill gave me a look of pure disgust.  I thought that was a little uncalled for until I saw the glyph painted above the door.  “Honestly, I am shocked.  Witches are now encroaching outside of Haven?  What has gotten into people these days.”

         “Not our problem,” Viv said with a shrug.

         “Not now.  When witches take over the world it will be your problem,” I said with a laugh.  “I’ll just boot it back home.”

         I smiled at Dill.  It was the sort of smile that made him frown.  “I’m off to meet with Sarah, who says she’s got big news for me.  There’s always a first.  I would like you to go check on Liona’s place and then track Mel.”

         I only kept a close eye on the Seelie fae with land rights, as they were the ones that could cause the most trouble.  Liona was the one who had married the local Master vampire and spawned some intriguing vampire fae half-breeds.  Since that was media worthy it meant I had to pay special attention to her actions.

         Dill grimaced.  “Babysitting again?”

         “Fraid’ so.  Viv did her job for the night and now its your turn.  So man up, kitty cat.”

         He shrugged.  “No sweat off my balls if you want to pay me fifty bucks an hour to watch Mel make an ass out of himself.”

         I grimaced at him.  “Please refrain from mentioning your sweaty balls.”

         “Yeah, I think I gagged a little,” Viv said.

         “Oh, right, that coming from a chick who has sucked many balls in her time,” Dill said with a cocky grin, obviously feeling better if he was bickering with Viv.

         Viv licked her plump lips and replied, “So I have.  I’ve even kissed a few women.  That your first man on man action?”

         Dill wiped his lips with a grimace.  “Thanks for the reminder.”

         Mel, which would be Vincent and Liona’s eldest, was a genuine party boy who played up on the press fae seemed to attract.  He often treated my agents like his own personal body guards.  Still he was the most likely to cause a trouble for the sheer fun of it and less likely if Dill threaten to bite his head off.

         “It’s great that you’re back in town, but I could do without these trailing the vamp kiddies runs.  So how did it go with the Bitch Queen of Faerie?”

         “Yeah, what’s up with that?  You were gone like a month this time,” Viv said.

         “My report went well.  The only reason she demands I go to her directly to report fae issues is so that she can torment me.  Apparently my mother did or said something that pissed her off and somehow I got punished with her.  She has been sent to some Unseelie area and I got thrown in the hole.”

         “That hag has gone over the deep end, Ray.  Bitch gets crazier every year,” Dill said.

         “Yeah, I know it.  Hells, everyone knows it.  If she gets any more loony she could lose her focus and control.  If there are no high blooded Seelie fae around when that happens, then Faerie could fall apart and disintegrate.”

         “There are still high bloods around to take her place if need be.  If they weren’t such chicken shits they would take the bitch queen down.”

         “Sure, easy to say, but a tad harder to do.  Considering how the last rebellion went and the slaughter afterwards.”

         He snorted dismissively, but then he had been a warrior in the Seelie fae army.  War was all fun and games to him.  It was before my time but most fae still trembled from the mention of the Dark Days.  “I’ll let you know if Mel does anything stupid and you can let me know if Sarah manages to come up with some useful intel.”

         “She might,” Viv said.  “I was hanging out in the local vamp bars, just getting my groove on before you texted me about the rogue.  Something has the vamps all edgy.  I was going to see if I could hang with Vinny to see what was going on when you got me to get Dillian.”

         “If she has set up a meet to tell me there is hostility between the werewolf pack and the vamps she could have spared me.  Like I care if there is.”

         “Don’t think it’s that,” Viv said.

         I stood up.  “Best get it over with then.  I’ll let you know if it is anything worth while.”

         “See you on the flip side, sparkles,” Viv said.