Going Under (3 page)

In addition to magickal protections, there were snipers stationed strategically as
well.

They would not simply lie down and let themselves be victimized. No one was going
to harm Meriel and Dominic, not without a great deal of blood and pain.

He checked in one last time before leaving and heading back to the office.

He wasn’t surprised to find Lark was waiting for him there. “You need some downtime.”

For a tiny witch with blue hair, she still managed to be authoritative. And she knew
what she was talking about.

“Says the witch who is here as much as I am. I’m going home soon. I just wanted to
do one last check-in.”

She looked him over carefully. “You’re here all the time. And when you’re not here,
you’re on a patrol. Take some personal time. God knows you need it. Hook up with someone.
Sex is a good way to blow off steam. I know . . . I know you’ve not been with anyone
since Rose left. It doesn’t have to mean anything. But everyone needs some affection.”

Rose
. He snorted. They’d barely even started to date when the Magister had . . . happened.
It wasn’t that he was heartbroken at her absence. She’d bailed, left town out of fear
of what might come. But the guilt of her being right echoed through him.

“This is
not
me being heartbroken over Rose. In case you hadn’t noticed, things got real around
here lately. I don’t have time for fucking. Casual or no.”

Lark rolled her eyes at his tone and it made him laugh. She didn’t take his shitty
moods seriously. But she listened to him, was a damned good friend and someone he
was proud to have at his back.

She was also good at seeing right through any crap. Which meant he got away with little
when it came to her. It made him miss his old partner Nell a little less.

She tucked a pen behind her ear. “Your only stress relief can’t be this job. It’s
going to eat you alive. And then they win. Right?”

He shrugged. “I’ll probably stop by Heart of Darkness later on tonight. Maybe you
can line up some suitable company for me.”

She laughed. Her soon-to-be husband, Simon, was part owner of the Other-centric nightclub.
Since the Magister, the club had expanded the small Others section at the back to
the entirety of the space.

“Ha. I’ve got enough to do with this job and handling a control-freak alpha male.
I can’t be your pimp too. Anyway, you’re too pretty to need any help.”

The club was full every single night. Turns out all this drama and threat was good
for business. Many Others in the community were driven to be out and public, as if
to say they were part of the city and would continue to be. A celebration of life.
Some came to gawk at the spectacle of the pickets outside. Most just came to drink
and dance and hook up.

“How’s the new security protocol going?”

All the attention had been good for business but also hell on security. They’d had
to add more bouncers and the clan had to send out witches to place wards on what sort
of magick could be worked there and by whom.

But none of that stopped firebombs and bullets. So the bouncers had to wear body armor
and carry weapons themselves.

He was so over being on the defensive. Over being threatened. It was time for them
to turn the tables. Others weren’t weak. They should stop acting like it.

Chapter 3

MOLLY
had been advised to stay clear of the office that morning as her attorney and the
firm’s attorney had been going back and forth. She’d accepted, after much discussion
with her mother and her lawyer, that she had no real chance of keeping her spot at
the firm. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to make them pay for it.

That was fine because she’d made a decision last night after she left her mother’s
house.

Really, she’d decided after she’d driven around for hours, trying to pretend she wasn’t
scared simply to go into her home, worried about what might be waiting for her. Even
when she got home she’d checked all her smoke detectors to be sure they were working
and checked her locks for the dozenth time.

The numbness she’d felt since that call from Rosa telling her Anthony and Emma were
dead had been washed away by righteous anger. Anger at her termination, at losing
what she’d built herself, at losing the life she’d had before the Magister had taken
it all from her. And what the Magister had left, the humans she’d grown up among had
been working day and night to destroy.

It was time to stand up and fight. To use her gifts to help her people. For a long
time it had been that she’d been living a human life for the most part. But now she
had to stand up for the other part of her identity.

It had been a while since she’d woken up with such a sense of purpose and it felt
good. She took that as a good omen as she’d managed to charm her way into getting
the direct line to Meriel Owen’s office.

People didn’t really understand the benefits of manners. Being gracious, having manners
and treating others the way you’d like to be treated garnered you a lot in life. A
lot more than rudeness or clumsy attempts at bribery.

She picked up the phone and made the call.

“Clan Owen, Meriel Owen’s office. How may I help you?”

“My name is Molly Ryan and I’d very much like to speak with Meriel Owen.”

The assistant’s voice went very cool. “And what is this concerning?”

“Public relations. As in, I think I have something to offer Clan Owen.”

“As you can imagine, Ms. Ryan, we get many such calls each day. Clan Owen has no need
for your services. If you’d like, you can mail your résumé in.”

