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"Article? That's no article." Chase shook his head, a grim look crossing his face. "The sociopath who wrote that piece of crap hates all aliens equally, whether they're from Mexico, Mars, or Otherworld. Anyway Devins ripped me a new one for allowing a rumor to get started. He told me to clean up the mess before it gets out of hand or I'll be walking a beat on the street again."
"What are you going to do?" Morio asked.
"Well, I can force a retraction—I've got a buddy who holds the purse strings to major advertising for that rag and he can put the kibosh on… What's his name? The dude who wrote the article?"
"Andy Gambit," Delilah said, reading the byline.
"That's right. Gambit. He's a troublemaker from way back. Well, I can see that he's muzzled for a while, but Devins is going to be on my back about everything from now on."
"Does he think we're involved?" The last thing we needed was for Devins to take a closer look at the OIA—or what we were passing off for the OIA these days. But at least Chase put that fear to rest.
"No," he said. "This is just one more way for him to try to get under my skin. He can't stand it that my idea for the FH-CSI gained so much support. He tried to squash me like a bug when I first presented it, you know. When the OIA and Governor Tomas made it official and put me in charge… that's when Devins decided that he had it in for me."
Delilah crossed to him and leaned over his shoulder, resting her arms around his neck and kissing him gently on the cheek. "Is that why he's always been such a jerk to you?"
"Yeah," Chase said. "I guess he's jealous, when I really think about it. My friend will get the Tattler to back off and I'll come up with some reason those people went missing, but Devins won't be above using this mess to push me around."
Hell, the poor guy looked so forlorn that I almost gave him a kiss, too, but that probably would have been more than he could handle.
Instead I just said, "We know where Dredge is—we'll take him out tonight. He's dangerous, but I think we can do it." I motioned to Delilah. "Of course, if the rest of his clan's there to back him up, it's going to be one hell of a fight, but we haven't heard anything about them. I dunno what's up with that. Can you bring up a map of downtown Seattle on your computer? Then I might be able to pinpoint where he's hiding out."
Delilah gave me a long look. "Sure." She opened her laptop and fired it up. "Camille filled us in on what happened in Aladril." Her words hung heavy in the air, filled with a thousand questions and comments. I had to do something before they spent every waking moment apologizing.
"Kitten, Camille, listen to me. What Dredge did to me… there's nothing that you can say or do to make it go away. But it's over and we work with what we have now." I had to alleviate the guilt I saw in their eyes. Survivor's guilt, misplaced if well intentioned. "I've accepted who I am, and thanks to Jareth, Dredge no longer has any control over me. Jareth gave me the greatest gift anybody ever could."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Delilah asked, tapping away on the keys. "We never knew you had to live with such horrendous memories."
"And if you had known? What could you have done? I thought it was better to just let it be." Let it be… The Beatles had it right, I thought, even if I didn't like their music.
Delilah opened her mouth, about to protest, but Camille interrupted. "She's right. We would have done the same thing if it had been us. Menolly's free now. Let's focus on the present, because you know damned well that Dredge isn't going to be waiting for us with open arms. Open fangs, maybe."
"Here it is," Delilah said, setting the laptop on the coffee table. "Here's a map of the downtown area. If you want to zoom in, just left click and use the scroll wheel, or you can use the mouse to drag the slider bar."
I knelt by the coffee table and looked at the screen. "There," I said, tracing Alaskan Way with my fingertip. I zoomed in a little. "Okay, here it is. See this warehouse here? That's where Dredge is staying, right across the street from the Deckhand memorial statue and the Sushirama. I'm guessing three to four stories up, but I'll be able to tell for sure when we get there."
Delilah peered over my shoulder. "That warehouse is now the Halcyon, a hotel and nightclub."
"I thought it might be. I've met the owner and he's one of those misguided types who believes that all Supes are inherently good, just misunderstood."
We all knew people like him, both at home in OW and here Earthside. People who believed that all members of their special group were inherently better than others. They usually ended up heartbroken when they found out that humans were just human, Fae were just Fae, Supes were just Supe, and that good and evil weren't inherent qualities thanks to a label on a birth certificate.
"Let me see what I can find out about the place," Delilah said, pulling up a second browser. While she started her Web search, I wandered over to where Morio was sitting in the recliner with Camille now perched on his knee. Shamas leaned back in the opposite chair, a quixotic look on his face.>Shamas nodded. "The monks of Dayinye saved my life. I was almost dead when I broke through their shields and landed in the temple."
"You broke through the shields of Aladril?" Morio stared at him. "You must be a powerful magician."
"I'll bet you ten to one Queen Asteria knew he'd be there," I told Camille. "I don't know how, but she's pulling some strings of fate herself."
Shamas motioned to Morio. "Apparently I'm more powerful than I realized, but only under pressure and even then, I can't control it yet. I'll tell you all about it once I've had a chance to get my bearings." He looked around, clearly bewildered. "I've never been Earthside. You'll have to fill me in on everything."
"Delilah and Camille can do that while I'm sleeping." I glanced at the clock. "I'd love to go nab Dredge right now, but if we do, I'll be toast before you can say crispy critter."
Camille nodded to the kitchen. "Go then, and sleep. Morio and I will catch everyone up to speed. Oh, Iris—here's your crystal." She handed the Talon-haltija the velvet bag and Iris's eyes sparkled.
"Oh, this will come in handy," she said. I wondered what exactly she wanted it for but decided not to ask.
After giving Maggie a hug, I headed toward my room. Would I be able to sleep without nightmares?
I wasn't disappointed. For the first time since I'd been turned, I passed the night without dreams, without worry, in the perfect peace of a quiet heart.
