Twist of Fae (3 page)

R
OBERT

"Still, it was a bit impulsive, wouldn’t you say?"
Ray O'Malley asked, sipping his coffee. Ray was the lieutenant of Homicide at
Las Vegas Metro PD. He was a good looking Irishman with a full head of silver
hair, tall and well built. He was also a whiskey drinking, cigar smoking old
school cop. He had been my friend and mentor for the last 30 years, and if that
wasn't enough, it turns out he was also Fae. Some descendant of Irish Faeries,
wouldn’t you know. He was the liaison to the Fae at the local PD.

That was something that had come as one hell of a surprise
to me when I'd found out just a few days ago. I'd known the Fae had a contact
at the PD, but I'd never realized it was him. Now that I think about it, I
should have guessed based on some past conversations, but it's not like I
haven't been preoccupied with other things. I tried to ask him more, but all he
would say was that he'd promised my grandmother he'd watch over me and been
sworn to secrecy. If my powers hadn't surfaced I'd probably never have found
out. Having been born a male in a world dominated by females, rules and history,
my grandmother had gone to a lot of trouble to hide what I was from the rest of
the Fae of her kind. It still amazed me the number of conspirators that were
involved.

"Impulsive?" I replied. "Maybe a little. But
even you have to admit that everything that's happened has been pointing me in
that direction anyway. Although I will confess to hating the very idea of such
a spell ever being crafted."

We had just finished breakfast and were, of course,
discussing my recent actions in releasing the Lilin from an ancient curse. The
Lilin are what you might call Vampires. Although instead of fangs, they have a
needle-like appendage that's located in the base of their tongue they use to
take blood. They had lost a battle with the Fae eons ago and as a condition of
their surrender, had been placed under a spell that rendered them, to say the
least, second class beings.

As a descendant of the Greek Goddess, Demeter, I had been
the only one with the power to release them from that spell. Something I had
done without hesitation and, to be honest, without thinking the whole thing
through before doing so. An act that many were not too happy about. While I had
been directed onto that path by a certain Dwarf named Bernd, it had still been
my decision. The spell's results had been nothing short of slavery and I just
couldn’t live with that on my hands, no matter who I pissed off.

"Well, what's done is done," he said, putting his
cup down and looking over at me. "For what it's worth, I agree with your
decision, if not the speed that it was made. But not everyone does, so I expect
we'll see the backlash soon enough."

"Oh, I already have," I observed. "Half the Fae
on the Strip are screaming their heads off and blaming me for the loss of such
compliant employees." I stressed the word compliant. Fae are no different
than humans in many ways and there were more than a few of the local Fae
leaders that had taken advantage of the Lilin because of that spell. Now it
appears that the Lilin had all but disappeared since the spell had been lifted.
I knew that they had a new leader, but I wasn't sure yet what she was up to.

"I hope you told them to pound sand," he
continued. "But at least you've still got the Milagres on your side, as
well as the Elves. But I'm a little concerned about the Feds. You know they
like to know about that kinda thing before it happens. Have you heard anything
from them yet?"

"Nothing, although I'm sure that's coming as
well."

"Oh, it is. It is," he affirmed.

Ray had never exactly been a fan of the Feds and had always
preached to me to never let them think they had the upper hand. I had a sudden flash
of a memory from my rookie police officer days. Ray had been the scene
commander on a major bank robbery where hostages were being held by several
rifle toting bad guys. We had just secured the area and Ray was about to
contact the robbers when the local FBI arrived. The agent in charge, some new
guy from back East, had walked in like he owned the place and told Ray in no
uncertain terms that he was taking over. Ray just nodded and smiled before telling
me to get on the radio and order all our units to pack up and leave. The agent
in charge almost had a coronary, seeing that we had upwards of twenty units on
the scene and he had a total of four, including himself. Had we left he would
have been in a serious predicament. Not that Ray really would have done that,
or at least I don’t think he would have. But, either way, the Feds had backed
down and we had handled the scene without further incident. Of course that's
neither here nor there, since that wasn't the kind of Feds he was talking
about.

