Author's Notes:

'Satyr Play 3' was supposed to be the conclusion of my surprisingly well-received first attempt at dabbling in the realm of magic. Once more throwing caution to the wind, I run wild through the dandelion patch of canon, convention, and tradition, kicking up the fluff that is the Fantasy genre.

Yeah, I know, but whatcha gonna do.

Minimal effort is made here to explain the backstory, so if you've just stumbled upon this story as your first exposure to the tale, I highly recommend you read them in the following order:

• Satyr Play
• A Dark Heart (Short Story - for context)
• Satyr Play 2, Part 1
• Song for a Still River (Short Story - for context)
• Satyr Play 2, Part 2
• Bride in Black (Short Story - for context)
• Satyr Play 3, Part 1
• Satyr Play 3, Part 2
• Satyr Play 4, Part 1
• Satyr Play 4, Part 2
• Satyr Play 5... to come.

All characters engaging in sexual relationships or activities are 18 years old or older. Most aren't even human... or real. Or are they? Dun dun DAH!

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Satyr Play 3, Part 1

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Chapter 1

Henry Gable contemplated the knife in his hand. The grip was comfortable and seemed designed to fit the larger hand of his Satyr form. The eight-inch blade was wickedly sharp and tapered to a deadly point. Greatest caution was required when using it to keep his fingers connected to his hand.

His eyes automatically went to his right ring finger.

Mab's finger.

It looked and felt like his now, but he knew it once came from the hand of the mad queen. Not that she'd personally experienced the agony of its removal. That cruelty was inflicted upon their newborn daughter, whose mind was now trapped in the Fae's body.

Henry's mind spun as he once more tried to come to terms with the evil Queen Mab and Baba Yaga had done that night.

Envious of Henry's link to a source of magic more potent than her own, Mab designed a master-level spell to create a new body for herself, a body linked to the realm of Wild Magic as Henry was. The most heinous aspect of her spell was that it required a child born of her and Henry.

The powerful but vile spell tapped into Henry's link to a Fae healing spell and the temporal energies trapped in his horns to support and expedite the process of having the child. Then, it successfully transferred Mab's mind into the newborn's body and the child's mind to hers. Mab had a new lease on life with access to powerful new magic while their daughter was destined to quickly die in Mab's ancient body.

Henry somehow managed to tap into the temporal energies to keep his newborn daughter from dying of old age as Mab fled, and he returned the ancient body to that of an infant. Still, it took Baba Yaga's assistance to keep her alive.

Thoughts of the old witch sent a spike of pain through him. She'd had her own horrific plans for his daughter that night. Without concern for the pain she caused, she'd used her supernaturally sharp scissors to remove the right ring finger from his and the baby's hands and swapped them, utilizing her powerful magic to reshape and resize them for their new hosts.

His right ring finger, with its dragon bone ring, was now connected to the tiny hand of his infant daughter. The small piece of jewelry was bound to a curse so powerful that triggering it would result in the immediate eradication of all Human life on Earth.

The idea that his innocent child was carrying the burden of an extinction-level weapon and the unknown agenda Baba had, which required the infant to bear it, tormented his sleep.

But there was nothing he could do about it because Baba Yaga took his daughter when she vanished that night. He hadn't seen the crone or his baby since.

However, Henry knew the child was alive as he had a little magic of his own now, courtesy of a Fae healer he'd saved. Henry wasn't a wielder who could bend magic to his will, so Ikehorn bound a spell to the finger he shared with his daughter, which allowed him to link minds with her.

As often as he could, he'd reach out to her mind and express his love for her. Each time, he'd feel her sweet response. It wasn't as good as holding her in his arms, but it was all he had.

"Henry! Did you cut yourself again?"

He was brought back to the present by the outcry and glanced at the beautiful Faun rushing over to see him where he stood behind the kitchen island. He glanced down at the surface before him. The sharp knife rested on the cutting board next to the peppers he'd sliced. He held his right ring finger in his left hand as he did when he reached his mind out to his daughter.

He shook his head and released his finger as he smiled at the lovely creature, now standing next to him. "No, I'm fine. Sorry, my mind was wandering again."

Tish gave him a gentle frown. "Okay, you're banished from the kitchen until your brain returns to you. Too many sharp objects in here to be safe for people with distracted minds. Shoo!"

She gently pushed his larger body from behind the island, giving his buns a playful squeeze through his kilt as she did so. He managed to keep his lust in check as he enjoyed the feel of her strong hands on his ass.

Being a Satyr seemed to mean his body was always a blink away from carnal excitement. At least, it felt that way since his sexual maturity finally began to take effect. Before working at VRL, he'd been disguised as a Human using the magic in the dragon bone ring. He'd spent his waking hours in Human form, considerably delaying his true Satyr nature's maturing. He was still learning how to control his lust and pheromone release, the latter only now becoming second nature.

Henry smiled back at Tish and let himself be moved from the food prep station. He began tidying up the living room instead. The decor was a strange mix of Japanese minimalism and Bohemian eclecticism. The ample space contained his furniture and Tish's, but there was plenty of seating for their guests.

They were having a housewarming party tonight. They'd been in the condo for only two weeks, and he still felt a little off about their new digs. It was in the same building on the same floor as his first condo. He loved how much space it had, the layout, the view of the water, and its location, but how they obtained the unit still felt... wrong.

Unit nine-oh-nine, at the other end of the floor from his old unit nine-oh-one, became available after the gruesome murder of a young man in a nearby alley seven months earlier. The youth's parents eventually decided they could no longer live in the building and returned to Europe.

VRL purchased the much larger condo as it was a better investment. They sold unit nine-oh-one to Sandy, who used the money from her unit's sale, four-oh-four, to cover most of the cost. Henry assisted her with the remaining amount as he felt responsible for causing her to no longer be Human, a requirement for living on the building's even-numbered floors.

Due to a momentary lapse of his self-control and circumstances beyond his control, Henry's Human friends became magic conduits like him. Sandy was the first to change and ultimately became a Gorgon, a being with sentient hair, which was stronger than steel, and flirty as hell.

Sandy's bestie, Dayshia, also lived on the ninth floor, sharing a two-bedroom condo with Michelle Beaumont, who often worked nights and secretly craved company when she was home. Being an Arachnid, Michelle lucked out with Dayshia, who was not in the least put off that her roommate had the lower half of an enormous spider.

Dayshia became a truth seer when the Wild Magic altered her and her friends. She could see through glamors, the magic disguises that hid the Hidden Races from Human eyes, and the ever-present cameras of Human civilization. She was discovering her eyes could do a lot more as well.

Tish became a Faun, the female counterpart to Henry. She preferred the term Faun over Satyr, but the names were interchangeable, truthfully.

Also affected that night was their friend Roger, but he was in the wind, and no sign of him could be found. The man was an anarchist at heart, so they were especially nervous about him disclosing the Hidden Races' existence. The Council currently had their hunter/killer teams out looking for him, but they had other more critical issues to deal with lately.

While Henry's first condo had been a compact one-bedroom, this one was easily four times the size. It was an 'L' shaped space wrapped around the southwest corner of the building. The south view was lovely, while the western view was of the trees and apartments across the lane beyond the foliage. At least the westerly windows were large and let in a lot of light.

In the 'L' southern arm was a large open-concept kitchen against the interior wall. It was state-of-the-art, and Tish was thrilled. A long granite island with a large sink, built-in dishwasher, and wine cooler separated the kitchen from an expansive dining/living room with floor-to-ceiling windows running along the southern wall.

The 'L' western arm began with a decent-sized balcony on the corner of the building, followed by a spare bedroom, which would become a nursery, and then the master bedroom with a four-piece ensuite and walk-in closet. Henry thought the soaker tub and separate shower was excessive, but Tish loved the utility and decadence of having both.

An interior divider wall separated the hall to the bedrooms from the corridor leading to the front door. A three-piece guest bathroom was just inside the entrance, the door to their full-size stacked washer/dryer set was next, and a reasonably spacious hall closet was next to that. Storage was limited, but the condo had more space than either had experienced before.

Henry smiled as he watched Tish busying herself in the kitchen. She looked radiant, though aside from the glow, there was very little evidence of her pregnancy. She'd been concerned initially, but the Hidden Races doctor they'd found assured her that the baby was doing fine. She assured Tish that while they had no records of the term of a Faun pregnancy, she definitely shouldn't expect it to match a Human's.

Camila also assured them that long terms were typical for Hidden Races and may hint at Satyrs' lifespan expectations, another current unknown.

Someone knocked on their door. Henry shared a look with Tish and glanced at the clock. The party didn't start for thirty minutes. They activated their glamors with casual party clothes, and then Henry walked down the hall to answer the door.

He looked through the peephole and saw Sandy in a pretty blue party dress, so he opened the door.

"Hi, Sandy-OOF!"

Henry felt his head and shoulders engulfed in silky softness with just a hint of strength. Sandy had her glamor active, so her real hair was invisible, and Henry could see the blush on the pretty woman's face. He stepped back, and Sandy followed so he could close the door.

"I'm so sorry. Kesini knew we were coming to see you today, and she's been such a pest all day as she's missed you," Sandy said with a pout.

Henry gently gathered the hair in his hands and moved it from his face to hug it against his chest. Sandy dropped her glamor so he could see the glowing golden locks in his arms. He blinked at Sandy.

"Missed me? We walk to the path station and ride the train together almost every day," he said in confusion.

Sandy shifted in embarrassment, and then her eyes locked on his. "No, she misses all the... intimate time we had while living together." Her blush deepened, and he finally understood.

A smile slipped onto his lips. "So Kesini misses the intimate time, does she?" he said teasingly, stroking the squirming hair.

Beautiful blue eyes flared as she held his gaze while tingles ran down her spine from his touch. "No, not just her."

The sweet honesty of her response made him instantly regret his teasing. He'd moved out of his old condo two weeks ago. It was true; Sandy had enjoyed his attentions most nights in the months leading up to his departure as she'd moved in with him after vacating her unit on the fourth floor.

With the demands of moving into his new place and his extra duties at work, writing a new firewall application for a contract Camila negotiated with the US Government, he'd been rather preoccupied lately.

He moved forward and took her face between his hands, her eyes lashes fluttering from the tingles he was sending through her skin. Then his mouth found hers, and she wrapped her arms around his hard body, crushing herself against him. They were both covered by Kesini's golden locks.

Henry slid his right hand around to the back of Sandy's head, deep in her hair, as his left slid down her back to her ass, pulling her sensitive bits tight against his growing erection. She gasped against his mouth and kissed him harder. The kiss went on as Sandy ground her body against his, her hands clinging to his ass. Kesini was beginning to tremble from the sensation feedback from Sandy. He pulled her tighter to him as his hips rocked sensually, strumming her body.

Suddenly, Sandy's moans became a short squeak as her pleasure tripped over the edge into a delicious release. Her body vibrated against his as she clung to him. She pulled back from the kiss to rest her forehead against his cheek as she panted. Kesini released her grip on them both and completely relaxed.

"God, I've missed that," Sandy sighed.

"I'm so sorry, Sandy. I never meant to neglect you. It just got so busy-" He stopped when she pressed a fingertip to his lips.

"Don't apologize. I get it. You've got your new place and settling in with Tish, who's carrying your baby. Something on the side is the last thing on your mind."

A voice came from behind Henry. "Whoa there, girlfriend! Don't be forcing Human pre-conceived notions on us like that!" Sandy peered around Henry, who turned to see Tish standing beside them, frowning at her friend in annoyance. "Henry's a Satyr, and he's got a big heart with plenty of love for his friends. He has two Succubi, a Valkyrie and a Vampire, all sharing intimacy with him as well as us. He and I aren't a couple in traditional Human terms. Sex is sex, and love is love. He's just been really busy with work lately."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I just thought-" Sandy began.

"Yeah, I know, but you're wrong. I have no issues with Henry being intimate with his friends. He's not my property. I love being with him, and he loves being with me. That's good enough. We're not some hokey TV family; life is far more interesting than that." She sniffed and frowned. "Now, my Faun sense of smell is much stronger than my Human one was, so maybe you can use the extra time before the party to freshen up from your sexy time?"

Sandy's face flushed with embarrassment, and she squeaked before engaging her glamor and rushing out the door.

Tish looked at Henry with a raised eyebrow when the door closed. "You couldn't have led her into the bedroom to do that? Now, we're going to have to light a candle to burn off the scent of sex. We don't want to give our guests the wrong impression, now do we." She made shooing gestures again. "Go get the matches and the candle in the top left cupboard in the kitchen."

Henry gave Tish a quick kiss and hustled away to follow her instructions. She was right. He really did love being with her, as he'd enjoyed living with Sandy. He realized living alone was not for him. He needed someone in his life to keep him from falling into his old solitary patterns.

She returned to the kitchen and carried the snack tray to the wide coffee table while he collected the candle and matches. He brought them back to the front entrance and set the pretty candle in the candle stand on the narrow table in the hall. The candle was light yellow-gold in color, roughly six inches tall and two inches wide. He lit it and lowered the stand's glass chimney over it. After a few moments, he was surprised to pick up the subtle scent of fresh mountain air and wildflowers. He looked closer at it.

"Where did you get this candle?" he called out.

She walked up next to him and smiled with her eyes closed as she inhaled the lovely scent. "That's much better!" She opened her eyes to grin at him. "It's a new business that opened a small shop near my hospital. They sell products with all-natural scents. The candle wax is beeswax. The scent comes from the wax collected from the hives of bees in different locations. This one was from a hive in the mountains of Colorado."

Henry inhaled deeply, and with his eyes closed, he would swear he was standing in that meadow. Then he felt his body resonating with the scent. His eyes opened, and he stared at the candle. Wild Magic. He was sure of it. The wax was subtly emitting Wild Magic. He looked at the smile on Tish's face. "H-how do you think they make the candles do that?"

She gave him a silly grin. "Do what? It's just a candle. Honey picks up the flavor of the flowers the bees feed on; why shouldn't their wax? Don't overthink it. Just enjoy it!" She walked back to the kitchen to check on the wine. "By the way, only one drink for you tonight! We don't need you going on a mental walkabout!"

He gave the candle another troubled look but put it out of his mind. It was probably nothing to worry about if Tish couldn't detect the magic in its scent. The strength of her connection to the realm of Wild Magic was second only to his own, and her sense of smell was stronger than his. Her hearing and eyesight were better than his, too.

He sighed. Magic was stupid.

He went back to preparing for the party. Aside from their odd furniture collection, he was delighted with how their new apartment turned out. Maybe he felt so much at home here because of the mix of styles. It felt like him and Tish.

When the next knock came from the door, it was only a few minutes before the party was to begin. Henry opened it and smiled at Sandy, who was now in a lovely red party dress. Behind her was Dayshia dressed in her favorite color, gold, and Michelle in her favorites, black and red. All three wore their inside slippers as they came directly from their apartments. He stepped back and let them in.

Sandy kissed him on the lips with an invisible stroke across the front of his pants from Kesini. That made Sandy blush, but she smiled as she entered the living room.

Michelle stepped up to Henry with a nervous yet excited smile, and he leaned forward to let her press her lips against his. She was much more comfortable with these intimate gestures now, as long as he made no moves she might interpret as an attempt to restrain her. She could grab his shoulders and kiss him deeply as she was currently doing, but he kept his hands at his side.

She ended the kiss when Dayshia gently made a throat-clearing noise behind her. Blushing prettily, Michelle smiled at Henry and followed Sandy.

Dayshia closed the door behind herself and gave Henry a hungry smile. She was letting her hair grow and wore it like a huge mane of dense curls tonight. He itched to sink his fingers into the luxurious mass, but Dayshia's entire body was a severe distraction for his hands. She grinned as she saw his need for her and suddenly pulled Henry against her chest to kiss him. Her large breasts were squeezed between their bodies, and Henry's libido was waking up fast. He felt the heat in his body beginning to tingle, likely caused by kissing so many women so close together. But this was supposed to be a house warming party, not an orgy. He focused on Dayshia's lips' soft texture and how good they felt when he stroked them with his lips. By concentrating on her alone, he sensed the heat dissipate as tender, one-on-one sex didn't trigger it. Dayshia's heat, on the other hand, rocketed from his sensual kissing and his hard body pressing on all the right places. She finally pushed him back and watched his mouth with wide eyes. The tip of her tongue touched her plumped lips quickly as she caught her breath.

"Damn, you're getting too good at that! You almost made me tear your clothes off!" she purred.

Henry nodded to her with a gentle smile. They hadn't been... intimate since that night in the hospital. The night he lost control of his heat and changed her and her friends forever. He knew she was frightened to do more than kiss, which made him sad. She was the one who most resented the change, though she was coming to terms with it recently as it was so useful for her becoming a doctor and, ultimately, a surgeon.

"I love what you're doing with your hair," he said, his voice still a little rough.

Her eyes flashed to his as she saw how he was restraining himself. Her gaze softened, and she smiled as she primped her hair just a little. "Yes, I love it almost as much as Sandy loves hers. Now, if I could just get Kesini to stop playing with it."

Henry chuckled as he pictured the blonde locks playing within the mane of dark curls.

Dayshia took a step towards the living room, then stopped and sniffed the air. "What smells so good?" she sighed. Sandy and Michelle must have been sneakily listening in as they immediately came back to the door to take a whiff themselves.

"Is that flowers?" Sandy said with a happy smile.

Henry pointed to the candle. "Tish found this beeswax candle."

Michelle looked at him curiously. "Beeswax candles don't have a scent." He just shrugged, so the ladies moved into the living room to question Tish about it. Henry smiled as he saw Dayshia's hair begin to move seemingly on its own. Sandy needed to drop her glamor so the other guests could see her mischievous hair coming.

There was another knock, and Henry opened the door to see his first guests from outside the building. Sigrid and Meixiu smiled back at him as they graciously accepted his welcome. It was almost June and a warm spring, so they hadn't worn outerwear. He took in the dramatic contrast between the two women. Sigrid's powerfully muscled Valkyrie body was beautifully enhanced by a lovely green mid-thigh dress that flattered her long, muscular legs. Meixiu's slim, long-limbed Vampire frame was wrapped in a long, flowing white gown with a red sash. The almost dainty impression belied the strength in Meixiu's petite body.

Sigrid stepped close and got a warm bear hug from Henry. She felt so good in his arms, and she was enjoying the hug as well. "What smells so good?" she asked when she looked around.

Henry stepped aside and pointed to the candle, then to the end of the hall, where they could hear Tish talking about the candles. With a grin, Sigrid slipped off her shoes and put on a pair of guest slippers before moving to join them.

Henry saw Meixiu was watching him with a slight smile on her lips. He noted she seemed a little weary. After giving her a hug, he held her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Is everything okay?"

She nodded bashfully and glanced down the hall to ensure Sigrid wasn't within earshot. "Yes, I'm just a little worn out from my nightly patrolling."

His smile dropped. "Patrolling?"

Her smile slipped, too. "I'm hunting the serial killer."

Henry's eyes went wide. "Meixiu! You shouldn't be putting your life in danger!"

She reached up and touched his lips with her fingers to quiet him. "I am not seen if I wish not to be."

He looked at the slim girl and felt the slight tremble in her fingers. "You're not feeding." Her eyes widened in surprise at his accurate guess. "You can't help anyone if you don't help yourself first!" He leaned his face closer to hers and gave the Vampire a stern look. "Feed from me."

Her eyes got a little desperate, so he knew she'd put off feeding for too long. She needed the blood to maintain her strength, and Henry's blood was supersaturated with Wild Magic, which would greatly energize her.

He gathered her to him with her back to his chest and held his left wrist before her face. He could feel her trembling in his arms, then she gripped his hand and forearm in her hands and brought the soft skin to her lips. She darted her tongue out to lick the inside of his wrist. Henry felt the area go numb, so there was just the briefest pinch when her teeth bit in. Then she placed her lips to the punctures and drank. It went on longer than usual, but she finally paused and licked the wounds to activate her healing enzymes to close the holes. She rested her front teeth against his skin and took slow, even breaths as the energy swept through her like a tsunami. When she released him, he had to keep her steady.

"I think I took too much," she said quietly as she struggled to stay awake and on her feet.

He frowned, then scooped her into his arms, making her stare at him wide-eyed. "You need a little snooze. You can join the party once you wake." Relaxing, her eyes immediately closed, and her head rested against his chest.

He carried her down the hall, briefly coming into view of the living room, then turned right to head down the bedroom hallway to the master bedroom. He set her down on the Japanese bed he'd grown to love. This piece of furniture he'd insisted on keeping in their bedroom. Tish got used to it quickly.

He slipped her shoes off, closed the door behind himself, and turned to see the group of ladies in the hallway watching him. He gestured they should return to the living room. He left Meixiu's shoes by the front door and joined the others in the living room.

Once he got there, Sigrid immediately spoke up. "What happened to Meixiu?" Her eyes caught the slightly pink color on his wrist and recognized that immediately. "She fed from you?" she said in surprise.

"She looked a little tired, so I gave her a meal. She took a little more than she expected to. She'll join us when she wakes," Henry said, keeping the Vampire's nightly activities private... for now.

Another knock announced more guests, so Henry used the excuse to escape further questions.

He opened the door to see Mahati and Kali Chandra standing there. Mahati looked dazzling in a royal blue and gold saree. Henry froze as he took in her gleaming, straight black hair cascading over her shoulders. Large, dangling gold earrings and delicate gold chains accentuated the elegant look. Her cinnamon skin tone seemed a little redder than usual as she fidgeted under his stare.

"Are you going to rudely gawk at us, or are you going to invite us in?" she asserted. Her full crimson lips were frowning once more as her dark eyes flashed.

"I-I'm sorry, Mahati! Please come in! You look amazing in that beautiful dress! Breathtaking!" Henry stammered as he gushed.

"It's a saree, not a dress... but thank you," the woman said, her tension replaced with surprised pleasure. Her lips now held a pleased smile. She moved forward, and Henry tore his eyes away to look at the younger sister. Once more, he found himself staring as the young woman, who he'd only ever seen in baggy t-shirts and yoga pants, was also wearing a saree, but hers was black accented in gold and left the tight muscles of her midriff exposed. Her long black hair was teased up, with only a few curls framing her lovely face. The whites of her dark eyes were accentuated by dark kohl make-up and seemed to sparkle with her amusement. The chain she usually wore between her nose and nipple was missing, but the impressions of larger piercings on both nipples were clearly visible against the tight fabric.

"You look amazing too, Kali!" he finally managed as she moved inside. She demurely dipped her eyes to him with a satisfied smile.

Mahati turned back to face Henry a short distance down the hall. "It's my understanding that bringing a gift for housewarming parties is customary. You refused this?"

Henry nodded. "We agreed to suspend that particular tradition this time. Your time and presence are enough of a gift."

The woman nodded with another pleased smile and went the rest of the way down the hall to turn left and join the others in the living room. Her sister followed with a sly smile on her lips. He didn't really understand Kali's intentions, so he'd have to keep an eye on her. She seemed to enjoy shaking things up.

"Hi, Henry!"

He returned to the open door and saw Mary Carston standing beside Roy. They were both wearing commando black, and he raised an eyebrow. Mary smirked as she looked down at herself.

"Yeah, Roy mistimed the duration of our training camp with his pa—with his team. We came straight here from there, so you get us in our combat gear." Roy had the good grace to seem apologetic, at least.

"You two are welcome in any outfit," Henry said with a smile. "Please come in!" He gave Mary a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek, then surprised Roy with a hug. They took off their combat boots and stepped into the slippers. Slightly shaken, Roy stopped by the candle and looked back at Henry. "Speak to Tish about the candle, but yes, it gives off the scent of a mountainside meadow."

He heard the elevator ding and poked his head out the door to smile at Camila, Marisa, and Siobhan as they approached. All three looked gorgeous, but the mother and daughter Succubi exuded a little extra confidence. All three wore sleek, body-flattering party dresses and looked like they spent the day at a salon. The Succubi had a natural ability to dazzle the eye, but today, they had a glow about them, which Henry knew was due to Friday's... feedings. Both ladies had individually asked Henry for a recharge. Camila took him in her office, and Marisa surprised him with her request in his office. Both were fully charged. Henry's face warmed as he recalled their appetite yesterday.

He forced his attention to Siobhan, which wasn't too difficult as she was also stunningly lovely with soft brown eyes, a megawatt smile, and long waves of gleaming mahogany hair. As she could now manage its length with some limited control over her link to Wild Magic, she'd begun to let it grow, and it now reached her mid-back. Its natural length reached her ankles, but he doubted she would allow it to be that long day-to-day.

Like Camila and Marisa, Siobhan had been upgraded by exposure to Wild Magic. She was a Selkie and no longer needed to carry her magic-infused pelt in a purse as it had become her hair. She only needed to will it to become her pelt to transform herself into her seal form.

She'd initially been exposed to the new magic by a man who wouldn't be attending the party tonight, Nate Walker. There'd been no sign of Henry's latest friend since Queen Mab took control of his mind and used him to escape. The suspicion was that Mab still had the Incubus with her in her castle in Ireland, but the impregnable fortress was locked tight. That was something else that troubled Henry's dreams.

The ladies reached his door, and each gave him a sensual kiss before going inside. While he'd expected it from the Succubi, he was a little surprised by the passion in Siobhan's kiss as Henry hadn't been intimate with her... directly, though he'd helped her complete her upgrade with Marisa's assistance. He blinked at the cheeky smile she gave him over her shoulder as she dropped her shoes, slipped on the guest slippers, and joined the others in the living room.

He locked up and moved to the entrance of the open space. He panned his eyes over his friends, and aside from Meixiu, all were present and accounted for. They were all making themselves comfortable on the couches and chairs. He joined Tish and took drink orders to ensure everyone had a glass in their hand ranging from cool spring water to fruit juice to twelve-year-old scotch for Roy and Mary. The veggie trays were being enjoyed as well.

The knock on the door caught him by surprise as he was pretty sure he hadn't invited anyone else. Glancing at Tish, he went to the door and looked through the peephole. He blinked in surprise and pulled the door open. Two ladies stood there in their complimentary colored party dresses, looking sweet and innocent. If it hadn't been for Yuko's penchant for trying to kill him with her Kitsune magic, he'd have let down his guard. Instead, he looked at them cautiously.

"Yuko. Jun. You both look very lovely today..."

"Are you going to invite us in?" Yuko asked, her voice trembling just a little. Jun hooked her little finger around her sister's and settled her older sibling's nerves.

Jun tilted her head at Henry. "Kali invited us to your party. She did not inform you."

"Ah... no, she did not. But... she would not," Henry sighed gently, and Jun's eyes twinkled with amusement. They were both aware of the dark beauty's enjoyment of generating chaos.

Henry nodded to himself. He could rise to this challenge. He faced Yuko, whose eyes looked troubled. "I welcome you two to join the party, but I ask that you refrain from activities of an explosive nature."

Jun burst into giggles at Henry's careful choice of words, and even Yuko cracked a smile, looking up at him sweetly from under her bangs. Her eyes twinkled a little as well.

"Agreed," the older sister said quietly.

"Then please come in," he said, standing aside.

They stepped inside and waited for Henry to close the door and lead them to the living room. He caught Kali's eyes immediately, seeing her anticipation, and raised an eyebrow. The young woman grinned as her sister looked at her in disapproval. When Yuko and Jun came around the corner, conversation lulled as all eyes looked in their direction.

"Some of you know or know of Yuko Imamura and her sister Jun. They live on the seventh floor. Please make them feel welcome," Henry said. Eyes went to him next, and he nodded to his friends.

Tish gestured for them to come further into the room and offered them a drink. They both indicated white wine, so she busied herself with getting that while Henry found them chairs. When he had his last two guests situated, Meixiu appeared in the doorway with a shy look on her face. She hustled over to squeeze between Sigrid and Marisa on one of the three sofas Tish and Henry filled their new place with. He got her a glass of spring water, which she accepted with a grateful smile.

Henry and Tish moved to stand by the kitchen island, facing their friends, and raised a toast.

Henry cleared his throat, and all eyes went to him. Once, that much attention would have crippled him with stage fright, but these were his friends, something else that was relatively new for him. He felt wealthy beyond measure for having so many and being comfortable with them. He missed Nate, but he pulled his mind from those thoughts.

"Thank you all for joining us in our new home. If it weren't for the incredible generosity of Camila and her company, VRL, and the efforts of Sigrid to make the deal, we would not have had the opportunity of living here." There was a polite round of applause for the two ladies. "I'd also like to take a moment to reflect on the humbling and often frightening nature of fate that made this unit available. I hope the terror responsible for these murders is quickly caught and brought to justice for the sake of the victims and their families."

Everyone followed Henry's lead and raised their glass to join the toast.

Once done, Roy spoke up. "We offered to join the Council's efforts to hunt down the killer, but they refused," he said as Mary nodded. "Instead, they're insisting on a curfew for all Hidden Races members who don't need to be outside at night."

Michelle nodded. "The Council has confirmed that five of the six victims have been members of the Hidden Races. They believe the first Human was likely a mistake since all others have been non-Humans, and there are so many more Humans out there. Five to one seems like a pattern." Henry was pleased to see how comfortable Michelle was becoming amongst their group. Not that long ago, she was almost crippled with shyness when asked to speak before people.

Mary looked at her. "So, the human murdered at the first crime scene was just collateral damage?"

Michelle nodded again. "The trauma to the Human's body was much less severe."

Roy wasn't finished. "I don't understand the Hidden Races Council's thinking on this. New York is just too big to cover everywhere this monster hunts, even with the number of agents they have at their disposal. They should incorporate our teams. The packs that live around the city are all willing to participate."

"The Council likely has enough trouble keeping their teams invisible to the Human police patrols," Camila offered.

"I think you've hit the nail on the head when you said monster hunts. Based on what I've heard from my contact within the Coroner's office, I believe the killer is feeding off his victims," Sigrid added.

Several people squirmed uncomfortably upon hearing this.

Michelle spoke again. "Some of us work nights, but I take cabs and keep to the well-lit main roads. This seems to be a good way to avoid danger. So far, all of the victims were attacked outside, at night, in darker neighborhoods."

Mary frowned as her former police detective skills were intrigued by the case. "There doesn't seem to be a pattern for their preferred location. The first murders were here in Jersey City. The second scene was in Brooklyn, then Manhattan, Queens, and finally Yonkers."

"That's a lot of territory to cover. How are they getting around? Do they have a car?" Roy then looked at Michelle. "Taking a taxi may not be as safe as you think."

"Roy!" Camila scolded.

"What? They may be driving a taxi. That would explain how they're in so many locations," he explained. "No one pays attention to another cab on the road."

Mary shook her head. "That theory only works if the victims were traveling to someplace distant. The first Hidden Races victim was a block from his home and walked there with a friend, who was also killed. Were the other victims far from their usual routes?"

Michelle paused as she recalled the reports she'd read. "No... all of the victims were close to their homes or businesses or directly between them."

Mary looked at Roy. "So, the killer may be using a cab to get themselves around the city, but they aren't using the vehicle to lure their victims to these dark spots to commit the crimes."

"The Hidden Races aren't easy targets. We fight back! Wielders will use their abilities against attackers!" Yuko suddenly blurted.

Roy responded. "We don't know anything about the killer except they may be able to see through glamors to identify non-Human targets. Five to one is a pattern. They cause vicious damage to their victims, and as Sigrid mentioned, they seem to consume parts of their victims. I suspect they're Hidden Races themselves and have claws and teeth like a Werewolf. I can't speculate on their motive."

"No one can see through glamors! That's impossible," Yuko insisted.

Dayshia began to chuckle. "Nothing is impossible, girlie." She dropped her glamor, and her gorgeous, oversized eyes flared with brilliant blue, green, and gold light from within. "Oh! What lovely and colorful tails!"

Yuko's eyes widened. "What are you?" she gasped.

Dayshia smiled gently at her as she switched back to her Human glamor. "We don't know. Even Baba Yaga didn't know."

"Ahhh! Di' ye hafta mention her name?" Roy snapped in annoyance as he glanced around, looking for shadows.

"Roy, you know she's not likely to show her face around Henry any time soon," Sigrid complained.

The big redhead glanced over at Henry and seemed to calm himself. "Right, tha's true. Sorry, lad."

Henry shrugged. He was aware that Baba wasn't going to visit him as she'd stolen his daughter from him. She hadn't completely driven a stake into his heart to kill his love for her, but their relationship was... severely strained, to put it mildly.

"If we can put a bookmark in the discussion about the serial killer, has anyone heard anything about a certain mad Queen?" Marisa asked the group but seemed to be directing her attention to Michelle, who was privy to the Council and appeared willing to share. Henry knew she missed Nate. He missed Nate, too! They both suspected Mab still had him.

"The Fae are no longer restricting themselves to work to rule or house arrest. Last month, they returned to their day-to-day routines and seemed more cooperative than before, with one exception. Any requests for information about Queen Mab is met with silence. They won't or can't speak about her. It's almost like she doesn't exist for them." Michelle gave Marisa a sympathetic look.

"She broke the deal." Eyes turned to Mahati, who continued. "When Queen Mab enacted her spell at the party, she broke the deal Henry made with her for the glamors for his friends. She requested three favors in return. The deal I brokered was simple: The favors cannot, in any way, impinge upon Henry's physical or mental freedom. They must not, in any way, endanger him physically or mentally. And those two conditions also applied to those Henry considered important to him."

She watched that sink in with the other guests. "Mab used up her first favor, making Henry assist with the healing of the Ogre. No risk there. A simple exchange. The second favor was participating in the Fertility Ceremony. It was during that event that she broke the deal. She intentionally bound him against his will. This act impinged upon his freedom. Then she had his child and took its body, leaving the child to die of old age. This act physically endangered someone Henry considered important to him: his daughter. She attacked him with magic when he attempted to protect the child. This act endangered him physically, breaking the deal's third and final condition."

The others were realizing how severely the Queen broke the deal, an unthinkable breach for a Fae.

Mahati nodded to Henry. "Shortly after the night of Queen Mab's party, I filed a grievance against the Queen with the Fae Court, outlining the terms of the deal and the actions she took which broke all of its conditions. The court called one witness: Ikehorn, Queen Mab's former Enforcer. He confirmed the charges. The sanctity of honoring a deal is the cornerstone of Fae society. They aren't above finding a loophole in a poorly worded deal to wiggle out of having to fulfill their side, but our deal was solid and not open for interpretation. The court found their Queen at fault. Mab has been dethroned. They won't speak of her again. Unfortunately, this also means they won't help us get Mr. Walker back."

The room was quiet as everyone stared at Mahati incredulously. Henry moved to stand before her, then knelt at her feet. He took her hand in his and looked her in the eye. "Thank you for this justice for my daughter." He kissed her hand as she watched him with wide eyes.

Camila's mouth was open in shock, but nothing was coming out. She gave herself a shake. "You went after the Queen of the Fae in a Fae court?!? You realize that if you lost the case, your life would have been over, which would have been the best-case scenario!"

Mahati was trapped by the admiration in Henry's eyes. It made her feel a little drunk, and his touch was sending unfamiliar but intriguing tingles throughout her body. Her face was flushing again, so she tore her eyes away from him and looked at Camila. "I couldn't lose this case. My evidence was unquestionable, the deal was simple, concise, and watertight, and the crime perpetrated could not be ignored by the court. Before presenting my case, I also spoke with my mother to get her opinion of the Fae Court's current political climate. Mab's recent decisions have put her people at risk multiple times. There wasn't a better time to file the charges against her."

"Well, you certainly have a pair of brass ones on you to take on the Mad Queen on her home turf," Roy said with a wry grin.

Sigrid nodded. "Your confidence is admirable, but nothing is straightforward with the Fae. You took a major gamble; thank the stars above, it worked. This time."

Mahati huffed at the fear in their voices. She looked back to Henry, who was still watching her with awe in his eyes. She smiled as his hero-worship made her efforts feel so worthwhile. She'd never felt so good about her work before.

"Henry, let's serve the hors d'oeuvres," Tish said, drawing his attention away.

As he sent one last smile to Mahati on his way to the kitchen, he missed Yuko staring daggers at the dark-skinned woman.

Kali's subtle smile said she didn't.

Chapter 2

Colonel Gordon Crane leaned back against the seat cushions in the executive jet the army used to take him to and from Washington, DC, for his debriefings. Due to the sensitive nature of his mission, this was the best method for his travel. He assumed this was how his former commander, Colonel Devlin, also made his reports.

His mind flashed back to the day Devlin lost his life to something not born on this Earth. That little fact wasn't widely known. Whatever the hell that black ribbon creature had been, he knew it hadn't originated on the planet he called home. For him, it was the unequivocal proof that Devlin was right; they were at war, and for the first time, the enemy wasn't us.

Shortly after that tragic event, he'd been called to Washington for his first debriefing. He realized now how unprepared he'd been for what came next.

Then, he'd been First Lieutenant Gordon Crane, but he'd learned upon his arrival at the Pentagon that he'd been promoted to Colonel. He waited for the other shoe to drop. In his experience, rapid promotions only came in times of deep peril.

He'd been ordered to get everyone out of the town and personally report to the Colonel's chain of command in Washington immediately. Before he left, he'd delegated the task of bugging out to his next in command and headed for the closest airport. He'd had to run a gauntlet of the press, but he smartly kept his mouth shut. Next, he was sitting in a windowless meeting room in the Pentagon's bowels, across the table from three very grim-faced men in dark grey suits. He only recognized the Director of Homeland Security, Stephen Dawes. The other two were unknown to him. The conversation came back to him.

"Colonel Crane, do we have containment?"

Gordon looked at the speaker. "Yes, Director. The town was evacuated immediately upon our arrival. Most civilians were unconscious, and none of the conscious were in the proximity of the stadium. There are no civilian witnesses. Unfortunately, there's no sign of the glass entities."

After the... flying creature escaped from the gymnasium and massacred some of his teammates and Devlin, they opened the gym to find it empty.

Where the glass entities went was a mystery, as was where the flying creature came from.

"We received word that the Chinese troops are leaving the remote province empty-handed and minus their leader as well," Dawes admitted, and Crane stared at the men in surprise. "Apparently, a doorway opened, and the glass being stepped through."

"When did this happen?" Gordon asked.

"We understand it was the same night ours went missing," the Director replied.

Crane thought about that. "A globally coordinated extraction?"

"By who? Did anyone get past your people?" Dawes asked, and Crane shook his head definitely.

"No, sir. The gym was built on a solid concrete pad. We had soldiers on the gym's roof and a full guard encircling the building. The building was sealed. Unless... unless this doorway was opened inside the gym from the other side. The location the entities were moved to," Crane suggested.

One of the other men finally spoke. His voice was like tumbling gravel and had a thick southern accent. "Shit, that's a nightmare scenario I'd rather not consider. Doorways that open in our most secure locations, bypassing all security measures?"

Gordon could only nod. The idea gave him chills, too.

The third man finally spoke. He was tall and handsome, but his smile was slightly crooked. There was... a look in his eye, or maybe it was his body language, but something made the hair on Crane's neck stand on end to be the man's focus of attention. "Colonel Devlin spoke highly of you. He placed a great deal of faith in your abilities and judgment. We depended on the Colonel to spearhead sensitive missions where our society's stability was threatened. Can we rely upon you to the same degree?"

Gordon Crane was no fool. He knew the stakes Colonel Devlin played for, and some of the man's decisions led to questionable actions. This thought led him to recall their previous mission. That said, he had no doubt in his mind there was a greater good Devlin had been working towards in every case. Devlin never shared those decisions with anyone. Now, Gordon was being asked to follow in the man's footsteps to protect his country. He might not make the same decisions as Devlin, but putting his country first?

He could do that.

"Yes, sir," he said with conviction.

There was a subtle easing of tension in the room.

"We need you to get a handle on these pseudo-cloud creatures. We need to contain, control, or find a more efficient way to eliminate them. Let us know what you need, and we'll get it. Report only to us. This is top secret at the highest clearance level, and there must be no hint of this in the press or the public. Is this understood?"

"Yes, sir."

The Director opened his briefcase and slid a dossier across the table. "This is everything we know about the creatures."

Gordon saw the docket wasn't very thick. He glanced inside, and the data on the first plane-pseudo-cloud collision was there. As was a report on the Chinese glass entity.

"Have your troops been evacuated?" Dawes asked.

"I received word when I landed in Washington that they've left the town and have moved the quarantine zone out to a five-mile radius," he reported.

"The town will be sterilized to ensure nothing is left behind and to validate the cover story," the man with the gravelly voice said.

Gordon thought that was overkill and would generate more attention, but he wasn't being asked his opinion. He nodded.

"There seems to be a number of the larger pseudo-clouds congregating in Missouri. You might want to take your team there to start. Thank you for taking on Colonel Devlin's mission."

"It's my honor, Director." He stood as the briefing was obviously over. He placed the docket in his briefcase, locked it, nodded to the men, and left the meeting room.

He had his marching orders. He'd much rather be out in the field than in some stuffy meeting room any day.

Today, Gordon was once again returning from that meeting room. The pseudo-clouds' incursions were increasing, and months after that initial meeting, they still had no definitive plan for stopping them. They'd discovered it was possible to kill them, but their current methods were inefficient and not always successful.

Meanwhile, there'd been some disturbing news from the other side of the world. A colossal breach had formed over the South Pacific midway between the islands east of Australia and west of Fiji. It was caught by the satellite cameras of the Climate Research Division of the EPA. Where previous breaches let in individual pseudo-clouds, this one gave birth to a monster. The cameras were now tracking the vast cloud bank's trajectory, moving eastward towards Wallis and Futuna, seemingly flying against prevailing air currents. Then, it was discovered to be releasing smaller pseudo-clouds on multiple vectors. It was being likened to a flying aircraft carrier, only twenty times larger than anything the US had on the seas. They would have to do something about it before it got too close to the US west coast.

More disturbing were the stories of entire populations of remote Pacific island chains disappearing after these storms passed overhead. There's no sign of them or foul play, and their boats remain where they left them. No clues were left behind to explain their disappearance at all.

Crane's current mission had him heading back to the wheat belt, Nebraska this time. His team's research into the pseudo-cloud's internal anatomy was looking promising. They'd had the eggheads in engineering build them some new mapping radar tech. They planned on using it to discover what was inside the fluffy masses that let them direct their movement and store the energy they zapped each other with.

Satellite imagery showed two massive beasts moving towards each other, and they'd likely meet tonight at dusk.

He and his team intended to be there to meet them.

-=-

The huge clouds rumbled and collided above the expansive wheat fields as Sam sat in his harvester, watching from the edge of the property. Bolts of lightning occasionally shot down between them to strike the ground, and he grinned each time he saw it.

He'd been a storm watcher since he was a little kid. While his sister would run and hide under her blankets, he'd be right there by the window, taking it all in, fascinated and excited at the same time.

These new storms, though, he'd never seen anything like them. The clouds seemed... different. They didn't behave.... normally. They appeared to move with a will of their own. He'd even seen them fly against the wind!

The two thunderheads he was watching now looked like they were threateningly bumping chests. Well, that's what it looked like to him.

He picked up the mic on his radio to call his buddy Jake in the harvester, idling next to his.

"Do you see them? They're fightin'!" he gushed.

"Sam, they're clouds. Clouds don't fight. Hey! Didn't you hear that guy on TV last night? He explained this. It's just oddly charged ions accidentally released from that Commie nuclear power plant over in Russia. The stuff got up in the sky and collected in the clouds. I'm not buying that it was accidental, though!" his friend grumbled. Jake was convinced the Ruskies were the source of most of their woes.

Sam hadn't watched TV the night before as he'd been driving the back roads with Jeannie, his wife, who was also an avid storm watcher. She liked to make love in their truck while lightning flashed in the skies above them. His mind took him back to how wild she'd been last night.

Jake's voice interrupted his sexy thoughts. "The science guy said there was no danger from radioactivity, but the ions were makin' the clouds push other clouds with the same charge. Like magnets."

"Magnets?!? Pffft! What a load of crap that is!" Sam scoffed. "These clouds ain't behaving like magnets. I'm tellin' ya, they're alive and acting like... like..." he strained his mind to think of a creature Jake would recognize had the same behavior.

"Walruses."

Sam burst into laughter at Jake's quiet, almost reverent suggestion. He looked over at the man in the cab of the other big farm machine and was glad he hadn't pressed the mic button. His friend watched the vast clouds bumping each other, and his mouth was hanging open in awe. Sam was more than a little impressed with his friend's ability to take that leap. He pressed the button. "Exactly! It's like they're fightin' for dominance!"

Jake looked over with a grin. "King of the Clouds?"

Sam shared a laugh with him.

Suddenly, the sky flashed a brilliant blue-white, and the ground below their machines hummed loudly. The engines shut down on both harvesters, and the lights went off. They looked back at the towering clouds to see one had an enormous rip down its side. It began to slowly drift lower. Sam noticed the other cloud was rising twice as fast as the wounded cloud was falling. Rain started to hit the harvesters' windshields and seemed to be coming from the rip in the dropping cloud.

He cracked open the side window and saw Jake do the same. "Does that look like a wound to you?" Sam called out across the gap.

"Shit, yeah. Is this rain supposed to be the cloud... bleedin'?" Jake replied, his voice strained by wonder. "What's the rising cloud doi—GEEZUZ!!!"

While they'd both missed the lightning strike that caused the gash, they got an eyeful of the next. An enormous bolt of pure white light shot down the side of the rising cloud to stab deeply into the dropping one. There was a second flash, this one yellow and coming from the core of the injured cloud. An enormous fireball erupted upwards, following the path the bolt had carved. The upper cloud was now in trouble as the flames climbed its outer surface. After a moment, it released a deluge of rain, shedding its outermost layer to cool the rising fire. The victorious but now smaller cloud moved off to the south.

The rain began to taper off as Sam and Jake sat in their harvesters, gawking at the light show overhead.

The cloud that... exploded was quickly thinning out into a misting rain. Sam spotted something a little more substantial and shiny drifting down to land in the field not too far ahead of them.

He suddenly had a burning need to see that... thing from inside the dead cloud.

He needed something to carry whatever he found, so he grabbed his lunch bag and took his sandwiches out of the resealable container Jeannie had packed them in. She always put his lunch in sandwich bags, then the rigid plastic container to keep him from squishing them, and then that went into his lunch bag. For once, he was grateful for the extra packaging. Dropping the now empty container in the lunch bag, he opened the door to his harvester and stepped out, item carriers in hand. The mist cooled his skin as he turned his face up to it. It felt good!

"Sam! What the hell are you doin'? Get back inside! You don't know what that stuff will do to you!" Jake yelled from the now-open door of his own machine.

"It's just water! Besides, didn't you say the science guy said it was harmless?" Sam grinned at his friend. He climbed down from the cabin to the ground and set off across the field while he still had light to see with the late afternoon's setting sun poking under the clouds from the horizon.

"Dammit, Sam! Wait up!" Jake called out.

He waited for his friend to catch up, and the two men entered the field.

"Where are we going?" Jake asked, turning the brim of his baseball cap to keep the rain from his face.

Sam wiped his own face and pointed to a spot not too far ahead. "Something fell out of the dead cloud," he said and grinned at Jake's cautious look.

"Why are you bringing your lunch?"

Sam snorted. "I'm not. Just the container in case we find something worth keeping."

Jake nodded at his friend's quick thinking.

They came upon a sizeable ring-shaped scorch mark in the wheat and stopped beside it. The burned section was a good three feet from its outer to inner edges, and the inner circle itself had to be around twenty-five feet across.

"What the hell is this?" Jake exclaimed.

Sam looked at it, then looked up. Glancing back at the distance they were from their harvesters, he smiled. "I got it! This is where the first lightning bolt from the surviving cloud touched down. It musta been a tube!"

"Well, it burned the wheat to a crisp!" Jake growled.

"Yeah, but look at the growth inside the burn! Look how healthy it is!" Sam gushed.

They walked around the scorched zone and admired the tall, strong stalks. All the wheat was much taller and healthier than it usually was this time of year. They didn't normally harvest this early in the season, but the grain was ready, so they had to be. Sam turned away and hurried on to where the shiny substance fell. Jake caught up to him and looked down at what seemed like aluminum foil.

"Tin foil?!? We came out in this rain to look at tin foil?" Jake complained.

Sam scowled at him. "It was inside the cloud! That means something! Maybe it's like one of those foil party balloons! Or a weather balloon! This could prove they're man-made! Maybe there's some kind of radio control receiver nearby!"

Jake's expression suddenly turned angry. "It's the damn Ruskies! They're sending drone clouds over here to... to..."

"Zap our wheat?" Sam asked, suppressing his grin.

"Yes! Zap our—" Jake caught the amusement in Sam's eyes. "Fuck you! What's your idea then?"

"Ain't got one yet. I need more information. Help me look for the controller. It should have fallen in the same place as this shiny stuff or close by."

The two men carefully inspected the ground. Sam paused to use a broken wheat stalk to poke several foil strips into one compartment of his plastic lunch container. The foil was so thin he was afraid touching them with his fingers might tear it. The box protected it well enough, and he slipped it back into the lunch bag.

"Sam! I found something!" Jake yelled out.

Sam hustled over to Jake's side to see what he was looking at. Hanging on some bent-over wheat stalks was a thin mesh of fine gold threads roughly two-foot square. A flat, oval, translucent stone glowed at each thread intersection with a faint yellow light. The gems had stuff embedded in them like... like...

"Is that amber? The stuff prehistoric bugs got caught in?" Jake asked, and Sam gave him another impressed look. Jake had been watching the History Channel. He took a closer look. It did look a bit like amber.

The mesh wasn't connected to anything, so Sam lifted one corner while Jake got the other. A burst of light exploded from the mesh, and the two men found themselves on their backs in the wheat.

"What... what happened?" Sam asked as he sat up. His eyes widened as he saw they were quite far from where they'd been.

"Whoo boy! That amber packs quite a punch!" Jake said with a silly grin as he sat up.

Sam snorted as that tickled his funny bone for some reason. He was all smiles, too, though he didn't know why. They were thoroughly soaked as the rain seeped into the ground.

Sam stood and helped Jake up as well. They walked back to the mesh.

Jake peered closely at it. The mesh had split in quarters, and two of them, the sections Sam and Jake touched were no longer glowing. The remaining two pieces still had a glow.

Sam spotted his lunch bag on the ground. He dumped the container out and used the bag as a glove to pick up one of the lit mesh sections. This went into the second compartment of his plastic container, which he sealed tight. Then he put the second lit piece in the lunch bag for Jake. He left the dull sections on the ground.

"I'm going to get a couple of pieces of the foil for you and Brenda, too. Souvenirs. May be worth something someday!"

Jake smiled at him gratefully as Sam used his broken wheat stalk trick again to push a few strips into the lunch bag and handed it to him.

"Thanks!" Jake said, then looked down at their sodden clothes. "I guess we should go home and get some dry clothes before returning to work."

"Yeah..." Sam said, then grinned wickedly. "I'm gonna give Jeannie a big ol' wet hug first!"

Jake started to chuckle and then laugh, as that seemed hilarious. He wasn't sure why he felt so good, but he decided Brenda would get a big wet hug, too. "Let's get outta here!" he said. Sam nodded with a big grin on his face. Obviously, he was also feeling pretty damn good!

Sam carried his container, and Jake had the lunch bag as they walked back to the harvesters. The wheat they moved through was tall and healthy, and they found no sign of the scorched ring or the circle of taller wheat they'd spotted earlier. That spot had spread outwards, and the crops around them had taken on the health and tallness of the stuff they'd seen in the circle. They shrugged and began to run towards the big machines. As running felt so good, they went right past the harvesters and continued down the lane between the fields. They ran faster and faster, laughing with each other in their delight. When they reached the parking lot, they hopped into their trucks and waved to each other as they went their separate ways.

Sam just lived a few miles down the road in a small trailer set back from the highway. He parked and ran to the door with his container in hand. He stepped inside, and Jeannie looked up in surprise from her seat on the couch. Petite but plump and sexy, she beamed a smile at her husband.

"What are you doing home so early!" she asked with a grin. She caught sight of something glowing in the container he dropped on the seat of the recliner next to the door.

He kicked off his boots and moved to the couch to drop his body on top of hers. She immediately began to squeal.

"Sam! You're soaking wet! You're getting me all wet, too!"

He chuckled wickedly. "Am I getting you all wet, baby? Are you all juicy for me?"

Her eyes flared with hunger as he ground the bulge of his swelling cock against her pussy through her thin panties.

"Oh fuck, that feels so good!" She moaned and clung to him, any concerns of being wet lost in her need for him. "Get those wet things off and fuck me!"

Sam smiled and pulled his shirt off.

"Ooo! Sam! You're all shiny!" Jeannie purred as she ran her fingers over the wet skin on his chest and stomach. A puzzled frown appeared on her face. His muscles felt firmer than last night.

Sam stood and shucked off his clothes so fast she couldn't follow it with her eyes. Then he was pulling her panties off. She began to giggle nervously as he was moving so quickly. That giggle became a moan as he stretched his body over top of hers and drove his hard cock deep inside.

