Crazy Seduction(erotica)

Michelle Beaumont was also seated on the couch next to Rand and looked uncomfortable in the tense environment. As one of the Arachnid race, her people were typically calm and reserved and avoided displays of aggression. She was the Council’s historian, a quiet and private woman, and had already informed them that the anomalies reported matched nothing on record.

Thane wasn’t happy with her response as he’d insisted the man who saw sound, in his opinion, had clearly become one of the dTesh, an ancient enemy the Hidden Races had hunted to extinction millennia ago. Rand upped the ante by calling his cousin’s response reactionary and emotional. That was her cue to weigh in.

“The man in question is dead. Whether or not he’d become a dTesh is a moot point. We don’t have access to his body, and even if we did, as Michelle indicated, we have no certified documentation on dTesh anatomy to identify it. Their extinction occurred before the council made such records. We won’t get an answer to that,” she explained calmly.

The fifth member of their meeting returned from taking a call. Tall, and skeletally thin, the man had pale skin and almost no body hair. His eyes were pale and widely spaced on either side of a nose too large for his face. By Human standard, his disguise was ugly. Lise-Anne knew his true form was that of a very large raven. The ‘spirit animal’ race was extremely rare and intensely private. Only Ra’Anek’s intense need to collect data kept him on the Council as its Minister of Risk Assessment. He vetted all information regarding threats of exposure and anomalous events. He worked closely with Lise-Anne, and today the look on his long face was grim.

“What’s happened?” Lise-Anne asked.

“Plane crash. A small commuter struck one of those new pseudo-clouds. Eleven passengers, three crew. No survivors. All Humans. Nothing left of the pseudo-cloud. They’re denser than real clouds, but when struck by a plane at speed they become highly volatile,” he said in his quiet monotone. “Something keeps them aloft, and something enables their ability to generate massive electrical charges. When a large mass strikes them with great force, the result is a significantly concussive explosion. Ripped the plane in two, front to back.”

Rand scowled. “Why didn’t they avoid it? A plane that size would have radar. They must have realized there was something ahead with mass! I can understand a small two or four-seater without this equipment but not this. Do the clouds absorb radar?”

“No, they show up on the radar,” Lise-Anne said, as she’d been following the reports of this new phenomenon.

Both Rand and Thane had baffled expressions.

“Human error,” Ra’Anek said, and the two investigators scowled.

“You said there’s no evidence of what they struck? What about the black box and flight recorders?” Lise-Anne asked.

“They’ll be under high-security lockdown. Getting access will be exceptionally difficult and would likely draw suspicion,” Rand said. “Our best course of action is likely generating a noisy and messy public outcry against the pilot and the airline. Lawsuits and social media floggings. We could also rattle the reactionary groups with the terrorism angle. It probably looks like damage from a bomb.”

Lise-Anne nodded and made a note to get her team assigned to this. She looked up at the group. “What about the source? Has anyone been able to determine what is triggering these occurrences? We’ve had two incursions? How should we be describing them?”

Rand looked at Lise-Anne, and she caught the expression and his brief glance at Ms. Beaumont.

She directed her attention to the Arachnid. “Actually, before we continue Michelle, I think we’ve probably used enough of your time, and I don’t believe we’ll have any more questions for you if you wanted to head off to work.”

“Oh! OK. I’ll go then. Goodnight,” the woman said quietly and nodded to the others. She rose to her feet and quickly left the apartment.

They felt the privacy field release and snap back into place as the door closed once more.

Rand sat forward on his chair. “The earliest sighting we’ve tracked occurred approximately three weeks after the Dragon linked the Satyr to the Fae’s globe-spanning spell.”

“Is there a direct connection between him and these ‘invaders’?” Lise-Anne asked.

Rand looked to Ra’Anek. “We’d need a wielder to test the magic of one of them to see if it is the same Wild Magic found in the Satyr.” The tall man looked to Lise-Anne in question.

She looked at the investigator. “Let’s hypothesize. Let’s say the incursions are directly linked to Mr. Gable as he’s called now. What would you propose to do about it?”

