“Yes. I think it would also be wise to have enough truth serum on hand to interrogate all guards on shift and anyone else who was in the building during the time of the murders,” Mia replied as she texted someone—probably the President of the US.
“There is no way we have enough serum to give to thousands of people,” Hecate retorted with frustration. “There are other means and methods for interrogation. Some that likely go against the constitution we constructed, but?—”
“Are you seriously considering torture right now?” Mia cut in, her phone forgotten in her hand.
“I could help,” Vada offered. “Well, I don’t mean torture unless absolutely necessary. I am the strongest succubus in existence. People talk when they’re turned on. I can seduce an entire room at once to get them to talk. Or I could invade their dreams. I’m sure there are a couple incubi in the faction, right?”
“So, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to give truth serum to those who cannot either smell the truth or get the truth out of people by nonviolent means. We’re going to confirm the times of death for every individual who lost their life today. Then, we’ll meet back here tomorrow, and y’all can decide from there what the next steps are,” I said, getting up from the table.
“We are dismissed for now,” she said, rising from her seat. “I think this is the best plan we have at the moment.”
I headed back to the thirteenth floor in a huff. I was so fucking over today already. That distinctive Unseelie rage was running through me, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to hold it back. My veins were on fire, and my chest squeezed tightly. If I didn’t get this rage under control, I would begin crying—not just because I was upset, but because the only way I knew how to release this rage was to either fight, fuck, or cry it out. With my death magic stirring at the base of my skull, and no option for fucking or fighting right now, crying was probably my best bet. Who the fuck had caused so much chaos in a matter of minutes?
I was thinking about who I needed to talk to and gathering a list in my head of who to interrogate first, when I was met by two minotaurs at the elevator doors. In day-to-day life, they were known to glamour themselves to appear bipedal, but today they were standing in all their glory as sentinels to the entrance of the floor.
I nodded to them both as I walked toward my office. Unseelie of all types stopped and whispered as I passed. Most had wide-eyed expressions of concern about what had happened here today. My heart started beating a little faster. I tried to slow my breathing. My panic wasn’t going to change anything that had happened today. I was defeated and overwhelmed, but it was my responsibility to protect the most vulnerable of us, and I was letting them down.
The intrusive thoughts were hauling ass to the front of my mind, and I gritted my teeth in anticipation. Once the rage began working its way through my system, something my therapist and I worked hard to help me recognize, there was nostopping the thoughts about how useless I was, how my only worth was to be the strongest among us, and how no one really wanted to be around me for who I was. I was inundated with the knowledge that I never had anyone in my corner, even though I would go out of my way to be there for everyone else.
I recognized that those feelings of inadequacy were patently false, of course. I appreciated that I had a circle who would go to bat for me any time I needed them, but I still didn’t know how to ask for help when I was drowning. Years of abuse at the hands of my father and his shitty court made it hard for me to believe that I wasn’t being an imposition, and that I deserved to ask for helpandreceive it when I needed it. Whether that was by magical means or by the means of modern human medicine, I didn’t care. Some of those medications were shown to work on magical creatures, though our bodies metabolized them at extensively faster rates than theirs did. It was a breakthrough that helped us to stave off panic attacks.
I gathered my courage, because I really didn’t want to address the elephant in the room. However, whatever was taking place in my mind didn’t change the fact that I had responsibilities. I could break down later once I hit my office, but I owed it to this faction to be transparent with them. Taking a deep breath, I turned around before entering my office.
“I know what happened here today is a tragedy,” I started, willing my heart to calm down, and I gave myself some time to gather my thoughts. “To the red caps, I am so sorry one of yours was lost today. Please let me know what services I can provide you in the coming days.
“We have gone sixty years without violence. In the last decade or so, many of us have relaxed. We’ve begun to live our day-to-day lives becoming comfortable with the world around us. We’ve started to embrace human technologies that make our lives easier. Many of us have stopped living in fear of retaliationfor creating thePax,me included. Because of this, I take full responsibility for the tragedy that has struck thePaxtoday. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.” I paused, scanning the gathered crowd around me.
Their despair mirrored my own, some with anger on their faces, others with terror, and others with determination. My feelings of inadequacy lessened just a little as my fellow Unseelie members reacted to today’s events as I had. I wasn’t alone. I quietly let my shadows circle around the room, collecting intel where they could, but also comforting the littles where possible by turning into animals to make them laugh and feel a little less scared about the things they didn’t yet understand. I’d hoped with the creation of thePax,that they never would. Pausing as I gathered my thoughts, I dug the tips of my shoes into the dirt beneath my feet.
