An unusual visitor. Guest post by Nosense but Nice. (Ps, we are back. Hopefully)

        The group walked towards the office to continue the investigation. Kole had recovered enough in order to aid the team, though he still hobbled notably as he walked down the corridor.Royal, never giving up the opportunity to snark, commented "Is that limp from the injuries, or did you have a little fun last night?"

  "With the seer?" Tibias added with a straight face.

  "A bit of both," Kole replied flatly. 

  Royal stopped in his tracks.  "Kole, did you just make a non-sadistic joke?"

  "Mr. Tarrant does not know how to make regular jokes, Mr. Holligan." Tibias stated.

"But you were with us all night and Kole was at Celia's..." Royal trailed off.

  "Precisely, Mr. Holligan." Tibias said and reached for the office door.

        Past the door, there was a man in the office, sitting behind Tibias’ desk with his feet up. He was dressed in a long pinstripe jacket with matching waistcoat, a grubby collarless shirt, and battered walking boots. He smiled as everyone entered.

       “Hi.” There was a blur of motion. Keera’s knives practically flew into her hands. Carahya and Royal drew their respective pistols and a scythe materialised into Kole’s hand. The intruder calmly threw his hands up. “Hey, that’s a bit rude. I’m on your side.”

Kole crossed the room in the blink of an eye and pressed the blade of his scythe lightly against the intruder’s neck.

       “Then you should have waited for us to return, as well as an invitation to enter,” Kole said in an emotionless, conversational tone.

      “Sorry force of habit.” The intruder shrugged. 
      Tibias was the last to enter the room and was confused by the scene put before him. He saw the weapons and then saw who they were directed at.  He fought back the desire to laugh; only a slight curve of the lip betrayed his amusement. The intruder’s eyes flashed with recognition.

     “Tabby would you mind giving me a hand here.”

Royal turned behind him to see if the intruder was addressing anyone else and then realized that he was talking to Tibias.

     “Sorry, I think you have broken into the wrong office. That guy is Tibias, not Tabby. I don’t think there is one here.”

     The intruder looked at Royal. “You must be Royal, the wannabe comedian.”

     “Yep that’s me. How am I doing?”

     “Badly. Anyway about this scythe.”

      After a second of watching the intruder with his hands up and with Kole threatening to decapitate him, he finally spoke. “Quite, Mr Tarrant, you can put your blade away. He is harmless.”

     “Well mostly harmless.” The intruder grinned.

     “You’re not helping your sense of self preservation, Caldicot. Oh and would you kindly get off my desk please.”

      Kole let his scythe disappear and stepped away. As Caldicot took his feet off the desk and stood up, Tibias turned to the subordinates. Keera and Royal had already put their weapons away. Carahya was still pointing her pistol at Caldicot. Tibias looked stern.

      “Ms. Faroth, would you be so kind as to disarm yourself. This gentleman is a friend of mine and I don’t think he would like to be shot today.”

      “Certainly not, Tabby. You know what they say: holsters and safety catches keep the bullets at bay.” Caldicot grinned with his fingerless gloved hands still in the air. Carahya lowered her gun and the room seemed to relax, Caldicot put his hands down and tried to knock some dust off of his sleeve, though was failing to get anywhere.

       Keera was the first to break the relaxed silence. “Tibias? Who is he?”

Caldicot bowed to Keera. “Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m a man of wealth and taste.”

       “Yes, very witty, Caldicot. My apologies Keera, this is an old colleague of mine, Mr Caldicot Johnson. He works for the Light; he is a particularly talented thief and spy.”

       “I prefer the term information gatherer and retrieval specialist. It makes me sound more legitimate.”

Now that Caldicot was closer they could see that the man’s eyes were an unnaturally bright green; they seemed to look right through a person. Whatever he was, he wasn’t human; they could all tell that. Royal took another swing at making a joke,

      “Have you got a first name to go with those last names?”

      “Caldicot is my first name. Don’t ask long story.”

Tibias interrupted, “What are you doing here Caldicot? If you don’t mind my asking?”

      “Just thought I should pop in, say hello, actually meet all these lovely people you keep telling me about. Well the cold one, of course, must be the famous Grim Reaper Kole Tarrant, the first reaper to fight Mammon and walk away limping.”

      “Who are you? Or a more appropriate question, what are you?” Kole said impassively.

