Not Just Another Fae (Vegas Fae Stories Book 4) Read online

"Hey," I replied. "What am I doing? Am I jumping in blindly? No, I'm here gathering intel. Look, for what it's worth the Weres are already on it. I've asked my daughter for Fae warriors and I still have Siegfried to call on. If I need more, I'll let you know. Jeez! I'm starting to think you're worried about me."

  "I am worried about you, and don’t be such an asshole," she muttered, and then took off down the hall toward the stairway.

  Shit, I'd done it again. I have got to get off this roller coaster!

  Unfortunately, she was right, for the most part. I did have a tendency to rush into things before thinking. But in my defense, I seldom had the opportunity to plan before things got out of control. Except for the incident with the Mages she was referring to. That one was well thought out, and we'd not only rescued Ella during the raid, but a Weredragon as well.

  "Delia! Wait," I said as I ran up to her. "I know you’re worried, but there's just a lot going on at the moment." I stopped and put my hands up. "Which, I know is no excuse, you've got plenty on your mind yourself. But, I'm sorry, and I really will be careful."

  "Fine," she replied. "Just promise me that you'll consider it. Before you get into trouble. Okay?"

  "I will," I said. "I should know more by tomorrow or the next day. If I need help, I'll call."

  She just nodded in reply, but at least she wasn't frowning anymore.

  "When do you think you'll be back in Vegas?" I asked when we got back into the SUV.

  "Hard to say. Things are pretty busy here, and I've got to go to London in a few weeks. It could be a while."

  "London?"

  "Yes. Bjartr and Ella have been dealing with the Lilin there. They still follow the old ways, and aren’t as well organized as we are here. There is much confusion among them since the spell was lifted. But Ella is planning to change that."

  "I'll bet she is," I replied.

  "What does that mean?" Delia asked as she turned back onto the main road.

  "Nothing," I said.

  "She's doing what she has to do, Robert," Delia explained. "Consolidating power and bringing the Lilin together under one government. That's what we need to do to move forward. Do you have a problem with that?"

  "Of course not," I answered. "That's what I would do if I were her. Don’t be so defensive. I was the one that freed her, remember?" Not that I wasn't hoping that it didn't bite me on the ass later.

  "I haven’t forgotten," she replied. "And neither has she."

  I didn't say anything in reply. I figured I'd done enough damage for one day. A few minutes of silence later, she pulled over in front of the lot she'd picked me up at. We both got out of the SUV and I waited as she walked around to my side.

  "So I guess I'll see you when I see you," I said.

  She stood there a moment before saying anything, her hands in her pockets. Then she walked up to me and gave me a hug.

  "Maybe when things are all settled we can try again," she said, her head on my chest.

  "That would be nice," I agreed, hugging her back.

  "Okay," she said, pushing herself away. "Keep in touch."

  "I will," I replied and started to walk back to the old house and the oak tree that was my way home.

  "And Robert?"

  "Yes," I said, turning back to look at her over the hood of the Sequoia.

  "Be careful."

  "Always," I replied.

  Chapter 4

  It was getting dark and there was already a slight drizzle as I stepped back into my yard. Hurrying toward the house, I walked onto the patio and then slid the back door open. My daughter sat at the kitchen table.

  "Nikki," I said, closing the door behind me. "What are you doing here?"

  "You're kidding, right?" she said and rolled her eyes. "Dad! Charlie tells me you've been fighting Demons and that you need warriors. Why would you think I wouldn’t come?"

  "I also said I had it covered," I replied, walking to the fridge to pull out a beer.

  "Oh, like I haven't heard that before," she said with a grin.

  "Want one?" I asked, holding it up.

  "Well, if that's all you got," she replied.

  I tossed one to her and she caught it, twisting off the cap off and taking a drink. "I can’t believe how bland this tastes after Handion's Elf ale."

  "Yeah. I tried to get him to part with a keg, but all he did was laugh. Danu's has a pretty good brew, though. Maybe I can get them to bottle some next time I'm there. "Have you seen Charlie or Alf?" I asked. They were nowhere in sight.

