An Uncommon Truth of Dying (Broken Veil Book 2) Page 5

  “I’ve set a low spell to cover us all going into the broom closet. Toby will keep serving this table to keep the images of you active.” She counted to three then nodded toward the back. “We’re covered, shall we?”

  They all followed her, but looking back, Aisling could see that they still appeared to be chatting in the booth. She was reminded not to mess with a magic user of Stella’s level.

  Things were crowded with five of them in the broom closet, but they didn’t want to risk anyone being seen.

  Aisling was closest, so she pushed open the inner door.

  “Reece, good to see you. Again.” Maeve’s tone was icy as she stalked in. None of the others looked happy either.

  Aisling scowled. Mott was missing and so were the holograms. “I meant it, Reece, all of us get read in on everything or I walk.”

  The rest sat around the table as Reece rolled his eyes. “Certain people wanted to keep things secret. Just come out, Mott. If the other two want to play games, fine.”

  “Mott? What are you doing here?” Caradoc nodded as Mott came out from the restroom this time.

  “Good to see you, boss.” He nodded to the others. “Haven’t met you before, Harlie, but I’ve heard of you since I was a sprout.”

  Harlie smiled then tilted his head. “Your family name is Flowers, but you’re connected to the Olci family, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, my mother’s side.”

  “And they’re part of the High Council, aren’t they?” Caradoc leaned forward.

  Mott scrunched up his face and shrugged. Family connections, like most things non-tech related, weren’t his strong point.

  “Yes, they are.” Reece pulled up the electronic wall screen. “Might as well start with them, since the theory seems to be that the High Council is connected in one way or another with recent events.” The screen filled with elvish names. “These are the families and immediate ties of families who are members of the High Council. Most have been members since the crossing into this world. A few,” he clicked on the screen in front of him, “are newer.” The lines shifted a bit and some changed color. The original main lines were now dark green with others changing to light blue. Olci was dark green, as was Otheralia—Aisling, Caradoc, and Harlie’s family last name. Aisling used Danaan, a common elvish last name, akin to Smith, as her last name to keep herself separate from the family. Caradoc went even further and used one far down the family tree. But few people connected Aisling Danaan or Caradoc Larfin with Lady Tirtha Lasheda Otheralia—their mother.

  “And these three are the ones we have family boxes for.” Reece’s screen updated and Otheralia, Hthia, and Wolinshea—all lit up.

  “And I assume you already looked into anything untoward about either family?” Caradoc was studying the screen far too carefully. If Reece didn’t give them access to a copy, Caradoc would have them all memorized.

  “Any other signs of the Old Ones?” Maeve had a close encounter with one and had been a bit freaked out about them since. Humans didn’t fear the beings from beyond the veil the way the fey races did—it was instinct with the fey. Fleeing to another world to escape being slaughtered by Old Ones would do that.

  Reece shook his head. “But to be honest, not sure that would be reported even if it happened. Either you and Aisling are lucky exceptions to the rule, and the vallenians do kill people who see them on this side of the veil, or it’s just a myth to scare people.”

  Harlie glanced up on the screen then turned back to Reece. “Myth. Complete myth. Although I don’t believe they want to be seen, so if someone does see them, it is because the vallenians wished it. But, I do believe they are staying on their side. For now.”

  Reece watched him, but Harlie just smiled.

  “Then what are the connections with these three, beyond the fact they’re part of the High Council?” Aisling was still missing something.

  “They were all at the signing of the accord to save the humans during the Black Death,” Caradoc said with a glance toward Harlie who gave a short nod.

  “But so were other families.” Reece shook his head. “They used the boxes of these three for a reason, something tied into whatever happened to Area 42.

  “Something that is not yet completed.” Harlie turned pale, stumbled to his feet, then collapsed. At the same time, the walls shook.

  Chapter Six

  Aisling grabbed Harlie and straightened him out on the floor. He was breathing heavily, and his eyelids were fluttering, but he wouldn’t wake up. Mott made a pillow out of his sweater and put it under his head.

