Trillian crossed his arms across his chest. “I’ve been thinking about your idea of using your middle name. Not a wise move. Suppose Gulakah has had his spies do research—it wouldn’t be hard to learn what your full names were. I’d pick something else. You look like Earthside Fae. I’d name yourself after a tree or something like that.”
When it came to subterfuge and manipulation, Trillian was a master. I trusted his instincts. “All right. I’ll be…Morning Glory. Do ES Fae have last names?”
“Not so much if they’re from the woodlands. Morning Glory it is.”
After that, things went quickly. We figured out that my feet were now the same size as Nerissa’s, too, so she brought me a pair of white canvas flats. I stared at them, then slid them on. I could run, at least, if I needed to.
For the next hour, I had them practice calling me Morning Glory until I got used to answering to the name. We went over and over the schematics—Delilah had managed to scrounge up the plans to the building that the meeting was being held in.
The Greenbelt Community Center was still used, on occasion, though mostly for church bake sales, an occasional community theater production, and—apparently—the Aleksais Psychic Network meetings. Delilah had asked Tim Winthrop—a good friend and the computer guru for the Supe Community Council—to hack into the records. Apparently, though the center was not the official headquarters for the group, they rented it out fairly cheap for both psychic fairs and general meetings.
“Here—memorize the exits. Double doors in the front, two side doors, and one fire exit that’s kept shut but can be opened.” Delilah pushed the floor plan over to me. “There’s the main chamber, and the men and women’s bathrooms on either side of the event floor. In back, on the other side of the hall, are three smaller event rooms, three offices, and a supply closet that houses the heating unit, janitor’s supplies, stuff like that. The main office is open to the public; that’s where people go to rent out the space. The smaller offices are for the managers.”
I studied the plans. “Parking in the front and the back. Sidewalks leading on both sides to both parking lots. Alley in the back, main street in the front. Basement? Attic?”
“No. The heating and cooling unit is in the supply room. There aren’t any hidden tunnels, or anything as far as we can tell, but that’s just what we know from the official plans. Who’s to say if they haven’t created their own network.”
“I doubt it,” Morio said. “Their headquarters are elsewhere. They don’t own the building, so it would be hard for them to alter it. I’m going to say it’s a fair guess that what we see here is what you’ll find. And since they advertised the meeting, I’m also guessing that it’s a net—they’re trying to find more victims. Once they do…”
“They’ll persuade them to go back to headquarters. I have to be so appealing they’ll do anything to get me back there, and soon. Which means I have to appear vulnerable and let my magic shine through.”
I frowned. “Most of the ES Fae aren’t particularly prone to brainwashing or enchantment, so what the hell are they using to rope them in? There has to be something that they’ve got…they were using the bhouts, but the well for those has dried up. And the spirit demons are a whole different type of creature. They aren’t used for control, so much as destruction…and to feed Gulakah.”
Iris slid in beside me. The chair was too low for her to effectively see the charts, but she got up on her knees on the seat, leaning on the table. “I know something that they might be using.”
“What? Any idea would help, so I know what to look out for.”
“There’s a tincture that I know about…my mother used to warn me when I was little never to accept a drink from a human until we’d formed a contract. Once agreed on, the contract is binding and then we—at least those of us who are sprites—can’t be charmed. But if you drink the tincture before you’ve agreed on service details, then you can be bound. Sort of like a djinn in a magic bottle.”
“But does that only work for sprites? Does it work on other Fae?” I’d never heard of the drug.
“I don’t know, but they might be able to adapt it. The potion is difficult to make and uses some obscure herbs found in very remote areas. But someone like Telazhar would have the knowledge of how to make that potion. He could have made it before he headed to Otherworld.” Iris motioned to Delilah, who pushed the laptop over to her. “Do you have a list of witches who’ve aligned themselves with the Aleksais Psychic Network? How do you work this thing?”
“Wait!” An idea occurred to me. “Halcon Davis. He was with Jake Evans in the cemetery. And he’s one of the organizers of the Aleksais Psychic Network. Maybe he’s more powerful. Maybe he has some sort of magic that can charm the Fae. Did we ever find out anything on him? Do we know if he was the guy whom Nerissa encountered at the conference?”
“Crap. I knew there was something I was overlooking.” Delilah pulled the laptop back from Iris and started tapping the keys. “Not much online…however…here we go. Halcon Davis was born in…no, that’s not possible.” She looked up, shaking her head. “This has to be somebody else.”
“Why?”
“Because it says here that Halcon Davis was born in 1825. He lived in the Seattle area, and he went missing in 1857. No one ever saw him again. There’s a picture here—actually, it’s a daguerreotype. I wonder if this is the same man Lindsey saw at the fair. But it couldn’t be.”
The image showed a rather nondescript man, wearing glasses, with short hair parted in the middle. Nerissa leaned over Delilah’s shoulder.
“That’s the man at the conference! There are some differences, but that’s the man who bumped into me, who was watching all day. I’m sure of it.” She shook her head. “He’s…almost one hundred ninety years old? How is that possible? Could it be a family member?”
Delilah shrugged. “Maybe, but…it says here Halcon was researching into Faerie lore—well, it says the “little people,” but they weren’t talking about dwarfism.” She let out a little gasp. “What if he…what if he somehow ended up getting hold of the Nectar of Life?”
“I wonder if Titania met him—she’s been living in this area for a long, long time. She was drunk off her ass for a lot of that time, and look…she had Tam Lin with her. Maybe she tried to turn another human. She never mentioned it to us, but there’s one hell of a lot they’ve never told us.” I was wondering just how I might broach the subject with the Fae Queen when Delilah tapped me on the arm.
“Can we send Lindsey a copy of this photograph? I just downloaded it.”
