Twenty-Five

 

“Guardians, how good to see you,” the female sidhe said.

“We have been told that you’re looking into the problem of the magic-removal powder,” the male sidhe said.

“We are. However, we are here about the part-bred fae that were involved in the missing witchlings,” Alasdair said.

“We don’t deal with their kind,” the pixie said before she curled her lip in disgust at the thought.

“Looks like we don’t have a deal then,” I said with a smile.

The puka gave a feline slow blink before he stood, his cat tail giving a slight flick showing his annoyance.

“We are aware of a small group of part-bred fae that have been working outside of the confines we have given them,” the puka said.

“And…” I said.

He pursed his lips.

“They’ve been involved in this Tempo drug. Your witchlings were likely just addicts who got pulled into a well-worded deal. Even part-breds have more business sense and better instincts for a good contract than, well, the rest of you,” the female sidhe said, gesturing at us.

“We’re here for facts,” Alasdair pushed.

“The group in question have been linked into Tempo. They have been targeting people such as your witchlings, and they have also been connected to a number of other disappearances over the last month. They are reckless and show what little magic they have to whoever will watch. Now, what do you know about this magic-removal powder?” the puka said.

“We know that it is alchemist made. We have someone looking for the alchemist’s signature so we can track them down,” Alasdair said.

“And what are you doing about the missing fae?” the pixie demanded.

“You didn’t tell us there were any missing fae,” Alasdair said calmly.

“Young, weaker members of our community started vanishing some two months ago. At first we thought they were just exploring, but they cannot be found or contacted anywhere. All trace of them has been removed from the worlds,” the pixie said.

“If we look into this, you will give more resources to helping us with the missing witchlings,” Alasdair said.

The fae all exchanged a look before the female sidhe spoke. “Yes, we agree to this deal.”

“We will need details on the part-breds you mentioned,” Alasdair said.

The male sidhe pulled a leather document case from his satchel and handed it to Alasdair.

“That contains photos, addresses, and anything else you might need on them. Do not feel the need to treat them gently. They will be disposed of once this situation has been resolved. They are only still alive due to the trade we made with you,” he said.

“We will be in touch,” Alasdair said.

I followed him back out to the car and took the document case from him once he turned the engine on.

“That wasn’t as painful as I’d expected,” I said.

“They were hiding something.”

“They’re fae.”

I’d barely opened the document case when Alasdair’s phone went off.

“That’ll be Saoirse or Gray, could you read it for me?”

I opened up his phone and found a text from Saoirse.

“Apparently shifters and lycans have been reported as missing. They’ve been vanishing for the same period of time as the fae,” I said.

Alasdair growled and gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“What do you want to bet the part-bred fae are tied into this, too?” I said.

“We will deal with that once you’re initiated. We can’t risk you being injured before the ceremony, you need to be complete.”

“I can’t just sit back and twiddle my thumbs while I wait for the full moon,” I growled.

He tapped the document case.

“There’s plenty there to look through.”

I curled my lip and grumbled to myself.

“You’ll also need to speak with the relevant shifters and lycans.”

“Do you remember the last time I tried to speak to a shifter pack?” I asked.

Alasdair rubbed his thumb over my cheekbone.

“You’re a Guardian, and you’re too strong to let their view on made hold you back.”

I smiled at the compliment before I resigned myself to digging through paperwork for the rest of the day.

 

 

I didn’t get very far with the paperwork the fae had given us. The lycan alpha, a small woman called Aoife, and the shifter alphas, a pair of men I didn’t catch the names of, were waiting for us at Saoirse’s church. Aoife was a diminutive woman in a white sun dress despite the cold rainy weather. She looked almost delicate, but her golden hazel eyes showed the extent of her inner predator. She was the smallest person in the room, but everyone gave her plenty of space; she radiated strength and predatory power.

The shifters were growling and pacing when we walked in. Aoife, however, was calm and stood talking quietly to Saoirse.

“These are Guardians Kerrigan and Conall.”

I had my shoulders back and openly challenged the three alphas to dare try and start shit. The two shifters bared their teeth and began shifting but backed down when I didn’t flinch. Aoife, however, gave me a small nod of respect. The shifters didn’t so much as think about trying anything with Alasdair, which was hardly surprising but still irritating.

“We speak for the shifters of this county,” the larger shifter said.

His eyes still held the gold of his wolf.

“I’m aware,” I said dryly.

“Five shifters have been taken in the last two months: three wolves, one lynx, and one fox. They have been taken in other counties, too,” he growled.

“The same number of lycans have been taken, and the other counties have reported the same,” Aoife said levelly.

“Kindly give us all the information you have on the missing people,” Alasdair said.

The shifters spoke quickly. There was no way in Hell I was going to be able to remember any of those details.

I held up my hand.

“We need this written down,” I said.

Saoirse brought out a laptop with a word processor open on screen. I looked to Alasdair, and he nodded towards the laptop. Thankfully, I could type at a reasonable pace - I’d picked up work as a transcriptionist before I got into the enforcers.

Once the shifters had given everything they could about their missing people, Aoife began to give us the details on the lycans. Nothing seemed to link them. None of them had been anywhere near Tempo. Some of them were trouble-makers, others were entirely clean. There was no connection between their position in their respective packs, where they hung out, nothing.

It was going to be a long day.