  “What happened? And what the hell was that shake?” Aisling knew that this inner room was fortified with massively thick steel and concrete. Nothing should make it move like that.

  “Let me get him a tonic.” Stella was out the door in a flash.

  Reece rubbed his forehead a bit, then started pulling up scanners on the far wall. He had cameras all over the city, but right now he had the ones closest to the diner showing.

  “Garran? Surratt? You guys notice anything?” Aisling didn’t leave Harlie but yelled toward the far end of the room.

  Caradoc and Maeve both looked around.

  “You see them in here?” Maeve raised her eyebrow.

  Aisling waved her hand. “They were here as holograms. Before. Reece? Did they leave?”

  “They logged off.” Reece scowled at the screen and tightened the focus to a parking lot a block over from them. Rather, something Aisling knew had been a parking lot when they drove in—but was now a massive pile of concrete, girders, and steel.

  Caradoc got up and walked closer to the screen. “What’s that?”

  “A pile of what was a building. Or part of one. Dropped from a serious height.” Reece flipped through a few more screens, working out from the parking lot.

  “And where did it come from?” Caradoc moved closer to the screen then sat, never once taking his eyes off the image.

  “That’s what I’m looking for. There should be a damaged or missing building somewhere, something that exploded. That looks too small to be more than a shop maybe?”

  Stella came in with a large mug. “Just a bit of the old brew to get him right. I don’t think anything is seriously wrong, what we felt, he got slammed with.” She held the mug up to Harlie’s lips and Aisling raised his head.

  Harlie’s breathing slowed down and his eye movements stopped as he drank whatever was in the cup.

  “You mean the explosion from that landing in a parking lot?” Maeve turned back to the screens. “A hopefully empty parking lot?”

  Sirens echoed from outside and fire trucks, police, and paramedics all arrived on the scene.

  Harlie started muttering, but Stella made him finish the entire mug.

  “There is something wrong with the veil, didn’t you feel it?” He opened his eyes and slowly sat up but kept rubbing his forehead.

  Stella nodded as she set aside the mug. “I felt it. A nasty kick that one had.”

  “The shaking we felt?” Aisling hadn’t felt anything else, but something did a job on Harlie and there was tension in Stella’s face as well. Not to mention Reece rubbing his forehead when he thought no one would notice it.

  “No,” Stella said. “The two were probably connected in some way, coincidences don’t happen like that. But there was a psychic kick that hit me right before Harlie collapsed.”

  “It’s still open.” Harlie got back into his chair and handed Mott back his sweater with a nod of thanks. “No idea how or where, but the veil is open.”

  “Didn’t it have to open each time the vallenians came through?” Maeve asked. “No one got hit with a psychic slam when that happened, did they?”

  “That was less tangible.” Harlie still appeared to be in pain. “They came through as singles, or at the most, that group of three. Something far larger has forced it open.”

  “Like part of a building?” Mott had been focusing on his pad but looked up toward the front screen. “That came from s
omewhere.”

  Reece had run through all of his screens. “I’m not seeing anything within the range of my cameras that is missing a building or part of one. I don’t have the entire city covered though.” He got out his phone and dialed. “Garran? You two need to come back online in here. Yeah, we noticed. Harlie collapsed and said there’s a problem with the veil.” The rest of the conversation was one-sided, and Reece wasn’t sharing. Finally, he hung up.

  “They aren’t coming back?” Aisling resumed her seat.

  “Not right now. Whatever that was, it’s fried some tech, including holograms. There have also been reports of more precogs collapsing as well.” He rubbed his head again. Aisling knew he had shown some precog abilities before, but as a fey-human hybrid he shouldn’t have them. So he kept them hidden. Right now, he looked like he needed a dozen aspirin.

  Caradoc looked up at that. “They managed to get holo-technology to work? I’d love to see that. Do you know the limits?”