      “I’m what Tibias says. I’m Caldicot Johnson, and I work for the Council of Draelin. To be more accurate I work for the Light, which is the information department. As to what exactly I am, if you want to be precise about what species I am, I happen to be a Croucher, if you must know.”

Carahya cleared her throat, “Erm sorry, what’s a Croucher?”

      “I’m a type of Demon sweetheart,” Caldicot informed her; Carahya lifted her pistol and leveled it at Caldicot again, who looked slightly perturbed.

      “Are we really going back to the threatening again? I thought we had moved on.”

      “I don’t like demons,” Carahya said simply.

      “Oh come on, it’s not like I’m the demon that tore apart your boyfriend and his entire family.” Carahya cocked back the hammer of her gun in response. Caldicot winced for a second. “Alright, maybe not the best tact, but still true. I am really nothing to worry about.”

      After a beat, Caldicot moved and walked over to Keera. “So, I take it you must be Keera. I can see why Tabby likes you. When he was younger, the only criteria for a woman was that she was pretty; nowadays he has upgraded to being both pretty and smart. Though the wings are a bit kinky. You must be getting adventurous in your old age Tabs.” Caldicot patted Tibias on the shoulder and laughed; Tibias shot him a cold look which screamed ‘I am going to punch the shit out of you.’ After another beat Caldicot resumed.           

     “Moving on. Where was I? Oh yes wings, yours look lovely. Very striking colour, did you die it? Something like ‘Infernal, because your worth It.’ Was that rude? Not sure it really matters.”

Caldicot looked back at Carahya and saw she still had a gun out, “Stop embarrassing yourself. I know you’re new, but there’s being inexperienced and then there is being incompetent. Put it away before you damage something.”

     “Are you quite finished?”Tibias got Caldicot’s attention,

     “Getting there Tabby, I must say Giles you have quite the ‘Scooby Gang’ here. But I wonder who your Buffy is? Well, Kole is the most powerful and he is the reaper in the room. So, I guess it must be him. Congratulations Kole, you’re Buffy. I guess Royal must be a combination of Xander and Willow, with the whole use of magic and the rubbish attempt at humour. I’d say Keera would have to be Jenny Calendar, but that would mean you would have to die early on in the series, which is not how I wish to bless the relationship. And who would you be, Carahya? I have it you have to be Dawn: young, inexperienced, and eager to help. Though I am sure you aren’t a key to a different hell dimension or something.”

     “Finished?”

     “Yes, before I go, can I have a word Tabby?”

     “Of course Caldicot, let’s find somewhere more private.”

     “Oh lord and any second I am expecting you two to say something like ‘I don’t know how to quit you?” Royal piped up.

     “Mr Holligan?”

      “Yes Tibias?”

       “Don’t make me fetch my cane.”

      “Oh are you gonna spank me like a bad boy?”

      “No I’m going to knock you upside your head for being a fucking annoying prat.”

     “Shutting up.”

     Caldicot grinned and opened up the broom cupboard. Tibias looked at him over his glasses, “Caldicot that’s the closet. Don’t give Mr Holligan any more ammunition.”

     “Sorry I just got caught up in Royal’s apparent repressed homosexual tendencies,” Caldicot laughed. “I’m just messing with you Roy. Come on, Tabs.” Caldicot opened another door, this one leading to the kitchen. Tibias went first and Caldicot shut the door behind him. As he did, the two men were standing on the roof of the office building, Caldicot’s smile dropped as he turned to face Tibias,

     “What the fuck have you gotten yourself into?”

     “That was quite a display you put on back there, Caldicot.”

     “I needed to maintain a cover and annoying talkative friend works very well. Now, let’s steer the conversation back to where you are joining a cult.”

     “I swear you have my office bugged.”

     “Please you know me better than that. I wouldn’t stoop so low as to use that crap.”

     “What about the bug in my name plate?”

     “Whoever did that I am firing. It’ll give me a bad reputation.”

     “Anyway I was at Madam Gkika's shop when I declared my intentions.”

     “Yes, but Tibias you forget I am really good at my job.”

     “Well, what about it?”

     “It is more or less a suicidal act. Speaking as your friend, I say this is really stupid and you are going to die. Speaking as a member of the council, I would say that it is the right thing to do even if it is a bit risky. And, speaking as the Key of the Council of Draelin, I say it is the best way to get the information we need, but the risk of what will happen if things go wrong is something to consider.”

     “I didn’t know you cared.”

     “It is just going to be irritating to breaking in a new Lock. And we haven’t got the time to do it right now. I’m not going to be able to convince you to not do this, am I?”