"Ohhh! Fuck baby! Slow it down! Make it last!" she sighed.

Sam tried, but it felt so good, and Jeannie was so hot and wet for him. His hips began to move faster and faster, slapping their bodies together.

"Fuck! Oh! Ssstop! AH! Baby! Slow! AH!" Jeannie was overwhelmed by the intensity of her orgasm, which rushed up on her from the rapid slaps to her clit. "FFFFUUUUCCCCKKKK!!!!" she wailed as she clung to him, feeling his heat firing into her. That felt so good as well.

They lay together, panting in the afterglow, and Sam smiled down at her. "I love you, sexy woman!"

She beamed a huge smile up at him and pulled his face down to hers to kiss him. When he pulled back, she gave him a little push. He got the message and pushed himself up to sit back against the couch's armrest while she sat up against the other end.

"Why are you home early, and why are you... we, soaked?" Jeannie asked as she wiped the water from her face. She looked down and saw her skin was all shiny, too. She pulled off her sodden shirt, and her fat tits were slick with the wetness as well. "How did I get so wet?"

"Jake and I watched two of those strange clouds I told you about. They were dukin' it out over the field we were going to harvest. One killed the other one, and this ain't rain, darlin', it's cloud blood," he said with a big grin.

She gave him a smirk and shook her head as she stood. "Cloud blood is rain!" she snorted in amusement. She walked over to the recliner and admired the glow coming from the container. She reached down and popped the lid.

"Jeannie, wait-"

She touched the mesh, and a flash tossed her across the room to hit the couch. It went over, taking the two of them with it. Sam was immediately at her side, gently pushing the hair back from her face.

"Jeannie? Baby? Jeannie!" he nervously called to her.

Her eyelashes fluttered as she resurfaced, then flew wide open. "What? What?"

He helped her stand, and she was trembling on her feet. "You okay, baby?"

"I'm tingling!" She scrambled to look over the couch at the recliner. The stones were no longer glowing in the mesh. "What was that thing?"

"It fell out of the cloud along with the foil," he explained.

She looked at him incredulously. "It came from the cloud?" He nodded with an excited smile.

They righted the sofa, and she moved back to the mesh, which was now on the floor. She looked at the chair and picked up one of the silver strips as Sam gently picked up the other one.

"Careful, it's super thin, but like tin fo—" he began, then realized the material was melting in his fingers. It was combining with the wetness on his skin... and spreading! He looked at Jeannie, and the silver was already up to her shoulder. She tried wiping it off, but it just stuck to her other hand. He looked down at himself and saw the silver spreading across his chest.

"Sam?" Jeannie called out with a nervous tremor in her voice.

He looked at her again, and it was covering her face and soaking into her long hair. She wasn't panicking or having trouble breathing, and she seemed to be able to see as she watched it move down her body. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked.

She nodded cautiously. "What is this stuff?"

"I-I have no idea, but I gave some to Jake, and he's gone home to see Brenda. I gotta warn him!"

"I'll go with you!" she insisted and shot away to the bedroom to get dressed. A loud crash shook the entire trailer, followed by almost hysterical giggles.

Sam rushed into the room to see Jeannie picking herself up from the floor. The bedside table was smashed to splinters. "What happened?" he asked.

"I ran in here and was going too fast to stop!" she gasped, her silver eyes wide with surprise.

He looked at the mirror above the dresser and gasped. He was also covered head to toe with silver. He looked back to the destroyed furniture and Jeannie.

"Are you hurt?"

"No! I-I feel fine! Not a scratch. Sam... I feel fast!" she grinned. "I-I want to run!" she said with her sweet giggle.

She pulled on her sweatpants and sweater, and he put on his jeans and a t-shirt.

"Come on! Let's go to Jake's!" Sam said and reached out a hand.

The moment Jeannie placed her silvered hand in his, he felt their minds link. He stopped and looked at her as she gazed back at him in wonder. "I truly never knew how much you loved me until this moment," he whispered in awe. She gasped and pulled him to her to kiss him fiercely. He was a foot taller than her, so he had to bend down to do it, but he'd kneel at her feet for the rest of his days if she asked.

She pulled back from him and looked into his reflective eyes. She saw herself there and him in her reflection. A convergent series of smaller and smaller images were inside each reflection. It was breathtaking and dizzying. "More kissing later!"

They rushed from the bedroom, slipped on their shoes, and left the trailer. Sam looked at the truck. "Drive?"

"Run!" she grinned, and he nodded happily. She'd never been a runner, as her chunky body was just too fleshy and heavy to make it enjoyable. Now? It felt like nothing was holding her back.

They released their hands and started off relatively slow. Jeannie was elated to discover nothing hurt as her silver-covered body shook and quaked. Giggles burst from her again.

"Faster!" she gasped, and it was Sam's turn to laugh with delight. They picked up the pace, and their shoes flew off. They didn't even slow down. Their feet felt no pain running on the asphalt, and they had excellent traction, so they pushed harder to go faster. Jake's place was only a fifteen-minute drive down the highway. They let themselves accelerate again.

"Whoa! We almost passed the house!" Sam called out as he grabbed Jeannie's hand again to pull her onto the dirt lane to Jake's parent's old farmhouse. They stopped on the front porch and grinned at each other.

"Our clothes! Jeannie shrieked as she saw she was only wearing the tattered remains of the track pants' waistband and strips of the sweater.

Sam had a little more on his lower half, but his jeans were shredded, and the t-shirt was gone. He still had his wallet and keys in his pocket, but he didn't think they'd survive another run. Strangely, he didn't really care. He shrugged and tapped his chest. "Just think of this as a suit of shiny knight's armor... or body paint." He thumped on the door as she ducked behind him. "Jake! It's Sam and Jeannie!"

Jake opened the door and stared at them in surprise. He was covered in silver, too.

"Ah, you touched the silver strip, too," Sam sighed. Jake nodded with a frown. "Brenda?" Sam asked.

"Naw. She got pissed off when I hugged her and got her all wet. Now she's mad at me cuz she can't dry off, and I can't get the silver off."

"Did she touch the yellow stones?" Jeannie asked.

Jake looked at her, then glanced away. "No. Are you naked?"

Jeannie squeaked in embarrassment and hid behind Sam once again.

Sam just looked down at his ripped clothes. "Our clothes didn't survive the run over here."

Jake looked past them to the driveway, but Sam's truck wasn't there. "You ran here? Jeannie ran here, too?"

The petite but plump woman moved out to face Jake. "What's that supposed to mean?!?" she said indignantly.

Jake raised his hands in surrender. "Nothin'! I meant no disrespect! I-uh..." He looked closer. "Have you lost weight?"

Sam and Jeannie looked at her body, and she did look a little slimmer. "Maybe it was the running. We were running pretty fast! Got here in just five minutes!" she said.

"Geezus! That is fast!" Jake exclaimed.

"Let me talk to Brenda. You fellas wait here," Jeannie insisted and pushed past Jake. She smiled back at Sam and then disappeared inside.

Jake and Sam moved to the railing and looked out into the darkness. "I can see everything as clear as if it was day. It's just not so brightly colored." Jake sighed. "What happened to us? Should we be telling someone?"

Sam thought about that and shook his head. "Naw. I think we'd get in trouble if we did. End up with scientist pokin' things into us. I don't want that for Jeannie and me."

Jake just nodded in agreement. He didn't like the sounds of that either. "What do we do then?"

Sam thought about that for a bit, then nodded to himself. "I want to go back to that field and collect the rest of that silver stuff. It's too dangerous to leave it."

"Dangerous? It's all over us! What do you mean dangerous?" Jake exclaimed nervously.

Sam tried to calm his friend. "I mean dangerous in the wrong hands. Can you imagine criminals being able to move this fast?"

Jake frowned. "I don't think the silver stuff made us fast. Coulda been the weird rain or, more likely, the flash from the stones. Still, I agree we should keep this stuff out of anyone's hands but ours for now. What're we gonna do with it?"

Sam just smiled. "Not sure yet. For now? We'll just collect it and run?" he shrugged.

There was a loud crash from inside the house. Jake rushed inside with Sam at his heels. Brenda's tall, slim frame leaned against the living room's far wall. The piece of mesh was on the floor, the light no longer glowing from it. Jeannie was picking herself up from where she landed against the opposite wall. She used Sam's lunch bag to pick up the silver foil and dropped it on Brenda's head. It immediately began to melt and spread as it had with Jeannie.

Jake looked upset, so Sam patted his friend's arm and strongly picked up the man's emotions. Jake spun to stare at him in surprise. "Oh! Sorry! I should have realized it would work with you as well as Jeannie," Sam apologized.

"Is that some mind-to-mind shit?" Jake asked in a quiet voice, and Sam nodded.

"Freaky, ain't it," Sam said with a smile.

"What!?! Oh! What's happened?" Brenda gasped as she woke.

Jake knelt next to her. "Hey, how ya feelin'?" he asked gently.

"I-I feel... different! In a good way!" she said.

He took her hand, and she gasped. "Oh! Oh, Jake! I love you too!"

He kissed her tenderly and then helped her stand. Jeannie was grinning at her friend. "What?" Brenda asked.

"Feel like doing a little running?" Jeannie asked.

Brenda's smile widened. She'd never been athletic, but as a girl, she'd used her long legs to run all over her parent's farm. She nodded to her friend as something in her was eager to re-experience that thrill.

"Can you get your big thermos?" Sam asked his friend. He nodded and zipped away to return from the kitchen a second later with it in his hand. Brenda's eyes flew wide in surprise.

"Yes, we're much faster now!" Jeannie gushed. She looked at her husband. "Where are we goin'?"

"To the field to get the rest of the silver stuff. Then... I don't know. We can decide later," he said. His wife nodded to him with a smile.

They left the farmhouse and grinned at each other excitedly.

Sam looked down at their shoes. "You won't need those as they just fall off anyway."

"We might as well lose the clothes as they won't survive the run either," Jeannie said, shucking the remnants of her sweatpants and sweater as Sam grinned at her, undressing as well. He glanced at his wallet and keys and realized he wouldn't need them anymore. They just didn't seem important now.

"Naked? You want me to go streaking?" Brenda squealed.

Jake nodded with a big grin.

Brenda giggled nervously and dropped her clothes in a pile on the front lawn as Jake followed suit. Soon, four naked silver figures stood together in the grass. Sam took Jeannie's hand and felt her joy. She reached out and grabbed Jake's hand. He was startled and dropped the thermos but smiled at the woman. He then took Brenda's hand, and she reached for Sam's other hand.

"Oh!" they said simultaneously as the intense sensation of joy passed through them all. Reluctantly, they released hands.

"Let's go runnin'!" Sam said, and they were gone.

They turned off the highway towards the field a few minutes later and stopped next to the big harvesters. Brenda was all smiles as she looked at Jeannie. Then her eyes went wide. "You're slimming down!" she gasped.

"We're all getting slimmer!" Sam said, poking his flat tummy, which had been soft earlier in the day.

Jake smiled at his improved physique and realized he'd left the thermos on his front lawn. He looked to the highway and saw a convoy of black SUVs led by one of those big army personnel carriers turning off onto the dirt road.

"Shit! We got company!" he said.

Sam noticed the missing thermos and the approaching cars. The first vehicle accelerated. They'd been spotted. "Come on! Let's get what we can get and run!" He tugged Jeannie's hand as Jake ran into the field with Brenda.

They instantly felt a rush from the magic saturating the wheat around them.

"Ooo! What feels so good?" Jeannie purred as they went deeper into the field.

"I think it's the energy from the lightning that struck the field," Jake offered, and Sam grinned at him. Jake was becoming a regular Mr. Science! It was as good an explanation as anything he could come up with.

They found the last scraps of the foil and tried collecting it, but it just soaked into their existing coating. They each grabbed some until it was gone.

"FREEZE!" a voice yelled out over a loudspeaker, and an intense spotlight shone in their direction.

"What do you think?" Jake asked.

A shot rang out, and a high-pitched whiz screamed off Sam's shoulder, deflected upwards. He looked down where the bullet struck, but there wasn't so much as a scratch.

"Now I know what the silver stuff is good for. That didn't even hurt," Sam mumbled.

"They answered the question. Full speed away," Jeannie said.

"Agreed," Sam concurred. "Follow me to the gate."

He shot away through the field, and the others followed in single file. The wheat brushed past them, sliding off their frictionless mirror-smooth surfaces. They suddenly reached the edge, and Sam blew through the gate like tissue paper, stopping on the dirt road just beyond.

"What happened?!?" Jake gasped.

"Are you okay?" Jeannie asked in concern.

Sam examined his body but found no injuries, not even a scratch, from bursting through the metal pipe gate. "I'm good. I was going too fast to stop to open it for you guys," he said with a grin.

They all looked back at the commotion their sighting had caused. This far away, they were invisible in the dark but wouldn't take any chances.

"I think we'll need to stick to nighttime outings. With this shiny coating, we'll draw too much of that kind of attention in the daylight." Jake suggested.

Sam thought that was good advice and nodded with a smile. Besides, he was too charged up to think about sleeping.

"Where do we go now?" Brenda asked. She was still riding the high from the running and the energy she got from the magically charged and enhanced wheat field.

Sam looked to the far horizon and saw a distant flash. He reached out to take Jeannie's hand. She smiled the moment she picked up his intent through their connection. Words were redundant. She reached for Brenda's hand, and that woman held Jake's hand. They all shared a grin.

Storm chasing it was.

-=-

Colonel Crane watched in frustration as the four silver beings raced away at inhuman speeds. "Who fired his weapon," he barked.

"Corporal Yablonski, sir," his sergeant replied.

"Yablonski! Sergeant Tennison will be drilling you on basic weapons handling tonight," he growled.

"Yes, Colonel!" returned an embarrassed and worried response.

"Do we have a visual on them? Anything on the new radar tech?" Crane asked.

"Negative, Colonel. They scattered the radar too widely to get a read on them."

"Did anyone see which way they went?" he asked in frustration.

"Thataway, sir!" Yablonski said anxiously, pointing across the field.

Crane looked to his sergeant. "Get a team over to the other side of the field to find any evidence of their passing through. I doubt they're still there."

The woman rushed off to send one of their trucks to perform the search.

The Colonel walked up to the personnel carrier and spoke to the driver. "Green! You were closest. What did you get on the camera?"

The driver tapped the tablet mounted on the dash of his truck and frowned. "Just a lot of weird reflections, Colonel. There wasn't a lot of light at first, but even when we had the headlights pointed in their direction and swung the spot at them, the picture went to shit!" He tried rolling the frames forward slowly, but none showed the target clearly.

"Dammit!" Gordon snapped.

"I don't know why the camera is so messed up, but what we saw were four mirror-like silver people standing in the wheat," Green said. "One was shorter than the others."

"What were they doing, though?" Gordon asked as he stared out at the field.

One of the other soldiers from the first truck trotted up to the Colonel. "I don't see anything where they were standing, but it looked like they were picking something up."

Gordon looked at the two harvesters positioned like they would venture out into the field. The cab doors were open as well. "Get me the names of the two drivers. They might have witnessed the pseudo-clouds in battle." The team was supposed to arrive before the clouds met, but they'd been delayed as their new radar imaging tech was delivered to the airport late.

Standing next to him, Corporal Dane rushed over to the first big machine and climbed up into the cab. He spotted a photo pinned to the window. A young and happy couple, the man with a goofy smile and his shorter, thick wife beaming a blissful smile at the camera. There was another man in the background. He plucked the picture from the window. There was writing on the back. Then he spotted some sandwiches resting on the seat. He left his lunch?

He looked over at the other harvester and saw his sergeant climbing down with a lunch bag in her hand.

Dane climbed out and down and followed Mick back to the Colonel. Mick was showing him the contents of the lunch bag. There was a letter inside, a bill from the cable company, and a highlighted circle on the bill around the total.

"We have a name. Jake Miller. His address isn't too far from here." Crane said with satisfaction.

Dane displayed the picture he found in the harvester he climbed into. "This may be the driver of the other vehicle. The names Sam, Jeannie, and Jake are printed on the back."

The truck investigating the other side of the field returned, and Yablonski hopped out to rush over to the Colonel. "We found evidence of them breaking through the gate on the other side, but they left no trace on the broken gate."

Crane looked at Green. "Isolate the sharpest frame from the video showing these beings."

He looked to the sergeant. "Start doing a sweep. See if you can find anything these beings might have been here to collect. I'm taking a team with me to this Jake Miller's place to see if he can shed any light on what they saw."

He returned to his truck, and his driver moved them back onto the highway. Reaching the farmhouse only took fifteen minutes, and they pulled off onto the dirt driveway. As they climbed out of the truck, Gordon shone his flashlight across the yard, and something caught the light and reflected it back. He stopped, walked out onto the grass, and found a large thermos on its side. Close by was a set of keys and a wallet. The tattered remains of a woman's tracksuit and shredded men's jeans were found as well. Next to the thermos were two piles of clothes, a man's and a woman's, not torn but in good condition.

Crane's driver, Corporal Dulane, walked up to stand next to him. The stocky young man looked at the clothes and back to the Colonel. "They got undressed on the front lawn?"

Gordon picked up the wallet and checked the ID. Sam Lagrange. There was a picture of his cute, cherubic wife inside as well. She was shorter than the others, and it suddenly clicked in his head. "I think we may have found our silver people."

His driver found the wallet in the back pocket of the intact jeans. "Jake Miller," he read aloud. "I guess they didn't need clothes anymore?" Dulane asked.

"Look at the condition of these clothes." He paused to absorb what he was seeing. "Jake Miller lived here. The other two didn't. They probably ran here. We saw how fast they move. These clothes are destroyed. The fabric probably couldn't endure the speed."

"Colonel! We found something!"

Crane turned towards the house and saw the front door open, and Specialist Green stood in the doorway. The Colonel joined the Specialist and followed him inside. They stopped in the living room. "Signs of a struggle?" Green asked. There was minor damage on either side of the room, and in the middle of the floor was a fine gold mesh with small, dull yellow stones at the wire's intersections. The gems contained visible inclusions.

"Is this amber?" the Specialist asked.

"Don't touch it barehanded, but get it into a sample container. We're taking it with us," Crane explained, then took another look around. A tiny piece of foil was in a lunch bag on the floor. He looked closer at the shiny piece of metal and noticed it wasn't wrinkled as tin foil would be. "Put that bag and the foil in a sample container too."

He saw more pictures of the two couples. He pulled one from a frame as it showed all four people facing the camera. These had to be the people they saw. "Let's go, people, we have to move."

He went outside and looked for an address in Sam's wallet. He glanced at Dulane. "Find the location of this address for Sam Lagrange." The Corporal took the driver's license, nodded, and rushed back to the truck.

They headed to the other address once Specialist Green was in the truck with the sample container. The home proved to be a trailer, and Crane let himself in with the keys he brought with him. Inside, they found more of the mesh. A piece of furniture was broken in the bedroom as well.

They hustled back outside and drove back to the field. Once they were parked, the Colonel went to speak with the sergeant. The men were still doing a sweep of the area. Gordon dug out the picture of the four people. He gestured for Mick to join them. He showed her the photo as she'd been at the front with Green.

"Based on body shape and height, could these four people be the ones you saw?" he asked.

She looked at the image, and slowly, she began to nod. "Height-wise, they look like a match. It was hard to make out any features though, as the reflections were insane... sir."

Crane nodded to her and moved back to his truck. He looked to his driver. "I need you to get me everything available on these four people. Names and addresses of family, friends, coworkers, anyone who might offer them shelter." Dulane nodded and went to work.

Crane didn't really believe they would seek out family. He didn't think these four beings were the same people anymore. He looked out over the wheat field as he contemplated this latest development. The Glass People were odd enough, but this was something completely new. The next phase?

It had been Colonel Devlin's theory that they were looking at preliminary incursions of some kind of invasion. The people of Earth were being replaced with these alien monsters. Devlin told him they were lucky the replacements were so easily identified. If they looked human, there'd be no way to stop them. The Colonel told him they would have to act decisively to protect their country, and the world would follow their lead.

He would have to return to Washington to report this new type of invader to the Director and the other two men, whose names he still didn't have.

He frowned. He didn't like investigating unexplainable shit.

Or having to report it to mystery men.

Chapter 3

Lorelei Reichenbach, a young up-and-coming artist in high demand, sat alone at the small bar set up in the corner of the art gallery. She felt drained, disappointed, and, worse of all, lonely.

Her latest showing had been another smash success, with all three of her paintings being snapped up by collectors after a feverish bidding war. When it looked like the bidding on the third painting would result in a fight between two Octogenarians, Lorelei was forced to defuse the pressure in the room with a quiet little song she sang just under a perceptible hearing level. Her ability to control others with her singing was a new talent for her, but she was quickly learning its limits. Living in such a dynamic city with so many wildly different people, she'd had plenty of opportunities to hone her skills. She'd mastered subtle techniques for managing people around her. The biggest drawback of her new expertise was that she'd caught herself manipulating Emily, her lover.

When she realized what she was doing, it stung like a brutal slap. She couldn't forgive herself for breaking the promise she'd made to herself. The next morning, she broke up with the beautiful blonde and sent her on her way with enough money in her bank account to carry her comfortably for six months. She eased Emily's heart and mind with a song for her final manipulation. Emily had a good job, and with her skills and looks, she'd be fine. Emily wouldn't be alone for long.

The same couldn't be said for Lorelei. While she'd received many compliments for being tall, svelte, and lovely, she wasn't as approachable as Emily. A small part of that might be due to how her mood lately matched her choice color palette, dark and cool. She preferred dark blue-black lipstick, nail polish, and black eyeshadow.

It was more likely because the important people in her life, aside from Emily, had all failed her, leaving her with trust issues. She'd built a wall around herself.

She sighed as she was just procrastinating. It was time to go home, but her condo was empty, and she wasn't looking forward to sleeping alone again. She could easily find someone to warm the sheets with her, but her skin crawled at the thought of manipulating a stranger to have sex. She wasn't feeling strong enough tonight to do it without relying on her abilities.

So, alone it was.

She left the art gallery, allowing the last two employees to lock up behind her and finally go home. She turned toward the main road where taxis would be easier to catch. She walked along the dark street, humming a little song for protection. With a serial killer roaming the streets of the city at night, she was taking no chances. This particular song was unique as it turned Humans away and made them forget they saw her. For non-Humans, it caused them to stop and put their hands on their head. This identified them for Lorelei so she could speak to them to get more information about the Council. She would then make them forget her afterward.

She was acutely aware the Council was still a threat to her life, but they seemed to be hiding in the shadows. She needed to be proactive to protect herself, so she needed information.

She was walking through a tunnel under scaffolding when a large man suddenly fell from the platform above to the sidewalk six feet in front of her. He moaned as he lay on his back with his hands on his head.

Not Human.

She sang a little louder, and a second attacker stumbled to a stop behind her. Keeping her song going, Lorelei turned to see a five-foot-four woman watching her with wide, frightened eyes, her hands on her head. The woman's eyes darted to the moaning man, and her concern was clearly visible. So, they were a couple or partners, at least. The Council sent a team after her?

Lorelei gestured for the petite woman to join the man. She rushed over to her partner and checked his condition. Lorelei saw the woman relax as she confirmed there was no damage. She helped the big guy up to his feet. Lorelei saw he was close to her height but very broad in the shoulders, a powerful man. She changed the song slightly, then stopped.

"What are your names? Your real names," Lorelei demanded.

The big man blinked in surprise at her when he felt a compulsion he couldn't deny. "Raymond King."

"Eleanor King," came from the woman clinging to the man. "Though, we go by Hollings here."

"Do you work for the Council?" Lorelei asked bluntly.

Raymond looked at her cautiously while Eleanor glanced around.

"Council?" he asked quietly.

Lorelei was getting frustrated and tried to recall the name the dwarf had used. "The... Hidden Council?"

Now, both of her attackers were watching her with surprised expressions. The small woman answered. "No, we don't. This isn't a safe place to talk about that. Not talking about it is rule one."

The tall brunette glared at the two before her. "What were your intentions for me tonight?"

The couple glanced at each other briefly before they were forced to speak in unison. "Dinner."

Lorelei snarled at them. "You were going to eat me?!?"

"No, just a small amount of... blood. You wouldn't even notice, and typically you wouldn't remember," Eleanor continued, struggling to explain quietly.

It was Lorelei's turn to stare at them in surprise. She knew they were telling the truth, but the idea of being fed from was still repugnant. "You're like... Vampires?"

"We pay for the meal," the big man said with a crooked smile as he glanced at his wife. The woman looked embarrassed and defensive.

"Yes, we are. It's not like we don't recognize the distasteful nature of our dietary requirements, so... I leave a little money in the pockets of those we feed from. We don't have a choice about what we eat, but we try to make it as non-intrusive as possible."

Lorelei snorted. Why she found this Vampire couple to be somewhat charming, she didn't know. She wasn't getting her answers. They didn't work for the Hidden Council, so they were a dead end. She had to decide what to do about them. "When you aren't biting people, what do you do?"

"I'm a public defender, and my wife is a surgeon. A damn good one, too," he said proudly.

The woman smiled. "He's an excellent lawyer!"

"I'm more impressed by your ability to freeze us in place. I've never experienced this before. As we've shared who and what we are, will you do the same?" Raymond asked.

Lorelei frowned and shook her head.

"Ah, I'm sorry if I've offended you," Raymond said gently.

Lorelei was confused and upset. Her night was going from bad to worse. She'd intended to send her attackers into the Hudson River, but now, they didn't seem quite so evil. She might have felt better if she could have punished someone evil, but now?

"I don't know what I am! I do know the Council wants me dead, but I don't know why! I just want to be left alone!" she snapped, and her voice broke when she said it, as she really didn't want to be alone at all.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. She couldn't and shouldn't waste any more time. Eyes flashing open, she held the couple in her gaze as she sang another verse. She stormed off, leaving them swaying on their feet, her instructions implanted.

She made it to the main avenue and flagged down a cab.

She just wanted to put this whole night behind her.

-=-

Twenty minutes later, Raymond became aware he was leaning back against a boarded-up door behind plastic sheeting. He had his arms wrapped around Eleanor, and she was staring blankly at his chest.

"Dearest?"

She blinked, and a little wrinkle of concern appeared between her eyes. She looked up at him. "What happened?" She glanced around. "Where are we?"

"I... can't recall," he replied. He put his hand into his pocket and fished out his cell phone. He glanced at it and saw the recorder was running. He stopped it and saved the file. He held the phone up as he looked at his wife. "I think we'd better go home and find out."

"I don't think we ate tonight," Eleanor said as she looked inwards to assess her energy levels.

Raymond held her eyes. "I have the oddest feeling we narrowly avoided taking our last meal."

Chapter 4

Henry and Tish's party was winding down, and some of their guests were beginning to leave as they had plans for Sunday morning. Tish hugged Sigrid and Meixiu, and Henry walked them to the door.

"You have a lift home?" Henry asked Sigrid quietly as he pulled her to his chest. Her lovely blue eyes twinkled at his concern. She nodded.

"Camila has us using the car service. You know, I could take this monster out if I fought it," she said with a raised eyebrow and a little smile on her lips. A Valkyrie's warrior pride was a touchy topic.

"I have no doubt you would be victorious in a face-to-face battle, but we have no idea what the killer is capable of or how they fight. They might play dirty and ambush their victims without warning." He purposefully held Meixiu's eyes with his, and she dipped her eyes in acknowledgment.

Before Sigrid could ask what that was about, he took her face between his hands and kissed her tenderly. When he pulled back, her eyes had a dreamy quality, and her cheeks were glowing a fetching shade of pink.

He was having trouble keeping a look of adoration from his face. Sigrid went from fierce warrior to intensely cute so quickly! "We're still on for Wednesday night at the Met?" he asked, and her eyes lit up again as a grin spread across her lips. She nodded, and he returned it. "Great! See you at work on Monday."

He could no longer resist her charms and gave in as his eyes became trapped by how sweet she looked. She huffed with a look of exasperation, slipped her shoes on, and stepped out into the hall.

Meixiu was immediately in his arms, kissing him aggressively. He held her tight until she pulled her face back from his. "I will be careful too. I won't try to catch the killer, but if I can get a description or location, that will help!"

He nodded to her. "Please be careful. You're important to me." He gently set her on her feet, and with the flash of a bright smile, she was out the door.

Camila and Marisa were the next to leave. Siobhan, too, as she'd caught a lift with them.

"You have a lovely home, Henry," Camila said with a smile.

"I have you to thank for that." He paused as he had an epiphany. He looked her in the eye as he took her hands in his. "I have you to thank for so much more."

"Oh! Ah, well... I-you-" Camila stumbled with her words as her face heated up. Marisa burst into giggles as she watched her mother become tongue-tied. Camila shot her an annoyed look. When Henry's lips pressed against her cheek, she gasped and blinked at him as an unfamiliar emotion surged in her chest. She smiled and couldn't stop. "Thank you, Henry."

Marisa was still grinning at her mother's bewilderment when Henry took her hands in his next. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at him cautiously.

"I believe you may have some inkling of how grateful I am that you were there when I started at VRL and for how you came to my rescue again and again. I wouldn't have made it this far without you at my side," he said sincerely and watched Marisa's mouth open and close with no sound.

Camila snorted, seeing her daughter caught in the same sincerity trap. She watched Marisa lock up when Henry leaned in and gave her cheek a sweet kiss. She felt a sympathetic tug in her own heart. She didn't know what that feeling was. She also didn't understand what it was about Henry that drew her so strongly. Succubi didn't form long-term relationships with anyone. They just weren't wired to have the emotional capacity.

Yet, there was something about him, aside from the wonderful energy he gave her. That was just food for a Succubus like herself. She and Marisa had both gone to clubs recently and brought home healthy men for a tumble in the sheets and to feed from them. Knowing they could still feel charged from regular Human men was a relief. Still, she preferred Henry, and it wasn't just for his energy.

She puzzled over that as she and Marisa slipped on their sandals and stepped out into the hall.

Siobhan was smiling up at him. "You are such a sweetie, Henry!"

She threw her arms around him and squeezed. He hugged her with equal vigor.

She tilted her face back to look him in the eye. "I need to speak to you on Monday. Think you can set aside thirty minutes for me before lunch?"

"Sure-Mmmm!"

Once more, Siobhan kissed him fiercely, then rushed out after her ride.

Henry leaned out his door to see the brunette jump into the elevator with a grin.

He went back inside and closed the door as he touched his lips. He realized they were getting a lot of use tonight.

He ducked into the washroom and cleaned off a few smudges of lipstick.

A few deep breaths later, he was ready to join the others. He met Roy and Mary in the hall, putting their boots back on. He opened the door for them and got and gave another kiss on the cheek to Mary.

Once he returned to the living room, he saw the only remaining guests were residents of the building. Kali and Sandy stood by the windows, enjoying the view with a wine glass in their hands. Michelle and Dayshia were by the island, helping Tish pack up the leftovers. Yuko and Jun were sitting on a couch across the coffee table from Mahati, who was alone. He settled down next to the lawyer and gave her another smile. He knew he might be acting a little silly, but what she'd done to Queen Mab felt so good he couldn't stop smiling at her. Mahati was returning his smile, so she didn't seem to mind.

He suddenly felt the cushions on his other side drop as someone thumped down beside him, too close. He turned to see Yuko staring up at him from under her bangs. Her eyes were glassy, as if she was moments away from crying. She was also breathing a little fast.

"Are you okay, Yuko-"

"Why do you smile at the cold-blooded one all night and not me?" Yuko blurted, the scent of wine heavy on her breath. "Who is she to you?" Her voice was becoming sharp.

Henry's eyebrows went up, and he glanced at Jun, who was watching her sister in concern. He looked back and saw a tear run down Yuko's cheek. Henry automatically lifted his hand to wipe it away.

"No! You mustn't touch her tears!" Jun exclaimed, but Henry smiled at her as he cupped Yuko's cheek.

"It's okay. We discovered I'm immune to her tears," he said gently. Then Yuko climbed onto his lap to kiss him.

She was so forceful Henry couldn't brace himself and tumbled backward. He felt something soft under his back, but he couldn't see past Yuko's silky hair, which surrounded his head. Her lips pressed against his, and he instinctively kissed her. That just made her more aggressive, and her tongue came into play.

He tried to push her off, but his hands on her body just made her moan and squirm.

"GET-GET OFF!" Mahati yelled as she dropped her glamor and pushed the couple from her lap.

The push from the thick coils of muscle was a little too forceful. Henry and Yuko were thrown forward to land on the coffee table, a sturdy piece of hardwood furniture that easily withstood the impact. The glassware, wine glasses, whiskey tumblers, and dishes resting on its surface were another matter.

The shove and Henry's pained gasp from the broken glass stabbing into his back were enough to distract Yuko from her need for him. She pulled back and saw he was hurt, and Mahati was standing on her coils, glaring at her.

Her wine-addled senses told her here was the real enemy keeping her from happiness. She leapt back from the tall Nāga and moved her hands together as she recited the words. Multicolored tails flashed into sight behind her.

Mahati's danger sense was flaring. This crazed drunkard was going to use a spell against her... inside the building!?! She automatically summoned her own magic and wove the energies into a weapon. It was a race to launch their spell first.

Henry felt every hair on his body stand on end as the energies flashed into being. His eyes snapped open, and he saw Mahati bringing her left and right hands together. He dropped his glamor and used his Satyr strength to leap from the table, arms stretched wide to scoop Yuko to his chest as he sailed over the facing couch, dragging Jun with them as he went.

Yuko's spell collapsed against Henry's chest, sending them tumbling in opposite directions. Yuko and Jun were immediately stunned, unconscious.

Mahati's powerful counterspell cut through the air toward the spot Yuko had been standing a split second before. Instead, it slammed into the shield surrounding Tish as she leapt into its path. She glared at the Nāga as the deadly energies fizzled out, spitting sparks left and right, lighting up the shields Dayshia and Sandy used to protect Michelle and Kali.

"No MAGIC ATTACKS in my HOME!" Tish snapped.

"I-I was defending myself! The drunk Kitsune was trying to kill me!" Mahati insisted.

Tish quickly walked over to see how Henry was doing. He was dazed by the blast, but his back was a bloody mess. The glass had cut deeply into his back muscles. "Shit, he's going to need medical attention."

Henry struggled to stay conscious. It was so hard, but he needed to heal. He felt himself reaching for the ring and its link to the Global Overlay Spell. A sweet gurgle bubbled through his mind, and the power came faster and faster until the room began to glow.

Mahati gasped as she felt the magic building. She recognized the green light as the Fae's Global Overlay Spell. "What? What's happening?"

Sandy looked out the window and saw the sky above the building was beginning to glow. "I've seen this before! It's the Aurora Borealis!" Her head whipped around as she looked incredulously at Henry. "It's Henry? He's causing this?!?"

"It's the Fae's healing magic," Mahati explained as she watched Henry. She moved closer to him and saw his body was glowing with the energy, but he wasn't healing. "He can pull the magic to him, but he can't use it?" she guessed, and the others nodded.

Sandy suddenly worried about how badly hurt he was as this was happening.

Tish looked over to Dayshia. "You're training to be a surgeon. Can you help him?"

Dayshia turned her eyes to Tish. "What? This is magic! I'm not a wielder!" She looked to Mahati. "Why don't you do it?"

"I might be able to use the magic, but I'm not a healer," Mahati said, then looked to Dayshia. "If you're prepared to use your skills, I can back your efforts with magic."

Dayshia still looked hesitant, but Tish and Sandy were begging with their eyes. When Jun made sounds like she was coming around, they all stared at Yuko, but she was still unconscious.

"Keep an eye on that one!" Mahati said, pointing to Yuko. Kesini immediately wrapped herself around the Kitsune.

"How-what am I supposed to do?" Dayshia said as she knelt next to Henry. She dropped her glamor and used her vision to peer beneath his skin. She found multiple glass shards left in his muscle tissue.

"You are a healer. Envision how you would normally heal him. I will provide your actions with the magic required to complete the actions your will defines," Mahati explained.

Dayshia nodded distractedly. She hadn't performed any surgeries on her own before, but she knew how to do it from witnessing so many. She reached out her hands over Henry's back.

When Mahati touched her back with all four hands, Dayshia squeaked in fright as she knew the giant scary snake was right behind her.

Michelle was suddenly on Henry's other side, looking into her friend's eyes. "You can do this! We all have faith in you!"

Dayshia looked around and saw the smiles on the faces around her. She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. When she opened them again, she envisioned standing in a surgical suite next to her patient. She held out her palm and quietly asked for forceps. She felt the gentle pressure of something pressing into her palm. Dayshia was surprised to see the green light in the shape of the surgical tool in her hand. She pushed her doubts aside and used the tweezer-shaped implement and her enhanced vision to go after the glass fragments.

Henry grunted from the pain of Dayshia performing surgery on his back without anesthetic. He knew he had to remain awake to keep the energy flowing. That took everything he had.

Tish watched in amazement as Dayshia's hands moved with confident precision as she quickly cleared the shards from his back. Each one was extracted and then dropped into a dish made of the green light. She almost expected to hear a metallic ping from each dropped piece. She did hear Henry's grunts of pain and realized he was fighting to stay conscious through this. She marveled at his strength and willpower.

Dayshia loved working with tools made of light. Once she was sure she'd removed even the tiniest fragment, she handed off the forceps, which faded away, and was about to ask for the suture needle and driver. Instead, she ran her fingers through the green light, imagining how it could be used since it worked perfectly as the tools she'd needed. "Can this be used to seal the wounds?" she asked Mahati without turning to look at the snake lady.

She heard the smile in the woman's voice. "If you will it to act as an adhesive, then that's what it will be. Your skill is quite brilliant!"

She smiled at the compliment but focused her mind as she envisioned the tools she'd need to apply the thin bead of dermal adhesive. Once she had her tools, she quickly went from wound to wound, sealing the skin. When she was done, she passed her hands just above the surface of his skin and willed the energy to penetrate his skin to boost his natural healing. They were using light to stimulate tissue regrowth these days, so she envisioned it working here. She sat back when she was done. "I'm done, Henry. Rest."

They watched the green light fade as Henry finally gave in and passed out. His glamor immediately reset him to Human, but he was also naked. Dayshia smiled at his unblemished back. She knew he wouldn't have any scars when he recovered.

"Oh my god, Dayshia! You're amazing!" Tish gushed as she dropped to her knees to wrap her arms around her friend. Sandy was squeezing her from the other side, and a few free strands of Kesini also hugged her.

Once they released her, she stood, took a deep breath, and turned to face Mahati again. She relaxed as she saw the woman was back in her glamor as a petite woman in a saree. "Thank you for helping me help Henry."

"The honor was mine. I've never assisted in a surgical process before, and watching you work was thrilling!" Mahati said with a smile.

Dayshia frowned slightly. "How much of what I did was you?"

Mahati held up her hands as she shook her head. "It was all you. All I did was enable you to touch and guide the magic with your will. I believe you will be a brilliant surgeon."

"Why is Henry naked?"

Heads turned to see Jun sitting up and staring at Henry's body.

"I believe the real question should be, what's up with your sister?" Tish asked. "Why is she acting so obsessed with Henry?"

Jun looked at her unconscious sister, and her expression became both pained and sad. "I was unaware she'd attempted to ensnare his mind with her tears. That explains much. If my mother knew, she did not share that with me." She looked to Tish. "I think Yuko is soul-bound to him. I believe I heard Henry say he is immune to her tears." Heads nodded as they'd heard him say that as well. "That doesn't mean the binding between Yuko and Henry is broken. His link to her may no longer exist, but she will remain bound to him until she is pregnant with his child. It is the price of using her tears in this way." She shook her head incredulously as she went back over her sister's behavior, seen in this new light. It all made sense to her now. "Henry is a Satyr, so I don't understand why Yuko would have done this. She knows she cannot mate with anyone other than a Human. Binding herself to someone she cannot mate with only leads to madness."

The other ladies shook their heads as they couldn't explain it either.

"I need to carry Henry into the bedroom so he can rest. I'll need help," Tish said as she dropped her glamor. She was much stronger in her Faun form.

"No, Kesini. You need to keep Yuko under control," Sandy said to prevent her hair from releasing her hold on the Kitsune.

Mahati dropped her glamor. "I will assist you."

Tish gently rolled Henry over onto his back, and several of the ladies made little involuntary noises when his cock was exposed. Tish grinned as she knew they were seeing something a little different. It was one of the unique properties of Henry's glamor. From the observer's perspective, he would look and be the desired size and shape.

"Still look like an anaconda to you, Dayshia?" she asked with a sly grin as she spotted her friend's wide-eyed stare. She knew Dayshia had yet to take Henry to bed. Not from lack of interest, of course. She wasn't sure why Dayshia was so resistant to the idea.

Dayshia jerked her eyes away from Henry's groin and frowned at Tish. However, she couldn't maintain her annoyance with her friend as the woman was enjoying the moment so much. Dayshia found herself snorting in amusement, which triggered the rest of them until they all giggled, except for the unconscious Yuko and Kali. Dayshia saw the latter's expression no longer showed her smug satisfaction from the chaos she'd played a significant part in engineering.

Truthfully, the wide-eyed young woman looked shocked and more than a little nervous.

Dayshia had to admit what she saw was also a little intimidating, but it made her tummy tremble with nervous desire, not fear. Kali no longer looked confident, and that was... interesting.

She looked to Mahati, who was picking up Henry's legs with all four of her arms, while Tish had her strong arms under Henry's, resting his head against her shoulder. They lifted his large body carefully, and Tish walked backward out of the living room with Mahati following.

Tish was watching Mahati's expression as they slowly approached the bedroom. The woman's eyes kept finding their way back to Henry's cock. It suddenly dawned on her that Mahati's expression contained a burning curiosity. She was probably a virgin!

"First one you've seen in person?" she gently asked when they were alone.

Mahati's eyes immediately went to her, her complexion reddening, but she saw Tish wasn't judging her, so she reluctantly nodded.

"They don't get much nicer, considering his glamor matches it to your ideal," Tish said with a grin.

Mahati stared at her. "My ideal? How would it know if I've never..."

Tish looked back at her in surprise, then down at the unconscious man. "Uh, that's an excellent question. I must admit, magic is still a mystery to me."

They gently set Henry down on the low bed, then stepped back to gaze back down at him.

"I'm sorry for using offensive magic at your party. It really was in self-defense," Mahati said quietly. "I'm really impressed with your shield spell! It's exceptionally strong!"

Tish nodded. "They come in handy, being around Henry." She felt a little sad about that. Too much trouble clung to the big man.

Mahati was back to staring at Henry's privates. She looked pensive, and Tish almost laughed at her expression.

Finally, the dark beauty spoke. "Do you think Henry's glamor could actually make it possible for Yuko to become pregnant? I mean, that's her ideal, yes?"

Tish blinked at her as her jaw dropped open. "I-I have no idea. I thought it might be just the size and shape, but fertility as well?" She shrugged. "You know more about magic than me, but I do know that Henry's sperm is saturated with Wild Magic, and I've been told that it's toxic to wielders."

"Henry's glamor is unlike any I've dealt with before," Mahati admitted. "As you say, it would normally be dangerous for Yuko. However, there's still this ideal matching nature of Henry's glamor, and we don't know its true extent. A good test would be for her to be with Henry sexually, but he'd wear a condom while she concentrated on her need for Human sperm. After he climaxes, the sperm in the condom could be tested to see if it's purely Human."

Tish rolled her eyes. "So romantic! That wasn't how Mab did it. She had sex with his Satyr form. How did she avoid their incompatibility?"

The dark-skinned beauty scoffed. "You have any idea how we could ask Mab?" She shook her head as she contemplated the complexities involved. "Henry's magic is so unpredictable!"

Tish smiled as a little thrill tingle ran down her spine. "Wild Magic! It's so exciting!"

The Nāga aimed an amused smile at the woman with a raised eyebrow. Tish grinned at her. "Hey, I was once Human with no concept any of this was real! The world changed for me overnight, and this one is far more exciting!"

"I notice you've even adopted our way of saying Human, as well," Mahati stated.

"Yeah, I picked up that difference pretty quickly," Tish said with a nod.

"You switched sides quickly, too."

Tish's expression became serious quickly. "No. For me, it's never been an Us vs Them situation. I get that we need to hide from the Human population, and I completely understand why. I don't think my attitude towards this change could be considered typical. I think Dayshia's is closer to how most would react. Change can be frightening."

"I heard my name, and we're all wondering how long it takes to put someone on a bed," Dayshia said as she walked into the room. Mahati blushed, then switched back to her Human glamor. Dayshia smiled gratefully at her.

Tish turned to her friend. "Mahati had a most excellent idea! You know how Henry's glamor conforms to the observer's ideal? Yuko needs Henry to give her a baby. It might be possible if Henry's glamor includes that capability."

Dayshia's eyebrow rose and seemed to disappear into the mass of curls. "Is that even possible!?!" she gasped.

Mahati nodded cautiously. "I'm no expert in Wild Magic, but for traditional magic, it's the strength of the will and desire that shapes the capabilities of the magic. Considering her only other option appears to be madness, I think if Henry's willing, it's worth an attempt."

"I'll speak to him about it when he wakes," Tish said.

"Let's go speak with Yuko about it. She woke up, and Jun is talking with her, but I'm glad Kesini has a firm grip on her," Dayshia said.

Sharing worried looks, Tish and Mahati followed Dayshia back out to the living room. Tish noticed there was no sign of Kali.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HENRY!" Yuko spat as she tried to thrash loose from Kesini's coils. She was standing but unable to move.

"Nothing. Henry is resting comfortably after Dayshia and I healed the injuries he sustained in the brief skirmish," the lawyer explained.

Yuko glared at Mahati but seemed to calm down a little.

"He is my friend. Nothing more," Mahati expressed, and Yuko's face burst into a sudden smile, and then her expression wobbled to dread. "He will hate me even more now than he did before."

Tish moved right up to her and took her face between her hands. "Henry doesn't hate you. He's just confused about how you're acting. Jun explained it to us. You're magically bound to him. You need his baby to break that spell. I-I think Henry can help you with that. I'll speak to him when he wakes. I'll explain what's happening with you, and if I know Henry, he'll want to help."

Yuko's eyes began to well up, and recalling Jun's warning, Tish quickly pulled her hands back.

"Henry's not Human. Stanley was. I need a baby from a Human," she admitted quietly.

Sandy frowned in confusion. "How could Stanley have been human. I thought that was just a disguise."

Mahati moved closer. "Stanley's method of disguising himself as Human relied upon a Dragon's spell, which altered reality around him, so he became Human while it was active. He can no longer use that original disguise. That said, it's still possible that he could help Yuko. Wild Magic seems much stronger than the magic I'm linked to. Henry's glamor is designed to fulfill the... needs of the one he's with. Your need is for Human sperm. If he agrees to try, keep that topmost in your mind, and will it as your greatest desire. I'm sure this won't be difficult for you."

Yuko watched the dark-skinned beauty and saw the reddening of her cheeks. She'd said she and Henry were just friends, but Yuko wasn't so sure that was the other woman's honest desire. She looked away as her heart flipped. The alcohol was interfering with her rational mind. Her binding was triggering irrational impulses, like attacking a Nāga. All she could do in response was nod.

"I think we've overstayed our welcome, and we've certainly misbehaved. I apologize for my actions and my sister's meddling, which likely led to this confrontation," Mahati said sincerely. She looked around and discovered Kali was missing. "She's not here. Typical. I will express my displeasure at her behavior when I see her. Thank you for inviting us."

Tish nodded and walked the lovely woman in the saree to the door.

Kesini let go of Yuko once Mahati was gone, and the young woman wobbled on her feet. Jun took her arm. Yuko looked shamefaced and still a little tipsy, but she addressed the group.

"I am sorry for my behavior, as well. I honestly appreciate your efforts on my behalf. Please give my apologies to Henry and thank him for me for saving my life."

The group made sounds of acceptance, and Tish let the two out of the condo before returning to see Dayshia, Michelle, and Sandy cleaning up.

"You don't need to do that!" Tish exclaimed.

"Henry would have helped you if he wasn't recovering again," Sandy said with a sad little frown.

Tish nodded with an equally sad expression. "He seems to be such a focal point for crisis and calamity."

Dayshia hugged Tish, and Sandy rushed over to join in the hug with Kesini. Michelle held back as she was still uncomfortable with that, but she smiled at the others.

The phone rang, and Tish released her hug to go answer it.

Sandy looked at Dayshia and Michelle. "Henry's the cause of New York's Aurora Borealis sightings! I'm torn between being excited and terrified!"

They looked over at Tish, who was speaking quietly to someone and frowning in concern. When she rushed across the room, the others gave chase.

"What's happening?" Sandy called out to Tish, who made a beeline to the master bedroom.

"Roy caught a report on the radio about the Aurora Borealis appearing over the Hudson River again, and he called Camila, who was also on the road. She's on the phone. I need to check on Henry."

They crowded into the bedroom and knelt on the bed next to the big naked man. Tish lifted an eyelid and saw Henry's pupils were tiny and didn't respond to light. She put her ear over his nose. Then she sat up, looking upset, and lifted the handset to her ear again.

"Camila? His pupils aren't responding to light, and his breathing seems shallow."

They waited as Camila spoke to Tish. "Okay, I'll wait for your call. Thank you!" She hung up and looked at the others watching her with wide eyes.

"Henry's mind has left his body again. It gets trapped in that green light, the healing spell, and wanders after he's been injured." The others gasped. "Meixiu seems to be able to immediately draw him back, so Camila will try to get her to come back to our condo."

"Is there anything we can do?" Sandy asked nervously.

"We can try talking to him. He may hear us and come back on his own. It can't hurt." Tish said.

Dayshia leaned down and spoke into his ear. "Henry! You come back to us right now!"

There was no change, and she shared a worried look with Tish, Sandy, and Michelle.

Tish wondered where Henry went.

-=-

Floating over a dark landscape, Henry sleepily watched the flashes of light in the clouds below. He knew he shouldn't be here but didn't have the energy to return to where he needed to be. Worse, he didn't know the way.

Instead, he let himself be swept along by the currents in the Global Overlay Spell. It seemed much stronger than it did before. While the spell's healing properties were still based on the old magic, as that was the only kind the Fae responded to, it now had a base layer of Wild Magic, which seemed to act like a power induction charger for the healing spell. The strength of the spell was significantly boosted. The magic's flow had also gone from a gentle swirling current in the upper atmosphere to a rushing river, leaping and surging forward.

The spell's purpose, to heal the Fae, felt like it was nearing completion. He wondered what it could be used for once it healed the Fae. It was a shame that Humans were immune to the energy. It passed through them without effect. Wild Magic, on the other hand, wreaked havoc on Humans. He thought of his friends, and he could almost hear them for a moment.

He sped along with the current, watching for something, anything, familiar.

All hell broke loose below him as a dense cluster of pseudo-clouds savagely attacked each other. Henry felt his curiosity drawing him closer. He drifted downwards and saw dim lighting on the ground between at least two dozen mid-sized clouds as they jockeyed for position. He thought he saw large oil tanks in a grid below the fighting storm clouds. Henry felt the presence of a large body of water to the east, an expanse of desert to his right, and saw the lights of a nearby city just north of the battle.

There was a terrific burst of light as two of the larger pseudo-clouds fired their plasma beams down their sides to strike each other simultaneously. Instead of reaching their targets, the energy channels struck two of the oil tanks. The resulting explosion ripped open two additional tanks, and giant fireballs rose toward the attackers. The larger pseudo-clouds couldn't avoid the fire and lost most of their mass in a deluge that fell upon the destroyed tanks. Something reached critical within the two scorched behemoths, and two almost simultaneous explosions ripped them completely apart. Golden light shot outwards in two relatively slow-moving expanding rings, lighting the enormous billows of smoke from the burning oil. Henry was almost dazzled by the light show. He looked downward at the lit-up streets, and based on the writing he saw on some signage, he guessed he was over a small city in the Middle East.

The remaining pseudo-clouds in the cluster were shedding their mass of Wild-Magic-charged water as they rushed northward over the city, seemingly running from the golden rings. The ring of golden light caught a few stragglers who'd shed too much energy. This triggered explosions from within them, but they just dropped something shiny onto the streets below. Henry followed the surviving creatures closely and could see the people coming out of their homes and shops to witness the gorgeous lights passing overhead.

Henry wanted to scream at them to go back inside, but they were dancing in the rain, drenched in the magically charged liquid.

Seemingly driven into a frenzy, the surviving pseudo-clouds began to attack each other once more over streets filled with people. The magically charged bolts struck the ground repeatedly as the rain fell. The city's electrical grid failed in the onslaught, and Henry had to look away as the constant flashes were almost blinding.

The golden rings caught up to the battle, and one after another, the inner workings of the remaining clouds exploded, dropping their shiny debris onto the streets below.