Secretaries were key. Molly had a great deal of respect for the men and women who
ran the lives of their bosses. Especially the part where they kept away any wastes
of that boss’s time.

But if she couldn’t get around this one, Molly didn’t deserve the job anyway. Besides,
it had been at least three or four months since she’d had a challenge like this one.

Five minutes later Molly found herself speaking to Meriel Owen and laying out her
backstory.

“So they fired you? Really? God, that makes me so mad. This is your firm and they
just tossed you out?”

“The price of entering into a partnership is that the others can toss you out if you
break your contract. Of course, I tend to take exception to the idea that being a
witch is akin to being a drug mule or sending harassing texts to clients.”

Molly sobered and changed the subject.

“I saw your interview last night. You’re good in front of a camera.”

Meriel laughed. “There’s a
but
coming.”

“If that was all you needed to do, you’d be fine. More than fine, actually. You’re
mediagenic. Intelligent. Articulate. You’re relatable and yet you’re also aspirational.
This is all good.”

“Mediagenic? Aspirational?”

“You look good in front of the camera and people admire you enough to want to be like
you. But what happens when these sorts of interviews are done is that you’re dragged
off message by having to respond to idiotic things. It muddies the point, which is
what they mean to do, as
their
point is usually stupid. The interviewer had an agenda, so he pulled you off yours.”

“What’s the solution? And you’d do this then? Be the face?”

Molly was glad to hear the hesitation in Meriel’s voice. She wouldn’t want to work
for someone who’d just say yes without some back up of who Molly was and what she
could do. “I don’t know enough about your organization there to say for sure. I’d
need to dig in, get a feel for you and your clan before I could make any recommendations.”

“Would you be willing to come out for a face-to-face interview? We’d need to check
your references and your background first. I’ve been trying to figure out how to handle
this better, but it’s been spinning out of control faster than any of us could deal
with. You might be what we need.”

“I can come out, yes. I’ll email my résumé to your assistant so you can start that.”

“I already think you’re pretty amazing to have gotten past her the way you did. She’s
pretty formidable.”

“Part of my charm. I can do that with the media too.” Just a fact. Confidence was
a positive as long as it wasn’t a brag.

“This is more and more tempting. Yes, email that information to my assistant and she’ll
get back to you with some times for you to come out.”

“I’m going to suggest you do this as soon as possible. New things happen every hour
it seems. You need to get a handle on this before it spins out of control and you’re
in the weeds.” She’d already sent the email along with some links to her television
and other media work.

“You’re correct. Expect a call by the end of the week and if you can get us in your
schedule to come out then, we’d appreciate it.”

Molly hung up and didn’t quite know what to do with herself so she headed over to
Rosa’s.

* * *

IT
was hard still, to pull into that driveway and see Anthony’s truck off to the side
with a tarp over it. To know he wouldn’t be in his workshop in the garage or out back
working on his garden.

Everything was so different now.

AJ, the only other surviving member of the Falco family, met Molly at the door with
a hug and a kiss to the cheek. “Good to see you. Come on in, she’ll be happy to see
you.”

Rosa was in the kitchen, her favorite room in the house. She looked up from the counter
where she’d been rolling out dough and smiled. “Hi there, doll. Come give me a hug.”

Molly did, filching a slice of apple afterward. “Pie. Yum.”

“Good thing you came over. I haven’t been able to get used to having two less people
eating my pies. I make too much.” A cloud passed over Rosa’s features briefly, before
she went back to work.

“Not like it’s a chore to eat pie. So”—Molly hopped up on a chair—“I called Meriel
Owen today and offered her my services as a media relations person.”

Rosa looked up, surprised. “Look at you. What did she say?”

“She asked me for my résumé and all that stuff and said if it checked out to expect
to come out later in the week to be interviewed.”

“You’re going to move to Seattle? Just like that?” AJ poured himself a cup of coffee
and got one for his mom and Molly as well.

“Not just like that. Not really. I’ve been out of sorts for a while and then yesterday
the other partners kicked me out of the firm. I’ve got an attorney fighting it, but
really, to be honest, it’s going to be about how much money they throw at me to go
away. My life here is . . . well, it’s not what it was before. And I think I can make
a difference with Owen.”

“I think you can too. But I worry. That’s a lot of exposure to be on television as
an official Other spokesperson.” AJ shrugged.

“I lived a long time not really hiding that I was a witch, but not necessarily waving
a banner about it either. That got me nowhere. No, that’s not true. It got me slapped
and humiliated by my partners and watching, horrified, as humans like PURITY have
set out to destroy me and mine. What’s left of us anyway. I’m mad, AJ. I’m mad and
sick and tired.”