     “Not likely, Caldicot.”

     “I thought not. I brought some things to help you.” Caldicot pulled a glasses case out from his pocket and offered it to Tibias.

     “What’s this?”

     “This is your disguise; if you haven’t noticed you sort of stand out.”

     “So you give me new glasses? It’s a bit of a rubbish disguise, Caldicot; I am a little disappointed.”

     “Put them on, Tibias, before you doubt me.”

     Tibias took off his own glasses and placed the new pair on his nose. A gentle warm feeling washed over his face and the first thing he noticed was that suddenly the vision came back in his left eye, and he almost could have sworn that his ear was growing back. Tibias looked at Caldicot who was grinning widely.

     “Did you just?”

     “Yeah”

    “Have you got a-?”

    “Yeah” Caldicot produced a small compact mirror out of his pocket and handed it to Tibias. The man who was staring back at Tibias looked like a totally different person. Gone were the scars and the blind eye, and in their place were a set of pleasant blue eyes perched on a straight, perfectly normal, unbroken nose. He also could almost swear that he looked younger.

    “What is this? An illusion?”

    “Not exactly. The spell fixed your eye, your ear, and your nose making them appear like they would have without any wear and tear. It altered your appearance only slightly and even shaved a few years off of you. One disguise right there for you. Could you ever doubt me?”

    Caldicot lifted his hand out and Tibias gave him a high five, while he prodded his new face.

    “The enchantment is focused on the glasses; take them off it will hold, but not for long so be careful. It lasts twenty six hours and you recharge it by putting it in moon light and a little wash in almost holy water.”

    “This is amazing.”

    “Alright, stop gushing over yourself. Oh, before you freak out, it also changes your voice a little bit too, so you don’t well ruin the whole disguise by talking like you. I also have this.”

     Between Caldicot’s fingers, a silver dollar appeared he twirled it between his fingers before handing it to Tibias, “That is a recorder, it takes a copy of your thoughts and if you lose it, it will come and find me. Just a safer method of taking notes than pen and paper.”

     “You have out done yourself, Caldicot.”

     “Well, I can’t let my friend jump into a fucked up cult without help. Besides I need the information. I have had my lot investigating them for a few months now. I’ve sent a few men in, but I have lost contact. I hope you fair a little better.”

     “Thanks.”

     “There is one of mine in there right now, fellow by the name of Barnaby Morton; he is posing as an expert in antiquities. It is a very good cover because he happens to actually be an expert in antiquities. He will help you if he can, but do not break each other’s covers. His life is on the line as well. He is using the alias Barry Morley, that might be useful for you.”

    “Thank you, Caldicot. I appreciate this.”

    “Don’t mention it. Now I have to go, some of us have work to do what won’t get us killed.”

Caldicot put his hand on the door and opened it, which brought them back into the main office. Caldicot was laughing and clapped Tibias on the shoulder, “It was good catching up. I have to go. Goodbye everyone, it was a pleasure to meet you all. I hope next time that you offer me tea before pulling weapons on me. Keera, I wish you both all the best.” Caldicot kissed Keera on the hand, made his way for the door, and he was a gone as abruptly as he arrived.

    “What did he want?” Kole asked, now sitting in a chair.

    “Nothing important,” he said simply and then went off to go make himself some tea.

Options

By the time Royal and Carahya returned inside, Celia had disappeared again.  They each took a seat.  The old stairs creaked and groaned as Kole walked stiffly down, followed by Liddy, and Celia reappeared out of the backroom.  Tibias and Keera trailed behind her, their fingertips just barely touching, as if reluctant to let go.  No one spoke as everyone sat down.

“I think I’ve found Slater,” Celia began, pausing to let her words sink in.

“Found who?” Carahya interjected.  “I thought we were looking for Mammon.”

“Mortimer Slater,” Royal answered.  “Substance supplier and possible link to Deus Ignegena.”  Tibias glanced questioningly at Keera, who nodded slightly with a pained expression.  Kole made a mental note to ask Royal where Keera had obtained the information.

“That’s right,” Celia confirmed.  “I got a strong trace of him in Fitchburg connected to a small art gallery, Prometheus.  I don’t know whether he’s the owner or an artist or whether he just drinks his coffee in front of the shop every morning, but you’ll find him there.”

“Thank you, Celia,” Kole forced out, remembering that he needed to be polite if he wanted her continued help.  “Keera and I will travel to Fitchburg tomorrow and take Slater into custody.”

