Jade (14 page)

He seemed amused. ‘I am not God’ is a phrase angels use with each other all the time. As he entered the door he said, “I didn’t miss being an angel at all, I would not trade my choice for anything. Good luck with your choice, Death.”

* * * *

As we ran, I contemplated what I had done.
The Law of Unintended Consequences,
I thought. I had only wanted to be close to Rolfe. All my planning and preparation and I had been shot, attacked by vamps, witches, and zombies. Now I was a fugitive, hunted, in the middle of a war, a power struggle that could have an impact on the entire mortal world.

Does that sound like something God would do?
I asked myself.

It did indeed.

Chapter Nineteen

We left Jane at the edge of the woods, got the car and swung back around to pick her up. We didn’t want to take a chance that she would be recognized under the bright lights of the parking lot. As we drove, Jill gave us a lesson in the four P’s—as she called it.

“Population,” she said. “Humans outnumber supes on the order of twenty thousand to one. They resent us because we have the advantage on an individual basis. Technology has been the great equalizer from that standpoint. Give a human a gun and they can kill us. The modern era from a power and political standpoint has been a story of regulating the supernatural population. The path to becoming a vamp has become a mass of red tape and money. Turning a human in the old ways has become illegal with severe consequences. Over the last fifty years the vamp population has decreased on the order of forty percent. All vamps are registered and their movement is tracked. A Kiss the size of Jane’s is unusual, it has taken all her resources just to make sure her vamps have enough blood to survive on. This has limited her in other areas because there is no money left over to invest in other areas or to campaign for more lenient laws.”

“The smallest group is the shifters,” she continued. “Over the same period of time, the shifter population has been cut in half. For James, who has one of the larger packs in America, his main focus as pack Alpha is now to make sure his females can bring a baby to term. His territory is limited in size even then, without the shifter community having resources and jobs outside the pack, there is simply not enough game available for his pack to survive. The pack is prohibited from hunting outside it’s assigned territory, they are registered as well, and turning a human in the old way is punishable by death.”

“Then you have the fae,” she said, sighing. “The world of Faerie has decreased in size along with a decrease in population, for us, it is a matter of genetics. Fae live a long time, a thousand years is not unheard of but for females, it is difficult to become pregnant without an infusion of new blood. The only humans that can safely cross into the world of Faerie are newborns, the magic of Faerie can change them into fae if they cross within three days of birth. The kidnapping of newborns has become almost impossible, humans are now very aware of our difficulties and guard their newborns closely. For any fae caught trying to take a newborn into a portal, the penalty is also death. Fae love to fight, duels to the death are not uncommon and when we had an active and growing population, wars between the Summer and Winter Courts were the norm. Our population is down about thirty percent over the same time frame. I came to an understanding with the Summer Queen about ten years ago that we would both do everything in our power to prevent our two groups from killing each other. Our other efforts are in genetic research. To do that we need resources on this side of the divide, as well as friends in high places. Our business ventures in your world are designed to fund these efforts.”

“The witches are the only group that has maintained a similar population level over the same period of time. Their problem, like ours, is also a genetic one. That little witch girl we met yesterday, the odds that her mother’s human mate is the real father are about ten thousand to one. She either cheated or he agreed for her to have artificial insemination with a male witch donor. Even with two witches the odds of having a child that is a witch are only about one in one hundred. The odds that there would be a male child that is a witch from two witches are even greater, around one in five thousand. Male witches from the union of witch and non witch are virtually impossible. Any male witches, like your FBI agent, are encouraged very strongly to sleep around with as many female witches as possible. The Witch Council encourages this, a lot of their efforts are also in genetic research. The witches are not isolated in groups like the rest of the supernatural community, they are encouraged to blend in with the human population. They also realized early on what was happening and used every means at their disposal to limit human regulation. They are only required to wear a token of identification in public when they reach the age of sixteen, like the pentagram.”