No, these Feds are a different sort. These were half-Demons,
or at least most of them were, from what I'd been told. Their job was to
monitor activity between the Fae and human worlds and to stop anything that threatened
the country or government, as well as to make sure that the public never found
out we existed. Call it a kind of magical Homeland Security. There was even
another branch that coordinated the collection of taxes for Fae money that
entered the system. That one, naturally, had already contacted me. But I had an
attorney and accountants to handle that. It's not that they worried me that
much, it was just that it hadn’t made it to the top of my to-do list yet.

"You know they like to make an entrance and they'll
want to know exactly what you are… and what you're made of. To quote from one
of your favorite TV shows, they'll come at you sideways. You'd better be ready
to play hardball."

"I got it," I replied. "But what can I say? It's
not like I haven’t had a full plate. Ever since that night in the parking lot
with the Mages it's been a whirlwind. First the shootout, then the fight with
the Werewolves, and let me think, what else? Oh, yeah, battles with the dark
Fae and her Mages. A trip to the river Styx. Fights with Demons and then there
was that Dragon. Hey, I can’t remember Dragons being on my watch list when I
was still a cop. Let me take that back. This is Vegas, after all. But you get
my point."

"Yeah, I do," he said with a laugh.

"All I really want is a return to some form of normalcy
but I doubt that's going to happen. I'm just about ready to tell everyone to
kiss my ass and go on vacation," I continued.

"Except you won’t do that," he said.

"No, I won’t," I agreed. "She wouldn't want
me to." She being my grandmother. It was a long story but suffice it to
say that she had traded her life as a Fae, as well as her immortality, so that
I could live. I wasn't about to let that sacrifice be in vain. No, I was stuck
with being King of the Faeries, at least those from my part of the woodland
realm anyway, and I'd do my best at it.

"No, she wouldn't," he replied. "Hey, have you
talked to your kids lately?"

"My kids?" I asked, suddenly uncomfortable. He
knew they didn’t know what I was. "What about them?"

"You haven't talked to either of them?"

"No?" I replied. "Is everything ok?"

"Oh, yeah, they're fine, as far as I know," he
replied. "But Nikki probably saved someone's life yesterday. She saw
someone lying in a garden from the top of a ladder. He'd been shot by a stray
round during an earlier drive-by. Innocent bystander as it turns out."

"Really?" I said. "I didn’t hear about it.
Usually she calls me when something big happens."

"Well it gets better."

"What?" I asked, not liking the way this was
going. Don’t get me wrong. It was great to hear they had done something good.
But that wasn't what I was thinking about. I talked to both of them at least a
couple times a week. This was something she would have wanted to share. Why
hadn't she called?

"Turns out Jay saved someone's life as well."

I just stared at my coffee cup and didn't reply.

"Yeah," O'Malley continued. "Apparently, he
sees a flash in an attic and knocks a SWAT guy to the ground just before the
rounds land right where he was standing. Quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you
agree?"

"Yeah, it is," I granted. "Anything else out
of the ordinary on either of the situations?" Meaning if there was any
hint of magic involved.

"Not that I've heard. But I got it second hand,"
he replied before leaning closer towards me. "You need to tell them,
Robert… and soon."

"I know," was all I could say in reply.

"Well, I've got some more bad news for you, my friend,"
he said as he started to get up from the table.

"What's that," I asked, wondering what else he was
going to drop on me.

"It's your turn to buy," he replied with a grin.

"That I can handle," I said with a sigh of relief
as I put some money on the table.

"I'll keep my ears open," Ray said.

"Thanks," I replied.

We both got up and headed for the parking lot. Ray had a
meeting and I had a few things to think about before I headed downtown to check
on things at the office.

****

As I pulled up to the house, I saw that Charlie was already
waiting for me at the gate. How does he do that? I wondered as I pulled my car
into the driveway. Charlie was my dog. Weighing in at about 185 pounds, he's
part Great Dane and part, well, let's just say he's part something else.

