Sons (Book 2) (89 page)

“Nothing much, really.  A day of visiting and spending time with people,” I said, moving to walk beside him.  Jimmy stayed back a few paces to give us the air of privacy.  “See Mom and Dad, the Cahills.  That sort of thing.  Monday’s going to be busy enough without loading Sunday up.”

“Good,” Kieran said, obviously pleased.  “Find some time in there to relax and have some fun—play, stretch that monkey brain of yours some.”

“Oh, he’s been doing that,” Jimmy said behind us, chortling.  He pulsed the Road to speed us up.

Grinning back at him, I waved him up beside us and said, “By the way, Jimmy, I want to say how proud of you I am for the way you’re handling all of this.  You’re managing the changes in your perspective beautifully and dealing with the changes that the magic is making quite well.  And all without losing your mind and personality.  That’s quite a feat.”

“Thank you, Seth.  That means a lot to me,” Jimmy said smiling sheepishly.

We walked quietly for a moment, just enjoying the company.  Kieran reached out gently and touched my elbow and quietly said, “You’re it.”  Then he tore off running as fast as he could, leaving me wondering what that meant.  When Jimmy passed me laughing, I took off after them.  I don’t know what Kieran was worried about.  If there was one thing that we knew how to do, it was play!

~              ~              ~

“Good morning, Gordon,” I said, stepping in the door to his office.  “Do you have time to talk?”

“Seth!  Yes, good morning,” Gordon said, rising from his desk covered with piles of paper.  When he came out from behind his desk, he was wearing white tennis shorts with burnt orange, short-sleeved polo shirt.  Gordon never dressed that casually.

“It’s good to see you.  Did I actually introduce my First on Thursday?” I asked as we shook hands.

“No, but we talked a bit later that night,” Gordon said, reaching out for Jimmy’s hand.  “First, good morning.  What are you two up to today?”

“Nothun’, much,” I said.  “Kieran’s worried I’m working too hard, so I’m just going around visiting people and seeing if I need to do anything later in the week.  You on the other hand look incredibly busy.”  I pointed to the piles on his desk.

Gordon glanced back reflexively, chuckling.  “Oh, that.  It’s not as bad as it seems.  I was just going over household accounts.  The three larger stacks on the right are yours anyway.”

“Wait, what?  For me?  From whom?” I asked confused.

“In my estimation,” Gordon said, the humor evident in his eyes, “mostly crackpots wanting wishes granted or offers of marriage to daughters—plural—but there are a number that are normal, diplomatic letters of introduction and invitation.  We just collected them; we didn’t cull them out.”

“At least we hired assistants in time,” I said, staring blankly at the three stacks on Gordon’s desk, thick and compressed by their own weight.

“Gordon, I can’t find any inform—S-Seth,” Bishop stammered on seeing me, eyes darting to Gordon furtively.  “Good morning, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to intrude.  I didn’t realize you were here.”  Flashes of Darius Fuller ran quickly through the top of his consciousness, even as he fought to bring up stronger barriers into place.

“A few hours, actually,” I admitted as I stood and shook his hand.  “I’ve been visiting my parents for a while now.  Purely a social call, so please don’t let me keep you from anything important.”

“No, not at all,” Bishop said, avoiding his original topic. “Just following a rumor, nothing important.”

Jimmy snorted.  “You’ll have to do better than that, Mr. Bishop.  Even I saw through that one.”

“First,” I warned, admonishing him mildly.  “There is such a thing as personal space.  Let Bishop have his misconceptions.”

“True, sir,” Jimmy argued politely.  “But a man at his level of politics should know when he’s not convincing to even a boy of eighteen.  I was doing him a favor!”

“He has a point, Thomas,” I said, grinning.  “If you can’t convince two redneck kids from the woods of the Deep South, what hopes do you hold for the savvy of Europe and Asia?”

Gordon erupted in deep, booming laughter at Bishop’s expense.  Flushed and embarrassed, Bishop shook his head in mild frustration.  Bishop offered us a nearby couch as Gordon controlled himself, glowering at him when he stumbled into a chair, joining us.