Rand scowled. He knew the Fae would protect the Satyr as their lives now depended on him. “We need more information. If the invaders are from the same realm of Wild Magic, we need to know if he’s attracting them somehow or creating the breaches. If he has nothing to do with their appearance, then we look elsewhere. If he is responsible, we go to the Fae and request their help in containing him.”

Thane, for once in agreement with his cousin, nodded. “For the good of all of the Hidden Races, the Fae included.”

-=-

A soft chime brought the old soldier to a fully alert state instantly. He glanced at his cell, positioned next to the bed. He swung his legs out from under the sheets and sat up to answer on the third ring.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“Colonel Devlin.”

He listened to the quiet voice on the other end of the line and memorized his orders. He frowned as it wasn’t the typical mission he received.

He didn’t bother saying goodbye when the voice stopped talking but hung up and made his way to the washroom to shower. He took a quick one in cold water and dried himself quickly. It was the early hours of the morning in Frankfurt, Germany but his official visit was over, and he’d been ordered to return to the States to take up a new challenge.

His driver was ready for him when he left the front door of the small one-bedroom bungalow the Army rented for him. He lived alone and didn’t need much space as he was a follower of a minimalist lifestyle.

He rode in silence to the air base and boarded the waiting transport plane. Once he strapped in, he settled back to complete his night’s sleep. His mind went back to the quiet voice and his open-ended orders. “Unknown threat to be contained and/or eliminated. Fully sanctioned.” The unknown target was atypical. Usually, he was aimed at an identified target and made it go away quickly and quietly.

He allowed himself a small smile. He was being given free reign to run the mission his way. The Intelligence agency which collected the information for his mission had only been able to determine there was a potentially credible threat to society but it was escalating faster than they could manage. They needed it identified, then eliminated quickly and quietly. He could do that.

He’d done exactly that on his last mission and got the job done, but a weak-minded excuse of a soldier leaked word of his methods. So he’d been transferred to the base in Germany while the situation at home cooled. He had important people in Washington backing him, so he bided his time and waited for the next call.

He was good at being patient. He was also good at making decisive actions when others hesitated.

This time he was hunting the cause of a downed small commercial aircraft. A cause linked to an anomaly he needed to get ahead of and snuff out. All he had were some reports of clouds that didn’t behave like clouds. Clouds that were making it dangerous to fly the skies over his country. Someone had either fabricated a new technology to take down aircraft or, if the report was accurate, it was biological, proving someone was fucking with Mother Nature. He would find that someone and end them before the sheep began to panic and questioned their leaders.

He’d do it because that’s what his country needed from him.

-=-

Sigrid was surprised to find Meixiu wasn’t by the front door when she got home. She chastised herself for her expectation as Meixiu didn’t have to be there but Sigrid had grown accustomed to the evening greetings. It had become their little ritual.

She walked into her home and smelled home cooking and heard an odd sound. She went back to the kitchen and Meixiu was listening to her shortwave radio with rapt attention. She squeaked in surprise as the tall blonde entered the room.

“Oh! You startled me!” Meixiu gasped.

“What are you listening to that has you so absorbed?” Sigrid asked curiously.

The young woman’s face lit up with her excitement. “Something amazing has happened in China! I think it was also close to where I was born!”

Sigrid grinned at her enthusiasm. “What?”

“A mighty storm struck a mountaintop near a village, and when the villagers went up to the top they found a man made of glass!”

“A sculpture?” Sigrid suggested.

“No! It moves! It is a man, but he’s made of glass. Wonderfully beautiful glass!”

Sigrid frowned in worry, and Meixiu’s smile dropped away. “What?”

“Either the local Human government will suppress this or the Hidden Race Council will,” Sigrid said gently.

“But it’s too late! They are talking about him on the radio! Listen!” Meixiu said, pointing to the shortwave.

They listened, but the voices were now silent. There was only static. Meixiu glanced at Sigrid in surprise.

“Overt signs of magical activity are suppressed by any means possible. This protects us all. You understand this, yes?” Sigrid asked.

Meixiu looked sad. “I understand… but I would have liked to have met the glass man.”