Foreboding Skies (The Skybreaker Saga Book 1) (14 page)

              Gediz slid up to us and immediately began speaking, pleasantries could wait. “We found out where those Wiccans went to ground and it’s not good. Not at all. Six of them and a whole lot of bad bad magic artifacts are currently at the temporary headquarters for one Agent Goodwin. The entire place has likely been heavily warded and there are plenty of Fae and human mercenaries hanging around. The surviving three members of the coven are on the way here to explain why they had the artifacts in the first place and what their fellow Wiccans are hoping to accomplish.”

              There were legitimate reasons why they were not to be trusted that only compounded the irrational bitterness with which they were regarded by many. Many including myself. “Aside from something bad do we have any idea what Goodwin is planning to do?” I had my hunch, and it was grim. I looked from Gediz to Alewyn then over to the rooms other occupants. No one seemed to have any concrete ideas.             

“What’s wrong now?” Gousie’s voice, now impeccably solid, derailed my figurative train of thought and forced me to remember that she was in the room. She never stopped sweeping the room and keeping an eye on the two new arrivals at the same time. Her observational skills were impeccable. Which is why she zeroed in on me. “What is it?” She could probably tell by the look on my face I didn’t have anything cheerful to say. But she wanted to push forward anyway. Everyone else looked at me as well.

“I have a hunch. It’s only a hunch and we won’t know if I’m anywhere near correct till the Wiccans get here so let’s wait for them.” The more I thought about it the more it felt right. Down’s was the first piece, a man with assets beyond his means trying to cause a tear. A corrupt federal agent backing him, who may have had a hand in his escape. But if that were true then why did the reaver show up looking for Down’s after he already escaped? I pushed that off to the side for now. Goodwin was trying to help Down’s escape and he abducted Hemmingway, maybe as a bargaining chip? That would be a preferable scenario to what I had in mind. A group of Wiccans breaking off from their coven with a sack full of illegal magical goodies and joining up with Goodwin. The pieces formed a grim picture but I couldn’t toss it out because it was depressing and horrifying all at once. A vision of a dead Detroit invaded my mind, of skeletal remains under a bloody sky. It caused a massive spike of reflexive fear and sadness to rise, as if I were reliving a tragic memory as opposed to an imagined scene. My next words died in my throat.

              “John, Dragomir.” A near-lethal cold dripped from her tongue as she left my real name hanging in the air. “If you know what’s going to happen to Joseph then you need to tell me. Do not look down on me just because I am human. I have every reason to be in this fight and don’t you dare tell me that I don’t.” Her words hit me harder than her punch earlier. I wasn’t going to voice my theory until she was gone. I certainly wasn’t going to allow her to come with us to confront Goodwin. She punched me earlier for making decisions for her and I was still doing it. I should let her hit me again. Before I could play out my masochist fantasy the doors opened and the guests of honor were marched in. 

              All three of the Wiccans had the air of fledglings about them. The most senior members of the coven would be with Goodwin, or dead. I was surprised to see the fiery red head here. Shelby, I think her name was. I would have put money down that she would have jumped in with the malcontents. The other two were identical twins, identical Asian twins. They were miniscule flanked by the stout wolves and stone-faced Vampires. I wondered how savagely Aslan had to threaten his wolves for them to leave the girls untouched. They were still under assault though. The atmosphere itself was grinding the three Wiccans down to a pulp.

No one would like what they had to say. No one had any reason to be happy. A message delivered by three Wiccans was always grim. That was a widely believed fact. However, it seemed unlikely that the children would be able to deliver anything while buried under hostile eyes upon them. Vlad got the same idea nodded to his Vampires to clear out. Gediz understandably dismissed his men with more reluctance, if the Wiccans chose a suicidal attack having several wolves in the room would certainly help. Though, I think Gediz was greatly overestimating these Wiccans. In this confined space with two Vampires, two wolves, and me, all three of their necks would be snapped in short order if they tried weaving a spell. Maybe only two necks would be snapped if it came to that. We still needed information after all.

              Kovo, at some point, retrieved more chairs through a well hidden side door. When did she become so elusive? Gediz and Amare seemed unsettled by Kovo’s enhanced stealth as well. Their inner predators did not like others having the ability to sneak around them. It was one of the reasons Shamans were typically kept at arm’s length. A polite nod from our host ushered the Wiccans to the three seats in a group and the rest of us took the remaining five seats facing them. Kovo and Amare remained standing.

              “Please rest easy Ms. Adams, Ms. Chin, and Ms. Chin. We know you are innocent in what is happening. I will not try to say I understand how much events have hurt you but I will say that we need all the help you can offer us.”

              “Offer you? We have the choice of not helping? Or are you planning on disposing of us because we’re inconvenient.” Red drawled acidly. Ms. Adams was sweating bullets and her companions would probably faint soon. The false anger did not cover her fear. Everyone else could smell it and I could see the fear gathering around her. I bet that even Gousie could read the girl. Huh. I was looking down on her again. She was most likely a trained interrogator.