“I am not sure that is wise,” Tibias replied calmly, any previous turmoil hidden.  “The last time we tried to arrest a cult suspect, he quickly and suspiciously expired.”

“Why don’t we just have shadow ass send his shadows to watch him?” Carahya suggested.

“We must assume that Mr. Slater is protected by magical wards.  Any manifestation of Mr. Tarrent’s powers would activate them.”  The mentor emphasized his colleague’s name to correct his pupil.

“You’ve obviously given this substantial thought, Tibias,” Liddy interrupted.  “Why don’t you spare us any further inquiry and divulge whatever cockamamie scheme you’ve been planning.”

“Quite right, Mrs. Le’Beaux,” Tibias said with a nod.  “I apologize for keeping you in suspense.  I suggest we send a single individual to contact Slater and infiltrate the cult.”  Keera’s brow crinkled in concern.  Royal let out a low whistle.

“Skipping willingly into the claws of probable murderers,” the elf mused, “sounds like fun.  Who do you have in mind for this foray into blood and despair?”

“In a word: me.”  Keera involuntarily gasped as Tibias finished this sentence.

“Why you?” the angel asked, almost pleading.  “Surely, someone else would be more…”  Her voice trailed off into uncomfortable silence.

“There are no other options,” he replied firmly.  He held her gaze solemnly for a moment before continuing.  “We have yet to encounter a connection to the cult who was not human, so we must assume, for the moment, that Deus Ignegena is closed, or even hostile, to supernatural beings.  That narrows it down to myself and Ms. Faroth, and it would be irresponsible of me to place her in such a precarious position at this point in her training.”

“What about the Watchforce?” Celia suggested, her fingers fidgeting anxiously with the tip of a braid.  “They must train for things like this.”

“The Watchforce has all the finesse of a charging rhino,” Kole refuted.  “They’d be discovered before they arrived.  Tibias is the only one qualified.”  He turned to Tibias.  “I assume that you already have a plan.”

“I will pose as a wealthy gentleman,” he replied straightening his waistcoat, “looking to obtain some less-than-legal supplies.”  The reaper nodded.

“We’ll lay the necessary groundwork for your cover tomorrow.  You’ll make contact the day after that.”  Kole started to rise from his chair, seemingly finished.

“Hold it, shadow ass!” Carahya snapped.  What about the ultra-powerful demon that may be on a murderous rampage as we speak?!  Are you just going to ignore it because it kicked your butt and made you look like a –”  The teen cut herself off as cold metal pressed on her throat.  Kole towered over her, having sped across the darkened room in shadow form.

“Do not assume that working for the Council grants you any rights, Carahya.”  He lowered his scythe and dismissed it into the shadows; he moved back to his seat, slightly fatigued.  “I will find Mammon before tomorrow morning.”

“Finding him will be the easy part.”  Liddy adjusted her copious shawls.  “What do you plan on doing once you find him?  The enchantment I used to save you miserable lot takes years to prepare and I only had one.  You’ll need help if you want to fight him and win, let alone live.”

“What about McBride?”  Keera suggested, looking towards Carahya.  “If he’s unfriendly to the Council, he may have magical connections that we don’t.”

“It is worth pursuing,” Tibias replied to the group.  He directed his focus to the angel.  “And, it will give the rest of you something to do while I am gone.”

“Well,” Liddy interrupted.  “None of you will be any good if you don’t eat and get some rest.”

“Oh, I should have thought of that!” Celia exclaimed as she rose from her chair.  “There’s a wonderful Italian place right around the block, if everyone’s up for a short walk.”  After a round of general assent, most of the group rose and started to make their way out the door.

“I’ll stay behind and rest,” Kole stated, remaining in his chair, much to the healer’s approval.  With a slight tilt of his head, the reaper indicated a request for Tibias to remain for a moment.  Separating himself from the group, the graying man made his way back into the room.  Seeing him leave, Keera stopped in the doorway and turned to wait for him.

“Go on,” Tibias told her, gesturing towards the door.  “I will be along in a moment.”  The red head hesitated for a moment, her forehead creased, then left.

“You better know what you’re doing,” Kole said in a low voice as Tibias took the seat beside him.

“I thought you approved.”

“You’re our only option, but sending you in is a substantial risk.  If they catch you they could obtain –”

“If they catch me, I will fall back on my training,” Tibias replied confidently.  “They will not get anything from me that I do not want them to get.”

