The Voice in His Head (Original Urban Fantasy)

Notes from Bethany Andrews

Let me begin by saying, or writing, that I hate keeping Journals. I only began keeping this series of writings because of Matilda’s apprenticeship, and there was so much I learned as a Mistress teaching her apprentice. I have had the fortune of gaining the tutelage of brilliant mages. These tutors and instructors guided me down the path of becoming the witch I am today. Now I stand, nearly three centuries of age, a lost crown, a trek through the Angles later, and a mother of all things. My life has taken twists and turns, and I have seen and lived through adventures that could fuel stories of narrow adventures, and regained time, and two lonely souls finding each other across time and space. Alas, I have been lax in chronicling my adventures, and aside from Amy’s careful records of my recollections, my adventures are known only in my memories.

These brief entries alongside Stephen’s own stories are meant to serve as a bit of backstory and an explanation of events from my perspective. I have found that my charge has a certain flair for the dramatic in his writing. I do not have the time, patience, or motivation to perform such feats.


April 12th, 1925



This entire day had gone to shit. I was already in a mood after our conversation the previous day. I’d felt hurt that he thought I sent him back to the orphanage. I was worried about those damn test results. I was at the start of what should have been my first vacation in the decade, and I was already exhausted. I never knew parenthood, of all my nightmares, would be the thing that kept me up and worried the most.

After dropping Stephen off at the suite I'd gotten us for the day, I'd visited the local Court of Knaves Hotel. They had these locations in every major city, and it was rumored that it was one hotel with multiple entrances. It was superbly decorated for the times, a little gaudy for my tastes, but overall the place was nice. I'd never spend the night here, and I loathed even entering this place. The hotel, the Maeve, was named after the former Winter Lady, and like all Court of Knave establishments, I was required to wear a magic inhibitor bracelet to prevent any rule breaking.

After an exhaustive security sweep at the receptionist desk, I was issued a bracelet and watched as I put it on. I felt the enchantment on the bracelet caging my magic close to my body. These bracelets would be easy to break for a mage with enough power. The hotel hosted the Kings and Queens of Faerie and the occasional Demigod. It was all just part of the show.

There were three rules for a Court of Knave's establishment.

Don't destroy hotel property. Don't kill another guest, and no active magic was allowed except for the staff. Not even the grand Court of Knaves, with half a finger in every criminal pie in the world, would think of separating a mage from their enchanted objects, foci or god’s forbid their bells. Once a demon is summoned and bound in a silver bell, they are forever linked with the summoner. To separate a mage from their bells was like handling another’s foci. It was not done. So, I did have options. Phobos alone would give the mages I was about to meet with a run for their money.

This established a neutral meeting ground for magic users and beings to meet without fear of hostility. As I walked through the bar, this was evident. I had to dismiss several alerts from my HUD because several mages and beings I’d crossed in the past and designated as “high priority enemy” were present.

The bar was divided into a series of thirteen large round pillars and tables that were scattered around in a random pattern to disrupt magical energy. The pillars were marble with a core of cold iron. As such, each was impervious to magic. It was brightly light, and done in soft colors. It had a closer resemblance to a tearoom than a smoking room where the magical underworld gathered.

I walked through the bar towards my destination and noticed the patrons. A summer fae was seated at a table with two vampires I recognized as Masters of their respective cities.

The werewolf Alpha of New York City, was seated at a table with a Winter Fae I'd spoken with at one of Audrey's parties. They both gave me looks and nods as I passed and I returned them.

The Emissary of Fall, a portly man dressed in a suit in a bowler hat who I’d crossed wands with once or thrice, nodded at me as I passed. I returned the nod. I noticed his compatriots as I passed. One being resembled a mummy wrapped in black cloth. A Master Necromancer. It wasn’t outlawed in the states, but they were playing a risky game being out in public. The other was a Summoning Mistress. Her cloak was made of silver bells that jingled with each movement, and her wrists were wrapped in black ribbon and silver. I sent a message to Amy to inform Eli that Fall was recruiting muscle.

Two karcists, mages without enough power to be recognized by a Council Majeure, sat at another table. They were hovering over a piece of paper and carefully checking off letters as they assembled them into a rune. Sigil magic. I had to fight myself from grimacing.

I could tell they were karcists because they were both in mundane clothes, but each had a series of bracelets and bangles hanging from their wrists that faintly glowed with enchantments according to my HUD. I could tell the enchantments sewn into their clothes were all homebrew sigil magic and kitchy-witch shit the Majeure had outlawed for a reason.

They were dressed in mundane clothing, but everything about them screamed mage. Except they lacked aura coloring their hair and eyes except for a few streaks of color, and I could barely feel power coming from them. It settled in my mind that it was the duality that made them stand out. They didn’t separate the mundane from the magic in their lives. They were out of place in both worlds, but claimed them as their home.

If this had been London, Court of Knaves or not, I’d have brought both of them in for questioning as a matter of principle.

This wasn’t bigotry, or anything like that. Those mages were children using reality as puzzle pieces. Nothing good came of backroom dabbling.



After passing by another trio of tables hosting various supernatural creatures undergoing negotiations, I found my booth.

Two more karcists sat on either side of the booth. They wore suits and careful glamours. I’d see two vaguely menacing goons, and not really be able to recall their faces later. Someone had paid a lot of diamonds for the matching enchanted watches on their wrists. They were flanking a gentleman dressed in a dapper grey suit and hat.

Charles Luciano was known by Mundane authorities as a rather affluent rum runner. He subsidized his income with the procurement and sale of magical artifacts. He also kept several Karcists on his staff. He was an experienced mage himself, but he was mostly self-taught.

I took a seat. I didn't bother offering my wand. That was seen as an insult to a Karcist. They relied on true wandless and scoffed at wands as a crutch. They were right, but it was just simple civility or supporting an existing regime. It was a cultural norm they had ballooned into an affront against themselves.

Instead I reclined slightly in my seat and nodded at him.

Yes, the Andrews family had businesses that were less than legal, but it was a way to funnel liquidity between the magical world and the mundane, and I did occasionally practice magic the Majeure would frown upon. But, we stuck to victimless crimes, and we didn't resort to breaking knees or other such forms of intimidation. I wouldn't even bother with scum like Luciano, but I needed this mirror.

"Hello Charles." I purred. This was a tone reserved for political opponents and business negotiations.

"Hi, Beth." Luciano said easily. He leaned back in the booth.

"I'll be blunt."

"Aren't you always, doll?"

"I'm searching for a mirror. it's a special artifact, and I heard that you might have access to a seer, or a way to find it."

Charles leaned back in his seat. It was morning, but he had half a crystal glass of vodka. There was a splash of orange juice as a nod to the time. Prohibition didn't mean much to the Court. Not when half the rum runners and bootleggers on the east coast were managed by one of their own.

"You want the Gallowglass? What do you want with one of those old things?"

I was well aware of the knife on my belt. Caladbolg, the two-faced blade, had saved my life more than once.

"I'm just interested in history."

"Just collecting artifacts then?"

"Charles, skip to the point. I'm only in the city for a day. What do you want?"

"Just a few lodestones, doll."

I didn’t care for pet names much, nor did I care for the ignorant self-absorbed boys pretending to be men that used them.

“Charles, you know me. You know my history. Just tell me where the mirror is, and your fee, and I’ll be on my merry way.”

“Fine, a dozen lodestones, fully charged.” He said.

“Four,” I replied.

“Eight.”

“Five.”

“Seven,”

“Half dozen, not one less.”

“Seven.”

“Half-dozen or I walk.” I replied. I wouldn’t. If he demanded seven, if he had demanded a hundred, I would have paid it.

“Deal.” Luciano took a piece of paper from one of his henchmen and handed it over to me. I read it carefully, and recognized it as translocation coordinates.

“Those’ll take ya to a warded warehouse I store merchandise awaiting buyers. The mirror is the only thing there. When can I expect my lodestones?”

I opened my mirror, and traced the runic code for my office in New York. A receptionist answered, and I placed my order with instructions for delivery to the Maeve. I gave Charles a nod, and dropped the bracelet at reception, and left the hotel. From there, I translocated half a dozen times to various safehouses I had in range, and then translocated to the warehouse. With any luck, I’d be back to the hotel in time to take Stephen to lunch and Central Park. I really wanted him to see the menagerie they had.

I knew something was amiss when I felt the circle trap snap into place. With a frown, I sent out two mental commands. The first was a message to Vincent stating that I might be in trouble, but I’d keep him apprised of the situation. The second was for my HUD to analyze the runic schema holding me prisoner.

The floodlights that attempted to blind me were my second clue. I had my shield up then. The soft whine of two ether cannons charging and firing at me half a second later was my third. I let out a breath and time froze for a few seconds so I could analyze my predicament. I nodded, and then bent space and light around the two beams of energy about to strike me to instead return to their origin.

I probably could have tanked two beams of energy five feet thick, but it would have fried my shield bangle and I really didn’t want to rework those enchantments.

Beams of energy taken care of, I let my eyes adjust and noticed the two tommy guns about to fire on opposite sides of the ether cannons. I nodded, appreciated the setup for a moment, and then threw up two walls of force. If I was attempting to kill me, I’d enchant the rounds about to be fired. I’d need to break the circle, and Time was starting to begin again. I quickly analyzed the schema, and then noticed that I was on a tarp of some kind. It might be a minefield, it might be an ingenious invention. I wasn’t finding out which. I looked up, activated the twin bangles that allowed me to temporarily ignore gravity and jumped up into the air.

If they were good at their job, they would have done a dome instead of a circle. Instead I perched on a rafter and watched the show. I had to figure out who just tried to kill me, and who I needed to kill.

I released my now tenuous hold on time, and allowed it to resume. The ether cannons exploded and killed their operators. So they didn’t have limiters or backflow capacitors, and that meant it was the Hunters. That was good. I could continue to have a public life.

The Tommy guns fired and instantly pierced the two walls of force I’d conjured. That meant someone with an enchanter or artificer on staff. Unless Charles had employed one without the knowledge of any Majeure body, it wasn’t him.

So he was the middle-man. Interesting. I sent a note to Amy to order those lodestones immediately tracked and retrieved.

The surviving five men wore non-descript black clothing, so nothing there. The Enchantments on their gear were professional, but it was new. This might be some moron trying to make a name for themselves, but Luciano wouldn’t sell me out for some moron out to make themselves the latest entry on the “Reasons Why We Don’t Fuck With Bethany Andrews.” list.

Winter didn’t hurt one of their own, and Summer wasn’t stupid. Except for Puck. Fall wouldn’t risk a treaty their emissary helped bring about. Spring kept to themselves unless other courts were at play. One of the minions began breaking the circle. I had a few seconds before I lost my advantage.

I was dealing with vampires or werewolves. Lovely. Well, it was time to see which it was. I was glad for the gloves I wore as I carefully drew a sheathed silver dagger from my bottomless clutch. I could feel the imaginary heat from the blade. I hated silver with a passion, and could never understand how my mother managed to wear those bracelets and necklaces of hers. I bent space, and took a step as I activated the bracelet that would bend light and surround around me.

One moment I was in the rafters, the other I was behind one of the machine gunners. I stabbed the dagger into the base of his skull, and was shocked when the body failed to immediately turn to ash. Fuck, I was dealing with mages.

I tossed his body aside and pulled the trigger on the Thompson. Bullets enchanted to shred flash and magic alike flew from it’s barrel and shredded the two men in front of me. I noticed one raise a pistol, and fire. I raised an arm, releasing the trigger as I did. A bangle took the bullet. I was by his side, breaking his neck and unleashing Phobos with a thought.

I stepped across the room, and killed the fifth as Phobos bound the sixth. One more step, and then I raised my hand, and forced gravity to obey my wishes. He floated into the air and flipped upside down.

“Talk.” I growled.

“Fuck you!” He shouted back.

“I can make this easy or hard. Take your pick.”

“I’ll give you something ha-” I silenced him and watched him scream expletives at me for a moment.

“Are you quite done?”

He proceeded to launch into quite an imaginative description of what Phobos and I did while we were alone. Honestly, some people have their mind in the gutter.

“Phobos, eat his ear.” My imp leapt from my shoulder and unto the man’s body. He screeched in the man’s face, reached one monkey’s paw to his left ear and ripped it away. He sat on the man’s chest as he devoured it, and allowed the blood to drip onto his face.

“Let me make it perfectly clear. You tried to murder me. I am going to kill your boss, and his boss, and everyone who was involved in this decision. You’re protected by a rule that doesn’t even exist yet, and aside from the missing ear, you will make it out of me questioning you alive. If you do not cooperate, I will let my imp eat you piece by piece.”

Phobos was now hovering beside the man, occasionally poking him in his side or leg. The man whimpered, but he held firm.

“Phobos, start with his toes.”

“But Mistress. They’re so bony. Let me starts with his nose. Please, Mistress.” Phobos mewled. Phobos touched the man’s nose and the man tried to shy away.

He was laying it on a little thick. I’d never let him eat someone alive.

I sighed.

“Sorry about my imp, travel always makes him hungry, and he gets especially peckish after someone attempts to murder me. Phobos, you may begin.” Phobos grabbed the man’s nose and he screamed.

“Stop! Stop! Get this fucking Caco away from me and I’ll tell you everything.”

I let out a sharp whistle, and Phobos settled onto my shoulder. I dropped the minion and scratched Phobos on the head. He let out a soft purr.


“Who hired you?”

“No one did! It was all Lucky! He got the orders, and then he told us to set this little meeting up for you.”

I kicked him hard in the ribs. My patience was starting to wear a little thin.

“Fine! Fine! He’s workin with some fellow down by Rio, something about you and that mirror! But that’s all I know! I swear!”

God’s bloody buggering fuck. La Muerte. Of Course. Charles had sold me out to that old bag of bones. I sent a message to Vincent that the situation was handled, but active.

I recalled Phobos and translocated back to the exterior of the Maeve. I breezed inside.

“Madame Andrews, welcome back. Let me prepare a bracelet for you.” I was already heading towards the bar.

Two of the doormen appeared in my path suddenly.

I turned to the receptionist.

“Madame Andrews.”

“Before you continue your idle prattle, I will remind you that I am the Popularis of London. You know my name, you know my history, and you know damn well how I respond to enemies. If your doormen do not remove themselves from my path, the Court of Knaves will relearn just what that means.”

“You should choose your battles more carefully.”

“As should you.” Could I face the Court of Knaves in open combat? Not likely. In a game of shadows, hidden blades, and sudden strikes?