“We are working to get to the bottom of this tragedy. I recommend that if you were a warrior in a past life, and you value the solace thePaxhas provided, that you start training as soon as you’re able. I don’t know what’s coming of this right now, but I do know that the Fates are seeing that we’re on the brink of war. Whether it’s possible for us to circumvent that is yet to be foretold.
“ThePaxis stronger together, and we’ve been able to prove that beyond a doubt by living in peace with one another. Our combined strengths are what allowed us to break out of the realms who used and abused us. We’re going to need that strength again in the coming months.” I paused, noting that no one’s attention had strayed.
“If you have any clues or ideas about what happened today, please don’t hesitate to come find me, or any of the other faction leaders if you’re not comfortable talking with me. We’re all in this together. Please don’t go it alone. I do not want to loseany more of you.” I choked on the last word, turning toward my exit.
My heart was still pounding in my chest. I never enjoyed giving speeches or feeling like I had to mistrust my own people. I needed to get into the office so that I could break down in peace. I had to stay strong as a leader, even though that was the last thing I wanted, but our people needed someone to look to for hope amid this attack. I never wanted this role, just the peace that came from it.
I was met by Aibell and Ionia as I got into my office, and I cursed under my breath. It wasn’t their fault, but I needed to be alone to process. The people outside were coming to terms with the fact that we weren’t as safe as we thought we were, and those old habits of fighting for our lives were coming back to us as if they’d never left. We all knew that there was a possibility of war again, but we’d never expected it to be this soon, and not a threat on this level.
I sucked in a deep breath, relaxed my shoulders, and pushed off my impending panic attack for just a little while longer. I didn’t know how much longer I would be able to do this without losing my shit on people who didn’t deserve my wrath. “Hey, friends. What have you found out so far?”
“The sprites are spreading rumors about this being an inside job. You know how the sprites are. We love to gossip and cause mischief. I’m working to separate the facts from rumors,” Ionia said, flying to perch on one of the many tree limbs scattered toward the ceiling of the office.
“The last thing we need right now is a mutiny based off a game of telephone. Can you check in with them and figure out what they want to stay quiet until the facts come to light?” I asked as I rounded my desk to sit down.
As Ionia left the room, Aibell’s gaze pierced into me, lips tight. She was pissed, and we really didn’t need a banshee screaming for retribution just yet. She was trying to contain her rage until we knew where we could direct it, and she was struggling. I got that.
“I went to the scene of the crime with one of our portal masters. While they managed to detect that portal magic happened there, they were unable to determine who opened the portal. They said that the signatures weren’t something they’d ever felt before. It was strong magic. They believed that either it was a new player on the board, or a band of people together were able to open the portals. They’re heading to other factions as we speak to see if the signatures match,” she said.
I’d never heard of anyone being able to combine their magic to open portals, but I guessed anything was possible. There had been rumors floating around since before my existence that alchemy, the study of changing the properties of metal into something else, could solve the issue with portal jumping. The belief by fanatics was that if metals could be turned to gold and other chemical properties, that they just needed to study the chemicals produced by portal magic to be able to open one. When the portal opened at the construction of the Arch, it had reignited the desire to study alchemy again. There had been alchemists studying the theory for so long that it had kind of become a joke in supernatural communities. The Super Collider designed by humans to study the Big Bang was the closest thing to alchemical science that had produced any modicum of results, but still no portal.
I shook off the thought. At this point, it didn’t seem possiblethat modern technology or alchemy would be able to break that barrier. I said as much to Aibell.
“I think you’re right, but you should still bring it up to the rest of the factions. Maybe someone here will have more insight than we currently do,” Aibell replied, sitting down in the chair in front of my desk.
“Will do. Our first steps, however, must be to interrogate everyone who is at thePax.This is going to be a long day. You realize it’s nothing personal, but I would rather start with you. I need someone here who can detect lies and/or force folks to speak the truth. Do you know who is on campus today?” I asked. It seemed silly, since Fae could not tell lies, but we had become adept at using language to say nothing at all.
Aibell nodded, and I let out a sigh of relief. “Good. Now please leave me for a little bit. I need some room to breathe for a minute.”