“What?  It was funny,” Gordon whined in his defense, shrugging at Bishop’s glower.  “Those two as ‘redneck kids’?  It’s absurd.”

“Yeah, Seth, you’re more of a ‘cracker’,” Jimmy said, snickering.  “Getcher ethnic slurs right.”  Gordon boomed again, though I was pretty sure he had as little idea of what a ‘cracker’ was as I did.  Bishop thought it was funny, too, but refused to show it, opting to show a vague disdain.

He waited a moment while Gordon regained composure, then said, “There was another attack.”

Apparently, I was supposed to react more than I did.  Bishop and Gordon exchanged odd glances when my only response was, “And?”

Suddenly suspicious, Bishop drew in a breath and said, “On Thursday morning, while the rest of the US Council Members traveled here, just in case you changed your mind and allowed them in, Darius Fuller’s home was attacked by a large, extra-military force.  Reports are saying that he and his son were there at the time.  Fuller was unavailable to his corporate assistants for the day, but spoke with two of the three the next morning, briefly.  Then at about ten thirty, Mark Phillips, his director of security, called and informed them both that Fuller would be away for the weekend at an undisclosed location.  Darius, his son, Sean, and Phillips have been missing since then.”

“I’m sorry, Thomas, but I’m not sure I’m seeing the problem here,” I said with a light laugh.  “How exactly are they missing when they said they were leaving?”

“Darius Fuller travels with an entourage of security and assistants,” Bishop said.  “And there is no evidence that he went anywhere.  His Council is quite concerned that something has happened to him.”

“I assume the attack was unsuccessful,” I asked coyly.

“By accounts, yes, for the first time, it was completely unsuccessful,” Bishop answered, impressed.  “What little we’ve been able to ascertain indicates that Fuller’s wards were able to stop the invasion along his outside boundaries.”

“Not surprising,” I said, shrugging some.  “They’re nearly on par with the castle’s when the right people are in charge.  Not quite as pretty though.”  Gordon grinned with pride.

“And just how do you know that?” Bishop asked, intensely curious now.

“A minor breach of Hospitality by his security before our dinner last week,” I answered.  “I didn’t want to make a big deal about it so I just spanked them and set them in the corner instead.”

Bishop thought for a moment.  “How long did you keep their wards before they figured it out?”

“I gave them back!” I cried, acting distressed and put out.  “And it was only about an hour and a half.”

“I hadn’t heard that part,” Bishop mumbled from behind his hands, trying to wipe the smile off his face.

“Have to do better,” Jimmy taunted in high falsetto.  Gordon and I both snickered.

“Do
you
know where Darius is?” Bishop asked me.

I couldn’t lead him on any more.  “Yes, Thomas, I know precisely where the Fullers are and they’re quite safe,” I said gently, smiling.

“You have them, then?” he asked pointedly.

“I didn’t say that,” I objected, holding up a hand.  “And that makes them sound like prisoners, Mr. Bishop.  You did hear me agree to hold to the principles of the Accords.”

Bishop quickly changed his demeanor at my change in his name, holding up his hands in supplication.  “I mean no offense, Seth.  I wasn’t saying you kidnapped them…”

“I really didn’t think you did,” I admitted, “but I have to be careful about what I let be said.  The Accorded are going to be very touchy about what I do for a long time and right now, I can’t afford to let them test me.”

“How are you achieving
that
little miracle, by the way?” Bishop asked.  “I thought that they would force all that refused to sign from access to this and all nearby planes.”

“He didn’t refuse to sign, Tom,” Gordon said patiently.  “You watched him do it.”

“Signed twice, even,” I agreed with Gordon, nodding.  “Their Oath wouldn’t hold me.  But to answer your question, on a technicality and a very big bluff.”

“A technicality?  That’s what’s holding the Queens of Faery at arms’ length?” Bishop asked in disbelief.  “What could they possibly fear so strongly on a technicality?”

“The first law?” Gordon said in a guffaw.  “And possibly the second, as well.”

“The first,” I agreed.  “I’d have to be
sidhe
for the second to apply.”

“What laws?  The Accords are rules, not laws,” Bishop argued.  “Even in the strictest sense, it doesn’t contain laws.  The Fae will tell you that.”

