Ironically enough, the taxi dispatched to pick us up was a newer unmanned model. Over the years, there have been various trends of automation versus manned. We seemed to be entering the era of crewless vehicles once more. Miss elf entered the floater entirely without a care. It was still uncommon enough that I hadn’t thought to request an older unit. I calmed my aura and stepped in with quite a bit more trepidation. When asked where I wanted to go by a pleasantly bland artificial female voice, I was able to get it to recognize my address. That was the last thing that went smoothly.

“Wow! I have never been flying in a human vessel before,” my bubbly elf companion offered with a smidge less than her usual enthusiasm. “Are you sure this is safe?” I frowned at her while looking at the bright brand spanking new interior. It undoubtedly had one of the new quantum chips churning away with information under that console. At that moment, I heard a loud pop and the ionized scent of lightning, as something gave way deep inside the car’s innards.

“Statistically speaking, it’s the safest way to travel,” I said, fixing a smile on my face. My aura was pretty tightly under control. I could sense hers humming away in its usual vibrant fashion most mages had. As wild as it was, it could only get worse if she became too excited. “By the way, did you know that 75% of statistics are made up on the spot?” I added brightly and immediately cursed myself.

“I had no idea,” she smiled in an oblivious manner. “How utterly fascinating!” Another crackle came from the interior, and the car jinked to the side. Her smile became a bit strained as the aircar listed to one side and horns sounded from several air cars suddenly finding themselves far too close to our erratic vehicle. “It is supposed to do that?”

“Absolutely! There used to be these things called roller coasters,” I blathered quickly. “Something like trains on tracks, but the tracks had carefully designed hairpin turns and loops that people went on to be thrilled. Isn’t it wonderful how they have updated their transport to include us in the fun?”

Another bang heralded wisps of blue smoke blowing through the vents. I pointed randomly at the ground ahead of us. “Oh look, a new bookstore, let’s stop off there and see if they have the 1964 edition of the “Archeologist.” I have been looking for that one forever.” I think I was pointing to a fountain, but I was caring less and less about authenticity. “Taxi, please deter to the next intersection and land.”

“I apologize, sir, but the route is locked. We will be approaching your destination in four minutes; please state your account number for funds transfer,” stated the artificial calm voice.

“Four minutes. We would have to be going almost three times the speed limit to make the trip in that time,” I muttered to myself, absently crunching the numbers. As if on cue, we were pushed back in our seats as the car sped up. Honking around us was now almost non-stop, achieving a doppler effect as each quickly faded behind us.

“I don’t think I like roller coasters,” Estella said nervously, her aura blooming around her as her state of mind caused her energies to stir excitedly. Another crackle from the machinery initiated us into another round of fun as the aircar flipped upside down while otherwise continuing on its course.

The elf maid and I fell out of our seats in a pile on the roof as this became our new floor. “Can we stop now? Please?” her frightened voice asked.

“I would love to oblige, but I think we are riding this to the end unless we jump out,” I said soothingly. It was pretty clear that we were not in control at this point. While I could jump out, that would still leave the car hurtling towards its destination. I had an uncomfortable feeling its destination was still my house. At least I could affect the outcome a little more from where I was. “Hey Estella, do you happen to have a force field spell in your repertoire?”

“Um, yes,” she gulped loudly. “Several of them!”

“I would suggest you cast them all,” I could see my neighborhood approaching quickly. “Now!”

I erected my own field and noted that as we approached my home, an odd crowd gathered around it. A mob of several hundred tiny demonic insect creatures surrounded the house. The ward’s effects were easily delineated by the simple expediency of the burning demons on the edges that were forcibly shoved into the protected zone by the group’s mass behind them. It almost looked like there were fireworks, as demon after demon entered the immaterial, but very real, warded sphere and then went up like a Roman candle. A small bundle of clothes was huddled in front of my door as the inferno raged twenty feet from the lump.

Meanwhile, the aircar was accelerating and appeared to be aimed directly at my entryway. I forcibly expanded my aura and was rewarded by spumes of smoke from the vents, a reverberating explosion from under the hood, and a ballistic trajectory... still aimed directly at my front egress. At least I wasn’t accelerating. I put a force bubble on the front porch, covering the bundle there, and with all my telekinetic strength, pushed down on the vehicle of doom.

This forced the car downward into the permacrete of the road. I had tried to push us flat as opposed to nose-diving into the ground, so we scraped along the ground, the ‘top’ of the car skidding and creating a cascade of sparks. I kept up as much pressure as I could in the hopes of keeping us from flipping uncontrollably and adding as much friction as possible. I heard the sound similar to massive hailstones pelting a tin roof, as innumerable tiny bodies were smashed and most likely pulped by the car. A moment later, the entire car lit up as if it was a center of a bonfire before striking was I assumed to be my barrier, causing foam to pour out around me, cushioning us somewhat from the final jarring impact.