Well, I had contingencies for every current player, and they were one of the bigger names on the board. I’d put the copy of the Bellopheron Archive I’d brought with me to good use, and while current events were drifting away from the events it detailed, it was still a valuable resource. I’d burn time to fix any mistakes, and give me a week of sleepless nights compressed
into a linear day, and I’d show the Court of Knaves what it meant to cross me.

But, I’d reached a certain level of infamy during my adventures on this planet, and that infamy brought rumors and fact and muddled it together into a pseudo urban legend about my capabilities and the level of sheer destruction I was capable of unleashing on my enemies.

In these moments, that reputation allowed me to get away with these moments of being a human battering ram.

The doormen moved aside. Charles was still holding court. I moved the table in front of the booth in one quick, careful, gesture, and then I grabbed Charles by his lapels.

“Charles.”

“Bethany.” He matched my tone.

“You know what happens next.”

“Not on hotel property, and I just rented the penthouse for a month, doll.”

“Good thing the rules don’t say anything about kidnapping!” I said, then I threw him over my shoulder and hauled his greedy, weaselly ass out of the Maeve and into the bustling streets of New York City.

 

I slammed Charles into the ground and let out a growl.

"Bethany, we can talk this through!" He pleaded.

"Charles. You sold me out to La Muerte! The discussion is over."

Then I felt the rush of a spell against my back and dodged. I spun on my heel and deflected a second spell that his bodyguard shot off.
The other bodyguard had drawn his pistol and was drawing a bead on me. I stepped, drove a kunai into his gun hand, and slammed my pointed steel-toe boot into his knee.
He fell, and I was already moving toward the second guard. An enchanted Ankh bracelet blocked the barrage of spells Charles shot toward me.

This guard was a geomancer, and he flicked his wrist and the ground around me rose. I jumped out of the way of the cocoon with the assistance of a small gravity manipulation.
Then I increased that force around him by half. He fell to his knees. Then I felt violence and desperation of the spell coming towards my back even as Charles unleashed a heart-stop hex.
Torn between the two spells, I ripped the heart-stop spell to auric shreds and felt the dark magic unleashed against me cut down my leg. I let out a hiss of pain. The spell felt dark, not black, so I'd be safe in the short term.

I killed the guard that had sent the dark magic toward me and turned my attention to Charles. I summoned a dozen spears of ice and prepared to fire them off when I felt the combined magic of a squad of New York City hunters translocate in and surround us. I cursed my anger and brash behavior. I really didn't need this. I felt the Psyker in their squad attempt to breach my defenses and parried their strike. They dropped their invisibility and then there was an entire squad of black armored battle mages surrounding us, each wand aglow with auric energy. I had no quarrel with the Hunters.

"Unknown mages! You're surrounded. Stow your foci and surrender peacefully. Charles and I traded looks. Then he smirked and threw down a small glass bead. He vanished along with his compatriots. I dropped the spells I had running and set my enchantments to passive mode. Lunch was no longer an option, but I'd be able to hopefully take Stephen to a nice dinner before we left the city. The lead hunter grabbed my arm roughly and we translocated away.

When we rematerialized, I recognized my surroundings as a holding cell. It didn't appear to be any different than the ones at Hunter Command in London.
As Popularis of London, the Hunters were out of my purview. I did visit the command center once a month so they could appraise me of any supernatural threats the city might be facing. Each major city held a legion of Hunters known as the home guard. These were organized by squad and led by someone called a Praetorian.
I looked at the Hunter who'd grabbed me. The single star above the wand on his chest indicated that he was rather new to the force. I contemplated my next words for a moment before I began speaking.

"Am I under arrest?" The Hunter laughed.

"No, you aren't Madam Andrews. Your attaché notified our Praetorian regarding a possible situation. With all due respect, we'd rather not have you dueling in the streets."

"My reputation precedes me, it appears."VThe Praetorian chose that moment to appear.

"Your reputation for accidental widespread destruction?" He asked. He was a tall man with a handlebar mustache. He was dressed in the deep black six button tunic and pants that passed as a command outfit in the hunters. He was glamoured to appear mundane.

"Hi Henry." I smiled. He flashed me a quick grin before his face grew serious again.

"Popularis Andrews. Welcome to New York City."

"Thank you for the kind welcome, Praetorian Fountain. I wish it was on better terms."
His face was a careful mask, but I'd known him since he was a boy. I could see the annoyance hovering below the surface.

"As do I," he replied. I quirked an eyebrow. I wondered why. Had this been my Praetorian, he would have simply mirrored my office and explained that we had a visiting dignitary in a holding cell. But it took time for files to be pulled, auric records to be verified, and red tape to be cut. Henry sighed and ran a hand through his dark shoulder length hair.

"Unfortunately, My Popularis is requesting that we hold you until we can get a magistrate."

"Why?" I asked. Henry looked around the room and then he nodded to his guard.

"You sure boss?" The guard asked. Henry looked at me and then back at his minion.

"The bond between a master and her apprentice is sacred. I trust Madam Andrews to abide by the rules of hospitality."

The guard left the room and Henry grabbed a sheaf of papers from his coat's outside pocket. He dropped a sheet of paper at each corner and twisted his hands over each.
The paper gained a copper sheen and Henry nodded in satisfaction.

"True Wandless and Sigil magic? Who are you guarding against?" I asked.

"Half the men in my legion are on the Court of Knaves cut. As soon as you landed in my holding cell, Lucky was informed. I'm trying to get my Popularis to let you go, but it won't be happening tonight."

"Henry. I need to leave. My son is alone at my hotel." Henry gave me a long, pointed look. "Bethany, I really don't care how you've gotten yourself mixed in with the Knaves this time, but why'd you bring a child into it? When did you have a kid?"

"It's been a couple months."

"You left an infant alone!?" Henry exploded.

"Oh, relax. He's eleven. I adopted him, but it's crucial I get back to him."

"You adopted a kid? I thought you and Vince were done with apprentices?"

"He's my brother's son."

"He's Bartholomew- Oh! He's?" I nodded once.

"Beth, that's amazing!" Then I saw panic flash across his face before he reigned in his mask.

"Beth, I'm being strong armed into tossing your hotel."

"No! Henry, that can't happen. Stephen would panic, and that wouldn't be good."

"He's just a kid."

"A kid strong enough to burn my chi points when I funneled away a spell that had gotten out of control." Henry ran his hand over his face.

"I'll hold off the warrant for as long as I can, and I'll see about getting you out of here. Beth, I've gotta warn you, word on the street is that the Knaves are making a play for more control of the city."

I frowned at that. The Court of Knaves had a long reach, most of the magical criminal activity on the East Coast was under their purview. I'd run them out of London at the end of World War I. There were a couple of fronts in my city still, but I tolerated their presence. How could they be expanding? The pieces clicked together suddenly. What I knew about future history, the magical world, and how the court worked spun together into a clear crystal thought.

"The Knaves are expanding into mundane crime, aren't they? They're using Charles as their cat's paw." Henry glared.

"One day you'll tell me how you do that. In the meantime, let's see about getting you out of town. It might be another hour or so. Please don't escape or I'll be forced to issue a detainment order."

"I'll try not to."

He avoided mentioning the fact I was already casing the cell. He translocated away and I surveyed my surroundings. It was four plain white walls. There was a bench that had been built into the room. A commode and sink sat off to the left. A single glowing scone in the ceiling lit the room.
The white paint on the walls hid a series of self-contained wards I'd help artifice. Runed pipes beneath the cell funneled liquid ether to and from the various pools of magic in hunter command. This had the happy side-effect of blocking ley line access to their prisoners. That meant my magical communications were blocked. It also meant that if I needed to escape, I'd be working with whatever magic was in my core. I was at about half strength.

I was magically talented, and a child of two of the strongest Paxian Lords in history. But the energy requirements of working with time and space were enormous. If I saw further combat today, I'd be limited to elemental manipulation and battle magic. I needed to tap a ley.

I paced the cell and thought about the day. La Meurte had a good idea about my weaknesses, and if he'd been a bit smarter, I'd be dead.
His involvement could mean many things. He was a rogue necromancer. He didn't answer to Selene or the Scholomance. He was impossible to capture because gods knew what abominations he had left over from Encausse. It was rumored that he was the cause of the current hostilities between the summer fae and the vampires shadow war in Rio. I'd expect there to be vampire involvement, and the sun was due to set in a few hours. I had to get Stephen to a safehouse before they hit my hotel.

I weighed the pros and cons of breaking out of the cell. If I did, it would cause an international incident that could result in the end of my political career. Amy and Vincent were already in Rio. I didn't want to use Eli for anything major, and most of my allies were on the opposite side of the pond.
Most, but not all. And I wouldn't consider the person I was about to contact an ally. Perhaps a useful enemy.

I sent a message to Amy to contact Thomas Sterling. I'd offer everything we knew about Kuhikugu in exchange for his assistance getting me out of this predicament. He was the highest ranking official I knew on the East Coast, and he'd snatch the information I was offering.
She sent a message a few moments later that she'd completed a phone call and he'd take the offer. Sterling was a fellow inventor and treasure hunter, and we'd developed a less than friendly rivalry. He'd love the chance to hold this over my head, and that was a cost I'd be willing to pay. I'd been in the holding cell for about four hours, and I was tired.
Mages require magic for life. Being without constant access to a leyline was slowly fraying my nerves, and after another hour of pacing I sat down to preserve my sanity.

I couldn't heal the wound that started to turn into a steady throb because that required taking off my dress. I slugged back a Perry's and a pain-killer potion. That would stop the magic from taking hold, but I'd need to heal it soon.

Henry appeared suddenly, breaking the slight meditation I was in to pass time. He had a look on his face. One of worry. There was fear at the edges of his mask. It was how his jaw was set I think, or the way his eyes darted around a room thought to be safe.

"Well, apparently. One of those bodyguards you wounded was Charles' kid. I bought you time, and I'm translocating you out of this cell, but you need to get your kid out of that room. I'd say you have an hour, maybe two."

Henry offered his hand, I grabbed it, and we translocated to the public front of Hunter Command to New York City. I immediately tapped a ley-line and let out a breath as my connection with magic renewed itself. I grabbed a mirror out of my pocket and dialed Eli's runic code. He had his own business in the city, and he'd planned to join us for the summer to continue Stephen's tutelage.

"Ah, Bethany. My world hasn't exploded in a day or so, so I was wondering when you'd call." He had a half-grin on his face I wanted to smack off. I was out of patience and running short on time.

"I need a favor." His expression changed instantly.

"Was that just a friendly favor, or do you wish to make a Deal?"

"I need you in a car at my hotel in twenty. I've got the Court of Knaves on my ass."

"Gods dammit, Beth. Not again!" Eli moaned. I had to bite back a grin at his theatrics.

"Fine, I'll be waiting with a car for you and the niblet." I cut the connection. Then I translocated to the hotel and I immediately took stock of the room. It was as neat as I'd left it. I noticed Stephen had a book in his hand and internally shook my head as his thirst for knowledge. That was something he'd inherited from both his parents.

"We'll be leaving shortly." I told him.
I hobbled into my room, threw up wards to prevent Stephen from feeling the spell I was about to use, and gritted my teeth.
I'd pulled off my dress and was breaking the dark spell slowly starting to rot my leg when I heard him call my name. It was a small mercy that he sounded different than my brother had at that age. Some days it hurt to look at Stephen. I'm not sure what I'd do if I had to hear that voice and know it wasn't him.

"Go away, Stephen." I might have been harsher than I intended, but I was tired, and I needed five minutes to myself to recharge and regain my bearings.

"What's wrong?" I let out a sigh. I wasn't going to tell him everything, but he'd need to learn the spells necessary for field medicine eventually. I didn't give him any details of the night, but I walked him through the steps to heal a wound. We left the hotel and I got into the back seat after greeting Eli. I lit a cigarette and settled into the back seat. He'd drive us to an abandoned lot and we'd portal to Rio.

With any luck, this little misadventure would just be a blip on the radar, and I'd be able to enjoy my vacation in peace.
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Before I explain the situation I was currently in, I feel the need to explain something. Steel isn't magically resistant like cold iron. Steel is immune to magical energy. When a spell strikes the side of a tank or a vehicle with enough steel in its composition the spell will end upon impact.
Before Amy and Vincent entered the field, Eli and I had created a barricade of ice and had leaned our backs against it. We were taking turns reinforcing the barrier while the other popped up from cover and kept up a steady stream of fire.

I had my pair of kinetic pistols and Eli had an old Portuguese Mauser he'd enchanted to all hell. We'd managed to take out the broom rider, but since most of the kill squad had bunkered down behind the steel behemoth blocking our magic, this was turning into a firefight. They were using enchanted rounds, and I didn't favor getting filled with bullets that could explode or worse.

This was usually the point of the conflict where I'd warp space, twist time and unleash golden power. I really didn't favor another six hours in a Hunter holding cell, and those types of magics left signatures that would leave no doubt about who called them forth. Plus, the bangle that shielded my aura from detection had been destroyed earlier.

As the submachine gun fire from the Court of Knaves continued to assault our position, I felt the magical signatures emerging from the portal and allowed myself a grin. Eli felt the signatures a second later and a similar predator's smile crossed his feature. Then a blur shot out of the portal, jumped over OUR barrier, and landed on the roof of the car. There was a shriek of metal, and a sudden scream. Then Amy kicked one half of the vehicle towards half the group. She flicked her fingers and a dozen small metal spikes shot from her hand and struck each of their targets. She whipped around, and sent a spear of silver metal at one of the Knaves attempting to flee. I felt the blast of energy being unleashed from the other broom rider and diverted that. As I did, I heard a soft whine behind me. I turned to Vince as he raised his hand and beam of white energy as thick as his wrist flew into the sky. The beam struck the broom, showers of wood and gore rained down over the field.

With that, the battle was over. I released my hold on the transmutation and ice became water again.

"Well. That was fun." Eli muttered jovially. I glared at him.

Vince gave me a look, and then we were together. A soft kiss on the lips, and my love held me in his arms. I melted into his embrace for a second, leaning my head on his chest and breathing in the sharp scent of his cologne and the feeling of his linen shirt against my skin.

We didn't use words to explain how much we needed each other, but this man had been mine for centuries, and would for centuries more.

We'd brought others to our bed, and we'd turned away from each other for a time, but at the end of all things, we had and always would come back together. My other half wrapped his arms around me, and for those few seconds, life was perfect.

"Stephen told us you were under attack. I'm pretty sure he would have come with us." I looked up from his embrace.

"Of course he would have. He's an Andrews," Amy said.