He blew out a breath. “I’ve been talking to Mom about moving someplace with a clan.
The witches in clan territories are more organized. Safer. Owen is as big as it gets
in the States.”

“Yeah, together with Gennessee, they control from northern Mexico up to British Columbia.
I’ve never been to Seattle, but I researched it a bit. Wetter than here, but less
snow. I don’t know. I guess I feel like it’s my time to do something right and meaningful.
I don’t want all these deaths to mean nothing. Or worse, to have people like Carlo
Powers use that to do us more harm.”

Rosa threw up the evil eye. “Pig.”

“Yes. That interview last night, my goodness. I should send him a thank-you note for
that last push into this decision.”

Rosa grabbed her attention and held her gaze. “You have so much potential. Your gifts
are strong. Use them to put that creature in his place. This is a good choice for
you. I’ll miss you. Who knows, maybe AJ will convince me at last and we’ll come out
there too. You were meant for greatness. I know this.”

Molly knew that coming here would make her feel better. Knew Rosa would say exactly
what she needed to hear.

“If I do move, I’m going to miss you guys so much.”

AJ snorted. “Sweetness, you’re going to be too busy saving our world to miss us.”

* * *

GAGE
looked up when Meriel knocked on his door.

“Hey there. What’s up?”

“I just had an interesting call from a witch who lives in Chicago. She’s some PR whiz.”
Meriel held up a sheaf of papers. “I’ve got her résumé and some assorted information
about what she’s done. Television, radio, other media and all that stuff. She called
to offer her services. And if what I’m seeing here is on the up-and-up, she’s exactly
what we need right now.”

“You want me to run a background check?”

“Indeed. Can you rush this? I’d like to get this wrapped up so we can get her out
here and on the job. I mean, I’ll interview her first, obviously. But I spoke to her
on the phone for about half an hour. I like what I see so far. She’s charming but
no nonsense.”

Gage held back a smile. Of course Meriel would like that. She was the same. But he’d
run a thorough check because he’d had enough being taken advantage of. Their clan
wouldn’t be hurt by anyone if he could help it.

“I’m on it now.”

Meriel paused. “Are you all right?”

He looked up from the papers he’d been given. “I could ask you the same question.”

“My answer would be no. How about yours?”

He snorted. “No. Not really. This isn’t the way I’d imagined finally revealing ourselves.”

“Three weeks. Dozens of funerals. And I’ve got to deal with all this stupid stuff
and it makes me crazy. I want to scream at the interviewer, hey asshole, I lost my
mother, what is
your
problem?”

Gage ached for her. Hell for everyone he knew.

“Yeah. I hear you. I hope this PR lady works out because it’d make me a hell of lot
more comfortable if you weren’t the one out there all the time.”

Meriel’s smile was slightly sad. “I’d be lying if I denied the appeal of being out
of the spotlight on this. Right now with all this stuff going on, our legal stuff
is overwhelming. We’re working with the ACLU and some other human rights groups to
deal with all the employment and housing discrimination stuff. But I’d prefer to be
out there fighting that fight too instead of dealing with asshat news reporters.”

“We don’t have to talk to them, you know. Fuck what they want.”

Meriel shrugged. “We don’t have to, no. But this issue isn’t going away. In fact it’s
getting worse. We need to control the message or we’re screwed.”

He sighed. “All right. I’m going to get on this. I’ll let you know what I find out.”

Background checks were pretty rote by that point. He knew back doors into the nationwide
system and into several major city and state databases. It didn’t take him long to
begin to build a folder on Ms. Ryan.

Molly Ryan was an interesting woman. If she was what she claimed to be, she’d be a
boon to Owen. Graduated top of her class in every class he could find. Intelligent,
clearly. Raised by a single mother who happened to be an economics professor at the
University of Chicago. No arrest records. No record of who her father was either.

That part burned in his gut. What kind of man just walked away? Did he know, Gage
wondered? Maybe the mother never told him.

He paged through the links she’d sent and those he’d dug up on his own. Awards. He
was able to get her financials. She made a lot of money. Saved it. Donated regularly
to several charities. Mentored college students. Maybe she hated kittens or something.

It appeared that she’d lost several people she was close to in the aftermath of the
Magister.

Hadn’t they all?

She’d also been outed in a spectacular fashion by the PURITY people just several days
before. That filled him with rage. These PURITY people were garbage. They didn’t care
who they hurt.

By the time he left many hours later, his respect of Molly Ryan had grown immensely.
If everything else panned out overnight and she came out and Meriel and Dominic liked
her, she’d be a great asset.