Deadly measures, p.1
Deadly Measures, page 1
Deadly Measures
S.C. Stokes
Prescient Publishing
Copyright © 2024 by S.C. Stokes
Cover by Bewitching Book Covers
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
Contents
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16
17. Chapter 17
18. Chapter 18
A Note From S.C. Stokes
Bounty Hunter Down Under
Also By S.C. Stokes
About the Author
Chapter 1
The corpse currently marinating in its own juices on the New York City sidewalk belonged to Alexander Sebastiaan, the First Minister of the Arcane Congress and one of the most influential figures in the supernatural world.
Or at least, he had been until about ten minutes ago when the warlock Methuselah had caused him to leap off the balcony to his untimely end.
A man whose life of distinguished service was overridden by his final acts at Methuselah’s unhinged compulsion. He would be remembered as the man who’d sundered the Arcane Covenant. The man who had cast the Fae Courts out of the accepted supernatural community and ended five centuries of coexistence between humanity and the supernatural communities.
That would be how he was remembered.
Kasey was the only one who knew the truth of what had transpired at the Congress. Perhaps that was why Methuselah had stopped by her apartment. To ensure she knew exactly who was responsible for the devastation about to be unleashed as a result of yesterday’s Arcane Congress Session. He’d wanted to take a victory lap.
Around her, the crowds were already gathering on the busy street. Some were trying to help. Others were panicking as a woman loudly conveyed to 911 what was happening.
Kasey considered checking on Sebastiaan to be sure he hadn’t somehow survived the fall, but even wizards struggled with gravity.
The police would be here any minute. It wouldn’t be long until the body was identified and inside an hour everyone would know the body on the sidewalk below her balcony was the First Minister.
She had a patchy history with the Arcane Congress, and the Watchman was certainly looking for any excuse to settle his score with her family. Kasey didn’t for a minute believe they would reach any conclusion other than that she’d killed the First Minister.
Unfortunately, she didn’t know enough about mind-magic to know if Methuselah’s influence would be discernible to the authorities in the event of an autopsy. Trace magic tended to dissipate over time, and the more subtle the working, the faster that would occur.
An hour wasn’t much time, but she could put distance between her and the Sentinels that would invariably be coming for her.
Kasey gripped her phone so hard her knuckles turned white.
She cursed Methuselah and the fact the warlock had managed to survive the Terminus. She’d genuinely hoped he’d been killed in the anarchy he’d unleashed there.
Now he seemed intent on unleashing bloodshed here in the mortal realm. Payback, perhaps, for having been incarcerated by the Arcane Council.
Sundering the Arcane Covenant was going to get people killed. When it came to the supernatural community, humans were more prey than predators.
What was Methuselah playing at? And was it even him, at all? Was she still dealing with the mind-mage or was this the work of the same dark presence she had encountered in the Inner Sanctum of the Terminus?
Eternity.
The malevolent influence had tried to compel her to release it, but Kasey had known in her soul the presence was dangerous. The Earth Spirit’s influence, perhaps. It was clear that it wasn’t the first time her guardian deity had encountered Eternity.
Now one of the most dangerous warlocks the Arcane Council had ever incarcerated was roaming freely about the city while in thrall to some creature Kasey still knew almost nothing about.
Right now, she still had a body to deal with.
She considered calling Hades. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he could make a body disappear. Knowing how he felt, she was sure he’d do it, too.
Hades had shown he could be counted on. She didn’t want to put him in the Council’s warpath, and she didn’t want to use him as a human shield.
Sanders and the Summer Court had got what they wanted and thrown her to the wolves. She could never do that to anyone.
A fresh wave of pain threatened to roll over her. She didn’t want to believe Sanders had manipulated her feelings to secure her help, but it was hard to see the situation any other way when he’d chosen to stay in Foraoise Síoraí. He’d chosen Summer over her. There was no other way to see it. Titania had opened the door for him to leave but dangled a carrot Sanders simply couldn’t resist.
He’d begged her to stay, but Kasey couldn’t turn her back on the Earth Spirit’s warning. She knew better now.
Pushing her pity party down deep, Kasey focused on the task at hand.
Her instincts were telling her to run. The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that was exactly what Methuselah wanted. He might be sowing chaos, but he did nothing by accident. He’d shown himself here for a reason.
More than likely, he wanted her so busy dealing with the Congress she wouldn’t be around to interfere in whatever he had planned.
She had been here before, hunted by the Arcane Council. She had no desire to be a fugitive again and felt it was impossible to heal the rift in the supernatural community if she were running from the Congress’ Sentinels.
This also wasn’t a problem she could fix on her own.
She had no standing in the Arcane Council or the Arcane Congress.
Without their help, Kasey couldn’t pressure Titania into stepping down from the war footing the Summer Court had adopted.
She was going to need the big guns to do that. Otherwise, the Summer Queen seemed liable to ride out her advantage and take what she pleased.