  "I think he's still back in Fae," she said. "I haven't seen the Imp, or Lucinda, for that matter."

  "Lucinda's still out looking for Bernd."

  Lucinda was my cat, but again, like Charlie she was Fae. She was also my liaison, I guess you could call her, with what I'll call the good Dwarf faction. Bernd had been my grandmother's advisor when she was queen. He'd also been mine.

  "Okay, Dad," she said as she put down the bottle. "Enough bullshit. What's going on with this Demon?"

  "I'm not really sure," I replied, sitting down beside her. "He just showed up the other day. Killed at least two Weres before we found out about it. According to Alf, it's a Sumerian Demon called a Gallu. Some kind of spawn from their version of Hell."

  "Sumerian? What's it after?"

  "Beats the crap out of me," I replied. "All I know is what I told you. But the Weres are on the warpath and I can’t just let it stay, so I guess we're going hunting. As soon as I figure out how to kill it, that is."

  "You think this is what Gaea was talking about?" she asked.

  "It's got to be part of it," I replied. "I've never heard of Sumerian Demons, or even Sumerian Fae, for that matter, being around." I picked up my bottle and started to take a drink, then stopped before it reached my lips. "I never really asked, but did she tell you anything specific?"

  "No. Just that whatever had drawn the Fae here was drawing something else," Nikki said, tapping her fingers. "That's all she said, other than that you needed to be here to fix it."

  "It would have been nice if she told had you how I was supposed to do that," I replied.

  "I wish," she agreed. "That's what we get for meddling in the affairs of Wizards... or Gods in this case, to coin a phrase."

  "Tell me about it," I said, now draining the bottle of beer. "By the way, anything new on the Dwarf front?"

  "Same same." Nikki topped the bottle and finished hers off as well. "There's been a few sightings here and there, but no real activity. I've got eyes and ears out, but it's been quiet. They've even stopped visiting the other Fae, if you can believe what they say. Or, if they are visiting some of the others, no one's talking about it. We sure haven't seen any signs of it."

  "Just because you can't see them doesn’t make them any less dangerous," I reminded her.

  "You don’t have to tell me," She replied. "I know I put a scare into them, but I would have expected some kind of response by now."

  "It was a long time after The Fall before they made their presence known again. Who knows how long it'll take them to respond this time. Especially after the ass kicking you gave them. Just don’t let your guard down."

  Nikki’s sudden rise to power had been unexpected, thanks to a prod from Gaea herself. It had come as a surprise, especially to me. I didn’t have any heartaches over it, other than hating to see my kid deal with problems like the rogue Dwarf King, not to mention the ordinary day to day stuff. But she was making the best of it.

  Actually, she'd done better than that; at least where the Dwarf King was concerned. When his agents had tried to force a coup, she'd kicked their butts and sent them back to their King, by the Fae equivalent of airmail. Sometimes magic is a wonderful thing.

  As far as the rest goes, I was, technically, still a king, at least on paper. But what it meant was that she ran things back in Fae and I managed things on this end. I wasn't necessarily happy with the idea, but who's gonna argue with Gaea? Anyway, Nikki was handling things in Fae far better than I'd hoped for,
so I did my best to keep up my end here.

  She also still worked for the local PD. She was a CSI, though, rather than a cop like I had been before I retired. Fortunately travel between the two worlds was a breeze and since time worked differently there, being in both places at the same time was almost a reality. It also meant that we thought alike, at least on most issues.

  "Don’t worry Daddio," she said, using her favorite nickname for me. "Ain't gonna happen. As you would say, I've got it covered. But to get back on track, what do you need from me?"

  What did I need? How about a Fae army and Thor's Hammer. Better yet, throw in that singing mace. But unfortunately, I wasn't going to get any of that.

  "Just a few warriors for now. Archers would be best, if you can spare them. Maybe a half dozen or so. Something to bolster the Were's numbers and whoever else I can round up here," I told her. "I'll just have to see how it goes when it shows up again before I really know."