“Likely,” Kole conceded, “but there’ll be hell to pay if you’re wrong.”

An Explanation

As soon as Kole and Liddy had exited, leaving Tibias and Keera alone, Keera closed what little distance between herself and the man in a moment. She wanted to explain how the demon's blood had messed with her mind. She wanted him to accept her.

Tibias reached up and took his glasses off, placing them gently in his pocket. Keera had known him long enough to know that he never just took his glasses off. She gingerly looked up from her feet which she had been studying.

His eyes were sad, always sad, even when a smile graced the small wrinkles in the corners. Smiles couldn't reach the depth the pain had burrowed itself in.

And suddenly she was pulled tight into his shoulder, her body pressing into his, and still he squeezed. She thought he was going to break her for a moment, but his grip loosened, but he didn't let go. She could feel his heart beating against her chest.

Tibias brought his hand to her head and ran a hand through her hair, softly caressing loose strands into place only to mess them up again. He took a deep breath and whispered, "It is okay, Keera,"

He pushed his face into her neck, and squeezed once more before releasing her. Keera wrapped her arms around him, not wanting it to end. Tibias entwined his hands behind her back and leaned against the wall, prepared to sleep that way if need be.

Can't Drink it Away Now

When Royal Holligan was hired by the council so many years ago, he had been asked about his ambitions for the future. His superiors, the stuffy cloaked ones, wanted to know where he thought

he'd be after so many years of service. At the time he had imagined himself as a defender of the weak, but he had no tangible goal in sight. There were options of course. Perhaps he would return to Ireland

and advocate for the rights of his dirty forest people, even though it would mean coming to the defense of his man-eating, transient mother. Alternatively, joining the Inner Watchforce greatly appealed to him and

his skill with barriers was already above average. Ruling out those two paths, there was always that cocky side of him that tried the shoot the moon whenever it could.

How about you make me a reaper now and make things easier for yourself. The words of Royal's past self flitted through his present day head. And what a scrambled head it was. His cheek still stung for

obvious reasons and brain was caked over with concerns he couldn't express.

Geez, what a reckless kid. Royal thought. He had left the girl to simmer at Cecelia's, but he could still feel her anger on the back of his neck. He shuddered. This was just the type of thing that a quick drink will fix right up. At work, Royal typically would have a cold one or two whenever Keera overreacted to one of his jokes and started to

bitch at him. He'd go into the nearest convenience store, but himself something strong-ish, and hobble back to the fortune teller's when he was finished. It was a foolproof plan, until his conscience stopped him in the checkout line.

What the fuck am I doing? I can't be drinking around Tib's protege. He looked at the wide assortment of alchoholic beverages in his shopping bag. It was way more than what was needed. Chuckling to himself, Royal couldn't help but

spread a smile from ear to ear. I guess feeling emotions or rather... being around people who feel emotions... isn't my strong suit.

Still smirking, he turned to the cashier. She was a dark haired, twenty something, and perpetually chewing bubble gum. She was staring down at the dust on the counter, just something to pass the time.

"Hi there." Royal said coyly. "You looks like you're having fun."

The young lady raised her head and laughed. "Not even." The cashier said. "Getting paid is the best part."

"Ooh" Royal sneered mischievously. "Are you allowed to say that?"

"Probably not, but who cares." She said. "It's just a job. I can find another one."

"It's a shame I'm not hiring, then." Royal said as he put his bag of drinks on the counter. "That smile of yours could really brighten up the workplace."

The girl blushed. "Where do you work exactly?" She asked. Royal's mouth clamped shut. He made for the exit, leaving behind the myriad of drinks he had gathered together. The puzzled cashier girl just blinked, trying to figure out how what she

said could have disturbed the blonde haired irishman enough to just walk away. Royal said only one more phrase to the girl before he left, which befuddled her even more: "Happy Saint Pattie's Day!"

On his way back to Celia's, there was a hop in Royal's step. His typical goofy smile was back where it belonged and even the pain on his cheek had faded completely. He had thought of himself to be a defender of the weak, the oppressed, and especially

supernaturals who the world had completely given up on. That shapeshifter girl. Carahya, was a supernatural like the ones he needed to protect. Behind her powers, she was a nothing more than scared girl, lost in a sea of new danger. The fact that it took

her this long to truly snap was a feat of mental fortitude on her part.