“No, the Accords have about nine hundred laws,” I returned.  “What do you think was taking me so long in reading them?”

“I did wonder… but I’ve read them and they were fairly direct,” Bishop continued to argue.  “I still don’t recall laws.”

“Sounds to me like you only studied the part that affected you,” I said, grinning.  “Not that I blame you.  Damnably boring reading.  I almost fell asleep twice.”

“Pfah, I fell asleep twice an hour when Da made me read them,” Gordon said, smiling at me.  “If it weren’t for John, he might have strangled Marty over it last summer.”

“Where did you find a copy?” I asked.  “Those are jealously guarded, I thought.”

“Legend has it, in a dragon’s horde,” Gordon bragged, beaming.  “Saint Peter or Bernard or one of the snake-killing ones supposedly snatched it after killing a furious beast.  A Gaelic translation of the parts that remained came under my family’s control years ago and we’ve kept it under lock and key since.  If you say nine hundred laws, then it’s not as complete as we thought it was.  Care to see it?”

“No!” I answered, too strongly then laughing lightly.  “Twice was enough for a while.”

“Why twice?” Gordon asked.

“The Queens changed the documents I was signing,” I said.  “I had to be sure I wasn’t signing something else entirely.”

“The technicality?” Bishop urged impatiently.

“If either attacks me in any way,” I said slyly, “I get to call it an act of war.” 

“’Any way’?” Gordon asked, surprised by the generalization.

“Being unaccorded, the rules are far less strict for me than even you,” I said.  “A slap in the face or even a poison dart aimed in my direction is enough.”  Gordon laughed heartily again, Bishop with him this time.  “It’s not fool-proof.  I have to catch them and make a charge through the Oath, but it’s a huge deterrent.  Until I’m faced with that problem, though, I gave them a honkin’ big present and I’m playing very nicely with them.”

“It didn’t look that way Thursday night,” Bishop said, winding down.  “That looked threatening to us.”

“You don’t stand between two dragons like a doe-eyed deer and survive,” I said chuckling.  “You at least have to pretend to be a bigger dragon.”

“You are a little doe-eyed most of the time,” Jimmy said.  He earned a solid slap in the gut from me for it, too.  He inched down the couch, grinning at me.

“So are you living here, now, Thomas?” I asked Bishop, changing the subject.

“No, but it has seemed like it lately,” Bishop answered.  “You and this war have taken up quite a lot of time and all of it has been centered here for the last week and a half.  Except for your trouble in Alabama, how’s that going, anyway?  Still mad at Harris and Darius, I take it?”

“Darius and I still haven’t talked about that,” I responded, “but we will, and we’ll come to an understanding, whether we agree with each other or not.  Harris and the Marshals, though, have had their last chance with me.  ‘Mad’ does not do my feelings for them justice in the least.  Harris has continued his vendetta even though I’ve saved his life and done him considerable favors.  He won’t be able to regret the next time our paths cross.”

“And your prisoners?  Where did you take them?” Bishop asked.

“To Gilán,” I said, knowing where he was going.  “The government and I came to an agreement on Friday about that.  They don’t know what to think about us, I’m afraid.”

“Like any of us do,” Bishop muttered.  “For instance, why were you willing to take them, but not ours when we asked?”

“You weren’t about to shoot them just for breathing,” I said.  “The Army was, and while I can think of a few different actions I could have taken
now
, removing them from danger was my only concern then.”

Gordon and Bishop exchanged disturbed looks.  “Shoot them?” Gordon asked.

“Yep, covert actions was in charge of the ‘rescue’,” I said with air quotes around the last word.  “Rather than risk public outrage and embarrassment, they felt they could massacre everyone, including us I think, and clean up the mess later.  Why do you think I’m so mad at Harris?  Wittingly or not, he was at the root of it.”

“That’s appalling,” Bishop said.

“Yes, well, I can’t speak to his motives, of course,” I said, growing tired of the subject again, feeling that Bishop had led me long enough.  “Gordon, I’ll send Mike and the guys over to grab all of that out of your way.  And hopefully, we’ll be able to get an office setup this week and keep it out of your way.”