Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Alistair
It’s edging into evening, and my stomach reminds me that dinner is needed, yet it feels as though we’ve barely made a dent in the to-do list.
I glance up at the wall David’s covered in paper and written said list (and all the sub-lists) on. There are only a few items crossed off.
Things should start moving a little faster now, though.
A big part of what we did today was establishing what needed to be on the list and then deciding who would handle what.
One positive is that Caolan came back from his dimension with reinforcements: a warfare specialist who can work with us on where the elves will best integrate into our plans to stop Tish and éibhear, and a historian who was actually alive and on Earth during the species wars.
She and Noah have been tucked in a corner talking and poring over notes nonstop for hours, with David drifting over there every time he can pull himself away from the rest of the planning.
Our shared intelligence has helped to fill in a lot of gaps.
As best we can tell without hearing it from the horse’s mouth, Tish’s species-segregated compounds are his way of growing his follower base.
Elf magic and specifically the use of portals gives their side an advantage over humans, but the numbers are still against them, especially since éibhear only has about ten thousand followers.
They needed more beings from the community on their side—something Tish would be particularly eager for, since ultimately he would end up being their leader.
As a rule, people look askance at cults—it’s why the CCA never before got as big a foothold in the population as it has now.
The general public doesn’t like the idea of living in a compound away from creature comforts, and definitely doesn’t like going against the mainstream.
By integrating with existing communities—albeit taking them over and ousting any who don’t conform—the CCA shows itself to be accessible and ordinary.
And thus, dangerous. Add to that Tish’s experiments with DNA and the resulting chance of increased fertility, and there’s a strong chance many could be swayed, at least for the short time he needs to take over.
The one factor we can’t work out is how they plan to get around the magic.
Surely they must be aware that their plan can only go so far.
Unlike at the onset of the species wars, the magic is fully aware of what is happening.
They might succeed in killing my team, Percy, and the elf king, and in establishing themselves as leaders.
But that will still leave a huge number of community members, and no matter how we crunch the numbers, they always show that most will fight back.
Widespread killing on that scale, plus an attempt to enslave humanity, can’t fail to induce the magic to step in.
We don’t know what will happen then, but I doubt it will end well for Tish or éibhear.
Through the doorway into the kitchen, I spy Aidan and Percy sitting at the kitchen table in front of Percy’s laptop.
With the migration of the elves and dragons imminent, they’re reaching out to the other species leaders to share that information and come up with a safe and sane way to communicate it to the community at large…
along with the fact that elves exist. And dragons.
This has given them an excuse for our investigation into Tish—nobody needs to know about his research; we can just tell them he’s in league with a rogue elf who destroyed his own dimension and now wants to take over ours.
And that’s a sentence I never thought could be used outside of a superhero movie. All those times I thought humans were overly imaginative… who knew it would be the Community of Species that ended up causing the drama?
Caolan and the warfare specialist, Garin, are confident that they can take out éibhear.
According to them, it would have been done already, except they were distracted by their forthcoming annihilation and trying to prevent it.
I can understand how that would have been uppermost in their minds.
éibhear has already been convicted of his crimes and sentenced to death, so all anyone needs is a clear shot.
Tish is a different story, since he’s yet to be formally tried.
Percy and Elinor are dealing with that, working with a judge to see if he can be tried in absentia.
If not, we’ll manage. While I know it would just be easier for us all if we could take Tish out with a well-aimed sniper shot, part of me really wants to be able to see him tried in court and have to face sentencing.
I’m vindictive like that. He needs to suffer.
So our next steps… well, the priority is to get the elves and dragons safe.
Not only is that an ethical decision, it also gives us back the ground we lost when we discovered Tish had elves on his side.
We also gain an edge, since we have far more elves who are better trained for war than the wealthy dilettantes éibhear has attracted.
Plus, we have dragons. Not a single dragon joined éibhear, and from the smirks Caolan and Garin exchanged when they told us that, it gives us a huge advantage.
I can’t wait to meet a dragon. They sound like super cool beings—we’re going to get along like spaghetti and meatballs.
I’ll need to teach my new dragon tertiary BFF the lyrics and choreography to every Spice Girls song ever written.
Another benefit of the migration is that, as I said before, we have a public reason for declaring Tish a wanted criminal…
and we can involve more people in the hunt for him.
Now that we don’t need to keep things under wraps, Andrew is putting together an interspecies task force with specialist agents worldwide.
We’ll be able to dig through the data faster, locate Tish sooner, and get him arrested, tried, and convicted.
He’ll be working closely with Ellie and the judiciary, and he’s definitely motivated now that Tish knows Noah is still alive.
My stomach growls again, and I glance toward the kitchen. Are they on a call right now, or can I sneak in and grab a snack while Gideon and Garin discuss different hand-to-hand combat tactics?
The doorbell rings, and Sam, who’s been circulating amongst every strategy group all afternoon, facilitating our action plans, goes to answer it.
In a few days, once news of the elves and dragons has been circulated, we’ll be moving back to the office, and I’m sure Sam and Gideon will be glad to get their house back.
Sam comes back with two of the interns from the office and the head of the CSG security team, and David excuses himself from the group to go over to them.
I watch idly, glancing occasionally back toward the kitchen doorway.
If Percy and Aidan weren’t cats, I might be able to sneak in using my super-stealth abilities.
I guess I can wait a few minutes more—how much longer can those calls possibly take?
When I look back over at the group by the entranceway, the head of security is gone, Sam is directing the interns to do something with the files they brought over, and David is coming toward me with what looks like Aidan’s laptop and phone in his hands.
I stand and go to meet him. “Well?”
“They’re clean now, but there were some very interesting weaves attached. Security wants to talk to Aidan and see if they can work out when someone would have had the chance to place them.”
“What did they do? Should he be checked by a doctor?” Sorcery is so woven (no pun intended) into our everyday lives that most of the community couldn’t live without it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fucking dangerous.
A knife is a household implement used to prepare many common meals, but it can also harm and kill.
David shakes his head. “No, the weaves were for spying. They were supposed to send copies of all Aidan’s emails and messages to a third party—they’re tracing that back now, but one of Tish’s people is a safe bet—and allow that person to listen in on his calls.
Security says one of the weaves was a little sloppy and came loose, fucking the overall functionality, which is why Aidan stopped getting anything at all.
They want to check all our electronics just in case, but they’re pretty confident that the new security measures we introduced after the leak last year would have caught something like this. ”
“Have they upgraded Aidan’s security? Maybe we should look at rolling out the new measures to all the species leaders as well. We can’t have the CCA listening in—”
As one, David and I turn to look into the kitchen, where Percy and Aidan have been contacting species leaders all afternoon. If the CCA got to any of those leaders, they’ve just learned exactly what our plans are.
“Fuck,” David mutters, heading in that direction. I follow. There’s not a lot we can do about it now, but the kitchen is where my gorgeous lover is… and the food.
I miss a step and almost fall, distracted by the thought of Aidan and food together. I could eat off his body.
What a delightful thought. We’ll need to stop by the grocery store on the way home and stock up for a late supper in bed.
By the time I drag myself away from my thoughts and catch up with David, he’s already handed over Aidan’s electronics and is explaining the situation. I pretend to be absorbed in what he’s saying as I edge toward the pantry. Sam’s gotta have some cookies or something.
“Have security contact the species leaders and make arrangements,” Percy says as I ease the pantry door open a few inches. Cookies normally live on the third shelf… yes! I widen the gap enough for my hand to—
“Alistair, just open the door properly like a normal person,” Aidan says in exasperation. “I doubt Sam will care if you eat some of his food.”