Mammon, Deus Ignegena, and assassins who like to play ding-dong ditch. Royal thought. Even I'm a bit freaked out by all of this. I never expected this job to become so... joyless. Now I understand why Kole...

As the Terrow remembered Kole, a chill ran down his spine. That's right. Kole... he's basically out of commission. I can do anything I want! Although he thoughts were fanciful, there was not a smile on Royal's face. Why is it that, eventhough I have this golden opportunity for hijinks, I feel so nervous? Where did my good mood go? This bugs me.

Royal knew in his subconscious that he was kidding himself if he thought that now was a good time for jokes. This battle that the council was having with Mammon was about to become a war. Shit was about to hit the fan as he would say. All he done up until

now had been watching and waiting as the council's big guns were flattened one by one under the fist of a demon. Matao's swift demise

was followed all too soon by Shera's unprecedented leaving. With Kole more or less circling the drain, Royal realized that protecting

may all too soon be up to him and this truly scared him. Keera would gone almost overnight if Kole were killed, and Tibias well... who

knows.

When the terrow returned to Celia's store, he sat back down next to Carahya with uncommonly solemn look on his face. "Sorry about

taking off like that." He said to the girl. "I needed to de-stress a little bit."

"Oh..." Carahya seemed almost embarrassed that she had slapped Royal in the first place. "Well, I did hit you pretty hard."

"Yeah, you have quite the arm." Royal admitted. "Or arms. Whatever it is for shapeshifters."

"I'm still not taking back what I said, Mr. Legend of Zelda."

"Zelda?"

"You heard me." Carahya affirmed. "I won't apologise for being upset. Got it?"

"Fine, then." Royal sneered weakly. "I won't apologise for being an asshole."

"You already did."

"Well... damn."

The next few minutes passed in silence. Royal and Carahya sat patiently and there patience was rewarded when Cecilia finally was ready

to allow them inside.

Down the Tubes

Carahya huffed at Royal as they sat in the main room of Celia’s shop. The prankster terrow had been getting on her nerves since their arrival, his corny puns and general disposition becoming a nuisance all too quickly. She tried to keep a sharp wit about her as she sat, the best defense against Royal’s attempts at humor.

She couldn’t believe that Tibias and Keera had left her in here alone with Royal as they went to see Kole. Even Celia and Liddy had enough authority to go see him! She just could not believe that Royal was so immature for a Reaper’s underling that he had to stay out here. Carahya would have been far happier to be waiting out here alone; though she had been craving socialization after being so cut off from the outside world, his was not the company that she would have chosen to keep. Now they were stuck playing babysitter for one another, each of them equally annoyed at the other.

Carahya sat and brooded in silence for a while before speaking. “That crazy assassin may have had the common sense of a lab rat, but really…demon fighting, assassination attempts, how the hell am I supposed to, you know, live through all of this? I’ve got a gun, a plain, mundane one, one that I can’t shoot for my life. I’m not gonna live ‘til my next birthday at this rate!”

Royal spoke a rebuttal. “Oh, good, I won’t have to do it myself then!” He chuckled when Carahya glared at him. “I can just sit back and relax, and wait it out instead of taking time out of my busy schedule to plot your demise.” Carahya grumbled and shot him a foul hand gesture, in true teen-angst fashion.

“Seriously. Not kidding. Shut. The fuck. Up. I am going to die a teen at this rate, and all because I just wanted to return Richard McBride’s fucking demon book.” She sat in silence for a minute and sprang up suddenly. “Shit. What happened to Mr. McBride?” She scanned her memory, trying to recall what had happened. She remembered going to the office to retrieve the book with McBride, and she recalled that the last time she had seen him was when he was convulsing on the floor of the office as she was taken away by Kole to be questioned. “Shit, shit, shit! What the hell did you guys do to him?!?”

“Relax, foul-mouth. Liddy made sure he got to the hospital okay, remember? He’s probably out by now and back to his regular old business. Probably doesn’t even remember any of this.” Royal brushed off his final sentence as he reclined.