As she approached us, vents on her arms opened and a fine mist of nanites rose out of them. These took flight and went to work breaking down the scene. When they were done, the area was clear of evidence. A pool of silver liquid oozed over to Amy and slithered up her wrist and slurped back into a vent. Then she fell to her knees. She let out a scream of pain that made my ears ring.

"Bethany. We need to go. Europa's dead." I was running toward the portal before I was aware of my actions. The portal closed behind me to reveal another battleground.

The wide bay window of my apartment had been blown inwards. Shards of glass peppered the carpet. Two wide gouts of blood splashed the room. I saw the spots where Europa's wings had been ripped off. There was a headless furry form laying a puddle of bone fragments and gore laying further in. A half dozen knives were stabbed into the far wall. And Stephen was missing. I was dimly aware of another portal opening.

Amy ran to Europa's form, and I had to shudder. If that had been Phobos laying dead on the ground, I'd have been apoplectic. Europa was his sister, and she'd been a natural born imp.
Amy could resummon her, but there was always the chance that something would be lost in the binding. Amy looked up from her imps body. To anyone else, the clinical look in her eye would mean she was calm and collected. Alexis and my aunt Lana had been thorough in her creation. She was fully capable of emotions. I'd seen her lose her temper once, and a world had died.

"Bethany. Do it." Amy said. I hated myself for what I was about to do, and it was something I’d only invoke if Amy needed it.

"Disengage Third Law Protocol, Emotion Subset. Deactivation code Bethany-Aquamarine-Bravo-Echo-Alpha."

Her eyes flickered once, and she nodded.

He was gone. He was gone. It was all my fault. Again.

I took a breath, counted to ten, and appraised the situation. The vampires had come in from the window. Stephen had fought, and he'd wounded at least one.
The ether reservoirs below the floor had been in standby. They had activated upon my arrival, and I had immediately set the wards to siege mode. Were it not for the illusions protecting this place, the full might of my ward schema would have formed a golden dome encasing the building.

That townhouse was supposed to be safe. It was funded through a half a dozen organizations, and I'd made sure to perform all renovations through a trusted, and discrete, third party.
I had a mole in my organization. My brain was already running into overdrive. My brother was due to arrive with his family in about half an hour. They would be arriving in London and then portaling from there to Rio, and would arrive at the scene of a kidnapping.

"Amy, we're Red across the board. I need you to contact Henry and tell him to put Lo- Nope. I can't do that. That's already locked down because of Bartholomew's insane security needs.
Phobos. I need you to shadow to the townhouse, inform the imps about the situation and then delay my brother as long as possible. Place the hallway in Labyrinth mode. That'll buy us enough time to make this place presentable. Amy, start analyzing forensics. See if we can get an auric trace, or even a shadow trail." My imp shimmered away with a nod.

"Bethany, if it's La Muerte-" Vincent began.

"I'll burn his fucking house down." I snarled. I was hurt, angry, and stressed. The wolf fed on these emotions, bringing it closer to the surface. I made another effort to calm myself.

"Fine. I'll only mostly kill him."

"Only just mostly?" Eli dithered. I glared at the Slender.

"Who do we have among the vampires?" Eli asked.

"How did this become we?"

"When Summer sent Luciano to assassinate an emissary of Winter." Eli snarled.

"Now your lady thinks of me as an Emissary?" I asked. Winter and I had a mixed relationship. My father had dealings with them, and despite the fact his birth wouldn't occur for almost a century, did not mean the debt didn't exist, and that I didn't inherit it. It was at these moments I hated time travel.

"Selene does, My Queen doesn't. Not yet, or not yet again. She wasn't clear about which. But, you are one of our interests, and Luciano is one of Summer's. This vampire plot reeks of something Puck would use." I frowned at the name of the Summer Prince. He preferred games of misdirection and distractions. He'd only make his presence known once he was sure the game was over.

"He's using the vampires to get to me, isn't he?"

"What vampire would be dumb enough to trust a summer fae?" Vincent muttered. We locked eyes.

"Amy, I need you to find out where La Meurte's toy is."

"On it." Amy was already pulling out a mirror to trace the vampire.
Cortés. It had to be. There was only one vampire in Rio that had the balls to charge into my home.

"He's gone dark. His mirrors went private yesterday," she said.

"Cut them. Kill any communications we have access to." Amy was already tracing a steady array of runes on her mirror.

"Done."

"Dispatch teams to their compounds. Get me an attack solution and we'll strike."

"I need time to arrange teams. I need to portal squads from London."

"Why don't we have people in Rio?" Amy and Vincent traded looks.

"It's fine. We've got it handled, Beth," Vincent said.

"Don't do that. Not right now."

"We've had several malfunctions with the wards in Columbia. We needed the extra manpower while the wards were being rebuilt."
I cursed under my breath. It all came down to effectively managing the resources I had on hand. I needed Servitors and Dragonflies and half a dozen other things that would have made my life so much easier if I'd built the infrastructure necessary for their redevelopment.
Right now, I was suffering from a shortage of manpower.

"How long?"

"Eight or nine hours to arrange for redeployment from non-critical duties. Another four to ensure they're armed and armored. I'm working on pinpointing Cortés’ location as we speak. We can summon Stephen, but we'd need a blood ritual. Unless Bartholomew and Trey are willing to lend their blood, we don't have enough related mages for that spell."
Twelve or thirteen hours. Twelve or thirteen hours of leaving my son to whatever tortures Cortes' whore could devise. I couldn't use the temporal chamber at the moment. I had no choice but to wait.

Even if I did the ritual, it was blood based. I knew Cortes had wards protecting him from that school of magic, and I told them as much.
I began pacing back and forth. It would take Bartholomew three or four hours to navigate the labyrinth I'd enchanted into the expanded hallway that connected my house to my operations center.
He'd be pissed off, but I didn't need his particular brand of control freak at the moment.

I looked at Eli and he immediately shook his head.

"It's not happening. I can offer a squad of changelings, or maybe a couple of gnolls. But She'll lose her mind if I authorized direct force. Not in Rio." I growled. It made sense. Selene would have been fine with it, but She, for I feared to even think that name, had issues with balance.

All things being equal, I could have asked for a fae assassin to strike against La Muerte. If he had the same ranking in the Summer Court as I did in Winter. But he didn't, so my help from the Court would be limited without taking on further debt. I'd almost cleared my ledger with Winter, and I didn't relish taking on the task of owing them a further favor.

"If you'd like, I can visit the informant I have and return." I nodded. Eli left in a swirl of silver bells and hoarfrost. Then I turned to Amy.
Before I could speak, she lifted her hand to speak to me.

“There’s not a lot you can do. I’d suggest you take a nap and let me work on arranging troop movements.”
I gave her a look.

“You’ve been up for almost forty-eight hours without sleep. You’ve barely eaten in that time, unless you count nicotine as a food group. You’re no good to Stephen, or us, exhausted. Tap a ley, and place yourself under a two-hour sleep spell. It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.”

As much as I wanted to act like a petulant child, I knew how this argument would end. So I nodded, grabbed myself a meal bar, and went and curled into a ball. I woke up a couple of hours later. There wasn’t any news. Vincent or Amy had repaired and cleaned the apartment. I didn’t detect either of them, but that didn’t mean Vincent didn’t have Talos, his imp, keeping an eye on me.
I sat on the balcony and looked out at the city below. Stephen should have been here to marvel at this.

We were supposed to be in Rio for the majority of the summer, and I’d refrained from decorating his room. I’d wanted him to have a summer project. I shook my head as I lit a cigarette. I’d fucked up so bad this time. There was a soft knock on the balcony door. I dropped the privacy spells, and made a gesture.
Vincent was there, trailed by Amy. I realized that I’d never changed out of the clothes I’d left London in.

“I found Hernan. He’s in the jungle. I’m waiting on surveillance to map his compound, then we’ll strike,” Vincent said. I perked up at this.

“Do we have eyes on Stephen?”

“Not yet. It’s exclusively staffed by his progeny.”

“It’s a hot extraction then.”
Vincent nodded.
That’s when my Master Ring flashed emerald green. I looked at it, and then at Vincent and Amy. The ring glowed once more.

“Tear us a hole through those wards.” Vincent called as I felt the magic of the Heir and Master rings take hold. I had enough time to combine light and sound into invisibility before I was summoned. As the magic of our house swept me through centuries old runes, I unleashed a soft whisper of energy that would guide them along my trail.
I appeared in front of them as Cortes monologued. I’d observe for a moment to see if I could gain information.

"I would believe that. Fae kind do assume all ages and shapes, and only someone with great skill could kill someone as powerful as my Consuela." That adorable smirk on his face reminded me of his father, but God’s Blood, Stephen had killed Consuela Cortes? I’d crossed wands with her more than once. She was a demon in battle. Hernan had sent her to get my charge? I felt my blood boil.

"Yes, it would take someone with great power to defeat a vampire such as her. Or someone with an enormous amount of luck." Hernan matched his grin with one of his own. What game had Stephen just lost?

"There is one detail you have forgotten, street rat." Hernan grabbed his hand and it was all I could do not to rip his head from his body then and there. That leech dare touch my child? This nest would burn. But first, I needed to get him to safety.

"You wear the heir ring to House Andrews. You are just a gutter rat. One that idiotic woman has raised above his station. But at the end of the day, you are a street rat, adopted by Bethany Andrews, and I'm not afraid of Bethany Andrews."

“You should be.” I flashed Hernan a grin as my cloak dropped. I called my pistols into my hand and unleashed hell on the room, calling forth gravity and destruction in equal measure. I was only dimly aware of Vincent and Amy’s arrival as I struck down Hernan’s guard. I need to get Stephen his wand. Then get him free.

"Hernán, let my charge go, and we won't have an issue. I don't have any interests on this continent aside from you. Let him go, and it will be like none of this happened."

"That's twice said, mage."

"I can't believe you're that stupid, Hernán. Thrice and done. Do we have an accord?" I noticed the shifting light of a poorly done invisibility spell and pointed my wand at the target.

"Tell your bitch to stand down." Amy said. She was my right hand, and I knew she was guarding my flank.
A half burned corpse revealed herself and unleashed a lance of black magic. I deflected the spell as Stephen unleashed a pulse of telekinesis that fractured his chains. He made a grab for his wand. Cortes grabbed him and slammed him into the ground. I heard something pop. Cortes hissed, slamming his fist down on a sudden shield again and again. The shield vanished in a spray of emerald sparks. Then my son jabbed his wand into the face of a Master Vampire and screamed.

“Fuck that. Iactus!”

Cortez exploded in a shower of emerald light and gore. Stephen scrambled to his feet as another lance of black greasy light flew across the room. I made a grabbing gesture to shorten space between us. I saw the light slash through his shield as the vampires in the room began burning to ash.
I grabbed a portstone off my necklace and threw it to the ground. We vanished in a flash of hazy light.
I began calling up sigil magic to temporarily reinforce my wards.

“Beth, my back.” Stephen croaked. Then he toppled forward.

I grabbed him as he lost consciousness. He began seizing, and I was aware of myself screaming as Amy took him from my arms. A bloody froth began roiling from his lips, and she wasted no time. She tore off his shirt and placed her hand on his chest. When she moved her hand, there were five pin pricks around his heart. She placed a thumb at his neck, and he began calming.

“His core’s depleted. He’s not magically exhausted but it’s close. I need to neutralize the spell killing him.”

Then she went to work. Her fingers were a shifting blur as she began invoking True Wandless hand movements at a speed only an intelligence and mage of her caliber could cast. She invoked and cast nearly a dozen spells in a few seconds before stopping. She flicked her fingers, and a spray of red sparks flew from her hand. Then she resumed her casting. Auric burn and exhaustion were the two limiting factors to true wandless. Amy was uniquely suited to this school of magic, and her performance showed. In five minutes' time, she’d purged Stephen’s aura of the black magic trying to kill him and placed him under an enchanted sleep.

“I need my clean room. He’s going to be out for a dayish while I repair the damage done to his body, but he should make a full recovery.”
There was something else. Something she wasn’t telling me. I could tell by the clipped tone of her voice. Amy tried to maintain a human facade whenever possible.

“I’ll stay and run clean up. Get our boy back home,” Vincent said. I smiled. He translocated away.

“Can he travel by Mirror?” She nodded, and we medevaced him home.

We mirror portaled home. As expected, Bartholomew, his wife Vanessa and their son Terrance, Trey, as he preferred, were waiting for me in the sitting room. Trey was thirteen, and if life had been normal, I’d have him teach Stephen some spells as a way to hone both their skillsets.
There were also three squads of men dressed in Leviathan class armor. A single suit would have bankrupted me. They noticed Stephen’s condition and all stood.

“Is he okay?” Vanessa asked, she brushed a wave of long black hair out of her eyes. I nodded my head and scratched my ear, and she gave a minute nod.

“A vampire tagged him with a spell. He’ll be fine. He just needs rest.” Amy said. Vanessa and Bartholomew traded looks.

“Does this mean we aren’t going to Mexico?” Trey asked. He was no stranger to magical injuries. Bartholomew was teaching him the same way I was teaching Stephen. Vanessa was a pure pyromancer. If Trey displayed that talent, she’d teach him.

“Nah buddy, you guys are going. Stephen and I will go next time. I promise.”

“Vanessa, if you want, take Trey and the Dragoons. I’ll be right behind you.” Vanessa ushered Trey to the mirror and the guards were quick to follow.

“What’s the situation?” He asked. His tone, much like Amy's, was clipped. Bartholomew always knew when there was fuckery afoot.

“I got burned by Lucky and Stephen got kidnapped. He just killed Cortes and his right hand.”
Amy was floating Stephen away to her operating suite.

“I’ll be there shortly. I just need to activate the med-bed and I’ll meet you in your study.”

“I think that’s the best solution. Let’s go, Beth.” Bartholomew said.

We went to my study. While we were walking, I had the distinct impression that I was being escorted to the principal’s office. Or walked to my father’s study to discuss the mischief I’d gotten into this time.

We took a seat in my study. I sat at my desk, Bartholomew sat at one chair. I offered him a glass of Verdant Brandy, which he took a large tumbler of.
In about an hour, Amy had set the Med-Bed to whatever surgeries it needed to perform to heal Stephen and had arrived in my study. I engaged my inner ward suite. When I was confident we were free from eavesdropping, I nodded at the two.

“Before we begin, Bethany, re-engage my protocols.”
I did so.

“Could someone please tell me what the fuck just happened?” Bartholomew asked.