The battle over, Henry's mind drifted down to street level, and he stared in horror at the devastation around him. Not everyone survived the skirmish. People in cars had been roasted alive by the plasma. Out-of-control vehicles had plowed into pedestrians. Shattered multicolored glass could be seen where these collisions had occurred, killing those in the process of becoming the Glass People.

Henry now understood how they were created.

Then he saw her.

So small and precious... and dead.

The infant must have been thrown from one of the crashed cars. Henry wanted to do something for her, but he couldn't even cover her body in his disembodied state. He was powerless.

When he next became aware of his surroundings, his attention was drawn by a large group of Glass People slowly wandering around in shock.

As he moved closer, the Glass People nearby stopped and looked at him. They could somehow see him, as the ones in the gymnasium had, and Xiong did on that mountaintop. He could feel their fright, so he did his best to assure them. In his private thoughts, he wasn't sure how the local government would react when they found the people changed like this. He feared they'd be treated as the other Glass People had been, or worse.

He wished he could open the door to Eden. Then, they could join Xiong and the rest.

He continued floating through the streets, seeing the thirsty soil absorbing the rain but unable to feel the fine mist that continued to fall, the remnants of the dying clouds. He tried to make sense of the aftermath of the battle, and each time he met them, he eased the fears of the newly transformed. A small flash of gold light up ahead drew him to the scene of a man who still seemed Human. He was soaking wet and laying in a puddle with a big grin. He had a fine gold wire mesh in one of his hands with dull yellow stones at the wires' intersections. In his other were some strips of tin foil. Henry watched as they melted against his skin, sliding up his arm. It didn't cling to his clothes but slid underneath, bonding to his skin. Henry could only watch as it covered his face and continued into his hair and down over his other shoulder. Henry felt like he was holding his breath, but the man in the puddle didn't seem to notice. He suddenly stood up and began running up the street faster and faster until he zipped away and out of sight.

He couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed. Henry looked around and spotted more of the amber stones and gold wire. These stones were glowing with golden light, and more strips of silver foil were very close by. He realized this was the shiny debris he'd seen dropping from the dead pseudo-clouds. He reached out to touch it.

A tugging sensation began, and Henry started to slide away from the mesh. He couldn't deny the pull. He floated back the way he came until he arrived in a wide plaza next to some apartment towers. The Glass People were congregating there and calling for the others to join them. This was the tugging sensation. They were speaking through the magic. He suddenly recalled the Glass People from the gymnasium and how they'd called out to him, pulling him to them through the magic in him.

He also recalled Xiong calling out to him that night, so he moved closer to the group's center. The ones standing there seemed to be the ones rallying the others to join them. Henry reached out a phantom limb and touched the one who appeared to be the leader. His fingers passed through the glass surface, but his connection was boosted considerably. He sent an image of Xiong and the sensation he'd had when communicating with him. He showed his memories of Eden, and suddenly, the Glass People became very excited. He felt their hope.

Henry was beginning to quickly tire as he felt a significant drain. Communing with them in this state took so much energy. He left them with a sense of urgency to reach out to his friends on the other side through the magic. Then he pulled back and let himself float upwards to rejoin the flow of the Global Overlay Spell. It trickled energy back into him, but he was so weary. He wondered if doing this would feel different when he wasn't injured or inebriated.

The light dazzled him once more, and he thought the pseudo-clouds were having another battle, but it was just the sun as he flew towards the daylight side of the planet. Below, nothing seemed familiar. He was lost once more as the Earth turned below him. He felt a monstrously large presence over what might be the Pacific Ocean, and then he was beyond it. It was dark again.

He was stunned at how quick the flow of magic had become over the globe. There was no sensation of movement except for the sight of the world turning below.

He watched the man-made lights below as he passed over what he thought might be the US West Coast, then plunged into the relative darkness of the mountains and the plains beyond.

Henry was so tired. He just wanted to go home. How much longer was he going to be trapped up in the sky?

Where was his body?

Chapter 5

John F. Kennedy International airport was crowded and noisy, which suited Minkah's purposes. While weary from her long flight from Cairo, she preferred to arrive when the airport staff were busy and stressed. While she didn't enjoy the long queues and being immersed in the smell of Humans, the time she'd spend under the customs agents' scrutiny was usually shorter.

Not that her paperwork wasn't perfect or would raise a flag. She'd been doing this for a long time and mastered getting through international travel hubs with no ripples.

Minkah Kamilah Nassor Meskhenet: born in Cairo, Egypt. Age: Thirty years. Sex: Female. Height: One-hundred-and-seventy-eight cm. Weight: Sixty-three kg. Occupation: Security Consultant.

She wasn't carrying a weapon since those contracting her services would supply her with whatever she needed. Besides, she was a weapon. She used her looks to distract her opponents as well as customs agents. Every target she'd faced underestimated her due to her beauty. She was tall and long-limbed with a tight, lean body. She had wavy jet black hair to mid-back, a light tan skin tone, a heart shape face with full sensual lips, and intense, expressive eyes, one of which was light amber while the other was a deep shade of blue. That was all the distraction she'd need to get past airport security.

She'd been requested by the Hidden Races Council in New York months ago, but she'd been occupied hunting the killer of Thane del Neev, Investigator for Western Europe. Her investigation yielded no results at all, which was evidence in itself. She'd never encountered such a complete lack of information. No one saw anything or remembered seeing anything, at least. She didn't count it as a failure as she'd been exceptionally thorough, almost to the point of driving some potential witnesses to file nuisance charges against her. Nothing had shaken their conviction that Thane had been alone when he died, and none recalled why he was there in the first place.

She sighed as she inched closer to the customs desk. She casually watched the people around her. All Humans, as far as her sensitive nose could tell, but she was right in the midst of them, so that was not an accurate test. She smiled to herself as they had no idea they had a Bastet standing next to them. She felt eyes on her and ignored them once she determined they were just drawn by her beauty.

Then it was her turn to present her documentation, and she'd lucked into an agent who looked like he was well past done-for-the-day. A few curt questions barked at her, a curious look at her mismatched eyes. Her passport was stamped, and she was through.

Walking across the arrivals hall, Minkah reflected on the last time she'd visited the city. It was so many years ago. She had no friends here. Truthfully, she had no friends anywhere. She never felt the need to get to know anyone, as she might have to kill them.

A slight smile came to her lips as she heard the happy squeal of lovers reuniting, their kisses passionate and demanding, and their arms holding each other so tight. She mildly wondered what that might feel like. She'd taken lovers over the years, but none of them had truly satisfied her. She'd never returned to a lover once she'd bedded them. Her string of disappointments prevented her from actively looking.

Minkah prided herself on being self-sufficient. Perhaps that was just a trait of Bastets, as shapeshifters had a reputation for deception. People seemed uncomfortable around her, so it was for the best that she remained alone. She had no problems finding company to share her bed on the occasions when she felt that need. It was better to be able to cut them loose directly afterward.

Instead of relying on others' validation, she found satisfaction in being the best at her job, eliminating threats to the Hidden Races. She was an assassin.

She was hearing reports that the number of exposure risks was increasing and their frequency. For her, this pattern began with the red-eyed sound tracker in the Nuclear facility. That one had been disturbing, and she'd found it immensely satisfying to kill the creature. Especially since it had murdered and partially consumed a fellow assassin.

She'd found the look on Heller's face amusing as he'd seemed so surprised, yet it was his report she was acting upon. The facility manager summoned the other assassin as she'd seen his report was filed a full day after Heller's.

Maybe Heller thought the other assassin had been the one he'd ordered. It no longer mattered, but she still enjoyed the memory of his expression.

She sank back into the cushions of the cab's seat and gave the driver her destination. Soon, they were making their way into the heart of the big city.

While killing brought her no thrill, completing her missions neatly and efficiently gave her a deep sense of satisfaction. Her reputation was spotless, and she'd never failed in a mission.

The case of the death of Thane del Neev was still open. She didn't consider it a failure as she wouldn't stop until she found the guilty party and ended them.

Her destination tonight was an apartment in a building next to Central Park. She'd be staying there during her visit.

She would meet her client in a seventeenth-floor suite after dropping off her carry-on luggage in the apartment the Council kept for these purposes.

Minkah watched the city out the window and marveled at how much it had changed since she'd last visited.

When the taxi finally stopped before the building, she paid the driver and got out. She stretched her tight muscles as she panned her eyes around. She noticed a small sign across the street indicating the Metropolitan Museum of Art was nearby. She hoped to visit while she was here, but the mission took precedence. Her eyes tracked all nearby motion, and before she got dizzy from the sheer volume of it, she set off across the sidewalk and walked in the front door.

She went up to the fifteenth floor, found the door to the apartment she was to use, and punched the code into the digital door lock to open it. She listened and took the scent before flipping the light switch next to the door. A single floor lamp in the corner of the living room illuminated a mostly empty space. She entered and took in how minimally furnished it was. Essential requirements were met with no concern for style. The room contained two mismatched high-back chairs, the floor lamp, and a small table between the chairs.

The dining space had a card table with four steel and vinyl padded chairs pushed up against the windows. A small lamp sat on the card table. A basic kitchen faced the dining and living rooms.

She moved to the bedroom and saw a single, double bed, an end table with a cheap lamp on it, and a small three-drawer bureau. She left her carry-on on the bed, then immediately exited the apartment to head back to the elevator to go up two more floors. She saw the meeting would take place two floors above the unit she was staying in. She knocked on the door and listened. The privacy field must have been active, as the lock clicking open was the first sound she'd heard from inside.

When the door opened, she looked down into the suspicious gaze of a red-bearded dwarf. She recognized him as Rand von Deussel, Council Investigator for the Eastern United States and cousin of Thane del Neev. She wondered why he was here tonight. Was he working in his investigator's capacity to assist with the new assignment, or was he here as the cousin looking for vengeance?

He grunted quietly, stood aside, and gestured for her to enter. She did, and when the door closed behind her, she felt the slight pressure change from the privacy field engaging. She walked down the hall to enter the living room. There was more furniture here than her unit had. Two couches faced each other across a coffee table. End tables, a small area rug under the table, and pleasant scenic pictures in frames hung on the walls.

On one of the sofas sat a woman in her sixties, dressed in a tailored business suit: Lise-Anne Hoek, Minister of Security and Minkah's contact.

The assassin sat on the sofa across from Lise-Anne. "Why is he here?" she asked, gesturing to the Dwarf.

Rand scowled as he took a seat next to Lise-Anne.

"I'll explain that momentarily. I see we are dispensing with the niceties," the Minister said with a weary look.

Minkah saw the strain on the face of the woman across from her. That made sense, considering how difficult her job had become in recent weeks.

The older woman slid a dossier across the coffee table. "You weren't the resource I originally requested. The target's unique circumstances escalated my request to the highest levels, and the Chancellor himself insisted I wait for your availability. I understand your specialty is assassination, but your reputation for managing difficult assignments made you the best candidate for this one."

Minkah's brows rose when she heard the Hidden Races Council administrative branch leader had involved himself in one of her missions. That raised the stakes. She frowned as she opened the dossier.

There was a collection of candid pictures of the target taken from a hidden camera as he was walking outside. One showed him smiling as the sun was on his face, and he looked genuinely happy. She examined the other images and noted that he was tall, muscular, and handsome with shoulder-length wavy brown hair.

One image stood out in the set and caught her attention. The target was walking within a group of people on a busy city street, likely on their way to work based on the quality and angle of light. A couple of women behind him visibly checked him out with admiring smiles and looks.

She could read a lot about a man from his eyes in candid photos like these. She was puzzled as his expression didn't show the confidence she expected from such a large, good-looking specimen. She knew it was just one still image, but using it as context, the remaining pictures showed he was more comfortable alone than amongst strangers.

Her eyes returned to the image of him enjoying the morning sun. She thought he looked most attractive in that picture. It seemed a shame to terminate him, but if that was the job, so be it.

She looked at his biographical data and froze. She stared at Lise-Anne incredulously. "His adoptive grandmother is Baba Yaga?!?"

The woman had the good grace to wince. "Yes. She has demonstrated a certain... level of... concern for his well-being."

Minkah slowly set the dossier down on the table's surface and pushed it away as she gave the two people across from her a stern look. "As you indicated, my specialty is assassination. A termination mission is out of the question for this target. I'm not suicidal."

"That's one of the reasons why it's not a termination mission," Rand growled.

Once more, Minkah's eyebrows inched upwards. "One of the reasons? You need more?"

Lise-Anne frowned as well. "There is also the possibility that his continued survival is required to keep the Fae alive."

Minkah made a choking sound. "Why were my services requested?" she asked incredulously.

"Read the rest of the docket," Rand said in annoyance, pointing to the file.

The assassin frowned but picked up the docket and continued reading past the reference to the witch.

As she read, she caught the motion of Rand glancing at his cell and heard his quiet grunt of exasperation. She looked at him, but he shook his head, so she returned to reading.

Finally, she set the docket on the coffee table again. "It's not an assassination. It's an abduction and containment exercise. You must have teams available for that who'd be able to take a single target. I don't understand why I'm involved at this point."

"Due to the possibility of interference from the crone, his continued access to the Fae's Global Overlay Spell even though we have reason to believe he lost this, the potential for Fae surveillance, his link to a domain of Wild Magic which may thwart magic attacks, and the number of Wild Magic powered beings who stay close to him, information on them is included in the dossier, we need your expertise for engineering an extraction plan," Lise-Anne insisted. "Everything you do up to the moment you pull the trigger is required for this mission. This time, instead of killing him and escaping, you'll capture him and get him to containment. The Chancellor was explicit that we need your expertise."

Minkah was secretly pleased that the Chancellor held her work in such high esteem, but this wasn't a time to bask in praise. She couldn't make reasonable and rational decisions if she was high on accolades.

She looked at Rand, who was almost vibrating with his frustration. "Did the message that upset you involve the target?"

He held her eyes, then nodded. "There's been another sighting of the bloody Aurora Borealis. This time, they were able to identify it was centered over Jersey City, where the target lives."

Minkah frowned. "A lot of people live in Jersey City."

"Only one of them is linked to the Fae's healing spell," Rand explained. "When the magic is concentrated, it looks like wispy green curtains in the sky."

Minkah picked up the docket once more and scanned the biographic data page. "This says he's a conduit, not a wielder. How could he influence the Fae spell?"

Lise-Anne sighed as she was treading on more secrets. "He used to be connected to a magical artifact directly bound to the Fae's healing spell. This artifact was taken from him, but somehow he's still able to interact with the spell... without being a wielder."

"What good would it do him if he cannot use the magic?" Minkah insisted.

"He has friends who are wielders, but they aren't linked to the Wild Magic, so they could use the Fae's magic he gathers to him," Lise-Anne said as she recalled the file. "They live in the same building too. Yuko and Jun Imamura. They're Kitsune. Mahati and Kali Chandra. They're Nāga."

Minkah leaned back against the couch cushions as her travel fatigue suddenly caught up to her.

Nāga. Shit. They could be seriously powerful opponents if it came to that. She'd taken a Kitsune down before. They were not as much of a threat.

Her eyes widened as the name finally registered. "Chandra? As in Indrani Chandra?"

Lise-Anne nodded. "Her daughters."

Minkah grimaced. More complications. Still, she knew she was going to take the job. Damn.

"I work alone. I don't want or need people interfering." She saw the two across from her relax as they took that as her acceptance of the mission. "That said, when the target is isolated and ready for transport, I'll require immediate assistance getting him to the containment center. The collection team will need to be nearby." She frowned as she tried to recall if the file mentioned the destination.

Lise-Anne slid another sheet across the table to her. Minkah looked at her in question. She'd withheld the location?

The Minister of Security leaned forward. "This containment facility is completely off the books. No record of it exists. Outside of the three of us, only the Chancellor is aware of its existence, but even he doesn't know its location. Its function is to contain the highest risks to our secrecy and security, which require study before termination. This target will be a permanent resident. To ensure you are not observed by the Fae, a Pixie surveillance team will be used as spotters for Fae. They will report to Rand, and he will be your collection team. Until you complete the mission, he will be at your service. As you wish to work without interference, he will be nearby, able to respond within seconds when contacted."

Minkah frowned but understood this was the best she could hope for in this mission.

She looked at the sheet and saw the facility was in Hainesburg, NJ, just a little more than an hour's drive from the target's home. At least she wouldn't have to do a long-distance road trip with the Dwarf and the target. She memorized the route and address, then handed the sheet back to Lise-Anne.

"I'll begin my preliminary surveillance on Monday," she said. "Did you bring my requested items?"

Rand nodded and stood to go into the next room. He returned with a small suitcase, which he set on the coffee table before her. He took his seat before she opened the case.

Minkah reviewed the contents to ensure they'd missed nothing she'd ordered. The bottom of the suitcase was foam-lined to securely hold the items in place. She saw the twin SIG-Sauer P229 handguns with a dozen extra clips loaded with hollow-point ammunition. Suppressors for the pistols. Ten throwing knives and two combat knives.

Also fitted into the foam was a burner cell phone for keeping in touch with Rand and three auto-injectors. She pointed to the drug injectors as she looked to Lise-Anne. "Are these calibrated to the target's body mass and metabolism?"

"While we don't have information on his metabolism, they're guaranteed to put him under," she confirmed, and Minkah nodded.

The top of the case had a mesh net holding packages containing the holsters and straps for carrying the weapons and extra ammo. She saw two more boxes of hollow points and wondered if they thought she was going to war. She understood the omission of the sniper rifle as the mission parameters had changed. She'd do a more thorough review in the privacy of her room. For now, it seemed like she had everything she needed. She placed the target's dossier in the case and closed it.

She looked to Rand. "I'll contact you when I'm ready to begin." She nodded to them both, lifted the case, and left the apartment without another word.

Once she was in the apartment on the fifteenth, she pulled the dossier out of the suitcase and stored the luggage in the bedroom closet. Walking into the dining room, she turned on the small lamp, sat at the card table, and glanced once out the window overlooking the dark park across the street. She plucked the pictures from the folder and spread them out before her. She scanned her eyes over them, memorizing Henry Gable's features so she could pick him out of a crowd at a glance.

This was shaping up to be the most challenging assignment she'd ever undertaken. Killing the target would be a walk in the park by comparison.

As the night grew late, she sat quietly on her chair, vexed by that one image of the strong, handsome man wearing an expression that didn't belong on his face. She couldn't help but get the impression that she was looking at a smaller, less confident man hidden inside a larger body.

Chapter 6

The fat tire bicycle's plush suspension absorbed the worst of the bumps on the monstrous city's dark streets. Roger chuckled to himself at his clever thoughts. New York truly was big, and yes, it contained monsters, too.

Roger's stomach rumbled as he hadn't eaten in a while. It was time to find another of the creatures hiding in plain sight. He was discovering there were fewer of them than he first guessed. This made them harder to locate, and his meals came farther apart than his appetite preferred.

He was always hungry.

The original owner of this bicycle had been one of the first monsters Roger had killed and consumed.

Before Roger became what he was now, he would never have accepted that he could be a killer. The idea of eating his victims would have been revolting and ludicrous!

That was before he'd discovered how natural it felt to hunt these freaks hiding amongst humanity. He'd once been one of those blind sheep. Now... now he was so much more, and monsters were delicious!

The press didn't know about the death of the man who'd given Roger more than a meal because he'd been a hermit and apparently had no family or friends. The main reason for the lack of news on this victim was that his body's remains were sealed in a defunct deep freeze in the man's home.

Needing a place to stay, Roger stepped into the man's life. He now lived in the dead man's grubby ground-floor apartment in an abandoned building and used the man's bicycle to explore the city at night. How he'd come to own such an expensive two-wheel machine quickly came to light when Roger found his apartment full of stolen merchandise and a surprising amount of cash.

He'd quickly learned it was a truism that no one pays attention to someone on a bicycle. He'd almost been in several accidents as distracted drivers launched their two-tonne death machines across intersections without care. Roger's new reaction time and strength had saved him each time.

In his favor, he'd been able to ride past his targets, catch their scent, and ambush them without them being aware of him until he attacked.

He enjoyed riding the bike as it let him move almost invisibly throughout the city. The bike's frame was wrapped in dirty, cloth tape, perhaps to disguise it and hide it from its original owner.

Using some money from his hideout, Roger picked up black track pants and a baggy black hoodie. Granted, in the store, he'd had to pretend to be blind when he bought the clothes as he no longer saw color with his new eyes.

Roger reflected upon his new abilities to finally see the truth. Before that fateful night, he'd been one of the seemingly small number who were aware of a... wrongness in the world. He'd felt it in his being that he was somehow immersed in a vast conspiracy, but he could not make sense of it.

When he arrived at the hospital that night, he'd immediately gone to Tish's room but was blocked at the door. He'd felt a desperate need to turn away, to leave the area, but his friend Tish was inside, and he had to see her. The other nurses said they'd heard she was permanently crippled. Nothing was going to keep him from being with her. It took everything he had to push through that door and burst into the room.

He'd been utterly unprepared for what he saw next. The image was seared into his brain and remained sharp to this day.

A large being with curling horns and furry goat legs had been leaning against the hospital bed with his right hand resting on the stomach of a smaller goat-legged being on the bed where Tish should have been. The larger goat being's left hand held a coil of golden hair, which was just part of a considerable mass currently attached to Sandy's head. More strands of the same hair had a small man with pointy ears suspended above the bed, holding one of his hands to the belly of the being in the bed. Then, the incredibly strong hair captured him, and he passed out.

When he woke, he was alone, feeling an intense need to escape and hide. All he could see were outlines, but he managed to rush out of the room and ran down the stairwells faster than he'd ever done before. The hospital seemed oddly quiet, so he snuck through the workman's door. He spotted an SUV parked by the hospital's side door and saw the shape and features of Henry Gable carrying the goat-legged being who'd been in the bed. He now knew that being was Tish. Before Roger was spotted, he rushed off into the night.

The first day at his apartment was difficult. Dealing with his new sight was terrifying, but he slowly learned how to use it. He slipped out that night and discovered he could easily navigate his way around without any light.

But he was so incredibly hungry! He surprised himself when he caught and ate his neighbor's cat. It didn't stop his hunger, but it showed him what he was capable of.

On his way back to his apartment, he spotted a team of creatures casing the place. There were six of them. Two reminded him of the small pointy-eared man in the hospital room and four others with wildly different shapes. They were hunting for him, so he'd faded into the darkness and never returned.

He'd found a quiet place to hide and rest in an abandoned factory. There were plenty of rats to eat, and he realized he wasn't squeamish about hunting and consuming them. While they kept him alive, he found them unsatisfying.

As he hid and learned about his new abilities, making nightly excursions to spy on the people who had once been his friends, he began to put some of the pieces together. Tish had been changed into some kind of goat-legged monster. Sandy now had all that hair, which moved on its own. Dayshia? He wasn't sure what her change was, and she still intimidated him too much to get close enough to check.

He also learned he had some drawbacks. He couldn't see through glass, and reading signs and printed material, like money, was particularly difficult. Not impossible unless the written surface had been laminated.

Glass being opaque to him meant Roger couldn't drive. Granted, he hadn't known how to operate a car before his change, so no loss there.

His mind returned again and again to that first night. He knew everything hinged on the attractive stranger who had tried to take Stanley's place in their group of friends, Henry Gable.

Roger had been suspicious of him from the very beginning, and now it seemed he may be at the center of the conspiracy. He had to be connected somehow to the large, horned, goat-legged monster he'd seen in the hospital room. However, the night Roger got close enough to take a good look at him, he appeared human.

That was also the night Roger got a taste of his first monster. It had been like nothing he'd ever tasted, and he wanted more. He'd encountered the recluse next, and aside from another filling meal, he got himself a permanent base, a means of transportation, and some pocket money.

He'd used the bicycle to ride all over the city to hunt for his meals. He already knew how to travel through the city to avoid Big Brother's video surveillance, so that skill came in handy.

Tonight, he was close to the Bronx Zoo. He hadn't hunted in this part of the city yet. As he passed the zoo's closed gate, he picked up the scents of the resident animals and the humans who visited and worked there. The visitor scents were relatively faint as the day was done. But there was one scent that triggered his saliva glands. It was intense, pungent, and definitely not human or animal. It came from inside the grounds, so he would have to break in.

He found a pocket of dark between the streetlights and under the trees, where he chained his bike to one. He tucked the key into a tear under the seat as who would look there?

While his new eyes couldn't see color or detect light and dark, his skin could feel the pressure of light, be it natural or man-made. It was simple to find darkness as it was the absence of that pressure. Daylight was uncomfortable, so his waking hours were now during the night.

Turning, he faced the eight-foot-tall chain-link fence topped by barbed wire. Once, he would have been blocked by this obstacle, but as the scent of his dinner filled his senses, his body began to itch and shift. He quickly pulled off his clothes before the change progressed too far. He wrapped his hoodie and sweatpants around his running shoes and used the hoodie's sleeves to tie the bundle to the bicycle frame.

Naked, he stood in the deep shadows as his arms and legs stretched, giving him a few more inches of height and reach. His hands extended their six-inch claws while the claws on his toes were just two inches. Both were deadly sharp and hard enough to cut through the chain link, but he had a better way to get past the fence.

He crouched down and gauged the top of the fence, then sprung upwards, clearing the sharp wire by a few inches. He sailed over the obstacle in an arc, completely inverted as he reached the apex and continued to land silently on his feet. He remained crouched as he scanned his surroundings.

Drool ran down his chin as the thick, pungent pong of the monster drifted by on a light breeze. His teeth had extended, and his jaw hinge stretched down to compensate. Long and razor-sharp, his teeth were perfectly suited to ripping the meat from his dinner.

He scented the air and determined his quarry was moving away to the north. He loped along the lit path, keeping to the shadows as best he could. He slowed and stopped when he spotted the big man up ahead. Roger's drool was freely running as he could almost taste the flesh of this brute.

He was downwind from his quarry, but the animals were agitated, and their noises painted the scene for Roger's eyes. The monster was bulkier than any he'd faced yet with thick slabs of muscle. It had small eyes, pointed ears, and two tusks jutted up from its bottom lip. It had to be at least seven feet tall.

Roger began to wonder if he could take on such a giant creature. His hunger wasn't willing to give up when such a heavy meal was before him. He crept forward.

"Who's there! You can't be here. Zoo's closed."

Roger paused as he heard its deep voice calling out. The voice held no fear, but the creature sounded a little simple-minded. He hesitated, but his hunger pushed him forward.

The big man didn't run. He began walking towards Roger, which made him pause again. There was no scent of fear. This monster was strong, so he obviously believed he could defeat anything he faced. The monster's stride was long, so he was only twenty feet away at this point. It was too late for Roger to run and remain unseen.

Instead, he attacked.

The monster wasn't ready for Roger's frontal attack, but it did manage to throw one of its arms up to protect its face.

Roger's teeth sunk deep into the thick meat of its forearm as he raked his claws down the chest of the brute. It grunted, then struck Roger in the side of his chest with a powerful right fist. Ribs creaked but didn't break, and the monster's eyes widened as it realized its strength might not be enough. When Roger's feet kicked against his rounded gut, claws dug in, and Roger sprung away, ripping the big man's stomach muscles as well as a chunk of muscle from his arm.

The brute cried out in pain this time and stumbled forward. Roger sprung up and over the monster, narrowly avoiding another swipe of the huge right fist. He lashed out with his claws and left deep gouges across the left side of the creature's face. He also got the beast's eye, and its next cry was full of fear. Roger felt a thrill course through him.

He moved in for the kill and found himself sailing over a wall and a deep moat from a powerful backhand from its uninjured right arm. He struggled to catch a breath, then crashed to the ground inside an enclosure. Two large and very agitated beasts with sharp teeth and claws immediately attacked him.

Roger's claws and teeth were sharper and more vicious as he fought for his life. He killed one lioness and drove the other off with severe injuries. His head whipped around as the scent of his target moved away.

The giant monster was almost to the security office when Roger dropped onto his back and sank his teeth into his thick neck. Dagger-sharp teeth stabbed deeply until they crunched bone and hit the spinal cord.

Roger rode the paralyzed body down to the ground. He didn't release the grip on his bite until he was sure the creature wouldn't surprise him again. Just in case, Roger used a single claw to open its neck. It gurgled for a bit, and then the twitching weakened. He rolled the huge body over onto its back. Small eyes filled with shock and fear stared up at him.

It was taking too long, and Roger was too weary from his injuries and hunger. He could wait no longer. He forced two claws into the big man's gut just below its ribs and tore downwards, opening him up. He didn't have time to wait for the beast to die, so he began eating his organs as it shook and gasped under his claws.

As good as it was for Roger, he didn't have time to enjoy it as someone was likely to investigate. Still, Roger glutted himself on the monster before he finally stumbled away off the path towards the fence he'd leapt over. He was bleeding from several cuts and scratches from the lions, but with a full meal in his belly, these wounds were already healing quickly.

When he reached the spot where he'd entered the zoo, he picked up the sound of the bike lock chain rattling against the frame. Was someone stealing his bike?

He sprang over the fence to land just behind a small man inspecting the bicycle. The lock's chain was extra thick, as was its small U-lock. The thief was attempting to pick the lock.

Roger must have made a sound as the bike thief spun with a knife in his hand and froze.

"What the fuck are y-uurrkk!" he began to shriek, but it turned into a gurgle as Roger slashed his throat with a single claw. Before the man could fall, Roger gripped his jacket and crotch and heaved him over the fence.

Roger heard a siren coming in the distance, so he quickly dressed and willed himself to relax to be able to put his runners back on. He unlocked and unchained the bike and quickly rode in the opposite direction from the sirens. Once again, he kept to the side streets as he traveled in a wide arc to bring himself back to his hideout. The sky was just beginning to lighten, which told him once more he'd fucked up and taken too long tonight. He stopped a block away and did a quick but thorough check of the neighborhood, extending his senses in all directions, but saw no signs of watchers. He rode his bike back to his hideout and settled in for the day.

He looked around the dump where he now spent his days and frowned. This wasn't how he wanted his life to be. He was supposed to be the one who opened the eyes of the world to how empty and corrupt their societies had become. He was going to usher in a new era of pure anarchy, as mankind was supposed to live! When he discovered the monsters living amongst them, he thought that exposing them would send civilization into a tailspin, but even when he left their monstrously deformed corpses for others to find, no one seemed to see their true shapes! It wasn't working, and that made him angry!

As he sank back against the worn cushions of the old recliner chair, he smiled as he felt the pain from his bruises, cuts, and scratches gradually ease. He healed remarkably quickly after a meal. He assumed this was a survival trait of whatever he'd become. That question, what the small bike thief had been trying to say when Roger ended his life, burned in him. He needed to know. Roger's mission was gaining no traction.

He was betting that Henry Gable knew the answers to his questions. Maybe it was time to get them.

Chapter 7

There was a rapid knocking at Henry's door, and Tish ran to open it. Sigrid and Meixiu were there with anxious and guilty expressions, respectively. Tish stood aside as Meixiu rushed in and headed for the bedroom immediately.

When she arrived, she saw Dayshia sleeping beside Henry as Michelle and Sandy groggily sat up on Henry's other side. They eased themselves off the bed.

Michelle wore a very pleased smile on her face as she'd slept with a man for the first time in her life. Slept. Baby steps.

Sigrid and Tish arrived in the bedroom, and the tall blonde looked at the others in surprise. Tish smiled self-consciously. "We've been taking turns talking to him all night. Where were you two?"

The two shared a guilty expression. "We were hunting the serial killer. Our cell phones were off."

Meixiu wasted no more time but climbed onto the bed to stretch out beside Henry. She moved her lips next to his ear.

"Henry? You need to wake up! Where are you?" she pleaded.

They waited, but nothing happened.

"Henry! Please wake up!" Meixiu cried.

Still nothing. The small woman looked at Sigrid with a stricken expression. "I should have been here last night!"

Sigrid just pursed her lips and shook her head. She felt equally to blame as she'd managed to get Meixiu to confess what she'd be up to and told her they would go out together from now on for safety. "Try again."

Sigrid turned to Sandy. "Go out on the balcony and look up. Tell us if you see a change in the color of the sky." Sandy nodded and dashed for the door.

The tall and slim Chinese woman nodded and clung to Henry. She repeated her calls and listened to his breathing between each attempt. He'd come back so quickly last time. That it was taking so long now was seriously frightening her.

Sandy called out from down the hall. "The sky above is turning green!"

Meixiu looked hopefully at Sigrid, who nodded. The smaller woman moved her mouth closer to his ear to speak insistently. "Henry! Where are you? Come back to your body, NOW!"

Henry's body heaved as he sucked in a deep breath. Everyone screamed, squealed, or squeaked in surprise. Dayshia woke with a scream on her lips. She blinked and looked at Henry's waking state. Sandy came running when she heard the noise.

Meixiu clung tighter and kissed Henry, whose eyes were fluttering open.

"Meixiu, give him a chance to fully wake up!" Sigrid admonished her roommate.

Henry's eyes were rolling in his head. "Oh god... What... Did that... what happened?" he muttered.

Tish climbed on the bed and leaned over to look into his eyes. "You were injured last night. Your mind left your body again after you were healed."

Henry was looking at her in dread. "Shit... it happened again. This time, I didn't cause it, but..." He tried to sit up, and Tish helped him. He looked to Meixiu. He took her face in his hands and kissed her. "Thank you for bringing me back."

"We tried talking to you all night to get you to return! What is it about Meixiu's voice that makes you hear her!" Dayshia asked.

Henry blinked at her, then looked to the others, who were all waiting for an answer. "Thank you. I-I recall hearing your voices... as I passed by in orbit."

Sandy squeaked in surprise. "Your mind was flying around in outer space?!?"

A shudder went through Henry's body as he shook his head. "No. More like the upper atmosphere." He looked to Sigrid. "The flow of the Wild Magic is much faster than before, and it's much stronger. I was caught in the current and went around the planet again, again, and again."

She looked frightened by his admission. "Henry, out-of-body experiences don't normally allow for that much distance between the mind and body. You could become permanently lost out there."

Meixiu's breathing was becoming faster as she began to get more and more upset. "You will not do that anymore!" she snapped at him in fright.

He felt it then, a compulsion to obey. He smiled as he pulled her into a tight hug. "I know why Meixiu's voice draws me back!" he said with a shocked smile. The others looked at him. "She's able to compel people with her voice. I felt a pull! Is that some kind of Vampire ability?" He looked to Meixiu and Sigrid.

The muscular blonde smiled as she bumped her forehead with the heel of her hand. "Ah! Of course. I should have remembered, but she's the only Vampire I know."

Henry suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Sorry, I need to use the facilities. While I do that, Tish, can you turn the TV to a news channel? Look for a story on an epic storm in a coastal Middle East city. His expression was a little bleak. He tried to get out of bed only to end up on the floor, his muscles weak and trembling.

"Henry! What's wrong?" Tish asked nervously.

"I seem to have no strength left, and I'm so hungry," Henry moaned.

"Kesini and I have this," Sandy said as she moved closer to lift Henry to his feet and helped him to the washroom. Dayshia and Tish raised their eyebrows at Sandy's apparent ease with lifting her much larger patient. They shared a grin with her, then guided the others out of the bedroom to the living room.

Tish got the TV going and scanned through the news channels. It didn't take long to find a story on a devastating explosion that killed hundreds in Kuwait City.

With Sandy and Kesini's assistance, Henry soon returned to join them and gave them all hugs. He was still a little shaky, so Tish immediately began preparing breakfast with Meixiu's assistance.

Henry stared bleakly at the screen, which was showing a very long view of Kuwait City. The press crews weren't being allowed to get close. Troops were also unable to move into the city from outside because of a wall of viciously whipped-up sand and dust encircling the city. It didn't look natural. There were occasional flashes of silver from within the dust clouds. The news feed cut to a drone cam one of the news teams snuck into the area and deployed. They'd positioned it a short distance outside a large open space on the city's southern edge. They were showing a huge gathering of gleaming humanoid shapes in this area. There had to be close to two hundred of them!

"What- What are those?!?" Dayshia gasped.

Henry twitched and looked to the dark beauty. "Glass People. I was there last night. I saw them being created. The pseudo-clouds were fighting. They flew over the city streets, shedding their mass, saturating everything with Wild-Magic-charged rain. The people came outside to stand in it and watch the light show in the sky. Then, the remaining clouds unleashed another attack. The lightning was intense, and when it was over, the people were either dead or had become glass."

"Oh my god, Henry!" Sigrid said, realizing he'd been inside what must have felt like a war zone.

"So much death," he muttered as he watched as the screen split to keep one side with the drone footage and the other showing scenes of the amassed military might just outside the stationary sandstorm. A single tank rolled forward. The news camera focused on this attempt to probe the wall.

Suddenly, a single silver humanoid rushed out of the swirling clouds of sand to rush up to the side of the tank. The split-screen switched to a single view of this silver being and the tank. The camera was too far to reveal small details, but they could see it standing beside the large vehicle. A soldier sticking out of the top of the tank pointed his handgun at the silver being and pulled the trigger. The silver being didn't react at all at first. It just seemed to touch its chest. Then it stepped forward and kicked the tank's track multiple times, faster than the eye could follow. It finally rushed back into the sandstorm. The Tank tried to move forward again, but the track that had been kicked no longer turned. It was broken.

"What was that?!?" Sigrid exclaimed.

Henry was peering closely at the video, trying to determine how many silver beings were racing back and forth in that cloud of sand. It became apparent to him that they were creating the blockade to... protect the Glass People? That was the first thing that came to his mind.

"Henry!"

He looked to Sigrid, who was staring at him intently. "Hmmm? What?"

"I was asking if you saw the silver man last night, too? Did he come from the other side?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I only saw one last night, and he was human before he changed. He was soaked with the rain from the pseudo-cloud, but he didn't get hit by the lightning. He picked up some debris that fell from one of the dead clouds. It was some shiny yellow stones and silver strips that melted over his skin. The Silver People are, or were, Human. The one I saw last night ran away really fast after he changed." He pointed to the TV. "There seems to be more of them now, and I think they might be protecting the Glass People."

"The sandstorm is moving!" Dayshia called out. They turned back to the TV and saw the swirling sand and dust's outer boundary was indeed moving away from the troops and into the city streets, racing back to the field where the other beings waited for something. A few silver beings were running around the open park's periphery to keep the Human citizens within the city from interfering with the Glass People inside.

A reporter stated that the population of Kuwait City was almost two and a half million, so Henry was grateful so few had ventured out into the storm. While there seemed to be hundreds of people gathered to see this event, they kept their distance.

While that was happening, the drone cams caught the flash of orange light in the center of the open space where the Glass People were gathered.

"Xiong and the others heard their call! It's an opening to Eden!" Henry shouted excitedly.

The glass beings surged forward slowly and began passing through the rip in space. Considering the number of Glass People, how slow they moved, and the energy it took to keep that rip open, Henry knew most wouldn't make it through.

The opening shrank a little, and then a channel formed in the crowd before it, allowing several Silver People to pass between them and go through. They began pulling the Glass People into Eden, picking the smaller ones up and carrying them inside, only to return for another. The larger ones were just dragged. The Silver People were so fast that they began collecting their loads from Earth's side to rush inside. They quickly cleared the area before the rip. Then they just stopped, and another group of Silver People rushed in from protecting the field to take over the task of ferrying the new Glass People through the tear. They were quickly making a dent in the number of Glass People waiting in the large open area, but the rip began to shrink.

While all this was happening, the news anchors were speculating madly about invaders from space.

The drone camera was knocked out of the sky, and the news channel video feed switched to the long-range camera outside the city, which just caught the tail end of the jet's pass over the field and the fireball it left behind. The plane must have dropped an incendiary bomb. Not to be undone by the military, a second news drone quickly flew toward the park, and they soon saw the long scorch mark and trench cut by the explosion. Some Glass People could be seen climbing out of the channel no worse for wear. The same couldn't be said for the civilians who'd be standing outside the field but in the blast zone. The Silver People, all of them now, were rushing the remaining glass beings through the rip, which had shrunk considerably. It was a constant blur of silver as the group rapidly disappeared through the opening. They suddenly stopped as the orange light winked out. The rip had closed. There were only a few dozen Glass People left on Earth's side. Some of the Silver People were on Eden, but at least a half dozen remained on Earth. They weren't moving. The news anchors continued to spout one wild theory after another.

"Can they open another doorway to Eden?" Michelle asked.

Henry shook his head slowly as he stared at the screen. "Not for a while. It takes a lot of energy to do it. Maybe tomorrow."

"They don't have that long! The troops are almost there, and the people also seem agitated!" Sigrid said.

Henry just shook his head. If he still had the ring, he'd have a stronger link to magic, and he might've been able to open a gate from this side, but that was all useless as he didn't have the ring. The frustration coursed through him, but he could do nothing.

The remaining Silver People suddenly raced away faster than the eye could follow. The civilians surged into the open space, brandishing whatever weapons they could get their hands on. The Glass People encircled the smaller ones and linked arms, their backs to the onrushing Humans.

The human's fear made them vicious, and their attack was terrifying and brutal, but try as they might, they couldn't damage the incredibly tough glass.

The news feed cut suddenly to return to the shocked faces of the people sitting behind the desk. They didn't have anything intelligent to add.

Tish joined them in the living room and muted the TV. She looked at Henry's conflicted expression. "What's wrong?"

His eyes met hers, and he just shook his head as he looked away. How could he explain his sudden rage and desire to spin that damn ring! Humanity was so quick to give in to its fear and hate when faced with the unknown. This was just another wake-up call for the members of the Hidden Races, himself included.

However, he knew he had to be so careful not to fall victim to the same rash impulses he despised. There were good Humans. His eyes landed on Dayshia, Sandy, and finally Tish, the best examples he had for quality Humans, until he changed them. His emotions suddenly surged, and he pushed himself to his feet to hug Tish tightly.

"Oof! Henry, what's wrong?" she asked with concern.

He couldn't speak as he struggled to get control over his emotions again.

Tish pulled him towards the barstools by the kitchen island. "Let's get some food in you. I can feel your muscles trembling."

As he sat, Meixiu placed a full plate of eggs, bacon, sausages, and toast before him, with a glass of orange juice to wash it down.

"Thank you," he said quietly, receiving a sweet smile. He began eating, oblivious to the looks of concern the ladies were sharing behind his back.

Sigrid flipped the channel to a local station. "Fuck!" she exclaimed as she spotted the headline on the screen next to the news show host. The serial killer had struck again.

"We were out there last night patrolling Manhattan, and the killer struck in the Bronx!" Sigrid growled.

"Turn up the volume!" Dayshia asked, and Sigrid bumped it up.

"...horrifying attack in the Bronx Zoo overnight. On location is our field correspondent, Marley Banx. Marley?"

The camera cut to a young, cute-as-a-button, pale-skinned blonde woman with a sassy bobbed hairstyle. She seemed to be struggling to keep from vomiting. Her expression was intensely grim. She'd probably only reported on fluff pieces before. Today, she'd been forced to report a much grittier story.

"Thanks, Dave. Behind me, you can see the south entrance to the beloved Bronx Zoo, where hundreds of happy visitors enter to enjoy the park. That won't happen today as the zoo is closed for a police investigation. Sometime last night, one of the overnight security guards was brutally murdered close to the African Lions exhibit. In a startling twist, two of the park's lions were also murdered in this vicious attack!"

The screen split to show the main news anchor in the studio as well. "You mean two of the zoo's lions were killed?" he said, trying to get her to amend her statement. She shook her head vehemently and widened her eyes. "No, Dave, it was murder! Lionesses Nadalli and Shella were discovered in their enclosure. Both suffered terrible injuries which led to their deaths!" There was a surge of activity behind her as police rushed by. Marley looked frantically to her right, and the camera followed to show several officers tape off a section of the sidewalk next to the zoo's fence. There was some mumbling off-camera, then the picture swung back to the stricken face of the reporter.

"Dave, we just got word that a fourth victim was found just on the other side of the fence, mere steps away from us. In fact, there appears to be blood splatter on... the- HHHURRRRKKAAAaaah!"

The petite blonde reporter suddenly ejected a surprising amount of her stomach contents before the video feed snapped back to the studio, capturing their grimaces.

Sigrid quickly muted the TV, then looked sheepishly over at Henry, who was struggling to keep eating after hearing the awful sounds behind himself. He needed the energy, so he kept at it.

Sigrid looked over at Meixiu. "The killer got the security guard, two lions, and someone on the sidewalk outside the fence but hid the body inside the park." She shook her head. "I don't get why he attacked the lions. The victim on the sidewalk was likely a surprise. They caught him leaving, so he killed them."

"This killer sounds very dangerous if they can kill lions too! Maybe it would be better to leave this to the authorities," Sandy suggested nervously.

"I don't think the Human authorities can deal with this, and the Hidden Races authorities aren't numerous enough to cover every part of the city," Sigrid insisted and shook her head.

"Breakfast is ready for anyone who wants some," Meixui offered.

Sigrid stood and joined Henry at the island. Miexiu slid her a plate.

Michelle left the living room to give Henry a kiss on the cheek. "I must go." He turned to face her.

"Thank you for watching over me with the others. It means a lot to me having such incredible friends," he said.

She gave him a brilliant smile, then left with Tish, who locked up after her.

Once everyone remaining had a plate, aside from Meixiu, whose diet had been met by Henry the night before, they found space around the kitchen island and enjoyed their meal.

Tish pouted at Henry. "I'd love to get a dining room table to fit everyone, but we'd have to give up on the extra seating in the living room."

He sighed and nodded. "The get-together last night proved our setup works, but you're right, not for a dinner party."

"I can probably guess, but why don't you fill us in on how you got injured last night," Sigrid asked.

Henry nodded as he looked at her. "It was partly my fault. I was so impressed with how Mahati dealt with Mab that I was paying her a lot of attention. Yuko became jealous, and she was drunk. She jumped on me to kiss me, and we tumbled back onto Mahati's lap. That's when Mahati dropped her glamor and heaved us off onto the coffee table."

"We're going to need to buy a new set of stemware," Tish noted, and Sigrid winced.

"Yeah, it ended up embedded in my back," Henry sighed with a wince of his own from the memory of the pain.

"That's when Yuko began an attack spell against Mahati. Is that how it's said?" Sandy asked. Henry shrugged as he still didn't know himself.

Sigrid's face flushed with anger at the thought of the wild Kitsune able to wield magic but with no sense in her head.

Dayshia saw where Sigrid was going and spoke up. "Mahati was right there with a magic attack of her own. Henry tackled Yuko and took her and Jun over the back of the second couch. Her spell seemed to just pop. While that happened, we got our shields up, and Tish blocked Mahati's... shot." She looked to her bestie. "You're right. We need lessons on the vocabulary of magic. I feel stupid even talking about it." Sandy nodded with a frown.

Sigrid looked at Tish with wide eyes. "You stepped in front of an attack from a Nāga?"

Tish suddenly looked nervous and defensive. "I had no problem blocking it. It just fizzled out over our shields. No one got hurt." She suddenly got angry. "How are we to know what's safe and not safe to do!"

Sigrid held up her hands in surrender. "My apologies! You're right! You couldn't have known. I'd love to have a shield like yours." Her own shield flashed into being, strapped to her arm, and she smiled at it fondly. "Mine would also have stopped the energy, but I would have definitely felt it." She released the shield, which vanished, and then she looked at the others, who were all blinking the spots from their eyes. "Oh! Sorry about that! I keep forgetting how much brighter it is now that I'm linked to the Wild Magic."

"That's a weapon in itself," Dayshia noted and got a bright smile from the Valkyrie.

The tall blonde shook her head. "Still, Yuko is becoming a problem. She should have been punished by her own people in Japan for using an attack spell inside a home."

"Wait! Was that what happened in my old condo that night she barged in to yell at Stanley? It wasn't a stun grenade?" Sandy gasped.

Sigrid nodded. "Henry is somehow able to collapse spells with his hands. The energy just gets released in a wave and knocks people silly. He did the same to Mahati when she first met him. He's been lucky, though. He shouldn't do that!" She glared at Henry, who nodded sheepishly.

"Now that you're awake, Jun explained why Yuko is behaving so badly," Tish said, and Sigrid looked at her curiously. Henry's expression was more guarded.

"She said that the binding she used on Stanley with her tears is still affecting her as she is soul-bound to him until she's pregnant with his child."

"What?!?" he exclaimed in shock. "She said the binding was broken for her, too!"

Tish gave him a sad look. "She lied."

"GAH! That little... FUCK! She drives me nuts!" Henry exclaimed.

"Jun said that Yuko will be driven mad if she doesn't find a way to break the bond, and there's only one way. She needs a child."

Henry's mind was reeling with this latest disclosure. Pieces were falling into place. The reason for Yuko's release from her punishment in Japan, the purchase of a condo in his building, and the times she attempted to kill him! "I'll bet you there is another way to break the bind. My death. If I die, the binding is gone." Yuko couldn't have maneuvered her own release or the condo purchase. It also couldn't have been her father. "Shit! It's her mother! All this time, I thought she was on my side!" he looked at the startled expressions on his friends' faces. Not Sigrid, of course, as she was aware of the detail and was nodding thoughtfully.

"Yuko's Mother would naturally side with her daughter. Kitsunes are rare and precious. As Yuko is trapped by the soul-binding, the mother would give her daughter every opportunity to escape from it," the Valkyrie reasoned. She caught Henry's eye. "You cannot hold her actions against her, mother or daughter, as this is instinct."

Henry saw the conviction in his friend's eyes and slowly nodded. "But what do I do? It's not like I can just be Stanley for a while so Yuko can get pregnant."

Tish stood next to him and took his hands in hers. "As Yuko is a wielder, there is a danger that the Wild Magic in you would be toxic to her. However, Mahati explained that it might be possible if your glamor's special properties truly adhere to her specific needs. She would need to be very explicit in her desires. She needs Human sperm. Mahati suggested a test run, but you'd wear a condom. The result could be checked to see if it's Human. I'm guessing that means it wouldn't contain Wild Magic."

She saw that Henry was looking very uncomfortable. "What's wrong?"

He squirmed a little. "I'm a little weirded out by the thought of Mahati discussing how I should be having sex."

"Because she's a snake lady? I get that," Dayshia said sympathetically.

He shook his head. "No, no, it's just... we're not like that. She's a coworker—"

Sigrid raised an eyebrow and tilted her head as she looked at him flatly.

"No, uh-I mean... she's a friend—"

Sandy, Tish, Dayshia, and Meixiu all matched Sigrid's gestures and expression.

"Come on! You know what I mean! I don't think of her that way!" he growled in frustration, causing the ladies to giggle at successfully teasing him.

Tish poked him gently in the chest. "You don't, or you haven't yet?" she suggested with a coy smile.

Henry knew they were just having a little fun, and he should laugh it off.

This morning, he just couldn't.

He suspected the main reason was the expectation that he'd participate in giving Yuko a child. That topic, children specifically, was still sensitive to him. He felt like he'd somehow failed the daughter he had with Mab. His initial joy at discovering he would be the father of Tish's child had faded with his worries about being fit to be one. He was still thrilled for Tish that she was getting the baby she'd always dreamed of, but no one, to this day, had asked him if he was ready to be a dad.

Henry forced a smile to his lips and nodded slightly, drawing a few more giggles from the ladies. He stood and stepped around Tish. "Thank you for breakfast. I'm going to take a shower—alone!" he added as Tish's eyes lit up. She pouted at him, but he just walked away.

Once in the bedroom, he collected a clean kilt from his drawer and walked into the bathroom. He closed and locked the door and tossed his new kilt onto the counter next to one of the sinks. Standing before the large mirror on the back of the bathroom door, he dropped his glamor. He took a moment to remove his old kilt and pushed it into the laundry bin. Then he took a good long look at the Satyr in the mirror.

He was tall and very strong. Not that his strength had proven to be the least bit useful against the magic of Mab or Baba Yaga. Both had easily bested him in the strength category because they were wielders, and he was just a conduit.

Baba connected him directly to the realm of Wild Magic. While he couldn't feel it, its power coursed through his veins and hummed in every cell in his body. He apparently contained more magic than anyone had ever seen on Earth. And that didn't even take into account the temporal energy stored in his horns!

Yet, he could do nothing with any of it.

He couldn't use it to stop Mab from stealing their daughter's body.

He couldn't use it to stop Baba from switching his and his daughter's fingers.

He couldn't use it to stop Baba from stealing his child from him.

Now he had another child coming from Tish, and Yuko needed one too.

He wouldn't be able to protect those children either. Any children—

An impotent rage filled him and just as quickly drained away, leaving him feeling hollowed out.

He looked away from the mirror and switched back to his Human glamor to step into the shower.

Who was he kidding? He was just a tech geek. He wasn't hero material.

For that matter, how could he even be a father?

Chapter 8

Henry was more than a little sleepy and was in a deep funk when he arrived at work on Monday morning, so he missed hearing Roy calling out to him in the lobby. The big redhead caught up to him just before he stepped onto the elevator.

"Henry!" Roy called out once more.

