Hell Hounds novel Chapter 55

             After the organized confusion of several teams leaving, the small group sat down to discover everything they’d missed.

             “Where does the time go? How can it take so long to get everything done?” Aria stared at her phone in wonder.

             “Because we are the least magical creatures of the supernatural world. A one-trick pony, if you will. We got the party trick of turning into a critter. What do we have here, anyway?” Yolanda pulled a yellow envelope from a pile Gregory tossed their way before storming into his office. He wasn’t angry with him. No, that anger’s reserved for the mother of his future pups. He’d found out she’d made a break from their apartment without Catherine or another Hell Hound beside her. He’d informed Yolanda she wasn’t to worry about it. Her instructions were in the envelope in front of her. There’d be no screwing around since this was now an all-out war.

             With the Fae now boldly entering human towns, a video began showing up on various websites and news outlets. They needed to combat this before it got out of hand. The mages claimed they possessed various solutions for that, and tonight, the Vampires would send out their people to fix things.

             There was something frightening Yolanda felt at the thought of an army of vampires would go about changing humans’ memories. But what else could they do? The mages could alter technology and make things disappear. But they couldn’t alter a population’s belief in monsters as a vampire could. But between a mage and a vampire, now that was truly frightening. Suddenly, no one saw anything and there’s no video to prove it ever occurred. Murdered people became accident victims and victims of muggings by assailants that never existed. It was far from perfect, but it’s easier to accept than the truth. Far safer for everyone, too. How many relatives of these victims would seek justice on the Fae? How many police with hero complexes would make it their life’s mission to deal with administrating justice to the Fae? How many of those would come home in the end? Yolanda knew the total of survivors to return would be zero. They couldn’t let that happen.

             “They have me fielding a campaign of disbelief in the video with a group of mages. Not sure what I can do that they can’t.”

             “Find the crap hiding in the dark recesses of the net? You’re very good at that.” Jaxon stated as he looked down at the papers before him. “They have me working with our old division once they are up and running here to field this away from conspiracy theory territory.”

             “Now I’m questioning all the conspiracies we’ve dug into. How much did we miss the first time around?”

             “I know it’s weird with an insider’s perspective now. It’s a similar job but with a whole new outlook and mandate. Keep them dumb, not find the truth.”

             “Well, not quite. We find the truth; we just don’t advertise it to the public. Look at it this way. We find out the truth, fix it, and it’s a need-to-know basis. You encountered what happens when the public sees what’s real. Your division made you the brunt of their jokes. You’re not taken seriously, passed over for promotion too, I bet.”

             Ian looked at Desire. “I’m hoping you’re assuming a few things.”

             “It happens far too often, not to be true. Just remember now we’ll respect you in the morning.” She tried to joke, but Yolanda growled at Desire. “Sorry, poor joke. Okay, too early for that.” Desire held her hands up to display her acquiescence to Yolanda.

             “What about you Aria what do they have you doing?”

             “I’m with Hal in searching the net and media sources.”

             “Yolanda? What about you and Ian?”

             “As expected, we’re in the basement, keeping the weapons flowing with the Fianna down there. I don’t think they’ll be disappearing anytime soon.”

             *           *           *

             Shaylah watched through the Bogart’s eyes at the hunt as they searched for even a tiny shred of magic. What happened to this place after they left? This realm should brim again with magic. Everywhere they’ve gone so far, the magic elusively evaded them. The humans appeared to know nothing about magic or where to get it. The few wells they’d visited didn’t even possess a spark of magic. It’s like when they left, they took magic with them. How could that be? The elders always claimed magic flowed like water here. They’d lied to everyone. This was an insult that she couldn’t tolerate. The hunt found no reference to the existence of their serfs. No wolves or witches. No vampires, or any annoying druids. This wasn’t the world of gold and honey. It stank, humans ruled everywhere, and the wilds weren’t wild. This world bored her already.