  “Yeah, don’t get fried by whatever opened the veil and dropped the mass of building on a parking lot.” Maeve leaned over to Aisling. “Good to know you hadn’t gone bonkers and were hallucinating people.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  Reece’s phone rang. “Yes. Yes. And yes. We’ll be right there.” He clicked it off. “They want Jones and me to go to the building crash site.”

  “He’s here too?” Caradoc asked.

  “No. He’s on his way in. Even though I’ve been bumped down a few pegs, we’re both still Area 42. That’s who just called.” He got to his feet and gave a quick look around. “You’re welcome to stay in here, but it won’t help you much without myself, Garran, and Surratt to read you in. Can you give Mott a ride home?”

  Mott briefly looked up at his name, then went back to whatever he was building on his pad.

  “I might like to use some tools if you don’t mind.” Caradoc pulled out the box he’d put the trackers in and dumped them on the desk.

  “Ah, nice, aren’t they?” Mott grinned and reached over for one. “I thought it added a bit that they look like real flies.” His grin was more like a five-year-old with a new toy than a mad inventor.

  “You made these? All of these? And what, sold them to the highest bidders? How many different people were tracking us?” Aisling asked.

  Mott frowned. “I made them for Area 42. However, I believe someone there sold them to others.” He started picking them up, peering at them closely, then sorting each into one of three piles. “Area 42, FBI, and unknown. The Area 42 ones are untampered with. The FBI ones have tiny antenna added here and here.” He held up the tracker in question but without a microscope, there was no way to see the difference. “And these. They are totally modified beyond my scope.” He glared at Reece. “Who did your people give these to?”

  Reece got to his feet but held up his hands. “I have no idea and right now they aren’t really my people. Maybe you and Caradoc can find out?”

  “I’ll bring in some food and cut the spell running on your booth out front.” Stella also rose as she turned to Reece. “But you had better keep us updated. And warn Garran I want a word with him.” Her smile was not a nice one and seemed to be directed at both Reece and Garran.

  “I promise on both counts. Now, if I don’t meet with Jones, he’ll come looking for me, and I’m not ready for that yet.”

  “He doesn’t know we’re going to be involved?” Aisling folded her arms.

  “You, yes. The others, not yet.” He opened the door for Stella. “I’ll talk to him.”

  “You haven’t really told any of us much, you know.” Maeve sat next to Caradoc and Mott watching the tracker investigation.

  “We will, I promise.” He shut the door behind them.

  Harlie sat back and watched the closed door. “It’s not that he’s lying, really. But there is definitely a level of mistruth there.” He winced and rubbed his forehead. “Or it could be the backlash from the veil being kicked open.”

  “Any idea what came through?” Aisling imagined marching armies of vallenians and other Old Ones. Nothing and no one left on the other side of the veil was harmless. In the thousands of years since the fey races crossed over to this world, they’d never looked back.

  “Not a one. I might be able to figure out if they are still here, it could have been a test.”

  “You think the Old Ones are planning an invasion?” Aisling didn’t like the look on his face.

  “Their idea of an invasion and ours might be extremely different concepts. Those of us who crossed the veil have been changed by this world.”

  Stella broke up the cheery thoughts with plates of sandwiches, salads, and drinks.

  She settled in next to Aisling. “So Garran was here, wasn’t he? Even as a hologram, that’s still rude. I helped them solve that case, and what does he do? Kicks me out of the police station!”

  Aisling helped herself to the food. “I thought you didn’t get involved in Reece’s jobs. You just helped him stay hidden.” Reece’s former partner had been the one who created this room—her and Stella. But when Aisling first met her, Stella insisted she didn’t like to get involved beyond watching over things.

  From the look of chagrin on Stella’s face, she recalled their conversation too. “This last case was different. I found I liked being in the action.” Her eyes went round. “Speaking of action, let’s see what Grundog sent.” She patted Aisling’s arm and scurried out the door.

