Friends and Enemies (Gwen Farris Book 5) (17 page)

"What were they going to do though, to help out Charles and Will? Bribe someone?" She spoke, lofting slightly higher upward, but not going too high yet, knowing Kate didn't like that kind of thing.

Katherine laughed out loud.

"It
is
a time honored tradition. Now, if you don't mind, magic us homeward? Go. Get us back... Go on. Home girl, and don't spare the engines!"

It was a bit of a problem though, given where they were. Gwen could teletransport, and it didn't take her long to manage, but she didn't think she could do it while putting most of her power into staying in the air like she was. While it was possible that she could do it from in the water, she could
also
drown trying. Looking at the green waves below she shuddered a little. That idea was about the worst possible thing. Breathing had always been enough of an issue for her, before, that she kind of feared not being able to, now.

There were other rules to the whole thing as well. But it wasn't a huge thing. She just went up as high as she could, which was about a thousand feet, and got ready, ignoring the gibbering terror from inside herself. That was Katherine. She was well and fully afraid of heights. Gwen had no problem that way, in particular.

That was good, since she had to move herself across the world while they fell, traveling from where they were, over the Atlantic, to about the same level up in the air, over Park Street. Then it was just a matter of flying again, catching herself with her mind, and floating to the ground in the back yard. Honestly, it was kind of fun. Teletransport was more useful, but flying just kicked ass. It
was
freedom.

No one noticed, since she made a point of coming down on the jogging trail, behind the thick tree line, but on the dirt path.

From there, once firmly on the ground and steady, she moved back to her room, since her body was still that way. The bathing chamber, actually, since she was still very damp. Cold, too.

What she needed to do was catch a quick shower to get the salt and sea scent off,
without
looking like a paranoid goof in front of everyone else. She felt both stupid,
and
like someone was trying to screw with her.

Someone named Adam, forcing her friend Beth to help him, she didn't doubt.

Twenty minutes later she came out of her room, carrying a full bag, a military style duffle that Charles had gotten her about a year before. Ten months, she thought. Moving at a brisk pace, she went to find Bethany. Her buddy was sitting in the front room, a packed bag with her. She smiled as soon as Gwen set her sack down.

Being a scamp, or trying her best to manage it, Gwen winked.

"There you are. I was just about to think about going to find you." She grinned about it though, as if they
weren't
on a time schedule.

Which they weren't, as it turned out.

"Admiral Welk is working out transportation for us. He has a ship loading in the morning, The Falcon? We'll have to travel to the port they're at however. It's currently in the airfield at Lexington. I took the liberty of calling James, to take us to the airfield here first, where we can get a ride in a few hours on The Wren." She looked blank, as if trying very hard not to point out how convoluted that really was.

True, Gwen wasn't
supposed
to be teletransporting around for a while, to rest, but they could do better than that. Seriously so. Walking came to mind as an option.

Gwen took a deep breath and tried not to sound like a paranoid street person. It didn't seem to work, given everything. She was feeling a bit out of sorts, thanks to the whole swim in the ocean, and nearly dying thing.

"So, you're giving me the run around? That's... A bit literal, isn't it? What's really going on here, Beth. I
already
checked on Mathews, and ended up over the ocean, where we dumped his corpse. He isn't in his Barony, or second house, or in a morgue or coffin anywhere, and you seem to know it. I
get
the idea of me not killing anyone here,
or
going mad with power, but this seems a little heavy handed. I don't know, I guess I expect better ruses from the Westmorlands in my life." She was doing a lot of guessing, and could tell that something in what she'd said was wrong, but there was more wincing than doubt on Beth's pale face.

Replaced after a moment by a faked up look of concern. It was another thing that Gwen was a past master of seeing in other people. Fear, loathing, disgust, pity, and its cousin,
false
concern. Like the crippled midget girl wasn't going to understand the difference between people that felt sorry for her, and those that wanted others to know how bad they felt for her condition. It was insulting, and she responded to it, using her old reflexes.

Bethany Westmorland, Detective, Special Service operative and her best friend, lied to her then.

"I don't know what you mean, Gwen. I got these orders, and we're going to check them out, that's all. As for you using your new abilities to find Baron Mathews... Well, that should be a
good
sign. We really don't want him to be back from the dead. I know I certainly don't. I doubt you'd make a mistake like that on a subconscious level, but if you
were
to do so, wouldn't it be with someone like him? He nearly killed you once, with his own hand. You
did
have him killed. If there were anyone in the world that you might make psychic level mistakes with, he'd be the man, I'd think. It could be an issue." There was so much being hidden that Beth blushed a little about it.

"Heh. That could be true, but
isn't
. Besides, that isn't even where his old Barony is. You have it all memorized, so cut the BS." She had to stop then, and let her head tilt. "That means bull shit. Um, big cow droppings?"

There was a slightly upset nod.

"I know that. You've used the term before. Why do you think I'm lying to you?"

"Why are
you
asking questions to defer my interest and attention, instead of protesting your innocence? Come clean. It will make you feel better. Come on now... You
know
you want to tell me what's up. I can see it in your eyes. It's right... There!" She pointed and stared into the symmetrical, and pale blue orbs. It really wasn't there at all, but to her surprise Beth broke easily enough.

Which probably meant it was just the second level of lies.

"I...
Was
instructed to keep you occupied while the investigation is taking place here. There truly has been a murder in the Southern section, and the gentleman
does
look enough like Baron Mathews to cause some interest. My guess is that he was using the name in order to defraud others. How he knew to do so, well, I suspect some form of magic being involved. We didn't leave a lot of loose ends that way, and he isn't anyone from The Peregrine. If one of them told anyone however-"

Gwen rolled her hands, one over the other, in the air.