“Leading us to focus on the second ‘P’ here, one of politics and this is also, in my opinion, the reason we are here tonight, fighting for the survival of our respective groups.”

“There has never been a supe on any of the three territory Leadership Councils,” she continued. “All the active mayors have campaigned that they not be allowed to vote or to run for political office but they normally come up short with the required votes. This is the land of opportunity, after all. A few years back a witch named Roger Simpson came up with a potion that would eradicate certain cancers if detected in the early stages. His potion has saved thousands of lives and he became hugely popular, appearing on TV in interviews and on talk shows. He put every penny of profit back into hospitals and research for cures to other illnesses, leading to several promising breakthroughs that have the potential to extend the lives of almost every human on the planet. It was a huge PR win for the witches. Last year he announced that he would be running for mayor of the Southern territory in next year’s election. My sources tell me he actually has a chance.”

She paused, “My gut is telling me that the so called vamp crime wave, the kidnapping and killing of humans, is a set up intended to turn public opinion against all supernaturals and keep our current mayor in power. And speaking of power, he has recruited not only humans but enough supes to make this set up seem real. Most likely with promises of power and influence in return for cooperation. My traitor would be a perfect candidate for recruitment. All he cares about is power. The only group not having a betrayer is the Pack and it is very difficult to turn a pack member, someone whose instinct is to protect the pack at all cost.”

“Then we come to the last ‘P’,” she added. “The press. The Mayor is using his contacts in the press to wage a hate campaign and other than the Witch Council, few supe leaders have many friends among the press to fight such a campaign. We are going to need someone in the press on our side if we are going to succeed. If we kill everybody, it will just be as gasoline to the flames of hatred. Our goal is to capture the fae alive and get him to talk. We have to get the story out there and keep him out of the hands of the authorities while we are doing so. Let’s hope they don’t deal with him the same way they did that vamp in jail, otherwise we will need documented proof of the conspiracy. He’s smart and talented. My bet is he is holding the Mayor to any promises made and staying out of harms way in the meantime. He won’t be easy to get to and we need to take him alive.”

“He has what he calls a little ranch near a portal to Faerie not far from here. I would call it a fortress. I have people guarding the other side so if he is in there, he is not escaping through Faerie. There is only one road in and his place sits well back from it with a guarded gate at the entrance. He’s got a ten-foot-high fence surrounding the place, no trees near the fence and the grounds are patrolled by hellhounds.”

Hellhounds are not really from Hell, but they surely belong there,
I thought. One of the creatures from Faerie, used by the fae in their wars, they’re vicious and strong, afraid of nothing. Huge black dogs, with sharp fangs and trained to attack anything their master has not cleared. They would not stop attacking until their target was dead or they were.

“Sounds like fun,” Jane said.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “A good time to be had for everyone.”

We ditched the car about a half mile away and approached the ranch on foot, keeping to the woods and staying out of sight. Alexis had every tree and plant around and within his place cut down. Ten-foot brick walls with only one thick metal gate just as tall, which I could sense was iron, three human guards armed with assault weapons at the gate house. You could see a couple of the hellhounds lounging around the grounds through the bars of the gate just looking for an excuse to tear something to shreds. A large Spanish-style ranch, two more guards with automatic weapons stood at the front door. To the left of the house was what used to be a barn, that was now a guard house of some kind, the roof had been flattened out and on top of it were two mounted machine guns facing front towards the entrance and two more facing the rear. To the right of the house was a six-stall carport. Several military style jeeps and a few dune buggys with mounted weapons, a couple of these could be heard driving around the property. The house set back at least seventy yards form the walls. That was a long stretch to cross, exposed as we would be. And this we could all see just through the bars of the gate, there could be more defenses inside as well. The place was lit up like a Christmas tree, darkness would not be an advantage for us. The guards all had that ex-military look, alert and well trained. Alexis had poured a fortune into his private security.