“What do you mean, asshat?” Carahya whirled toward him angrily and bent down so her full glare could be seen. “I swear to god, if anything happened to him, you’re gonna be the next one in the hospital…”

“Now, Carahya, you really don’t want to get into any more trouble with the council than you already are, do you?” Royal smirked knowingly and chuckled. He crossed his arms and said simply, “A man who runs a supernatural shop, who has supernatural ancestry, says that while he was protecting a young supernatural he was wounded by a Reaper – the Reaper – badly enough that he was put in the hospital. That sounds like bad PR to me, don’t you think? Especially since Richard McBride was never the biggest fan of the Council of Draelin anyhow…”

Carahya slapped Royal across the face with as much force as she could muster and shouted at him. “Why are you so awful to me all the time?!? Huh? What have I ever done to you? You’re all nice and comfy in your council job where you know what you’re doing and you know what’s expected of you and you know how to behave. My whole entire life has just gone completely down the tubes! The family I loved the most in this world, who took me in when I was on my own, was killed by a demon, and when I tried to figure out why, I get whisked away for this shit-show job and all of my everything gets taken away from me! I have no home, no money, no clothes, none of my possessions, nothing. Just my backpack and what was in it, and the clothes on my back. And here you are, bitching and whining, tormenting me for no damn reason, not even letting me know what happened to the one friend I managed to make who’s still fucking breathing!”

Carahya walked away, arms crossed, and sat in the corner of the room. Royal was still sitting down, but his mood had changed drastically. In the course of Carahya’s shouting, he had gone from smug and taunting to silent and contemplative. The smirk on his face had fallen and he looked to Carahya with apology in his eyes. “I didn’t –”

“Bull shit you didn’t know,” Carahya retorted, starting to sniffle and not looking at him. “You were there. You knew all of that. Everyone knew all that, and you still treat me like I’m lower than the stereotypical shit-upon intern.”

“Carahya –”

“No. Just leave me alone.”

Royal scratched the back of his head and sighed as he walked from the room, leaving a sobbing Carahya in silence.

Quibbles.

                “Mortimer Slater? Does Keera know anything about him other than his name?” Kole asked Tibias between sips of an auburn colored liquid that the old woman was forcing him to choke down. “And for the last time Liddy, I don’t need this. All I need is a night’s sleep and my body will do the rest.” 

                “Drink it Kole.” Celia said while draped across a violet loveseat sofa. “You’re going to need to recover as much strength as possible as quickly as you can.” 

                “Is that a prediction?” Kole asked.

                “No, it’s just common sense,” she replied with a smile. 

                “That’s right.” Liddy chimed in from across the room. She was entrenched in a game of solitaire and didn’t bother looking up.  “You can’t always rely on those cursed shadow powers of yours, especially when you’re sustaining a wound from Matao’s old sword. Now finish that elixir or I’ll be forced to shove that mug down your throat.”

                “That would be counterproductive to his recuperation though, would it not?” Tibias chuckled, sitting in a chair across from her sipping a cup of tea. 

                “Tibias, answer my question,” Kole said while struggling to sit up on an overly fluffed couch. His body was healing slower than it should have been and it was a great nuisance to get into the sitting position.

                “No. She only got his name.” 

                “And you said she got this information from a dealer of supernatural drugs from the Berkshires?” 

                Tibias’s face darkened. “Unfortunately yes.”

                 Tibias was obviously hurt about something, Kole deemed this fact irrelevant and moved on to the next question.  “I take it that this information is trustworthy.” 

                “Miss Trean seems to trust him.” 

                “Very well then. Let’s move out and see what we can find on Mortimer. “ Kole started to rise, but in a blur of speed that was impressive for a lady of her age, Liddy was at his side with hands on his shoulders, a playing card still in her hand.

                “You aren’t going anywhere for now,” she said forcefully. “Don’t make me take  drastic measures.”

                Kole thought fleetingly about removing the Healer, but decided against it. Instead, he relaxed and let his body dissolve and lose form.  He then stood up, and moved through the indignant Liddy to the table where Tibias was seated.  As long as he was in shadow form, his pain was greatly reduced and he could bear to stand. It was a decent benefit for being more at home in the shadows than in reality. “If Deus Ignegena is a cult that markets demon blood then this Mortimer might be well known by the supernatural populace as a potential source for that material.  We should check there tonight. “

                “Correction, Mr. Tarrant, no one will be doing any cult hunting today. We are all still recovering from the encounter,” Tibias interjected. “You are injured. Mr. Holligan is exhausted; Ms. Trean is a bit unstable right now, and even I am roughed up a bit. The best thing we can do as of now is sit down, enjoy a nice cup of tea, and relax for the evening.  Liddy is a smart healer and should have all of us straightened out by tomorrow morning. Right, Mrs. Le'Beoux?” 