              “Is there a reason we should be looking to kill you witch?” Gediz stated in a friendly conversational tone. This was when he was most frightening, all calm and friendly until he decided to rip your throat out. The twins were wilting and Adams was clearly weighing fight or flight. They may actually try something stupid if they really thought they were going to die.

              A hand slamming onto the table knocked the room’s attention off of the Wiccans and onto the owner of said hand, Gousie. “Mr.….”

              “Aslan” I supplied.

“Mr. Aslan.” Gousie spoke with the tone of an instructor correcting an unusually dull student. “We are trying to make them feel at ease. Remember? We need their help! Everyone must, and I emphasize, must cease the bullshit at once or something terrible is going to happen.” Damn. And I had been treating her as a lesser partner in this. Knowing she was the only human in the room she still spoke her mind. One human shocked a room of supernatural killers into silence. Everyone was reappraising her, which could be good or bad. Earning the respect of the creatures in this room would be a boon for her, if they didn’t decide to kill her first. I kept myself relaxed, but I was prepared to send the alpha wolf and his second flying through the wall if Aslan decided to take offense at the audacious human’s rebuke.

              “Fucking nice one girl.” My elven friend said with equal parts mirth and gravity. Alewyn finished his assessment and decided to back the lone human. Vladimir seemed amused and impressed, Amare was in utter awe of the human who would dare raise her voice to his alpha, and Kovo looked particularly sour about that.

              A lot sounds could fill the room in the next second, the sounds of violence, of an awkward silence, but the sound I did not expect to confront was that of laughter. Aslan’s cool expression was quickly warped by a bout of booming laughter, the kind that comes from deep in your belly and is incredibly infectious. It was a strong possibility that someone was going to die or be seriously injured in the next few moments and… then it wasn’t. A bit anticlimactic, but it would do. The beast in me still roiled at the lack of violence. The twin Wiccans were gazing at Gousie with unadulterated awe and Gousie graced them with a smile. Red, far from being relaxed or grateful, was studying Gousie with blatant suspicion. Red didn’t get a smile. Although, I could understand Red’s hesitation. Why would anything go her way today? It was a feeling I could relate to.

              I decided to take the floor and finally get to the crux of the matter. “What is Goodwin planning on doing? And if you don’t know that then tell me, err, us what your former coven members are planning. And if you don’t know that then would you go to dinner with me when this situation is resolved?” What did I say? I cursed my animal instincts for making me want to fuck! I hated Wiccans. Right?

              “What did you say!?” was shouted at me by numerous mouths. Red was speechless and seemed genuinely confused. I was just as speechless and confused. Our only interactions thus far had been antagonistic. I had an admitted prejudice against Wiccans and she was on trial. Well, not technically. Not yet. The room turned incredulous on me instantly. The only one not busy being thunder struck was Alewyn. And all I got from him was his signature ‘you are an idiot’ look.

Red saved us all from the horrendous awkwardness I foolishly created. “I havenevermet.” Deep breath and heathing breasts. “I have never met this Goodwin person, this is the first time I’m hearing that name. I can tell you what the…criminals have taken and what the items can be used for. I…I can’t answer the last question.” She finished meekly. I could only nod to that. I hated Wiccans didn’t I? Everyone was eyeing me strangely but Vladimir was examining me rather closely. I couldn’t read what the Polack was thinking. Did I even want to know?

Vlad shook whatever it was off and quickly took the reins again. “We have found that Agent Goodwin is in fact here on an official mission to establish contact with us, the Community. We have also found that his direct superiors have all gone off the grid. They are still issuing orders but we have not been able to actually find them anywhere. This leads me to believe that Agent Goodwin has staged something of a coup. As of yet we are not sure how far it has spread.” He refocused his attention on the Wiccans. “Regardless of who in the government is against us our main concern remains the magical strength of our foes.” With that he began efficiently questioning the Wiccans without making them feel like they were being interrogated.

My blunder and Gousie’s outburst drained the tension out of the room. After an hour of questioning we had little more information than we began with. The elder of the coven was dead, along with three other members. One of the traitors had been killed, meaning only four Wiccans made it to Goodwin’s side. Red described a scene of chaos at the coven house.

Our guests really didn’t know much about our adversaries’ plans. Vlad sent them off to the rooms he kept perpetually prepared for guests. They were escorted by Kovo and Caleb to ensure no one tried to bother the trio. That left Me, Vlad, Alewyn, Aslan, and Gousie to rehash our information. Unfortunately my earlier hunch seemed ever more likely. Gousie had not forgotten about what I never finished saying and would certainly force the issue now. Aslan posed a question of his own first. “Would you mind telling us what your little outburst was about?” I would rather talk about evil blood magic rituals that could end all of existence. So I did.

