Jade (3 page)

“Have you met Rolfe?” I asked, tugging him forward. He had been looking around, like a shifter at the zoo for the first time, smelling many strange and exotic scents.

“Of course,” Hans said. “How could we not know who Rolfe is? We sometimes work out together.”

It figures,
I thought. Everybody knows everybody in the shifter community, even those not part of the Pack. The Grayson Pack was a large one compared to many Packs in other territories, but still only a few hundred strong. Shifters were strong, and lived a long time, but not many children were born and turning someone in the old way was strictly prohibited, although as many accidents in this way happened as kids, in the long run.

“Yes, we are friends,” Rolfe said. “Although I have never been important enough to rate a visit to this place.”

Hans proceeded to give us the security tour. The one I had yesterday didn’t feature many of the things he was explaining to Rolfe as we walked around. Markus stayed near the door, waiting on the mate and daughter of the Pack leader to arrive. All the employees in the Lobby area doubled as security in an emergency and all had extensive training. Video cameras marked every person arriving and leaving and a computer program even tracked visitors, workers, and residents alike. If a visitor did not return to leave as scheduled, the resident in charge of that visitor would get a call from security. Workers had to obey a strict schedule or check in with security.

As we started up the elevator, Hans showed the key and ID system. A resident’s fingerprint was required on the pad, as well as both a key from the elevator operator and the resident. Visitors and workers had to be escorted up by security personnel. The interior of the elevators was also monitored and if anything unusual happened the elevator was stopped. Workers had certain shifts to maintain and were escorted in groups at their scheduled arrival and departure times. Failure to arrive or leave on time was grounds for dismissal.

Hans pushed the button for the top floor, number fifty, the penthouse and my new home.

Rolfe watched the floor indicator the whole way. Being on the top floor meant several stops along the way and I was introduced to a few more of the residents, all of whom were very curious about me. They had heard the penthouse had been purchased a few years back and were wondering if the owner was ever going to do anything with it. Hans made introductions each time, very formal and polite. They could see I was with Rolfe and all had heard of him. I could see they were itching to find out why one of the two shifter cops (now three but they didn’t know that yet) in the Capitol was riding with me up to the penthouse. Great fun, and I left them in the dark.

The doors opened to the penthouse, just a small foyer to the doors labeled ‘50, J. Smith.’ Three crates of wine were parked by the big door and on the table was a small package, wrapped in brown paper.

“Wow!” I exclaimed. “My package is here already.”

Hans replied, “Yes, special delivery. The delivery guy gave Markus a hard time and would not leave until we provided him with a certified copy of your power of attorney giving us the okay to accept packages on your behalf.”

“This is really awesome,” I told Rolfe. “My day is getting so much better.”

“X-Rays showed it to be a knife of some kind, Ms. Smith,” Hans said. “Don’t open it if that is not what you were expecting.

“This is no ordinary knife,” I exclaimed. “It is a dagger and a very valuable one.”

About that time Hans got a call over his earpiece, one that both Rolfe and I could hear with our shifter hearing. Our party had arrived.

“Come on in,” I told Rolfe, hitting the palm plate and keying my security code at the same time. “Two-inch-thick solid wood with a half inch of steel plate in the middle of this door, by the way.”

Rolfe looked at it as if he could break it open with his pinky finger. Maybe he could–the man was almost unstoppable.

“Welcome to my home,” I said.

Company already and I was feeling giddy and excited. I was proud of what I had done here and didn’t mind showing it off. The entrance room was the main living area, hardwood floors, wood and various leathers made up the furniture. All looking comfortable yet tasteful and well made. I was very pleased with the choices my decorator had made, and had actually fallen asleep on the main couch last night. Paintings of forest and nature scenes decorated the walls, I had selected these from pictures the decorator had sent me. A large-screen TV, and a big solid wood coffee table sat between couches and chairs. A few throw rugs adorned the floors, all natural and neutral colors. It was dark but a quiet and peaceful presentation. I loved it.