I flailed around a bit, trying to get the foam from my eyes. I needn’t have bothered since the foam evaporated within seconds, leaving a sticky residue on the elf and me. Looking around, I noticed that the car had held up remarkably well. The elf had held up well too. She looked a bit bedraggled and sticky with a green sheen that could have been a sign of nausea or merely the remains of the foam.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I kicked the door off the frame and crawled out. I reached back to help her out. Everything was sticky. Disgusting.

“I. Hate. Roller. Coasters,” she spat as she crawled out of the overturned vehicle.

“Look on the bright side,” I offered absently as I surveyed the mess. “The car exploded before they could bill my account.”

We stood among the embers of a small artificial hill made up of tiny demonic skeletons and ashes. Surrounding the house was still an enormous crowd of foot-tall, ant-like demons that were clicking at us agitatedly. We had plowed through a good half of them, but the remaining numbers were spreading out to fill in the swathe of destruction the car had left. They blithely stepped over their pulped fellows, and the fireworks display at the front line of demons being pushed in the protected area began again.

“That’s a lot of demons,” muttered Estella. “Should I summon an elemental? I am a bit low on energy, and I think my friend may not like being called so soon after he just did me a favor...”

“Don’t bother,” I responded, eying the horde of tiny terrors. “Admittedly, that many demons would be nasty to fight, even weak ones like these. But they can’t get in, and my wards can last indefinitely. Only the physical effect ones are energy hogs.” I think. I never had an army of demons constantly pecking at it, but the wards versus minor supernatural evil, demons, spirits, and vampires are pretty passive. They should be able to sip off the ley line that was nearby.

I heard a whimpering behind me and turned to see the bundle on my doorstep move. A tiny head peered up at me, and it took a moment to realize that a little girl was sitting on my porch, her arms around her knees. She had obviously been crying as her cheeks still glistened with tears.

“Beth?” I asked in confusion. What the heck was Jeremy’s sister doing on my porch surrounded by demons? Okay, I still didn’t know what I was doing here surrounded by demons, but maybe she actually had some answers. “What are you doing here?”

She stood up quickly and, with a squeak of relief and excitement, rushed towards me. Unfortunately, my invisible barrier was still up between us. She ran headfirst into it, bounced back with a hollow thunk, and collapsed unconscious on the ground.

“Damn, Jeremy is going to kill me,” I exclaimed, slapping my forehead as I dispelled my bubble and went to examine the girl. I could feel Estella at my back as I knelt next to the girl. Fortunately, on this side of my dispelled barrier, the ground was clear of demon bones and ashes. I ran my hand over her a few inches from her body and sensed that it was mostly stress and pressure that was responsible for her state. The knock to her head was just the final nail. The best thing I could do for her would be to let her rest for a few minutes. I needed to take out the trash anyway. Picking up the girl, I opened the door and went inside.

I wiped my feet at the door and then laid Beth on the couch. “Would you mind looking after her for a few minutes? I need to take care of the demons. Oh, wait. Call Jeremy and tell him his sister is here too. My vid should still be working.”

“Of course I will,” she said in a sober tone. It was the most serious I had seen her since we had met.

I stopped to wash my hands and face clean off some of the foam residue before heading to the basement. Behind the newly acquired barrels of holy water, I had stacks and stacks of ceramic bowls with airtight lids that I had inscribed with a basic preservation ward. I had intended to go over to Tower Plaza and ask for a cup of demon bits, but fate provides. I grabbed all of the bowls and slowly made my way back upstairs, the stacked bowls swaying ominously.

“Did you get a hold of Jeremy?” I called out as I passed the living room.

“No, I keep getting his answering service,” she stated quietly. She must have washed up a little as well because she looked less sticky and green. The proudly colorful clothes that she had gone out this morning in were a far cry from the stained rags that she now had, but they were better than what she had ten minutes ago.

“Beth should sleep for a bit if you want to take a shower,” I suggested as I continued out the front door. “There are clean robes in the closet, but I am afraid I don’t have any clothes that would fit you. While I am sure Mei wouldn’t mind loaning you a dress, she’s about a foot shorter than you.”

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” the elf asked, somewhat cheered by the prospect of being clean again.

“No, I’m good,” I assured her. “I’ll be done by the time you’re out.”

By then, I was out the door staring at my clicking audience. Setting down my bowls, I started scooping several bowls full of ashes and several more full of bones. I began to whistle cheerfully as I worked. Except for the whole wrecked vehicle thing, this was really working out well. I paused to see the furrow the car had plowed in the street and the gore staining my steps. Okay, mostly good. The gore should evaporate soon as the demon essence returned to their own plane. I then moved up to the protective ward barrier that was still lit by brightly burning demons being pushed through it.