I looked at Jane, she shrugged and we both looked at Jill. She was the Winter Queen and had fought wars before. I didn’t have a clue.

“I go through the gate in front, you two over the walls in the back corners. I will put a little winter magic to use on my car, a solid block of ice covering the front of it and if I can get it going fast enough it should be enough to crash through those gates. As soon as you hear the crash, you go over the walls. If the car is still moving, I will continue on to crash through the door of the house. I will use some more ice shields on the top and the sides of the car, so I won’t get shot up by the guns. I can probably hold these shields for a minute or two tops, it will be up to you guys to take out the small army in there. The hounds will react to the crash, rushing to the front. I have seen both of you run, and you are faster than they are. By the time they realize the property has been breached from the back corners, Jade you can scale the barn and take out the gunners up there, the ones in the back will probably turn around at the crash even as trained as they may be. You should have a least a few seconds before they turn back around to monitor their side. You simply man the machine guns and kill the guards and hellhounds on the ground. Jane you rip of the bars off one of the windows in the back and go after Alexis. I will hold the front door against the guards, I might be lucky there as I don’t know they will be shooting indiscriminately with their boss in the house.”

Jane looked at me this time, and this time I shrugged. We both looked at Jill.

“Look,” she said. “The key to a plan like this is confidence. Jane, you are the most powerful vamp in the territory, maybe even the country and Jade, from what I hear you might be one of the most powerful of whatever you are. You’re certainly not going to let a few humans and a puppy or two slow you down.”

“Sure,” I said. “I’m all over this thing.”

“Piece of cake,” Jane agreed.

Jill gave me her second dagger, she had two taped under her sweatshirt. “No fae lady goes into battle without a dagger,” she said. “For this that we do together you are fae.”

Chapter Twenty

Jill went back for the car. Jane and I stood there together for a moment, shoulders touching. Then she squeezed my hand and was gone, heading for the right back corner of the property.

I was really impressed with Jill. She was used to this, making plans and giving orders. Her confidence was infectious. She had a reputation and I had no doubt it was deserved. Now, just to execute the plan.

I had moved to my assigned spot and was ready. Reaching the ledge of a ten foot wall for a powerful vamp or shifter was really not difficult at all. I was more concerned with the leap to the ledge of the barn, it had to be at least seventeen feet to the top where the guards were located. I just didn’t have the experience to know for sure if I could pull it off. I was muttering, “Piece of cake,” over and over to myself when the crash came.

Three quick steps, a leap and my feet were on top of the wall then over and I was streaking for the barn, a blur, as fast as I could move. I saw that a few of the hounds had started towards the front already and one must have heard me because he was in the process of turning around.
No matter,
I thought, as I made my leap up to the back corner of the barn. I had to grab the ledge and flip myself up and over with my arms. No problem, I had made it with at least an inch to spare. By this time, the guards in the front corners were firing their guns and none of the guards heard me. The one closest to me started to turn around and I broke his neck with a swipe of my left hand, pivoting and quick stepping to the other guard putting my dagger under his chin through the brain with the tip showing through the top of his skull. Nice dagger, very sharp, one of the Queen’s own.

I was halfway to the guard mounting the gun on that front corner when the guard on the other side noticed me. They had stopped firing and the guard had been turning to other guard to say something. I hoped this meant that Jill had made the front door and that Jane had achieved her entry as well. Two more strides and I had reached the guard on my side. He had just started to stand up, realizing there was something behind him. I grabbed his neck and twisted, hearing a satisfying crack. Unfortunately, the other guard had drawn his hand gun and started firing at me, shooting through his buddy, who I was holding in front of me as a shield. I had hoped he was wearing body armor but no such luck as one of the bullets got through to my upper right chest. More silver, I could tell, stuck inside one of my lungs. I was so tired of getting shot. My dagger throw took that guard between the eyes, tip emerging on the other side of his head. Perfect balance, I was so not leaving this dagger behind.