  "Have you talked to Jay?"

  Jay was my son and Nikki's brother. He was also an agent in Homeland Security. He was part of a team that worked on issues with the Fae and other magical creatures that could threaten the country. He was also a Prince of Fae and, as such, was tasked as a protector of the realm. This pretty much gave him freedom to do whatever he needed to in the Fae lands, but if it involved anything relating to the human realm, things got a bit complicated. That didn’t mean I wasn't going to let him know what was happening, but since this was going on here, any call I made became semi-official. Politics was a bitch.

  "He's on my list to call. But since this thing is on this side of the veil, I'm gonna wait until I know a little more. You know how it is."

  "You know if he asks, I'll have to tell him," she said reluctantly "I can't hide taking warriors off the line while this Dwarf thing is still unsettled."

  "Not a problem," I replied, knowing that those warriors indirectly answered to him. "I've got a few ideas that only he can help with anyway, so I'll probably be talking to him before you do."

  I could tell she was a bit uncomfortable about pulling rank. But we'd had this discussion after she'd taken the throne. It meant a lot to me that she took her position so seriously. Especially since, like me, she'd been thrown into that world so recently and without any warning.

  "All right," she said as she stood. "I've got to get back and finish up a few things before my next shift at the PD."

  I followed her back into the yard, ignoring the rain. She gave me a kiss on the cheek as she reached the oak tree.

  "When do you want the warriors?" she asked, holding her hands above her eyes to keep the rain out.

  "How about late tomorrow afternoon?" I said, hoping I wouldn’t need them before then.

  "They'll be here before sunset." Then she stepped toward the tree, but turned back to look at me before crossing over. "I love you, Dad."

  "I love you more," I said as she stepped into the light and disappeared.

  Chapter 5

  I dialed Martin as soon as I got back in the house.

  "Anything new?" I asked after the phone connected.

  "No," he replied. There was a rumble of thunder in the background. "Just this damn storm. You?"

  "Not really. There's a chance that this thing can’t be killed by magic alone, for whatever that's worth. But I'm still trying to dig up more about this kind of Demon."

  "Good thing I brought my shotgun then," he replied with a laugh. "I don’t care what I kill it with, as long as it's dead."

  "Whatever works. I'll let you know if I find out anything else."

  "Do that," he said and disconnected.

  My next call was to Siegfried.

  "Robert," he said as he answered. "I was just about to call you."

  "I take it you've got things settled over here."

  "For the moment," he replied. "We are still... mopping up, as they say."

  "That's good to hear."

  "There is something here that you should see," he said. "Can you come by my office?"

  "Sure," I replied. "What's up?"

  "It will be easier to show you," he said. "And we must also discuss this Demon you fought. Has it shown itself again?"

  "Not yet," I replied. "But my current theory is that it doesn’t like lightning, and with tonight's storms, I'm hoping it won’t make an appearance. Martin has his folks out there keeping watch just in case and I've got Sendy doing flybys as well. If it does, I'll know."

  "When can I expect you?"

  "I can head over there now. I'll see you in a bit"

  "Excellent," he replied, then disconnected.

  ****

  I hopped onto US 95 from the Craig on-ramp and headed toward downtown. About 25 minutes later I pulled into the back of the Neptune's Landing via Dean Martin Drive and wove my way around until I accessed the executive parking level. As entered the garage, I called Siegfried.

  "I'm just pulling in to a parking space," I said when he answered.

  "I'll have Michael meet you," He replied.

  As I got out of the car and walked over to the elevator, my mind flashed back to where my trip to the world of the Fae began. This level was protected by more than just a key card. It was protected by magic as well. If you didn't belong here, you'd never get in. That hadn’t always been the case.

  Before I knew this Fae world existed, which, believe it or not, wasn't really that long ago, I'd snuck in here to serve a subpoena on one of the casino bosses. Instead of a simple service, I'd wound up in a firefight with three Mages hell bent on killing or capturing Eddie Milagre.