                “You will still be sore and have a couple bandages, but if you want to push yourselves, or like experiencing pain, I would say you could do so,” Liddy said as she walked over to where they were. “Now Kole, snap out of that shadow form and sit back down. It is giving everyone chills.”

                “I second that; I can almost see my breath!” Celia called out from the sofa while fiddling with a braid.

                Surrounded by comrades that were unfortunately making sense, Kole had no other option but to sit back down. “Fine,” he said and with a grunt of effort resumed his corporeal form before sitting down at the table. 

                Liddy sat back down and continued her game of solitaire. After a few seconds she looked over to Kole. “I notice that the cold is still here.” 

                “That just means he’s grumpy,” Celia said with a laugh. 

                “I have no idea what you are talking about Celia,”  Kole said.

                “Of course you do!” Celia said, now nibbling on one of her braids. “You lost to Mammon. Even you can succumb to the idea of feeling weak. Plus, what is even worse, you are temporarily immobilized, and someone just tried to assassinate you. It is only natural that even someone like you can get at the very least in a bad mood.” 

                Celia’s words rang true however much Kole didn’t want to admit it. He was a reaper, and only people who possess great power and cunning can become one. Losing to an opponent when going all out irritated Kole to no extent. “You know I can’t feel emotions, Celia.”

                “Right, right,” she replied. “After trading your metaphorical soul and emotions away, you supposedly can’t feel anything. I think that is a load of bullshit. You can certainly feel some, like anger, annoyance…”

                “Pride,” Tibias added.

                “Disgust,” Liddy said as well.

                “So you might just be more human than you let on, Kole,” Celia said with a grin.

                “Nonsense,” Kole said. “Now I can certainly look for Mortimer and try to relocate Mammon with my shadows like I did last time. It won’t involve moving.” He turned to Liddy. “I won’t strain myself. I can handle it.”

                “Fine,” Liddy said with a resigned expression. “If you are so bound and determined to destroy yourself, I am not going to stop you.”

                “In the meantime, Celia, see what you can dig up on Mortimer Slater.” 

                From the sofa, Celia gave him an over-exaggerated salute and rose up and walked towards the door. Celia seemed to hesitate a second before opening it. Grasping the handle she seemed to wait for something and then yanked the door open . Behind the other side of the door was Keera, arm extended, about to knock on the door. She seemed a bit confused.

                Celia gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Honey, you don’t need to knock. You are always welcome in my backroom. Now if you excuse me, I need to gather a couple crystals and incense I keep upstairs.” She then brushed by the still unmoving Keera and walked out of sight. 

                After a couple of seconds of hesitation, Keera walked in and looked at Tibias. “Can we talk quickly?”

                Tibias put down his cup of tea. “Didn’t we just talk a few minutes ago?” 

                “Yes, but I wanted to explain to you why I was acting that way,” she replied.

                Liddy got up and grabbed Kole by the arm, lifting him out of his chair, and making him experience a few pangs of pain. “I think we should bring you up to the roof to do your shadowspying.” 

                Before Kole realized it, they were squeezing by an awkward Keera and were out of that room. Suppressing the urge to kill once again, he gathered his composure, broke free from the vicious healer's grip, and walked up the stairs towards the roof, refusing to use any form of support to help him up.

                As they walked up the stairs, Celia came right back down. Kole saw Liddy give Celia what he could determine to be a warning about the backroom.  Celia continued descending and went over to Royal and Carahya, who were bickering about something Kole didn’t bother to listen to. 

                Kole reached the top of the stairs and felt like he just ran a marathon.  “You know how to get to the roof?” Liddy asked. 

                “Yes,” Kole said. 

                “Good,” Liddy said. “Now, this building is currently protected by wards that should mask our presences, but if you see anything strange outside, come back in immediately.”

                “I know,” Kole said in the most dismissive manner he could muster. He did not like the way the healer treated him. “My senses aren’t that weakened, plus I have encountered them multiple times before.”  

                “Just making sure,” she said with a toothy grin. “Now if you excuse me, I will join your friends downstairs while you use your shadowstuffs.” 

                Kole wasn’t even listening to her anymore. He just wanted to relax and become one with the shadow for a while. As soon as Liddy descended the stairs, Kole walked to the nearest window and opened it to reveal a lower section of the roof. He carefully extricated himself onto the decaying cover and cloaked the nearby shadows around him, letting his body blend into them. He felt a huge pressure suddenly subside as the body that caused him so much pain faded away. He was ready to start the hunt.