The minuscule beasts clicked and hissed in fury as I approached. I ignored them and continued whistling as I reached through and grabbed one. Careful not to move the demon through the barrier, I grabbed its head in one hand and twisted it in a full circle, eliciting a popping crack noise as the neck shattered. The body twitched and was still. I moved the bowl out of the ward, placed the corpse into it, and replaced the lid. Only then did I bring my bowl full of demon ingredients back through the protective ward.

Naturally, the demons did not let this action go unopposed. While I was processing, the demon’s companions leaped at my exposed hands, virtually covering them with writhing insectile bodies. Truly disgusting; however, my force field was still up, and to be honest, they were as minor a supernatural threat as demons came in. If I went out of the ward, they could swarm me and perhaps seriously injure me before I dealt with them, five or ten at a time was beyond trivial. I simply moved my arms back into the ward, and the demons burst into brilliant, multicolored flames as they entered the field. This did horrible things to my sleeves, but it took far hotter fires than that to burn me.

In this manner, I filled up the remaining bowls with quick efficiency. I had been limited in what circles and wards I researched due to a lack of ingredients. Only so many items can be substituted with dragon’s blood. It was well worth a few clothes. This ‘restocking’ had no appreciable impact on the number of demons. They seemed as numerous now as they did before I skidded the taxi through the host.

Shaking my head ruefully, I went back into the house with my bounty and went back to the living room after safely storing it away. Estella still wasn’t out, which was fine since I wasn’t finished yet. I quickly popped the cover I had inscribed with the anti-magic ward off and headed downstairs. As I went, I slid the durasteel beams into the place that secured the house’s windows and doors.

Once in the basement, I approached the protective ward with some trepidation. I was taking a bit of a gamble here. Double or nothing. If my anti-magic ward destroyed my protection ward, I would be forced to go out and directly confront and fight hundreds of little demons. I had no doubt I would win, but the house might get trashed, and it would take me time to heal. I firmed up my resolution and slammed the warded cover over the protection ward with a sigh. A ripple went through the ether as I felt a lack of something that I had barely even noticed was there. Almost immediately after, I heard clicking, scratching, and clawing as minute demonic claws scrabbled on the outside of the house, desperate to get in. I counted to thirty and then removed the cover.

The energy of the warding flooded the area again, calming my mind and filling me with a sense of security. Likely a false sense of security, but these days I would take what I could get. Outside, a chorus of hissing screams sounded. It would be redundant to say it was the voices of the damned. While I was in the basement, I could imagine that army of darkness that had packed itself against the house now was in flames. It was unlikely that any of the creatures would survive, but dealing with a handful of the bugs would be simple. After more than a minute of hissing and screaming, there was silence.

I trudged back upstairs and into the living room, retracting the beams as I ascended. Estella was there, an obviously hastily donned robe over her and her hair still full of suds. Apparently, the wail of hundreds of dying demons can almost rouse the dead because Beth was sitting up on the couch looking around franticly.

“Hello Beth,” I nodded to the little girl as I snapped the vid cover on again. I shook my head sadly. Smoke wafted from the exposed electronics. I had forgotten to turn the unit off before removing the lid. Jeremy would have to fix it again. I had just gotten used to the idea that it would be working reliably. “We haven’t been able to get in touch with your brother. I’ll have to go to the store to use their terminal to call him again.”

“There’s no point in that,” the little girl said tearfully. “They took him.”

My gut clenched as Beth told her story. It was short and to the point. Several men in suits had broken into their house while Jeremy was home. They were incredibly strong, smashing through the front door with casual ease. I had made a point in ensuring Jeremy had upgraded his home to some higher quality defenses, which implied a nonhuman smash and grab.

Beth had been in her room, but it was apparent they had ignored her. If these were shifters, they doubtless had enhanced senses and wouldn’t have missed the tiny girl peering down the hallway. The apartment’s lights had flickered, and the little stunner Jeremy had concealed on him only shot once before sparking and dying. He may as well have been throwing spitballs for all the good it did him. They ignored the hit, and one of them electrocuted him from across the room. I winced at the complete overkill. Jeremy is many things, but a combat monster is not one of them. He was instead a retreat and regroup fellow. I never could understand that approach, but I tend to be proactive in situations that impact me.

I frowned again as Beth finished her story. She cringed away from me, earning me a stern look from Estella. I forced a smile on my face, but I doubt it was very comforting. “I see that they pretty much ignored you when they picked up Jeremy, but why did they send an army of demons after you?”

“I don’t know where they came from,” she shivered in reaction, evoking a one-armed hug from the elf next to her on the couch. “When the power came back on, I took a taxi to here, and when you weren’t home, I waited for you on the porch.”