  “Any clue as to who the third group was that had the trackers? Or who put them on first?” Caradoc and Mott had dragged out at least fifteen small tools from Reece’s storage and were so caught up in what they were doing that Aisling had to repeat herself. Twice.

  “Hmmm?” Caradoc looked up finally. “Oh, not yet. But I think we may have a fourth group. But they only had two. If I had to guess I’d say Area 42 was first, the fake FBI second, and the other two sometime after that. But none of them had been on my car for longer than thirty-six hours.” He looked to Mott. “I’d like to know how you were able to break my car’s security and why. We are friends, you know.”

  “That was difficult. Extremely so. Your security measures are top-notch. But they told me it was a test, that you knew they were on there. As for the thirty-six hours, yes for them having been on your car that long, but I built them over a week ago.”

  “Serious bastards.” Caradoc shook his head. “They didn’t tell me about it even though they had you build them when I was still working with them. Damn. Part of me is glad their building got taken.”

  Mott shook his head. “They really aren’t nice. Larkin and Jones aren’t bad, but the rest? Eh, we’ll figure this out before they do.”

  Maeve turned back from watching the screens. “So that’s what we’re going to do? Just form our own group of rejects and solve things? Do we get a secret multi-colored van to travel around in?”

  Aisling shrugged. “You wanted to get involved.”

  “No, you wanted to get involved. I was still enjoying being lazy.”

  Stella came back in; the envelope Aisling had given her was fatter now.

  “Did you feed it?”

  “In a way. Since we were excluded from the formal investigation, Grundog and I had been working on our own theories. We believe what happened to the Area 42 building had repercussions elsewhere in the world. It should be noted that Reg showed up days after the building vanished.” She nodded as if that was important.

  Aisling was sure it might be, she just didn’t know what the connection was. “What did Grundog send you?”

  Stella dumped the contents of the file out on the table. “Even though Reg won’t help directly, as he claims to be just wandering around the globe, Grundog has other friends in the U.K.. These pictures came through one of her sources three days ago. They didn’t want to trust them to electronic transfer and neither did we.” She held up the top picture. An older elf, lean, scarred face, buzz-cut red hair, and no clan jewelry. Even just waiting to cross the s
treet he looked violent.

  “Is that Nix?” Aisling added a few choice swear words. Nix was a serious pain in the ass. A former elven gangster who decided he worked better as a ruler than a joiner and destroyed at least one entire gang when they disagreed. He was also the force behind the spread of the iron death drug and had come far too close to killing all of the fey in southern California before she and the others stopped him a few weeks ago.

  Maeve was up and standing next to her immediately. She grabbed the photo, then another one below it. “That bastard. Why won’t he just die?” Maeve had a long history with him, none of it good.

  “I know. I’d hoped when he got sucked up into whatever that vortex was in the cave, he was gone. Judging by the date on these—he’s alive and kicking in Cardiff.”

  Stella spread out more of the contents of the envelope on the table. “That does conclusively verify it is Nix. For some reason, your MI-6 mates won’t confirm or deny. It’s as if something big is coming and all the largest agencies are closing everyone else out. My theory is that Reg is trying to work with them, but they’re shutting the Ckiong out too, so he’s doing his own thing.”

  “Where in Cardiff? I’ll find him myself and take care of that still alive situation once and for all.” Maeve patted her gun.

  “He was heading to a coffee shop on Womanby Street. I doubt he’s hanging around waiting for you.” Stella rolled her eyes. “If we go after him, we need to plan it.”

  “We? Fancy a trip?” Aisling looked through some of the other documents, but most were in code. There were a few more pictures, but none looked remotely like Nix. She’d need to have Stella identify who else they were tracking.

  “I haven’t been out of California for far too long. Probably longer than you’ve been alive. A trip across the pond might be just the thing. I have a valid passport, might as well use it.” Stella consistently lied about her age, and like most changelings, she could make herself look however old she wanted. But this confirmed what Aisling had started to suspect—Stella was closer to Harlie’s age than her own.