“I got a lead on an Interdiction a month or so ago. While we were in New York, I went to meet the seller. That turned into a trap, and in the aftermath, Hernan Cortes attacked our holdings in Rio De Janeiro. He kidnapped Stephen. There was an altercation of some kind, and Stephen managed to kill Conseula Cortes.”

“Broken bloody bells.” Bartholomew exploded.
I laughed, a nervous “fuck my life” laugh, not an actual laugh.

“It gets better. Stephen managed to kill Hernan Cortes, or at least disembody him.”
Bartholomew brushed a hand through shoulder length silver hair.

“How? How? That’s not possible.”

“Oh, it gets better.”
We both turned to Amy.

“What.” We said in unison. In the same tone.

“I did a full auric scan on Stephen. Then I did a full-spectrum elemental scan. I neglected to do this last time because he’d only manifested psionic abilities. I found something sketchy.”

“Sketchy?” I lit a cigarette. It was my second in an hour, but I was beyond the point of caring.

“I’ve been scanning his aura weekly. With his circumstances, core spiking might occur more frequently. It’s not something we have to worry about until he enters puberty, but I want a baseline so we can determine how much strength he’ll have at maturity.” I nodded.

“Is this because of his parents, or because of something else?” Bartholomew took another long pull from his glass.
Amy and I traded looks. She was the one to speak.

“Alexis tampered with Stephen’s genome. He’s a cosmetically altered Legionnaire.”
Bartholomew swore. Several times, and in ways I wasn’t aware was possible. He finished his glass, refilled and drained it, and filled it once more.

“When were you going to tell me Crown property was running loose?”

“Call my son property one more time, and I’ll see you dethroned.” My wand was in my hand. A sheen of frost suddenly covered Bartholomew’s off-hand.

“Bartholomew. Bethany. Calm down or I will use your Names.” Amy said. We traded looks, and stopped. We felt the threat in her words, and released our magic.

“As I was saying. I did my scans. He has traces of recent dark magic exposure and usage.”

“What spells?”

“Someone used the Remembrance curse on him.” I had to take several deep breaths before I resumed sanity. The remembrance curse was a pain curse I’d never used. Every past pain the victim had experienced, every cut and nick, every scraped knee, broken bone would be felt and continue to be felt until the curse was lifted.

“He was caught by an organ rotting spell. I managed to localize the damage to his back, and he’ll be healed, but if I hadn’t been there he would be dead right now. Finally, there was the dark magic usage I found on his aura.”
Dark magic was like a stain on the aura. It would come clean, but a heavy dark magic user would have an aura that was black as a dark night.

“What spell was it?”

“Has he had access to those parts of the library?”
I glared at my brother and shook my head.

“He’s barely trained. I’d never let someone of his age alone with books on that sort of magic.”
He raised his palm in surrender and I shot him another glare.

“Fine. What spell?”

“The blood fire spell.”

“Oh gods. It’s him. It’s really him. He’s back.” Bartholomew looked terrified for a second before hiding his expression. Amy froze.

“There’s more. There’s always more.” He made a go-on gesture before laying his face against my wooden desk.

“Since Stephen flushed his core and ley nodes multiple times with magic use, I was able to get a more accurate reading on power usage. You were right Beth. There’s multiple auric presences at work.”

“Multiple auric presences?” Bartholomew raised his head from the desk.

“At least two.”

“So, our gay brother had a child with Alexis. They both died at the end of the war, and then this kid pops up out of nowhere. Did anyone think that maybe the two necromancers had a contingency plan, and we’ve got a time-bomb in our midst?”

“Calling our brother a necromancer is misleading,” I said.

“Calling Alexis anything but a mass murderer with half her sanity intact is underselling.” Amy stated.

“I’d like to know where he got that spell from.” I reclined back in my chair. I’d warded the library to only allow Stephen access to a specific booklist. This would expand as he got older, and I’d eventually allow him to browse it at will. All of the books I’d chosen were beginner and novitiate level. None of them contained those spells.

“And what about Iactus?” Amy asked.

“Does he know Iactus? You taught him Iactus? Beth, what the fuck!” I shot him a look. I knew the origins of that spell as well as he did. It was better to let him believe Stephen learned it from me.

“Deadly force and blood fire. Well, there goes any doubt our brother was incapable of reproducing.” Bartholomew shook his head. My head hurt. I was tired.

“How long before he’s awake?” I asked.

“He probably won’t be awake until tomorrow morning, at the earliest. You’ve got enough time to grab a meal and get some sleep before he wakes up.” As good as food, a bath and bed sounded, there was still work to do.

“We have to check if Hernan survived this mess.” If he did, it would involve me paying him a weregild to make things right. If he had not, well. That would make Summer the default supernatural power in Rio. My brother and his family would be fine. They weren’t the ones that dabbled with Winter and Slender.

“Amy, Vincent and I will do it. You need your rest,” Bartholomew said. I fought back a smile at the sudden concern. Before. Before life, before Time and Alexis and all things in between. We’d been as close as two siblings could be. My parents had called us two halves of the same coin. Now and then, that bond we had came back.

“Are you sure?”

“You’re my sister, and I know when you’re tired. Sleep. I’ll keep watch while you rest.” How many times had I heard and said those same words as we’d flipped the pilot’s chair back and forth? I nodded my head. I was getting gloomy, and these were memories that ended in tears. I left the study without a word. I traveled to my room. By the time I’d thrown my clothes into a basket and turned on the shower to steaming, I was too tired to think of food. I showered, dried, and fell into bed.

<BR>

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From the Journal of Bethany Andrews
September 25th, 1925.

When Stephen touched his hand to the crystal embodiment of our family’s magical source, several things happened at once. He fell to the ground, slumped against the tree, and screamed. He glowed, his aura didn’t cover his skin, there wasn’t a shimmer of light, his entire body was encased in an emerald sun. The light was so bright we were forced to cover our eyes. This lasted for a second, maybe two, or three, and then he stood. His eyes were still aglow, until he blinked and they weren’t. Then I noticed the gleam in them. Stephen, despite his past, still had an innocence about him. He still had hope that the future would be bright, and was ignorant that life wasn’t moments of calm between storms, but decades long storms between fleeting moments of peace.

These eyes were void of that. They were two flat emerald chips with a dangerous edge.

“No, you’re gone. You can’t be here.” Bartholomew breathed. Stephen, not the boy, but the brother that never returned from war was in the room with us.

“Liz?” He asked. I knew it was him. It had to be him.

“Stephen?” I asked. Then the tree changed into a three trunked rowan. Bartholomew looked between the boy slumped next to our family font, and our the magical embodiment of our family on Earth.

“It appears the House of Andrews lies in Rowan once more.” Bartholomew drawled. His mask was a careful frown. It was the mask he used when he was inspecting his troops or engaging in a cabinet meeting. I knew my brother. The tense way he held his shoulders, the way he was surveying the room for threats. He was scared. I wasn’t relishing that conversation.

“Are you okay?” I asked Stephen. He blinked, once, then twice. Then my brother was gone, and my adopted son was back.

“I’m fine.” He gave me a look. Gods forgive me, but I didn't want that. I didn't want him to say I'm fine. I wanted him to lip off Stephen's last security code, and his temporal pass phrase. I loved the boy I adopted, I loved him with a fierceness that words cannot describe. But I wanted my brother back.

“What happened?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what I felt at that moment. Hope, fear, resignation. Mostly exhaustion. I needed to put on a good front. Stephen was perceptive about these things, and he needed as much positivity as I had the bandwidth to give. He looked exhausted. The emotional toll of claiming the Heirship always exhausted the new heir.

“What did you see?” He replied. I ignored the demanding tone in his voice, and put on my best mask.

“You dropping to your knees and screaming bloody murder.” I replied.

“Why did the tree change?” He asked.

“The font reflects the birthwood of the Heir. Yours is Rowan. I’m not sure why it’s twined like that, usually that means there’s three heirs of the House.”

“Could it be counting Voice?” Stephen asked. I looked at the tree. Both of my boys were born in January. Could the wards be counting all three of them as heirs to my house? That would mean that Stephen was alive. My brother was out there somewhere. Alive. And if he was out there, mom and dad might be close by. My family could be whole again, the walls of silence and half-truths and reluctance to talk about what mattered most would be broken down between Bartholomew and I. I’d have my brothers back.

“I’m not sure. I’ll add that to the growing list of topics I need to research.” I was careful to keep my tone neutral and to avoid letting any of the excitement show in my tone. He was highly sensitive to emotions, and I didn’t want anything to leak through. Stephen wasn’t ready for all the secrets and history following his footsteps. He wouldn’t be for decades. I’d get us past Confluence and then worry about Paxia and ancient future history.
Dinner that night was a silent affair. Amy and I traded messages on our HUD. She’d need to leave after dinner to attend to business on the continent. I had a regional meeting in the morning with the Populari of Dublin and Paris. I was also reviewing the plans for the addition to the mirror portal. We were finally starting to test text functionality on our closed system. Text and words, and then I’d be able to build a magical internet.

I’m sure Stephen was wondering why we were being so quiet. Part of that was my busy business life. A large part was the pending conversation with Bartholomew. He was silent for the meal, only speaking to ask for something to be passed. After dinner, I put Stephen to bed and ordered Phobos to watch him until we were done.
Bartholomew and I went to my study. I got us two glasses on the highest proof liquor I had and we sipped the beverage in silence for a few more moments. I desperately needed a buffer and my usual ones were gone.

Amy wouldn’t be present for this conversation. She’d already left for her lab. She had an assignment from the Biomancer’s Guild. Audrey had taken a sabbatical to train her own son. Since Amy was Second Chair for the guild, she’d be taking over some of her duties. Audrey’s son would be in Stephen’s year. Reginald was a gifted biomancer, although Audrey had told me that he still needed work on breaking out of his shell. The boy was painfully shy.
Vincent was checking our less than legal businesses on the mundane side. He’d be in London for a month, and he’d be spending most of it ensuring that our businesses were functioning correctly and overseeing our laundering operation.

Bartholomew sat at my desk. It was a power play, and I’d let him succeed. He needed to feel like he was approaching me from a position of power. He did have that, in the grand scheme of things. But on Earth, it was explicit that I was the Lord and Master of the House. Taking a seat at my desk meant he was subtly challenging my position. Let him try.

“When you left home, I thought you’d be back in a few years. I thought you’d travel the Hinterlands, or dabble with time, and then come back and take your place. Instead, you decided to stay on this world for centuries. You’ve broken every rule our family has had about time travel. I decided to let you. I’ve been lenient. That’s changing.”

“Let me?” I scoffed.

“You’ve had your adventures, and every time you’ve run into a problem you couldn’t buy your way out of, or make a Deal to fix, I’ve come running. I’ve done damage control and sent reinforcements. Bethany, New Mexico and that business in New York City were clusterfucks that you would have died from. I’ve covered your ass without question for centuries. Whenever or whatever that boy is explodes, I’m not saving you.”

Okay, I’ll admit, that business in New Mexico hadn’t been my finest moment. But that had been almost a hundred years ago! I wasn’t sure what event he was referring to in New York. I’d had several adventures in that city. Stephen was just a child. One capable of destroying a Rosen scale test before his second core spike. I’d avoid telling my brother that. It would just add more fuel to his fear. Instead I chose to be sensible.

“Amy has scanned him with every spell and bit of technology she has at her disposal. Aside from the enhancements a legionnaire would have at that age, and the additional auric activity, he’s fine.”

“Except Amy has missed her creator’s handiwork before. Surely you remember that.” I had to take a breath. That bastard. Of course I remembered that. Your first love only turns to ash in your arms once. I had to fight the tears that threatened to form in my eyes at the memory of Gabby’s eyes as her body bur- I pushed that thought back behind my shields.
Bartholomew knew he’d hit a nerve. He stopped for a moment.

“I shouldn’t have said that-”

“It’s fine.”
“Be-”

“I’m fine.” I snarled.

“No you’re not.”

“Yes I am.”

My brother gave me a long look and shook his head.

“I didn’t mean to use her as ammo.”

I nodded. That was as far as I’d willing to go with that conversation.

“I’m worried about you. He’s using Stephen’s spells, he called you Liz. God’s Blood, Bethany, how don’t you see it? He’s a failsafe or a timebomb or some other final fuck you from Alexis. I should take him home. He’d be safe from his mother there.” I scoffed. Like that hadn’t been my first thought. I’d have loved for Stephen to be raised in the city he was born to rule. If it had been possible, I would have withdrawn from Earth and whisked him across time and space to keep him safe.

“What’s so funny?”

“He’s native to this time period. It was one of the first things I checked.” I took a careful sip of my whiskey.

“So he’s time-locked until Confluence passes. If I brought him to Atlantis, he’d die. Trapped between eight and forty-five indeed. Well, she planned this well. Didn’t she?”
You have no idea brother dearest. You have no idea the trap Alexis layed and the plans that she pushed into motion regarding him.
I’d derailed most of it. That day I’d adopted him had been one for the books. I needed to find that Interdiction. I needed it now more than ever.

When I came to this planet, I was following her temporal trail. I’d hunted for her through the years. I’d found breadcrumbs, and clues, but I never found her. If it weren’t for Eli, I wouldn’t have found Stephen.

“He’s an Aether.” I said finally. Bartholomew visibly recoiled.

“No he fucking isn’t. It’s not possible.” Even after all these years of Alex and others proving the Edict false, Bartholomew still clung to the old beliefs. I understood why. The first time we saw her in battle, she destroyed an entire legion of Servitors and Khopesh in moments. She’d called forth Pyromancy, Psionics and Technopathy to rip them to bits. Then she used the biomass of the soldiers that piloted the suits to unleash a biomantic plague that rendered the world inhabitable.
There weren’t many Aethers left alive. Over the years, because of war, Michael, and Morgan and half a dozen other foolish schemes, they’d become endangered. On this world, there was one, and he was sleeping down the hallway from me. Aethers bred true. Always and forever.

“Bethany, look at the world you’re raising him on. They haven’t even figured out proper magic yet. This backwater is no place for a child.” Of his potential went unsaid. I knew that. I was doing the best I could to bring this planet up to the level it would need to be, but I was running out of time. I noticed the way his tongue slightly bulged against his cheek. He was putting the clues together.

“You’re trying to create an obelisk network, and all that entails.” I wanted to smile, for a moment. To hug my brother. His eyes narrowed, and a cloudy look crossed his features.

“Despite this world’s history, you still insist on mucking about with events. Despite what it could do to us. No matter the cost, no matter the repercussions, you still insist upon using this planet as what? The head of your own empire? Your artificing playground? Broken Bells, Beth. What is wrong with you?”