“Oh, I see,” I said softly. I certainly did see. Jeremy was taken, most likely by Jin’s upgraded henchmen. The next step was to storm my home with demonic vermin. I wasn’t sure whether it was Mei or myself that triggered it, but Beth was unfortunate enough to get in the crossfire twice.

“Why didn’t you call your parents,” Estella asked. Good questions, young humans had to have guardians.

“They have to see the doctors today. They are going to be in isolation until tomorrow.” The timing was a bit too convenient; it sounded more intentional than accidental.

“I’m sorry, are they sick,” Estella softly asked.

“No, there’s this entire nanite plague prevention thing going on,” I interrupted, receiving a blank look from the Álfar. “There’s a whole backstory that involves how Australia melted,” I offered. The blank stare didn’t change. “It’s not important.”

“Okay.” For a moment, Estella looked as lost as the girl. “Well then, I guess we will look after you until your brother is returned.”

“That reminds me, how did you get the taxi to take you here?”

“You’re on my emergency contact list,” Beth said quietly. “The city pays for transport to anyone on that list. They’ll bill mom and dad later.”

“Sounds like talking to the vampires just got moved up in the priority list,” I stated decisively. “Conrad is talking to the shifters, and I’ll talk to Vivian,” I paused for a moment in thought. “Maybe Vince would be a better bet. Yeah, let’s go talk to Clan Fiero.”

“Isn’t Beth a little young to take to a meeting with an undead clan?” Estella asked disapprovingly, her usual cheerful countenance hidden from view.

“Why?” I looked between the elf and the young girl. Estella still had a guest robe on, and it looked like Jeremy’s sister had run out of the house in pajamas. “Oh, right, you guys need to get dresses. I should probably change my shirt too.”

“Our clothes are beside the point,” the elf said sharply. “You can’t take a child to parley with the dead.”

“She must be at least three years old, and Jeremy said she was advanced for her age. I was killing rabid vampires when I was that age,” I offered in confusion.

“Don’t be absurd,” Estella contradicted, waving a finger at me. “Humans mature far slower than that. She obviously can’t be more than thirty; she shouldn’t be away from her parent’s side, regardless of this silly ‘nanite’ issue.”

“I am eight years old,” an indignant voice called out. Estella and I looked at each other in confusion.

“So... is that old enough to go out with us?” I asked, not nearly as sure of myself as I was a moment ago. It seemed pretty old, but I was walking around, talking, and hunting beasts for food hours after I hatched.

“That seems so young,” the elf trailed off, less sure than she was as well.

“Eight is old enough to do things on my own; I got here, didn’t I,” she huffed. “I’m practically an adult.”

“See,” I stated in triumph.

“She’s so tiny, though,” Estella said, frowning.

“Only a little bit more than Mei, and you can’t say she isn’t an adult.”

“Fine, we’re going to have to watch out for her, though,” the elf sighed.

“I’d give her a sword, but I guess she is a little small,” I eyed the girl critically. “Not much point unless it’s a rune sword.” I doubted Jeremy’s little sister had super strength. I am almost positive he would have mentioned that. “Okay, let’s go with defense. I have a couple of experimental wards that should pop up a real physical force bubble.” I think they would. I hadn’t tried it yet, and the practice wards would only elicit a tiny force field, but Beth then again was a tiny girl.

I ran downstairs and rummaged through my supplies, getting a leather pouch with five placards engraved with sigils, a vial of dragon blood, and a tiny sheathed dagger I had been using to etch the symbols. I paused a moment in front of the stack of experimental energy expulsion wards sitting on the workbench before making a face. I left them there. I don’t think I could face Jeremy if I accidentally disintegrated his sister.

I suppose I was down longer than I thought because Estella had fixed her hair and dressed. I handed Beth the pouch and supplies and went through the activation procedure for the ward. Since they were already empowered, all they needed was triggering. A drop of dragon blood and a drop of the activator’s blood in the center would set it in motion. In theory.

We then trooped out of the house towards the market. I took a few minutes to shove the wreckage of the taxi further off to the side. The crash foam had long since broken down into a sticky slime, and I almost slipped on the large puddle around the vehicle before I caught myself on the side. The gore from the burned demons and ichor had evaporated. Except for the bodies I had preserved, the remains had discorporated entirely as the essence of the demons fled back to their plane.

I gave the taxi an extra kick, sliding it another meter into the street, as I took in the damage to the road and my lawn and porch. The permacrete road only had a shallow furrow, but the short distance the car had made through the grass before impacting my shield was utterly torn up in a disgusting mixture of churned soil, grass, and slime. I had to stifle the urge to go back to the house and add the repairs to Jeremy’s ‘to do’ list. There wasn’t much of a point without Jeremy, and the sooner I made the arrangements with the vampires to track down Jin’s followers, the sooner he would be back. As we left, I went over to the garden hose and took a minute to spray the crash gel residue off of me and my clothes. Sopping wet but not sticky, I wrung out my shirt.