I pulled out my cell and gave Lindsey a call. She answered on the first ring. “Lindsey, we don’t have a lot of time, but are you near a computer, or can you get e-mail on your phone?”
She laughed. “I’m playing Plants vs. Zombies right now, so yes, I have my e-mail at hand. What’s cooking?”
“Take a look at the e-mail that—” I glanced over at Delilah, who punched the Enter key and then nodded to me. “Delilah just sent you an e-mail. Do you recognize the man in the picture?”
A pause, and I could hear her tapping on the keyboard. Then, a gasp.
“That’s the man at the psychic fair! Halcon Davis.”
Now we were getting somewhere. “You’re sure it’s him?”
“I’m positive. That’s him.” Lindsey hesitated, then asked, “What’s going on, Camille? Something’s going on. I can feel it. And what about the zombies? I know that the magical community around here—the FBH pagan community—is nervous. We’re worried about backlash on us, to be honest.”
I sorted through my thoughts, trying to figure out just what I could tell her. “Lindsey, there’s a lot of freak show things going down right now. I want you and your coven to lay low. Do protection magic for the city right now. Don’t go to—or hold any—public events right now. Tell your friends in other Circles to do the same. We’ve been dealing with creatures worse than the bhouts. We destroyed two nests of them, but we aren’t sure if there are others. And Halcon Davis and the Aleksais Psychic Network are right in the thick of things.”
I wanted to tell her that I was going in undercover, but it was just safer to keep that information under wraps. As I said good-bye, she sounded concerned. I hated worrying her, but the truth was she should be worried. And the more protection magic aimed around the city, the better off we’d be.
“So Halcon Davis was doing research on the Fae. Want to bet he managed to find out about the potion you were talking about, Iris? And maybe found a way to alter it. And somehow, his own life has been extended. We need to ask Titania if she remembers him. I wish they carried cell phones out there, but I don’t think the Triple Threat has any intention of being on the end of anyone’s speed dial.”
“We can find out, but not right now. I don’t want anybody wandering off on their own until tonight’s over and done with.” Trillian spoke up, and the tone in his voice told me he wasn’t about to be argued with.
“Fine. We’ll ask tomorrow.” I turned back to the plans. “So, I’m going to figure on Halcon being there tonight. They just wasted a sizable number of their members in feeding the spirit demons, so they’re going to need more recruits. Chances are I can wrangle my way into the inner circle, because I can guarantee you, I’ll have more magical energy for him than anybody there.”
“If he did take the Nectar of Life, then he’s going to be unpredictable, because I doubt if he’ll have been guided or counseled in how to use it. But…are there any other possibilities for his age? Halcon was human, as far as we can tell. There’s no way he could be this old without some sort of magical intervention.” Delilah kicked the table leg, frowning. “I wish we knew more about what you’re getting into before you go there.”
“As usual, we have more questions than we have answers, but I think that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. As far as Halcon…I don’t know. Shade, Smoky? Morio? Do you guys know of any way he could be this age and still be human?”
“There’s one thing you haven’t considered,” Nerissa said. “He might be Were. Weres are good at passing, and we live to quite a long age.”
That was a possibility, but something didn’t ring right to me. “If he were Were, wouldn’t you have sensed it at the conference?”
She shook her head. “There were so many people there, and I only saw him here and there. I was focused on work, and I doubt that I would have noticed if he was wearing a clown suit.”
The clock chimed and I glanced up. Six P.M. Half an hour and I needed to head out in order to be there by seven. I didn’t want to arrive early because the less time people had to meet me before the meeting, the less chance there would be that I’d be discovered.
Nervous, I locked myself in the bathroom. Logically, I knew it was me, but standing there, gazing at the face in the mirror, there was a part of me that felt like I’d lost myself. I didn’t connect with the person in my reflection. I stuck my tongue out at myself, then winked, then shook my head. Feeling uncomfortable and out of sorts, I returned to the kitchen after washing my hands and holding a cool washcloth to my neck.
The clock seemed to drag—the second hand slowly ticking around. I wanted to go, to be off, but it would be a mistake to go early and I knew it. Pacing, I went over everything again.
“So I get there. I find whoever’s in charge—hopefully it will be Halcon Davis. I gain his trust. I express an interest in becoming part of the network. And…then we see what happens.” I looked up. “I guess that’s about the extent of things.”
“We’ll be outside, waiting. If there are enough people there, we’ll hide in the parking lot. If not, we’ll park on the street, a few car lengths away. We won’t be able to contact you without giving you away, so you need to be able to get through to us.”
Shade cleared his throat. “I think you all are forgetting something. It’s dark. I can walk in the shadows and get a lot closer than the rest of you.”
I groaned. “And why didn’t you remind me of this beforehand?”
“You didn’t ask.” He grinned, then shrugged. “I thought it was a given that I’d be up there, keeping guard, so I didn’t think to say anything.”
I stared at him. “Seriously? You give us more credit than you should. But I feel a whole lot better knowing you’ll be that much closer. If there’s enough shadow inside, feel free to come in—”
“Not a good idea.” Shade shook his head. “If Davis is as strong a sorcerer—or whatever he is—as we think, then he might be able to sense me. But I’ll be right outside, listening in, and I’ll be able to get inside within seconds if I hear you scream.”
Smoky let out a long sigh. “I should be there. I’m your husband.”
We’d already gone over this several times in the past couple of days. Smoky didn’t want me in danger—as usual. And I understood. But I also knew that this was our best way to get inside the Aleksais Psychic Network. If they so much as smelled us, they’d back off and tell Gulakah we were getting close.
“You know why I’m doing this. Just stay close enough that you can come in on the run.” I leaned up to kiss him, stopping at the strange look on his face as he pulled away before my lips could meet his. “What’s wrong?”