“You don’t understand.” And I can’t tell you. Damn that Oath. Damn my brother for thinking the worst of me. I was silent. I didn’t bother fighting against it. There wasn’t a point. That Oath had been sealed with my Blood and my Name. It would kill me if I broke it, and necromancy was a path I refused to travel down.

“Very well. At your will, Popularis.” He made the title demeaning. It was a dismissal of everything that I’d worked so hard to build. I should have told him everything then and there. I should have told him my theories. My fears about the temporal journey I’d sent myself on. The plan I had for getting our family back. The hope that we could be reunited. Would it always be this? Where were the two who’d always had each other’s back? Where had my twin gone? I gave into those feelings of inadequacy, of betrayal. If he thought the worst of me, so be it. I’d show him.
Like every time I’d fucked up our relationship more, or gotten myself into a jam, I let my temper get the best of me.

“He passed the test, you know.” I knew I was almost yelling. I didn’t give a flying fuck at the moment whether I was heard or not.

“That doesn’t mean anything. He’s still a boy, Beth. Still a boy with barely a decade behind him! The things he doesn’t know could fill libraries!” My brother matched my tone, and I glared at him.

“Like hell Alexis would want him in this pre-spire hell.” Bartholomew’s lip turned upwards. My father would have slapped such a look off his face. My mother would have given him a half grin. I let a bit of the wolf fill my gaze. He was posturing. He was unsure of himself. I needed to throw him off the scent. Let him think I was being a child. Let him believe that I was being spoiled and self-centered. Let him believe anything he wanted of me. He already did.

“We were nearly his age when we faced Morgan. That boy is an Aether.”

“That’s impossible and you know it. That power only runs through the female line. It’s why Alex was so weak and Alexis so powerful. Why else did the Quorum elect her as reigning queen?”
Because her father ruled Phantas with an iron fist and a fleet of dreadnoughts. Because Alexander Bonaparte ensured his family’s success from Beyond. Because the so-called Quorum was terrified of a girl with barely twenty years to her name and the power of a goddess at her fingertips.

“I know the history of that family as well as you, we both learned at her knee.”

“She always favored you, and you know this. It’s why you left on this fool’s errand and I took the throne!” A fool’s errand? Everything I’d worked for was just, what exactly? A day dream? How did she favor me? She broke my bones less than she broke yours? She left me to die once instead of twice? I still had the mental and metaphysical scars from her training. Alexis never believed in favoritism.

“Yet I don’t see the royal circlet on your head, why is that?” It was a low blow. I had to keep him off balance and keep the conversation away from obelisks.

“I assure you, in our time, not this pre-spire hell you’ve consigned yourself too, I am very much the Ruler of Fire and Ice. Mother and father would have dragged you home by your head if they knew what you were attempting.” No they wouldn’t have. My father would have given me pointers on how to succeed, and my mother would have complained about my dreadful ward work.

“Mother and father are dead. A hundred and twenty years hence and the same from now! Confluence is coming. It must succeed.” Read between the lines Bartholomew. For all that’s holy. Realize what I’m saying. Just let me get past ‘45 and I’ll come home. Before I’d found Stephen, I was planning on just that. That changed when I determined he was time-locked. I couldn’t leave him alone. Not yet at least. Give me time to train him and prepare him for the future to come.

“You wish to alter the world history of one of our closest allies in the galaxy, for what ends?” He said. And there was the rub. I couldn’t tell him. Not yet. He’d think I was crazy on top of everything else. I’d need proof before I told him my theories about this time.

“It wasn’t right, what happened.” I muttered. Let him think this was still a hang-up leftover from mom and dad. Let him think I was still obsessed with finding them and Stephen. I was, and if I could fix that, I would. But that’s not why I was still here.

“Wasn’t right? You play with time and space like a petulant child and his toys because of poor outcomes?”

Don’t you lecture me about Space and Time, Bartholomew Oliver Andrews. Don’t you dare.

“Bethany, we are the last of a House that spanned worlds. Wasn’t right doesn’t even begin to describe the outcome of Morgan’s Offensive. The Confluence must not be altered. There are too many forces at play. The use of atomic fire in the prelude to rapture, and the Fomor in the denouement were horrific. But, regardless. It happened.” I knew our history as well as he did. The events that allowed our parents to take their rightful place and gain their Pendants would come to pass. If what I did mattered. If I was right, it didn’t.

“Did you place eavesdropping wards?” Bartholomew asked suddenly.

“Why would I?”
He crossed the room in a flash and pulled the door open to reveal my son, dressed in pajamas. He had the most adorable sheepish grin on his face. Some days he reminded me so much of his father it hurt.

“He probably heard our entire argument. We should wipe his memories.” Bartholomew said. He was only half-joking. I didn’t want Stephen to learn his family history from half heard conversations.
Then my heir, my little lion, drew his wand and stepped into a textbook en pointe guard. I had to bite back a grin at how serious he looked.

“He certainly has our brother’s drive for suicidal maneuvers.”

“I’ve killed a master vampire. I’ll give you a run for your money.” Stephen snarled, there was even a bit of a growl in his voice. I saw one of Bartholomew’s fingers twitch, and felt the subtle magic of a binding begin to coalesce.
I drew my own wand and called my magic up.

“Bartholomew, if you even think about harming my charge, I will see you bound.” Bartholomew looked between the two of us.

“I believe it’s time I left, sister.” Bartholomew said. Then he decided to show off. Without a word, he moved space and time, and opened a portal directly to his sitting room in Atlantis. It was a maneuver I didn’t have the Time for, but it was a pittance to the crown.

“I believe you’re right.”

“Move out of my way, boy.” He said. Stephen stepped aside. Before my brother left, he looked at my son.

“The next time you confront someone, make sure your supposed strength isn’t luck about to run out.” He said. The portal closed and Stephen turned to me.

“Is he mad at me?” I shook my head.

“Bartholomew and I had a disagreement. It doesn’t have anything to do with you.” I prayed my shield held against the lie detection ability Stephen had. I checked the time. It had to be getting late.

“Why are you up so late?”

“I was hungry.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Boys. Some things were constant.

“Well, how about we get you something to eat, and then we get you back to bed?” I asked.

Stephen nodded, and I fixed him a snack. I got him back to sleep and returned to my study to enjoy one last cigarette before bed. Phobos appeared on my desk and settled himself.

“Mistress, I’m sorry he overheard you. I needed to solve a conflict between two of my brood.” I scratched his ears affectionately. I wasn’t mad. I should have activated my wards, and that argument with Bartholomew was always going to end like that. I didn’t expect him to make contact for a year or two at minimum. When he did, I’d have to keep him and my son separate. His attitude toward my brother was warranted. I loved both my brothers. I also knew that my older brother would have never done anything to hurt me. I was always the baby sister, but Stephen had been so tainted from dark magic near the end.

The only reason I’d ruled for the brief time I did was because Bartholomew refused the crown. He wasn’t much older than Bartholomew and I, and Stephen struggled with both forms of Mancery my parents had. Bartholomew was a prodigy at both. I’d long since mastered the two principal elements that they had, but my true talents lay in space and time. I’d learned to shift space and store time long before I’d been able to call fire or water. I’d suspected that my father was secretly disappointed in the fact that only one of his children could call forth a rainstorm or a blizzard as easily as he could. My mother only cared that her children were magically powerful.

Stephen must have picked up on something, some trace of that disappointment, because he constantly pummeled Bartholomew under the guise of training. He’d always make sure my brother was healed before my parents saw him. My parents weren’t abusive, but they were absent. A prince only gets so old before he stops listening to the staff and starts ordering them around. For Stephen, that age was about a year before we were born.

There was always a rivalry between my two brothers. It began as bullying, but when Bartholomew learned to defend himself, it turned into true tests of combat.

If Bartholomew got the fists and the hidden daggers, I got the sunshine and smiles. I could do no wrong in my brother’s eyes. The first and only time I saw disappointment in his gaze was during those last fraught months of the war. I still wondered, had I rejoined the cause as a soldier instead of a diplomat, would Stephen be alive? Out of all the questions I had about his death, and the destruction of Midnight’s Heart, that was the one I kept going back to.

My Stephen was innocent. Even if he was a child, if he’d been possessed by a being or turned into a weapon, I would have dealt with it. The act would have broken me, but I would have kept my family safe. I’d made that mistake in the past. I’d gotten people close to me killed. I’d almost died myself.
I let out a frustrated sigh. Sleep wouldn’t come tonight. So, I’d make the best of it. Phobos moved from my desk to my lap, and I sat back in my chair. Then I pressed a small button under my desk, and a display winked into existence.

“Open file, Alexis B.” A message popped into my HUD almost instantly. It was from Amy. She was my computer network after all.

“Down this rabbit hole again?”

“I might find something new.” I got a notification that my message had been delivered, read and seen.

I set my music player to play one of my dad’s old playlists I’d managed to salvage. Music that would be popular among teenagers in eighty years, give or take, filled my ears, and I lost myself in the library of data I’d acquired on my old mentor.

I didn’t trust Alexis, but if anyone could tell me what happened in the first and last days of the war, it would be her. I just needed to find and bind her first.

<BR>

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Author's Note: This chapter takes place Summer of '1930. Emily and Stephen are in the library swearing an oath to each other.

I left Stephen and Emily to their devices and entered my study. I engaged the ward suite with a thought, and sat at my desk. I flicked my wrist. A notice in the corner of my vision popped up informing me that I’d engaged a security lockdown. Then I placed my hands on my head and stared at the leather mat on my desk.
I thought about this evening. I had read that ledger, and knew that there was only one SG with that amount of Tremisi. Silas Goodfellow was London’s Master Vampire. Amy walked into my room, followed by the bite of Winter and Eli’s arrival.

“What are your plans?” She asked instantly. She had a look about her, it wasn’t exhaustion from sleep, just weariness at life. The look was gone quickly.

I always forgot how old she was, even though her body was barely twenty. She had followed my parents into battle more times than I’d count decades before I was born.
In a way, with Bartholomew’s estrangement, and Vincent’s shadow games that he played on the continent, she was my only link to my old family. Now. My new family had been threatened, and I was throwing myself into the fire once more.

“I want a drink first.” I said. She nodded, and sat at a plush leather chair.

“Orion.” I called.

In an instant, an imp appeared before me. They were small creatures, and fine black fur covered a lean three-foot tall body. A pair of black leathery wings sprouted from his back, and a small forked tail hung from his back. They were also a security staff of sorts. Most houses didn’t have a nest in their attic. I blamed that one on Amy's research. The upkeep on them cost me more gold than strictly necessary. Phobos was off running errands.

Without a word, the imp conjured a drink. Verdant Brandy. On the rocks. Home in a cup.
A bottle of this cost more than what some people on this planet made in a decade. Normally I’d sip such a drink. Today I swallowed it in one long gulp, and savored the heat as it coursed down my throat and settled in my belly.

Then I took a packet of cigarettes from my desk and lit one. Eli took one as well. Smoking was a bad habit. One Vincent despised. I knew he had his own vices. Our interests in Columbia and the hotels we owned in Thailand were part of it. The less than legal activities he used his magic to perform funded our information networks. I turned a blind eye as much as he turned one to my habit of adopting orphans and inhaling tar.

“That boy is going to be the death of you,” Amy muttered. She didn’t need to eat, or drink, but she took her own crystal glass just the same. Eli did as well.

“I’m healing.” I said. I blinked and pulled up the display that showed me my physical health. This informed me that the Perry’s had healed most of the injuries I’d received. There was nothing Medispray wouldn’t fix. I opened my desk drawer, grabbed the small black tube that resembled a travel can of hairspray, and covered my wounds with the mist. In a few moments, my limbs were back to new.

“Do I need to remind you about what a vampire is capable of after it has consumed Paxian blood?"
Eli knew most of our secrets at that point. He’d inferred the rest, and he’d taken a secrecy oath to preserve them. Despite our differences, and his other duties, he was my closest ally in the Winter Court.

“Like the one my father got bitten by in Rio? I’m aware.” I said. That caused me to shudder a bit. We had come way too close to that when those vampires had captured Stephen a few summers back.

“We need to strike tonight, if we’re going to do anything. I sensed shadow magic at play in that house. No doubt one of Silas’ wolves has already told him what occurred at that pit.” Eli said.
Amy had gone over to my bookshelf and spun the holo-lock. These were invisible to anyone without an augmented display.
A panel slid aside revealing three dozen lodestones glowing with untapped magical energy. She placed her hand over one.
Amy had been rebuilt twice in her life. The first time was after my aunt Lana had gone on an adventure and returned with a treasure trove of technology. The second time was at the end of the War.

The artificial node system in her body activated, and she absorbed the magic. In her first body, she was unable to use magic. Her origins allowed her a massive advantage in computing runic schemas and deploying them or breaking them. She’d never be an extremely powerful mage, but her other advantages balanced that out. Her crystalline plasma reactor could power her functions indefinitely. But her magic needed ley line energy to use. We were still working on electrical energy to magic conversion. Since she was unable to actually tap a ley-line, she fed her magic with lodestones.

“We’re not giving him that chance.” I said, flicking my ashes away. They would vanish instantly, as would the butts.

“We’re meddling with Time tonight?” Eli said.

“Is there any other way to strike against one’s enemies, then hours before they know that something is amiss?” I asked. I checked my display’s chronometer. It was now approaching midnight.
Time came with a cost. It could be bought and sold and traded with vast amounts of Tremisi, but it required a toll to generate. After centuries of studying my craft, I only had a decade and a half at my personal disposal. I could use this to stem or reverse age, or erase wounds. I was able to restore what time and the elements had withered and weathered to dust. Best of all, I could travel back and forth across time within limits.
Tonight would be expensive, but it would be worth it. Amy closed the bookcase panel, and we entered the Time Room. I set the runic array for Five PM, and we were sent backward in time.
Time travel was the most expensive use of this Power. From midnight to five, there was seven hours. Except, I’d need seven more to insulate my body from being ripped away or being shredded by entropy. Then, I’d spend this twice more. Once for Amy, and once for Eli. Speeding up Stephen’s training had cost me dearly, and I’d burned through almost a decade of time to use the chamber as much as I did.

Just now, Stephen should be breaking his Euclidian bubble, and be teleporting home. I sent myself a message telling myself to send him directly to the dueling room. I attached my temporal pass phrase and current security codes. The me of a few hours ago would recieve this message and follow along with the plan.
I used Time infrequently to travel. The day I’d adopted Stephen, I’d sent myself back three times. As the Confluence approached, I could feel Time tightening it’s noose on this period. Time travel would only become more expensive as the event neared.