Walking to the market area, I paused a second to look around. Usually, in a crash, the police and medical services would be all over the area. After a moment, I saw a crashed traffic buoy lying on the street several hundred meters away. Faint wisps of smoke trailed up into the air from the carcass. Wow, Estella’s last panic attack must have taken out all the area's traffic monitoring and control nodes. Likely all traffic had been routed away from here until engineers were sent out to identify and fix the problem. Thinking about it, my last aura surge where I took out the engines on the floater may have been the cause. I nodded to myself; if anyone asks, it will be the elf’s fault.

It was a somber trio that made it into the market to the public holo terminal. I was calling a cab and ordering a pickup when the álfar grabbed my arm. “What is it, Hel... er Stella.”

“Wh... what are you doing?” she nervously asked.

“Ordering a taxi,” I stated slowly. What the heck else would I be doing?

“I don’t like taxi rides,” she said, gathering herself and ending in a firm statement. “Human technology isn’t safe.”

“Huh, why not?” I asked, confused. A second later, I realized what the issue was. “That wasn’t a typical ride.”

“You said they all flew that way,” she said indignantly.

“I was trying to keep you calm,” I explained. “The newer technology is very vulnerable to magic and even the auras from the stronger mages and supernatural creatures. When you got nervous, your aura flared and poof.”

“Oh,” she paused in thought. “What makes you think it won’t happen again?”

“Now that I am ordering the aircar, I’ll make sure to get an older model. I tip well, so it shouldn’t be a problem.” I added thoughtfully, “Though if you see smoke next time, try to think happy thoughts. Non-crashy things.”

“Can we walk instead?” she asked with a hint of desperation.

“That would be silly, it would take hours to get there, and Beth would be exhausted.”

“I... I can summon an air elemental to fly us there,” Estella offered triumphantly.

“Really? That would be cool,” I perked up. I had never flown with an elemental.

“That would be awesome,” chimed in the tiny human girl. Right, the human girl.

“I don’t think we should take Beth on that kind of ride.” I subtly leaned over to the elf and whispered in her ear. “Elementals get kind of careless with mortals unless you’re an elemental mage. They may squish the fragile H-U-M-A-N,” I spelled out the last word.

“Hey! I can spell,” the girl squeaked indignantly, obviously grossly insulted. Maybe I wasn’t that subtle.

“Okay, what about that other contraption, the one with two wheels,” the hint of panic fully blossoming into something more.

“You want us to bike to the vampire meeting?” I asked incredulously. Only the nostalgia freaks and hardcore tourists used those things. “There’s no way that Beth could walk or bike or hike or even roll there,” I explained with less patience than before.

“What about,” she started.

“She can’t swim there either,” I interrupted.

Estella broke out of her incipient panic to glare at me. “That’s absurd; I was going to suggest a ‘bicycle’ caravan. I saw it once with Faramond.”

I stared blankly at her. I didn’t understand the reference at all. Beth tugged on my sleeve. “I think she means a rickshaw.” She had taken my spot at the terminal and was doing a search. “There’s a tour place about a mile away. We can go there.”

I looked over her shoulder, and sure enough, there was a rotating image of something that looked like a large tricycle with a two-seater open carriage behind the bike seat. “Driving through the Blight in that thing is asking to get mugged,” I offered weakly.

“We just went through that earlier today,” Estella quickly jumped in. “There’s hardly any of the previous occupants.”

“Fine,” I conceded tiredly. “Beth, please call ahead and see if we can purchase a ‘rickshaw’. I’ll pull it myself; no way am I waiting for some slowpoke. Make sure it’s all durasteel construction.”

I gave her my account information and went off to buy a few bags of food to eat on the way. It was looking like it was going to be a long day. If I had known a traumatized elf would be such a pain in the ass, I would have blindfolded her before we took the taxi.

An hour later, I was feeling very conflicted. Biking was definitely slower, but I enjoyed the feeling of the wind. Due to the durasteel frame material, I could push the rickshaw up to forty miles an hour. It got less stable at that point, and the wind was buffeting the passengers. It likely would have been worse, but I felt Stella moving some magic around. It probably just made the open carriage seat behind the bike portion act less like a parachute.

On the other hand, there was the basic fact that I had passengers. I wasn’t sure, but it felt somehow demeaning. Perhaps after all this, I would buy a single bike with ridiculous gear ratios, so I didn’t have to spin the pedals so fast. It might even catch on among the supernatural community. Like me, most of them were long on strength but not so fast on the pedaling.