"Right, now what's the
actual
story? It isn't fair to make me think the dead have risen, Beth. That sounds like either Adam or Ferdinand. If the king didn't want me to stick around he would have just called me up and invited me to take a vacation though. This kind of messy ruse, one that I have to find out about sooner or later, that sounds just like your leader though. So? Explain please, or I'm not going anywhere." It was a bit of a game, actually, since she wasn't planning on doing that anyway.

Rather than call her on being a moron, or even suggesting she was a paranoid freak, Bethany grimaced.

"I'm truly not at liberty to say, Gwen. There are things going on that I've been instructed to keep from you. It's for your own protection, but... I
need
you to come with me. We don't have to go
there
, if you don't want, but we need to be out of the city here. Tonight. I know I can't force you to leave with me, but if you don't-" She took a deep breath, and then pulled the PC from her pocket. It was all a lead colored silver, and could hold a lot of different fields. Some of them deadly.

There was no speaking for a moment. The device shook a little, and her friend, her best friend in the whole world, shook a bit.

"If you won't come with me willingly, right now, I'll have to force you to."

Taking a moment to smile, Gwen nodded.

"I'd wondered. Everyone always lets you down, in the end, don't they? I'd hoped that it would take longer than this though. Still, you've lasted a lot longer than most. Longer than anyone else ever has."

It was a simple statement, and one that cut through her, right to the heart, even as she spoke the words. Whatever was happening, it seemed that this part of her life was done now. She'd had a friend, and now, there was no one.

It wasn't really true, but most of the people she knew were Westmorlands. At least to hang out with. If Beth had been
ordered
to do whatever this was called, then the others probably would be too.

Fucking with Gwen, came to her, as a name for it. Some weird kind of betrayal in order to... Do something. That was a real factor. Beth might have decided to be bored with Gwen, and slowly withdrawn from her life, true. It wasn't like she was perfect all the time, or anything impossible like that.

What she
wouldn't
do however, was pull a weapon on Gwen Farris, after demanding she do something annoying. Orders to go and investigate a thing that didn't need them to do anything just wasn't a good reason for violence, and wasn't a thing that could really be forced. Sure, they could make her
go
, using armed guards, or in this case potentially forceful Bethany's, but that wasn't a way to ensure great work.

In fact, it pretty much guaranteed the opposite.

There was a moment of clarity then, as she got the basic idea of what had to be happening. Bethany wasn't moving on her, or hitting, just subtly threatening. Nervously, too. There was
no
way in the world that she would have done something that made her that uneasy. Not in a way that she knew might well start a fight.

Gwen forced a smile, knowing it was strained and looked wrong. She had a weapon being held on her though at the moment, which wasn't her favorite thing in the world.

"Great plan. I take it Adam decided that I needed to be tested for mental stability? I get it. I really do. I'm sort of known for violent behavior, and here I am, suddenly not only able to rift, but able to do it at a distance. So I could get mad and take out some shit, if I lost it, right? I can see that being something that would make him uneasy. I don't know that forcing me to leave town will really help though. Not after the last bit of training I just had."

Bethany started blinking, and then slowly pointed the PC down, the light from the glow lamp on the wall making it shimmer a bit. It should have been the color of pewter or lead, and not glitzy like that. This one looked a bit like it had flecks of glitter in it. That probably meant it wasn't real. Gwen let her eyes narrow at the idea. What kind of weapon would Beth try to hold her with, anyway.

She'd thought it would be deadly, but if Bethany didn't want to hurt her, and was just using a threat, knowing it could lead to a fight... That didn't make sense though. If there was a fight, her friend would need the best weapons she could get. Otherwise she might end up dead. Not that Gwen would hurt her. It made her wonder if Beth knew that, on some level.

The blonde woman tilted her head a bit, her arms stiff by her side.

"
What
? I don't take your meaning." The tone was troubled, but the device did go away.

Probably because she was being so stable and awesome about this mess, whatever it was supposed to be.

Gwen grinned.

"Which part are you confused about? Is it that Adam is a dickhead? I know you may not see it that way all the time, because he actually likes
you
, but pulling this kind of shit is exactly why I hate him. Douche bag. Notice though, calling him names
isn't
the same as taking some kind of violent drastic action. I'm practically the voice of reason here, aren't I?" She waved at the device in Beth's hands.

"
Noooo
." The woman's voice was considering, but also saying the word like Gwen did at times. "I meant the portion where you can rift, and do so at a distance. That
wasn't
part of your training. You have three full sets of conditioning before that's put into play. It will be years..."

It was, but Gwen nodded.

"Not exactly, but you were there, and I
did
mention it to you. You just didn't see it, because I'm not a Westmorland. Think Beth, Mona had me teletransporting three objects at once. If I can do
that
, I can move a single object in three directions. That's what rifting is, as far as I understand the process. There won't be a difference between me doing it with myself and doing that at a distance, either. I keep forgetting that you can't use your powers on your own all the time. I have full control over mine, so if I can see how to do something and have the skills, I can. Isn't that what this is all about? It's why I had you question Kate like that." She waved her hands around, and was rewarded by a troubled look in response.

"No. I really didn't understand that. I was distracted by other things. That wasn't the training protocol you were given, and I really did forget that knowing how to do something means something very different for you than it would me or one of the others. I... I need to go and talk to someone. Possibly several people. Wait here? I'm sorry. This
was
a test. And yes, it was Adam that came up with the idea, because of
other
factors, no one doubts your good will, but... I need to ask some questions. I think we might have made a mistake here."

Gwen rolled her eyes.

"No shit? What is it? Am I
not
supposed to know how to rift until after I go through all the training for it? I can see that, but it isn't
that
hard to figure out. I have to think more highly of you all if it was just that I wasn't supposed to work this out yet. Then, you never do it at a distance either, do you? Rifting. It makes sense to me though."