We grabbed our cloaks and translocated to the Silken Veil’s public entrance. Emrys would have never allowed a vampire operated establishment in the city. The Veil’s exterior was currently located in the West End. The establishment offered everything from massages and intimate liaisons to information. It was rumored the Knaves had a broker stationed there.
For a nominal fee, the elite staff could acquire your vice, and keep it on hand for your visits, and do so with a confidentiality that was ironclad. The lower level of the club was open to anyone who was pretty enough, or powerful enough, or stupid enough to walk into a blood house. The upper levels were guarded and only VIPs had access. This was one of those clubs that junior karcists and dabblers would frequent to gain more information about the magical world. There were a dozen of these clubs scattered throughout my city. I was fortunate that the crowds wouldn’t arrive for another few hours. Silas had owned and ran the establishment for over six hundred years.

I walked into the club and took in my surroundings. A pair of malnourished looking guards with red eyes hung around a maître d' station. Their crushed black velvet suits matched the drapes hanging from each wide bay window. Glowing multi-color lightstones hung from chandeliers. These painted the room, a series of black leather booths along the walls, a matching pit couch in the center with a pole disguising a support column, darkly gleaming polished floors, and shimmery grey walls, in a swirl of lights. The bouncers were the dumb muscle of the vampire world. If you supplied them with enough blood, newborn vampires would follow you anywhere. That gave me an idea.

“This place would be fun if it wasn’t horrendously depressing.” Eli remarked.

“Or just horrendous.” I muttered.

“How may we help you, Madam?” One of the bouncers asked.

"Eli, work your magic."

That was when the Slender at my side twisted two fingers on his left hand. I felt the almost invisible thread of power wrap around us, and then unleash its spell on the guards. They each shivered as my friend's compulsion rooted in their brain and placed them under his thrall.

“I need to speak to Mr. Goodfellow,” I said.

“And who may I ask is calling upon him?”

“A fellow member of the Undertown Council.” I was taking a gamble using that term to describe myself, but any other names or titles would have meant I’d be fighting my way up to Silas.
The bouncers traded looks, and then one of them pulled a mirror out of his pocket. One of my mirrors. I narrowed my eyes. Who was selling the vampires my magitek? I’d have to audit my vendors. I’d have to audit my entire supply chain. Oh I did not need this right now. The bouncer was speaking into the mirror, and looking at me. He put the mirror away, and then nodded.

“Right this way, Madam. We’ll have to ask your guests to stay downstairs.”

“Absolutely not,” I let a bit of Power out, and the vampires blanched but nodded. Newborn vampires could be so stupid. The three of us followed them to a hidden elevator, which took us up to Silas office. He had a throne room pretending to be an office.

There was a long black laquered table in front of a matching chair that could only be described as a throne. Two smaller chairs were facing us. A black werewolf hide sat under the table and throne. It’s head was mounted above it. This smarmy fuck hadn’t spoken yet and I already wanted to kill him.
Two crossbows hung on either side of the room, and there were suits of samurai armor below them. There was a map of the hotel on Silas’ desk, and other than that and a sheaf of paper, the room was empty of paperwork.

Silas, well, hell. His long hair and pale patrician features screamed vampire. His eyes, two full black orbs, meant he’d fed recently. The rings on each of his fingers hummed with power. So did the necklace and bracelets he wore. The suit, unsurprisingly black, shimmered in a way only ethersilk did. His preparations, including the circle trap hiding under the skin, were cute.

“Which one of my illustrious fellow council members am I addressing?” He asked after the guards left.
I lowered my hood.

“Madam Andrews, how nice to finally make your acquaintance.” He said. Silas was a creature who oozed sexuality. Words tumbled off his tongue like silk. The connotation of the word acquaintance was almost explicit.

“What can I do for you? I must admit, I didn’t think I’d see you in my humble abode. Your husband certainly, but not you. I’m sure whatever desire you have, we will be pleased to perform. Please, sit wherever you’d like.”

“I’ll stand, thank you.” I asked. I had a feeling that the circle trap was triggered by those chairs. I nodded my head, and Amy and Eli lowered their hoods and stood to my left and right.

“And who do we have here?” He purred.

“This is Amelia, my secretary.”

“And the Winterborne is your pet?” He said and let out a soft laugh. I smiled. If he ignored how sharp the grin was in favor of admiring how wide it was, that was his fault.

“I do have a favor to ask you, and I’m certain that you’re the only one that can satisfy my needs.” I replied in a breathy half voice I’d learned from years of royal intrigue. Silas made a sound that did something to his lips, while he leaned forward a bit more. The barely visible shirt showed his rippling abs.

“You see, I need you to stop selling fucking children.” I replied, my voice turning into a growl at the last bit, and he suddenly leapt back in his chair, the tension in the room suddenly gaining an entirely new edge.

“I assure you, Popularis Andrews, I don’t know what you are talking about.” He replied. There was a slight downturn of his mouth, but other than that there was no indication that the words had any effect on him.

“One of my charges was kidnapped by your kind a few days prior.”

“Oh dear, that is such a tragedy. I wish you the best of luck finding them, but I’m not quite sure how that has anything to do with me.” He replied.

“Silas, you know as well as I do that vampires in London don’t so much as take a piss without your saying so.” I replied, and he let out a soft laugh.

“Normally that’s true, but there are rogue elements in every society. You for example. You’re the Popularis of London. If your charge went missing, you should have contacted the Mineure and arranged for Hunter search parties. Instead, you came here, slinking up to my office like a common street whore. Are you looking for a backdoor solution to your problem, madam?”

“Dear god, did you learn to speak from a bodice ripper? You’re a piece of work, Goodfellow. No, I came here to inform you that as the Popularis of London, I have confirmed your involvement in a smuggling ring that encompasses forced prostitution, kidnapping, and the wholesale enslavement of my citizens. You will cease and desist immediately or we will be informing the Sanguine Court and the Council Majeure and you will fall under Hunter-”

“This is preposterous!”

“I agree.” I said and produced a copy of the ledger.
I handed it over to him, and he flipped through it. He softly sighed, as if he had just seen a bad article in the London Eye instead of a ledger of the damned.

“You caught me. I admit that I do, on occasion, dabble in the flesh trade. But I have Carte Blanche from both your Council Majeure and the Sanguine Court.”

“But you do not have permission from the Ice Queen to trade her people. Nor would The Queen of Flowers allow such a trespass through her demesne.” Eli said.

“The pet speaks, what other tricks do you know? Had a fae girl crossed the Night Market, it would be something that would be dealt with harshly. Had the girl been a halfling, she would have been free.” He smiled.

“The issue here is that you’ve attacked one of my charges. Thrice and Done. You will make amends for such a situation.”

“Thrice and done indeed you upstart mage,” he said with a laugh, “I grabbed a senseless orphan chit off the streets. Had I known that she was enrolled at Coventry, or that she was one of yours, I would have avoided her. The Council and Court will turn a blind eye, and you might get a weregild.” He replied. They probably would.

World War I had seen a reversal of fortune for the vamps. Men died in droves in trenches, and a fair few of them had agreed to be turned. The Reese family’s attempts at raising a zombie army during that time, and Encausse’s shadow war lead to a lot of the Council Majeure’s battle mages being killed in action. Had this been a regular mundane born mage, she likely would have been forgotten. Right now Brittania as a whole didn’t have the Battle Mages to face the Vampires on an even field. We’d need another half a century before we reached that level of strength. That was without factoring in the war looming.

“Before you do something hasty, I’d like to give you my solicitor’s card.” Goodfellow said, and produced a card. There wasn’t a number on the front, or even a name or address. Instead, engraved, in red, was a diamond. A shiver trailed down my spine.
I knew the symbol, and I’d fought this organization before, during the first World War. I knew Eli and Amy had seen the card, and they both would know what it meant.

“I’m a Senior Broker for the Court of Knaves. I’m untouchable.” He replied, a wide grin on his face, and I caught the razor edge of his smile. Then I dipped into the supply of time I had, and froze the building.

"Solutions?" I asked calmly. I wanted to cut this creature in half and figure out the rest.
We technically existed out of time at the moment. We could discuss what to do next without worrying about time constraints. I was going to do something regrettable if I didn’t.

“How are we handling this?” Amy asked.

“I’d say chip him, but I really think he should die.” I muttered.
Eli scratched his stubble with his off hand. He was thinking. I didn’t like it when he thought. That usually got me in trouble.

“This could represent a significant boon for us. If we played our cards correctly.”

“How so?”

He gave us both looks.

“One of Selene’s apprentices was kidnapped earlier this summer. She was studying in the city. We found traces of vampiric shadow magic at the apartment, but nothing concrete. In addition to this, the Court of Knaves has organized several recent forays into Antarctica. She would agree to cover your ass, for a favor.”

“So it’s a Boon to your faction.”

“We stand to gain through the Right of Conquest. Silas’ men kidnapped a Coventry student. That will enrage the Board of Governors. That would give us Grey, and you can count on the Coldwood block in the Mineure and on the Vox for a vote. That’s if our dealings with him come to light.”

I did the mental math, twelve out of twenty-one. That would do it. I’d have the leverage to push it to the Majeure, and I could call in a favor with two of them. Two more would settle their votes for favors or advanced artificing. It would take a great deal of political capital, and at least a thousand Tremisi. My war chest would be gone, and I would have to dip into my liquidity, but I could manage it.

“I’ll need to ask Agatha to back date a Defense Order. Amy, chip him, then pump and dump when we’re done.” Amy moved into position, placed her hand at his neck for a moment, and stepped away. She nodded, and returned back to me. We resumed our positions and I unfroze time.
Silas suddenly smacked the back of his neck.

“It appears that you are not.” I smiled back. He let out a small laugh, and scratched the back of his neck.

“Before we continue this charade, I have a question for you.” I said.

“Oh?”

“Yes, how often do cerulean skies end in crimson tears?” That was the activation phrase for the control chip Amy had just placed on his brain stem. I didn’t use this option. Ever. But, Silas was a special case. Silas suddenly froze. I saw the fear in his eyes. I nodded at Amy and she allowed him to speak.

“What did you do to me!” He screamed, or tried to, it came out as a regularly spoken phrase.

“I placed a bit of artificing in your brain that lets me control your actions, your speech and how often and if you are allowed to use your magical and vampiric abilities.” Amy stated.

“Your council will Still you for this. The Court of Knaves will rip down your wards and murder your family and your vassals in their beds, and all you know will burn.”

“Oh, pity. You missed the part where they’re going to kill my little dog too.
The Court of Knaves will not act against the Southern Queen or one of her agents. They know the stakes. Now, tell me where everything you know about this hotel, your financial holdings and any information that may seem pertinent. You will keep sending psionic all clear messages to your underlings. You will not attempt to misguide or misdirect us about anything you speak of, and you will not attempt to escape.” He froze, and nodded.

He told us of the hotel, and how it changed locations, and could be connected to any door via a key. The key I took from his neck. I also took the various foci he had on his person that would activate and deactivate the hotel's defenses and placed all of these in a magically neutral bag. Then I had him open his safe room, deactivate his wards, and I emptied that into a pouch.
Then I had him write down everything there was to know about his businesses via a transcription spell. After I was done plundering all the useful knowledge from his brain, Amy performed the neuromancy necessary to encapsulate the entirety of his knowledge into a small glass orb.
A tendril of silver snaked from her wrist and plunged into the orb. It took her but seconds to relive centuries.

"He has the mirror." She said after a long moment.

"Where?"

"There's a Court of Knaves archive in Manchester. It's one of their rainy day depots. He has sole access to it and he's been storing all the archives he hasn't gotten around to cataloging or studying yet. Apparently he has several of these buildings around England. Our research teams just got years of work."
I gave him a long look. If I let him leave, he'd cause problems down the road. If I killed him, he'd possess his nearest progeny, or I'd end up accidentally wiping his line out. That would cause me no end of problems if I was found responsible.
I had him order his clientele to vacate the premises. After that, I ordered all the vampiric staff down to the lobby. Then I used his key to refactor the wards and placed them under my control. From there, I engaged the hotel's security lockdown.
I led Silas downstairs. A dozen vampires met us. A good half of them instantly reacted with low hisses and growls, and one almost charged us.

“If anyone so much as twitches, I will kill your sire. Do I make myself clear?” I said. I heard the whine of Amy’s weapon’s systems as they primed themselves. Any vampire attempting to attack me would be greeted by a beam of perfectly aimed molten slurry.

“What are you going to do to me?” He asked.

“Silas Goodfellow, by the authority vested in me by the Council Mineure, as the Popularis of London-” The following events happened in a few seconds time. One of Silas’s brood conjured a spear of stone and hurled it into Amy’s chest. The spear lodged in her midsection, and there was a sharp whine as her weapons systems went offline. That distracted her hold on the control chip long enough for Silas to unleash a wave of psychic energy.

I felt the second pulse of energy as centuries of magical power met the same of technological strength. Silas broke his hold over the chip long enough to lunge towards me. I spun space around me as a taloned hand nearly grazed my face. I felt the magic of his core spike, and knew I needed to end whatever spell he was calling forth.

“I’ll kill you!” He screamed.

“Encausse said the same.” I replied, and then I sent a cutting spell outward. Nothing happened for a moment. and then Silas was bisected laterally.
Two halves of him slid to the ground with a squelch. That was when the screams started. Silas, much like Cortes, had lacked the mental faculties to create a phylactery. The screams were his brood and the vampires of his line dying as they burned to ash in front of us.

“Well, fuck.” I said.

Eli laughed. A laugh that sounded like snow and broken glass.

“Well, fuck is right.”

“Good job Beth, you just devastated London’s vampire population. Rio, London, The Andrews Family is on a roll. If this keeps up, the vampires will be extinct by 1940.”
I groaned. This had just turned into a massive cock-up. It was one thing to kill a vampire temporarily. They’d be stuck in their phylactery until a host could be found among their spawn. Vampires were strong, and fast, but they were vulnerable to light and fire, and were pretty squishy when it got down to it. They fell between a human and a mage on the endurance front. A phylactery was practically a natural defense system!

“Oh, fuck off.”

“We need to do something about the surviving staff.” That was Amy. She’d ripped the stone spear out of her chest, and the wound had already shrunk to the size of my fist. The ash from the vampires was already sloughing into puddles of dirty gray ectoplasm, but the hotel did employ multiple staff and ‘entertainers’ for their clients. I agreed. We’d worried about the repercussions after.