On the coffee table was a large fishbowl full of various dark chocolates, I had to have this around and had grabbed a few on my way out this morning. Hans was bringing the wine in as the elevator arrived and I rushed to the door to welcome my other visitors.

“Please come in,” I told Lily and Emily as they came out of the elevator. “My home is yours.”

I proceeded to give everyone the tour, even Hans, Markus, and Rolfe who looked like he was in no hurry to leave. To the left, was a door leading to a hallway with the two guest bedrooms and a room I had set up as a workout room. To the right was another hallway to the master bedroom and a room I used to hold and display my various knives, swords, and other sharp instruments. All three bedrooms had their own bathrooms. Behind the living area was a bar separating the living room and the kitchen/dining area, a standard kitchen with a few extras. Two commercial espresso makers, the automatic kind, and a large industrial size coffee grinder with brewer and large air pots adorned the counter. Giant jars and hoppers of various coffee and espresso beans littered the counters as well. I was definitely not going to be short on coffee. A Starbucks barista would be jealous of this set up. Big windows laid out a view of the city in all directions. Retractable blinds for privacy and security were also wooden, that is, wood covering steel slats.

All the while I was carrying that package around. Lily and Emily were very complimentary of my place. Rolfe just had a funny look on his face.

“I really have to get going,” Rolfe said. “Lily, it looks like the security here will be fine. However, Smith, I do want to see that dagger you are so excited about before I leave,” he said, looking at me expectantly.

Chapter Four

“Has anyone ever heard of the Sicam Tenebrarum?” I asked.

We were gathered around the large coffee table, my package sitting next to my bowl of chocolates.

“One of my teachers talked about it in class,” Emily said. “She said it was a dagger thought to be from a battle between angels of light and darkness that was left behind.

“Excellent,” I said. “I hope you got an A in that class. The story goes that a young man traveling upon a deserted path came upon two angels fighting, one from Heaven and one from Hell. There was a great clashing of swords and furious fighting and the light was so bright the boy had to look away. When he looked back they were gone, leaving the dagger in the dirt. This was about five-hundred years ago and the dagger has been the subject of much fighting and controversy since. Stolen numerous times, bought and sold numerous times, all owners trying to solve the mystery of this dagger. It is made of an unknown alloy that nobody seems to be able to replicate and it was assumed to be a magic blade as that is what is thought such creatures use. Only a magic blade would be capable of killing such a creature and it was thought that any supernatural being would be subject to its magic.”

I paused, everyone was staring at the package now. “Eventually, as technology advanced and many witches and magical creatures tried to use it, the theory became that although it was an artifact of unknown metal there was nothing magical about it and the boy just found it but did not witness a fight between angels. It no longer became the subject of theft and fighting, instead being bought and sold among collectors and the curious. The owner I got it from was a scientific think tank running low on funding. They had this thing for the last six years and sold it to avoid shutting down. I was fortunate to get this for just a few million dollars.”

Rolfe looked at me sideways. “Smith,” he said, “I could have got you a really nice dagger for just a few hundred.”

“I have many daggers, Rolfe. You assume that the current theory is the correct one. I happen to know that the dagger is the real deal and its magic just needs to be activated. I also know the secret of how to activate it.”

With that, I proceeded to open the package. It was wrapped in soft leather, which I laid on the table and unfolded. The dagger was beautiful in its simplicity. The metal was a very dark color, almost black with just a tinge of blue, said to be the color of midnight.

“It was first assumed that this dagger must have been dropped by the angel of Hell, based on its dark color. Hence the name it was given many years ago. They were wrong about that as well.”

I held the dagger up and the light of heaven shone forth, brilliant, seeking every shadow and filling it with that light. Other than Emily, the rest had turned their eyes away from it. She was stronger in her magic and I could tell she was fascinated by the dagger. I withdrew my dagger from my right boot sheath, a close copy I had found, very similar in design and replaced it in my boot sheath with the Sicam Tenebrarum.