Henry twitched and turned to see the concerned expression on Roy's face. "Oh, hi, Roy. What's up?"

The big man put an arm around Henry's shoulders and guided him away from the elevators. They stopped by a small seating area. Roy quickly glanced at an old man reading a VRL brochure and dismissed him.

He turned his attention back to Henry, who seemed shaky. "Are you okay, son?"

Son. Henry sucked in a sudden breath that caught in his chest. His exhausted state wrestled him for control over his emotions.

Roy was immediately contrite. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that-"

Henry held up a hand as he forced his breathing to steady. "No, it's fine. I-I slept terribly last night. I'm barely functional today."

"Why did you come in?" Roy asked.

"The special guest list? The Directors of the NSA, the CIA, and the FBI will be here to pick up their new firewall packages. Camila asked me to be available."

The woman in question was approaching from the elevator and overheard the last bit. "What did I ask for—Henry! You look exhausted! Why are you here?" she said in dismay as she arrived.

"I asked Henry that question first, and it sounds like it's your fault," Roy remarked.

Camila frowned, then pointed to the elevators. "Hold that thought. We're taking this upstairs to my office."

They stepped into an open car, and she pressed the button for the top floor. The controls were biometric sensors and determined she was allowed, so up they went. They rode in silence, and the men followed Camila to her office. Henry nodded to Felix as they passed through the outer office.

Once they were seated and the privacy field was engaged, Camila looked at Henry. "Why are you so exhausted? Does it have anything to do with why you called upon the Fae's healing spell?"

Henry shrugged. "No. I just slept poorly." He glanced up at Camila, who was still waiting.

"Nightmares." He didn't want to get into the details as they would try to tell him it wasn't his fault when he knew it really was.

"Would you like to talk to someone about it? It doesn't have to be us," she added.

He shook his head.

Roy and Camila shared a look. "What made you need to call on the magic again?" Roy asked. He'd wanted to ask when he saw him arrive.

Henry shrugged again. "Just Yuko and Mahati waging a magic battle at our condo. I got injured in the process, but Dayshia and Mahati were able to use the spell to heal me."

"A Kitsune and a Nāga had a magic battle. Was Yuko vaporized?" Roy exclaimed.

"No, I broke Yuko's spell, and Tish blocked Mahati's with her shield," Henry explained. At Roy's incredulous look, Henry frowned. "If you want more details, speak with Mahati."

"I'd love to get that shield spell for my pack and Mary," Roy sighed.

Ignoring Roy, Camila got Henry's attention once more. "You came in for this afternoon's meeting with the Directors? Why don't you take a nap in the interim?" She gestured to her couch.

He was sorely tempted, but he had a few things he had to take care of, and he'd promised to set aside time for Siobhan for whatever she needed. "I-I can't. I'll try to take a nap at lunch, and I'll go home directly after our meeting. I-I should get started." When he got a nod, he stood and headed for the door with his head down.

Camila looked to Roy and unlocked the door before Henry got to it. He went through and closed it behind himself. He gave Felix another nod, then headed to his office. He sighed in guilty relief when he saw Marisa wasn't at her desk, as he really wasn't up for another conversation. He unlocked his office door, stepped inside, and locked it behind himself before dropping his ass in his seat. He leaned forward to rest his face in his hands. He was so tired.

When he caught himself nodding off, he pushed himself upright and booted his computer. He had work to do before Siobhan arrived. He'd spent Sunday putting the finishing touches on the documentation for the new firewall applications. The latest code was basically a lite version of what VRL was using, but he'd rewritten some modules to make the differences significant enough to prevent anyone from reverse engineering it to break VRL's firewall. He'd surprised himself to discover how many ways there were to create an 'N' Dimensional Labyrinth. Each agency would receive different code, so a breach of one wasn't a threat to the others. Of course, their labyrinths only went to three levels before letting the potential hacker know they were getting nowhere.

He was pleased with the work, and while he hated documentation, he was proud of the package he'd produced. He even thought his old professors in college would agree.

Right after his nap at noon, he planned to head down to the boardroom to triple-check the test server he'd built for this demonstration. He knew the techs would want proof, so he would give them what they demanded. He understood his check was redundant, but he was nothing if not thorough.

The software was ready. The documentation was complete. The test rig was purring happily.

He felt a little better about himself.

He realized something: if his life had gone as young Stanley Garin had initially planned, this might have been the only measure of success and failure he'd have faced.

He stared out his window at nothing as he reflected on how little pain that life would have contained... but how little love as well.

-=-

Camila called for Sigrid once Henry left her office. The blonde arrived shortly, and Camila locked the door once more as Sigrid sat beside Roy.

"What's up?" Sigrid said cautiously as she saw the concern on her friends' faces.

"It's Henry. Something's bothering the lad, and he's closing himself off. He's hurting, but he won't talk about it," Roy said.

Camila and Sigrid blinked in surprise at the big man, who scowled back at them. "What? Can't I be concerned for the boy?"

Camila held her hands up to calm Roy. "Of course you can! We've just not heard you express it so clearly before!"

Roy squirmed. "Yes, well... I am concerned! He's... he's like a son to me, and no one likes to see their kid in pain!" Even he surprised himself with that confession.

Once she recovered from her surprise, Camila looked to Sigrid. "When you and Meixiu were at his place Sunday morning, did he say anything that might explain this new behavior?"

Sigrid thought about that for a moment, then looked up. "You saw the news about the Glass People in Kuwait City?"

"Yes!" Camila exclaimed.

Roy's expression just showed his worry. "The cat's out of the bag on that one. There's nothing the Hidden Races council can do about that. Way too much publicity. Did Henry have anything to do with that?"

"No, but he was there while his mind was on walkabout. He witnessed it. He said so much death when I asked him about it. He might have seen some truly horrifying things."

Camila frowned sadly at Sigrid. "He needs to talk about this with someone. If he continues to refuse, we may need an intervention for him."

The others nodded.

"So, is VRL going into the network security software business?" Roy asked Camila.

She smiled gently. "It was actually Henry's idea."

Roy frowned. "Did he have second thoughts about giving them the source code to VRL's firewall?"

Camila shook her head. "No, he said he thought a better way to get the agencies off our back would be to truly give them what they wanted. Henry said he figured out how to write a new firewall. I approached the new Director of the NSA, who brought in the other two agencies' directors. We met, and they all showed interest in having Henry write them an application. They're coming in this afternoon at two with their senior technical people to review the code and take delivery of the applications."

"How much are they being charged for the software?" Roy asked.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand for the application if they use it, and they will, plus a yearly service contract for fifty thousand," Camila said with a smile.

Roy's eyebrow rose. "Is that price high or low?"

"They aren't getting an exclusive, so we can sell it to other companies. How many companies do you think would be interested in a firewall the three top US Security agencies use? The banks alone will be beating down our doors to get this. We're going for volume," Camila said.

"Let me know how Henry is in the meeting," Sigrid asked as she stood. Camila nodded to her, and Roy stood as well.

It was another Monday, and they all had work to do.

Chapter 9

Siobhan entered Henry's waiting room just before eleven and smiled at Marisa, who gave her a brilliant smile in return.

"Good morning, Marisa!"

"Good morning, Siobhan! Ready for your appointment?" the executive assistant asked with a cheeky smile.

"Don't make me more nervous than I already am!" Siobhan scolded gently, her Irish lilt coming through clearly.

"You've no reason to feel nervous. This is Henry we're talking about! He's one of the sweetest men I've ever known," Marisa sighed.

Siobhan relaxed a little. "Right. Okay then, I'm ready."

Marisa nodded and picked up the phone. "Henry? Your eleven AM is here." She listened, then nodded to Siobhan as she hung up. "Go right in."

The brunette smiled at her blonde friend and opened Henry's door to step inside. She closed the door behind herself and grinned at the handsome man sitting behind his desk. He looked a little weary, and that made her hesitate. "Good morning, Henry. Are you okay? You seem tired."

"I must look like a wreck, as everyone is telling me that," he replied with a weak smile.

"Not a wreck, just tired," she assured him.

"An improvement since this morning, then." He held his hand up and smiled to forestall her next question. "I didn't sleep well last night, and it was a busy weekend." He gestured to the chair before his desk.

She sat and smiled at him. "I wanted to thank you again for inviting me to the party."

He looked at her in surprise. "Silly girl! You're one of my treasured friends. Of course, I'd invite you!"

Siobhan smiled happily at being considered treasured. At the same time, it made what she wanted to ask of him more difficult to do.

She glanced up at the ceiling speaker. "Is it safe for us to speak of things not spoken of?"

Henry followed her eyes, then smiled at her. "Yes. I graduated finally. No more squealing alarms."

She returned his smile. "Good, good." She shifted on her chair as she prepared herself. "This isn't something I'm comfortable talking about. You're aware of my true nature, but we don't share these particular details about ourselves-"

Henry held up a hand. "If you aren't comfortable talking about something, why are you? I hope you don't think you have to with me!"

She shook her head and looked down at her clasped hands on her lap. "No, it isn't like that." She took a deep breath and smiled at Henry's concerned expression. "You recall how I originally became linked to the Wild Magic? I'd been with Nate, and the next morning, I woke to find I'd transformed most wonderfully."

Henry nodded, wondering where this was going.

Siobhan pushed onwards. "You recall shortly after that you had a little... get-together at your condo with Camila, Sigrid, and Marisa? Marisa shared your essence with me and declared my transformation was complete?"

Now it was Henry's turn to squirm as he recalled the... he'd just call it an emergency recharging session. He did remember watching Siobhan's lovely hair growing until the beautiful mahogany strands reached her ankles. "Y-yes," he forced out, and she gave him a knowing smile.

"Marisa said my transformation was complete, but she was wrong," she said wistfully, and Henry's eyebrows rose.

"Is something wrong?" he asked cautiously.

She looked at her lap again and steeled herself to speak an intimate secret known only to the Selkies. She knew Henry would never force her to disclose it, but as she was about to ask a friend to share intimacy with her without any relationship expectations, the one-sidedness of the transaction made this feel necessary. She'd tested him with her passionate kisses at the party. While he'd returned them delightfully, she knew he would likely remain in the friend category. Intimate friends, at best.

As if reading her mind, he leaned back in his chair and looked at her seriously. "Stop. I can see you're struggling with whatever you're trying to say. That means what you are about to say is something you know in your heart you shouldn't say. I want you to stop. I told you before. You don't need to tell me anything you don't have to. You are my friend. I would do anything for you, no questions asked. You need to complete your transformation, which means you need... another exposure to Wild Magic," he said delicately.

Siobhan watched him in surprise as he was completely serious. She blushed as she nodded.

"Is your schedule open tonight? You can come by my place, or I could visit you at yours?" he suggested gently.

"My place," she immediately said, then blushed again. She wasn't sure why she was getting so flustered, but Henry was so sweet. "I'd be more comfortable at home."

He nodded. "Okay. I'll need your address."

Siobhan pulled out her cell and sent him the details. "Do you like seafood?"

He blinked in confusion. "Uh, yeah, I think so."

"Good! I'll make us dinner. I make a mean seafood and pasta dish!" she explained, enjoying how Henry's face flushed hot pink.

"Th-that sounds yummy!" he stuttered as he glanced at the message on his cell. "Seven it is."

Letting him off the hook, Siobhan stood and walked to his door. "See you then and thank you!"

He just nodded as his cheeks felt like they were glowing.

Siobhan left his office, closing the door behind herself, and looked into Marisa's curious gaze.

"So?" her friend asked, her need to be filled in evident in her tone.

"You're right," Siobhan said.

Marisa's curiosity flared. "About what?"

Siobhan headed for the door and glanced over her shoulder with a happy little smile. "He is the sweetest man."

She grinned as she left Marisa with a frustrated look on her lovely features.

As Siobhan walked to the elevator, she felt the tingles of anticipation run up her spine. She was so looking forward to their first date.

Chapter 10

Carl de Bellisle sat brooding in his study. He was a big man, slightly taller and broader of shoulder than Roy Duncan, the man he was sulking about. It irritated Carl beyond measure that his extra size wasn't enough to force Roy to submit.

As pack leader, president, and chief litigator for his law firm, Carl was used to calling the shots. His current plans were being hindered by a ghost from his past.

He looked to the spot before his desk once more as he recalled the corpses of two men he'd left cooling on a carpet he now missed. Normally, he wouldn't have dirtied his hands with such business, but they'd disobeyed him and had taken steps that seriously jeopardized a very delicate plan. He'd had to put that plan on hold to see if it was still salvageable.

The idiots had had the gall to tell him they'd killed the agent he'd infiltrated Roy's team with and had broken into the home of one of VRL's executives for some magic blood?!? All Were Blood was magic! And a Satyr? Seriously? Why not Santa Claus? Wasn't he supposed to be magic too?

He'd felt no remorse for putting a slug into their brains. He did miss the rug, though.

Carl considered how he was going to salvage his plan. He'd been testing the waters when he offered his law firm's services to VRL. He's heard about Walter Zhao's death and saw a perfect opportunity to make an introduction. He knew Roy Duncan was part of the company's executive team, so he thought he might be able to gauge their satisfaction with his work simultaneously. Unfortunately, the CEO was a little too canny and gave nothing away during their call. He'd been unable to read her and regretted not arranging a face-to-face meeting. He was going to remedy that mistake soon, even at the risk of meeting Roy as well.

Carl had wanted a toe hold on the East Coast since he'd solidified his position in New Orleans a century before. This was his third attempt to expand into this market. His previous attempts had met with sabotage. He'd dealt with the culprits of the first one, and the Dean pack no longer existed.

The second failure was more of a catastrophe and involved Carl's personal loss. The fire that destroyed his NY office also cost him his son. Roy's security firm worked the building complex and caught the firebug as he fled, but the fire was already out of control by then.

Roy managed to pull Carl's wife and daughter from the burning building, but it collapsed before he could get to his son. Carl couldn't bring himself to forgive Roy for choosing so poorly that night. They'd fought, but they were too evenly matched. Truthfully, had Roy not been injured and tired from the rescue, he might have bested Carl.

Following the disaster, the fire marshal claimed the fire's rapid escalation was due to Carl's company's negligence in bringing the building up to code. Damages to the surrounding buildings led to a lawsuit that set his company back decades and pushed him back to New Orleans.

Then, on the cusp of his third attempt, those idiots attacked the home of one of VRL's chief execs. He wished he could bring them back to life so he could see the lights go out in their eyes when he shot them again.

According to Dwayne's account of Billy's confession during his interrogation, Roy had become some kind of evolved Werewolf. An Uber Were. Carl cursed under his breath.

Being cautious, Carl had pulled back to New Orleans... temporarily. He'd bided his time, and during that interval, he'd assigned some investigators to confirm Roy's new state. If they determined he had become an Uber Were, they were to find out how it really happened.

A Satyr. Really.

Carl's patience had run out. He was no longer willing to wait, and the bloody investigators were useless. He would take steps to get the answer he needed himself. It was time for action.

An email arrived, and Carl's mood lightened. The spy he'd sent into VRL emailed him an image of a young man with Roy and a note that contained a delightful bit of information. It seems Roy might have a son of his own.

Perhaps Carl would be able to balance the scales of justice for the loss of his son after all.

Chapter 11

Henry sat in his usual seat in the boardroom by himself. His laptop was connected, and he was watching traffic flow on the network through his private external connection. Everything was optimal for today's meeting.

He'd isolated all of the network ports in this room from VRL's internal network. They had external access to the Internet, but that's it. WiFi was locked down as well. The test server was scrubbed clean and ready for the install.

He glanced at the clock and saw it was time. He stood and faced the door.

Moments later, it opened, and he saw Camila enter with a smile for him. She held his eyes briefly, and he could almost feel her question. He smiled and nodded gently and noticed her smile widening slightly.

Behind her, Henry saw three men wearing expensive suits, and two of the men were watching her ass. Henry understood completely. Her bottom was spectacular.

Two men and a woman in less expensive suits followed their bosses. These were the techs, the people judging Henry's application to see if it was worthy of their acceptance.

Camila led the group over to stand before Henry. "Gentlemen and lady, I'd like to introduce you to Henry Gable, the man who wrote the firewall applications you will review today. Henry, this is the new Director of the NSA, Wallace Granger," Henry shook the man's hand. "Director of the FBI Charles Starkley," Henry also shook his hand. "And Director of the CIA, Maurice Hall." Henry noted he was the largest of the three men and felt the man's grip to be a little excessive. He managed not to flinch, and Hall had a slight grin on his face as he released Henry's hand.

Camila caught but ignored Henry's subtle flexing of his hand to return its circulation. She addressed the next three individuals. "The Directors have brought with them today their Network Technology Leads. From the NSA, Robert Miller. From the FBI, Yasmin Brooks, and from the CIA, Laurence Franklin.

Henry shook the hands of the techs, and then Wallace Granger raised an immediate point. "Ms. Villamor, may I ask for a little clarity?" Camila nodded with a curious smile. "You just said Mr. Gable wrote applications, not an application. That was just a slip of the tongue?"

Camila just turned to Henry, who saw he was up.

"Actually, it was not. While the bulk of the code shares common modules for look and feel, resource management, biometric signature integration, and such, the actual engine of the application each agency will use is distinct from the others.

"What?" Wallace asked. "Why would you do that?"

Henry blinked at the man. "Well, in the unlikely event one of the agency's firewalls is somehow breached, the others wouldn't fall victim to the same attack. Isn't that... something you'd want?" He looked questioningly at the techs, who were nodding thoughtfully.

"We were told you didn't have the source code for the firewall Stanley Garin wrote for VRL. Our tech department has been trying to decrypt the source archive you gave my predecessor unsuccessfully for months. Now you're telling me you've written not one but three distinct firewall applications comparable to Mr. Garin's?" Wallace pushed.

Henry held the man's eyes. "Comparable? Yes. They behave almost identically to the original, but it's new code, and I believe I've optimized some areas to make it more modular. That's how I can give each of you a distinct application. There is a depth to the original that is not included in these, but I believe you'll find them to be as secure."

"Unless someone knows the back door access code," Maurice said with a smirk.

"Mr. Hall, like Stanley, I don't include back doors in my application code. Additionally, if the code detects the hardware attempting to circumvent the security rules of the app, a clear indication of a hardware back door added in the manufacturing process, it notifies you, then shuts the network interfaces down."

"Wait, are you saying the application has access to the hardware's system-level commands?" Yasmin asked with a frown.

"Yes, but only for the actual transmission and receipt of data packets through the network interfaces. The app is responsible for managing the flow of data through these cards. If there are unaccounted data bits in the stream, the application will identify and act upon that," Henry indicated.

"That's not feasible! It would add way too much lag to the interfaces!" Laurence Franklin insisted.

Henry grinned at the group. "Does this mean we've reached the demonstration portion of the presentation?"

The three techs were all frowning but eager to see Henry's outrageous claims go up in smoke.

Henry walked the group over to the test rig. "This is a blade server I purchased and configured for running the firewall application. The specs for this are in the data packages I've prepared for you. This configuration is optimized for the demands of the application. You can't scrimp on the hardware requirements as you're going to run this machine hard. It needs lungs to breathe and legs to run."

The three techs stared at Henry for his odd choice of words, then flipped to the specs page to see just how loaded the machine was. Eyebrows went up, but it wasn't outrageous. They quickly scanned the page to see how Henry had configured the rest of the specs.

Robert looked up with a frown. "There are more powerful computers available to manage the load you're going to be throwing at these processors-"

"But none have the sweet spot for the kind of computation my app will demand of these processors. The app is coded to take advantage of the capabilities of these CPUs. Let's install the app and see what this baby can do."

"It's not a Ferrari. It's a computer!" Maurice scoffed.

Henry looked at the man. "Today's fastest sports cars wouldn't be possible without machines like these to design them on. That said, I like to think the same meticulous handcrafted care that went into creating the first Ferraris goes into my code. So, thanks for pointing that out."

"If you're going to spend an hour installing an application, perhaps we can leave you techs here while we speak with Camila about the contract," Wallace suggested.

"The installation takes seven minutes. There are four steps. You can see it on page ten. A biometric ID is required. Someone on your team will need to be it, the person in charge of all configuration changes. It's suggested you have at least three people authorized for this access for redundancy. You can add their biometric ID by repeating step three, but be aware that the more IDs you add, the more chance you may encounter human failure. Pick your most trusted individuals; again, we suggest a maximum of three and restrict access to them."

He looked to the Director of the NSA. "Mr. Granger, would you care to do the honors of installing the firewall?"

The man's eyebrows went up as Henry held out a USB stick to him. "You think I can do it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Come on, Wallace, show us how much of a nerd you can be!" Maurice said with a snide grin, ignoring the weary looks from the three tech leads present.

The Director glared at the other man and accepted the stick while the techs stood back to see history in the making.

Henry held the instructions open for the man, and to the Director's surprise, the application was up and running within eight minutes. Henry displayed the firewall server's performance specs by projecting the status screen on the boardroom's wall.

"Our test setup has a basic web server on the other side of your firewall. There's just one page, and here is the address. Now the techs get to try to break through your firewall to get to the web server," Henry said in challenge.

The three tech specialists grinned as they brought out their laptops and connected them to the network. Henry gave them the addresses of the firewall and the web server.

Over the next thirty-five minutes, all three tried every tool they had at their disposal to get past the firewall, but they all got trapped in the labyrinth. They were keeping their bosses updated with each tactic they used.

"Are we allowed to bring in external support to crack this?" Yasmin asked.

"Sure," Henry said. Yasmin immediately used her cell to contact her team and started rattling off instructions for them to also begin testing.

He looked to the NSA Director. "I understand you have a powerful code-cracker system at your headquarters. Do you want to have your people try to hit the firewall directly? We can watch the performance numbers to see how our server copes with your big iron smashing away at it while the FBI team tries their attack. I'm really curious to see how it will deal with the multi-prong assault!"

He caught Camila's raised eyebrow but just smiled.

Wallace looked reluctant but nodded to Robert, who called up his team to get them to point the big server array at VRL's single-blade firewall test server. Henry watched the graphs projected on the wall and saw the FBI team's attempts nudge the numbers higher. He smiled as he witnessed the result of the Cracker come online. The numbers were climbing until almost all the processor power was maxed out.

"Why don't we add your email address so the server can let you know how it's doing," Henry suggested to the Director. The man nodded, and Henry showed him how to find the configuration page to enter the reporting address. They saved their result, and moments later, Wallace saw an email from the firewall server on his cell. It indicated it was under attack and listed the Source IPs of its attackers.

"How can it send a message while we're saturating your connection with attacks?" Robert asked incredulously.

Henry nodded. "Email is tiny, and the firewall server won't completely over saturate. I've configured it to reserve some resources for local activity. Don't you hate it when you can't type in even a simple command, as no resources are left? Additionally, we have three ISP connections, so you're only saturating one. How to do that is also outlined in the documentation."

"We're tying up one of the live connections to our website?" Camila asked in concern.

"Well, these guys are, but our customers won't have noticed yet," Henry assured her.

The boardroom doors opened, and Roy walked in with a scowl. "Oh-oh. Looks like Roy got a message saying we're under attack, too," Henry said with a small smile.

"Mr. Gable. What's this about an attack?" Roy asked.

"Sorry, Mr. Duncan. I told these fellows to hammer on the test server. That's tying up one of our connections. I should have let you know in advance. My apologies," Henry said contritely.

Roy made an annoyed noise, glared at the gathered interlopers, then turned on his heel and left.

Henry faced the wide eyes of the visitors. "That was our head of security. He gets alerts of all forms of attacks."

"He's very good at his job," Camila added with a slight smile. She got nods for that.

Henry grinned and rubbed his hands together as he looked to the techs. "Where were we?"

-=-

Camila leaned back in her chair with a broad, satisfied smile on her lips. She was happy to see a similar smile on Henry's face. He was leaning back in the guest chair before her desk, glowing from the success of his demonstration.

"Did you hear that jerk Maurice try to recruit me at the end of the demo? What a putz!" Henry chuckled.

"Don't kid yourself, Henry. They all wanted you on their team. Even with the documentation in their hands, none of their tech leads comprehend how you made it work," Camila insisted.

Henry waved a hand dismissively. "They're smart people. They'll get it, eventually." He yawned as his eyes closed.

"You said you were going home after the demo," she said softly.

"Change of plans. I have a date. Going to Siobhan's place at seven. I have to stick around and leave from here," he said calmly.

Camila smiled and stood. She walked around her desk and patted Henry's shoulder to get him to open his eyes. "You should still get some rest. Stretch out on my sofa and sleep there. I'll wake you with time for a shower and have the car service take you there and home."

"Oh! That would be great! Thanks!" Henry heaved himself to his feet with Camila's help, then walked over to drop himself on her couch. She tugged off his shoes and sat on the sofa by his feet.

"If you like, I could help you relax," she said, looking at him hopefully as she bit her lush lower lip. Part of his anatomy woke up, and she caught the motion against his pants. Her smile grew as he did.

"That would be nice too," he smiled.

He almost chuckled at the joy on her face as she expertly undid his pants and had them and his underwear down to his thighs in seconds.

"Ooo, Henry, this is my new favorite reward for a successful business deal!" she cooed.

His brows went up as he watched her wet her lips with the tip of her pink tongue.

Then he sucked in a sharp breath as she pressed her plush lips to the head of his cock. He might have whimpered a little when she brought her tongue into play. He wasn't too proud to admit she could drive him mad with pleasure and have him begging for release in seconds.

Camila knew he needed rest more than play, so she refrained from extending her pleasure and brought him to a glorious and explosive release deep in her throat in only five minutes.

She felt her cells gobbling up the energy, but there wasn't much room for more. When she realized she'd reached her limit and was at risk of overloading, she reluctantly pulled her mouth clear and collected the remaining surges of cum in her palm, milking him with her other hand. She stared at the pearly white liquid, so full of life and Wild Magic. It took every ounce of willpower to not suck it into her mouth and swallow it. As it was, the energy was soaking into her skin.

She stood and rushed into her washroom to wash it down the sink. Her instincts screamed at her for wasting it, but she already felt slightly light-headed. She needed to burn off some of this before attending tonight's dinner appointment. Arriving to this particular meeting fully charged was a smart move, but overcharged and spaced out would be disastrous.

Camila changed her glamor into her workout clothes before leaving her washroom. She saw Henry had tidied himself up and was snoring softly. She paused to watch him for a moment and felt that odd tugging in her heart again. She gave her head a shake and went to her desk to call Sigrid.

"Hey, are you available now to join me in the gym?" she asked when Sigrid picked up.

"Now? Let me check," the Head of HR said as she checked her calendar. "Yeah, I can spare an hour. I'll meet you down there."

Down there meant the basement where Roy's security personnel had a gym. Once they built the boardroom, they realized they had sufficient space for this additional purpose. The team and a few executives were given access to it. No Humans were allowed inside. They could push themselves beyond Human capabilities, and she had energy to burn! It felt like she was walking an inch above the floor.

Camila gave Henry another fond look and added a trench coat over her skin-tight workout clothes. She might meet some staff members on her way down in the elevator. No sense in driving them to distraction.

The security team in the gym was another thing. A little teasing was good for the soul.

Chapter 12

Lorelei opened her eyes and stared at her living room ceiling, convinced she had somehow slipped into purgatory.

Her life felt empty and stagnant. Even painting was bringing her no joy.

When she thought back to when this began, she had to accept it was just before she sent Emily away. Her manipulation of people around her was like a slow-acting poison on her soul. She just felt more and more isolated.

She knew the cause. Her fear of this Hidden Races Council kept her from connecting with others, and she was sick of living in fear!

Finding the Council was proving to be almost impossible. Stumbling across non-humans was too infrequent, and the risk was too high. The Vampire couple seemed friendly, but they had no involvement with the people she needed to talk to. She didn't know who she could trust.

She sat up on her couch and looked at her favorite painting. Today, even it brought her no peace.

With a sigh, she turned her thoughts to more mundane things like day-to-day living.

Her paintings brought in good money, but that might not last, so she needed to ensure the money she had was working for her. She started her laptop and logged into her bank's website to check her accounts and investments. Her accounts had the expected amounts, but she froze when she saw her investments. They weren't growing! She was losing money! What the hell?!?

She grabbed her cell, called the branch she dealt with, and went through the phone maze to speak with her investment manager.

"Mike Collins speaking." He sounded happy, at least.

"Mike, this is Lorelei Reichenbach. There seems to be some problems with my investment account. Its value dropped, and significantly."

"Heh! Well, that doesn't sound good! What's your account ID? I'll take a look." The man's bubbly attitude was starting to get on her nerves.

She read off the ID, and he mumbled to himself as she heard his hunting and pecking on his keyboard. Then, a sigh.

"I see the issue. Those investment packages were reclassified by the US Treasury department. We had to reprocess them, and they incurred fees during that process. As this reduced their value below the new minimum levels, the accounts were downgraded, requiring additional fees. This was explained in the letter HQ sent to all affected investors. You would have received it last week—I see the flag on your account indicating you did," he explained.

Lorelei knew she hadn't received any such notice. "I didn't receive it."

"Yet our records indicate we sent it," Mike immediately replied. She knew he'd played this game with all of his affected clients.

Suddenly, it was all too much. As much as she wanted to sing a song to Mike to help him discover the joy of forcing his bank forms up his ass, she kept her lips closed as she took deep breaths.

"Mike. Move the funds from my investments into my savings account."

There was a pause as he would lose a commission if she dropped his investments. She hummed a little obedience tune. "I-I can do that. There's a fee—"

"Waive the fee, Mike."

His voice took on a whining tone. "I'll have to pay the fee personally."

"Mike, you're the one who sold me the bad investment package. Don't you feel any responsibility at all?"

"Nnnooo," he sniveled.

"Waive the fee."

More silence then a sullen response. "Okay, your money is in your savings account."

"Thank you, Mike." She hummed her forget-me refrain and hung up.

It was only then that she remembered the call was recorded. She shook her head as there was nothing she could do about it now.

She needed to find a better place to manage her investments. She went online and did some searches for reliable, secure, conscientious investment management. There was so much out there. She added criteria for a local office as she wanted to speak face-to-face with someone. That didn't really narrow her options too much. She knew she didn't want some mainstream corporate giant as she was tired of being a number.

She sat pondering the sheer number of options before her and felt the weight of the decision weighing on her. She had to push forward, or nothing would happen.

Searching where the investment houses were clustered in Lower Manhattan, she spotted one on the edge of a neighborhood she enjoyed spending time in. Good shops, good restaurants, and lovely streets for wandering in. It seemed like a dumb reason for picking an investment house, but it cost her nothing to click on the red pin.

VRL. She'd never heard of it. She opened the link to the website in a new browser tab so she wouldn't lose her search results if this turned out to be a dud.

She was pleased by the clean, simple design of the website. There was a natural flow to the navigation of the pages, and that resonated with her. Someone working on this design was a kindred spirit. She smiled to herself then she tried to push the warm fuzzies aside. She read through the firm's offerings, and they seemed open to dealing with individuals and businesses. They even had a section describing their recent investment in state-of-the-art security. That appealed to her.

Lorelei wrote down the name, number, and address as VRL was definitely a contender.

She returned to her search results page and checked out six more websites.

When she was done, she'd narrowed it down to three contenders. While VRL was sticking in her mind as her first choice, she wanted alternatives. She picked up her cell and started making calls. She wanted to set up appointments to speak to them.

Once more, the contact at VRL made her feel comfortable with their friendly, easy-going attitude. On her second call, her list's newest investment house came across as a little more mercenary. The final call was to the most well-known investment house, but they had difficulty granting her an appointment the following day. They finally told her they would squeeze her in. This didn't leave her with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Now, she had a plan to visit all three tomorrow and had appointments at all three. VRL would be last.

She understood getting control over her financial future wasn't the answer to her issues... but it was a start.

Chapter 13

Henry felt much better as he sat in the back of the black SUV Camila had arranged for him. She'd woken him, and they shared a shower together. After their little playtime, she'd gone for a workout to burn off the excess energy. She'd overdone it, and he massaged the knots from her muscles as best he could in the shower. As she purred about her, once again, loose muscles, she told him he had a career as a masseuse if the whole computer thing didn't pan out.

More impressive to him was the fact that he'd actually managed to take a shower with a gorgeous, naked Succubus and not have sex! That was quite the achievement! He was very proud of his improved self-control.

Henry had to glamor some clothes for himself as the ones he'd worn to work had gotten a little sticky from their earlier fun. Not that he had any grounds to complain.

As they pulled up to her building, he saw it was an older, three-story structure but well-maintained. It had character and was surrounded by similar apartments. He'd noted a subway entrance just up the street, so that was convenient. He didn't know how long he'd be, so once they stopped, he let the driver know he'd find his own way home. The artificial man just nodded and headed back to VRL.

He'd stopped along the route to pick up a bottle of wine. The shop owner had suggested a crisp white like a Pinot Grigio to pair with the seafood pasta, so he picked that up. He hoped Siobhan liked it. He'd be restricting himself to one glass.

She buzzed him into her building, and he took the stairs just inside the door to reach the top floor.

She opened the door before he knocked and dazzled him with a happy smile when she spotted the wine in his hands.

"Henry! How thoughtful!" she said as she accepted the bottle.

He smiled and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek, but she managed to turn to catch his lips with hers for a brief kiss.

Smiling mischievously, she ushered him inside. He slipped his shoes off and glanced around. It wasn't a large space, but tastefully decorated, warm, and welcoming. He could see Siobhan's affinity with nature in her choices of colors and textures throughout the apartment. Rich earth tones, fresh green, and deep blues were found in the comfortable-looking wood furniture, the cushions, and the window treatments. Small, flickering digital candles were placed randomly around the combined dining and living room.

Soft music played, and the artist sang in a language that teased his brain.

A small kitchen was tucked into the corner, and heavenly scents were floating out its door.

"Something smells wonderful!" Henry said with a wide smile.

"Thank you, Henry!" Siobhan said, preening as if he'd just complimented her. Henry glanced at her in surprise, then gave her a raised brow as she giggled.

"How went your big meeting today?" she asked over her shoulder as she went to the kitchen to chill the wine.

Henry nodded to himself. "Camila said it was a success, so that's good enough for me."

"That's wonderful! Give me a sec and make yourself comfortable."

Henry sat on the sofa and took in the art around the room. Beautiful seashells, surf-polished glass, some rough but interesting stones, and photos of wild coastlines with rustic cottages on hillsides. And sheep. He spotted several small plush sheep dolls scattered throughout the apartment.

Siobhan returned from the kitchen, and Henry turned his face to her. "Sheep?"

She blushed as her eyes darted around to touch on the members of her flock. "Yes, they remind me of my childhood."

"Ireland?" he asked, nodding towards the picture of the hillside cottage.

Her smile softened as she nodded.

"Do you go back?" he asked.

She shook her head, and her smile became a little sad. "Nothing to go back to. My parents have passed on, and I've no other family left in Ireland. After I left, I lived with relatives in a small village on Canada's east coast for a few years. Then, I set off on my own to attend three years of university in Montreal. Finally, I moved here and got a job at VRL. The rest is history." Henry grinned at her. "Dinner's ready. Come on."

She led him over to the small table and got him seated. Then she went back into the kitchen. She returned moments later with the bottle of wine and a corkscrew, setting both down before him.

"Uh, I've never uncorked a wine bottle before," Henry admitted sheepishly.

"You bring them but don't open them? For shame! I'll teach you in a moment," she said with a cheeky smile as she headed back to the kitchen.

Henry examined the bottle and the tools while he waited. Soon enough, she arrived with their dinner plates. The scent instantly made Henry's mouth water.

"Oh, man! I must be hungrier than I thought as I'm about to drool over the place settings. That smells incredibly good!" he exclaimed.

She curtsied while holding a plate in each hand, then set them on the table.

Henry smiled as he admired the delicious-looking angel-hair pasta plate with pan-seared scallops and shrimp. He spotted button mushrooms and peas, maybe some chopped shallots, and diced garlic as well. He had to swallow again as his fingers itched to pick up the fork and dig in.

Instead, as promised, Siobhan took her seat and directed Henry on the art of opening a corked wine bottle.

She sighed as he poured a little wine into a glass for her to taste. "It's a shame, really, but this skill may soon no longer be needed. Screw-top bottles are taking over. The tradition of uncorking will be lost."

Henry gave her a sympathetic look, though the screw-top idea sounded acceptable to him.

She smiled as she swallowed the wine. "Excellent choice, Henry!" He poured more into her glass and some into his.

He chuckled. "I'll be sure to tell the salesman in the wine shop he has good taste." He lifted his glass and smiled at the beauty. "To good friends, a great meal, and success in your future!"

She smiled and nodded to him as she touched his glass with hers. They sipped as they grinned at each other.

"I never got a chance to ask you how you like your new job in the Marketing department," Henry said as he lifted his fork.

"Oh, I love it! It's so much more fulfilling than working in the assistant pool. I really get to flex my creative side," she sighed happily.

Henry took a bite, and his taste buds cried out in ecstasy. He savored the first bite until he was forced to swallow. "This is delicious!!!" he exclaimed, and Siobhan grinned happily as she enjoyed a forkful herself.

When Henry recovered from his first bite, he caught Siobhan's eye.

"It was your idea to update our marketing materials with information about our improved security, wasn't it," he said with a grin.

She put an innocent expression on her face. "Not if you're speaking to Mr. Duncan, it wasn't. I heard he was less than pleased with the idea."

Henry chuckled. "Yeah, when I backed Rosalind's request, he wasn't too happy with me either. I've been keeping an eye on the traffic, and while there has been an uptick in suspect connections, no real threats have emerged yet. I assume this message was also added to our website?"

Siobhan's look of pride was unmistakable. "Yes, and they've even let me assist with designing the website's look and feel. That's what I love the most in my new job!"

"The truly fortunate are those who work at what they love," he said with a sigh, then caught Siobhan grinning at him. He smiled self-consciously. "I-I think I read that on a greeting card once."

They enjoyed their meal and the wine, but Henry refused a top-up on his glass as they finished. "I can only have one a day."

"You're a cheap drunk?" she grinned.

"The cheapest!" he blurted, and she giggled. "I don't understand why my tolerance for alcohol is so minimal."

"There's nothing wrong with getting a little relaxed, Henry," the brunette gently teased.

"I agree, but when I get really drunk, which doesn't seem to take too much, my mind gets tugged out of my body, and it goes on a walkabout. That's what Tish calls it."

Siobhan's eyes widened. "You have an out-of-body experience? Where does it take you?" She pictured floating above the city and maybe circling the Statue of Liberty, which was pretty close to his condo.

Henry sighed. "Well, I've orbited the planet... uh, I lost track of how many times. I visited Kansas once, a mountaintop somewhere in China, and most recently, I was in Kuwait City." His smile became a little brittle. He had to pull his thoughts away from that. Far away.

Siobhan was stunned. That was... much too far to be separated from your body. Her mouth opened and closed. She wasn't sure what to say.

"Actually, the farthest I've been was to the world of Wild Magic... though I'm not sure if you can measure the distance as I'm told it's just another dimension overlaying our own. An alternate Earth, I suppose," he pondered on that, oblivious to the shock on his dinner companion's face.

"Henry, it shouldn't be possible for you to be that far away from your body," Siobhan said quietly.

He looked at her and saw she seemed upset. He reached out and placed his hand over hers. "There is so much happening to me and around me that I can't explain or control. It's the damn magic. I don't want it, but I don't have any choice about that either. I really don't like leaving my body behind when I go flitting around the sky. I feel even less in control than I usually do.

"Can you feel the magic?" she asked with a strange enthusiasm.

He watched her as he shook his head and saw she seemed to be coming to a decision about something.

"Selkies can," she almost blurted.

He realized this was the thing she hadn't wanted to say in his office. He wondered why she had now.

She pushed on. "We're connected to its flow. Just as we can feel the currents of the oceans we swim in, the currents in the magic that touches... everything around us, speak to us. We can pick up on the location of Humans moving through it untouched. We feel conduits like us absorbing it, slowing the current by the smallest increments. I'm always amazed no one else can feel wielders bending the flow to their will and altering its course." She saw Henry was listening with interest and flashed a quick smile at him. "Since my change, I can't feel that sensation anymore. I miss it. I didn't realize how much I'd come to depend on it. I'm hoping the loss is due to my transformation being incomplete." She caught Henry's look of worry and raised a hand. "I know. Its loss may be permanent. The Wild Magic changed me in incredible ways, and my new state is such an improvement over how it used to be, but if there's any chance that I might be able to get that ability back, I'd like to try."

He still had a look of concern on his face. "What is it, Henry?"

"This current of magic, now that I think about it, I have felt it."

Siobhan's eyes widened excitedly. "When?"

He nodded as his mind went back to his most recent experience. "It was when I was out of body. My mind floated up into the sky, and the magic was drawing me around the world." He looked into her eyes. "How strong was the current you felt?"

Her eyes took on a dreamy quality. "The pace of the current changes. It rushes, then ebbs. It's mostly a gentle flow."

He shrugged, as there was no way to compare their experiences with exact accuracy as it was subjective. "When I was up in the sky, the Wild Magic felt more like a raging river. I couldn't fight it. I just let it take me where it wanted to go. Maybe down here, it will be calmer."

Siobhan's expression told him she was not in the slightest deterred by his words.

Henry nodded. "Anything you need... I'll do... uh, sure." His face felt hot, and Siobhan giggled at his flustered state. "How... how should we begin?" he asked.

She stood and held out a hand to him. He took it as he stood and let her draw him into the small living room. As he watched her curiously, she had him help her move the coffee table to open the space, and then she put on some slow music. "How about we start with a dance?" she said softly.

He grinned self-consciously and nodded. "That sounds great."

He took her in his arms, and they began to sway gently. "You and Marisa seem to enjoy going to dance clubs."

She glanced up with a crooked smile and saw he was just curious. "Yes, it's fun to dance, and teasing the Romeos is even more fun. Marisa also does it to feed, but I'm just looking for a quick tumble in the sheets. A lady needs a little stress relief once in a while."

Henry snorted as he contemplated how often he was being used for stress relief these days.

Siobhan pulled back slightly to look up at his face in false outrage. "What? Don't you think women enjoy casual flings, too!"

"Uh, you do know who you're talking to, right?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "The one thing I'm very aware of is the sex drive of my female friends." His expression suddenly froze with remorse. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry! That was an overshare."

Siobhan burst into delighted laughter and clung to him. "Ah, Henry. You're so charming!"

They swayed to the music, enjoying the feel of their bodies touching. Siobhan purred as she enjoyed squeezing his muscular body. She recalled being pressed against Stanley's chest in an elevator with Marisa pressed against his back. Stanley had been a much smaller man. She marveled at the difference between the two sizes of the same man.

She tilted her face to ask him about it, and his lips found hers. Sparks shot from their kiss to all the tingly places on her body. She wanted to laugh in surprise and delight, but this felt too good. She pressed herself harder against his muscles and felt him respond most wonderfully. Something was waking and rubbing against her insistently.

His lips never leaving hers, Henry scooped Siobhan up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom door. She had to admit, her head was beginning to spin a little with how his passion was thrilling her. Her tongue thrust into his mouth and found his. He sucked on it gently as his tongue caressed hers. She felt that like a live wire touching her most intimate place.

She tugged frantically at his shirt when he set her on her feet next to the bed. She had to get him naked.

Henry pulled back from the kiss with a smile as he took over the task of stripping his glamored clothes away with a thought. Siobhan giggled as she stopped to admire his muscles. Her hands immediately went to them, and she touched the hard slabs of muscle on his chest, then slid down to feel the trembling of his stomach.

"Oh, aren't you beautiful..." she sighed softly.

His fingers touched her chin to tilt her face up to his so he could taste her mouth again. She swooned slightly but felt his big hands settle on the skin of her back. Somehow, the buttons of her shirt had come undone, and it was on the floor, resting on top of her skirt.

Henry's fingers fumbled only slightly when undoing her bra strap, then it too was at her feet, and her breasts were being cradled in his strong hands. She gasped and leaned against them as he continued to tease and thrill her lips.

Finally, she remembered she'd been tugging at his pants for a reason, so she gently pushed his chest to break the kiss. With a cheeky grin, she looked down, and there it was, exactly as she recalled it when she saw him in his old bedroom with Camila, Sigrid, and Marisa. The pleasing shape and size were before her, but this time, it was for her alone—their first time.

Before he could move, she dropped to her knees. She took a moment to take in the sight of his naked body, then she wrapped her fingers around the hard and hot skin of his cock.

"Ahhh, that feels good!" Henry sighed.

She chuckled, then stroked her tongue along the bottom of his cock, all the way from the base to the tip, as he gasped. She wanted to tease him more, but her need overruled her.

She took him in her mouth and forced it deeper and deeper until it reached the back of her throat. She was becoming so fucking turned on; she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out. She stroked him in and out of her mouth as she felt his muscles trembling.

The moment she pulled him free of her mouth, he lifted her in his arms once more. He settled her down on the bed gently, and then he was over her, his wonderful lips kissing and caressing their way down her body. She cooed and gasped as he found all the most sensitive places, and her need for him surged. He surprised her when he stroked her pussy lips with his tongue, then firmly kissed her clit. Her hips rose off the mattress as she sucked in a deep breath and grabbed his head to pull him tight against her.

His tongue was doing things to her that threatened to derail her mind. "Fook, you're good at that, Henry!" She lifted her head to look down her body to see the smile in his eyes as his tongue worked its magic across her tingling pussy. She dropped her head back as the intensity became too much. "Please, Henry! I need you now!"

He kissed his way up her body, spending a little extra time enjoying her nipples as her fingers tangled in his hair, then she felt the head of his cock resting against her wet opening. She sucked in a sharp breath as the heat surprised her.

She reached between them to take him in her hand. He felt so good as she stroked his heavy appendage against her lower lips. When he pushed forward, the head plunged inside.

"Ahhhh! Yes! That's it, Henry! Fook!"

Henry grinned happily down at her flushed face.

"What?" she gasped curiously.

"I love your accent!" he sighed as he changed the direction of his stroke to slowly draw himself out to the tip. Her heels slid up his legs to pull him back inside.

"What accent?" she asked with a crooked smile.

He raised an eyebrow and pushed in faster.

"FOOK!"

"That one," he teased.

"Less talking, more... that!"

"Your wish is my command," he said formally, and his hips sped up. Her eyes flashed wide for a moment, and then her heels assisted his thrusts.

"Yes, Henry. That feels so good! Oh my GOD!" she exclaimed as his pelvis began to bump into hers at the bottom of each stroke.

She pulled him down to kiss him deeply with her arms wrapped around his back. His thrusts became more aggressive, and she gasped into his mouth as the bumping against her body drove her closer and closer to her limit.

Henry was quickly losing control, as well. Her kiss was so sweet, and her body felt so good under his. He was trying not to crush her under his weight, but she was squeezing him so tight it was difficult to maintain his strokes. Finally, he had to resort to circular gyrations with his hips, which ground his pelvis against hers. Siobhan's lovely brown eyes shot wide.

"Now, Henry! Oh my God!" she cried out, squeezing her arms and legs tighter around him. Her body began to spasm, and he felt her clamping down on his cock. That was enough to push him over the edge, and his release began. He was as deep as he was going to get.

Siobhan felt Henry's cum surging into her. Her body immediately began greedily soaking up the Wild Magic, and she felt its power. She reached with all her willpower for what she'd lost, her perception of the magic around her.

The difference was subtle at first. Just a trickle of awareness, like a light breeze playing with her hair as it passed and the afterimage of a burst of color. "Henry! I can feel it again!" she cried softly.

She strained to open herself entirely, and her body spasmed as a sudden burst of light, sound, scent, taste, and touch exploded against her defenses. Stunned, she was wide open now as her sixth sense was forced to accept a new frequency.

She realized Henry was right. This wasn't a calm and tranquil ebb and flow. It was a mighty river crashing against and leaping over obstacles, sweeping everything away with its boundless energy. The old magic was nothing compared to this!

The Wild Magic's energy soaked into every cell, and she felt herself almost glowing with the power. Then, it was overflowing and spilling into the spaces between her cells. "Enough! S-s-s-stop!" she stammered.

Henry immediately pulled himself free of her body, and she took the next two splashes across her stomach before he was able to get a hand in front of his cock to catch the last one in his palm. He watched the woman squirm on the bedsheets. Not knowing what to do, he hopped off the bed and rushed to the small bathroom, where he quickly rinsed his hands. He grabbed a washcloth, soaked it in warm water, and hustled back to Siobhan to clean her off. He started with her stomach and moved down.

She gasped loudly when he pressed the washcloth between her legs and opened her eyes in shock.

Henry swore he saw tiny sparks of gold in her beautiful brown eyes. "Oh my! Henry! It's... so lovely!" she whispered in awe as she looked around the room.

He was more than a little worried about that. "You said you'd be able to feel the flow of magic. You said nothing about seeing it!"

She turned to look at him and squeaked as she closed her eyes tight. She turned her head away from him quickly.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Henry gasped.

"You! You're glowing like the sun!" she exclaimed. "Wait! Wait... I can control this. Give me a second," she said as she frowned in concentration.

Henry watched his friend taking slow, even breaths. He felt her body trembling, almost like it would shake apart. This began to lessen as she controlled her breathing. Her head suddenly turned, and she flinched.

"What's wrong?" he said in concern, gently touching her shoulder.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" she cried out as she recoiled from his fingertips.

Henry was in full panic mode now. It was Marisa all over again. His causing her to overdose on Wild Magic remained one of his strongest regrets. Now it seemed he'd hurt another of his friends!

"I'm so sorry, Siobhan! This was obviously a bad idea-"

"NO! No, Henry. It's going to be okay. I just need to learn how to control the input. So much! Every sense! Before, it was just a faint perception of the magic around me, but now I can see it. I feel it. You sound like a roaring bonfire, crackling with energy. You glow like the sun and smell delicious-"

She froze as an expression flashed across her face.

Siobhan suddenly pulled his face to hers, and her tongue was in his mouth in a frantic kiss. She moaned and shook as she flopped back down to the bed.

"What was that?!?" Henry exclaimed.

Her eyelids were still closed as she leaned her face away from him, panting and licking her lips as if trying to capture the last drops of ice cream from them. He watched this odd behavior with increasing unease.

"Damn, Henry! You taste so good! Like nothing I've ever had before!" she gushed.

He leaned back from her. "What have I done?" he muttered in dread.

"No, Henry! Please! It's good. I-I just need to recover from the initial shock, and I'll be able to regain control of my senses." She went quiet, and a look of embarrassment crossed her face. "This may sound like a terrible request after what we just shared, but it might be easier for me to regain control if I was alone. You're just too strong a source of Wild Magic."

Her face froze again, and she faced him without opening her eyes. Her jaw dropped open. "You are a source! It's coming from within you!"

Henry was still feeling awkward about being kicked out so soon after their intense intimacy, so her comment about being a source took a moment to sink in. He paused and looked at her. "I'm a source?"

She nodded and tried to open her eyes but snapped them shut again as she held up a hand to shield her eyes. "It's like there's a... tear in space within you that leads to the realm of Wild Magic. It's... pouring through." She turned her head from him as she could feel where he was in the room without seeing him. Her perception of magic was back, one thousand-fold! She opened her eyes and watched the energy flowing away from Henry to splash against the walls around them before seeping through. Her head began to spin as her senses started to overload again.

"I'm sorry, Henry. It's too much. I'll come to see you tomorrow, okay?" she said delicately.

"Sure! I'll see you tomorrow," he said as he backed out of the bedroom, where he reset his glamor with the outfit he'd arrived in. He walked to the door and reached for the doorknob when he heard the bedroom door open.

"Wait! Henry!"

Siobhan rushed over to him in her dressing gown with her eyes closed but somehow didn't collide with any of the furniture in her haste.

She thumped against his chest and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Henry. You don't know what this means for me!"

"No more stubbing your toes walking through your apartment in the dark?" he teased gently, his voice still a little shaky.

She pushed back as her face flushed with intense tingles from holding him. She gave him another of her crooked smiles. "Cheeky fellow."

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said with a smile.

She tilted her face for a kiss, and he cautiously leaned down to gently press his lips to hers.

Her arms went around his neck, and her tongue was suddenly in his mouth as she moaned.

He gently untangled himself from her arms and tongue and held her at arm's length as she panted.

"Good night!" he said as he ducked out her door and closed it behind himself. He went down the flights of stairs and adjusted himself in his pants. Damn, she was sexy!

He stopped in her lobby and rested his forehead against the cool tile of the wall. He let the tingles fade, and cold reality slipped back into his mind.

He pulled his cell from his pocket and dialed a number before he could talk himself out of it. It rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Marisa! It's Henry. Sorry to bother you... but I need your help."

Her voice returned with tension in it. "What's happened, Henry? Are you okay?"

"Sorry, I'm fine. I was just with Siobhan, and I can't really give you any details, but... I think she might need some help or advice."

"Henry, you're not making sense. You had a date tonight with Siobhan, yes? What happ-oh!"

