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“Hi, Alfina…my sister and I are from Otherworld, too. From Y’Elestrial.”
She glanced up, looking startled. “But you are—”
“Half human? Yes. Our mother was human, our father is Fae. Where are you from, back in OW?”
“Willowyrd Glen.” Her voice was a whisper, but a glimmer of hope shone in her eyes. “I live on the shores of the Dahnsberry Lake, and before I moved to Dahnsburg to start work, my mother gave me a gift—a trip Earthside, to learn about the culture. Have you ever been to Dahnsberry Lake? It’s so beautiful. Peaceful. We have our problems, but everything is…it’s just so different than the bigger cities—both over there, and here Earthside.”
Camille nodded. “I’ve seen the lake, briefly. And I’ve been to Dahnsburg. It’s an incredible city, and King Uppala-Dahns is a fair and just leader.”
That brought a reaction. “You know the King of the Dahns Unicorns?” For the first time, her voice showed a spark of life.
“Yes,” Camille said softly. “I’ve met the king and I know his son, Feddrah-Dahns. Tell me, what will you be doing in Dahnsburg?” She kept her eyes on Alfina, holding her gaze.
Alfina gave a little shrug. “I’m going to be a clerk in the King’s court.” She teared up then and held out her arm. “What am I going to say about this? How am I going to go through the rest of my life with this on my arm? It’s in English, but I’ll always know what it says. What they did. I wish I’d stayed home, that I’d never come here.”
As Alfina burst into tears, Sharah pulled out a salve. “Listen,” she said, her voice gentle. “I’m going to put a special salve on this. I’ve done a really good job on the stitching. There will be minimal scarring. In a year or so, it should fade.”
Alfina shook her head, trying to shade her eyes to keep us from seeing her tears. “You don’t understand…it’s a reminder.”
I gently took her hands and wouldn’t let go. She squeezed, holding tight. “You know that this happens back in Otherworld, too. It’s not just here. Rape is a constant…it’s not confined to one race or world, it’s all about power and those who seek to use their bodies as weapons. You did nothing wrong. Your decision to come here didn’t cause this to happen.”
She let out another sigh and looked at me with those brilliant blue eyes. “What do you need me to do?”
“We need you to look at some pictures and see if you recognize any of the men. And…have you ever encountered a Tregart?” I scanned her face, watching for any clue as to what she was thinking.
She held my gaze. Slowly, deliberately, she said, “I’ll look at your pictures. And yes, I know what Tregarts are. And at least two of the men were demons. They were bigger, harder, a lot rougher. But the man in the suit was the worst. He wanted to kill me, but the demons said, no, leave me alive as an example. I don’t think…I don’t think the man in the suit realized they weren’t human by the way he was acting.”
“Man in a suit?” Camille straightened up, looking confused. “What man in a suit?”
“The weasely man who was with the bikers. He was wearing a suit. He was…one of the rapists.” She turned to Sharah. “Can I get dressed now? I feel too exposed. And I’m scared. I want to go home.”
“After you look through the pictures, we’ll take you back to your hotel.” I motioned to Camille. “We’ll wait outside while you dress.”
As Sharah handed her a pair of trousers and a long tunic, we exited the room. Chase was in the waiting room. He looked up expectantly.
“She able to tell you anything?”
“Yeah, and I have a really bad feeling about it.” We told him what she’d said. “So the demons are infiltrating the Freedom’s Angels, stirring up matters. You were right with that supposition. But there’s something else. Did she tell you about the man in the suit?”
He pulled out his notebook. “I’m not the one who took her statement. Let me see…Thayus took the call. He said…yes, there is the mention of a man in a suit. I didn’t have a chance to read through it all before I called you. What are you thinking?”
I hooked my thumbs through the belt loops on my jeans. “Show her a picture of Andy Gambit. Ten to one…it was him.”
“That fucking perv.” Chase tapped his notebook. “If it is Gambit, then we’ve finally got him. But an arrest will make those who follow him go crazy. We have to be prepared. Is there any way you can pull together a counterprotest in case the frootloops come out of the woodwork? Not to confront them, but to balance out the coverage and make Seattle look less like a backwoods KKK enclave. Once this hits the news…”
“Yeah…I got it.” And I knew exactly what to do. “Let me make a call to Tim and to Neely.”
“First, let’s see if Andy’s our man.”
Ten minutes later, Alfina was staring at an album open to a page with twelve mug shots on it, Andy Gambit’s among them. None of us pointed to him, nobody said a word…we just waited.
Alfina stared at the page for a moment, and then without hesitation, she pointed to Gambit’s picture. “That’s him. That’s the man in the suit.” She also identified one of the more notorious members of the Freedom’s Angels.
Chase nodded, motioning to Yugi. “Get warrants for their arrest and to search their houses. Do nothing until you consult me. If they were OW Supes, we’d extradite them to Otherworld. But they’re ours, and their asses are mine.” He turned to me. “Make your calls and pray we get a big turnout.”
Camille and I headed over to the VA with Alfina. She didn’t feel safe back in her hotel, so we took her there. Hiding her among Wade’s people would be safer than any safe house we could take her to. The men followed in my Jeep.
Wade’s assistant—Mari, an ES Fae—escorted us to a private office. From there, I gave Tim a call and asked him to put the phone tree on alert, should we need them. I then called Neely and asked her if we could count on the United Worlds Church to carry through with their promises to stand beside the Supe Community. She gave me her word.