Beth squealed in delight, and in the mirror, I saw her put out her hand like an airplane. At least the adventure was distracting the girl. Even Stella had relaxed, and her natural bubbly personality was peeking through. I had no idea why. Driving a rickshaw at speeds far beyond its intended specifications seemed more hazardous than an aircar, and there weren’t any stashes of foam to slow your crashes.

I had made this walk reasonably often through the Blight, but as I had seen earlier, it had been transformed by the flurry of construction. There was actual air traffic above us, and the roads that weren’t blocked off for construction were clear with only ordinary city pedestrians. No gangs, homeless, street fires, or similar scenes of urban disaster met our eyes as we sped through the streets.

The detours around the construction zones took most of the time, turning a relatively straight shot into a winding maze. Nevertheless, we eventually made it out of the Blight and into the monolithic Tower Plaza’s shadow. A different set of guards in their ever classic tuxedos were at the doors, but I saw some spark of recognition in their eyes. Either that or they were surprised to see a man-sized tricycle with a coach barely slide to a halt in front of them. It really wasn’t built to go that fast.

“Please let Vincent know that Derek is here to see him,” I told the larger one.

“He is expecting you,” he looked dubiously at the vehicle. “Should I call the valet to park your... bike?”

“Nah, I’ll just leave it here,” I nodded back with a smile as I helped Beth down from her seat. “I shouldn’t be here long.”

As we entered through the doors, Beth drew a breath in wonder at the authentic holographic view of the wilderness. To be honest, I think it looked better than an actual forest meadow—certainly less dirt.

The elf was less impressed. “It’s a room full of pretty lies,” she said with disdain. “There is nothing natural here at all. Are these ghost plants?”

“I hadn’t thought about it that way before, but how much more appropriate is it for the vampire’s central headquarters to be an undead vision of nature.” Beth’s smile immediately dimmed, and she pushed up against my side shivering. Perhaps I shouldn’t have dwelled on the creepy parts of the view. Still, it’s hard to get away from that around the undead. There’s not much creepier than them.

Winding my way to the elevator again, I saw a glowing orb floating in the air showing me the way to the contrasting metal interior. As we piled in, I looked worriedly at the girl. The vampires would use reliable inertia dampeners in their own home, wouldn’t they? I was about to have us turn around and use the stairs when the numbers flickered and started to increase swiftly. As before, there was no sense of motion before we came to a halt. I shrugged; we’d take the stairs down.

There were fewer people in the hallways as we went through. Most had the telltale grace that signaled the undead. Beth looked around at the people in wonder, obviously realizing what she was among. Stella was far more suspicious of them and gave them wary sidelong looks as they passed us. In return, they gave us sneers, though Stella earned a few admiring, though puzzled looks when they noticed her ears.

We finally came to the meeting room’s ornate doorway, and I just entered without knocking this time. Hopefully, they would have something to eat; I didn’t get much snacking done with me doing all the physical work. Looking around the room, I noted the central table was still strewn with papers, and a somewhat harried Vincent sat at the end, reviewing some documents. I wondered if he had even moved since I was here last. A well-dressed man was at his elbow. He was likely an aid, or a sycophant, maybe even a butler. Heck, the various style escaped me; he could’ve been a duke for all I knew. I had no idea if he was the same aid here previously.

“Hello Vincent, it’s been a while. You never call or write,” I opened the conversation with a smile.

Vincent’s eyes slowly rose from his papers, “Flippant, as always,” he muttered with a remarkable amount of disdain. “Still, Vivian insists you are worth the annoyance.” He glanced at my companions. “Why did you bring a child and a Sidhe with you?”

“I am not a Sidhe,” Estella denied indignantly, “I am an álfar, not one of those barbarians.”

“You can never go wrong with a magic elf,” I started smiling. At Stella’s glare, I weakly continued. “Unless you're one of those uncivilized brutes, of course. Everyone knows álfars are the best magical elves around.” Looking away from the angry elf and towards Beth, “I’m just looking after my friend’s sister until I catch up with his kidnappers.” I patted her on the head in a friendly manner. She turned and gave me a pouting look. I wasn’t sure why my companions were all glaring at me today.

“Vivian told me that she had given you the data, wasn’t that all you needed,” he asked with poorly hidden impatience.

“Thanks for that,” I nodded to him. “We used that data to get a map of the lay lines and nodes. It gives us an excellent idea of where the next test sites will be.”

“I see,” he stated neutrally. “How does this impact us?”

“So you have no desire to stop random apprentices from summoning demonic horrors into your territory,” I prodded.

“Vivian gave orders not to interfere with Jin’s plans,” he stated gruffly. I think he only gritted his teeth slightly.

“Right, you wouldn’t want Jin to kill off the High Council... again,” I said, noting his wince. “However, it is your territory, and it can’t look good to the community to have all Hell break loose and all you can do clean up the mess.”

