Quick Study Read online

She took the gun and dropped it in the bushes outside the back door and then pressed her ear to the basement door, listening again. She couldn’t hear anything, but then, she was just human. Darien had been the one with the super hearing. Well, shit.

  She double checked the tiny gun in her hand, hefted the bigger one over her shoulder, and opened the door. She slid down carefully, as silently as she could, with her back to the wall like they did on TV. She’d never been in a real gunfight, so she guessed that the point was to make herself as bad a target as she could, and since dead humans can’t save any vampires at all, she needed to be a really terrible target.

  The TV on the table was back on, more news. Man, these elves were current events junkies. She didn’t see anyone on the side of the room revealed to her as she crept down the steps, but she did see a familiar pair of feet propped up on the table. She wouldn’t recognize his face if she saw it, but Boots’ boots were right in front of her. His boots and just a little bit of his leg; not quite as good a target as a torso, but much closer.

  Caroline squeezed off a shot and it plunked loudly into the tabletop.

  “The hell?” Boots jumped to his feet and leapt towards the stairs. His eyes widened when he saw Caroline there, snarling her defiance at him. The surprise of this previously meek little human girl daring to confront him slowed his advance long enough for her to pull the trigger again. This time it was practically point blank and the dart buried itself deep into his shoulder.

  “You… I’ll kill…” Boots dropped to the floor.

  Caroline stepped over him, leaving him where he was. She rushed to the cell door and stopped short. That was one big lock. It was massive, like the giant tree-trunk beams used to close castle doors.

  “Holy shit,” Caroline groaned in frustration.

  “Caroline?” Darien’s voice sounded weak, like he was still drugged.

  “I’m here.” She called back.

  “No. Go away. Hide somewhere. Call Point back.” There was a thud on the other side of wall.

  “I already did. They’re on the way to save us. They know about your chief. I recorded a video of the whole thing and sent it to him.” Caroline heard him laugh.

  “Brilliant.” He said. “Now go hide somewhere. They’ll get you out safe and back to your family.”

  “Not by myself I’m not. I am in way over my head, vampire man. I need your help.” She said. I’ve got your weapons. The ones you left outside my closet.”

  “So that’s where you were.” The chief’s voice behind her made her jump.

  “You!” She gasped.

  “Me. And you, human, have seen far too much of our hidden world. So now you’re going to become part of it. Well, your corpse will at any rate. You’re going to be Darien’s final victim.”

  9

  “What?” Caroline blinked at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t you know that man in there is a dangerous criminal?” The chief took a step towards her.

  “He is not. He’s a cop, and has been trying to protect me, unlike you, you traitor.” Caroline pointed the elf shot gun at him. He waved his hand and it yanked out of her grip.

  “He’s a monster. A bloodthirsty horror. A crime against nature.” The chief took a step for every insult. “I am going to help the Brotherhood for Elven Sovereignty achieve their goals and then when the world is safely in the hands of it’s rightful rulers, we will hunt down every one of those… those… things and destroy them. You should appreciate that! They see humans as nothing more than cattle.”

  Caroline swallowed. She could hear the madness in his voice. It was thick with the fervor of a religious fanatic and the revulsion borne of fear.

  “Back off, Beckett!” Something slammed into the wall inside the cell. “Leave her alone!”

  “Unfortunately the next step is discrediting the agency’s golden boy vampire.” He stopped advancing on her to snarl. “I was forced to accept his transfer into my department. The commanders above me seemed to think that his arrest record was enough to cover up the filth he was spreading in his old team. That poor woman he left behind was shattered and forced to leave her job and her life behind! Do you have any idea how nauseating it has been to have to see him every day?”

  “You made your feelings on the matter pretty damn clear, Beckett!” Darien pounded on the wall again. “Everyone in the whole building knows how you feel about me.”

  “Everyone would know what you are, too, if there weren’t personnel regulations about discussing species!” He shouted at the blank wall.