We went back up to the office, summoned all the surviving staff down to the lobby and I looked over them. Most were women, but there were quite a few men. There were also multiple staff that looked far too young to be in this line of work. There were also quite a few mages among the staff with uniforms instead of underwear or a robe.

“Raise your hand if you want to work here willingly.” Those that did, I ushered aside. Amy would dispatch a team to get those here against their will to somewhere safe, and while not luxurious, comfortable, that they could stay at until we got them back home or on their feet. The young ones without would find homes among my people, education, and therapy. Some of them would end up staying in Stephen’s old orphanage, which had improved and leaps and bounds since I’d taken it over. I planned on taking him to it over christmas break.
We’d test them all for magical ability and recruit any that wanted to learn. I’d keep the hotel, and after some modifications and adjustments to the clientele list, I would reopen it to the public. I’d anchor it to a door in the hotel I was developing in Mayfair.

An hour later we stood outside the building where the Silken Veil had once been anchored.
Amy had layered the main load bearing supports of the building with plastic explosives, and used a spell to rapidly transmute the air to gas. There were other rune slates scattered around the building that would explode in infernal flame as soon as the air caught on fire. This needed to look good.

The Silken Veil had been the main base of operations for the London vampires, and had a dedicated sub-basement that held an armory, library, and alchemy lab. This, coupled with the ridiculous amount of information Silas had stored in his office, along with the diamonds and we’d crippled the London vampires in the short term. We’d use this information in the coming weeks. I had already sent a message to Vincent explaining the situation, and he’d be sending our agents out tonight to rain hell down on them.

“Are we done here?” Eli asked. I had enslaved the detonator to my display. I nodded, and sent the command. A mental twitch later, and the building exploded. The infernal fire would destroy all traces of magic. Silas and his hotel would be gone. A new club catering to Mundanes and Karcists would appear on the scene and I had another invisible business to add to my portfolio.
Amy activated the runic equivalent of a magnetic pulse, and half a dozen pops sounded in the night. The bomb would destroy our auric residue, eliminating any trace we were ever here. I didn’t need to involve the council in this.

I did love when vengeance was profitable. I'd fought vampires across half a dozen countries and across three centuries of combat. You couldn't trust them. Vampires only respected themselves or their supplier.

We translocated to my bedroom, after making half a dozen extra jumps to break our trail. We dropped a pulse at each one that detonated after our departure. It was now just before we left.

“I’ll be returning to Tir Na Nog tonight. My Queen will need to know what transpired tonight, and what to expect from the coming days.” Eli stated. I nodded. He vanished in a swirl of snow and jingling bells. Amy and I sat on her bed.

"First, I have an idea and I need figure it out before we delve into that. Start researching synthetic blood. If we could convert enough newborn vampires to our cause, we could gain disposable assets and gain an edge on the competition."

"That idea shows promise. I want to look into it. Do you want to tell me what happened tonight, aside from throwing us into another Knave plot?” She asked.

“What do you mean?”

“There are thousands of ways you could have averted killing Silas. You could have frozen him, or suspended him. You could have simply bound him.”

“He was about to kill me.”

“If self-defense is the excuse you’d like to use for the evening, so be it. But you know you just caused us more trouble.”

“Where’s this coming from?” I asked.
Amy was silent for a moment.

“You’ve been more aggressive these last few years. I understand that you’re worried about finding the Interdictions, and that we’ve running out of time. But you need to think about the example you’re setting for Stephen. You also need to think about what happens when we get past Confluence. It doesn’t matter if we win if we don’t have any allies left to share the victory with.”

“You’re worried I’m isolating myself?”

“No, I’m worried that you’re losing the forest for the trees. You’ve been focused on day to day operations for so long, I think you’ve lost track of the bigger picture. We’re spending diamonds like water to search for the Foxfire Mirror and the entrance to Kuhikugu. Our treasure hunting expeditions are running into the red.
Bethany, our finances are holding, but as we drift further away from the Bellepheron’s temporal database, I’m slowly losing my ability to manipulate the markets how I want based on foreknowledge. I think we’re focusing on the wrong technologies. I understand the need for our automated forces, and the Khopesh will be useful in a few years when things start getting weird. But I think we need to shift some of our assets staff to begin releasing rudimentary computer technology to the mundane population. As soon as we can create a planet-wide intranet and start encouraging banks to digitize, the better. Confluence is but one step, and we need to start thinking a couple ahead. ”

One more year Amy, one more year and I can tell you everything.

We had been more active these past few years. Our work with Winter was a constant source of busy work. Our illegal mundane activities had changed since the days of rum running, and we’d progressed from selling bootleg gin to half a dozen activities that required manpower and time. This had caused burnout as I ran into manpower issues. The fragile mundane economy hadn’t helped matters.

I was still six months out from being able to deploy the half-legion of Servitors and the duet of Khopesh that I’d only been able to build because of Amy. When those came online, my manpower issues would be a thing of the past.

“I agree. But, we’re close to finding the city. If we can find that as an independent party, our finances will be set for the future. We know the city exists, and it’s general location. I plan on leading an expedition there next summer.”

“Is Stephen ready for it?” To be honest, I didn’t know. I’d take all the precautions I could, and I’d make a Deal with my brother if necessary.

“He will be.” Amy nodded at that.

“I started telling Stephen the truth.” I replied.

“About?”
I sat back on the bed, conjuring a pack of cigarettes and lighting my second one of the evening. I lit it with a focused burst of will and took a long drag.

“Part of the war.”

“Which part?”

“Near the end. When you were… When you were trapped.”

“You mean when Morgan had imprisoned my engrams and threw my old body out an airlock,” She replied, and I nodded.

“Yeah.” I replied.

“What of it?” She asked.

“When that happened. Lana’s Folly was still a harsh wound. We lost three fleets that day. Nocturne and Evera were in open rebellion. We were losing on half a dozen fronts, and the war was taking a turn. Not for the better. When King Vincent and Queen Allison died, in the same battle we lost Uncle Will, and Gabby and Watson and a million other people.
We lost a million others to protect that system while they were evacuating, running, from Morgan’s machine horde. We needed a flag to rally around. Avalon Station was that flag. Atlantis. Terris Morn. Lycanos. We’d lost them all. Year after year. Day after day. Battle after hopeless, pointless, bloody battle.
Amy. You were gone. Both sets of my parents were gone. My aunt and uncle were killed in front of me. My entire family was scattered to the wind. I gave up. I traded my armor for dresses. My blades for stylus and diplomacy. Avalon needed a Queen, and it was something I’d been trained since birth for. I wasn’t Vincent’s ideal partner, but we made due.

Stephen and Alexis took the rest of Sword Fleet, every Warmind, Khopesh, and Servitor we had, every able-bodied soldier, battle mage, and psyker and threw them into that hopeless meat grinder. All so I could entertain at parties and give our citizens washed out circuses and moldy bread. All so they could stop someone-” I collected myself.

“Oh Amy, I had her. I fucking had her. All I had to do was drive Caladbolg into her heart and it would have ended before it began. Gabby, I killed her twice. You know? I killed when I let Morgan free, and when I hugged her that last time.”

“I know.” That wasn’t an accusation or recrimination. I’d tortured myself like this before. I always turned back to those events. If I could have been there as I was now instead of the scared girl I used to be, everything would have been different. The blood of worlds was on my hands. No how many good deeds I did. No matter how much I drank. That stain would be on my soul until the End of All Things.

“Paxia was in tatters. The Crown Planets were in chaos. The ruling families were scattered to the winds, and in some cases killed to the last. Our golden kingdom was tarnished in the blood of billions, and I sat in my dresses and sipped my wine, and let it happen.” I brushed the tears away from my face. I was still in my blood covered leathers, and I knew that this blanket and this entire bed would need to be cleaned, if not replaced.

“We don’t know that they’re dead.” She said, I snorted, and smiled through my tears. This was an old argument, and we’d been having it since I’d first found my Stephen. The little boy who picked up strays like I did. Stray voices. Stray children. He had a good heart.

“Alexis? Alexis is probably wandering the cosmos following whatever plan she’s cooked up this century. I know she was your creator, but Amy, you didn’t know her. You didn’t know her when she met me and my brothers. You certainly didn’t see her when she fought Morgan in the skies of Terris Morn.
Alexis was mad, mad at the universe, mad at herself, and just barely coherent. If she showed up tomorrow, she’s as likely to kill Stephen as she is to recognize him, and I saw the wreck of Midnight’s Heart.

That ship was a ruined mess of superheated mythril and tritanium. There was nothing aboard that could have survived. Don’t you think, if one of them had lived, they would have made contact? Why would Alexis leave the Crown Prince of Phantas in a mundane terran orphanage? Why would Stephen let his son exist in malicious squalor? I know she hid him, and I don’t doubt she’s probably alive, but I only felt her magic on the remaining wards.” I replied.

“If Alan even caught a whisper of him before he could defend himself.” Amy said.

“Stephen would die. I know.” I bit back. I didn’t care about the decisions of a boy who's diapers I'd changed. I’d done worse to lesser men. I’d fought in wars with less motivation. Stephen was the future of my House. Of everything my parents had fought for, and my brother had died saving. If he was ever threatened, I would use every ounce of gold, every glittering diamond in my coffers, and every favor and second of time at my disposal to save him. Bethany Andrews would go away again, The Butcher of the Binary Stars would take her place, and the heavens would tremble.

“And he still doesn’t know about his origins. His purpose?”

“That he is the son of my brother, and my mentor? Yes. He knows.”

“You know what I mean.” She replied, and godsdammit, I did. The Confluence was a decade and a half off, but I still felt its effects. I needed to tell him about his origins. I’d been hiding that secret long enough. It was time he knew.

“I’ll tell him. Everything." About his heritage. About the changes his mother made to his DNA, and the power he’d one day be able to bring to bear.

“And what of his status?”

“As an Aether?” I didn’t need to see the nod to know that’s what she meant.

“I’m going to tell him more, during the holiday break, before he can get himself into more trouble. For now, he knows enough to keep his mouth shut. The Council of Dames would have our heads if they knew,” I said. That bunch of old biddies. I was thankful that the Paxia I knew was two hundred years, and two million lights away.

“Bethany, if they knew, they’d do more than that.” Amy replied.

“I’m aware. Alyss, Esmerelda and Teresa would raise themselves from the Grand Crypt and burn us and our holdings to ash. The boy would have his elements bound, his magic stripped, and his soul obliterated. He would be made Anathema. Disparate. I’m aware of what they would do. I learned those lessons.” I replied bitterly. I would avoid going down that path, if we ever reached those battlegrounds. I would avoid subjecting him to the persecution his namesake had been threatened with. The Crown Planets would suffer a war that Morgan would only dream of if a hair on my son's head was harmed.

“Of that we’re in agreement. That poor boy. The fate of the galaxies lay on his shoulders, and he doesn’t even know.” Amy said softly.
From habit, we had shifted so that we were sitting on each side of the bed, and we lay so that our heads were a few inches apart. It was something I’d done with my mom when I was a kid, and something Amy had done with her as well. This small piece of home warmed my soul.

“Bethany, have you thought of giving Stephen a field kit?” Amy asked suddenly.

“After tonight, I think I'll give them both one over the holiday.” I muttered.
We would make it through this storm. Vincent had a contact with the Knaves, and they could be dealt with or paid. I’d use my influence to stop the vampires before they made any more moves against us, and I’d ensure my staff was loyal. Nothing would harm us, and nothing would harm me in my home. Stephen would never have to flee in the night like I did, and that silent promise alone would allow me to sleep at night.
We sat in silence for a while, until it was time for us to reappear.

<BR>
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Mage King Bartholomew Andrews. Emperor of Atlantis, Grand Alpha of Lycanos.
Earth, May, 1931.
Andrews Townhouse, London.

“Elijah. The next time you live at my house for an extended period, You are not allowed to play finders keepers with the liquor cabinet," My sister said. A flash in her golden eyes promised violence if she was disobeyed.
Eli smirked.

“But, Bethany, that’s my favorite game.” He snapped his fingers, and a portal began shimmering into existence.

She shook her head, and I had to smile inwardly. A woman known in some circles as the “Butcher of the Binary Stars”, playfully arguing with a fae, a Slender, something she had glassed a planet of, of all things. It boggled the mind.

“Do it again, and you’ll be playing finders keepers with a very blunt object.” She said, and he gave her a sideways leer.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” He jumped into the portal, tipping an imaginary cap as he did. The portal closed with a snap of energy.

“That man.” She growled. She lounged in one of the library's leather recliners. Then she summoned a mostly empty Verdant Brandy decanter.
She poured herself two fingers, and offered me the last, which I took. I would savor this. That had been an amazing vintage.

“So he’s always?” I asked, unable to phrase my sentence politely.

“An incurable leachorous ass.” She replied. She Dismissed the decanter back to whatever likely empty shelf it had been summoned from, and after taking a sip, attempted to summon a packet of those paper covered nicotine sticks she adored. When none appeared. She frowned and snapped her fingers twice more.

“Mistress calls?” I could hear the creaky-door voice of Phobos, Bethany’s bound imp, before I saw him appear with a shimmer.

“Phobos, is my humidor, perchance, empty?” She asked.

“Yes Mistress.” Phobos said.

“Arrange a transfer between here and Rio, and while you’re there, grab Rodrigo and tell him I
want that runic schematic. But, before you go, grab my emergency kit.”

“As you wish.” The imp said, shimmering away, and appearing seconds later with a small leather briefcase that was warded to the gills. Only to vanish again.

“That’s a pretty well trained imp you’ve got there.”

“Well, when you save someone’s family from a murder of gargoyles, you get that kind of reaction.” She replied.

I could see some of the runes had been scorched by magical backlash. She shook her head, conjured our mother’s dagger from the spatial storage anchored to her wrist, and tapped the button that would open the latch twice. The case sprang open to reveal a full decanter of brandy, and an entire carton of those cigarettes. She grabbed a pack, let the suitcase fall, it would catch itself, and hurriedly tore the paper box open. She took a cigarette out of a pack, lit it with a bit of wandless, and handed the pack to me. I shook my head. I knew my sister had picked up her share of vices, but I had no idea that it was this bad. I wondered, absently, what was next? Amphetimines?

“Don’t give me that look. I’ll quit when I’m good and ready.“ She said. I held up my hand.

“Fine fine. It’s not like you don’t have enough to be worried about.” I said, she nodded triumphantly and leaned back in the leather chair.