He could almost hear the lightbulb coming on, so he continued. "Yeah. She said she just needed to be alone, but I'm worried I've done something... bad. Maybe you could call her and see if she needs help?"

"Yes, I'll call her now. I'm sure she's fine. Take care, Henry. Good night!"

He looked at the cell's screen with a sigh, then tucked it away.

Stepping outside, he glanced around at the dark streets. He wondered if he should have had the car wait. Shrugging, he walked to the subway entrance and managed to catch the train as it entered the station. He rode this until he could transfer to the Path train to New Jersey.

His mood on the way home steadily dropped

The night was clear and warm as he walked down the pathway along the water's edge towards his condo. He was looking forward to sleeping in his own bed tonight. Tish was working a night shift, which was fine as he didn't feel like he'd be good company at the moment.

A stab of guilt went through him as he worried about Siobhan. The image of her rushing across the room with her eyes closed returned to him, and he felt his initial dread again. He'd fucked up her senses, or maybe it was more accurate to say Wild Magic did that. He was tired, frustrated, and sick of magic!

"Mroww?"

Henry came out of his funk to look down at a black cat sitting on the path, looking up at him. He was immediately entranced by her eyes, one amber and one blue. He wasn't sure why he thought the cat was female. It just popped into his mind. "Hello there, beautiful!"

"Mroww?"

"My name's Henry. What's yours?" He looked for a collar but no luck. She might be a stray.

The cat walked past Henry and looked back at him. "Mroww?"

Did it want him to follow? He'd heard of that behavior before but just didn't have the energy tonight. Instead, he walked over to the bench he'd last shared with Ikehorn and dropped himself wearily on it. He looked out at the darkness over the water.

He caught motion in the corner of his eye and saw the cat was now sitting on the bench watching him.

"Sorry. I'm just too tired to go wandering in the night. Besides, there are things that go bump in the night out there that you should be careful of."

The lovely eyes just watched him, so he turned to face the darkness. "So many troubling things out there, and I can't do anything to help anyone." His expression turned bleak. "I'm asked to help a friend, and I might have fucked up her life instead." His breath caught in his chest, and more words blurted out. "I can't protect the children," he hissed quietly, thinking of his daughter with Baba Yaga, thinking of the dead infant in Kuwait City, and thinking of his child in Tish's womb. He snorted bitterly. "How can I be a father if I can't protect them? All this fucking magic, and I can't do shit with it!"

He leaned forward and put his face in his hands as he rested his elbows on his knees. He held his tears of frustration and despair back through sheer willpower alone. He felt overwhelmed by his responsibility for the children he had no power to protect.

Henry felt a gentle nudge on his arm and looked down into mismatched eyes, watching him cautiously. He eased himself back on the bench and took slow, even breaths. He gave the cat a weak smile when he felt his equilibrium return. "Sorry for indulging in a moment of self-pity. It gets to be too much to cope with sometimes." He took another deep breath, then held out his hand for the timid cat to sniff. He felt the gentle rasp of a rough tongue licking his finger. He smiled a little more as he watched the cat breathing through her mouth. He was sure that behavior meant something, but he had no clue what. It just looked sweet and brought a smile to his face.

"Henry? Is that you?"

He looked in the direction of the familiar voice and saw Dayshia on the path. "Hi, Dayshia. What are you doing out so late?"

"I could ask you the same," she insisted.

He smiled at her. "I was just talking with my new friend here—" He turned his head, but the cat was gone. He heard a gentle snort behind him.

"Don't you have enough friends? Now you're making up imaginary ones?" Dayshia teased.

"What? No! It was a cat! Probably a stray..." He stopped when he saw the amused expression on her face.

"Very funny," he huffed.

"Come on, Cat Whisperer. Let's go inside. Is Tish working tonight?" she asked as she held out a hand to him. He nodded.

They began walking the final steps to the front door when Dayshia suddenly froze. She squeezed Henry's hand. "We're being watched," she said stiffly.

Instinct made Dayshia's eyes flare violet as she swept her gaze across the path behind them. Her sight peered into the shadows until they heard a shriek. A tall, roughly human shape jumped to his feet from behind some bushes across the road and scrambled to run away. Dayshia leaned forward and stared harder at the figure. He screamed in pain as he sprinted away and dove around the corner of a building.

Henry watched this in shock as he'd felt Dayshia pulling on his Wild Magic while she'd... attacked their stalker. He hadn't seen what she was doing, but it certainly had an effect on... the shape of their stalker was suddenly familiar.

"Was that...?" Henry began.

"Roger," Dayshia confirmed in a grim voice. "I felt the pressure of someone staring at us, and it wasn't a friendly gaze. There was a definite malignant intent behind the gaze. He was preparing to attack. I-I could feel it! I don't know what Roger's become, but I doubt he wanted to talk about good times."

While shaken by the encounter, he could tell Dayshia had been deeply affected.

He sighed. "I'm sorry." She looked at him in surprise, so he explained. "All of this is my fault—"

"How is Roger's intent to attack us your fault?" Dayshia asked in confusion.

"Changing him, all of you, was my faul—"

Dayshia took his shoulders in her hands. "Stop. I know I was pretty hard on you for what happened, and I regret that now. I shouldn't have treated you so harshly because, in my heart, I knew you'd never intentionally harm us. You're a good person. I was scared, and I lashed out at the easiest target. I'm so sorry, Henry. Like Tish, my life has been greatly improved by my change. I wouldn't choose to be human again over this. Thank you."

Henry forced the lump in his throat down and pulled Dayshia into a hug. She felt wonderful, but he was so exhausted by the emotional rollercoaster this day had been he caught himself yawning.

Dayshia must have noticed, too, as she guided him to the front door. "You've had enough fun today. Bedtime for Henry."

He gave her a chagrined smile and a nod as he held the door for her when they entered.

She was right. He'd had enough.

-=-

Minkah waited until the coast was clear and no eyes were on her before switching back to her Human form. She stepped out of the shadows by the tree next to the bench and looked to the front door where her quarry had gone.

He wasn't at all like she'd expected. Their encounter strengthened her impression of the smaller, timid man in the large body. If he'd followed her to the alley, she would have tranquilized him and stuffed him away in the council's dungeon. She wouldn't have heard his confession. He was going to be a father, and he wasn't ready. He seemed to have endured some unresolved trauma involving a child. That had shaken his confidence badly.

He'd shown her kindness and didn't try to pet or pick her up. Instead, he'd held out his hand and let her set the pace. She'd tested his magic with a taste, making her fur stand on end. He'd just smiled at her, but he could have done anything to her at that moment as her senses were overwhelmed by a new kind of magic. Only the arrival of a new threat jarred her free from her paralysis, and she'd fled.

The woman who spoke to Henry-her quarry-was one of the altered Humans she read about in the dossier. What was missing from the file was a description of her powers. Minkah witnessed the woman spot a predator that even she'd overlooked. It was another red-eyed sound tracker. Fear shot through her, and she didn't like that.

What happened next was beyond her experience, and if it hadn't been for the extended wavelength range her feline eyes were capable of, she would have missed it. The woman somehow projected high-intensity beams of ultraviolet laser light from her eyes. The red-eyed monster seemed particularly sensitive to this wavelength and found it intensely painful. It fled but sustained multiple wounds before it escaped.

She overheard Henry and Dayshia talking after the woman drove the creature away and was shocked to learn they knew its identity. It was their missing friend, Roger Jensen, the one the Hidden Races Council had been hunting.

Now, unless there were other examples of this creature In New York, she highly suspected Roger Jensen was their serial killer. The one she'd killed in the nuclear facility caused comparable damage to the other assassin as this killer was doing to its victims. It consumed its prey.

Minkah was calling tonight a success. She'd gathered intel on the target. She'd witnessed the capabilities of one of his Wild-Magic-powered friends.

She also had a lead on the serial killer, which she'd hand over to Lise-Anne Hoek.

It was a good night.

Chapter 14

Carl watched his dinner guest crossing the restaurant, drawing every eye in the room. He felt the strong pull on his attention and a stirring below as he imagined what it might be like to take the Succubus to bed. He frowned slightly as he couldn't recall ever feeling such a strong effect from her kind before. The woman paused in her journey to his table, and he almost felt compelled to join her. His frown deepened before he forced his self-assured smile back in place.

She was speaking to three dark-skinned women at a table by the window, and while they were all smiling, Carl picked up a change in the room's tension level.

He saw Camila respectfully bowing her head to the centermost woman, and he realized the trio must also be Succubi. He could never read their age by just looking, but the one in the middle must rank higher than Camila for her to earn the gesture. Carl hadn't felt anything from these three. They were either suppressing their nature, or Camila was pushing hers to the max, perhaps to impress him.

He glanced around the restaurant at the other patrons. There weren't many tonight. Maybe three other occupied tables. He had three of his men sitting at tables of their own, as well. This was just a precaution one took when visiting a territory under someone else's control.

None of the customers were Human, this being a very exclusive restaurant, and all were behind their glamors. He saw everyone was aware of Camila's arrival.

After a few more words and another head bow, Camila continued on and approached his table.

He stood and smiled at her, leaning in to press his cheeks to hers.

"Thank you for joining me for dinner tonight, Ms. Villamor."

"Please, call me Camila," she purred, and he also felt that in his pants.

She smiled at him again, and he couldn't help but feel the impact of that brilliant display. He glanced over at the table of three and saw them frowning angrily in Camila's direction. They suddenly stood and marched out of the restaurant.

He looked back to his guest with a raised eyebrow as he knew she was also aware of their departure.

"Any trouble?" he asked delicately.

"An internal matter," she said mildly, indicating she wouldn't speak of Succubi issues with him. He nodded and gestured to a chair he held for her. She sat, and he moved to his seat.

He personally didn't believe Succubi, or Incubi for that matter, were in the same category as the Hidden Races' real hunters. Considering their diet, he equated them much lower on the food chain, closer to leeches than sharks.

Upon reflection, with the force of will rolling off the woman before him, he was willing to concede her the status of apex leech. This thought helped push back some of the uneasiness he'd begun to feel.

"I love your Cajun accent!" Camila sighed. "It's a breath of fresh air."

Carl smiled and tipped his head to her in thanks. "You've also managed to keep some of your Spanish alive."

Camila nodded slightly. "One of the costs of moving from place to place is that it puts a strain on the valuable but intangible aspects, like accents and cultural traditions," she said with a touch of sadness.

"Something lost and something gained, I suppose," he agreed.

The waiter arrived with the menus, and Carl took the initiative to order an expensive bottle of red wine.

Camila glanced at him as the wine he'd selected wouldn't pair well with the salad she was considering. He seemed oblivious to his faux pas. She ordered the salad anyway. Carl chose a steak, rare, and the waiter left.

"This restaurant is best known for its preparation of meat. Yet, you went for a salad?" he asked with a smile.

"The difference is that I eat to enjoy the flavors and textures, not for sustenance," she said with a small smile. "I took care of the latter before I arrived."

"Ah yes," he nodded as if she'd shared some wisdom.

Camila returned to a point she'd been making earlier. "What pulls you away from New Orleans? I understand your business is doing well there."

"Yes, business is good! So good I'm looking for new pastures to add," he boasted.

She smiled. "I understand that such activities usually come with some strife from those already in those pastures."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, it can, which is why it's not done without first establishing a strong base. Only then should one set their sights on new territory."

The waiter arrived with the wine and served them both after Carl pronounced it delicious. They were soon alone once more.

"And what territory might you be setting your sights on?" Camila asked.

"New York, of course!" he said with a gesture of his arm to encompass everything.

Camila fixed her eyes on the man. "Which part?"

"All of it! Eventually."

She relaxed a little and raised an eyebrow. "Ambitious. Where will you start?"

Carl raised his glass. "At its heart, of course. Manhattan."

Camila sipped the wine and did her best not to spit it in his face. It was bitter and heavy, much like the man who ordered it.

"Ah. That pasture has been tended to very well for a long time. The surrounding pastures have been peacefully tended for an equally long period, and all get along very civilly. I've not heard any rumblings of discontent from the other communities regarding how these areas are managed."

Carl shrugged. "Other communities' concerns are their concerns. This is... an internal matter." He smiled as he used Camila's words against her.

"Unless it threatens to expose us all," she clarified.

Carl fixed his eyes on Camila. He didn't like her implied threat. He didn't want someone like her telling him he had to give up on his expansion plan. He put a smile on his face.

"I've been doing this for a long time. I control New Orleans and a large portion of southern Louisiana. That gives me the authority to say I know what I'm doing regarding territory acquisition and management."

"With all due respect, New Orleans is not New York City. The comparative population densities alone set them worlds apart-"

Carl raised a hand to stop her from continuing, then waved it dismissively. "I didn't invite you here to review the merits and challenges of the plan. I know that Roy Duncan, leader of the Manhattan Pack, works for your company, VRL. I wanted to assure you that when I take over the territory, the security responsibilities his team is currently fulfilling for VRL will continue without interruption. Unlike Roy's little operation, de Bellisle Enterprises also includes a law office to cover VRL's legal needs."

Camila leaned back in her chair with a small smile on her lips. She was watching the smug expression on his face. "You certainly have a surplus of self-confidence. It's too bad that's not all that's required. You have to be able to play well with others." She sighed because Carl's smile was being replaced with a look of annoyance. "This is what I'm talking about. When people tell you the truth, you'll need to be able to recognize it and appreciate it. We're all at risk at the moment with the strange events occurring all over the globe. Now, more than at any other time in history, we need to be treading lightly and cooperating with each other. Have you watched the news recently? Attention is being focused on things that should not be seen. And you want to start a turf war in one of Earth's most populous cities?" She threw him a disappointed look.

He hit the tabletop with a big fist, and conversation died off around them.

He kept his voice low, but there was a definite edge of suppressed rage. "I give you the courtesy of assuring you that your business will not only be protected against disruptions in your security arrangements but will be enhanced by the services of our law office, and you treat me like some country bumpkin? The arrogance—"

Camila leaned forward and held his eyes as she spoke calmly. "You're busy empire-building during a global security crisis, and you say I'm arrogant? I'm just giving you the courtesy of advising you how badly timed this initiative is and how poorly viewed it will be with the Hidden Races Council."

Before he could explode, she hit him with another verbal jab. "As for the services of your law office, here's a hypothetical question for you. Let's imagine we took on your law firm for VRL's external legal counsel. Then one of our employees is cheated on a deal he made with, let's say, Queen Mab. How would you proceed with getting compensation for this employee?

Carl snorted at her outrageous hypothetical scenario. "You have your company compensate the employee if you believe the idiot deserved it, warn them never to deal with the Fae again, and they get to live. You don't sue Queen Mab."

Camila smiled. "The counsel we hired, Mahati Chandra, filed against Queen Mab in the Fae Court... and won. Mab is no longer Queen of the Fae."

Carl stared at her, then burst into laughter. When he finally recovered, he smiled indulgently at her. "You really blew your credibility with that last statement."

Camila simply waited with a slight smile on her lips. She saw Carl's grin slowly fade as his mind sifted through her words. Finally, he had a question. "Chandra? As in Indrani Chandra?"

"Mahati is her daughter. She's a very gifted litigator," Camila explained with a proud smile.

Carl's expression quickly returned to a scowl. "I still don't buy for a second-"

"Speak to any Fae. Ask them who their Queen is. None will speak Mab's name. She no longer exists for them." She gave his belligerent expression another look of disappointment.

"I suspected this meeting would be about a territory grab, and I'd hoped to convince you of its bad timing, but I can see your mind is set on this reckless course." She held his eyes. "None of it matters. You won't take Manhattan. Roy Duncan controls that territory, and you're not strong enough to take him." With that, Camila stood and moved to leave.

Carl quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist in a bruising grip with a snarl on his lips. He'd teach this insignificant bitch how strong—

Fire ripped through his cheek, and he reeled back in agony. The next slash struck his arm, and his grip on Camila went loose as she'd cut the tendons in his forearm. She yanked her wrist free and jabbed him in the chest with her other hand, her claws stabbing deep into his lung. Her strike was faster than his eyes could track.

Carl saw one of his crew racing up behind Camila, claws and fangs extended as he pounced. He knew the woman was dead.

Except she wasn't there.

Carl's man hit the table and crumpled to the floor with a spray of blood.

Carl jumped to his feet, staggered back, and knocked his chair over. He looked across the large room and saw three more of his men, prone or struggling to sit up, each bleeding badly from a vicious wound. With a Were's healing abilities, none of the injuries inflicted were life-threatening, but the fact that someone as low on the food chain as a Succubus took out his men with ease gave him pause. It wasn't possible for a Succubus to move so quickly, and their claws couldn't inflict such damage. Something wasn't right.

Across the restaurant, standing in the doorway, Camila flicked the blood from her claws and then returned her fingers to their normal shape. She looked at her bruised wrist and locked eyes with Carl. She shook her head slowly.

Turning, she calmly walked out the door without another glance in his direction.

He looked closer at how she moved, and he finally saw it. She had the confident body language of an apex predator. What was going on at VRL?

Suddenly, the story of Roy becoming an Uber Were no longer seemed ridiculous.

Chapter 15

Tish slipped into bed and snuggled up against Henry as the first rays of the sun peeked over the horizon. She was in her faun form, and Henry had dropped his glamor before he'd gone to sleep the night before.

She touched the thick slabs of his chest muscles, then ran her fingers across the firm cage of his stomach. A thrill rushed through her as this gorgeous hunk shared her bed almost every night! She wasn't the least bit jealous of the time he spent with the other women in his life. Some were her friends, and some were his coworkers. She liked all of them.

This morning, he was in bed with her, and though she was tired, she had tingles that needed relief. She needed some Satyr lovin'. She slipped the blankets down and exposed the beast. She was still learning how to make love to Henry in his natural form. He was big down there, and while she was much tougher as a faun, it could still be a struggle.

This morning, she was determined! Besides, her doctor said it was still safe.

She'd brought along a tube of lube and squeezed out a generous amount, then a little more for good measure. She gently slid her hand up the shaft, leaving a layer of the lube behind. She moved her hand down the other side and then used both hands to massage it over the surface. It was so hot in her hands as blood flowed into his cock. She glanced up and saw his eyes were open, and one eyebrow was lifted as he watched her. She grinned up at him, and he crooked a finger at her to get her to move up the bed.

Tish swung her leg over him and straddled his body, rubbing her wet pussy against his now stiff and well-lubed shaft.

Henry pulled her down so he could kiss her. She did her best not to be distracted by his dreamy kissing, but he still managed to line himself up with her pussy. His hands massaged her ass muscles deliciously until her head was spinning. When he pushed inside, she moaned into the kiss and went limp. This relaxed her muscles, which meant Henry was able to slip more of himself inside. The lube was helping, but the feeling of being full was intense. Thankfully, his big, strong hands on her ass kept her muscles from tensing up. Then she had it all.

"Oh my God, Henry! This is incredible!" she chuckled.

"Feels too good!" he moaned, and her eyes went to his face in surprise. She thought she was too close.

"I'm right there too!" she said between her teeth.

"That's good cuz I don't think I'm going to last this morning! Nope! Nope, it's too much!"

Tish clung to him as her body began to shake, crashing her through a beautiful release as she felt Henry's heat surge into her. Her body felt like it might burst into sparks and tingles as his Wild Magic interacted with her own.

They kissed and rocked against each other slowly as the bliss settled into a delicious buzz in their nerves.

Once Henry had relaxed enough to withdraw easily, Tish slid off his body to cuddle against his side. Now, she felt she could sleep, tingles satisfied.

"Before you fade, we should talk," he said quietly, pushing himself up on one elbow. Tish snuggled closer.

She groaned. "Tonight?" she begged in a tiny girl's voice.

He chuckled. "I'll be out tonight with Sigrid. Going to the Met."

"Mmmm-okay. Fine. What is it?" she sighed, rolling onto her back.

He looked down at her lovely face. He dipped his face down and kissed her tenderly. She purred, then her eyes opened to see his sad expression. She was immediately alert. "What is it? What happened?"

"Dayshia and I met, or I should say, saw Roger last night."

Tish sat up and locked her eyes on him. "Saw? What happened?"

"We were just outside the building. Dayshia said she felt someone watching us. She looked at the bushes across the street, and he jumped up with a scream. Dayshia kept her eyes on him as he ran away, screaming in pain."

"Pain?"

"I couldn't see what she was doing, but Dayshia chased him off... with her eyes. Afterward, she said she felt him watching us with malicious intent. She felt him about to attack us." He shook his head. "I don't know how her abilities work, but she was intensely serious last night."

"How did he look?" she asked, but Henry just shook his head.

"My vision isn't as good as yours. I couldn't see in the shadows. When he ran away, I thought I saw what looked like long claws on his fingers, which seems more likely than he was carrying a bunch of knives."

"So, he really was going to attack."

Henry nodded. "That's how it felt. Dayshia seemed to be acting on instinct. She grabbed my hand and pulled on my magic when she... was doing whatever it was she was doing to Roger. He certainly didn't like it."

Tish gave Henry a bright smile and chuckled. "Dayshia used magic?"

He nodded with a smile of his own, and then he looked apologetic. "Sorry to drop this news on you as you're about to sleep."

Tish shook her head. "No, I'm glad you told me. Besides, it's no worse than my waking you early for a tumble in the sheets."

Henry's mind flashed back to the previous time he heard that phrase. Siobhan said it... just last night. He pulled himself back from his memories. He hoped she was okay today.

"No, being woken up early is much, much worse," he said.

Tish glanced at him in surprise as he'd said it so seriously. He cracked a little smile.

"You're so mean!" she growled, pushing at his big body. She glanced at the clock and saw it was time for him to get up anyway. "Time for you to go to work!" she pouted.

He kissed her resisting lips until she was kissing him eagerly. Then he pulled back and rolled out of bed. He switched to his glamor, so she got an eyeful of his naked ass as he walked over to the bathroom to take a shower.

Tish watched him hungrily, her tingles back from his kissing. Throwing the sheets aside, she hustled over to the bathroom and switched to her own Human glamor to share the shower with him.

He had to take responsibility for these new tingles, too.

-=-

Henry arrived at work at almost thirty past the hour and saw Roy standing in the lobby. The big redhead gave him a raised eyebrow. Henry aimed a self-conscious smile his way, then paused before walking over to the man.

"Good morning, Henry. Is everything okay?"

"Good morning, Roy. I think I need to have a talk with you, Camila, and Sigrid," Henry responded.

"Can it wait until after our nine-thirty executive meeting? I was sent upstairs to collect you," Roy said.

Henry's expression dropped. "Shit! Sorry! It completely slipped my mind. Let's go."

The two men took the elevator to the basement level and entered the boardroom just as Camila was about to begin.

"Take your seats, please."

Henry hustled around the table and took his seat between Frank Caprelli, the Head of Operations, and Rosalind Wingham, the Head of Marketing. He said a silent sorry to both and got smiles in return.

Roy paused to whisper something in Camila's ear, and she nodded. Then Roy froze before stiffly walking over to his seat.

To Henry's gaze, Camila looked just a little tense. He saw a curious expression on Sigrid's face as well.

When he looked at Mahati, the woman was staring at him and jolted a little when their eyes locked. She quickly turned her eyes away, her dark complexion reddening further. He raised a curious eyebrow, but she refused to look back at him.

"Now that we're finally all here, let's get started," Camila began. "I have a special announcement before we get into the minutes of the last meeting. You may have seen our special guests in the office yesterday. We had the Directors of the NSA, the FBI, and the CIA with their Senior Technical Advisors in to review a new firewall application Henry wrote for them."

"We're going into the software business?" Frank asked.

"No, just easing the avarice these agencies have for VRL's firewall. If we give them their own, they'll leave us alone," Camila explained.

Rosalind's eyes lit up. "Can we use this relationship in our marketing materials?" she asked eagerly.

Roy rolled his eyes as Rosalind received a nod from Camila. The CEO had ensured that right in her negotiations. She looked back to Frank. "I'm not ruling out that we won't find additional clients for the firewall application. Unless these government agencies want exclusivity. They'll have to pay for that and pay dearly.

"How are we tracking the income for this new product?" Eve asked. A natural question coming from their CFO.

Camila smiled. "If the initial consumers don't want to pay for exclusivity, the application becomes a product of VRL with a service contract component. If they want exclusivity, it's just a service for these clients with a service contract component. I'll send you the details once the deal is finalized."

She turned her eyes to Henry. "I received an email from the Director of the NSA, Wallace Granger. He's asking for you to make a presentation to key members of the Network Security teams for the NSA, CIA, FBI, and a potential new customer, Homeland Security, at their headquarters in Washington. They'd like you to do the onsite training and the initial install. They're willing to pay handsomely for the privilege."

Henry made a choking sound. "It's a seven-minute install process. Training them on how to manage the configuration interface only takes another thirty. The Director did it himself! He could demo it for these people!"

"Hey, for an all-expense-paid trip to the nation's capital, teach me how to do the install, and I'll take your place!" Akshay Bhatt, their compliance manager, joked.

Henry gave him a grin and a thumbs-up, then pointed to Akshay while he smiled at Camila. She just shook her head with a grin.

"Sorry, Henry. The Directors met you and won't be fooled by a substitute."

Henry pouted. "When do they need this done?"

"Could you be available to fly there Thursday morning? You'd fly back that night. The presentation is scheduled for the morning, and they'll want to take you to lunch afterward. Probably to try and convince you to leave VRL to work for them."

There was a burst of protest from a number of the other execs, none louder than Eve.

Henry smiled at them as he held his hands up to settle them. "There's nothing they can offer me that compares to working with you guys. I have no desire to leave VRL!" he assured them.

"It sounds like you could name your price, and they'd pay it," Frank insisted, still a little disturbed.

"But they wouldn't have you, Frank. Or Rosalind, Eve, Myron, Noah, Akshay, Roy, Mahati, Sigrid, or Camila. Or all the amazing people who work in your departments that I get to support. It may sound sappy, but I think of all of you as my family. Money is nice, but it doesn't replace family."

Rosalind made a sweet noise and stood beside Henry with her arms out. He blinked in surprise, then stood as well and gave her a warm hug.

Frank jumped up next and gave him a hug, too.

Henry looked over at Camila in embarrassment for making such a scene, but she gave him a sweet smile.

They retook their seats, and Henry had another question for Camila. "I'm not going by myself, right? You're going along to work on the contract, yes?"

"You're not going alone, but I won't accompany you. This is Washington, DC. We're sending you to the capital with legal representation. Mahati will ensure everyone plays nice."

All eyes turned to Mahati, who squirmed under their attention. Then she saw Henry's relieved and happy expression and an odd heat bloomed in her chest. She nodded to the others and widened her eyes at Camila, who took the hint.

"Let's get back to the business at hand." She took control of the meeting, and they moved on to the mundane day-to-day items. Henry practiced his skill of staying awake.

Once they finished the executive meeting, Camila asked Henry to stay behind with Roy, Sigrid, and Mahati to discuss the trip to Washington. The rest stood, and Eve strode purposefully around the table with her eyes on Henry and a smile on her lips. The other execs paused to watch curiously. As she got closer, she gestured for Henry to stand, and everyone smiled as they caught on. She hugged him, and he wrapped his arms around her.

Once Eve released him, Myron and Noah shook his hand, but Akshay wanted a hug. He got one, and they all made their way to the exit. The door closed, and the seal went in place. Camila grinned at Henry.

"I thought the meeting was going to collapse into a group hug session," she said with a grin.

"You're injured, and I scented a Were did it. What happened," Roy rumbled.

Everyone else looked between the two with surprise on their faces.

Camila looked over at Roy and controlled her expression. "Roy, you need to promise me you will remain calm."

Roy's face gave nothing away, but he nodded stiffly.

"When Walter Zhao died, the news that VRL no longer has external counsel was released, and several agencies contacted me to let me know they were available. One of them was Carl de Bellisle's law firm."

Roy snarled and rose out of his chair but stopped and sat again.

Camila watched him until he nodded. She nodded as well. "I listened to him and let him know we were already pursuing other options." She gestured to Mahati.

"Last night, I had a business dinner with Carl—"

"Where?" Roy asked tensely.

Camila sighed. "Yes, he was here in New York. I wanted to hear his latest pitch to get a handle on what he was up to."

"THE BASTARD IS AFTER A TERRITORY GRAB!" Roy snapped.

"ROY!" Camila snapped in return.

The big man was struggling to remain calm.

"I'm worried about your ability to keep your shit together in your new state. Can you lead?" Camila said, point-blank.

Roy's head snapped back as if she'd slapped him. His eyes widened then narrowed as a deep rumble began.

"Roy?" Henry spoke, and the effect on the big redhead was immediate.

He froze, and his expression of rage drained away instantly. He went silent, and his eyes turned to Henry.

"Are you okay?" Henry asked quietly.

Roy shuddered as he shook loose from the grip of the red fog creeping over his senses. He sighed and nodded stiffly. "Yes." He glanced at Camila. "My apologies for giving in to my anger. Carl and I have history, and he's always dangerous to those around him. His obsession for expanding his territory puts his pack at undue risk, and those his pack supports suffer for it." He faced Camila fully. "He injured you. You went to a public place for this dinner meeting, and he became violent?"

Camila nodded.

Roy shuddered and took a deep breath. "He's making a play for Manhattan."

"New York," she clarified.

"Shit!" Roy snarled quietly. He looked at Camila again. "Why did he hurt you?"

"I suspected he was looking to expand into our territory, and I tried to talk him out of it, appealing to his reason, especially considering the heightened tension globally, but he was too far gone in his dreams of conquest." She sighed as the next part was not going to go over well. "I told him he'd never take Manhattan as he wasn't strong enough."

"WHAT THE FUCK?!? You directly challenged a Were?" Are you suicidal?" Roy snapped.

Camila remained quiet as she held Roy's eye.

He took deep, slow breaths to calm himself, eyes focused on the tabletop. Once he was collected again, he looked at her. "You obviously survived."

She nodded. "I had to fight my way out, but Henry's gift made that possible. I was tempted to kill Carl—" She raised a hand at Roy's choking noise. "...but I wasn't sure what that would do to his pack."

"It wouldna be good!" Roy stressed. "They need a leader, and it has to be another Were. Carl's territory is too big. Take him out without someone to take the position, and the pack dissolves in a bloodbath as they fight for dominance. Breaking down an oversized territory has only happened once in my lifetime. It wasn't done lightly and took strong leaders working together to keep the peace while they subdivided the territory, choosing new leaders for each through managed dominance tournaments."

"Did you participate?" Henry asked, his fascination plain on his face.

Roy looked at him and relaxed with a smile. "No, lad. I was a mere pup at the time. About your age."

Henry nodded, then heard the gentle jab. "Hey!" he said in protest. He wanted to argue more in his defense, but he had nothing to refute the words. He heard Roy's chuckle and felt better.

"Carl now knows the kitten has claws," Roy said, looking back to Camila.

She nodded but didn't smile as she understood that she might have just confirmed the rumors of Roy's enhancement for Carl. Not that she'd had any other choice. She sighed as she had more potentially bad news.

"When I arrived at the restaurant last night, I was riding a high from a feeding." She didn't bother mentioning from whom she'd fed, as everyone knew. "I had a surplus, so I couldn't suppress the effect. I'd tried to burn it off in the gym beforehand, but there was just too much. At the restaurant, I bumped into the head of the Succubi Association, Nuru Onwudiwe. She was senior to Marquise Oletha Thanemark by a century, at least. She was displeased that I was emitting more power than someone my age should. Her two attendants were also quite put off. There was nothing I could do. I paid my respects, but I was meeting Carl, who was watching. I couldn't show weakness, and I wasn't able to reduce my power levels. When I went to join Carl, Nuru left with her attendants. She was not happy."

"Is she going to be a problem?" Sigrid asked. She knew Succubi didn't really maintain an official organizational structure, but power levels defined authority for those who cared. Oldest was typically the strongest, which gave them the authority to represent the group and ensure all Succubi's rights were represented. When these same leaders were able to separate their longevity from their power, this made for better leaders. When they were obsessed with their power, this made for poor leadership. She didn't know which category Nuru fell into.

Camila shook her head hesitantly. "It shouldn't. I sent her a note apologizing for any perceived disrespect and explained as best I could without mentioning Henry or Wild Magic. Nuru has been a reasonably stable representative, but she may show up if she feels I'm making a play for her position." She held Sigrid's eye. "Her attendants are expert spear fighters."

Sigrid just smiled.

"I believe Henry has something to tell us," Roy said to the group, and all eyes turned to Henry.

He looked at Roy in surprise, then glanced to the others. "Uh, yes." He cleared his throat and sat forward a little in his chair, suddenly nervous. He took a deep breath and began.

He described meeting Dayshia as he sat on the bench the night before and the subsequent encounter with Roger.

Roy leaned forward. "You say he was hiding in the shadows about to attack and appeared to have long claws?"

Henry nodded. "Dayshia said she felt his intent to attack. I saw his claws as he fled."

Roy was frowning as he ran scenarios in his head. He looked at Henry at last. "I need you to try recalling something for me. Think back to the night of the first murder, which happened just steps from your place. You said you were sitting on the bench with Ikehorn. After the Fae left, did you pick up this sensation of being watched then?"

Henry blinked at him in surprise. He closed his eyes and took his mind back into his memories. He recalled being excited that he could connect to his daughter. That warmth spread across his chest again. He'd walked towards the building and—

His eyes snapped open. He had felt he was being watched! The tall, dark figure walked away, down the pathway towards the alley... moments before the murder.

"You remembered something," Roy said. Henry just nodded with a stricken expression. "He was there, wasn't he." Henry nodded again.

Tears began to slowly drip down Henry's cheek as he suddenly realized Roger had been there, had been watching him, and, based on his actions last night, most likely killed those two kids. What had he turned Roger into? Did that make him responsible for those murders!?! Suddenly, there wasn't enough air in the room. He began to hyperventilate.

Roy and Sigrid rose from their chairs and pulled him up to wrap their arms about him. He clung to them as the terror, remorse, and grief rocked him.

"What's wrong?" Mahati quietly asked Camila as she struggled not to rush over to Henry's side as well. She noted Camila was settling back into her chair. She'd obviously been about to go to the distraught man herself. The CEO just shook her head as she watched Henry sadly.

His friends holding him didn't speak until his gasping subsided, and the tears slowed. They just held him.

Finally, they stood back to give him a little space. Sigrid lifted Henry's chin in her fingers until she could see his eyes. The pain in them almost made her want to cry, as well.

"Get the idea that you're responsible for this out of your head. That's not true. You weren't even aware that Roger was in Tish's hospital room until you saw him on the floor. You said yourself Kesini was the one who dosed him. You also didn't make him into what he's become. You know it's random.

Most importantly, the change doesn't steal your free will. You're still the same person inside. Dayshia protested her change the most, but she's not only accepted it, she's using her abilities for the betterment of all," she insisted.

Roy took over. "Seeing Roger the night of the first event doesn't mean anything, as you couldn't have known what he'd be capable of doing. The boy sounded like he was a little touched in the head to begin with. His obsession with conspiracy is a prime example of that."

"I-I'm the source of the wild magic!" Henry forced out of his tight throat.

"Aye, courtesy of the witch! She gave you no say in that!" Roy spat, his distaste for Baba Yaga clear in his tone.

Sigrid picked up the conversation. "Henry, you aren't a source of Wild Magic. You just have a lot in you. You seem to collect and attract it."

He shook his head. He recalled Siobhan's words from the night before. "I have a rift to the Wild Magic dimension inside me. That's why I'm so charged with the damn stuff!" he muttered angrily.

Roy shared a shocked look with the others, then held Henry's eyes. "Who told you something crazy like that? Was it the witch?"

Henry realized he couldn't divulge the source. He'd promised he wouldn't, so he just shook his head and stared at the table surface. His mind spun, realizing that Roger was the serial killer, the product of the magic within him.

He knew he hadn't chosen what Roger became, and he knew Sandy, Dayshia, and Tish hadn't become evil. They were still beautiful people. Roger's obsession with conspiracies must have taken a seriously dark turn when he changed. He just couldn't shake the feeling of being somehow responsible or at least involved.

The others just shared another concerned look between them as Henry went silent.

"Are you responsible for the sunrise? For the cycles of the moon?" Mahati asked Henry sternly.

He jolted slightly as he stared at her. "N-no!"

"You built a brand new network for VRL. Are you responsible for how the users use it every day?" Mahati continued with her interrogation.

He shook his head, but she gestured to her ear. "No, I'm not," he agreed.

"Have you control over the intentions and will of others? Are we all puppets to your whims?" she pushed.

"No! Of course not!" he gasped.

Mahati crossed her arms as she held Henry's eyes with hers. "So, we agree that there are things far beyond your control. Even those things you were directly involved in?"

Henry jolted again. "Y-yes..."

"Was that a question, Mr. Gable?" the lawyer snapped.

"No, I mean, yes! W-we agree," Henry stammered.

"So, there is no need for so much... navel-gazing?" the dark beauty asked finally as she hunted for the words.

Henry couldn't keep the small smile from his face at her awkward wording. "You are correct. Thank you." Mahati nodded firmly at him. He felt.... better! "Would it be okay if I gave you a hug too?"

"You may not," Mahati insisted as her dark skin tone deepened.

"Oh, sorry," he said with a blush.

"Perhaps you have work to do today?" Mahati blustered.

Henry nodded and smiled at the others as he rushed to the door and left.

Once the door closed again, Camila looked at the lawyer in outrage. "All he asked was to show his appreciation with a hug."

Mahati's eyes flashed at the CEO. "You three are too soft on the young man!"

Roy snorted and hid his smile as Sigrid's eyebrows went up. "What?" the tall blond gasped.

"You heard me! Henry is too kind-hearted and gentle. You three keep him this way by handling him like fine china. He needs a firmer hand to help him become stronger."

Roy nodded firmly. "Yes. You're right. We have treated the lad a little too gently. It's excellent you brought this to our attention, and I'm glad you're taking his best interests to heart. It's a load off my mind that you'll be with him on the trip to Washington, DC."

Mahati smiled gratefully and nodded to the big redhead. "Thank you. It will be a learning experience for both of us. I'm sure Henry will appreciate the guidance I can provide."

Camila gave Roy a puzzled look but schooled her expression when she caught the twinkle in the redhead's eye. "Y-yes, thank you, Mahati."

Sigrid was still bristling as she watched the smiling lawyer stand and leave the room.

When the door was closed again, the tall blond turned on Roy. "What the hell?!?"

Roy chuckled and held up his hands in defense. "Have you no eyes in your head?" he teased. "The woman was going all gooey when she snuck looks at Henry in the meeting. Now, she's taking an active interest in his well-being. That's a far cry from the attitude she presented on her first day when she attempted to kill him. I do feel better about her protecting him in Washington."

It was Camila's turn to chuckle as she stared at Roy in delight. "Who is this man, disguising himself as VRL's brusque Head of Security? He's much too aware of girly things like emotions and sensitivities."

"Hush, you. I'm just looking out for VRL's future. Henry is as closely tied to that as any of us. Besides, he's like a son to me, and I agree that we do sometimes treat him like fine china," the big man admitted with a small smile.

"I think Henry is perfect as he is! There's no need to change him!" Sigrid insisted indignantly.

Camila grinned. "Well, there's proof that Mahati's efforts will be in vain."

Roy and Sigrid looked at her questioningly.

"If Henry can wrap a Valkyrie around his little finger, what chance does a Nāga have?" the CEO quipped.

Roy burst into laughter at Sigrid's sweet pout.

Chapter 16

Roger screamed into a pillow as the pain surged along his raw nerves once more. When the latest wave passed, he slumped on the dirty sofa cushions and panted.

He had severe, blistering burns across his back, his ass, and a stripe across each thigh.

But the worst of them was across his face.

He should have listened to his instincts. He'd been preparing to grab Henry last night as he talked to the weird cat when Dayshia intervened. She'd walked up to Henry, and they spoke briefly before walking towards his building.

Roger's first reaction when he saw Dayshia was to flee. His instincts were rattled by the sight of her and screamed at him to leave quickly and silently. But he was so sick of living in squalor that he decided he could take them both. Dayshia was no longer Human, but he couldn't bring himself to eat her. He'd planned on just ending her suffering as the monster she'd become. He needed to question Henry. The man had all the answers.

She must have felt his attention as she suddenly turned, and there was pain. It tore across his face, and as he ran from them, screaming in agony, the pain returned to rip across his body. He barely managed to get away.

He found his clothes tied to his bicycle and got dressed as quickly as possible, but the pain was intense. He rode away. Each pedal stroke was pure torture, but he pushed through it.

It took all night, but he made it back to the dump he hid in during the cruel hours of daylight.

Roger needed to eat. He wouldn't heal if he didn't eat. But he couldn't go out in the daylight. He'd have to wait until nightfall.

Then he'd hunt.

The next wave of pain was beginning, so he bit down on the pillow and screamed.

-=-

The squad car rolled quietly down the alley between the derelict homes. The occupants, two street cops with decades under their belts, kept a careful watch for ambush. They knew the man they were visiting had a bad habit of shooting at uninvited visitors.

"When was the last time you spoke to Rawlie?" Officer DeAngelo asked his partner, Officer Blane, as he nervously scanned the building's windows from the passenger seat. They were the odd couple at their precinct. Blane was a huge man with a large frame and muscles turning to fat. DeAngelo stood five-foot-seven and had a slim physique.

Blane squeezed the wheel in his big hands and frowned as he tried to recall. "Shit, it's gotta be at least eight months?" His voice was deep and rough from vocal cord surgery years ago.

That brought a scowl to DeAngelo's face. The two men used the hermit as a source of extra income, unofficially collecting rent for allowing him to live in the condemned building. With the additional hours they'd had to put in for the bloody serial killer hunt, they couldn't get back to their rent collecting. "So, we gonna take eight months of rent from him?"

Blane glanced over at his partner. "Yeah. I gotta pay for my kid's music lessons. Fuckin' brat."

DeAngelo chuckled. "Shoulda thought of that before ya knocked up Bernice!"

"Hey! She was a beauty... before she got fat... and mean," Blane growled quietly, which made his partner bark a laugh.

The cruiser stopped on the gravel drive behind the derelict house, and they got out. Walking towards the back door, they continued to scan the windows with their hands resting on their guns.

No sign of Rawlie.

A fat tire bicycle was resting on its side next to the back door. The two cops glanced at each other as it looked like a high-end model. Blane frowned as he squatted down to touch a spot of something red on the saddle. He brought his finger up to his nose and sniffed.

"It's blood and still tacky," the big cop said.

"Must be a rough life, livin' off the streets and bein' a hoarder." He scowled as he shivered. "Shit! Let's get this over with. I can't stand the fuckin' smell of the guy."

They entered the building and immediately stopped as they heard an odd sound. Muffled screaming. They shared another glance and pulled their weapons.

The rank stench of mildew, mold, rot, and burnt meat made DeAngelo suddenly cough and gag. Blane shot a quick glare at his partner as the screaming suddenly cut off.

They cautiously moved down a hallway, trying for silence, but that was impossible due to a thick layer of trash on the floor. The hall ended at an open doorway leading to a kitchen. On the right wall was another entrance much closer to them.

They stopped just before the right-side doorway. All they could hear coming from inside was a steady ticking, like a clock, but slower.

Blane gestured he was going to look inside, and his partner nodded. The big man ducked his head around the doorway for a quick look, then pulled back. He glanced at DeAngelo and shook his head. The clicking continued.

Blane turned again to the doorway, and his gun preceded him into the room. He stepped through the entrance, boots crunching on bits of broken plaster scattered on the floor.

DeAngelo moved to put his back to the wall across from the doorway, gun aimed away from his partner's back. He noticed some falling grit and dust landing on Blane's shoulders and looked down at the plaster chunks on the floor. He opened his mouth to shout a warning when Blane spun and looked up at a crunching noise above and behind him. He tried to raise his weapon, but a dark shape dropped on him and savagely bit down on his shoulder.

His gun went off, then went spinning off into the room as he lost strength in his right hand. He was dragged to the floor by his attacker. The agony in his shoulder got worse as whatever was attacking him rabidly chewed on him, snapping bone, slashing muscle, and cutting nerves and blood vessels.

Blane lifted his head to call DeAngelo for help, but he saw his partner sitting on the floor, leaning back against the wall, blood gushing from the bullet wound on his neck. The shot officer's mouth worked, but no sound came out. Blane was on his own.

With a mighty roar, the big cop drew upon his ogre strength and pushed himself to his feet, staggering under the bulk of his assailant. Turning slightly, he charged across the cluttered room to slam the creature through the wall into the kitchen. Wood and plaster exploded, cabinets full of rotting crap crashed down on them, and the thing released its grip on his shoulder. Blane pushed himself back to his feet but wobbled as his head spun from blood loss. He viciously kicked the creature in the ribs, hearing a dull snap. As he tried to plant a second kick on the broken rib, the thing suddenly shifted to the side, grabbed his leg, and stabbed its long claws deep into Blane's inner thigh. A great gout of blood followed the claws when they ripped free.

Blane staggered back and fell as his injured leg gave out. He crashed against an old fridge and slumped to the floor as he felt his life draining away. Turning his head, he looked towards his partner up the hallway. His eyes widened as DeAngelo wasn't there. The outer door was slightly ajar. He'd gotten out! Blane had to give his partner time to call for help.

Wearily, he turned his face back to the creature, which struggled to free itself from the rubble.

"What the fuck are you?" Blane spat as he held onto his consciousness.

The thing stood as it kicked loose from the broken cabinetry and faced him. Red eyes. Terrible burns on its face, long bloody teeth, and those sharp claws. Blane shuddered.

"What an unexpected gift! A monster that came to me!" it said, shocking Blane. He thought it was just some kind of beast.

Blane frowned. "Look who's calling me a monster."

"But you are a monster! You're certainly not human. You're like the one in the zoo."

Another shock went through Officer Blane. It could see through his glamor! Also, he'd heard what happened to the guard in the zoo. The way this creature was drooling, he realized that would also be his fate.

He felt so incredibly sleepy and weak from blood loss but struggled to remain awake. He looked to the hall, his thoughts begging his partner to hurry.

Then came the tugging and spots of searing pain, which quickly numbed. He looked back and saw the beast tearing into his chest to rip out his organs. It chewed and grinned at him as it swallowed. His consciousness began to recede, but he saw its facial burns begin to fade before everything went dark.

-=-

Roger feasted on the organs inside the big police officer until he couldn't swallow any more. His injuries were healing nicely, and their pain was receding as well.

Only when he sank back on his haunches to let the last few bites slide down into his stomach did he look down the hall to find it empty.

The other officer, the human one, was gone.

"SHIT!"

He scrambled through the broken wall and quickly wiped the majority of the blood off his body with a ratty blanket from the floor. He willed his body back into its human shape and rapidly pulled his clothes on.

He rushed to the doorway and glanced outside, clicking furiously. There was a police car behind the building, and the driver's door was open. He saw the legs of the other officer stretching out the door.

Roger grabbed a large overcoat from a wall hook and pulled it on as he hustled over to the officer. He was lying half in and half out of the cruiser, quite dead. But in his hand was the mic from the radio. The cop might have called for help. He noted the radio had a light blinking, so he remained quiet.

He had no idea how much time he had before they showed up, but his hideout was blown. He ran back inside and collected as much of the money as his pockets could hold. He grabbed gloves to cover the skin of his hands and rushed back outside. He rode his bike slowly away from the house, sticking to the side roads and back lanes. He was five blocks away when he saw the sound waves from sirens approaching rapidly, so he stopped and turned his bicycle upside down, pretending to work on the gears until two cruisers raced by, once more ignoring the cyclist.

Roger could feel the pressure of the sun beating on his body. He needed to get inside.

There was another abandoned housing development he'd noted during his nightly rides. He flipped the bicycle back onto its wheels and pedaled quickly but calmly toward his new hideout.

The meal that had delivered itself to him had completely healed the burns and replenished his energy. His hunger actually felt sated for the first time.

For now, he'd lay low until the time was right.

He would have to be more careful about capturing Henry, but he'd get his answers.

Chapter 17

Henry went to his office, hoping Marisa was in, and couldn't hide his relieved smile when he spotted the gorgeous blonde at her desk. She looked up and answered his smile with one of her own, though she also looked curious.

"Can you join me in my office?" he asked and received a nod. He opened the door and stepped inside, holding it open for her to join him. As she sat in one of the chairs before his desk, he closed his door and set his bag down. He took the second chair and reached over to take her hand in his with a concerned expression.

"She's fine."

Henry's first question froze on his lips as Marisa answered it unasked.

"I called her, and after speaking briefly, I went to see her. As you know, I have some experience with controlling my senses. I ran through my exercises with her for a few hours until she could dial her senses back to normal levels. The only one that resists being controlled is her perception of the flow of magic. She can now dial back her other senses, so she only feels the magic with her mind. I had no idea Selkies could do that! It's so amazing! She told me I could discuss this secret only with you," she said excitedly.

Henry released the breath he was unaware of holding and relaxed a little. He nodded with a gentle smile. "Siobhan wasn't comfortable sharing it with me, so I told her not to. For some reason, she did anyway."

"She's sleeping this morning, and I informed her boss and Sigrid that she was taking a sick day. We're calling it an allergic reaction in case it comes up. Later, she will practice the methods until they're second nature. She's fine, Henry. You did good!" Marisa squeezed his hand with a grin, and looked like she was preparing to leave. He held her hand, gazing into her eyes, and she stopped.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Me? I'm just a little sleepy."

"I mean, about having a little one on the way, with Nate missing," Henry asked gently.

Marisa blinked in surprise. She hadn't told anyone, yet Henry knew? She looked into his eyes, and there was no sign of being aware that he'd just discovered a secret.

She realized it was actually a relief that someone knew but decided that her mother should be next. She smiled at Henry's earnest expression as her face warmed up a little. "Thank you, Henry. You're a sweet man." When he didn't release her hand, she sighed. "It's okay... I'm sad but not depressed, thankfully. My hormones are keeping me balanced... maybe they're leaning a little toward the positive side, so I'll have to pay close attention to my mood once the baby is born. Succubi don't normally get post-partum depression, but I suppose there's always a chance."

"I'll be watching you, too," Henry stated, and her face became a little warmer.

"As for Nate, mom said she spoke to you about Succubi emotional bonding and how it differs from Human bonding? She actually had to talk to Nate about it, too, as he grew up with Human beliefs, as you did. He spoke to me about it. He was sure he could deny his nature and form a lifetime pair bond with me."

"Maybe he can. We'll have to see when we get him back," Henry said firmly.

Marisa flashed a bright smile at him but just nodded, not trusting her words. Then she dipped her eyes and held his hand a little tighter. "He never asked me if I could do the same for him."

Henry paused as he watched emotions cross her features.

"I miss him. I may even love him... but it isn't the deep soul bond he's searching for. Humans seem to be able to form relationship bonds for life. For Nate, his parents set the benchmark he's trying to match. I'm afraid that, ultimately, he'll be disappointed when he can't find that for himself. He's battling nature, and nature always wins," she sighed.

Henry remained silent as he thought Nate's wish was truly lovely. Growing up with a surrogate grandmother, Baba Yaga, he didn't have a similar parental life bonding example. While Baba had shown him affection in her way, he hadn't known romantic love until he'd begun working at VRL. He hadn't been exaggerating when he told his colleagues that VRL was his family.

While Baba remained the closest thing he had to a maternal role model, he knew Roy was definitely the one he saw as his father figure. Henry had lovers he'd shared his heart with. Perhaps, in some cases, that love was more one-sided on his part, but he wouldn't judge them as what they returned to him was more than he'd ever had in his life leading up to this moment.

"I don't have an example of parenthood," he suddenly blurted. His face flashed heat as he hadn't expected to confess this.

Marisa leaned forward, watching his face. "Henry, are you worried about being a dad?"

He could only look at her with a stricken expression, his tongue frozen in his mouth. He was going to be a parent, and he shouldn't be saying anything negative about that honor.

Marisa's expression softened as she took his other hand in hers. "It's completely natural to be nervous about being a new parent. I'm nervous about being a mom!"

"I CAN'T PROTECT THEM! THE CHILDREN!" he suddenly gasped aloud, unable to contain the shame.

"What? Protect—"

"Mab stole my daughter's body, leaving her to die. Baba—" He almost spoke of how Baba cut their fingers off to move the ring. "She took my child away." Tears were running down his cheek, unfelt. An image flashed in his mind. "I have all this magic in me, but I couldn't do anything for the dead baby in Kuwait—" Sobs ripped from his chest as Marisa slid forward in her chair to pull him to her and held him tight.

She spoke softly in his ear, whispering soothingly as his grief shook him.

After a time, the intensity of his emotions waned, and Henry began to get control over them once more. He released his grip on her, settling back in his chair as she slid back in hers.

"I-I'm so sorry for dumping my baggage on you like that," he muttered.

"Henry! Never apologize for sharing your honest emotions with me. You were obviously carrying your worries all by yourself for too long, and I feel honored that you feel comfortable sharing them with me."