  Caroline reached for the gun tucked behind her shoulder, but the chief saw her movement and yanked on it with his magic.

  “How are you doing that?” Caroline gasped. The elf in front of her smirked, and she could only hope that he hadn’t heard her mention talking to Point. The man had no idea that rescue was coming and that he was screwed. She just had to keep him talking long enough.

  “I’m an elf mage, you stupid human. You don’t think I got as far as I have only on my good looks, do you?” He tipped his head at her, turning something over in his mind. “Now how to stage your death? I need to make sure it’s clear that Darien drained you, but how to do that best?”

  “Beckett!” Darien’s voice sounded stronger. And angrier. There was a thumping clang inside the cell.

  “Simplest is often best. I will take that handy knife you have and slice you open. A drugged bloodsucker isn’t always the most effective predator, after all.” He threw his hand out like he was throwing a spear at her, and Caroline put her arm up instinctively to block his attack. There was a hiss, and she looked up at the shocked face of Chief Beckett.

  “What? Impossible!” he snarled. “I’ll do this the hard way, then. Put up a fight, girl, I’ll enjoy it and you’ll look better for the evidence photos.” He stepped towards her, reaching with his hand to grab her hair when the wall exploded. Somewhere in the distance she heard an answering crash.

  Darien leaped out through the hole left by the twisted cot frame and grabbed his old boss by the shoulder, throwing his whole weight behind the move. Beckett was stunned and stumbled back to get slammed into the wall then tossed to the floor where he bounced and skidded back towards the guardroom.

  “I told you to back off, Beckett.” Caroline looked up and saw Darien’s face. It was cold and hard, almost like it had been carved from stone. Darien put himself between her and Beckett, who coughed and rolled to his feet.

  “This will actually work much better for me. I’ll have gotten here just after you killed her, and then I killed you. Perfect.” His attention landed on the gun Caroline had just lost. He started to reach for it, but she threw herself on top of the thing, magic bullets and all. Beneath her torso she felt the weapon twitch then fall still again as she pressed it to the floor.

  “HOW?” Beckett shrieked. Darien stepped forward and Caroline was sure that she’d only blinked when she saw Beckett crash into the far wall and slide down it. Darien stood in the middle of the room, shaking. She blinked again and he was standing over his old boss, snarling.

  “You. Will. Leave. Her. Alone.” Darien made sure that each word hit Beckett with the force of a physical blow before reaching down to drag the man up the wall. Beckett’s face was white and his eyes were rolling with terror.

  “I won’t be your next meal!” he shouted into Darien’s face. A flash of metal and then the hilt of a knife was sticking out of Darien’s back.

  “Don’t flatter yourself. I would rather starve.” Darien ground out. He pulled his arm back.

  “D! You down there?” A voice like boulders rubbing against each other stopped him mid-motion.

  “Arrest him!” Beckett shouted. “Hurry up and get him off me and arrest this lunatic!”

  “Oh we’re arresting people, all right.” The voice tumbled down the stairs. Caroline looked over towards the voice she recognized, curious to finally put a face to it.

  Point stepped down into the makeshift guardroom and ove
r Boots’ still unconscious body. He was shorter than she had expected somehow, probably only a little taller than she was, but definitely wider. His shoulders brushed the sides of the staircase, and even under the strange looking chain mail vest he wore she could tell that his bulk was definitely not fat. He was also blue-grey, like a river stone, though why she thought that suddenly she had no idea.

  “Internal Affairs wants to have a chat with you, Chief.” Point said, and stepped neatly around Darien to handcuff his former boss. Beckett spluttered and cursed and tried to use his mage skills to free himself but both Point and Darien relaxed as soon as the wide metal bands fastened around Beckett’s wrists. Three more men and a tall, slim woman with black and green hair hustled down into the guard room to take Beckett up the stairs.

  “What happened to this guy?” Point nudged Boots with his toe.