“I expect you have a suggestion, or you would have no reason to be here,” he sighed in resignation.

“Well, since the maps show where the likely nodes are going to be, it would be reasonable to set a watch on those locations and perhaps notify someone that such activity is happening. If those other parties take action, I don’t see how there could be any repercussions,” I offered with a smile.

“I suppose you would want me to contact the new Special Forces department,” he said, frowning.

I paused. Actually, I had pictured him contacting me. Now that he had brought it up, I thought he had a point. Most of the time, my vid terminal didn’t work. I had even fixed it so it wouldn’t blow up, and it was still out of order due to circumstances beyond my control. Vivian had also brought to my attention that some supernatural entities might perhaps spontaneously combust just a tiny bit around my house. That makes it an abysmal central office.

“That might be best,” I reluctantly agreed. “Do we have an agreement?”

“I will need the new data to set up the surveillance,” he reminded me.

“Not a problem,” I said while digging out the data key that Vivian had supplied me. I tossed it to him, and he effortlessly plucked it from the air.

“Then we have an agreement,” he concluded.

That wasn’t quite the end. We reviewed the map and dithered about what kind of watch was needed. I was adamant about using older vampires. The younger set had not impressed me with their psychic ability, and any observers would most likely need as many senses as they could get a hold of. After that, I asked to see Sebastian. He gave me a suspicious look, then shrugged carelessly. The three of us were led to a small waiting room with several couches and chairs. We had just settled in for a wait when Beth asked me, “Do you think we should tell the police about my brother?”

“I thought you already had,” I stated, perplexed.

“All I could think of was to head to you,” Beth mumbled in embarrassment. “Jeremy always said to contact you if anything ever happened.”

“Well, I doubt they can do anything except what we are doing since we need to find Jin’s people first to track down where they took Jeremy.” I continued thoughtfully, “However, I think the police would get annoyed if they weren’t notified.”

“Like Conrad not being told about the new map,” Stella added helpfully. She looked more like her cheerful self since she was surrounded by less evidence of the undead.

“Yeah, sorta like that,” I trailed off. Perhaps I should call him. Looking at the antique-style phone on the table, I reached for it and dialed. “I wonder if this thing actually works?”

“Hello, Conrad?” I called into the phone after a moment.

“Derek,” answered his gruff voice. “Is that you? There’s no video attached, and the ID is for Fiero Inc.”

“Yeah, there been some updates I needed to tell you about,” I said while playing with the phone wire. Wow, this was very authentic. “The vampires came through with the locations, and we mapped out the ley lines and likely target nodes last night.”

“That’s better news than what officer Cromwell told me,” he growled. “Sounds like they had a beachhead all set. I am going to have to sell some story to the military to get them to divert a satellite over the location to dig down that deep.”

“Why not just tell them the truth?” I asked, puzzled.

“You know about the Moscow thing?” he asked. “Well, a lot of the people that were in power at that time still are. Thanks to that wonderful little spell that hid magic under a barrel of enforced denial, trying to get acknowledgment of anything out of the ordinary is hit and miss. Depending on who you get in touch with, you may get support or no response. Better to couch the issues in mundane terms.”

“Well, sounds like that will fix itself with a little help from you,” I said, still playing with the cord. Swinging it around, I had it spinning like a jump rope. I winked at Beth and gestured her to the swaying rope. She must have been as bored as me because she jumped right in and started to skip in places as I swung the rope.

“So tell me more about the map,” he flipped topics again.

“With the ley lines maps and node points identified, we have narrowed down where Jin has to send his minions to test the locations,” Beth did an especially difficult skip, and Stella clapped. “I have already talked to Clan Fiero, and they have agreed to set up surveillance on the nodes in their territory and to inform you of when they see activity,” Beth tripped on the cord and had to start untangling it with the elf’s help. “We just need the shifters to do the same, and we should be able to tag some minions.”

“Again?” he complained. “If I have to beat any more heads in this week, I just might be tempted to do something permanent that a man with my responsibilities should not do.”

“Yeah, I hear Mei feels the same,” I commiserated. “Anyway, Jin kidnaped Jeremy and sent an army of demon bugs to my house, so it’s pretty important we track his lair down before they have Jeremy too long.”

“What?” exclaimed the city’s resident super cop. “When did this happen? How did you deal with the demons? If you’re at Tower Plaza now, why didn’t you call this in earlier?”

“It happened a couple of hours ago. My wards took care of the demons, but all the magic blew out vid terminal again. Things just calmed down enough to call all this in.”

“Damn, how did they find out you two were being subcontracted for consulting,” a frustrated sigh erupted from the phone. “He was going to handle the surveillance. He mentioned he had some hardened equipment that could handle the stress.”