He looked into her beautiful eyes and got lost in them momentarily. He glanced away as his cheeks burned. "Nate isn't the only one who can claim to have fallen in love with you." Hearing her sudden intake of breath, he raised his hands to apologize. "I-I'm sorry for saddling you with yet another unsolicited confession. I understand the difference between Human and Succubi love."

He took another deep breath. "Not... that I'm Human. Sorry, I'm still a mess."

Marisa leaned back in her chair as she watched Henry struggling to get control. Her chest felt funny as she tried to understand her own feelings. It was like what she felt with Nate... but much deeper, richer, and stronger. She'd keep it to herself until she could get a handle on it, as Henry had enough on his plate.

"Are you feeling a little better?" she asked gently.

Henry gave her a shaky smile. "Yes... thank you."

She nodded to him. "You tend to take too much upon yourself. So much of life is outside of our control. To make matters worse, you've been forced into the ring with some truly heavyweight opponents. You were never trained or prepared to take them on, so it's unfair to blame yourself for not winning those battles."

He looked into her eyes and saw she truly believed this. He had a harder time forgiving himself but couldn't refute her words.

"Yuko needs a baby from me to save her from going insane. Another child." He sucked in a quick breath but kept it together. He saw sympathy in her gaze.

"What will you do?" she asked softly.

Henry took a deep breath. He didn't want to have a child when he was this torn up about the child he already had, but he couldn't let Yuko slip into madness if he could prevent it. "I don't even know if it will work. Tish and Mahati are putting a lot of faith in the precise nature of my glamor. They believe the desires of my partner will be sufficient to eliminate the magic contained within... my stuff."

"They did say they had a way to confirm it," Marisa suggested.

"Yes, a trial run. I'm... probably going to speak with Yuko soon to see when she'd like to try."

Marisa did her best to hide the smirk, but he caught the rapid expression change. "What?"

She took a moment to compose herself. "You might wish to phrase that a little more delicately. Add a little romance." Her grin finally broke through her control, and he rolled his eyes.

"Okay. I get it. But in my defense, I don't know how I even feel about Yuko. As you're well aware, she's tried to kill me on a couple of occasions," he grumbled.

"Yet you still want to help her. That says a lot about your character," she said smugly.

"What? That I'm incurably stupid?" he returned.

She chuckled as she stood. "No. It says you're a good person. One final word of advice, then I have to get back to work. Speak to Tish. Let her know your concerns about being a parent. She deserves the truth, and I know she'll feel the same way I do about it."

Henry watched Marisa and stood to face her. She was serious, and he knew she was right about telling Tish. He wasn't so sure about her reaction, but that didn't matter. He owed her the truth. He nodded.

Marisa flashed a beautiful smile at him, her eyes twinkling happily. "That's my Henry."

He squirmed under her admiring gaze. "Yeah, yeah. Didn't you have some backup schedules to check or something?"

Marisa pressed her palms together, which squeezed her tits up and forward as she bowed slightly toward him. "Yes, Master. Your wish is my command."

Henry swallowed as his eyes were drawn to her cleavage. She giggled as she left his office. She knew she'd won that point.

He shook his head and picked up his bag. He had to get some work done today.

As soon as his erection settled down.

-=-

"Eleanor, don't look now, but a seriously hunky man is approaching our table, and he seems to only have eyes for you!" Dr. Lane said quietly to the surgeon she was sharing a table with in the hospital's cafeteria.

The woman in question raised her eyebrows and turned to see Raymond almost at her table. "Oh! What are you doing here?"

"Good afternoon to you, too, darling! Hi, Janice! At least you think I'm hunky," Raymond teased.

The doctor's face flushed red. "You heard me? Across the room?" she gasped in embarrassment. She was sure he'd been too far away to catch her flirty words.

He touched his lips, drawing her eyes to them. "I read your lips. It's a handy skill to have in a courtroom."

Janice gave the gorgeous man a trembling smile and lifted her lunch tray. "I was just heading back up to the ward. I'll speak to you later, Eleanor. Bye, Raymond."

Once she was gone, Eleanor scolded her husband gently. "The poor woman is going to be fantasizing all afternoon!" the wife said as he took the recently vacated seat and smiled at her.

"A little fantasy hurts no one. You look delicious," he purred in a deep rumble.

She gave him the look and shook her head. "No, we're not doing that again in the hospital. I finally got the executive committee to begin listening to my suggestions. I don't need to lose any credibility."

Raymond sighed theatrically. "Fine." He glanced around and saw they had privacy. He looked back to his wife, and she leaned a little closer, a casual and intimate gesture designed to let him speak softly yet be heard. "I've taken some initial steps as I've been thinking some more about that encounter we had the other night. I contacted an old colleague of mine. Called in a favor," he explained, keeping a smile on his lips.

They'd listened to the recording and found themselves standing in the bathtub behind the plastic shower curtain, hugging and leaning against the wall. That had shaken them considerably. Whoever was on the recording didn't want to be remembered.

They finally determined how to test it. Eleanor waited in the hallway outside their condo as Raymond began the recording. Eleanor entered wearing earplugs two minutes into its playback and shut it off. Raymond was frozen in place but could answer questions about what he'd heard so far. Eleanor wasn't frozen as it seemed she missed the part that caused this. They began the playback from that point, and she frantically made notes on what they heard. When they found themselves standing in the bathtub again, they returned to the living room and read the messages.

This is what they knew. The person who caught them in her spell was a woman and potentially young from the sound of her voice. She was frightened and frustrated, not a good combination for someone who obviously had a strong ability. She claimed she was being hunted by the Hidden Races Council, and strangest of all, she had no awareness of who they were or what function they served. She also didn't know why they wanted her dead, nor what she was.

On Monday, Raymond returned to where they'd met her and scouted the buildings she might have come from further up the street. He caught sight of a flyer taped inside the window of an art gallery. It announced an exhibition the previous Saturday evening for an artist's work that would go on auction after the show. This was the night they'd met the powerful young woman. He went inside to ask about her auction and learned that the artist, Lorelei Reichenbach, had attended. One of the gallery curators had a sour look on her face. When prompted, she reported the auction had been very lucrative, but instead of being thrilled, the artist had been moody and wouldn't leave afterward. She'd kept the gallery open well past closing.

Raymond suspected he'd found the name of the woman who trapped him and Eleanor. Her age, mood, and timing all lined up. He left a card and asked if he could be added to the newsletter for upcoming shows.

The next step had been very tricky. He needed to determine what hunter contracts the Hidden Races Council were acting on without disclosing his interest. He had a contact within the Hidden Races administration who might have access to the information. He'd assured the man that his intent was not to forewarn a potential target. It was merely to determine if a potential client was, in fact, being pursued and wasn't just suffering from a persecution psychosis. That was close enough to the truth for Raymond.

It took a day, but his man had come through. Unfortunately, the information he had was minimal. Most of the hit squads in the US were focused on finding the NYC serial killer. Overseas, there were only two open cases, one in Georgia and one from Germany. His source noted that the German case agent had been refocused on something in NYC with absolutely no other information available. That was atypical. He disclosed that this redirected agent was also their top producer, so whatever she was doing was of significant importance. As there was so little useful information, the man took a chance and included a picture of the agent so he could claim he'd fulfilled the favor. She was a looker!

Raymond knew he probably wouldn't get any more information from this contact.

As he sat with Eleanor, he filled her in on the information he had.

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know. I want to help, but she might not want it. If we frighten her, she might make us go away permanently." He took Eleanor's hand in his and sighed. "Let's talk about it on the way home tonight. We'll catch dinner and decide if it's worth the risk. Speaking of risk, we should be safe enough if the serial killer follows the current pattern. There shouldn't be another attack for a month."

"Where do you feel like going for dinner?" she asked.

"How about Hell's Kitchen?" he asked with a sly smile.

Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Again?"

He grinned. "What, again. It's been over a year since we—"

"I'm teasing! Fine, we'll go to Hell's Kitchen." She smiled and leaned forward as he moved the rest of the distance to give her a kiss. He stroked her bottom lip with his tongue, sending a tingle through her body.

She flared her eyes at him as she enjoyed the sensation. "You're so bad! I have to get back to work! I'll see you at eight."

They stood and headed in opposite directions as they waved to each other. He had a satisfied smile on his face as she grinned back at him, wiggling her hips saucily.

He left the hospital to return to his office, unable to lose the smile on his lips.

Chapter 18

Lorelei stepped out of the taxi before the doors of VRL, feeling just a little rung out. The two investment houses she'd already visited had left her with a sinking sensation. The older firm was cold and inflexible. The newer house was aggressive and indicated they could design any investment package she could think up, but again, she felt like a number to them. She was pinning her hopes on this last one. When doing the research, her first impression told her it was the best of the three, so she stood on the sidewalk and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

She looked up at the building and admired the architecture. Turning her head in either direction, she smiled as this was close to some of her favorite shopping areas. She had good memories here.

Lorelei realized she was procrastinating and stepped up to the doors to walk inside. She glanced up at the high ceiling in the lobby as she approached the reception desk, and a pretty, young woman looked up and smiled at her.

"Hi, I'm Lorelei Reichenbach. I have an appointment with Greg Wilson." She realized she was about twenty minutes early. She supposed this would be their first test, how they reacted to her poor timekeeping.

"Certainly, let me call him for you. One second," the receptionist said.

She spoke quietly into her phone, then hung up and smiled at Lorelei. "Greg will be down momentarily. Would you like to have a seat?" She gestured to some comfortable-looking chairs.

Lorelei nodded and moved over to sit and watch the traffic crossing the lobby. The people, employees, she assumed, seemed happy and content at first glance. She resisted the urge to sing a little tune to identify humans and non-humans.

Less than a minute passed before a short man with dark, curly hair and a friendly smile arrived at the desk carrying a tablet in his left hand and was directed to see her.

"Ms. Reichenbach? Greg Wilson," he said, holding his hand out.

She shook the offered hand. "Please call me Lorelei. Sorry, I'm a little early."

He gestured that it wasn't important. "No problem at all. We can speak in the garden room if you'd like to follow me. Any allergies to plants?" he asked with a grin.

Her eyebrows rose as she looked at him with a smile. "No. Is it really a garden?"

His grin widened. "Yes, it's a lovely place to have private conversations."

They walked past the elevator bank to enter a door on the corridor's right side just before the building's rear doors.

They stepped into a mountainside jungle.

Lorelei's feet slowed as she gazed in wonder at the tiered garden that took advantage of the high ceiling height for its man-made slope. Eight intimate seating areas were scattered up this hillside, taking advantage of the room's vertical dimensions, with two at ground level for wheelchair access. A path connected the seating pods and led to their current position, next to some large rollup doors leading to a patio with more plants, picnic tables, and an artificial stream.

"This is so nice!" she said in awe, and Greg nodded happily.

"It feels like a perk of my job to meet clients here," he agreed.

He guided her up the path, and she saw another small stream following the trail. This was connected to a trickle feeder for the plant life decorating the slope. They stopped fairly close to the top and sat at a small table. Another investment manager was with a client in the seating area a short distance downslope. They were laughing about something, but the sound was gobbled up by the plants and the gentle trickle of the watering system.

When she looked back at Greg, he'd set up his tablet on the table and had it turned so they could both see its screen.

He smiled at her. "You know, we're not all razzle-dazzle." He waved a hand to indicate their surroundings. "Let's see what we can do for you."

She nodded, and they began the discussion.

When Lorelei finally leaned back in her chair, her earlier dread was entirely gone. She knew part of the appeal of VRL was this peaceful room, but mostly, it was how relaxed and friendly their people were and the simplicity of their services. Greg added no pressure. There was no sales pitch, just a clear and straightforward description of what they could offer her to help protect her money and make it grow.

When she decided to move her investments to the company, Greg set her up with an account, which enabled her to log into the meeting room's free WiFi. She downloaded their app to track her investments. Once more, she recognized the flow in the interface, which matched what she'd seen on their website during her research.

Greg also assisted her with transferring the investment funds from the bank to her new account at VRL.

As they finished up, she sighed and breathed in the fresh air. "Thank you so much, Greg. I feel so much better than I did when I first arrived."

"Glad I played a part in that!" he teased as he shut down his tablet. It looked brand new.

"VRL certainly has an impressive grasp of technology. I love that tablet!" she said.

Greg's face lit up. "Oh my, yes, but that's due to our new CIO! He's a freaking savant with technology! Actually, it's because of him and our former CIO, who was his brother. Stanley was also a tech savant."

She noted the past tense references and picked up a little sadness in his tone. "Something happened to the former CIO, and his brother took over?"

Greg nodded. "Stanley arrived to save us from a technology disaster. Replaced the entire server room, the network, and all the workstations in almost no time. Then he went to Ireland to meet his brother and died in a car accident. His brother is also brilliant, and VRL hired him to take the CIO position. Henry expanded on Stanley's foundation and greatly improved our network and tools. These tablets were his idea. It made this chamber that much better."

She gave him an impressed look. They stood, and he led her back to the lobby, where they shook hands again.

"Welcome to VRL! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. If I'm unavailable, one of the less personable investment managers will gladly assist you," Greg joked.

"Thank you very much, Greg! You were amazingly helpful!" she said with a smile.

"Feel free to use our website's feedback page to say nice things about me! Our head of HR, Ms. Gunderan, who's that lovely woman standing by the entrance, reads those comments."

Lorelei was smiling and nodding, but her attention was caught by a gorgeous hunk of manhood walking by them toward the tall blonde. She was surprised by her reaction to him as she hadn't been attracted to men since—for a long time. She struggled to understand what was so appealing about this one besides his physical attributes. There'd been... something in his eyes as he smiled shyly at her before he passed by.

Greg caught where her eyes were tracking and saw them widen unconsciously. He resisted the urge to snort. "That's Henry Gable, our new CIO."

Lorelei's attention snapped back to Greg. She blinked at him. "He's so... young!"

Now, he couldn't withstand the urge to snort. "Yeah, young, handsome, and smart, if you're into that. Still, he's got a magic touch with tech." Greg glanced at his watch and saw the day was over. He smiled at his new account, noticed she'd taken a step away, and was staring at Henry intently. He shrugged and headed back to the elevator bank.

Lorelei watched the tall couple speaking to each other by the front door. The lobby was much busier now as the employees were heading home. She glanced behind her and saw Greg had left.

She looked at the beautiful man again, and a burning curiosity captured her. She sang a variation of her identifying song. Humans would make a subconscious gesture of touching their shoulder to flick away imaginary lint. They wouldn't register the movement in themselves or others. Non-humans would tilt their heads left and right as if stretching the muscles. Again, it would be subconscious and wouldn't register. She sang the tune gently as she watched as the majority of the people in the lobby touched their shoulders in unison. A few stretched their neck muscles.

The gorgeous man and woman did neither!

Lorelei almost cried out in surprise. This was the first time since she'd discovered her ability that it hadn't worked. She knew the deaf and those wearing earplugs or noise-canceling headphones weren't affected, but these two were within the range of her song and clearly weren't deaf as they were speaking to each other.

When they joined the others leaving the building, Lorelei followed. She needed to understand how they were able to ignore the music.

She also wanted to get closer to this man.

-=-

"Boss! We have an anomaly!"

Roy left his office to join Pete, who was working the surveillance system with Kirk. These pack members had an uncanny ability to remain alert for extended periods while watching the screens. Roy couldn't do more than one or two hours before his brain hurt.

"What happened?" he asked.

Kirk rolled the lobby camera back and froze the image. Pete explained. "Ms. Gunderan is in the lobby. Mr. Wilson is there with a woman who may be a new client. Employees are beginning to leave. Watch what happens when Mr. Gable stops to speak to Ms. Gunderan." He nodded to Kirk, and the video began again.

Roy watched the screen and jolted when he saw the simultaneous shoulder touches and head wags. "Again!"

Kirk re-cued the video and played it again. This time, Roy watched the potential client. She was watching Henry and Sigrid, and her mouth was moving. His friends didn't react, but everyone else did. Then, she followed Henry and Sigrid from the building.

"Roll it back and include the audio," he said.

While it played, they heard the familiar movement sounds and muted conversation tones from the people leaving and then singing. Pete and Kirk rocked their heads side to side, and Roy felt an impulse to do it, too, but he easily resisted it. His two pack mates looked at him in question.

"You didn't feel yourselves rocking your heads side to side like the people on the screen just did?" he asked them.

Pete and Kirk frowned at each other and looked back at him. "We didn't see anyone move their heads like that."

Mary arrived and smiled at Roy until she saw the concern in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

Roy looked to Kirk. "Roll the lobby footage back to seventeen-oh-five and play it without audio." He glanced at Mary. "Watch the entire group."

She squeaked a little when everyone except Henry, Sigrid, and the tall woman moved in unison. "Was that one of those flash mob things?" Mary asked Roy, who looked at Pete.

"I still don't see what you're talking about," the man reported.

"What? Everyone touching their shoulder or tilting their heads, and you didn't see it?" she exclaimed.

Roy's expression was grim. "There is something in the audio like music with a post-hypnotic message. I think that woman is trying to filter out the Humans from the Hidden Races, and she can do it without detection unless it's captured on video. These two brought it to my attention when they watched it without the audio. When we played it with the audio, they did the head movements and now can't see the actions or recall doing them."

He looked at Pete. "I need the name of the woman Greg Wilson was meeting as his last appointment."

With a worried expression, Pete pulled up the calendar app and searched Greg's appointments. "Her name is Lorelei Reichenbach. Boss, I recall asking you to come see the... anomaly, but I can't remember what it was."

"Same for me," Kirk agreed.

Roy looked at Mary. "I'd be curious if you would be affected by the audio."

"DON'T YOU DARE! I don't want to have something removing memories from my mind," Mary snapped.

Roy held up his hands in surrender, then looked at Pete. "Please make a clip of the lobby footage between seventeen-oh-five and seventeen-oh-seven and send it to my account. Don't worry about the memory block. I'll see if I can't get it restored."

He looked at Mary and gestured for her to follow. He ducked into the supply room and handed Mary seven packages of earplugs. "Get Team One. Three vehicles for the return trip. Take a pair of these for yourself and hand the rest out. Earpieces will be useless due to the nature of her abilities. We'll need to use hand signals only. I seem to be immune to the sound... magic. You might be as well as I suspect it might be due to the Wild Magic, but just in case, wear them." Her eyebrows rose then she hustled away. He called Camila.

"Hi Roy, what's up?" she said.

"Hi, Camila. Where are Henry and Sigrid going tonight?" he asked.

Camila snorted. "Aren't you taking your role as Henry's dad a little far?"

"We have a situation. Where are they?" he asked again.

"They're going to the Met, then out to dinner."

"I'm taking a security team to meet them," he explained.

"Shit. I'm coming too." She disconnected.

He nodded to himself as he'd expected her to say that. Roy went back to the surveillance desk.

Pete turned to look at him. "We just watched the video of us calling you to see the anomaly. It's disturbing that we can't see or remember what we talked about."

"Yeah, it's tricky shit. I need to show Camila. Did you send me the file?" Roy asked.

"Yes, boss!"

"Good. We're heading out, so I'll see you two later," he said, looking into their eyes, and they nodded. He didn't like the unease he saw there. He was going to do something about that.

He marched out into the lobby and met Camila. They took the elevator down to the garage and saw the SUVs ready to go. They had VRL drivers for each so the vehicles would remain nearby for the extraction. Team One was in the second and third vehicles, so Roy opened the back door of the first, and Camila entered and slid over behind the driver as he got in and closed the door. Mary was in the front passenger seat and turned to face them.

"Where to?" she asked.

"The Met," Roy said.

Mary used her radio to pass that along to the other two vehicles, and they started driving.

"What's the threat?" Camila asked.

Roy described the events in the security department with the video. He gave her his working theory. He pulled his cell out and played the clip for Camila, turning the sound off first.

"What caused them to all do that?" Camila said, then frowned as she scanned the video back to watch the reaction again. "It didn't affect Henry or Sigrid."

"The woman sings... magic. Her song didn't affect Sigrid or Henry, and it doesn't affect me either. I feel the compulsion, but I can resist it," Roy explained. He gestured to Mary. "I think Mary might also be resistant, but I don't want to take any chances."

"So, who is this woman?" Camila asked.

"According to Greg Wilson's calendar, her name is Lorelei Reichenbach."

Camila's expression clouded with a frown. "That name... seems familiar. I've read it somewhere." She shook her head as it wasn't coming to her. "Shouldn't we call Sigrid? Warn her?"

Roy shook his head. "As they aren't affected by the woman's ability, they shouldn't be directly at risk, but we are talking about someone with significant power. We were lucky her little test didn't have a more severe action. There's a high risk for collateral damage and drawing the attention of the Hidden Races Council."

"What kind of race has this kind of power?" Mary asked.

Camila thought about that; there was only one she could think of... and they no longer existed. Her eyes locked on Roy's in shock.

"Aye, tis the witch again, if I'm right," he sighed to Camila quietly.

"Hello? Is someone going to answer my question?" Mary said in annoyance.

Camila looked at her. "Do you recall Mab's party? In the main hall, the waiters and waitresses were Fae disguised as Djinn and Naiads. That was Mab's direct jab at the Hidden Races Council, who were directly responsible for the genocide of these two races when they refused to hide from the Humans with the others. Naiads were said to be able to control people with their singing."

Mary blinked at Camila. "If they're extinct, how—oh! She's like Henry! Baba Yaga pulled her through time?"

"Yeah, it's highly likely, but I suspect she isn't connected to the Wild Magic. The biggest threat she faces is the Hidden Races Council, who'll probably want her dead," Roy explained.

Camila beamed a delighted smile at Roy. "You're protecting her like we protected Henry and Nate!"

He looked uncomfortable. "Look, you were right about those two, so you're probably right about this one. I need her to reverse what she did to Pete and Kirk."

"How do we approach her?" Mary asked. "The Met is a pretty public spot."

"If she panics, she could cause severe trouble and chaos with the Human patrons. This is a first-contact mission. We'll keep her under observation and look for an opportunity to establish communication with her. The team will remain out of site, roughly encircling the target, one gallery away at all times, maintaining line-of-sight communications. There may be other observers, so we'll also need to watch for that. If Hidden Races Council operatives are identified, we'll need to get the target out as quickly as possible, and that's our highest risk scenario."

"Are we putting Henry at risk? Are you sure we shouldn't be contacting them?" Camila asked with a frown.

"Henry has no training in surveillance and security work. He's an innocent, and he's safer remaining unaware."

-=-

Sigrid giggled at Henry's attempt to act like the worldly and sophisticated double-oh-seven spy.

He arched a brow while maintaining his role, cooly surveying the large chamber they were currently sauntering through. "There's always a master thief or a foreign spy at the museum. One must maintain a high level of observation, or one will get caught up in their intrigue, be that an international smuggling ring or... a threat to world peace!" he said with a soft voice in a terrible imitation of a British accent.

Sigrid's giggles burst into full laughter, and Henry's impression of the world's deadliest spy cracked into a happy grin. He'd won the prize he was after. He loved seeing Sigrid happy.

He glanced around at the faces turned in their direction. Not everyone seemed as pleased to hear the joyful sound of laughter. One set of eyes connected with his, and he felt an almost physical jolt. She must have felt it as well, as the tall beauty quickly looked away with a flustered expression and returned to examining the portrait she stood before. Henry swore he saw a blush on her cheek before she turned away.

Henry looked back to the sweet smile on Sigrid's face. She also seemed a little embarrassed at her outburst. She playfully slapped his arm.

"Thanks for making me look silly at the museum!" she growled with a grin.

"You're welcome for bringing out your sweet and adorable side," he returned.

They locked eyes, and he felt her hunger for him. He wondered if they would make it through the gallery and dinner.

They continued to move from room to room, soaking in the culture and building the delicious tension between them.

-=-

Minkah was pleased by the serendipity of being able to enjoy the Met while observing her target. This venue wasn't a good candidate location for apprehending him as there were too many witnesses. She noted a significant number of patrons in the museum this evening.

When laughter burst from the tall blonde beauty, Minkah's eyes were drawn to the couple. From the genuine smile on her target's face, as he watched the woman's joy, she knew these two were a couple or had at least shared intimate relations. He seemed far more comfortable around her than others she'd witnessed him interact with. The way they touched revealed that as well.

When she saw him cast his gaze around the room, Minkah immediately focused on the painting nearby but picked up an odd squeak sound from the woman beside her. That young woman quickly turned her face from watching her target as well. Minkah saw her blushing and contained a snort of her own. So, the young lady was attracted to Henry—her target. Minkah understood why—Stop!

She forced herself to focus on the painting before her, though she found nothing appealing about it. While allowing her eyes to defocus, she tried to re-establish her emotional distance from her target. The problem was that the more she observed him, the more accurate her impression became and the more intrigued she was. His personality matrix deviated from what it should have been for someone with his boldly masculine physical appearance. Something significant had happened to him to rob him of the confidence he should be displaying.

Her eyes flicked back to him as he smiled at the blonde, whose intentions for him were clearly visible in her blue eyes. Minkah felt a brief stab of jealousy but brutally pushed that aside.

She decided this observation session was over. She needed to refocus her mind on the mission. She'd go for a walk to clear her head and—

Minkah saw the big redhead approaching from the far entrance to this gallery. She read his intent in his body language and automatically turned to walk the other way. She briefly collided with the tall, pale woman before moving to exit the room. She kept walking until she was outside. A brief glance back showed no sign of the redhead, but a tall, dark-skinned woman in a dark suit was watching her intently. Minkah's cover was blown. Considering the red-bearded man was the head of VRL security, this woman was obviously part of his team. Minkah headed down the sidewalk but sensed no followers. She walked away to go back to her safe house.

There, she'd take a moment to get her focus back. She'd stake out her target's home later tonight to watch for an opportunity to capture him.

She had to get this mission back on track.

-=-

"Are you all right, Miss?"

"What?" Lorelei asked in surprise as she turned to look into the concerned eyes of the large red-bearded man standing next to her.

"You were bumped fairly hard," the man said, quickly scanning her for injuries.

Lorelei couldn't stop the smile from popping up on her lips at his genuine concern.

"I'm fine. It wasn't too bad, though she could have apologized," she responded.

He seemed to be breathing a sigh of relief, but worry remained in his expression. Then she caught movement in the corner of her eye and looked to see the gorgeous brunette who'd followed him into the gallery. Were those red highlights in her hair?

"Is everything all right, Roy?" the woman asked, and Lorelei picked up a hint of a Spanish accent.

He looked back toward her. "Yes... I believe so."

The woman focused on Lorelei, and recognition flared in her eyes as her smile widened. "You're Ms. Reichenbach! The painter!"

Lorelei was surprised as she wasn't expecting anyone to recognize her as she did her best to keep her face out of the papers. She nodded in confusion.

The woman held out her hand as she gestured to the paintings around them. "It was seeing you in this context that made me recognize you. I'm Camila Villamor."

Lorelei shook the soft hand and smiled hesitantly. "You can call me Lorelei."

Camila gave her another brilliant smile. "This is my good friend, Roy Duncan."

Lorelei shook his hand as well. His concern hadn't completely faded, making her a little nervous as she still felt fine.

Camila continued. "A friend of mine recently inherited an estate which contained one of your paintings. Incredible!"

"Oh! Thank you," Lorelei felt a little more at ease until she spotted the tall blonde joining them with the gorgeous man in tow. Why? Her stomach tightened as the butterflies duked it out inside. From this close, Lorelei could see the woman had quite a muscular physique!

"Camila? Roy? What are you two doing here?" the large woman asked, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"Hi Sigrid, this is Lorelei Reichenbach! She's the artist who painted the river scene we found in Meixiu's mansion."

Blue eyes turned to look at her. "Oh... OH!" The woman's voice went up in surprise.

"What? Is this VRL night at the Met?" the handsome man quipped as he joined them. He smiled shyly at Lorelei, who was puzzled by his question.

"Henry, this is Lorelei Reichenbach. She painted Meixiu's river scene painting. The one that seems to move?" Camila said, holding his eyes.

Henry's eyes lit up. "Yeah, that's a beautiful painting!" he said with a smile and reached to shake her hand.

When they touched, Lorelei gasped as a spark jumped between them. He looked equally surprised as he pulled his hand back, flexing it to relieve the tingles.

"What did you mean about VRL night?" Lorelei asked, recovering first.

Camila answered smoothly. "We all work at VRL. I'm the CEO, Roy is Head of Security, Sigrid is Head of Human Resources, and Henry is our CIO."

"And?" Lorelei prompted, as that didn't explain the dating couple's surprise to see them.

"We came to ensure you were safe," Roy said.

Lorelei's nerves began to hum. "Safe? In what way?"

Roy glanced around, but his team had cleared the gallery. He sighed in relief. "From the Hidden Races Council."

Lorelei sang a quick tune to freeze everyone in place as her eyes flew wide. She prepared to run. Then, she watched the group look at each other. "What was that?" Henry asked curiously.

Camila's eyes showed compassion. "I believe Lorelei is a Naiad. That puts her at risk from the Hidden Races Council."

"W-Why doesn't my singing work on you?" Lorelei blurted nervously.

Roy glanced around again. "This really isn't the place to talk about that. I don't know who that woman who bumped you works for, but she was an agent, so she was likely Council," he replied. That made Lorelei's nerves flare again.

Henry looked between the others, then held out his hand to Lorelei once more. "These are the good guys. They saved me from the Council as well."

Lorelei hesitantly took his hand in hers once more, and the spark was smaller this time, but as they continued to hold, a definite tingle could be felt. Her eyes opened in surprise as it felt like... the flow of a river... of a sort.

"What-what are you?" she asked with a quiet voice.

Henry grinned as he took in the unease on the faces of the others. "Yeah, that's... one of those things we're not supposed to discuss. But you're right, I'm not Human. Can we go someplace private to talk about this?" He released Lorelei's hand as he looked at Sigrid. "Rain check?" She nodded with a pout.

"My team will make us a corridor to the side entrance, and our ride will meet us there," Roy said.

"Your team?" Lorelei asked.

"He's the Head of Security. He likes to keep his team close by," Camila said with a gentle smile, and Roy frowned at her.

As they headed to the gallery exit, Roy stopped them. "The Human guards seem to be in some distress."

Lorelei suddenly realized her song must have caught them. She sang another little tune to relax them and make them forget what they saw. She nodded to Roy, and they moved on.

"My team noticed your little test back in the lobby of VRL and brought it to my attention." He gestured to the cameras in the rooms they passed through. "The surveillance cameras caught the people's simultaneous movements, which stood out like a red flag. You'll want to be aware of that." He smiled at Lorelei, and she saw he was trying to be helpful, so she nodded.

"Two of my crew can no longer recall what they saw once they heard your song. Is that reversible?" he asked.

"Yes," she responded, and relief crossed his features.

They walked through the museum toward the side entrance, Henry pointing out some of the art to the others as they went. Lorelei observed how comfortable this group was with each other, and she felt a longing to belong. She was tired of being lonely. The fact that her singing had no effect on them meant she couldn't manipulate them, and that felt... liberating and a little unsettling as she couldn't rely on her abilities to assist her. She'd have to make friends the old-fashioned way, and she wasn't particularly good at that.

Henry was looking at her again. "Everything okay?" he asked gently.

She blushed. "Yes, I'm just not used to people being... unaffected."

He grinned. "I think you'll find we're pretty susceptible to a smile."

She couldn't help but grin back at him at his corny words.

Sigrid groaned. "Henry, that was so cheesy!" she teased him. "You're such a flirt, and this was supposed to be our date!"

He held up his hands in surrender, his expression innocent of guile. "I wasn't flirting! I was—" He stopped and dropped his hands when he saw Sigrid was just teasing him. He gave her an annoyed look, pushing her into a burst of giggles.

Lorelei was amazed to hear such a girlish sound from a woman who looked strong enough to punch through one of the museum's stone columns. Their open and genuine behavior with each other relaxed Lorelei's nerves. She just didn't pick up any signs of ill intent from them, especially Henry.

Roy got a faraway look in his eyes, then relaxed. "The agent left the area." He looked to Camila. "Where to?"

She thought about that for a moment. "VRL? My office?"

"Can we order in? I'm starving!" Henry pleaded.

Camila smiled at him fondly. "Yes." She looked to Lorelei. "Any preferences in food?"

Lorelei blinked. "Umm, not really. I'm not overly fond of pizza... or sushi."

"Thai?" Sigrid asked, hopefully.

Lorelei smiled. "I like Thai."

Camila nodded.

They left the building and crossed the sidewalk. They shuffled the order with the extra passengers, and Henry sat in the middle bench seat of the central vehicle that Lorelei was directed to. Then, they were driving back to the office.

"So, you were at VRL today?" Henry began.

She smiled shyly. "Yes, I needed a better place for my investments."

He grinned. "VRL is an awesome investment house! And I'm not just saying that as the CIO. The people are the best! Even these guys!" He said, hooking his thumb toward the back seat where three big men in dark suits sat. She heard them chuckle.

She felt much more at ease and was looking forward to getting to know the people of VRL.

Henry, especially.

-=-

The Thai food was delicious and filling, but the conversation quenched the curiosity in their new friend.

Even Henry, who'd heard this a few times, found it fascinating when Camila, Roy, and Sigrid worked together to paint a chronologically accurate picture of the Hidden Races' history and how they remained separate from Humanity for so long. He glanced at Mary and saw she was equally enthralled.

As the trio reached a point where Lorelei entered the picture, they glanced towards Henry's grin. "Wouldn't it be great if we could record this for all new initiates!" he said.

Camila raised a perfect eyebrow to look at him. "You know that's not—"

He lifted his hands. "I know, I know, but man! If I'd been told all this at the beginning as you did for Lorelei, it would have made so much more sense to me."

The CEO gave Henry a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, we must be getting better at it since we had you, Nate, and now Lorelei to explain it to."

Henry nodded. "I wonder how many more surprises Baba will spring on us."

Lorelei watched Henry's melancholy expression and Roy's uncomfortable grimace hearing the witch's name. She turned her attention to the big security man. "You seem far more uneasy about her than Henry does. I don't believe I've met her, but as you've described, she doesn't seem that frightening."

Roy scowled. "Aye, she looks like a wrinkly ol' grannie, but this disguises how powerful she truly is. While she might have once come from humble beginnings, her mind is no longer that of a Human. It's alien, cold, and cunning." He gestured to Camila, Sigrid, and Henry before looking back at Lorelei. "Henry is the only one she's treated with any kindness. We're all less than bugs to her."

Lorelei looked to Camila, whose face was frozen as she recalled her exposure to Baba's power on their flight back from Japan. The CEO sensed Lorelei's gaze and gave herself a little shake.

"It's true. She's a creature who lives in the shadows and speaks directly into your mind from that darkness." She shuddered.

Lorelei's face froze as she recalled the night she discovered her powers, the cold voice speaking to her from the dark waters, and how even the river pulled back from it.

Roy was watching her and leaned forward intently. "You have met her!"

Lorelei shook her head. "No. Not directly. But I recall a night when a voice spoke to me from the darkness of a deep river. It was an ancient voice. It told me to wake up and sing.

Roy surged to his feet and paced to the far side of the office.

Lorelei twitched as he rose and watched him cautiously. Henry's hand landed on hers gently, and she felt herself relax.

"Roy finds her difficult to deal with. His mind can usually determine possible outcomes, but not for her. No one can guess her intentions. She's playing a game, and we're all pieces in it, but we have no idea what the endgame is."

"Exactly, Henry! That's precisely why she scares the piss out of me!" Roy gasped in relief.

Lorelei looked at Henry. "You were the first of her time rescues?"

He shrugged. "I actually have no idea. It might have been you—" He stopped when he saw Roy, Camila, and Sigrid all shaking their heads doubtfully. "What?"

Camila looked uncomfortable. "We can't be sure of anything the witch does. However, we all agree that you had to be her Plan A, so to speak. She was in direct contact with you as you grew up. The others must be contingencies if Plan A wasn't successful. Mab saw to that... or was part of Baba's plan all along."

"Nathan Walker was—is an Incubus?" Lorelei said, correcting herself when she saw their unease.

Camila nodded. "Yes, though he doesn't have a very strong link to his magic. You're a Naiad, and from what I understand, a powerful one." She stopped and glanced at Sigrid. "Would you mind if we tested to see which realm of magic you are linked to? Henry and Nathan are linked to the realm of Wild Magic. I'm assuming you are as well."

"How? What kind of test?" she asked, looking at the woman nervously.

Camila smiled. "Nothing invasive. It's actually easier with wielders as you project your powers. Magic has a scent, and those who are sensitive can detect it. If you use your magic, I should be able to detect which realm the magic is from."

Hesitantly, Lorelei sang a little tune to make everyone feel calm.

Camila leaned closer and inhaled deeply. Her face showed confusion. "It's not the new realm... and it's not the old one either!" She looked to Sigrid and Roy with wide eyes. "I'd swear it's from here! It just smells like... here. Nature!"

Roy frowned. "Magic isn't native to this plane."

"Lorelei is the only Naiad I've ever met. Baba might have done something to her Magic as she did with Henry and Nathan, but... I'd swear she's just linked to this plane. Linked to Nature itself!"

"Maybe that's how all Naiads were?" Roy guessed.

"So, why didn't Baba link Lorelei to the new realm like the others?" Sigrid asked, puzzled.

"Baba's least favorite question. Why," Henry sighed.

Roy thumped back into his chair. "Aye, you won't get anywhere pondering that one with her," he growled in frustration. Mary patted his hand with sympathy.

Lorelei frowned. "I don't like the idea of being a pawn in a game I don't know the rules for." She looked to Henry. "How do I know how to react? How did you deal with it?"

Henry smiled sadly, recalling Baba's almost eager anticipation when she told him of his ability to extinguish all of Humanity. "Baba raised me as a Human, albeit a small one who had to deal with the cruelty of the other kids and bullying. It wasn't an easy childhood, and the affection I was shown was limited. When I discovered what I really was, she told me how the humans murdered my parents and killed off the Satyrs. I suppose she expected me to harbor resentment from how I was treated and want to see their extinction... but I don't. She raised me to be a Human and acted towards me as a Human grandmother would. Because of that, I developed a strong affection for her. Maybe that's why I'm protective of them. When we reached the focal point of Baba's plan, there was a moment when I could have ended my life and taken all of Humanity with me. But, because of these people," he gestured to the ones sitting in the room. "I had a reason to live, and I wanted to protect Humanity."

He dropped his head forward to look at his hands in his lap. "I'm the happiest I've ever been because I finally have friends!"

Henry looked up and over at Lorelei. "I'd like to include you."

She smiled and nodded. "I'd like to have friends, too."

Roy cleared his throat. "As your friends, we'll do our best to protect you. You're a special case as you come from an ancient race of Naiads, and the Hidden Races Council is guilty of their genocide. It was a very dark time in their history. It took decades for them to create a treaty between all but two of the Hidden Races. Those two, Naiads and Djinn, flatly refused to hide from Humans. I don't have any information on how they did it, but it only took a week for the Council troops to eradicate every member of those races and all evidence of them. Your existence might be problematic for the Council, so keeping a low profile is critical."

Roy glanced at the others before fixing his gaze back on Lorelei. "Which brings me to the topic of your art. Your paintings are magic. I mean, they demonstrate actual, working magic. If that comes to the attention of the Council, they will increase their efforts to hunt you down to stop you."

"Do you expect me to go into hiding?" Lorelei asked in concern.

"No, but I'm concerned about that agent from the museum. The fact that she didn't act against you might mean she wasn't certain you were her target or that she was there for an entirely different mission."

"See Sigrid! I told you there was a spy at the museum! There always is." Henry enthusiastically exclaimed to the blonde. She just smiled and rolled her eyes.

Roy got back on point. "I'd like to assign some of my guys to keep watch over you. I captured some video of the agent. I'll have my guys watch it and keep an eye out to see if she attempts to approach you again."

"Do they need to be in my condo?" Lorelei asked.

"No, not unless that would make you feel safer," Roy suggested, and she shook her head. "I'll give you the contact number, and they'll join you at the door of your building to travel with you. It'll be three teams of two, rotating every eight hours. Speaking of the team, could I ask you to reverse the memory block on my two observers now?"

"Sure," she said with a nod.

Roy smiled and went to Camila's desk to call the two men upstairs.

A short time later, Pete and Kirk arrived. They immediately locked eyes on the stranger in the room. Roy smiled at Lorelei, who gazed at the two men and sang a brief phrase. The two men looked at Roy in question.

"Do you recall the anomaly in the lobby you brought to my attention," he asked.

"Yes... shit! I also recall not remembering it!" Pete said in concern. Roy looked to Lorelei in question.

"I simply lifted the block on the memories, but I didn't remove any memories of their dealing with it," she explained, and Roy nodded. He looked to his men.

"I'm going to assign you as the second shift for a plainclothes surveillance team for our new friend Lorelei Reichenbach. There's an agent who may be targeting her. I'll send you a video I captured of her. Memorize her appearance and movements. Contact Digby and Danno, as they'll be the first team. Walter and Leo will be on the third team. Get everyone familiar with the agent as well. We are observing and protecting only."

The two men nodded to their boss and Lorelei before heading off to get things moving.

Roy addressed Lorelei. "You normally travel by subway?" She nodded. "Okay. We won't change your patterns, but you'll have the two agents with you at all times."

She nodded, then looked nervously at the others. "You've seen what I can do and know what I am. I now know this isn't something we're supposed to do, but I feel very exposed here."

Camila nodded. "I'm a Succubus. I'm dropping my glamor."

Suddenly, a being of ruby red and black was sitting on the sofa, her skin looking like wet latex, her curvy body begging to be touched, and short horns rose from her temples through her long, flowing ebony hair with red streaks.

In a blink, she was Camila once again. She looked contritely to Henry. "Sorry. I'll give you a warning next time."

Lorelei glanced over at Henry, who awkwardly crossed his legs with his arms in his lap. Before she could ask him about it, Sigrid spoke up.

"I'm a Valkyrie. I don't use a glamor, but I can summon my armor, weapon, and wings. I'm told they glow a very bright white, making it hard to see." She smiled at the artist.

Mary was next. "I also don't have a glamor. What you see is what you get. I'm... tough."

Roy chuckled at her description until Lorelei looked at him. "Lycanthrope." He dropped his glamor and switched back after she yelped in surprise.

Mary grinned. "Roy is bigger and scarier than his crew, but they're all werewolves too. Good people, though."

Lorelei smiled timidly at her, then looked to Henry.

"Did ya wear yer kilt today?" Roy said with a scowl, and Henry's face reddened.

"I think so," he said.

"Don't face us unless you're sure," Roy asserted.

Henry nodded and stood. He took a few steps away and presented his back to the group.

Lorelei gasped when Henry was suddenly transformed into a creature unlike any she'd seen. His upper torso was powerfully muscled with thick arms and large three-fingered hands. His hair hung down his back, longer than he wore it when human. His ears projected outward and were covered with fur! Most shocking were the large white ram's horns on his head and his furry lower half.

He was wearing a kilt, so she couldn't see if the fur on his goat's legs went all the way up to his ass. Broad cloven hooves had replaced his human feet.

"Lad, are you working out? You seem... bigger," Roy asked.

Henry glanced at him over his shoulder. "Uh, no, I haven't been," he said hesitantly.

"Are you going to turn around?" Camila asked him.

He looked down, then over his shoulder at her. "I-I'm still showing from your effect on me."

Camila chuckled happily. "Then, by all means, turn around."

Sigrid frowned. "Camila. Not the time or place."

Henry sighed and slowly turned to face them. He kept one hand in place to hold down the bulge in his kilt.

Lorelei's eyes widened. It was Henry. There was no question. Despite all the physical differences, the same person was looking at her from those beautiful eyes. She bit her lip and glanced quickly at Camila, who watched her with a knowing little smile. A blush warmed her face.

"D-do you have any magical abilities?" she asked.

His face showed his embarrassment. "Uh, I'm not a wielder like you." He looked down as a strange expression of frustration flashed across his face. "All I seem to be able to do is cause people to have sex."

"What?!?" she squeaked in shock.

His expression swung between shame and embarrassment. "Sorry, that came out wrong." He took a deep breath. "Satyr's can cause spontaneous orgies. It's a pheromone release. People around me will suddenly lose all their inhibitions and have sex."

She blinked a few times, then her eyes widened. "The subway and the dance club attacks!"

He winced. "Yeah, not really attacks. Just me losing control of an ability I didn't know I had."

Sigrid explained. "Baba Yaga delayed Henry's sexual maturity by forcing a Human disguise on him for most of his life. It caught up to him recently, now that he is always in his true form."

"Henry, don't forget you can bump humans up the evolutionary ladder to become Hidden Races. That seems to me to be a significant magical ability," Mary reminded him.

He looked at her sadly. "That's more of a curse than an ability."

Lorelei was staring at Henry in shock again. He closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands. He no longer needed a hand to hide his groin as the conversation had killed any desire he felt.

"Baba connected me... directly to a realm of Wild Magic. I'm saturated with it. When I had sex with Marisa, Camila's daughter, she overdosed on the Wild Magic, and it burned out her glamor spell, changed her physically, and linked her to the new realm, too. Wild Magic is much stronger than the old realm's magic." His voice ran out, and Camila took over the description.

"Marisa became a more powerful Succubus. With the stronger magic backing her, her abilities improved. I've also fed from Henry, and while I avoided the overdose, I've been strengthened with a link to the new realm as has Sigrid and Roy—"

"Through his blood, not the other. We haven't had sex!" Roy asserted definitively.

"His blood?" Lorelei gasped.

Roy held up his hands. "Henry was badly injured! I had to lick the wound to heal him. It's something Lycanthropes can do. I just... swallowed his blood," he explained.

Henry shook his head wearily. "We were rescuing Nate. It doesn't matter. Wild Magic upgrades their abilities for conduits like Lycanthropes, Valkyries, Succubi, and Vampires. I lost control of my pheromones when I was with my Human friends. We had sex, and they all changed. For Humans, they become... conduits? Mary became incredibly strong and tough, though I'm not sure what kind of Hidden Race she is. Sandy's hair grew and became sentient, so she's a Gorgon? Dayshia's eyes changed so she can see through glamors, but I don't know the name of what she is. Tish became a Faun. That's another name for a Satyr." His expression twisted again. "Roger... he became a monster. The New York serial killer." He looked at Lorelei, who was watching him wide-eyed with shock.

Sigrid put her hand on Henry's shoulder. "Henry, we spoke about this. You have to let it go. How each person deals with their new state is completely in their control. According to those who knew him best, Roger wasn't stable as a Human."

Henry hung his head and nodded. When Sigrid pulled back her hand, he switched to his Human glamor.

"Are your human friends hidden away since they changed so dramatically?" She glanced over at Mary. "Present company excluded."

Sigrid shook her head. "Aside from Roger, Henry arranged for his friends to get glamors, which are magic disguises, so they can continue to live and work amongst Humans. They are all doing quite well and are very happy with their new lives and abilities," Sigrid answered.

"If the Hidden Races Council is as cautious about threats to discovery as you say, why haven't they arrested Henry? His activities seem at least as dangerous for public exposure as my paintings," Lorelei asked.

Roy nodded. "There's always the possibility they'll change their minds, but Baba warned them to keep their hands off. Queen Mab also protected him with the Fae, but she's since been ousted. If the Council's need to contain him exceeds their fear of these two powerhouses, we'll deal with that at the time. We don't give up on our friends."

"Well said, Roy," Camila said with a proud smile. She looked to Lorelei, who seemed to be processing the information she'd been given. "I think that's probably enough background for tonight. It's a lot to digest. Go home and sleep on it. If you have any questions, please give me a call tomorrow. I'll leave instructions for your calls to be directed to me. If I'm not available, Sigrid or Roy can be."

"Not Henry?" Lorelei blurted and immediately bit her tongue as she glanced in embarrassment at the man.

Camila smiled. "Certainly, Henry, but not tomorrow, as he'll be in Washington, DC, demonstrating the firewall software he wrote for several government agencies." She grinned at Lorelei's surprise. "Henry's a brilliant programmer."

"That's another reason the Hidden Races Council should keep their hands off him. His absence would draw the attention of the US Government," Roy suggested as the thought came to him.

Sigrid nodded approvingly. "Let's file that away for when it's needed."

Lorelei stood, and everyone else did as well. "Thank you for dinner and for taking me into your confidence. I'm really beginning to better understand the true world I'm living in. I don't know how this witch pulled me out of the past, and I won't thank her for what he did to my life, but for the first time, I feel like I have people on my side." The others smiled and nodded.

"We'll bring you down to Digby and Danno in the lobby," Roy said.

"Goodnight!" Lorelei said to the group, and they responded before Roy and Mary left the office with her.

Henry dropped into his chair and began putting the chicken he'd set aside from his dinner into a napkin. He triple-wrapped it with napkins, then looked up to see he was being watched. "What?"

"Preparing a little snack for the trip home?" Camila asked.

He snorted and shook his head. "No. There's a neighborhood stray cat I've seen. It looked hungry last time, so I'm bringing it some dinner."

"Henry, I don't think your building allows pets," Sigrid said.

"I'm not taking it in. I'm just feeding it!" he protested.

"That's how it starts. It looks at you with those pitiful eyes, and next thing you know, you're carrying a fifty-pound bag of kitty litter," Camila teased.

Henry sighed. "I'm not taking it in! And it doesn't have pitiful eyes. They are quite beautiful and unique. One yellow and one blue eye. Very pretty."

"Huh. That is a unique combination," Sigrid said as she moved closer to Henry. "Don't forget, you owe me a rain check on our evening." She rested her hands on his chest as she looked into his eyes.

He leaned forward and kissed her until she gently pushed him back.

"Ohhh, no fair doing that to a girl before heading home," she moaned.

"Sorry," he said with a little smile.

"Our next date is going to be at my place on a Friday night, so there won't be any work activities the next day and no interruptions!" she said with a pout.

He lifted his cell and opened the calendar app. He scrolled and checked. "You're in luck. This Friday night is open."

Sigrid's delighted squeal was a loud and happy sound as she grabbed him in a hug. Henry couldn't stop himself from laughing. He tapped the date and entered Sigrid's initials on Friday night.

He looked over at the fond smile on Camila's face.

"Don't be late for work tomorrow. You and Mahati leave for the airport at nine sharp."

He sighed and nodded. He walked over to the CEO, and he saw her smile begin to get wider. He kissed her with his hand deep in her hair on the back of her head. She gasped slightly into his mouth as he caressed her lips.

Henry pulled back. "Good night, ladies."

He stepped from the room and heard the giggles behind him. That brought a smile to his face. He collected a bag from his office to carry the cat's treat, then headed downstairs.

The trip home was quiet and uneventful, and soon, he was walking along the waterfront walkway toward the condo. When he passed by it, his eyes went to the small shrine set up for the two murdered youths. Someone was adding fresh flowers. It wasn't going to fade from the public mind until their murderer was caught and punished.

Henry looked forward and smiled as he saw the black cat waiting by the bench. It spotted him and trotted closer. It meowed sweetly as it reached his feet. He stopped and bent down to let it sniff his fingers. Once it was comfortable, he stroked its head.

It moved behind him and looked back, meowing to him.

"Sorry, I can't go on a walk with you tonight. I need to get to bed as I can't be late for work tomorrow. But I have a treat for you." He sat on the bench and unwrapped the napkins to expose the small pile of chicken.

The cat jumped up on the bench, sniffed at the offering, and then looked up at him. "It's the chicken from the Pad Thai I had for dinner. I thought maybe you'd like a better meal than what you normally get on the street." He examined the cat's body. "You don't seem too skinny, so you must be a good hunter, as well as being so pretty," he said.

The feline watched him with her startling, mismatched eyes. Then, it dipped its head and began to eat.

Henry smiled and relaxed back against the bench as he watched the cat quickly polish off the chicken. He casually looked around and saw they were alone. He looked back at the cat and smiled. "I made a new friend today, and she's special, like me. Baba pulled her from the past, too."

Blue and yellow eyes lifted to look at him seriously as her pink tongue licked her lips.

"And that isn't even the most interesting thing about her. She's a wielder, but her magic doesn't come from the magic realms. That means Earth must have magic, too! She's a Naiad. I'm not clear on what that means, but she's really nice. She was so lonely. Do cats feel lonely? No one should feel that way. I know what it is to be lonely, and it's terrible. I'm so looking forward to introducing her to all my new friends."

The cat rubbed its head against Henry's leg. He automatically ran his hand over the cat's head, neck, and back in long strokes. Shortly, the cat was purring deeply. It crawled onto his lap and laid down, feet tucked under it.

Henry was so comfortable and calm from petting the cat, that he began to nod off as his hands continued to stroke it slowly.

"Henry?"

He jolted awake as the cat leapt from his lap and ran away. He watched it disappear, then looked around to see Dayshia also staring after it.

"Oh! Hi, Dayshia."