As I opened the door he was halfway in and turning his big
head to face me before I could even get the seatbelt unbuckled.

"What the hell, Charlie?" I asked, trying to push
him back so I could get out.

"Faeries are upset. They have found something."

Oh, yeah, he can talk, too.

"What did they find?" I asked as he jumped down. I
got out of the car and followed him around the house into the backyard. The
conversation from earlier was forgotten, at least for the moment.

"They said it was an Imp," he answered.

"An Imp?" I started to say. I never finished
because as soon as I stepped out onto the back patio I was assailed by no less
than five small Faeries. They buzzed my head and were talking all at once and
so fast that all I could hear was chattering.

"Guys, guys, slow down! I can't understand a word y'all
are saying."

The Faeries suddenly stopped their buzzing and one flew
directly in front of my face. Stopping a few inches from my nose, she shook her
finger at me and jutted her chest out, pointing to her breasts.

"Yes, yes, Fiora, I know. Please accept my apology. I
know you're not a guy. It's just a figure of speech," I said in reply.

That's the problem with Garden Faeries. They're not usually
that literal. As a general rule they don’t say too much. The truth is, they
almost never say anything unless I talk to them first. Usually they just flit
about tending to the plants and trees. Oh sure, they nod and wink to let me
know that they're around. They're temperamental, too. Especially when it comes
to their plants. And when they get excited, well, let's just say that it can
get interesting.

Although I probably don’t need to mention the obvious, most
of them are female, as I was just sternly reminded. Although to be truthful,
it's kind of hard to miss, since they don’t wear any clothes. As to Fiora, she
was quite the beauty as well, especially with that streak of purple that made
her dark hair stand out. It's just that since I see them all the time it's
easier to think of them as human, which they definitely are not. Sometimes I
forget that you can't talk to them as if they were. But then again, I've got a
talking dog and cat and they don’t exactly think like humans either. Why should
Garden Faeries be any different?

My explanation seemed to appease her as she nodded
graciously and then blushed, suddenly remembering who she was talking to. Oh,
yeah, I may have forgotten to mention that Garden Faeries are part of the Dryad
realms and that made me, for lack of a better term, their King.

"So," I asked. "What have you found?"

"A spy," said one.

"Yes, a spy" said another.

"A spy. We found a spy," they all repeated until
Fiora raised her arm and the rest finally fell quiet.

"My Lord," she began. "While tending to your
neighbor's garden we found an Imp hiding behind the stone fence. We believe he
was trying to gain access to your domain, so we captured him." She seemed
quite proud of herself, but then again, I guess she should be. Garden Faeries
weren't exactly known to be subtle to trespassers. Sure, they looked all cute
and cuddly, but they could be nasty when provoked, as could any Fae.

"Well done," I said, knowing that I had to
congratulate them before asking the obvious. "And where is this spy
now?"

"Still where we found him," Fiora answered.
"Bound in silk so he cannot get away."

"That was wise," I said, knowing that they would
never have brought him into the yard without permission. Besides, I had wards
protecting the place that even the Elves couldn't get through unless granted
entry.

Whatever he was, he wasn't a threat as long as he was
outside the yard. Of course I had to get him here to see who they had captured
and what he was up to. Unfortunately, I couldn’t just knock on the neighbor's
door and ask to retrieve the little man my Garden Faeries caught in her
backyard. Mrs. Shaughnessy was appreciative as all hell when I gave her a bag
of 'special fertilizer' for her garden but she'd never believe it was really
Faeries that made her vegetables grow so large and sweet. More likely it'd give
her a heart attack. No, that would never do.

"Do you think you can bring him to me?" I asked.

"Oh, yes," she replied. "We can carry
him."

"Yes, yes, we can carry him," they all started to
say.

"Ok, then. Show me what you've caught." I said.
Then, I turned to Charlie and whispered. "Make sure whatever it is doesn't
try to get away."