“I so love it when a plan comes together,” I said. The light faded away.

Rolfe looked at me, appearing almost to be in pain. “So, let me get this straight, Smith. You buy a five-hundred-year-old dagger that has confounded science and magic for a half century, and you just happen to know the secret to activate it?”

Ooops,
I thought, another blunder. I was flat out getting tired of this.

“Yeah, Rolfe. You nailed it. And it will remain my secret and don’t expect any apologies for it.” I was now determined to not be ashamed of what I was or try to cover up for my blunders. He was just going to have to deal. “As my partner,” I said, “I expect you to both respect such secrets and to back me up if I need back up.”

Chapter Five

Rolfe had left a few hours ago. I hoped things went okay at the police station. I had spent some time getting to know Lily and Emily, grounding Emily again before she went to bed. She had not been getting much sleep lately. It turns out, I was not properly stocked for company unless all they ate or drank was chocolate, steak, coffee, and red wine. Fortunately, Hans made a run downstairs for us for some popcorn and sodas. We talked about Emily and her upcoming shift. Lily was confident things would work out. We watched several episodes of a South Court marathon. It involved this evil lawyer named Clive, they would constantly try to kill him off and you would think they succeeded but in the next episode you would always find out that he had somehow escaped, miraculously untouched. I wondered if they had ever heard of the Sicam Tenebrarum? I was almost tempted to give the producers a call but that would pretty much mean the end of the series.

Stepping out of my shower, I looked at myself in the mirror. I had hoped Rolfe found me attractive. I knew I was his “type”. Not a beauty but a classic face, aristocratic features, short and straight black hair, a slightly olive skin tone. I had the athletic build of most shifters, solid, not slender but not bulky either. I knew he appreciated the fact that I was able to hold my own earlier today at the crime scene, even though that might mean some trouble for us down the road.

I had made some blunders on my first day but I was resolved to not worry about it too much more. I am what I am, I told myself. Take it or leave it. I wasn’t going to lie or make excuses for being too good or too rich or having an unusual diet. People could either like me or not. I was happy with who I was. This job was a dream come true and even if things had not gone the way I had hoped, I was still satisfied with my first day. I think I had met some new friends, got to meet the pack leader and thoroughly confounded my partner.

Tomorrow would bring news of how the department was seeing the crime scene. I hoped that girl was able to back our story. It sounded like we had an audience with one of the vamp bigwigs in town, that might generate a few leads on the case as well. Although the FBI would handle the questioning of the vamps that were brought in, we would get a chance to act on leads they might generate. This case involved many areas of law enforcement; it was simply to important not to cooperate and use all available resources.

Yes,
I thought as I settled in to sleep. Overall, I can’t complain. Life should be about surprises, unexpected things, and of course, unintended consequences. I had learned some things today. I was looking forward to day two.

* * * *

I was awakened at two a.m. by a call from Rolfe to my cell phone. The other cop shifter, a detective in the paranormal division named Stu Williams was following another lead that could help us find more of the missing. It seems the station had a call from a member of the fae community claiming to know the location of another house used by the vamps. Rolfe was already waiting for me downstairs.

“Stu is waiting for us at the witness’ home,” he said. “Some old fae who doesn’t speak English very well. All he can understand from her is that it looks like a house. He has offered to drive her and follow her directions but it doesn’t seem like she is understanding what he is saying.”

As he drove us to the home of the witness, I asked Rolfe about the reaction at the police station. “The girl has confirmed our version but the Captain is still not pleased. If the vamps in custody get a good lawyer they can still make a claim of police brutality. Fortunately, it looks like none of the vamp masters in the city are claiming these vamps as a member of their groups, probably a smart move on their part. The vamps have mostly recovered but are still not talking. They have asked for a lawyer and the judge will probably assign them a public defender in the morning. The girl hasn’t been able to tell us much. The FBI team talked to her but she hasn’t shed much light on who is behind this or other possible locations people are being held. They did say we could interview her sometime this afternoon depending on her doctors.”