“I know what Jeremy was talking about,” I inserted before the rant could get too far along. “I can prep your equipment if you can bring it around. We also need to prepare to keep the captured minions from blowing up. I have an idea on that.”

“Blow up?” he asked, confused. “What do you mean 'blow up'?”

“Mei didn’t mention the minions of Jin blow up when they are captured or killed? It’s a cool spell, I am not absolutely sure how he does it, but I have a couple of ideas on how to delay it at least.”

“No, she didn’t mention it,” his voice said in a flat tone. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one that was keeping Conrad in the dark unless he had to know something. Naughty girl. Maybe she’ll lose her parking spot.

“Vincent is going flip when he sees what you’ve done to his authentic period phone,” a voice interrupted what was rapidly turning into a gripe session. Turning around, I saw Sebastian behind me, clucking at the tangle of wiring Beth was still working on.

“Okay, Conrad, I have to talk to Vincent’s people to iron out some details,” send a technician out, and once he repairs my terminal, he can grab the data from it. I should be home with Stella and Beth in an hour or so.”

“Who is Beth...” was the last I heard from Conrad before I hung up. He always seems so lost during our discussions.

“Estella, Beth, I would like you to meet Sebastian,” I gestured at the new arrival. “Creepy stalker, keeper of an excellent collection of antique weapons, and purveyor of fine spices. Don’t eat anything he offers.”

“Honored to meet such adorable young ladies,” he smiled a most toothy grin. Stella looked mildly ill. That was no surprise; she liked the undead less than I did. And I didn’t like them at all. Beth looked nervously from him to me, unsure of whether he was a friend but not blind to the undertones of my introduction. “I understand you wished to talk to me. I am glad to see you well.”

“Yes, fortunately, we both recover quickly,” I returned. “I understand that you hire your services out. I would like to take advantage of your stalker ways.”

“While I do work with others on occasion, Vivian has been clear that we are not to come into conflict with a certain mage.”

I blinked, “I don’t want to get rid of you that much.” I shrugged as I continued, “Jin would eat you up and spit you up. You’re not that subtle.”

“Then what of my humble services can I offer to a gentleman of such discriminating tastes?”

“We need a contact to the underworld,” I nodded towards the door. “Vincent can set a watch on some random points, but that may take time to catch something. I am not sure how long Beth’s brother has.”

“Beth’s brother,” he asked, an eyebrow arched towards the young girl.

“Jeremy. I am sure your research on me included him since I contract his services.” I tapped my fingers in thought,” Jin sent his goons after him. He has gotten extensive feelers into the shifter community and hired an excellent hacker to cover his not so subtle movements.”

“I thought you and the head of the new division were on good terms?”

“Well, as good as you can expect from someone that set in his ways,” I shrugged. “You can hardly expect a shining pillar in our community to rub elbows with cybercriminals and rogue gang members.”

“So you want me to detective while your own gumshoe is out of the running?” the pale vampire snorted softly.

“To be truthful, Jeremy didn’t have contacts in the supernatural underground. I didn’t care when he was around, we had a plan, and if it took a little longer than it could have... well, I had other things to do while that plan matures.”

“But now,” he prompted.

“But now he took what is mine, and I want to rip his head off his shoulders now,” I finished with subdued intensity. “I think you know what I mean.”

“Yes, I think I do,” he looked at me thoughtfully. It was apparent he was tallying what he had found out about me and trying to figure out what I was. “Why not go to Eddie Prince? You seem to have come to an accommodation with him.”

“I am pretty sure his territory includes the more mundane illegalities. I don’t think he has a foothold in the supernatural community. I didn’t see any vampires or shifters in that fancy building he has.” I paused before continuing, “Besides, I owe him some services, not the reverse.”

“I am not cheap,” Sebastian warned, a creepy smile forming.

“I think I have enough funds to contract your services,” I said, rubbing my chin. “Give Beth your contact information. I’ll have her send the funds to you.”

“Me,” squeaked a startled Beth.

“Sure, your brother said you were smart, and you certainly know your way around technical stuff; after all, you bought the tricycle for us.”

“Wh... what? She’s like seven years old,” the vampire protested. “Even I think that’s irresponsible!”

“She’s a very mature eight,” I countered defensively. “Jeremy said she was brilliant. I’m sure she can handle a little money. I’ll pay her the same rates as I did her brother.”

“I’m not even sure it’s legal to pay her, not that care...”

“That’s ridiculous,” I say dismissively. “It wouldn’t be fair to ask her to work for free. What a barbaric law.”

Stella mumbled something. It sounded vaguely like, “Better than dragging her into a vampire nest.”

“I... never mind,” the vampire shrugged, massaging his temples. “I’ll give her a card. Call me, and I’ll get her the account information.”

“So we have a deal,” I confirmed.

“Sure, I’ll look into your friend’s kidnapping. As you said, I have some sources.”