“A question best left to another day. I think we should talk about what is going to happen next. I have a working theory I’d like to lay out for all of you. Please feel free to tell me I’m wrong.” I thought that I would prefer that actually. “I think the rogue Wiccans are going to perform a ritual staggering in both its history and power. This ritual requires the kind of power only several great relics can provide, numerous Wiccans to manage that power, and the living sacrifice of a kind and honorable man.” I took stock of the faces looking back at me and none of them looked like they were going to offer a less horrible explanation.

Gousie was the first one to swallow what I said. And it nearly made her vomit again. “Wait! They’re going to kill Joseph? Why? What does this ritual do?” Gousie demanded in a rush. Vladimir put his hand on her shoulder and eased her down. Unfortunately what came next was even worse.

“They need to sacrifice a righteous individual to power the ritual. Wiccans can’t generate much of their own power and must transfer it from another source to use powerful magic. In this case they are transferring the power of a life into the energy needed to open the doorway.” I paused before continuing because the human sacrifice was actually the less horrifying part of the whole situation. And that in and of itself was scary. “This particular ritual is used to forcibly open a full blown breach. A large sustainable one. The last time this ritual was used…the Onyx King entered our world as a result.” I knew I would have to say it and it still gave me shivers when I did. The Onyx King was one of the world’s greatest disasters. An entity from the deep expanse brought to our world by a demented cabal of covens. Everyone looked rather grim, save Gousie who was fortunate enough to not know that terrible story. She was going to ask and I was going to take some of that fortune away from her.

“Who is the Onyx King?” She sounded like she didn’t want to know. Well, I didn’t want to tell her. Kovo and Caleb returned to inform us that the Wiccans were tucked away safely in heavily fortified rooms. I failed yet again to fully grasp Kovo’s presence until she was nearly upon us. I was intensely curious to know how she was doing it, but I began to suspect I knew the cause. The use of such rooms was telling. In normal times the fact that they were the guests of Vladimir Rurik would have been more than enough protection.

The seconds took their respective positions behind their leaders and I reluctantly continued. I did wish someone else here could talk about it. “The Onyx King was an extremely powerful entity from deep within the expanse.” I headed of Gousie’s question. “Think of the expanse like an ocean with familiar spirits residing near the surface where we are and unknown entities dwelling in the deep ocean, far away from us. Normally the only residents of the expanse we encounter are the near-surface dwellers that are influenced by us. These are the spirits that Shaman bond with because they have been influenced by humanity. They can cause problems but are not inherently malicious or wholly alien to us. The deeper you go into the expanse the more human influence wanes. Eventually it falls off completely and that is when shit gets disturbing real quick. The ritual that our enemies are going to enact opens a great big damned door straight to the deep expanse. The last time someone created that door was in the year eight hundred forty three AD. Shortly after the Onyx King decided to knock and poke his head through. I suppose he, or rather it, liked what it saw. It then possessed the body of the Shaman who’d been sacrificed by the Wiccans performing the ritual. What happened next is…not relevant to our situation. We need to stop them.” Gousie looked more confused than terrified as she should have been. There was no way she could grasp what we were facing. It was simply too far away from everything she ever knew.

“How do you so much about this ritual anyway Dag?” Aslan quipped at me. He didn’t like that I never answered his question from before, and likely never would. Drag was short for Dragomir and it was only a minor annoyance. Just a minor annoyance.

“My master was alive during those times, as were many of you, and studied closely the causes of the Onyx King’s rise. He was determined to ensure that nothing like it could ever happen again. He was one of the chief architects of today’s style of Wiccan containment. He is also the source of my deep seated prejudice against Wiccans.” It felt weird to say it out loud. It was true though. I still couldn’t fault the man for his way of thinking. Wiccans nearly ended all life on earth with the Onyx King. And they were trying to do it again.

“We can’t handle another Onyx King. We need to declare war on this situation and get everyone we can here pronto!” Alewyn said with urgency. Everyone other than Gousie and Vladimir looked sickeningly grim. Why wasn’t he shaking in his boots? I knew he had had a leading role in the war against the Onyx King and some whispered he delivered the killing blow, but still. This shit was scary. Vladimir was more expectant than anything else. He was anticipating something from me. I figured I could probably douse the panic a little bit.

“There is good news. The first ritual was performed under much different circumstances. First and foremost is the number of Wiccans involved. There were one hundred sixty nine the last time. That’s thirteen times thirteen. Thirteen covens working as one, a feat never before accomplished and never allowed to happen again. It is still illegal for a coven to have more than twelve members. I would be surprised if they could even get into the double digits.”

“What about all the magic baubles they stole?” Aslan interrupted me.

“Those will be no substitute for their lack of numbers. Second.” I said cutting Aslan off. We hadn’t gotten along over the years. He narrowed his eyes at me but otherwise remained silent. His control was tremendous. A sort of refined savagery.