"Oh, hi?!? What are you doing sleeping outside on the bench!" Dayshia said in outrage. "The serial killer is still out there!" She glared at him, and he stood.

Henry cringed apologetically. "Sorry! I was just feeding the cat. Then I petted it, and it was so soothing I-I guess I nodded off."

Dayshia clucked her tongue at him. "You have to be more careful! There is something weird about that cat, too."

"No! It's so sweet!" Henry exclaimed in protest.

She hooked her arm around his and pulled him towards the door to the condo. "You're too innocent for your own safety."

Henry glanced back, but there was no sign of the cat. He let himself be pulled away.

-=-

Minkah, in her Human form, strode towards the subway entrance to return to the safe house once more. Her night was... disturbing. How she'd behaved with Henry—her target, was far beyond her usual professional standard. She ate the food he'd brought her! Rule number one: Trust no one, and especially not the target! The chicken was delicious, and she was immune to most poisons, so the risk was minimal, but still!

Then, to top it off, she let him hold her while he slept!

She was returning to the safe house to review her actions since taking this mission. Her professional detachment had somehow been compromised.

The only positive outcome from the evening was learning of the Naiad! The Hidden Races Council would want to hear about that! She had no doubt she'd receive an immediate hit order for her to take the Naiad out.

She thought about how Henry described her and realized how her assassination would make him deeply sad. That wasn't really a consideration for her completing her duty.

She decided to investigate further before disclosing what she'd heard. She'd need to identify which of their new friends was the Naiad. Only then could she report on it.

This delay had nothing to do with Henry—her target!

-=-

Meixiu slipped through the shadows with ease tonight. Henry's blood was still amping up her senses, so she was aware of every movement. She filtered out insect, animal, and plant life motions and concentrated on those from Humans. She hadn't encountered any non-Humans on her route tonight, but that wasn't really unexpected with the curfew and the limited number of Hidden Races. Sigrid mentioned that Roy's theory indicated the serial killer would be hiding for now as he'd fed. Still, she felt a need to patrol. To keep her eyes open while remaining invisible to others.

One of her new abilities, courtesy of evolving, was her enhanced eyesight. While she'd never had issues seeing her way in the dimmest of light, she now saw further into the wavelength spectrum. Infrared and ultraviolet were now within the range her eyes could see if she concentrated. Seeing Infrared was particularly handy as she could now avoid walking into areas lit with infrared light. This typically indicated the presence of motion-detecting cameras or floodlights.

She paused when she noted the street ahead was lit up with cone after cone of infrared. This was either a very cautious neighborhood or the sign of a very convincing door-to-door salesman.

Meixiu passed this street by and noticed odd movement three blocks ahead. Two figures were leading a third into a darkened lane behind a row of houses. The one being helped was stumbling.

She leapt forward, keeping to the shadows and remaining as silent as possible. She raced across the distance as quickly as she could, then jumped and climbed up a nearby tree to move out over a branch that had visibility into the lane. The smaller of the beings was holding the wrist of the third to her mouth. Meixiu saw her pull back and touch the person's neck and face before nodding to the taller companion, who drew the opposite wrist to his mouth.

They were vampires! They seemed to be acting like she did when she fed. Meixiu had never met another vampire before. She had no idea if there was some protocol for this.

The larger vampire lowered the arm, and the small one did another check on their victim's health. Then she tucked something the large vampire handed her into the third's pocket and guided the... she saw him clearly now, young man to the sidewalk where he walked away. The farther he got, the steadier his footsteps.

Meixiu could now see the features of the small one, and it was a dark-haired woman. She was watching the Human she'd fed from, ensuring he was okay. The large one hadn't stepped from the shadows yet.

Instinct made her leap from the branch in a dive. She twisted midair to land as soft as a leaf behind the smaller female. She gripped the woman's neck as the large male dropped from the tree before them.

He snarled, but the woman held up her hand to stop him. Meixiu could see the tension vibrating in his muscles. Meixiu knew she could jump back into the shadows and disappear, so she took a chance and released the woman's neck. "I mean no harm, but I will defend myself." She held his eye and pushed with her will, and his eyes widened as he felt her strength.

He showed her his palms in a peaceful gesture.

"You are... like me?" Meixiu asked.

The female turned to face her and looked at her closely. "I'm not sure. You feel... stronger than any we've met, but we haven't met many."

"Why were you watching us from the tree? Were you following us? We are exceptionally cautious," the male asked, his deep voice still holding the tension from earlier.

"I was three blocks away when I spotted you leading the Human into the alley. Its movements were distinctly different from yours," Meixiu answered. "I was curious, as I have never met any of my kind before." She looked at the woman. "You touched the Human oddly after you fed."

The male looked at the dim lighting of the lane entrance, then traded a look with the female before looking back to Meixiu. "We would never have been able to see that level of detail from that distance!"

The female shook her head at her partner. "Maybe introductions are in order. I'm Eleanor Hollings, and this is my husband, Raymond. I'm a doctor, and I was ensuring the man wasn't harmed by the feeding. Raymond is a public defender."

Meixiu felt better about this couple hearing that. She saw them looking at her expectantly and recalled what Henry once called her. "I am Meixiu, a wealthy woman of leisure." She giggled at their surprised expressions. "Until recently, I was a slave. I served a cruel master for over a century, but I inherited everything he owned when he died. A friend who helped free me gave me that title."

"Are you hunting tonight, as well?" Raymond asked.

"Yes, but not for food. I'm searching for the serial killer. I hope to track him to his lair so the authorities can capture him."

"The authorities haven't been very successful so far. I heard through my contacts on the police force that he struck again, and this time, he killed two of New York's finest. The police are trying to keep a tight lid on that story," Raymond said grimly.

Meixiu looked at him in dismay. "That will make things much, much worse! I must tell my friends!"

"Before you go, could we trade contact numbers? We meet so few like us, and you are so much more!" Eleanor asked, hopefully.

Meixiu watched them for a moment, then nodded. She slipped her cell from a hidden inner pocket as Eleanor pulled her cell out as well. Smiling at each other, they traded numbers.

"Be safe, Meixiu," Raymond said, and she smiled at him.

"You too!" Meixiu said, then hopped backward to land ten feet away on a stone stair railing of one of the homes behind her. Showing off, she launched herself across the street onto the roof. Her last glimpse of the couple was their shocked expressions. Giddy, she slipped down to the street level on the other side of the homes before realizing this was another street of infrared spotlights. She opened up her gait and raced down the lane at her top speed, looking like nothing more than a streak of pale white light. She was always a step outside the cone of light thrown from the floodlights. She leapt sideways into an alley and slowed to a more sedate pace as she exited onto a busier thoroughfare. She spotted a taxi and flagged it down, using her will to pull the driver over to the curb.

Slipping into the back seat, she smiled at the driver and gave him the brownstone's address. Once they were moving, she slumped back on the cushions. She pushed the driver's mind just a little more so he wouldn't remember her when she left and wouldn't talk while he drove her home.

She was exhausted. Her showing off led to her wasting all of her energy. She would need to see Henry tomorrow.

Stupid Meixiu!

-=-

Eleanor shared a look with Raymond. "Can we do that?"

He chuckled. "Not even on our best day."

"She's a fascinating one! How did you know she was watching? I missed that entirely," she admitted.

He sighed. "I would have missed it too, except I happened to glance upward as I handed you the money from my pocket. I just caught the briefest glimpse of her."

They hooked their arms and began to walk back to the main avenue to catch the subway. "Did you feel the strength of her presence?" Eleanor sighed in wonder.

"Didn't I say Hell's Kitchen would be good? Dinner and a new friend!" Raymond said, suppressing a smile.

She looked up at him and swatted his arm when she saw the twinkle in his eye.

"Come on, Mr. Funnybones. Let's go home. Tomorrow is another day."

They walked in comfortable silence for a while as Eleanor's voracious mind ticked over the possibilities their new friend represented. "Maybe we can arrange to meet Meixiu again," she suggested.

"We don't want to look needy," he quipped.

She sighed and rolled her eyes as they stepped onto the sidewalk of Eighth Avenue and headed for the subway. They'd had enough excitement tonight.

Chapter 19

Henry climbed down the stairs of the private jet onto the paving before a large hanger. He'd rather enjoyed the flight from New York to Washington. The view had been spectacular as they flew over the nation's capital. Mahati assured him they would have time to walk the plaza and see a few monuments before they flew back to New York.

He'd assumed they'd fly commercial, but the NSA insisted they fully take advantage of their hospitality. So, here they were.

Henry grinned at Mahati, who rolled her eyes mildly at his childlike enthusiasm before moving forward with Henry to greet their hosts.

Director Granger reached out and shook Henry's hand firmly. "Good to see you again, Mr. Gable."

"Nice seeing you again as well, Director Granger. Please call me, Henry."

"As long as you call me Wallace," he returned, pouring on the charm.

Henry gestured to his traveling companion. "Please let me introduce Mahati Chandra, VRL's External Legal Counsel."

Wallace shook Mahati's hand but looked surprised. "I assure you, you didn't need to bring a lawyer to the demonstration today."

The lawyer in question fielded that one. "We're aware of that, Director Granger. I'm merely here to ensure any questions you or your team might have regarding the contract can be answered, as I represent VRL and Mr. Gable. I'm here for him if he has any questions, too."

"I see. Please call me Wallace, as well."

"And you may call me Mahati."

The man nodded. "Shall we go?" They followed him over to the waiting black limousine. It was preceded and followed by two black SUVs. Henry shared a look and a smile with Mahati as the security reminded him of Roy's.

The drive through the city was quite enjoyable as Henry took in the scenery while Granger did his best to describe what they were seeing while selling up the idea of living in such a beautiful and historic city.

They pulled into the Homeland Security headquarters' grounds and made it through the security gate with minimal delay. After they parked, Wallace guided them to the main administration building, where the tech team awaited the demo. On the way, he pointed out the facilities and what they were for. Henry felt like he was getting a university tour by a recruiter before applying.

Inside the admin building, the Director took them through a series of halls and doors until they walked out into a vast chamber at the base of tiered seating.

Henry balked as he looked up at the crowded auditorium. He scanned the group, and there had to be at least sixty people sitting in the audience.

He turned to the Director as butterflies duked it out in his stomach. "I thought I was just giving a demo to a few cybersecurity teams!" He recognized a few faces in the lower tiers: the Tech Leads he'd met before from the NSA, Robert Miller, the FBI, Yasmin Brooks, and the CIA, Laurence Franklin. They weren't sitting together this time but instead had people around them. Watching how they spoke only amongst their groups, Henry realized they were separated by agency. The center group was all strangers, so they were probably the Homeland Security group.

The Director of the FBI, Charles Starkley, and the CIA, Maurice Hall, were standing before the first tier of seats, speaking with another man Henry didn't know.

The rows further up were occupied by strangers as well.

Director Granger frowned as he looked up at the seating as well. "Give me a moment." He left to join the other Directors.

Mahati joined Henry. "Are you well?"

Henry looked away from the eyes watching him. "Ever have a nightmare where you're in school and have to make a big presentation in front of the class, but you suddenly realize you forgot to put clothes on?"

Mahati smiled. "No, I've never had one of those."

He shook his head. "I assumed it would be a small group of developers and admins. Not this!"

Director Granger was returning with the leaders of the agencies.

"Henry Gable, Mahati Chandra, I'd like to introduce the Director of Homeland Security and host for this event, Stephen Dawes."

Henry shook the man's hand, as did Mahati.

"So, this is the young man who commands such attention from all these agencies," Dawes said with a wry smile.

"It was your people who let the rest of these yahoos in," Wallace grumbled.

"We have many divisions who showed interest in an unbreakable firewall. Some of these scientists claim it can't work as the documentation suggests."

"I hope your agency had them all under a non-disclosure agreement before they were given access to the documentation," Mahati said calmly, holding Stephen's eyes.

"And what role are you playing?" Dawes asked as he moved closer to her.

"I'm VRL's legal counsel. I'm the one you deal with if we have a breach of contract," she said, not giving an inch.

Henry cleared his throat. "I haven't actually given them their software and documentation yet."

Mahati raised one perfect eyebrow as she continued to look into Stephen's eyes. "So, whose documentation did you distribute?"

Henry looked to Wallace, who shook his head, then Starkley, who indicated it wasn't him. These two men glared at Hall, who scowled. "What's the biggie? We all knew Dawes would have to get on board once we signed on, and he has access to all these eggheads. I knew they'd pick it apart to see how it works."

"Do you even know what a non-disclosure agreement is?" Wallace asked wearily.

"Bite me, Granger," Hall growled.

Henry looked to Dawes. "Were any of them able to grasp the basis for the firewall?"

Stephen begrudgingly broke eye contact with Mahati and turned to Henry. "No, they didn't. Instead, I got demands from each of them to be included in your demonstration today."

Henry nodded and looked at Mahati. "Next question, do we proceed?"

"There is a financial penalty for Director Hall, but if he agrees to pay it, we can proceed," Mahati said.

"What's it gonna cost? A couple thou'?"

"Did you even read the contract?" Granger retorted.

"And what part of bite me didn't you understand?" Maurice snapped.

Mahati smiled. "As Mr. Granger noted, the amount is clearly spelled out in the contract. Breach of the confidentiality clause carries a fine of one-half of the purchase price."

Hall's jaw dropped. "That's one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars!"

Mahati pulled a tablet PC from her purse with a stylus. She pulled up the contract for the CIA and went to the page where contract breaches were outlined. She checked the box for Breach of Confidentiality and added her signature and the date. She looked to the CIA Director. "Your signature, please."

"I'm not signing that!"

Mahati waited for a second, then looked to Henry. "Our business here today is concluded."

"My agency hasn't received the software or training," Dawes said with a frown.

"But you did receive documentation outside the legal terms of the contract. That issue must be resolved before further transactions. It's outlined very clearly in the contract."

Dawes scowled at Hall. "Sign the form."

"I'll need two witnesses as well," Mahati said with a smile.

With an angry expression on his face, Maurice signed the tablet. Wallace and Stephen were the witnesses.

"I could just say you forged my signature," the CIA Director snapped.

Mahati tucked away the tablet and faced the group. "The signature plus your biometrics the tablet recorded while you faced its camera are incontestable in court." She turned to Henry. "We may proceed."

The Directors watched her uncomfortably as she'd handled them all quite effectively. Henry did his best to hide his smile.

Instead, he nodded and looked to the podium. A server rack was standing next to it with a blade server installed. He turned to Dawes. "Who on your team will be doing the application install?"

The Director gestured to someone sitting in the center of the lowest row. A slim woman in her mid-thirties moved to join them. "This is Billy James, our Network Security Specialist. Billy, this is Henry Gable." Henry was surprised by a name that didn't match her dour expression. She was remarkably unremarkable in her grey suit jacket and slacks over a white dress shirt and black shoes. Dishwater blond hair worn short, pale hazel eyes, and thin lips, there seemed to be no spirit in her eyes. He had the eerie sensation he was addressing one of VRL's artificial workers.

Henry forced a smile onto his lips, and they nodded to each other. He pulled a memory stick from his pocket and handed it to her. "This is the software for Homeland Security and your documentation. Did you build this test bench server?" he asked her.

"Yes. We couldn't get the network cards you specified in time for the demo," she said with no inflection in her voice.

He frowned. "Let's do a quick check under the hood to see if that's going to be a problem."

Henry walked over to poke around in the server's device manager interface. He dropped to the command line and ran some test scripts. After reviewing the output, he sighed.

"We can do the install. We can do the configuration. We can even do some mild testing but no true performance testing. These NICs will tank if we put them under heavy load and lock up at maximum load." Henry explained to the Directors and Billy.

"What's a NIC?" Wallace asked.

"Sorry, a Network Interface Card," Henry explained. "You need to use the ones specified in the documentation and have spares on hand."

"I understand the installation is quick. We're all busy men. Let's get this going," Dawes asserted impatiently, obviously still smarting from Mahati's win.

Henry nodded to him, then to Billy. She walked to the podium with the large projection screen on the wall behind them displaying the test machine's interface.

He faced the audience again, and they settled down. The Directors of their separate agencies went to sit with their people. Someone brought Mahati a chair to sit off to the side, so only Henry and Billy were at the front.

Henry picked up the wireless earpiece and microphone. He slipped it on and pressed the power button.

"If you can hear me, please raise your hand," he said with a tight throat.

All of the guests raised a hand.

"Great. Hi, I'm Henry Gable. I'm the CIO of VRL Investments in Manhattan, New York. I wrote the software you're about to see the installation and configuring of this morning. I-It's based on the code my brother Stanley designed." He gestured to the server rack. "The test bench is currently configured with network cards that aren't optimal, so we won't be doing any performance testing." He looked at the woman on the stage with him. "Ms. James has the software on the memory stick. Go ahead and insert that, and let's get started.

Billy held up the memory stick, and they got to work.

With the woman's assistance, they installed the application and configured it. Instead of seven minutes, it took about fifteen, as Henry described each step to the audience.

"That's it. Functioning firewall. Simple so far, right?" Henry said, looking at the faces, and no one was arguing. He nodded to himself. "Okay, now let me take you through the functional menu."

He asked Billy to take them through the menus one at a time as he described the features. The room was mostly silent as they took in the information and made notes. When they reached the end of this part of the demo, he scanned the audience and saw a few impatient faces.

"So far, it looks like a nicely featured interface, but you'd like to see it in action, yes?"

A few people actually called out yes. Henry smiled and turned to Billy. "Can you display the external web address for the firewall on the screen?"

The IP number popped up on the screen. "Okay, people. There is the target. Please have your people connect to this address to try to break through." He looked to Wallace. "Director Granger, due to the poor performance of these inferior network cards, please don't aim your code-cracker at it. You can have individuals attempt to break in."

He looked to Billy. "Keep that IP number on the screen, and please open a window with the monitoring options and open the threats report."

The screen displayed a grid showing just a few connections attempting to breach the firewall. A few more appeared, and then a dozen more showed up. Henry looked up at the seating and saw the groups crowding around their experts as they made their breach attempts.

As they worked on hacking or cracking the firewall, Henry left his mic on the podium and wandered over to see Mahati. "I think it's going well," he said, and she smiled.

"The software seems very simple and easy to use," she admitted.

"Yes, that's the magic. The mystery underneath contains all the wonder," he said with a smile.

Mahati froze. "Magic?" she asked cautiously.

His eyes widened as he shook his head. "No! I was just being dramatic! It's all science."

Mahati just shook her head as she watched him.

"I was very impressed with how you stood up to Dawes and Hall," he said quietly.

She smiled again. "Thank you."

He saw the group becoming restless, so he returned to the podium and put the mic back on.

"Any questions?"

Hands went up all over the hall, and Henry's expression fell. So much for a quick meeting followed by much sightseeing. Henry pointed to a gentleman four tiers up as he was waving most energetically.

"Lawrence Prescott! I've seen the documentation on your firewall. It shouldn't work."

Henry just smiled at him.

Flustered, the man continued. "Page 125 shows a diagram describing how this... channel layering works, but it's impossible."

Billy opened the documentation on the memory stick and went to page 125. She put it up on the big screen.

The audience grumbled as they also seemed to have a problem with this.

Lawrence called out once more. "Nothing in this explains how you yield the results you report."

Henry looked to Mahati, then back to the scientist. "It's the processor."

"Yes, we can all see the diagram refers to the processor. But they won't produce secondary channels, as you indicate. It's not designed to produce more than one thread," Lawrence said wearily.

"Sure, but this chip's quantum tunneling effect does," Henry said as he went to Billy's terminal and moved the document three more pages along where his diagram showed the second and third channels trapping hacker traffic.

He looked back at the audience as the room had gone silent, all eyes on him.

"Did I fart or something?" he said into the silent room.

"Did... did you say Quantum Tunneling?" Lawrence asked.

Henry nodded. "Yeah... it's not a documented property of the chip, but it's really handy for building these layer traps." He looked around the room, and everyone was still staring at him. "Has anyone here ever considered measuring energy consumption and output on these chips? Waste heat doesn't account for the discrepancy. It's the tunneling effect. If you can identify it, you can utilize it for multilevel coding."

It was like Henry had thrown a lit Molotov cocktail into their midst. The scientists exploded into two camps, those scoffing at his outrageous fantasy and those connecting the dots and shouting excitedly about the potential. Then, they turned on each other.

The Directors approached him shortly with their Tech Leads in tow, so Henry faced them. "Uh, I didn't intend to start a scientist war."

"What's this quantum tunneling thing?" Wallace asked.

"In simple terms, it's the potential ability for an electron to pass through a solid barrier. The chips are being designed smaller and smaller, so the barriers are thinner and thinner. An electron can move from a transistor on one side of what should be a solid barrier to another transistor on the other side. I just found a way to make that work for me in a controlled way," Henry said with a shrug.

Robert was looking at his boss with wide eyes.

"What?" Wallace asked in annoyance, a little unnerved by the intensity of his underling's gaze.

"We don't have the tools needed to measure this effect, nor do we have the means to utilize it," he said.

"That's only because you weren't aware of it happening. Now, you have an application that proves it works and knowledge of the processors that produce the effect. You're smart. You'll figure out how to measure and utilize it. Take a lesson from the astronomers. Sometimes, you have to look at what's missing to find what's hidden in plain sight. The beautiful thing is that even when you know how it works, it does nothing to diminish its security." Henry grinned at them.

One of the scientists pushed his way through the arguing crowds to get to Henry. He came rushing up to stop before Henry with an excited expression.

"You must show us how to build arrays of quantum tunneling processors so we can create a probability/potentiality determination engine!" the older scientist exclaimed.

Henry gave him a hesitant look. "Why the hell would you want that?"

"What's it do?" Wallace asked first.

"It can be used to predict things with great accuracy! Even social patterns," the scientist exclaimed excitedly.

Wallace suddenly looked very interested.

"You'd have to enter so much data just to get the simplest responses, and you'd still have very low accuracy. It couldn't pay for itself." Henry looked at the scientist. "Sometimes doing something just because you can do it is a very bad idea." He didn't share that he was working on a more straightforward market trend prediction utility for Camila. His tool wouldn't target individuals.

He looked at the agitated crowd. "I think I've done enough today."

Robert stepped closer to Henry. "How did you even know it was there?"

"What? The tunneling?" he asked, and Robert nodded. Henry shrugged. "I didn't, but I was curious about the energy discrepancy, so I just looked for a reason to explain it."

"My predecessor reported it was your brother who invented this firewall method," Wallace said with a confused expression. "Did he leave you notes on it after all?"

Henry froze. Shit. Was he contradicting what he told Director Yosman? He wasn't a good liar, so he'd have to use as much truth as possible.

"He did invent it, but he left no notes. When we were both in Ireland, we talked about things we loved and what excited us. Network security is—was a shared passion. It must have been something he said that made me look where he looked. I got a glimmer into what he saw and was able to finally replicate it." He glanced at the Director and saw that the man was buying it. That was a relief! Hall looked resentful, but Dawes watched him silently with a thoughtful expression. Henry was most concerned about him.

He gave Mahati a pleading look, and she nodded. She moved to speak to Director Wallace.

"Thank you for an interesting visit. Could we get a lift to the National Mall? Henry would like to see the monuments."

"I was hoping to take you both to lunch. I have a table at a very nice steakhouse close to the mall," Wallace said hopefully.

Henry nodded. "I could eat."

Wallace looked to his Tech Lead. "Richard. I'd like you to join us." The man was staring at Henry and twitched when he heard his name. He nodded, earning a small frown from his boss.

"Granger, can you make arrangements to get the private room. I would very much like to join you," Dawes said.

Wallace didn't look pleased, but he couldn't refuse gracefully. "I've already reserved that room. They can add a seat."

"Make it two. I want Billy to join us," Dawes added.

"Fine. Let's go," Wallace grumbled.

The volume of the battle behind them increased as they saw Henry leaving.

Once outside, Dawes and Ms. James peeled off the group to go to their car. The rest headed to the convoy they'd arrived in.

Before they reached the limo, Wallace looked at Richard. "What on Earth has gotten into them? How big a deal is this Quantum Tunneling thing, anyway?"

Richard was vibrating with excitement. "No other commercial applications are utilizing Quantum Tunneling. To my knowledge, it's only theoretical, stuff for scientists and mathematicians to argue about. If the firewall utilizes it, and I can't see how it could work any other way, it's far more advanced than any other technology available. The potential impact on all aspects of computing is unmeasurable."

They got into their limo, and Henry grinned. "Yeah, I'm working with it on several new applications. It's fascinating stuff!"

"All of which are sealed under a non-disclosure agreement, of course," Mahati said boldly, and Henry looked to her then nodded thoughtfully.

A second black limousine slipped into their convoy, and they were off.

Once more, Henry wanted to enjoy the scenery, but the two NSA men were keen on discussing what could be done with Henry's advanced tech. Mahati shut down questions regarding specific usage, which might impinge on VRL's proprietary information. They were left discussing hypotheticals, and Henry would agree or disagree about the possibility and feasibility of their suggestions. When they reached the restaurant, Wallace was equally excited as his Tech Lead. Their area of interest tended to give Henry pause as they strayed into violating personal privacy.

He was relieved to get out of the limo and stretched after he helped Mahati out.

"Are you well?" she asked.

He shrugged with a self-conscious smile. "I guess I didn't think through how excited people might get about the new tech."

Mahati nodded. "We should discuss this with Camila when we return. We may need to create a new division to separate it from the investment business." She moved close and looked him in the eye. "Make no promises and offer no solutions outside of the application that has already been delivered," she said quietly.

Henry nodded and marveled at how beautiful her eyes were. So intense.

"What is it?" she asked as she noted he was staring.

He broke his gaze and shook his head. He went to turn away, but she touched his arm.

"Henry, speak to me."

"It's nothing." He glanced at her again. "Y-you have really lovely eyes," he said quietly to her.

Those eyes flared, and she looked away as her cheeks heated up.

Dawes and his Tech Lead joined them on the sidewalk and looked curiously at their red faces.

Granger led them into the restaurant, and the manager met the group with smiles. He did a quick head count and sent some of his staff ahead to adjust the tables for the extra guests.

Soon, they were seated and looking at menus.

"Feel free to order anything you like. Would you like a drink first?" Wallace asked and gestured for the waiter.

Henry glanced quickly at Mahati, who was giving him a stern look. "No, I'd better not. I'm a real lightweight when it comes to alcohol. Just water, please," he said to the waiter.

"So we get a few beers into you, and you spill the secret of the firewall tech?" Stephen asked with a sly smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Wallace wasn't amused. "Try not to sound too much like one of Maurice's black ops goons, Stephen."

"It was a joke, Wallace. Lighten up!"

The others gave their drink orders as Henry concentrated on the menu to avoid their bickering. He saw what he wanted. He was going to eat light as he knew they'd be doing a lot of walking, and he didn't want that heavy feeling.

"After lunch, could we get a lift to the Capitol Building?" Henry asked Wallace.

"Interested in learning how the legislative branch of your government works?" Dawes asked. "We could get you an insider's tour."

Henry paused as that sounded intriguing, but he had his heart set on something else.

"Maybe next time? Today, I'm more interested in walking the length of the National Mall and seeing the buildings and monuments," he said. "I want to start at the Capitol Building and finish at the Lincoln Memorial."

Dawes shrugged.

The waiter returned with the drinks and began to take their orders. The moment he left, Wallace's pitch began. He really wanted Henry on his team.

From the potshots Dawes fired at Wallace and the pitch he made, it sounded like Homeland Security wanted him too.

Henry shared a weary glance with Mahati. It was going to be a long lunch.

Chapter 20

Sam, Jeannie, Jake, and Brenda ran along the old abandoned country road in northern Mississippi, almost at Tennessee's border. They were heading to a hideout they'd found for themselves. While they usually restricted their movements to nighttime when their silver skin's reflectivity was far less visible, they weren't particularly worried about discovery. When they ran full out as they were now, they moved so fast that the human eye had difficulty registering them.

Additionally, they hadn't seen any sign of the army men since that first night. So, they all felt pretty good that they'd seen the last of them.

Taking a sharp left, they raced up a narrow path to an old abandoned shack they'd found in the woods. A short distance from the hut was a run-down barn, which they headed to first.

Since that first night, they'd been storm-chasing all across the prairies. They'd discovered they fed off the release of energy from the new clouds. Their lightning strikes were particularly satisfying, and taking a direct hit would give them enough power to run for a week.

Then came the dream. A few days into their new lives, they woke with a new mission. They'd all shared a disturbing dream. An ancient voice spoke to them from the darkness and whispered to them to make preparations. When they woke, they all felt compelled to collect the products of the new cloud domination battles and stockpile the items. They weren't sure who that voice belonged to or why they needed to hoard this stuff, but it didn't interfere with their cloud chasing and gave them a sense of purpose, so they did it.

Today, they returned from another successful storm-chasing day and had a few more items they'd collected to pack away. The barn was now their storehouse for dozens of strips of the silver foil, thirty-six of those wire mesh and lit amber squares sections, and roughly twenty gallons of cloud blood. That last item had been the most difficult to save. Collecting it was easy. The battling pseudo-clouds constantly gored each other, and the stuff just fell from the heavens. They figured out how to catch it in a large tarp, which fed into gallon jugs. The tricky part was running while carrying the heavy containers. It really threw their balance off.

They slipped inside and added the three new wire mesh sections, eight foil pieces, and two gallons of the rain.

When they stepped out of the barn and headed for the shack, a loud buzzing suddenly began, and they felt dizzy, experiencing a sensation much like vertigo.

Jeannie took Sam's hand. "What's happening?" her voice came through their connection silently, but he felt her emotions. She was nervous.

Sam glanced her way to smile at her, then looked at Jake who was tilting his head to the right. A short distance away, a soldier in camo gear could be seen beginning to peek around a tree. His movements were glacially slow due to their sped-up perceptions.

He spoke to Jeannie. "Looks like we walked into a trap. They found us. Not sure how, but there it is. How do you feel?"

"Dizzy. I could probably fast walk away from it, but it wouldn't feel good."

Jake and Brenda moved closer and touched them to share the communication channel.

"I don't like this feeling. They must be crafty bastards to find a way to slow us down," Jake grumbled.

"What should we do?" Brenda asked.

Sam shared a look with Jake and remembered the night this all began, when they watched the two clouds duking it out, and how they'd walked through what they thought was rain, feeling it soak in. It felt good.

An idea suddenly popped into his head, and all four shared the epiphany. Releasing their grip, they moved away from each other, walking with difficulty until they slumped and crumpled to the ground.

-=-

Colonel Crane smiled when he saw the silver aliens succumb to the energy field they'd set up around the clearing between the shack and the barn. The mad scientists back in Washington were finally earning their keep. Their device worked! Unlike the radar device's failure, this one seemed to be doing the job!

Their eyes in the sky satellites had done an excellent job of tracking the speeders once they discovered they emitted a streak of low-level infrared light behind them as they ran. The faster they went, the more energized the particles and the longer the trail. Once his team knew where their targets were hiding during the day, they set the trap.

His team had gotten a break when he'd been informed that the silver aliens hadn't returned to their hideout during the night as they usually did. They immediately went to the enemy base, dug in, and set up the equipment as they got reports of their targets returning in daylight. Very fast. They'd just finished hiding when the entities arrived and entered the barn.

The projectors that emitted the knockout field used enormous amounts of power and weren't terribly portable. They also only had a few minute's worth of charge, but that seemed to be enough.

He didn't immediately give the order to shut down the field as he wasn't sure if it was required to be on to keep the beings out. They had restraints ready to lock on the beings, and he saw his team rushing forward to get them secured.

Then all hell broke loose.

The alien closest to the barn leapt to its feet and ripped the doors from their hinges before rushing inside. The remaining three also jumped to their feet and slapped the restraints from the approaching soldiers' hands faster than the eye could follow. The soldiers shook their hands painfully.

All three restraint sets were picked up and pitched at the projector dishes, silencing and ripping them from the mounts. The buzz immediately cut off with a wailing squeal.

Corporal Yablonski was caught flat-footed as he faced the open barn door. He was holding the metal restraints he was tasked to connect to the silver guy inside the barn. Something suddenly hit him in the chest and shattered against the restraints. He was immediately coughing and snorting to clear his sinuses from the explosion of liquid from the broken bottle.

The three silver beings in the open area stood before the group of three to four soldiers when glass missiles flew out the barn's open doors. What followed was impossible to observe with the naked eye, but as fast as the bottles were thrown from the barn's interior, they were slapped out of the air by the silver hands of the aliens who ran circles around the soldiers. Bits of glass were intermixed with the liquid, and the squad quickly became saturated. They held their arms before their faces due to the flying chunks of glass, and a few took some minor cuts.

Then, the silver beings began popping their helmets off and dumping the liquid on the bare heads of each soldier.

"It's water! It's just water!" Yablonski yelled out as he tried to wipe his face clear.

Colonel Crane felt a deep dread filling him as he suspected where that water came from. "Sergeant! Get your people out of there!" he yelled into his mic.

Sergeant Michelle Tennison, called Mick by her squad, signaled them to fall back when the next missiles from inside the barn shot out towards them. Their impact was a little more dramatic. The bright yellow stones in the wire mesh flashed as they struck their targets, and the soldiers were thrown back to land and tumble, dazed by a shock. Once they were all down, the three silver beings rushed into the barn to join the fourth. Immediately, all four returned and touched something to the faces of the soldiers.

Gordon Crane watched in horror as the silver spread over the skin of each soldier. He shouted in shock when he was suddenly face to face with one of the beings. It came to a complete stop as it stood before him.

Corporal Dulane was slowly pulling his gun from its holster when the creature turned its head to look at him.

"If you shoot me, you may hit him when the bullet bounces off."

Crane held up his hand to his driver. The voice was very hollow and reverberated strangely, but it was definitely speaking English. There might have even been a Central States accent. He looked closer. He thought he might have recognized the face it was showing.

"You seem to bear the facial features of Sam Lagrange. Did you take his identity?" Gordon asked cautiously.

"I am Sam Lagrange. Who else would I be?" the entity said and... smiled.

Crane pushed that aside. "What are you doing to my men?"

A second silver man joined him. Its expression wasn't so friendly. "What were you gonna do to us with those shackles? Take us to a lab and try to cut us open? Since you're so fuckin' curious, we gave you your own Silver People to experiment on! Let's see if you can do that to your friends!"

"Please calm down, Jake. He's just doing his job," Sam said, looking back at the Colonel. "Even though his job ain't too friendly.

The Colonel looked past these two to see the other two gently helping his soldiers to stand. Except their faces were now covered in the chrome finish. The two guided the soldiers over to him. He saw Yablonski's stupid smile and saw Mick was also smiling. Specialist Green wore a grin on his face. Crane looked uncomfortably at Mick.

"Sergeant, status."

Mick came to attention. "The mission failed, sir. The energy field wasn't effective, and the targets were moving too fast for us to counter." She pulled off her gloves to see her hands were also covered in silver. "We seem to be silver now, too, and for no reason I can think of, I feel really good. Almost giddy." Her voice had a similar hollowness.

"You've been altered, so your brain chemistry may have been affected. You may be under the influence—" Gordon began to suggest.

"Sir, sorry to interrupt, but I can tell you from personal experience I'm still Sam, and this is my lovely wife, Jeannie." He gestured to the shortest of the beings, who nodded to him with a shy smile. At least, Gordon thought it was a smile. The reflections made it difficult to tell. "This here is my best friend, Jake, and his wife, Brenda." He gestured to the other two. "We're no threat to anyone. We just want to run and chase the weird storms. We don't want to be dissected or experimented on."

"How are we expected to believe you're not a threat or that you are, in fact, who you say you are?" Crane asserted.

Sam shrugged. "It's true that we don't look human, but I think we think human. Ask your own people." He gestured to the changed soldiers. "You saw them become what they are now. You can take the rest of the materials we collected. Just be careful about how you handle them. The order is strange cloud water, glowy stone mesh, and then the silver strips. All of that stuff comes from the strange clouds." He turned to the altered soldiers. "I suggest each of you add a few more strips of silver foil. You want your skin to be strong in case you run into things at high speed. You can't get too much; it stops absorbing when you have enough."

Crane's radio chirped. He looked to the one calling himself Sam, who smiled at him.

"Crane here."

"Is everything okay, Colonel? We see you're surrounded by the silver aliens." It was Private Jackson, the communication tech he'd left at the vehicles. He was with Private Blayne and Corporal Rewan, and they were observing with drones controlled from a distance to the east.

"Yeah. The target disabled the projectors and altered the team. They're all silver now except for Dulane and me." He looked at Sam. "Do you intend to change us too?"

"No, sir. Not unless you want to be," Sam replied.

"Oh yeah! Do it, sir! It feels incredible!" Yablonski exclaimed, bouncing on his toes.

"At ease, soldier!" Gordon snapped.

"Sorry, sir," Yablonski mumbled.

Crane activated his mic again. "Situation is fubar but stable for now. Why did you break radio silence?"

"Sorry, sir, but a priority message came in. We're to head back to Washington immediately. Another group of dreadnaught class pseudo-clouds is moving on a collision course that will intersect over the city."

"Shit!" Crane exclaimed.

Sam looked at his friends and back to the Colonel. "These things duking it out over a city would be bad. I don't know how the lightning would affect people, but I can't imagine it would be good." A sudden pang of guilt made him look to the new Silver People they'd created. "You should know, we get our energy from the lightning. I guess it's how we eat."

Jake scowled at Sam, but he just shrugged. He wasn't about to let them starve to death.

Brenda and Jeannie went back into the barn and returned with handfuls of the silver strips, handing them out to the soldiers. Brenda took the remaining strips back to the barn when they no longer melted into the soldier's skin.

"We have to leave," the Colonel said, looking at Sam.

"That's cool with us. It's up to you what happens to your people. We're just going to keep running as that's what feels best. We won't interfere with you. I'd like to ask that you do the same for us, but maybe you don't have that authority. I'm asking anyway. We'll just have to be more cautious." Sam realized his need to collect the stuff was gone. He looked at Jake, but he seemed oblivious.

"Take it slow at first," Jeannie said to Yablonski and touched his hand. The soldier's head whipped around to stare at her in shock as he'd felt her emotions! "That's just another bonus of being what we are," Jeannie giggled quietly.

"Let's go, people!" Crane bellowed.

Mick got her soldiers moving, and they followed the Colonel east, back to where their vehicles were waiting.

"Colonel, are we really going to be put in a lab and dissected? Cuz that sounds really awful, and I'd rather not," Yablonski said.

"How easy was it for this elite group of trained professionals to take down two farmhands and their wives?" Crane grumbled, and his team went silent for a moment, then began to chuckle.

"We have a mission to protect civilians in Washington, DC." He looked at their expectant faces. "Anyone here have a problem with doing their duty?"

"NO, SIR!" they yelled out.

Their sound was weird, but it forced a smile onto his face. Maybe the situation was fubar, but he felt better knowing his people weren't worse off for the experience. Possibly, they could use these new abilities to help secure the nation. He had his own squad of super soldiers.

"OOF!"

Crane looked back and saw Yablonski picking himself up off the ground. The silver man glanced at him sheepishly.

"Sorry, sir. My boot slipped off." He looked at the laces, but they were tight, so he tugged on the other one, and it came off too. "I'm too slippery for my boots?"

"I guess you don't need them," Gordon sighed.

The others quickly pulled off their boots as well.

He cast a troubled eye over the squad of shiny-faced barefoot soldiers he was bringing back to Washington with him.

His super soldiers.

Right.

-=-

"Do ya think they'll leave us alone?" Jake asked Sam.

"Nah, I doubt it," Sam sighed.

"What was the point of telling them they could have all the stuff we collected?" Jake asked his friend.

Sam thought about what he'd told the Colonel. "It... I felt like that's what I was supposed to tell him. Totally weird."

"You know what's also weird? I don't feel that urge to collect it anymore," Brenda stated.

The others nodded as they realized the compulsion was gone.

"So, why were we doing that?" Jake asked.

"Maybe it was a mating instinct! We just made new people like us," Jake proposed.

Sam nodded slowly. "Maybe. That idea makes me uncomfortable, though." The others nodded in agreement.

"So... what do we do now?" Jake asked.

Sam smiled at his friends. "Since we've been outed by the Colonel, does anyone feel like visiting the Nation's Capital? I hear there's a really big storm battle about to strike. Maybe we can do a little good there, too."

Four identical smiles beamed at each other then they zipped away.

Chapter 21

Henry grinned at Mahati's attempt to hide her smile. The afternoon had been perfect. Now, the two had finally managed to shed their escort and were enjoying the peaceful walk along the mall toward the Lincoln Memorial.

Peaceful, if not quiet.

They'd just visited the Washington Memorial and were just moving on when they found themselves within a large group of people with homemade signs and banners demanding the legalization of marijuana. The agents escorting them fell back, and they had privacy, at last, not counting the hundreds of people chanting their message around them.

Henry caught the eye of one of the agents behind them and pointed to the big memorial at the end of the mall. The man nodded, collecting his partners and briskly jogging towards the roadway. They'd likely catch a ride with the convoy of vehicles keeping pace with them.

Still, the afternoon was beautiful, and they enjoyed the sights and the sounds of Washington. The scent of pot coming from the group around them was pungent, so they slowed their pace to allow the others to move past them until they were left behind.

Henry rubbed at his nose. "Man! That's one special interest group you can identify easily."

Mahati chuckled as she looked around, noting they were finally alone. "Our hosts are quite persistent in attempting to recruit you. Their last offer was significant."

Henry grimaced. "Yeah, I wish they'd finally understand that I'm not interested. I don't need more money than I currently make. I have no desire to leave my friends."

"They do have some lovely museums. You seemed to quite enjoy them," Mahati remarked, referring to the hours they'd spent wandering through the Smithsonian and the Air and Space museums.

He glanced at her and saw her teasing smile. He shook his head with a grin. "Visits only." Henry decided to change the subject, so he turned the topic to her. "How are you enjoying living away from your family?"

Mahati looked at him in surprise but considered her answer before speaking. "I lived my whole life within the walls of my family's estate, surrounded by family members. My mother was the ruler of the homestead and controlled the actions of everyone within. The only one who seemed to be able to skirt her rules was my sister Kali. Seeing this, I finally realized how limited my opportunities would be if I stayed and how I'd become a slave. So, I severed ties and struck out on my own. I was unprepared to take on such responsibilities, but at least they were my decisions." She smiled. "I was fortunate to have met Camila and Sigrid when I did. They gave me a wonderful place to live and purpose in my life."

Henry was smiling broadly. "I feel exactly the same way as they did the same for me."

They walked for a while, smiling as they recalled their good fortune.

Henry was curious about something she said. "How did Kali avoid the rigid rules of your home life?"

Mahati shrugged. "Kali is the youngest and showed little aptitude for magic. Mother had no use for her. She contributed nothing to the family business, so Mother ignored her."

Henry nodded slowly. "Leading to her being someone who stirs up trouble for others."

Mahati sighed and nodded. "Yes, I'm sure it's all an effort to gather attention, but it draws the wrong kind. She has come home beaten and bruised more than once— not since living with me! Earlier."

She frowned. "She has been rather preoccupied lately since the night of the housewarming party. Something is on her mind, dominating her thoughts, making her fidget and pace. I've asked her about it, but she won't open up to me."

Henry wondered what could possibly have shaken Kali that much. She was such a calm and cool shit-disturber, always in control of the game.

They were almost to the Lincoln Memorial, and the pot protesters seemed to be gathering there. They were a happy bunch. There was a police presence, but they appeared willing to watch from the sidelines.

Henry felt a cold drop of rain land on the back of his neck. The hairs in that location all began to stand on end as the droplet sent tiny sparks through his nerves. He stopped walking and looked back towards the Capitol Building.

"Henry? What is it?" Mahati asked as she saw his smile drain away, replaced by an expression of dread. She also looked back and caught sight of two enormous thunderheads colliding over the city. Lightning suddenly shot down the side of one of them—brilliant white lightning. More droplets of rain arrived, and Henry felt them like mini-shocks. He turned to Mahati. "We have to run!" He looked desperately for shelter and pointed to the large stone building ahead. "Get up those stairs and as far into the Memorial as you can."

"What's happening?" she asked, alarmed by the fear in Henry's voice.

"Those... those aren't normal clouds! Their lightning is filled with Wild Magic. They change people! The Glass People and the Silver People! We have to get everyone out of the rain. It's saturated with magic, too!" he exclaimed.

They began to run as people around them watched the approaching storm.

"Get to cover! Lightning storm coming!" Henry yelled.

The behemoths collided slightly north of the Capitol Building, and a brilliant flash of light exploded down their sides to strike the buildings and streets below. The thunder's boom hit the people in the Mall almost immediately, and every light within sight went out. Even the cars on the surrounding roads went dark.

Between Henry's fearful words and the boom, people finally began running until a stampede headed for the Lincoln Memorial.

Henry lost sight of Mahati and looked back. He stumbled to a halt as a distance behind him, he saw a mother pushing her baby carriage as fast as she could go. She was also holding the hand of a three-year-old struggling to keep up. They were moving too slowly, and the monstrous clouds were getting closer.

"The children..." Henry wheezed from his suddenly tight chest. He couldn't leave them behind, so he sprinted back through the crowd to get to the children. He burst free from the fleeing mass and poured on the speed.

As he got closer, he could feel every hair on his body beginning to stand on end. Little sparks were jumping between the strands, and he could taste something metallic. The rain was picking up, as was the wind, and soon he was drenched. The closer Henry got, the brighter the sparks snapping across his body became. It felt like his entire body was being pricked by pins and needles. The woman suddenly looked up at him and stopped with a look of fear on her face, clutching her child to her side.

Henry looked closely at her and realized her hair was as soaked as his, but hers wasn't attracting the sparks at all.

He looked past the woman and saw the tiny sparks leaping through the gap between himself and the approaching storm. He was a lightning rod! FUCK! He had to get away from her and the children! He spotted two young men running by.

"STOP!" he roared, and they froze in fear. "Help her get her children to cover!" he ordered, and they rushed to her and got her moving, one pushing her carriage and the other carrying her other child. He ran in the opposite direction, farther from them and closer to the oncoming storms. The sky darkened dramatically as the monsters rushed closer.

Another bolt of raw energy shot down the side of the clouds and struck the ground. The boom was immediate and knocked everyone off their feet.

He was terrified as he'd seen the horrific devastation these storms caused. Everywhere he looked to find shelter, people were huddled there. There were still too many people in the park. He saw a cluster huddled under their drooping protest signs. They were all drenched.

"GET TO COVER!" he shouted at them, pointing back towards the Memorial. Most dropped their signs when they fell onto their asses in shock as they saw a man covered in lightning shouting at them.

Cursing in fear, he knew he had to distance himself from them, so he pushed onwards, running parallel to the reflecting pool. Ahead, he saw another group of people staggering around in the rain, so he slammed to a halt. He cast about for somewhere to go but realized the clouds were almost upon him. He turned and saw the first group he'd told to run for cover were stupidly running toward him instead! Henry realized he had nowhere to go to avoid people. He considered leaping into the pool, but he had no idea how deep it was and couldn't swim.

As a feeling of hopelessness filled him, he suddenly faced four Silver People. He recalled seeing them help the Glass People escape through an opening to Eden. He desperately pointed to the two groups of people. "Please! Please save them! Get them to shelter! Get them away from me! I'm drawing the lightning."

He watched them look at each other, then they were gone. Henry couldn't feel his legs anymore as the prickling got worse. Maybe he should have asked them to carry him away from the area, but that wouldn't have saved the people from the lightning.

The clouds were almost overhead when the next bolt struck downward... and leaped sideways to slam down over him.

His vision filled with blue-white light and his hearing was overwhelmed with the sound of his blood rushing through his veins. He quickly lost all sensation in his body as his feet slowly lifted a few inches off the ground.

"HENRY! We need your help!"

He struggled to recognize the voice which seemed to be coming from all around him.

"They're being tortured! You must save them!"

It was... Xiong! Henry didn't recall seeing any openings to Eden.

"Please, Henry!" The voice was coming through the magic!

"Where... where are they?" he asked.

In his mind, he saw a large metal hanger on the edge of a desert. Inside were the Glass People from Kuwait City. The darkness within wasn't absolute as the metal sheeting on the walls had holes in it, and the searchlights from the guard towers occasionally passed over the building's surface, sending little beams of light across the starving beings inside.

Henry's rage flashed, and he reached for them, his mind leaping across the distance. With the power flowing through him from the lightning strike and Xiong's help, he cracked open small tears under each captive being, dropping them onto a grassy field on Eden, then let the tears seal up as he moved to the next group.

Shouts of anger rang out from the guards, who watched their prisoners drop through the floor and vanish.

Henry was exhausted once the hanger was empty and wanted to rest, but Xiong pointed him to another building next to the hanger. There were three more Glass People chained to metal columns. Various tools like industrial stone cutters, acetylene torches, and arc welders littered the floor around them. Six Human men stood in the room, smoking, talking, and gesturing to the being they managed to crack. Henry looked closer and saw it... it... it had been a child.

Henry roared as his rage exploded. The small building's windows shattered, and the men dropped to the floor as if the building was being fired upon. The floor beneath them suddenly vanished, and each fell through. The drop was maybe ten feet at most, but they didn't land on Eden's soft red grasses. Instead, they tumbled into one of the lava flows. Their terrified shrieks and painful screams were quickly extinguished as the molten rock consumed them.

Henry's rage faded as quickly as his victim's cries, and with it went his strength. Xiong was next to him immediately.

"Let us bring these three home," Xiong said softly to him.

Henry looked at the three columns again and opened a tear beneath their feet. The weight of the building resting on the pillars drove them down through the tear. Once the posts and the Glass People tied to them were through, Henry released the rip between the dimensions. This severed the columns from the building, which continued to collapse in the desert on the other side of the planet from Henry.

But he was unconscious by then.

-=-

For the first time in recorded history, people witnessed cloud-driven lightning striking the same spot for forty-seven continuous seconds. Too bright to watch directly and too loud to endure from close range, the display went on as the witnesses huddled under the protection of the shelters they'd run to or were carried to by the surprisingly fast yet gentle Silver People.

What began as four silver streaks rushing around the Mall, physically plucking people up and carrying them to whatever shelter might be nearby, became two dozen silver streaks as a second larger group joined in. Surprising some of the rescued people, they saw the second group were in US military uniforms.

The lightning had been a continuous uncontrolled drain from the clouds above, and they'd begun to glow a brilliant yellow from deep within their cores. The near-simultaneous detonation of the glowing things within the monstrous clouds ripped them apart, and within seconds, they dropped their mass as rain. The massive boom of the dual explosion shook the ground, and the huddled people cried out in alarm.

Many had tried to record the scene with their cell phones only to find the devices were dead, knocked out by multiple EMP bursts from the clouds. It was still dark, and everyone was wet.

With the clouds' destruction, the sky began to lighten, allowing the early evening light to filter through.

In the densely packed Lincoln Memorial, Mahati struggled to contain her panic. She'd gotten separated from Henry, and she couldn't find him. She wasn't the only one calling out to locate their missing companions, so the noise made it impossible for her to hear his response.

She pushed closer to the outer edge of the crowd and saw a woman with two children standing next to two young males gushing about their encounter with a Lightning God.

"He was fuckin' glowing, man! His eyes were lit up white from within, and electricity was jumping all over him!" one male exclaimed excitedly.

"I thought he was coming for my children, but he stopped and told these two to help me get to safety. They saved my family!" the woman said before bursting into tears and hugging the two young men, who looked very pleased with themselves. Everyone loves a hero!

Mahati pushed past. That couldn't have been Henry. He didn't have powers like that. She reached the steps and spotted one of Wallace Granger's agents scanning the crowd. He spotted her at the same time. "Ms. Chandra! Where is Mr. Gable?" he called out.

"We got separated in the run to the Memorial," she said as she looked around.

"Henry, where are you?" she thought in desperation.

-=-

Sam and his group, as well as the changed soldiers, had finished moving people to safety, so they rushed back to the strike zone to see a crumpled body lying face down in the center of a scorched ring of grass and dirt. As the burning snuffed out quickly in the falling rain, the well-trodden ground sprouted new grass, and flowers pushed through to bloom before their eyes.

Brenda tried to step into the ring but cried out in pain, and Jake pulled her back.

The ground was radiating so strongly that none of them could get close. They felt their energy levels climbing as they soaked in the power radiating from the circle.

"What the fuck is happening?" Yablonski gasped.

"It's like the wheat in the field where the lightning struck," Jake said, and eyes turned towards him. He looked slightly embarrassed but took on the educator's role at Sam's grin and urging. "Everyone join hands, and I'll show you what we saw."

They were circling the spot and had just enough people to touch hand-to-hand all the way around. The soldiers were stunned by the openness of the communications and how fast it was. They saw what Sam and Jake witnessed that first night and how the wheat had been affected. Sam also shared how they'd become Silver People. Jeannie squealed in protest as their lovemaking was included, and they all saw how chubby she'd been then. Sam chuckled and sent his love to her, letting the others feel that as well. Then, they released their hands.