Kasey had seen as much in her vision: the Sidhe courts trying to seize control of the Field of the World Tree, and with it the Earth Spirit.
Such a victory would not alter the power struggle between the Fairy Courts—it would end it. Whoever triumphed would be able to annihilate their counterpart. Either the world would frost over under Winter’s ultimate ascension, or the world would wilt under the perpetual rays of Summer. Neither could be allowed to happen.
Their war would destroy the balance of nature in both realms.
Kasey refused to be hunted like an animal when she was the one person who seemed to be seeing things clearly.
So, she did something she might have called herself crazy for considering only a day ago. She took out her phone and called Marion Strang, the sitting Arcane Chancellor and a woman who only weeks ago had tried to have Kasey tried and executed.
The phone rang and rang.
There was no way a workaholic like Strang wouldn’t be up at this hour. Utter pain in the ass that she might be, Strang was certainly dedicated to her work.
After what felt like an eternity, the phone was answered.
“Hello?”
Kasey could sense the fatigue in Marion’s half-hearted greeting.
After yesterday, Kasey had a little empathy for the acting arcane chancellor. The most recent session of the Arcane Congress had gone to hell in a hand basket and Marion Strang had been left to pick up the pieces.
Sanders was gone. He’d last been seen fighting alongside Titania and the Summer Court contingent as they withstood the First Minister and the Sentinels attempts to incarcerate them.
Then they had fled when the Leanansidhe had unleashed all hell on the Congress.
That reality still caused Kasey pain. She didn’t want to believe Sanders would leave her to die, but he’d followed his queen all the way back to Faerie.
“Strang, it’s Kasey.” She searched for words to describe the magnitude of the hole she felt like she’d fallen into. They escaped her. “We have a problem.”
“Only one?” Strang groaned. “Sounds like a slow morning when you’re involved.”
“You can blame me for a lot of things, Strang,” Kasey said, “but the mess the First Minister made yesterday wasn’t on me.”
Strang sighed. “Are you skipping the part where you broke into the Terminus and released one of the most powerful beings our people have ever incarcerated?”
Kasey was pretty sure Strang was talking about the Fae Princess, not the creature of darkness that was currently inhabiting Methuselah, but she couldn’t be sure. Strang was the Watchman’s protege, and if anyone knew what had been locked up in the Inner Sanctum, it was Armando Flint. Perhaps he’d warned Strang what they might be facing.
“Look, Marion, I know we have had our differences. And you can blame me for a lot. But I’ve also done my level best to save lives. I did that again yesterday. You were there. So can we abandon the party line for a minute and acknowledge the truth that I’m sticking my neck out too, and have been for a long time.”
; Strang was quiet.
“If I hadn’t been there yesterday…” Kasey didn’t finish the thought. She didn’t need to.
If she had not been at The Racetrack, the Leanansidhe and the creatures of darkness could well have overrun the Congress and spilled into the city.
It was only with the help of Oberon, Hades, and her friends that they had held them at bay long enough to close the rift the creatures had been spilling through.
The Leanansidhe had managed to escape. Oberon and Nora seemed determined to deal with her, but that still left plenty of problems on Kasey’s plate.
“You did good, Kasey,” Strang said, “but are we just meant to forget the Terminus?”
“Strang,” Kasey’s voice rose so high it almost broke, “the courts are on the brink of war. The longer they struggle with each other, the more opportunists like the Leanansidhe are going to break ranks and take advantage of just how defenseless most mortals are against them.
“There are Sidhe who think they can exploit the mortal realm while their monarch’s attention is turned to other matters. We need to restore order and the Arcane Covenant.”
“I’m all ears, Kasey, but Marissa is one of those Sidhe. The last time the Autumn lady was captured, it was five centuries ago, required the lives of countless sentinels, and her own father on our side. She didn’t know she was being betrayed. We’re not going to get a do over on that.”
“I get it,” Kasey said, “and for the time being, she’s holed up in the heart of Summer’s domain, so she is regrettably a problem for another day. We have issues that need fixing here.”
“What do you think I’ve spent the last night doing?” Strang replied. “I’ve barely slept. I’m gathering the members of the Congress who survived and trying to sort this mess out. A situation that would be made easier if the First Minister hadn’t inexplicably vanished into thin air.”
“That’s the reason I’m calling,” Kasey said. “I found him.”
“You did? Where is he?” There was the faintest ray of hope in Strang’s voice. Kasey almost felt bad for having to snuff it out.
“He’s dead,” Kasey blurted. “Very dead.”
“Oh no, Kasey you didn’t.” Strang’s voice petered out.
Kasey tried not to be offended that was Strang’s immediate conclusion. She’d expected it, but it still hurt to hear it out loud.
“If it was me, do you really think I would be calling you?” Kasey asked.
“Perhaps not,” Strang said, “but I have seen some fairly mental things out of you, Kasey. Right not, I’m not willing to ignore any possibility.”