“Sooo, how’s things been?” She asked, after taking a few drags. Even now the fake british accent she assisted on effecting draining away to Atlantean Native which sounded almost midwest United States to the untrained ear.

“Honestly Beth, I was wondering when you’d quit that bit of theatrics.” I replied.

“It’s part of the mask.” She said flatly, and there it was. With that bit of nicotine, and those few sips of highly alcoholic brandy, Bethany, my Bethany, the woman who’d saved my life more times than I could was back. The woman who had fought besides me, and then left me to die the first time my back was turned was in the here and now. Gone was the faux posh and proper Lady of the manor that would have had my father curled in flashbacks from one too many days at Eton, and my mother ready to plot witness-free manslaughter. After the Battle of the Eye in about eighty years or so, our family had transplanted from London to the boring beaches of Lake Michigan.

If my parents saw her in this semi-industrialized hell, they would turn in their empty crypts. On the other hand, because of the reason she was here, they’d probably be throwing her a parade.
Honestly, he hadn’t been Stephen's first bastard. Then I saw the shocked look on her face, the sharp stab of pain to her heart, and then the look of complete victory. I froze. I looked down at my glass. It was empty. Suddenly suspicious, I ran my tongue up against the roof of my mouth, and found that it coated in a thick milky substance. Fuck. She’d just drugged me!

“Bethany, my dear sweet sister. I know we’ve been playing this game of human chess for years, but did you really have to drug me?” I asked.

“Yes.” She replied.

“Well, now you’ve certainly got my interest peaked, and I think that was part of the ploy.” I replied, and she smiled that wolf’s grin that had sent her almost all her childhood suitors running. In that moment, she looked like our mother, and I fought the icy combination of fear and inadequacy that had been the highlight of my childhood.

“First, how’s Vanessa, and the kids?”

“Vanessa is off on another humanitarian tour. The kids are good. Trace is well, himself.” I replied.

“Just like we were at that age, all full of fire and self-loathing?” She asked with a smirk.

“Some of us never left that stage, it appears.” I said, gazing at her second cigarette in ten minutes. She glared at me. Not only was that jab meant to take her off guard, it would also allow me to determine what kind of potion she held me under. If it was a submission potion, I wouldn’t have been able to talk back to her.

“You know, we can play the game of 20 barbs and you’ll guess the potion, but I guarantee you’ll still be under its effects, and maybe it’s a two step neurotoxin. Atlantis’ doctors can fix a case of the brain dribllies, right?” She asked, and I fought myself from saying another retort.

“Or, orrr, I’ll tell you what kind of potion it is, and offer the antidote when I’m done. Because that potion will wear off in about two hours, or about twenty-four. I don’t quite remember. We both know how much information can be gleaned from a willing subject in that time, Barty.” She took her time saying it, just because she knew how much I hated being called that.

“Fine. You win.” I replied, and she smiled.

“I always win.” She smirked.

“It’s a truth serum. You must exhibit complete honesty about a subject while under the effects of the potion. It’s a nifty bit of alchemy Amy whipped up. You’ll be good in about an hour.” She said.

“What are the two subjects?”

“Both are a bit of column a, and a dash of column b. Do you want me to tell you what I want, or what I'm offering you?"

"Usually you get the better part of any bargain you strike. So, you can list your demands first, and we'll talk about prices."

"I want two cases of defensor bracelets, and the same quantities of VAR-12s. I need them configured to run on ambient and static charging. I want four cases of Wasps, a disassembled Raven with quad cannons, and a half legion of servitors. I also want a decade of time, and then a half-month of it per year."
"Well, I'm glad you've made your Christmas list. Maybe if you're a good girl, your Slender will give it to you."

"You haven't heard what I'm offering."
I raised an eyebrow at that.

"What could you possibly be offering me?"

"The use of the Mirror, twice a month, in perpetuity. I'll also be providing a license to use the Mirror and the Two-Faced Blade's runic and enchanting schematics. In exchange for the constant supply of Time from your Crown's coffers. I'd also want a similar wish-list each year. I can even offer a sweetener."

"Oh?"

"Yes. How does a quarter ton of weapons grade ley-charged tremisis sound?"

Like Christmas and my birthday at once. A quarter-ton of tremis of that caliber was worth a king's ransom, no pun intended.
Because of the way our weapons system worked, we required charged tremisis for most of our weapon's energy production. The optimal solution was tremisis that had been naturally formed and charged with magical energy.
This could be made, and grown, but that was a time consuming process made more difficult by the need for the diamond to interact with liquid ether.

At current production levels, we had a surplus. Peace had been a blessing. But there were also rumors, there always rumors, from the boundaries of the known worlds about possible threats.
Unfortunately, rumors were sometimes fact. We were preparing to shift our production footing to produce the next generation of ships in response. This came at the perfect time. The Ministers would see my sister’s "contribution" to the throne, and since it equaled the amount I was about to authorize, there would only be a few murmurs.
This put a bandage on the problem of Bethany’s continuous absence, and it solved an issue I'd been reluctant to press. I was the king, but I did act with the will of the people. I could occasionally act against it, but this was not the time for that.

"I'm agreeable to these terms, but I'd want to see the tremisis, and the runic schematics beforehand."

"I can provide you the schematics, but I don't have the tremisis quite yet."

"Beth-" she held her up hand to cut me off.

"I promise you, I'll have it by the end of summer. But I need the equipment I've listed to retrieve it."
I gave her a look.

"If this is the nonsense about that lost city you've been hunting for, it doesn't exist."

"The Mundanes found it."

"They found empty ruins. Not a city of gold, or one filled with the things you've described. Bethany. I think you've been chasing rumors."

She'd been chasing this city since she went to New Mexico. She was convinced that it existed. I wasn't sure, but she'd seemed to have gained a new eagerness about it since I spoke with her last.

"Why are you so hellbent on finding this city?"

“A friend of mine went missing trying to find it. I want to know what happened to him,” she said.

There it was, the very thing that had dragged us into trouble, time and time again. Bethany’s “finding people” thing. Maybe it was because our parents were still listed as MIA after almost twenty-years of peace. All the scans we had said they should have died. But it wasn’t the first time my parents had survived something that should have killed them. Maybe it was because we’d buried an urn instead of my brother’s body. There were too many empty coffins from the war. There were too many mysteries still trapped behind quarantine and stasis fields. It would be centuries before all that Morgan wrought was unraveled. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

“You’ve researched these two Interdictions to the point that you can reliable provide runic schematics? I thought the mirror was broken.” My sister had a shifty look in her eyes. If you didn’t know her, it would have been just a subtle glitter, a trick of the lights. I knew that was the look of a trapped wolf.

“Beth, what did you do?” She shook her head and sighed.

“Damn, I thought you didn’t notice. I used the rest of my Time and had Amy decipher the two artifacts and how to operate them.”

“But the Mirror was broken after he came back through. How did you fix it?”

“The destruction of the ward conduit in the library caused a thaumic surge that caused the mirror to randomly activate. After it's activation, it fried a runic capacitor that we had to replace. Amy made the repairs while studying the mirror. I can show you those right now.” I shook my head. My sister had done the impossible, what she had was priceless.

“So you’ve managed to get them to work. The Two-Faced Blade and the Foxfire Mirror are united again. Or is that for the first time?” Her eyes lit up. I shook my head at her glee at actually succeeding at derailing history. However, if she had managed to reverse engineer them, which I didn’t doubt, the production of these artifacts could change everything for the Kingdom’s intelligence program.

She snapped her fingers, and a manilla folder appeared. I took the pages of printed paper and leafed through them. I knew runes, and enchanting, but these schemas were works of art. I'd have to pass them along to my Artificer's guild. This was followed by pages of the chemical and alchemical composition of each artifact. Finally, there was a list of the spells Amy had analyzed and dissected, along with their probable incantations and the order and the runes they’d been applied.

“Plus the city is a great payday, in addition to the tremisis. I’ll be running the op as an independent party. I’ll be splitting the profit with the other two financiers, but I’m willing to split my cut of everything.”

“Who are the other two financiers?”
She gave me another look.

“Well, you see. I ran into an issue last year with the Court of Knaves.” I groaned. Of all the hornet’s nests for her to kick.

“And?”

“To soothe their hurt feelings, I’m allowing them access to the dig site. After we take our cut. But, I’m taking a squad of operatives as a good faith escort.”

“The last one?”

“Sterling Investments.” Of all the people. Of all the morons she had to fall in with. Thomas Sterling was many things. A brilliant inventor was one of them. His ability to invent and reverse engineer technology could be described as magical in some circumstances. From my understanding of our operations on this planet, Bethany had been in a rivalry with this man for twenty years.
We were broke? Was that what this was? Had she speculated on the wrong market? Had Amy somehow made a drastic miscalculation and caused them to go into the poorhouse?

“Why?”

“Because he’s the third foremost expert on Kuhikugu in the world. I’m the second, and the first went missing trying to find this place.”

“So, you need equipment, because you made a deal with the devil. I think I’d like to rework your offer. I’ll take the Time off the table.”

“Then I’ll be taking my artifacts back.” She snapped her fingers and the folders vanished.

“You still don’t get it, do you?” She asked, and she shook her head.

“Bartholomew. This is the planet.” She said.

“You keep using those words! If you explained it to me, I’d listen. Beth. Just tell me what’s going on.”

“It's not that I don’t want to. I can’t.” She said, and I frowned.

“This is that damned oath again, isn’t it?” I asked, and she nodded. Honestly, that decision was one of her stupider moments.

“Anyhow, about the money. We have plenty here. We might have significantly less or significantly more after the events of this summer. That's all dependent on luck.”

“You can have your Time.” If those schematics were real, my sister had just changed the game. It would be well worth it.

“You can have your artifacts.”

“So, I’m assuming this will pull all of you away from the businesses for the summer?” She nodded. Amy ran most of our on the books operations, and could probably do so even from wherever this dig site was. Vincent took care of the less than legal operations. Bethany had an iron grip on both. She had a massive intelligence network and had been running our operation for so long, the Karcists and various other groups knew that she would be keeping an eye on things from afar. No one wanted on that list.

“But the finances, they’re steady? They’ll hold for the time being?” I asked, and she nodded.

“So, this city. Let me see it.”

“I’m waiting on Phobos to bring me the last rune schematic. Bartholomew, I don’t just want your opinion. I want you to come with me.” She said, and I gave her a look.

“You want me to come with you to a city filled with necromancy?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“This isn’t just any city is it.” I asked after a long moment.

“No, it’s not. I need you there, you’re the best Wardsmith I know. So please. Help me. I’ll add in another boon if I need it.” She said.

“Oh?” I asked, and she conjured our mother’s dagger again, and offered it to me hilt first.

“You’d really give me that?” I asked. It was one of the last items we had left from our Mother. All the heirlooms and books had burned in the fire. I savagely pushed those thoughts out of my brain. I was nowhere near the proper state of mind to ride that train of thought.

“It’s the only thing I have that’s valuable to you.” She said. Outside a possible horde of tremisis it was. She wanted to conquer the world, and I was in charge of an empire spanning them. Short of war, and the clamoring of the people to see her again, nothing could sway me to any request she had. Honestly, if I wasn't offered those two artifacts, I'd have walked away from the table and portaled home.

“You’ll be bringing your wards, I presume?” Trey had enough training to join me on this little jaunt. It would be a good field exercise for him. Plus, he’d get to meet his cousins.

“He’s your nephew, you know, any way you spin it. Emily isn’t that bad once you get past her walls. I’m getting there, but that’ll take time.”

“I know.” I stopped. I ignored the sudden catch in my throat, and the tears in my eyes. I waved away her cigarette smoke to excuse my sudden appearance. My parents, my brother. Those were wounds that would never heal. That was grief to deep to name and to terrible to speak of. I didn't talk about the war. I didn't think about those dark days, and the ones after. The days where I stood against the world alone, where I was the only Andrews to name. The days of a dead brother, an absent sister, and the weight of worlds on my shoulders. All because of that boy. One with emerald hair and a defiance that few could match, and less could stand against. I know I resented Stephen, both of them. I know I had unresolved trauma, and anger, and all of it was directed at that child. That damned boy who looked so much like his father it was scary, and the one who could call his mother's power so easily.

“Beth, he’s getting in trouble at school, throwing himself headlong into insanity, and not even dragging his friends, but motivating them to join him. I don’t know how you live with him.” I said, but then again. Even though Bethany and I were twins, those two had always been closer than I was. If you threw in a heady mix of sibling rivalry, magical power, and court politics, and I’d been the quiet, studious child who merely saved our kingdom while my brother and sister saved the rest of the galaxy. So, maybe my relationship with his father wasn’t the best, and he had left me a few emotional scars that still hadn’t healed. Even when he’d been dead nearly twenty years.

“I lived with our Stephen for eighteen years and I never died. I’m sure I can pull that trick off again.” She replied.

“I’ll go with you, and we can reach a deal. But, first, tell me about this little adventure Stephen had. You never told me what happened, exactly.” It would probably make me want to throttle him, but it would be an interesting story, nonetheless.

“I’m still trying to get the full story, but I can tell you what he’s told me so far.” She flashed me another wolfish grin.

“Let’s begin, shall we?” She said, and told me about Stephen’s adventure through the mirror.

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Paxian Weapons Supplemental.
Raven - A sleek troop transport designed to fit a squad comfortably before expansion spells. Ravens are typically armed with four 180-degree tilt quad-cannons. The Raven is not an air superiority vessel, it is a well-armored troop transport meant to securely deliver troops and payloads where they need to go.

Wasp- Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles designed for surveillance and counter-espionage tactics.

VAR-12s- Variable Ammo Rifles with auto-targeting and sentry function. These are designed for terrestrial and low-grav combat. They are the standard issue weapon for the Atlantean Dragoons, the Royal Guard of the Twin Crowns.

Defensor Bracelet- Issued only to the Royal Family and their guards. These are arguably called the defense variant of the Atlas Brace.
This bracelet is an engineering and artificing marvel that combines the protection of deflecting most incoming energy and kinetic based attacks and the security of a full Nuclear Biological and Chemical screen. Each bracelet also has health monitoring. Although a high-powered weapon or spell can disrupt the field, these bracelets have saved the Royal Family's life multiple times.

Servitor- An Atlantean autonomous combat unit. They are designed as field troops and augment force projection for rank and file military. Each has a built in weapons suite and has multiple autonomous operations procedures and protocols hard-coded into its control unit. These are usually commanded by field commanders and the occasional Warmind.

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Stephen's adventures continue on November 23rd, 2021.​