  “I, um…” Caroline had to clear her throat when her voice squeaked then gave out. “I shot him with the elf gun… thing…” She said. Both Point and Darien raised their eyebrows at her. “Um. There’s another guy in the pantry upstairs.”

  “Damn. You get all the luck, D. Trust you to get locked up with a budding badass.” Point turned to look at him now, and realized that he was bleeding freely from the knife wound and looking decidedly wobbly now that his driving wrath had faded away. “Oh shit. MEDIC!” Point shouted up the stairs.

  The rest of Caroline’s night was not nearly as exciting as the last few hours.

  Caroline dozed on the hospital bed. She was fine, just a few bruises to show for her whole ordeal, but her parents were insisting that the doctors run pretty much every test possible. It was embarrassing. I mean she’d be eighteen in two months, a high school graduate in three, and her mother was carrying on as if she’d fallen on the playground during kindergarten recess.

  At least they cared. That was something. And between tests she had the chance to think about a few things.

  The medics at the crime scene had cleared her of any possible magical injuries or illnesses, and then given her a quick check for standard stuff like broken bones and what have you, Caroline wasn’t really sure, but they’d said she was fine and she thought that was enough, even though it had taken a little effort to trust them. Three of the four medics there were elves.

  She felt better when she saw one of them shout obscenities at former-chief Beckett and then spit at him. It had been super rude and unprofessional but still, kinda satisfying.

  They’d taken Darien off to their version of a hospital immediately to deal with the knife wound and she still didn’t know where he was or what was going on with him. She could tell that he was still alive, and could point in his general direction thanks to that internal compass that seemed to connect them, but otherwise she had no idea. Caroline sighed and shifted to a slightly less uncomfortable position on the hospital bed. She just wanted to go home.

  “Knock knock.” Point’s words were accompanied by the action he described and she sat up to look at the doorway, taking a moment of surprise to blink at him.

  “You, um…” she said, trying to catch up a little. “You look different in a button up shirt.” Man, that was lame. Point grinned a little bit too widely to be human, but otherwise looked the part. He was still stocky and too wide to be anything but a badass, but he was wearing dark slacks and a button shirt with an ID badge clipped to his belt. He also had dusky olive colored skin, brown, human eyes, and his ears were smaller and rounded. While he grinned she noticed that none of his teeth looked like knives, either.

  “Yeah. What can I say, our Human Relations department worked a few miracles for me today. I cleaned up nice, huh?” Point twisted and stepped into the room, his shoulders still brushing the frame. Caroline must be tired— she wondered if the troll was actually just a square. Wide as he was tall.

  “Human Rel… oh. Wow.” She blinked again then felt a smile creep over her face. “I assume that’s in addition to the Personnel Department.” Point grinned at her again.

  “You are sharp. I like it.” He gestured to the chair by her bed and sat when she nodded. “Thanks. Most rest I’ve actually gotten so far today was dealing with HR.” He gently let the chair take his weight, and when he was sure that it wouldn’t break underneath him he leaned back with a tired sigh. He fixed her with an appraising stare. “Darien says you’re one tough cookie.”

  “That doesn’t sound like something he’d say,” Caroline answered. “Is he okay?”

  “I summed it up. Yeah, he’s fine. Only needed a couple of stitches and some fluids. He’s healing fast thanks to… well. You.” Point shook his head, then frowned. “It could have gotten him in a lot of trouble, you know.”

  “Being dead seemed like worse trouble to me.” She frowned. “He was—“ Point held up a hand.

  “I know. I have his report, and your statement, preliminary and rough as they are currently. I just want to make sure you understand. There are two laws and about a dozen internal regulations that he broke there. Not the least important factor being your age, young lady, but there is also the fact that it is obvious that you already knew enough to put together your little first aid plan in the first place, which should definitely not have been the case.” Point raised an eyebrow at her, frowning. “Nevertheless, there were extenuating circumstances and he was working to protect the safety of a civilian the best he could. And he was clearly being set up by our former chief, so he’s getting off pretty light with two weeks administrative leave after his two weeks of medical leave are up. He is, however, not allowed to leave town to be available for cleaning up this mess Beckett left us.” She couldn’t read Point at all, and she thought that maybe he was being extra careful to keep his voice neutral.