“Well, it wasn’t me, but you’ll find his body outside my apartment. He took a swan dive off my balcony after clarifying a few things for me.”
Strang went to speak but Kasey interrupted.
“If you look at the records of the prisoners who escaped the Council’s cells, you will find one of them, Methuselah, was a gifted warlock versed in mind magic. He is more than capable and willing to compel others do his bidding. It was him that was at the Congress yesterday. It was him driving the First Minister’s actions and dissolving the Arcane Covenant as payback for everyone who has ever wronged him.”
“And I suppose we just have to take your word for this?” Strang asked. “You wouldn’t happen to have any evidence, would you?
Kasey walked away from the crowds gathering as she considered her next choice. Strang was being about as helpful as she’d expected, but still Kasey had hoped she could appeal to Strang’s common sense.
“Want evidence? How about the most stable wizard in the magical world going off the deep end and destroying his life’s work in a matter of hours? What about the rest of the Congress? Did they give any indication they knew what the First Minister was up to, or were they likewise shocked by his sudden and erratic breach of protocol? Ask yourself, Strang, why would he do something like that? It makes no sense. That Congress was a sham orchestrated by a warlock to bring down the Congress, the Council, and every other magical authority on earth. Methuselah wants revenge and he wants to profit from the chaos. If we’re at each other’s throats, who will stop him?”
There was a long pause. “Suppose I believe you, Kasey. What next?”
“We work together,” Kasey replied. “I’ll come down there right now and tell you everything I know.”
“Everything?” Strang asked. “Because I have questions.”
Kasey took a deep breath. If she carried through with her offer, she would be confessing to a handful of crimes, any one of which could see her spending the rest of her life in a cell, but she didn’t see any other way to gain Strang’s trust. Without it, she didn’t have a hope of getting the Council on side.
She needed the Council if she was to have any hope of restoring the damage Methuselah had caused.
It was the sort of plan she wouldn’t have countenanced only days ago, but the more she thought about it, the more convinced she was it was exactly what Methuselah was trying to stop from happening.
Now more than ever the magical community was fractured. It was time to pick up the pieces. That started and stopped with Strang.
Kasey only hoped that with Strang’s help, she could put an end to this madness and prevent the Fairy courts from destroying each other or the Earth Spirit in what felt like an inevitable apocalypse.
“Everything,” Kasey replied. “I’ll be there in less than an hour.”
She hung up and headed for the station. The closest station was Marcy Avenue, only a block or two from her apartment, and the J train would take her into downtown Manhattan far quicker than fighting morning traffic.
As she went, Kasey texted Bishop. It was the sort of message that might alarm the detective, but she really needed to lock down the scene at her apartment if it was at all possible. Perhaps Bishop could help keep a lid on the crime scene.
There’s a body outside my apartment. It’s the First Minister and it wasn’t me. Heading to the Arcane Council. Please try to keep this quiet as long as you can.
Bishop had partied into the night with everyone else, and she’d still been in bed when Kasey had snuck out of Kendra’s stronghold this morning.
Last night felt like a lifetime ago. They had revelled in thwarting the Leanansidhe’s invasion of the Arcane Congress.
At least, she’d thought it was a victory until she’d realized that while they had been winning the battle, Methuselah had been winning the war.
As Kasey walked, she tried to puzzle out the mad warlock’s motives. Why destroy the fabric of the supernatural world? He still needed to live in it, after all. By her reckoning, he had just made surviving in it a whole lot harder.
Did Methuselah believe he was indestructible? Showing up at her apartment was bold. She’d nearly killed him in the Terminus. Methuselah was many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. He was up to something.
Kasey refused to believe his only objective was wanting to watch the world burn. He might want payback for being imprisoned, but her gut told her that there was more to this than simple revenge.
She just couldn’t see it yet.
Not for the first time, Kasey cursed the fact that Sanders had ever thought to release him in the first place. It had been necessary. Otherwise, they might never have gained access to the Terminus. Still, she liked to think that given the time to plan properly, she would have found a way.
Sanders had been operating on his own timeline. Or rather, the Summer Queen’s.
Now, Marissa was free, and Summer was throwing its weight around. Titania had sent a message: Summer would bow before the Congress’s will no longer.
Sanders was her champion. He’d chosen to remain in thrall to the summer Queen. After all, if the Summer Sun rose, his power as her Ray would only grow. Was he that afraid of dying? Or did he truly believe her lies that he was nothing without her gifts?
He’d been young when he’d first been taken to Faerie. Perhaps he had lost sight of his own talents, no longer knowing where his skills ended and the Summer Queen’s gifts began.
Now that his loyalties were understood, Sanders wouldn’t be welcomed back by the Council.
His crimes would make him an outcast and a traitor, but still Kasey wondered if there wasn’t somewhere they would be safe, away from this whole mess.