"Status report, Mick," Crane commanded through his mic. Their radios were shielded, so they still worked.

The sergeant was still slightly overwhelmed by the shared emotions, but she pulled it together and answered. "Colonel. The pseudo-clouds appear to be dead. The strike zone of the last prolonged bolt is too energized for us to enter. In the center of this zone is a body. We can't get close enough to make a positive identification or determine whether the person is alive. It looks to be a male based on body shape and clothing. The area is sprouting new growth unnaturally fast. Grasses and flowers are actually growing before our eyes. The four Silver People we met in Tennessee were here before we arrived, and they showed us how lightning affects plant life where it strikes.

"And how exactly did they do that?" Crane asked wearily.

Mick felt slightly uneasy about what she was about to confess, but she pushed ahead. "Uh, it seems we can speak mind to mind if we hold hands. We can see each other's memories if we share them. Feel each other's emotions, too."

"Crap. The brass is gonna shit bricks. Okay, secure the area. We'll send troops to take control of the strike zone," the Colonel said.

Sam was on his hands and knees with his face almost to the ground, trying to get a look at the face of the body in the circle, but it was in a fetal position. Yablonski squatted down next to him.

"What are you doing?" the soldier asked.

"I think this might be the fella who asked us to save the people when we first arrived," Sam replied as he rested back on his heels. Looking at the young soldier's expression of interest, Sam reached over and touched his hand. The image of the glowing man suddenly appeared in Yablonski's mind. He yelped and fell back on his ass.

Mick joined them. "What's going on?" she asked crossly.

Sam looked at her. "I just showed him an image of the guy we met when we arrived. He said he was drawing the lightning to himself and needed us to move the people to safety. This has to be him, as the lightning sure got him."

"Let me see that meeting, please," Mick asked, holding out her hand.

Sam took her hand and shared the memory with her. When they released, Mick looked closely at the body. "I think you're right. There should be more scorching on his clothes, though."

Orange light suddenly shone up from the ground under the body as a crack formed under it. It widened, and the body slipped through to fall into the upstretched hands of beings made of glass. Sam and Mick stared in shock through the tear in space and saw they were looking down at a red grassy field where three Silver People were smiling up at them and waving. Sam waved back, and the tear snapped closed.

"What were we looking at?" Mick asked.

"No idea. Maybe a better question is, where were we looking?" Sam replied. "I ain't never seen a place where the grass is red like that. Jake, you ever seen that in your nature shows?" He reached out, and they touched hands.

When they let go, Jake pondered for a moment. "There's Japanese blood grass and some prairie grasses, but nothin' quite like that. Such a rich scarlet shade with wide blades. It looked soft as well, the way it was moving in the wind."

Mick looked at Sam, who grinned. "My buddy Jake is a bit of a nature show nerd. Documentaries, too."

"If that wasn't Earth, where was it?" Mick asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine. Did you see those Glass People?" Sam asked.

Mick's expression froze as she was aware of the existence of Glass People but wasn't at liberty to talk about that.

Catching her hesitation, Sam nodded to himself. "Ah, I see. Well, that was a first for me, if not you," Sam said gently.

"Did you see them too! So beautiful!" Jeannie gushed. She'd been standing on the other side of the circle when the rip opened, so she had a different perspective.

That gave Sam an idea. "Everyone who was looking through the hole that appeared, please link hands and share the memory of what you saw." He looked at Mick. "This may give us a kind of 3D view."

Almost all of them had watched, so when they linked hands and brought up the memory, it blended together until they could see down into the other place. There'd been a large number of the Glass People standing in the field, as well as a few Silver People. Orange sunlight was playing over their glossy surfaces. The angle didn't allow for a horizon view.

"Sam! The shadows!" Jake exclaimed through their link.

Then, they all understood as he shared his epiphany. The sunlight was coming from almost directly above. They weren't looking at light made orange by sunset. It was orange at noon, so either something in the atmosphere was tinting the sunlight orange... or the sun shining on that place was orange.

"That's not Earth!" Yablonski exclaimed, his shock reverberating through their connection.

"Next question, why did the glass people take the body?" Mick asked.

"I think he was alive," Brenda said.

She pushed her memory of seeing his hand closing into a fist as he was lifted down through the tear.

"Shit! Could that have been like an involuntary twitch? I mean, he was hit with lightning for a long time!" Jake exclaimed. "How could anyone survive being hit with that much?"

"As the Sergeant said, he shoulda been burnt crispy, but he's not. Let's not pronounce him dead until we know for sure," Sam suggested.

Mick looked around and suddenly noticed everyone and everything around them had slipped into slow motion. She glanced at Sam, who was smiling at her.

"You finally noticed how slow everyone's got?" he asked, and she could only nod. "We noticed that when we speak in our heads like this, our brains get faster, we can talk faster, and the world around us gets much slower. When we have to speak the old way, our brains have to stay slow," Sam explained.

"This could be really useful!" Specialist Green gushed, and the others agreed.

Jake noticed an army truck coming towards them. "Is that truck carrying that machine you used on us back at the shack?"

The soldiers looked where Jake was pointing and saw he was right.

"It looks like a larger transmitter. It's probably a lot stronger," Mick said.

Sam frowned. "I think we'll make tracks. I suggest you do the same." He and his three friends raced away from the group of soldiers before Mick could protest. She picked up her mic, tried to speak into it, and felt her perceptions slow as everything around her sped up. The truck was getting much closer.

"Colonel? The approaching truck seems to have a larger version of the knock-out field projector. Why—"

"G2," was Gordon's only response. It was the code they'd worked out on the flight back to Washington.

Mick signaled her team, who ran from the truck at maximum speed. The emitters kicked in, and they wobbled as vertigo destabilized them, but they'd managed to get out in front of the maximum range of the wave and pulled away. The sergeant led the way and reduced their speed to eliminate the infrared tracking capabilities of the satellites. They'd go to ground and attempt to contact the Colonel in twelve hours.

Mick hoped he'd be okay.

-=-

Colonel Gordon Crane sat in a chair in the same windowless meeting room in the bowels of the Pentagon. Across from him sat Colonel Keith Palmer, the leader of the team who'd tried to capture his team back on the Mall. When he failed, he arrested Gordon and his driver, Corporal Dulane, and brought them to the Pentagon.

Palmer didn't look happy. Crane was content to wait. He'd read the report his sergeant had texted him before she went into hiding, and he knew he was sitting on a goldmine of information.

Stephen Dawes stepped into the room with a frown on his face. Following him were the two men Crane didn't know the names of. He noted that Palmer immediately looked to the older of the two men. So, Gordon assumed he reported to that man as he reported to Mr. Dawes. The third man aimed a crooked smile at him before taking a chair.

"What the hell is going on here? Why have you arrested Colonel Crane? And who are you?" Dawes asked Palmer.

"I'm Colonel Keith Palmer. I report to General Baines. I was ordered to observe Colonel Crane. When his team was replaced with the silver aliens, he brought them to Washington. When I attempted to secure them, he allowed them to escape. He is jeopardizing the mission."

Gordon watched Palmer and saw an officer dedicated to preserving the country he'd vowed to serve. They were the same, so he held no ill will against the man. There was just a conflict of orders, and now he had the old man's name.

Dawes looked at Crane and held his eyes. "Is this true?"

Gordon shook his head. "No, sir. He is incorrect on several points. May I speak freely before Colonel Palmer to explain?" Dawes nodded stiffly. "We attempted to capture the four silver beings using the energy projectors but were unsuccessful. In retaliation, they turned my squad into Silver People. Then they stopped to talk to me and explained why."

"You spoke to them? They speak English?" Dawes asked.

"Yes, sir. They aren't alien. They were human. They've just been altered by artifacts from the pseudo-clouds. They're Sam and Jeannie Lagrange and Jake and Brenda Miller. Two Midwest farmhands and their wives. The two men accidentally became Silver People when they messed around with something they found in a pseudo-cloud that another killed. They, in turn, exposed their wives to the same components, and they've been chasing the clouds ever since."

"So, you're saying they're human under that silver skin?" General Baines asked.

"No. They don't claim to be physically human, but they say their minds are still human, and their ideals seem to hold true." He looked to General Baines. "My squad is still my squad. Loyal and duty-bound. We were ordered back to Washington to assist with a potentially catastrophic situation. They knew they would be subjected to the idiocy they encountered after the crisis passed, yet they followed my orders and returned with me. They saved many lives."

"Are you missing the point that they aren't human any longer, and we need to know how they tick and what kind of threat they represent?" Baines snapped.

"I'm well aware of the facts, General. What you aren't aware of are the facts we collected from the initial group of Silver People, the four midwestern Americans. We know how they became Silver People. They told us how it happened. They showed us how we could make more if we choose to. I witnessed it happening to my squad. When I spoke to the soldiers afterward, they said it felt good. Another fact my people collected tonight was how the Glass People escaped from the locked gymnasium. It's as we feared. They can open tears in space and step through. My people reported that they were able to see through a large tear and witnessed a large number of Glass People and some Silver People standing in a field of red grass under an orange sun. They're not on Earth."

"What?!?" the General exclaimed.

Crane shrugged. "I might have gotten more information, but Palmer's team decided to make his attempt at capturing my team."

"You informed your team to run. They're now on the loose," Palmer asserted.

"No, they've gone to ground and will contact me tomorrow. They're still my squad. They remain devoted to the mission, as do I," Gordon asserted.

"But they won't come in," Baines growled.

"Yes, they'll come in, but not if they're going to be experimented on. Fully human soldiers would behave the same way under this threat, and there's no need for it. They've already proven they'll tell us everything we need to know." He locked eyes with the General. "Having a squad of bulletproof soldiers able to move faster than we can register with our eyes gives us one hell of an advantage, wouldn't you say? And remember, we know how to make more."

That got through to the man.

"I'd personally like to speak to one of these Silver People," said the man with the crooked smile.

Crane nodded. "We saw a report from Kuwait that Silver People were assisting the Glass People after that massive attack from the pseudo-clouds. It looked like some escaped, possibly the ones my squad saw through the tear."

Dawes looked uncomfortable. "I got word from Director Hall that the Glass People, the armed forces in Kuwait detained, have escaped. The soldiers guarding the prisoners were screaming some nonsense about them falling through the floor. Now, that makes sense." He fixed his eyes on Colonel Crane. "We need information on how they're doing that and how we can counter-act it."

"Yes, sir," Gordon responded crisply. "Out of curiosity, have the Glass People demonstrated any offensive capabilities besides opening rips between worlds?"

That earned him another sharp glance from Dawes. "The building the Kuwait intelligence officers and two CIA observers were working in collapsed. The bodies have yet to be recovered from the rubble. No sign of the ones they were interrogating either. That sounds like they have some offensive abilities to me."

Crane held his tongue, though he could interpret that information another way.

Dawes looked to the General. "Any more secret teams watching our people? Do you have a team watching Colonel Palmer and his team?"

"If I did, you know I couldn't tell you about it," the General snapped.

The ludicrous nature of the situation and the events over the past twenty-four hours was suddenly too much for Gordon, and he snorted.

The others in the room all looked at him.

He could have apologized or pretended the sound was just a sneeze, but he was so weary of subterfuge. He looked back at them with a frank stare.

"We have met the enemy, and he is us."

"Not helpful, Colonel," the Director of Homeland Security said gruffly.

He just nodded to his boss. "Am I under arrest? If not, I'd like to check into a hotel and get some sleep."

"The power grid is still down, so hotels won't be accepting new guests at the moment," the nameless man added.

"You're not under arrest. We have a few rooms on reserve at a nearby hotel. You can stay there. Bring your team in tomorrow to Homeland Security headquarters. I want to speak to these soldiers directly." He caught a raised eyebrow from the third man on the team and nodded to him. "You're invited, as well as the General."

"And Colonel Palmer," General Baines insisted.

"Leave your toys at home," Dawes said, looking at Palmer. He received a nod from the Colonel once the General confirmed the order.

A man in a dark suit entered and walked to the Director's side to whisper to him.

"Shit! Send two more teams to assist in the search," Dawes said to the man, who nodded and rushed away.

"Search?" General Baines asked.

Stephen's expression was grim. "With the chaos the pseudo-clouds caused and the blackout, people have gone missing. Most were running in a panic and got separated from their groups. One of the missing is someone we're trying to recruit. The young man is a genius with computers. He makes our geniuses look like toddlers discovering an Etch-a-Sketch. If his skills got into the wrong hands, there wouldn't be a computer on the Internet that wouldn't be open to them."

The men shared concerned looks, then Dawes looked at Crane hopefully. "Your team can cover way more ground quickly!"

Gordon nodded. "A brilliant idea. Yes, they could if they hadn't been forced to go into hiding until the morning. If your genius is still missing when they contact me, I can send them a picture and have them check every road, alley, and walkway for him."

Dawes glared at the General, whose expression closed up. He looked back at Gordon. "I'll send you a photo of him. Go get some sleep."

"Thank you, sir," he said. "Where are Corporal Dulane, Private Jackson, Private Blayne, and Corporal Rewan?"

"We only brought you and Dulane. You can bring him with you to the hotel. There was no sign of the others," Palmer said.

"Fine." As Crane left the room, he caught the nameless man giving him an appraising look. When he held his eyes, the crooked smile reappeared. Gordon looked away, an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

His instincts told him the man was every bit as complicated and mysterious as the Glass People or the Silver People.

That didn't bode well for tomorrow.

-=-

"What do you mean Henry is missing?" Camila's shrill voice came through the phone's earpiece the Homeland Security agent loaned Mahati. It was going out over satellite as the local cell towers were all down. She watched the teams coordinating their search. There was a little butting of heads between them and the NSA agents.

Mahati's cell had been off and protected inside her shielded purse when the EMPs went off. Her extra caution against data thieves finally paid off, as she had a working phone. Of course, without the cell towers functioning, her cell was a costly paperweight.

"I'm calling you with a satellite phone borrowed from the Homeland Security people. Power is still out here, no cell towers and the dark is making the search more complicated."

"What happened?" Camila asked, conscious of listeners.

"We were doing a little sightseeing on the Mall, and a weird lightning storm suddenly struck. Henry got us running for shelter in the Lincoln Memorial, the lightning started, the lights went out, and everyone was running. We got separated. Afterward, I realized he wasn't with me, and I couldn't find him. Teams from the NSA and Homeland Security are looking for him now," Mahati explained, her voice beginning to wobble.

"Mahati, they'll find him. He couldn't have gone far," Camila said to calm her.

"I've never been this far from home and thought I was on top of things. The day was going so well. Henry was enjoying the museums and the monuments. We only had one more to see then we'd catch our flight home. Now, this!" She had a lump in her throat, which was hard to talk around.

"You need to be our eyes on the ground for when they find Henry. We know you can do it. Henry believes in you. You know that. I'm watching the news story now, and the blackout is extensive. He's probably just lost." Camila said gently, and Mahati felt herself calming. Henry did believe in her. She had to live up to that.

"Yes. Yes, you're right. I'll be here when they find him. I'll get him home," she said, feeling her nerves settling. "Thank you, Camila."

"Thank you, Mahati! Please keep me informed."

"I will. Goodbye."

She wasn't sure why it was so difficult to find one man. Camila was right. He couldn't have gone that far.

Chapter 22

Henry couldn't feel his body.

Rather, he felt all of it, but it felt like a big cotton ball.

He couldn't see. He couldn't hear, taste, or smell either.

One thing he could feel was magic. He was overloaded with the stuff. He knew that cotton sensation was every cell in his body vibrating so quickly that if any additional energy was added, it would trigger a cascade explosion, tearing him apart right down to the atomic level. He needed to bleed that energy off.

"Henry? This is Xiong."

Henry was surprised that the Chinese Glass Person was communicating with him verbally in a language that wasn't even native to him. Xiong had undiscovered skills!

Then he discovered he couldn't respond back verbally but pictured a smile in his mind and received a flash of one in return.

"Thank you for saving our friends."

He envisioned a thumbs up.

"You helped save many people in your capital city. No one in the large park was affected by the lightning," Xiong expressed.

Henry felt him holding something back, so he reached for Xiong mentally.

"No, Henry, don't. You were injured. You must rest and heal... as best you can."

Frustrated by his inability to communicate, he simply pictured an unhappy face.

He felt Xiong withdrawing, and through the magic in him, he picked up snippets of a conversation Xiong was having with all of the other Glass People. The volume was a bit overwhelming as there were so many voices, and they were upset. They seemed to be talking about making him a Glass Person because of his injuries. To save him. Xiong was trying to tell them it wouldn't work as he'd already been subjected to the same energies and hadn't become glass.

Henry was beginning to get seriously worried. How badly was he hurt? He felt someone close by and reached out to the mind. It was one of the Silver People.

It physically touched him, and he linked minds with the young female. Concepts and perceptions were flowing through their link. She was sad. She'd heard he was the hero who'd saved all the people on this planet and many on Earth. He imagined looking through her eyes at him, and she allowed it.

He saw his Human glamor, and he looked no worse for wear. That was a relief. He dropped the glamor.

It took every bit of willpower to contain his screams. He was a scorched thing that, if it weren't for the untouched ram's horns and hooves, he wouldn't have recognized was him. His eyes were gone, and his ears were stubs. His face held a rictus grin as his lips had melted away. How was he even alive!

Some of his terror must have leaked out as Xiong returned immediately and sent the young silver being from the room.

"I'm sorry, Henry. We cannot heal you. We don't have the power to do it."

Henry pushed his mind until he could make himself understood. "You're wielders. I can pull in the healing power if you have a doctor amongst the Glass People who can use that power to heal me."

Xiong was stunned that Henry could make his brain communicate in his current state. His mind came through strong and clear, though his body was burnt and melted so severely. "We have a doctor, but she indicates this is beyond her ability."

Henry croaked in frustration. All this power and he had no means to use it!

He faded, and darkness swallowed him.

Time passed.

He wasn't sure how much, as he was floating in utter silence and a black darker than he imagined space would be. Thinking about space made him realize he was thinking, which had to be good. He just needed to get back to his body... or what was left of it. He needed to go home!

"Not ready to die yet?"

The cold and ancient voice echoed out of the blackness. He immediately recognized it.

"Baba!"

"You could just give up. It would be so simple, and you would suffer no more pain. This life has given you so much of it. Just let go." Her tone was... wistful? He'd never heard her sound like that before and immediately became suspicious.

Henry paused. Why was she saying this? He allowed himself to believe she wanted him to do it for the briefest moment, but his mind rejected that violently.

"My Baba didn't raise a quitter," he growled.

There was a pause. "Then don't," she said before fading away.

He might have imagined it, but he was sure he heard pride in her words.

He needed to live. He had people out there depending on him, people he loved. He had... a child coming. A child he would not leave fatherless as he'd been.

He needed to stop sinking and get out of this hole to join his loved ones again. He reached out with his mind for contact and felt the lightest touch... that way!

Moving in the direction of the mind he'd touched took such a colossal effort when everything was telling him to just give in.

Baba's final words drove him onward.

She gave him the impression that she was confident that death was just another routine event, something easily circumvented. Maybe for her, it was. He didn't know what it must be like to live so long. All he could do was try to emulate her attitude and push onward like it was nothing special. Just something to be beaten back, conquered, and set aside. He ignored the lethargy, the inertia, the weariness, and most significantly, the pain. He would live because his will said he would.

The darkness began to lighten until all was white.

As he surfaced again, he felt two minds close by.

"He's back!" That was Xiong's astonished voice. Henry picked up relief in it as well. "Quickly, you must proceed while we have him!"

"I've never done this before. No one has!" a female voice argued.

"We owe him more than can be expressed. We almost lost him, and he will not survive much longer in this state. We must make an attempt."

Henry suddenly felt a fire in his mind and realized he couldn't move to avoid it.

"Xiong, hold the tear very still. I'm inserting the crystalline ganglion between the hemispheres."

Ice pierced the fire in his mind, and Henry screamed mentally.

"I'm almost at my end, Dr. Hiagawa," Xiong said as his voice faded.

Blindly, Henry forced a stiffened arm to press his blackened hand against Xiong's side. He pushed some of his excess energy into the glass being.

"AH," Xiong cried out mentally, immediately feeling replenished. Henry contained so much energy.

"The connections are made. He has the tools, but it will be up to him to learn how to use them," the doctor stated as she pulled back and immediately left. Xiong allowed the microtear to seal.

"Henry, we've given you the means to control the magic with your will. It's from one of the Glass People from Kuwait who didn't make it. We harvested a section of his brain that we now know controls the use of magic for us. We've never implanted such an organ into another being. While it should work, this is something new to us. Please try."

Try.

The word echoed in Henry's mind and resonated within his being. To achieve the impossible, like returning from the final darkness, the first and most important step was to disregard all sane preconceptions... and try.

He'd achieved this impossibility, but his glass friends told him to accomplish another.

Be a wielder.

Henry grasped the severity of his situation if they'd been desperate enough to implant a foreign organ into his brain, a Glass Person transplant for controlling Wild Magic.

Now, all they expected him to do was try.

He became intensely aware of his body's imminent failure. He desperately reached for the healing power but was on the wrong planet.

"Earth!" he gasped and flashed an image of the northern lights to Xiong. The glass being, powered by Henry, opened a tear in the sky in Earth's northern hemisphere. Henry reached for his daughter and found only a wisp of her but drew on it until he felt her sleeping presence. In his mind, he kissed her cheek and pulled on the healing magic. It flooded the room over Xiong and bathed Henry's body in its soothing green light.

Henry was terrified by what he was going to do next. He wasn't a doctor by any stretch of the imagination. He would have to replace all the burnt tissue by peeling it away and building new. Not only from his surface but internally, as his tongue, throat, and lungs were damaged, as well. His old nerves were gone, but he had no idea how much this would hurt when the regrowth began. He'd never been a wielder, but knew he had the required willpower. That wouldn't help him if he was unconscious.

Thinking about it some more, he realized that while he wasn't a wielder, he was a programmer. Couldn't a program be a kind of spell?

He wrote code in his mind to purge the dead tissues and grow new cells. Everything damaged would be replaced. He understood his body already knew how to do that, but he would tap into those controls and accelerate the process. Then, he wrapped the core instructions with a self-powered instruction set to maintain the spell until he was healed. He linked the finished code-spell to the healing magic and powered the program with the energy contained in his healthy, magic-saturated cells. Finally, he embedded it with his will to make it run independently of his conscious mind. The final construct felt like a living thing, eager to act. Its final commands would release the healing magic and feed Xiong some of his unused energy. He was ready. He turned his mind outwards to his caregiver.

"Xiong, when this is over, whatever my state, please put me back in Washington. Someplace they can find me."

"Yes, my friend. Good luck."

Henry activated his program and immediately choked in agony as the green light covering him flared and his crispy blackened skin came off all at once. He coughed as his body purged most of his tongue, the scorched lung tissue, and the burns in his chest and throat.

The burnt surfaces of his muscles came off next. Henry had no eyes to roll back as his consciousness fled, but they soon began to regrow as well. He missed witnessing the muscle tissue growing new cells. Blood vessels, nerves, tendons, ligaments, and anything damaged in the blast of lightning was shed and regrown.

His skin grew back smooth and unblemished, and his hair returned, including his lashes and eyebrows. His lower half was no longer naked as his fur returned, dense and curly. The green light covering Henry's body glowed brighter and brighter until it popped in a flash, and the glow went out.

Xiong felt a surge of energy as he watched Henry in shock. The man was breathing. He didn't understand how he could come back from such life-threatening injuries, but he was glad he had.

Still, he'd never seen anything like that, and... it frightened him. Had it been anyone else...

He called out for assistance. As he did, Henry's glamor reset and he looked human once more, but his clothes were missing.

"We have no clothes to give him," one from the arriving group said as she felt Xiong's concern.

Xiong had no choice but to send Henry back as he was. He opened a small tear and looked for a suitable place where agents weren't currently searching. He spotted a cluster of bushes a short distance from the Capitol Building. The assisting Glass People lifted and moved Henry from the spot where the burnt skin, tissues, and hair remained. Xiong pointed to a clear spot on the floor. "I will drop him through here." They set him down.

Keeping the destination drop zone in his mind, he opened the tear, and Henry fell through to drop three feet to the grass below. The back of his head landed on the small brass commemorative plate bolted to the stone next to the bushes. Xiong winced but quickly closed the tear as he saw the flashlight beam approaching.

He hoped their friend was okay as they'd asked so much from him. He looked back to the pile of charred remains. Something shiny caught his attention. It was up where Henry's head had been. Xiong reached down and lifted the crystal ganglion from the ground. His body must have rejected it after he was healed.

Xiong couldn't inform Henry that he no longer had their transplanted capacity to wield magic. He also had no idea how Henry got it out yet managed to complete his spell.

He looked to the others. "We will bury these remains in the forest glade to honor our friend, Henry."

A feeling of joy and love washed through him from the others. The Glass People loved the idea, as they loved Henry.

-=-

Mahati was driven to a local hospital when she received word that Henry had finally been found. She rushed inside when they arrived, and Wallace Granger and Stephen Dawes were both waiting for her.

"Where's Henry? Please take me to him!" she insisted. The men nodded to her and gestured for her to follow them. They looked annoyed at each other as they walked down the hall.

Wallace spoke first. "My team found him next to some bushes, on a park lawn across the street, east of the Capitol Building. He was unconscious and bleeding from a small wound on the back of his head."

"He's injured?" Mahati gasped.

Not to be outdone by his NSA counterpart, Stephen butt in to explain. "There is no way to know what happened to him as the storm knocked out all cameras and lights in the area. The doctors have run tests to see the extent of his injuries. They're also running a rape kit. We're waiting on the results."

Wallace jumped back in with a scowl for the other director. "The reason for the rape kit is because he was naked when he was discovered—no clothes, wallet, keys, or cell phone. It might have been a robbery. I'll arrange to get him some new clothes to wear tomorrow."

"Thank you! Can I see him?" Mahati asked as she struggled to keep the tears from her eyes.

They reached a hospital room with two agents standing on either side of the door, one from each agency. The door opened, and a doctor stepped out to see the gathering. She ignored the two men and immediately locked eyes with the distraught woman. "You. What relation are you to the patient?"

"I-I work with him. I'm his legal counsel. I'm also his neighbor and friend," Mahati managed.

"Good enough. You two wait outside." She gestured for Mahati to enter the room with her.

They walked to the side of the bed where Henry was sleeping. There was a wrinkle of concern or pain between his brows. Mahati instinctively reached over and gently ran her thumb over the skin there to smooth it out. He sighed in his sleep, and the crease smoothed out as his features relaxed. Mahati smiled, pulled back her hand, and looked at the doctor in embarrassment.

She just smiled knowingly. "The bump on the back of his head wasn't too bad. The cut was small and didn't require stitches. There's no sign of any significant damage anywhere. The rape kit turned up negative." She admired his skin as she ran her fingers over his arm. "I'd kill for skin like his. Baby smooth and soft, like he's a newborn. How is that fair?"

Mahati shook her head as she smiled at the doctor.

"He appears to be in a state of exhaustion. Whatever happened to him tonight it took a lot out of him. I'll sign him out in the morning." They looked out the window as lights began to come on outside. The city's power grid was coming back online. "That's a good sign."

"Could I stay with him?" Mahati asked.

The doctor smiled and nodded. "But you didn't hear it from me."

Mahati thanked her and pulled a chair closer to the bed, with her back to the window and facing the door. As the doctor stepped outside, Mahati saw her address the two men who looked frustrated. She was shaking her head. Mahati smiled as the door closed.

She pulled out her cell and was delighted to see she had a connection. She dialed Camila, and the woman picked up the phone immediately.

"Mahati! Speak to us," the CEO gasped, and the sound indicated she had it on speakerphone.

"I'm with Henry. He's in a hospital with a bump on the back of his head, and he's missing his clothes. He's unconscious at the moment, but the doctor tells me he's just exhausted. I'll stay with him tonight and bring him home in the morning."

"Oh my god, that's good news, Mahati! Thank you for being there for him!" Camila said, but she could hear others making relieved sounds.

"Along with no clothes, he has no wallet, keys, travel documents, or cell phone. Director Granger will get him some clothes for his flight home tomorrow," Mahati informed them.

"I'll arrange for new documentation, wallet, credit card, and keys," Sigrid offered.

"I'll get him a new cell," Roy said.

Mahati cleared her throat. "I'll be taking him home—to his home in the morning. He won't be coming into the office."

"Of course. Whatever you feel is in his best interests. Thank you, Mahati," Camila said, giving Mahati a boost of confidence.

She took a deep breath. "I will speak to you tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night."

She disconnected and leaned back in the chair to watch Henry sleep. He must have been dreaming as his eyes moved under his eyelids, and his little frown was back.

Mahati moved her chair closer to the bed and took his hand in hers.

The doctor was right! She was surprised by how soft his skin was. When she finished admiring that, she looked up at his face and saw his brow had smoothed, and he was sleeping peacefully. Her cheeks warmed, but she was secretly pleased she could help him sleep. She settled back in her chair with her arm resting on the bed, his hand in hers.

Sleep had almost taken her when she realized this was as close as she'd ever come to sleeping with someone. A thrill shot through her, and she admired Henry's innocent expression before she let herself drift off.

Chapter 23

Camila woke early Friday morning and lay in bed looking at her ceiling, going over the events of the night before in her head, beginning with Mahati's frantic call to inform her that Henry had gone missing.

She recalled the momentary sensation of her stomach dropping out from under her when she heard that. Only Mahati's impending breakdown kept Camila from losing it as well. She'd instinctively stepped back from her emotions to calm the other woman. As she'd said on the call, she needed the woman's eyes on the scene to ensure Henry would be safe once found. Once she'd hung up, her emotions came crashing back, and it took a few moments of fighting for control to steady herself enough to reach for the phone again to call Roy.

She hadn't finished pressing his extension when the man charged into her office with Sigrid and Marisa at his heels. Apparently, he'd been following the news of the events in Washington and grabbed Sigrid on his way to her office. Marisa tagged along as they rushed past Henry's office.

Camila told them of Mahati's call, but all they could do was wait. They ordered dinner and kept watch on the news reports. The power failure was due to several power substations being knocked out by the storm's intense lightning blasts. Crews were immediately dispatched to replace fried components. The outage lasted a few hours.

When Mahati called to let them know Henry was safe, that sensation of her stomach flipping returned, only this time she felt a wave of relief afterward.

This morning, she examined that odd reaction. She'd never really felt the same way for any of her previous lovers. Some had perished in tragic circumstances, and the most she'd felt then was a sad disappointment and a period of melancholy. There hadn't been any of this emotional upheaval or loss of equilibrium.

Camila took her shower and got ready for work as her brain struggled to grasp the significance of the change.

After breakfast, she met her driver at the door and got a lift to work. She took the elevator up to her floor but still hadn't found a satisfactory explanation.

"Good morning, Camila," Felix remarked as she entered her waiting area.

"Good morning, Felix."

"You'll be having a special visitor this morning. Nuru Onwudiwe's assistant contacted me to let me know the woman is coming in to speak with you at nine," he said with a serious expression. He was obviously aware of the significance of this meeting.

Camila nodded as she was early today. That was fortunate. "Please call Sigrid and have her join me," she said, and he picked up his phone as she entered her office.

She sat, turned on her terminal, and smiled as it came on instantly, the custom dashboard Henry designed displaying all the pertinent data she needed to start her day. At a glance, she could see all was well. That wasn't a surprise; if something had required her attention, she would have received an alert on her cell. That was another improvement Henry added for her. She felt that lift in spirits again as she thought of him and puzzled over the feeling until Sigrid knocked on her door jamb.

"Good morning, Sigrid. Please come in and close the door," she said.

"Good morning to you. What's making you smile?" Sigrid asked.

Camila just waved the question away as she pulled her thoughts together. "I'm going to have a visit today from the head of the Succubi Association, Nuru Onwudiwe. She'll have her attendants with her. On the off chance she challenges me, I'd like to have you by my side to deal with her spear fighters."

Sigrid's smile threatened to light up the room. "Certainly!"

"How are your energy levels?" Camila asked.

"I'm not at my peak, but I can certainly deal with her two attendants," the tall blonde grinned.

Camila nodded. "I'm hoping this can be resolved without conflict. However, she might still be under the impression that I'm challenging her for her position. She might have used the two days between our last meeting to charge herself and her attendants."

Sigrid looked at Camila questioningly. "How's your energy level?"

"I'm not at my peak either. I had to use a fair amount to deal with Carl de Bellisle. But I don't intend to fight Nuru. I don't want her job!" she exclaimed.

Sigrid snorted in amusement, and the phone chirped. Camila pressed the button. "Yes?"

"Your nine AM is here," Felix said.

"Thank you. Please send them in."

Sigrid stood to face the door as Camila joined her. "Remember our visit to Walter's cavern?" the blond asked quietly, and Camila nodded as she smiled at Nuru, who strode in with her bodyguards at her sides. They shut the door.

The waves of energy radiating from the leader confirmed Camila's guess that she'd been overfeeding in preparation for this meeting. She sighed. In contrast, Camila held back on her output the best she could. She forced a smile onto her lips.

"Greetings, Nuru Onwudiwe," Camila began and bowed her head to the other woman.

"Camila Villamor, you are not presenting the excess of power you did the other night," Nuru snapped.

Camila looked up and nodded. "As I explained in my note, that night was an anomalous situation. I was meeting with the leader of one of the largest Were packs in the United States. He doesn't have a stable mind, so I couldn't show weakness before him."

"As you fail to show respect before your leader now!" one of Nuru's attendants flared, triggering her partner's aggression. Suddenly, they dropped the glamors hiding their spears, the deadly points falling down to point their way.

"Sun!"

Camila closed her eyes and threw her arm up before them, but her guests were caught off guard as the explosion of brilliant white light slammed into them.

Sigrid's spear spun and knocked aside the two points. Then she turned it again and drove the hardened end of the shaft forward in two quick jabs. Two sharp impacts sounded as the spear women jerked back, knocked entirely off their feet. Sigrid stepped back as she put her weapon and armor away once more. "Moon," she sighed, content with the brief sparring. Such a short thing could hardly be called a battle.

Camila lowered her arm and blinked at the sight of Nuru rubbing her eyes and gawking at her two unconscious warriors.

"Please, this isn't necessary, Nuru. I'm not challenging your position as head of the Succubi Association. I have no ambition to take on that role. My position as CEO of VRL makes me happy and brings me all the satisfaction I need," Camila pleaded.

Nuru knelt and touched the necks of her attendants. They were still alive, but each had a sizable bump on their foreheads. She stood and looked at Sigrid. "You're stronger and faster than we believed Valkyries could be. You're certainly blindingly bright when you fight." She turned her attention to Camila. "You showed more power than someone of your age should have. Something is going on here that is far outside the norm. As the leader of the Succubus Association, I demand—"

"I'm terribly sorry. We're under an edict from the Hidden Races Council not to speak of this," Camila said. "If you feel you need the information, you'll need to direct your request to them. I'm unable to tell you anything as they would get wind of it."

Nuru's eyebrows rose as she stared at Camila, hearing her emphasis. She stepped closer until she was almost nose-to-nose with the woman. Camila didn't blink, nor did she give ground. Nuru inhaled, taking her scent, and her eyes showed her shock. She looked at Sigrid, who just smiled at her, so she moved closer to the blonde and inhaled once more. Her surprised gaze looked into blue eyes, then over to Camila's, and noted that the gold flecks in her irises almost appeared glowing. She stepped back to gaze thoughtfully at the two women.

"I see. I will take you at your word, for I believe you're involved in something that exceeds the scope of the Succubus Association's leadership. I cannot say I'm not exceedingly curious and perhaps more than a little jealous. Venturing into the unknown like the explorers of ancient times has always been a dream of mine."

Camila smiled and nodded. "If there comes a time when the edict can be safely lifted, it will be my greatest honor to contact you at the earliest opportunity."

Nuru tipped her head forward in thanks, then looked to her attendants and sighed.

Sigrid smiled. "I'll call for smelling salts... and ice."

-=-

Homeland Security headquarters was buzzing with excitement. The large auditorium, which witnessed the unveiling of a new technological breakthrough only a day earlier, now contained soldiers unlike any seen before. Their uniforms were a little worse for wear as moving as fast as they did, the fabric took a beating. Still, they stood at parade rest before their commanding officer in even rows on the auditorium floor.

Colonel Crane smiled at his people, then turned to General Baines, who was eyeing the soldiers critically. The older man turned to Gordon.

"Why are their uniforms so badly damaged?" he grumbled.

Crane nodded thoughtfully and kept his irritation at the stupid question from his face. "We discovered with the original Silver People that their clothes couldn't endure the rapid movements of their running. They don't wear clothes at all. The Sergeant has explained that they haven't yet run at full speed, so the uniforms' tougher material has lasted longer. They may eventually need to go without as well."

The general looked at him in shock. "You can't have soldiers running around with their Johnsons flapping in the breeze!"

"Not to worry, General, we don't have those anymore!" Yablonski announced happily. The Colonel and General stared at the Corporal as the room went silent. "I mean, we don't really need them anymore, and running with them would probably be painful," the younger silver man said awkwardly.

"You don't need them?" the General asked.

Crane frowned at the soldier as he was annoyed with his loose tongue.

"Uh, yeah. I mean, we don't eat or drink, so we don't need to... release stuff, and I don't think we have sex the usual way," Yablonski answered slowly, obviously regretting his urge to speak.

"Without one, I guess you couldn't have sex the usual way," Gordon asserted.

"Yes, Colonel. Sorry, sir," the soldier said quietly.

"This transformation to Silver People has affected their discipline, has it?" the General growled at the Colonel.

Gordon looked to Mick. "Sergeant. Report on status change for Corporal Yablonski," he called out crisply.

"Sir! Corporal Yablonski continues to be a discipline issue for the squad. No change in status, sir!" the Sergeant returned, equally crisp.

Gordon turned back to the General. "The corporal was new to the team before this change and hadn't quite achieved the required level of maturity. He's a work in progress." The General sniffed but chose not to argue the point. Gordon redirected to the older man's first squabble. "So, their uniforms aren't really an issue."

He did a quick headcount and realized their number had increased! "Jackson! Blayne! Rewan! Front and center!" he snapped.

The three young men instantly stood at attention before him, as silver as the others.

"Who gave you permission to change into Silver People?" he barked.

The three looked guiltily at each other but remained silent, so Crane looked to the sergeant, who was studiously looking elsewhere. "Why—"

"We're part of this team, sir!" Jackson said crisply.

Gordon wanted to throttle them but understood their youthful enthusiasm and desire. That said, he scowled at the team. "No more!"

"There's only you and Dulane left, sir," Yablonski offered, then shut up at his Colonel's frustrated glare.

Rolling his neck to relieve the tension, Crane turned back to the General and was surprised to see the man was looking at the three young men with what could almost be approval.

The old soldier seemed to realize he was being watched, so he turned to Crane. "If they're in the army, they must be dressed as soldiers! We need to be able to identify them by their rank insignia and name badges!"

The Colonel held back his sigh. "I suppose the R&D department will have to spend some time and money devising a new uniform that moves with them."

"Is that really your first priority?"

Crane and Baines turned to see a familiar crooked smile and Wallace following the man as he watched the General with an annoyed expression.

"What's your brilliant suggestion?" the General snapped at the smiling man.

The tall man stopped before the assembled soldiers and gazed at them. His smile didn't dim at all as he turned his head toward the Colonel. "I'd like to see a demonstration of making a Silver Person."

The chamber went quiet again, and the soldiers shifted uneasily as they watched this stranger.

Gordon cleared his suddenly tight throat. "We'd need a volunteer—"

"How fortunate I brought one along," the smiling man said, gesturing for someone to enter the room.

All eyes turned to see a big, handsome marine in dress uniform wheel himself across the floor to stop before the General and snap a sharp salute to the man.

Baines' face was a study in control. He was obviously surprised to see the Gunnery Sergeant. He also obviously recognized the man. He glanced at the man who brought him with a flash of hate, then returned to the marine with the merest flicker of worry. He finally allowed himself a proud smile. "I wasn't aware you were in Washington, Gunny."

"General, I flew in this morning after receiving a call last night to report for a special assignment," the man said.

Then, the marine noticed the rows of Silver People in torn army uniforms. His eyes widened in shock. "General?"

"A moment, son." He gestured for the nameless one to follow him to the side of the room, where they had a quiet but sharp conversation.

Gordon took in the ribbons pinned to the marine's dress uniform. He'd done some pretty impressive things in his career. He stepped forward and returned the man's salute. "I'm Colonel Gordon Crane."

"Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Endale."

Gordon smiled and gestured to the soldiers, now grinning at him. "I suppose your security clearance has been escalated to allow you to witness this, so let me introduce you to my squad. Up until yesterday, they were a group of highly trained human soldiers. We were charged with capturing a small group of Silver People. Instead, my people got turned into Silver People themselves. They're still the same soldiers, but you can't call them human anymore. Not that they've complained."

"We can run so fast!" Yablonski gushed.

The squad burst into chuckles, and the marine's eyes widened at the odd sound.

"Maybe discipline has been affected," Crane grumbled, and his squad snapped to attention as the argument was over and the two men returned.

"I-I'm at a loss as to why I was ordered to be here," Christopher said.

The General looked uncomfortable, but the other smiled at the marine. "We want to offer you an opportunity to serve your country once more, as these fine soldiers do."

The marine looked closely at the man's grin. "Sorry, who exactly are you?"

Gordon perked up as he watched with interest.

"You can call me Hugh. I'm a special consultant for the Administration," he said with a humble nod.

The marine watched him critically, then looked to the soldiers for a moment.

"You want me to volunteer to become a silver person. You want someone really fast in a wheelchair?" the marine asked stiffly.

Hugh grinned a little smugly. "We don't really know what will happen. It might enable you to walk, or it might kill you. We were just told it eliminates your genitals. Maybe you should refuse the offer if they're essential to you."

Christopher glared at him for almost a minute. Then he looked to Yablonski, whose face was showing the broadest smile.

"Something funny, Corporal?"

"Just imagining you hitting Mach One in a wheelchair," the soldier said.

Crane retook control of the conversation. "Stupid jokes aside, this is completely new territory. We weren't even sure what the Silver People were until yesterday. The four we were attempting to capture turned out to be two farmhands and their wives from the Midwest US. With their speed, they made short work of my team, stopped to ask us to leave them alone, and told us how to make more. They even gave us the required materials. I witnessed my team change and can honestly say, aside from this slight decrease in their discipline, they're the same people." He looked closely at the marine. "Hugh is correct. We have no idea what effect it will have on you."

Christopher took a deep breath and looked at the General. "I'd like to serve my country again."

"But you'll lose your..." Baines gestured towards his groin.

Christopher snorted. "That hasn't worked since I've been in this chair."

Hugh gestured to a group of men in lab coats standing by at the side of the room. They approached carrying three cases and a video camera on a tripod set up facing the marine.

"We're doing this here?" Christopher asked in surprise.

"We were in a forest when it happened to us," Mick said gently. "It feels good."

He smiled nervously at her.

The recording started, and the three cases were opened.

One of the lab jockeys used tongs to lift the glowing mesh from a case.

"It's water, mesh, then silver," the Colonel corrected.

A second scientist carefully lifted the glass bottle of water from a case. He looked at Crane in question. The Colonel stepped forward, took the bottle from his hands, and approached the marine. "This is water that fell from a cloud we suspect came from another planet. It's water, but we're told it's required for the rest to work." He paused, then looked to the Sergeant. "Mick, can you detect anything different about this water?"

She approached and dipped her finger in it. She looked at Crane in surprise. "There's an energy. It's refreshing." She shook her head. "I didn't detect that before, as a human."

Christopher watched her face, then turned to the Colonel. "Should I undress?"

"No, that's not necessary," Gordon said. "Are you absolutely sure?"

The doubt in Christopher's eyes disappeared. "Yes, sir."

Nodding, Gordon slowly poured the water over his head and moved the bottle to cover his arms and legs. When he was done, the marine was soaked.

Crane turned to the lab coat holding the tongs. "Can you throw the mesh at the Gunnery Sergeant?" The man looked so nervous, Gordon sighed and took the tongs from his hand to pick up the mesh. He glanced at his team. "Specialist Green, collect some of the strips and be ready."

"Yes, sir!"

Crane turned to the others as the marine tried to wipe the water from his face unsuccessfully. "The Silver People can touch the silver strips with their hands, as after they receive enough, it stops soaking in." He looked back to Christopher. "This part looked a bit startling, but none of my squad were hurt by it. Let it happen." He saw Mick move ten feet back behind the marine's wheelchair.

Without further delay, Crane lobbed the mesh directly at the marine's face. The man flinched but let the mesh land against his face as Crane requested. There was a flash of light, and the marine flew back into the arms of the Sergeant.

"Now, Mr. Green," Gordon called out.

The Specialist shot to the Sergeant's side and placed the silver strips on the marine's face and hands. The cameraman rushed over to get a better shot of the silver foil melting over the man's face. Green used three more strips before they stopped soaking in.

Mick had a cautious expression, and she touched the marine's newly silvered skin. She looked at Crane in fright. "Sir! Something's wrong. A blockage from his spine! He's losing energy. I can feel him fading! We—we need to get him more energy!"

"The strike zone on the Mall!" Yablonski called out, and the sergeant nodded firmly before looking to the Colonel.

Crane turned to the General. "Sir, contact the guards at the Mall security zone to let them know they're about to get company." He looked at one of his team. "Dane, take the camera along."

The old man looked worried but got on his cell as the squad moved in to pick up the prone marine.

They rushed out of the room, Corporal Dane following with the video camera he grabbed from the technician on his way out. Once outside, they poured on the speed, zipping through the morning traffic to race across the city to reach the Mall. The area was cordoned off, but they crashed through the barricades until they stood next to a lush green circle of growth next to the reflecting pool.

Dane pulled back to capture the image of four soldiers supporting and tipping up the big marine's body as Mick tore his shoes from his silver feet, grabbed his ankles, and held them to the ground inside the circle. Raw power surged up through his feet to the top of his head as he screamed. Mick and the others holding him also cried out, and as a group, they lurched back from the circle to collapse in a pile.

All of them had shared the experience and were severely dazed. Corporal Dane turned off the video camera, pulled his cell from his tattered uniform pocket, and dialed the Colonel. "We're here, Colonel. One second."

The big Silver Soldier touched Mick, and she nodded to him as he felt her recovering. He moved to make contact with the marine's hand, and the man yanked it back as he crab-walked back to escape the invasion of his mind. He stopped and dropped to his ass as he realized he'd just used his legs.

Dane stood and lifted the cell once more. "It was successful, sir. Yes, we're coming back now."

Mick moved closer to Christopher. "How are you feeling?"

His mouth moved, but he was struggling with his words. She held out a hand to him as she smiled gently. He eyed her hand for a moment, then cautiously touched it.

Through their link, she spoke calmly to him. "I'm Sergeant Michelle Tennison, but you can call me Mick. I see you got your legs back. I'm glad. You gave us a scare there for a moment. The break in your spine seemed to be draining your energy like a leaking bucket."

"How are we able to talk mind to mind?" he asked.

She smiled and shook her head. "I've no idea. All I know is we can do it when we touch. Something else crazy happens when we do, though. Like when we're running, talking like this speeds up our perceptions. Look around, and you'll see how everything else seems to be moving so slowly."

Christopher saw a bunch of soldiers running towards them from the destroyed barricades. They were moving in slow motion.

Yablonski reached out from his prone position, lying across the other Silver Soldiers' legs to touch Mick's foot as he craned his neck to look up at the marine. "Hey, your name is Christopher Endale, right? I just realized Chip is a short form for Christopher. That means we can call you Chippendale!"

The group shared a laugh through the link, and the big marine felt their happiness and relief. They weren't laughing at him; he was being included. They were also shaky from the blast of energy they shared.

"Thanks for doing this for me," he said and felt their satisfaction for being able to help.

Mick looked back at the human soldiers getting closer. Their weapons were coming up, and their mouths were open as if they were shouting, which they probably were. "We should get back to the Colonel. We'll start off slow as this will be new to you." She stood and helped him stand. He looked down at his legs, and through her grip on his hand, she felt his intense feelings of relief and joy at being able to stand again.

"Whatever you do, don't touch anyone while you're moving fast. The kinetic energy transfer would probably turn their bones to powder," Mick warned. "Yablonski hit a tree earlier and turned the trunk into splinters." Christopher nodded with wide eyes. The soldiers all climbed to their feet and rushed around the oncoming soldiers. Mick had her arm around the marine's back to assist with his first run since he lost the use of his legs. Halfway back, she released her grip, and he ran independently. She watched his face and saw his broad smile.

They stopped at the guardhouse, where a startled-looking soldier stared at them and waved them through. They returned to the building with the auditorium. The Colonel, the General, Hugh, and the lab coats were waiting for them. Corporal Dane returned the camera to the technician, who accepted it excitedly. He immediately reviewed the recording and made excited sounds to his colleagues.

The General was trying to school his expression but wasn't too successful.

"How... how are you feeling, son?" he asked softly from his tight throat.

The big marine saluted him with a wide smile. "I feel really good, sir! So much better than I was after the explosion and maybe better than my best day."

Hugh's expression was satisfied. "I know a lot of other soldiers who might appreciate the same chance."

Mick stepped forward. "Sir, what we saw today was just short of a miracle. His body rejected the conversion, and we almost lost him. The injury he sustained created a break in the flow, and he almost bled out his life energy. We would have lost him if it hadn't been for Yablonski's quick thinking and the strike zone being so close by. We don't know if this will work for everyone, but I wouldn't want to do it too far from the strike zone. I wouldn't want to do it very often at all, as the strike zone's energy is too raw."

The technician turned a tablet's screen towards the Sergeant. "Was this pose intentional?"

Mick looked at the man, then at the screen, which showed her team propping the marine up while she held his feet against the super-charged ground.

Christopher surprised them all with his delighted laughter. "That's hilarious! It looks just like that shot of the Marines planting the flag at Iwo Jima!" he gasped, and the other soldiers began to laugh as well.

Crane watched Baines, who was staring at their newest silver person with a small smile and glassy eyes. It must have been some time since he'd last heard the young man laugh.

"How's your energy level, Mick?" the Colonel asked.

"Fully topped up, now." She looked at her people who'd been in contact with the marine. They all nodded and smiled. "The others will need to recharge. They can't touch the surface of the strike zone, but getting close to it should be enough. It wouldn't take long. Permission to send the rest of the team to breakfast, sir."

Gordon glanced at the General and Hugh and got nods from the two men.

"Permission to accompany them, sir," the Gunnery Sergeant asked the General, who nodded.

The Colonel smiled at the marine whose uniform already showed signs of distress. He looked at Mick. "Take the team back, and while they're charging, see if the original four are still in the neighborhood," he said.

"Yes, sir!" she said crisply and saluted. He returned it then she gestured for the group to fall out. The Silver Soldiers were quickly out the door.

"Is it wise to be letting the public see them?" Baines asked with a thoughtful expression.

"What kind of impression will it make to demonstrate the US army has Silver People on their team?" Crane returned with a small smile.

The General gave him a little nod as that thought sunk in.

When Gordon looked at Hugh, the man gave him another of his intensely evaluating stares. Finally, he spoke.

"You're not like Devlin after all, but I believe that actually works in our favor."

A chill ran down Crane's back. What the fuck was it with this guy that set his nerves off so badly?

-=-

Carl de Bellisle frowned at the news report. The shit truly was hitting the fan out there, but he wasn't going to postpone his expansion plan again. Not when everything was finally falling into place. His empire was within his grasp.

He closed the web browser on his computer and switched his attention to the report he'd received from his spy, and another frown surfaced. He'd tasked them to get more information on Roy Duncan's son, but the answers he got back weren't as satisfying as he'd hoped. The handsome young man wasn't Roy's flesh and blood, after all. Getting true justice for his dead son was not to be. A tremor of rage ran through his body.

He took a steadying breath and reread the report. Henry Gable was the company's CIO, though he looked far too young for the role. Something about that triggered a recollection. Something said by the idiots who killed his spy on Roy's team. Before they killed Billy, he'd told them how Roy supposedly had become an Uber Were. Billy said it was the blood of the injured young man. The same man the idiots visited the following day in the VRL executive's home to collect his blood. They'd claimed he was a goat-man, a Satyr.

Carl leaned back in his chair. So, Roy had no son of his own, but this young man was important to him. That still made Mr. Gable an excellent hostage. His blood might also be the key to Roy's ascension. It seemed likely that bitch Camila drew her improved abilities from the same source.

Determined to move forward, he formulated a plan to extract this young man from VRL's tender care. Carl would either have what he needed to ascend to the same level as Roy, or he'd have leverage against him to finally bend the stubborn bastard to his will.

A smile finally arrived on his face, but it was cold.

-=- End of Part 1 -=-