  When it was all over, I'd saved Milagre's life and killed two of the Mages in the process, thereby starting my spiral into a world I'd only believed to be a fantasy. Of course, I didn’t believe magic was real, at least not at first. Who would? But then everything started to change, and... Well, here I am.

  I snapped out of my trip down memory lane when I heard the sound of the elevator door. Michael, Siegfried's number two, was standing there, holding it open.

  "Heard you've had a busy day," I said as I got in.

  "From what Siegfried told me, yours hasn't been a cakewalk either," he replied.

  "I've had better," I agreed.

  "Haven't we all," he said as he turned a key and the door closed. "Tell me about this Demon."

  "Nasty thing," I said. "We think it's a Gallu. Some Sumerian or Babylonian Demon from their version of Hell. Reminds me of a 15-foot-tall Minotaur on steroids. Rock hard skin covered in some kind of quill or spike, including its tail, which it uses as a weapon. Shoots out some kind of poison, too. I don’t have much more to go on yet. About the only thing I do know, is that it doesn't like lightning or electricity. Latest rumor is that magic alone won't kill it, but I'm still working on what will."

  "Sumerian or Babylonian?" he said aloud. "Now that is interesting."

  "Why's that?" I asked as the elevator doors opened.

  "Two reasons," he said as I followed him out the elevator and down a corridor. "First, I thought those kind of Fae died off a long time ago. The Demons, too. Never heard of them making an appearance before."

  "And the second?" I asked as we stopped in front of a thick security door that he unlocked and held open.

  "You're about to find out," he said as I walked through.

  We entered a large room with a raised stage or platform at the back. Two people were already inside. One I recognized as Siegfried. The other was a stranger. Both were standing next to a desk on the other wall, looking through what appeared to be an old book. On the platform was a large container. It was the size of a refrigerator, with currents of magic flowing around it, surrounding something moving in the center. This wasn't just a box; it was a cage. I stepped closer to see what it was holding.

  The creature was human size and sickly white, with dim flashes of blue and green which would appear at times, on various parts of its body, usually the head. I'm not sure if it was actually corporeal, or just a spirit, as it seemed to flash slowly in
and out of phase. It almost reminded me of the subject of an old painting called 'The Scream,' by Edvard Munch; although there were obvious differences. The face was oval, with a round mouth that moved in and out like a fish. Its arms were at its sides, thin and spindly, as if they had atrophied, and its legs were withered and rubbery. It wore, if that's even the right word, what almost looked like a veil of white mist. It moved through the space within the cage like a snake or eel, weaving in and out until it would strike out and hit the magic sides, then it would recoil and retreat back to the center.

  "What the hell is that?" I asked.

  "That is the question," Siegfried stated, turning back to look at me. "When we found the first victim, he was screaming something about a nightmare. We thought it was just a Mare, a type of minor Demon. They are a type of lesser succubus, not common, but not unheard of either. They feed on life energy but seldom kill, usually leaving the victim weak and tired, and suffering nightmares as well, hence the name."

  "Which is why we weren't really worried at first," Michael agreed. "They show up from time to time, especially when we get a lot of guests from Europe. They're more of a nuisance than anything else. But when we found out that two more of the guests had been attacked and were paralyzed, we realized that these were something more."

  "Right before we talked on the phone," Siegfried continued. "Michael had cornered two of the creatures hiding in a vacant room. When I got there, I knew we were dealing with something entirely different."

  "Not easy to kill either," Michael said. "Regular Mares are docile during the day. If Siegfried hadn’t shown up when he did, I doubt I'd be here to talk about it. These bastards are fighters, and the way they kept fading in and out made fighting them difficult. It was like cutting through smoke. Fortunately, I was able to keep them in check until Siegfried arrived with a more powerful weapon and killed the other one."

  "How'd you capture this one?" I asked.

  "A containment spell," Siegfried replied, nodding his head at the other man. "We kept this one busy until Christopher could arrive. He is our Master Mage and was on property when Michael found them."