  “He’s being punished for getting framed and then helping me?” Caroline was appalled, and let it show clearly in her face.

  “He is being given time to heal from a stab wound and several severe beatings, not to mention possible mental trauma, for which he is being evaluated. And then he is being reprimanded for putting himself in a position where breaking regs seemed like a good choice.” Point’s face was serious, as was his voice, but as Caroline got ready to defend her new friend, Point winked.

  “I…” she looked down at her hands, resting on the blanket the nurse had provided. “I guess it’s good he’ll be able to heal anyway,” she said. It still seemed unfair to her, and she didn’t understand the wink.

  “Well, I should head out. Someone will be by your home tomorrow to finish the formalities of your statement and what have you. I’ll try to make sure it’s as painless as possible. You were an asset to our team last night, and we appreciate your help. And personally, I want to thank you for keeping D from getting killed or worse. I like the idiot. Oh, and one more thing.” Point reached into his pocket as he stood. When he brought his hand back out, he held it out to her. She reached over to take the object that disappeared in his dinner plate sided grip.

  It was the pendant that Darien had taken off the guard in the kitchen.

  “Beckett is— was, I guess I should say now that he’s in custody— no slouch with electricity, if you catch my meaning. He was one of the best, and between that and his pretty face is how he got his job to begin with. Darien said that this thing kept you, ah… insulated from any harm. They’re not incredibly rare, but they’re not common either. Now that you’re aware of our operation, and the Brotherhood for Elven Sovereignty is aware of you, I think we’d all feel a little better if you had some round-the-clock safety measures in place. It’s not evidence really, so I am taking the liberty of releasing it back into your possession.” He grinned again. “One of the unexpected benefits to being the acting chief.”

  “Wow. Thanks, I guess,” Caroline said. “And congratulations?”

  “Eh, it’s a job. Lots of paperwork, mostly, but hey. I’m not getting any younger, you know, but I’m not ready for a walker and a bridge yet.” Point winked at her again, turned, and maneuvered his frame out the door. She blinked at
the empty door for a moment, her mind churning.

  “Sweetie! Who was that man? I’m calling security!” Caroline’s dad ran into the room.

  “No! God, Dad, that was a government agent! One of the guys who rescued me. He just came to check in on me. The agent that was with me and helped me escape was stabbed at the end of the whole thing, and the acting Chief there just wanted to let me know he’s okay. Also, someone will be by tomorrow probably to finish up the paperwork.”

  “So that wasn’t one of those antiquity smugglers? He looked like a thug!” Her mother fluttered around the room. Antiquities smugglers? That was the cover up they were going with?

  “No, Mom. He’s just big. Probably a good thing in his line of work, if you think about it.” Caroline said.

  “Well with monsters like that on our side, how the hell haven’t we wiped crime out completely?” Her dad muttered. Caroline just shook her head and slipped the pendant around her neck.

  10

  Epilogue

  Just one week since her adventure and she was back in school. History of the paranormal was definitely not the same now that she’d seen that world firsthand, but she still aced the pop quiz anyway. Now, her last class for the day— world government— was dragging on. It felt almost like the clock was standing still and she wondered if that was a thing. Time manipulation.

  Not that she had anyone she could ask about it. The last contact she’d had with anyone magical was when a slim elf woman— suitably attired by Human Relations— came to finish taking her statement and make sure that there were no lingering effects from Caroline’s exposure. Agent Carmal was cheerful, and tended slightly towards bubbly even though she obviously tried to keep that under control, and Caroline had liked her. She’d left a card with contact information in case she remembered any details or needed any support in dealing with the school or other local authorities, but there hadn’t been a need to use it.