Chapter 49 — The Grimm Brotherhood

  I stepped inside my shop, readying my power in case the Grimm Seekers were planning a hit on me.

  I found the two brothers standing in the shop, looking a little sheepish as I entered prepared for battle with my stance and demeanor. They didn’t have any weapons drawn and didn’t have the disposition of murderers or executioners. But if they were pro’s, they might not show any outward sign like that. They expected me to be surprised and the more reasonable one, Seth, raised his arms to halt anything more as I took them in.

  “We’re here to talk,” Seth said. “The door was open, so we let ourselves in.”

  Like hell it was, but I ignored them, walking passed to the front door and bolting it shut again. I caught the brothers give each other a probing look of surprise. My action spoke volumes. I didn’t fear being alone with them.

  James asked, “Aren’t you worried, two guys somehow got into your shop and want to talk?” He scratched the scruff on one cheek. “You got balls man; I’ll give you that.”

  “Or…” I said with a long pause, speaking my words as if to insubordinate children, “I’m not worried about what you could do to me—and you better not have hurt my door.”

  They both looked me up and down. Yeah, I wasn’t the strongest looking guy, but a tier-two nearly tier-three body made what I had more effective. I could give as good as I could take especially if I used my aura to its fullest. Lana had just been a freak of nature, I inwardly assured myself. “—Now talk.”

  “We’re trying to stop the murders, and your name keeps coming up,” Seth said.

  I sighed. I could play cryptic. I could refuse to answer but it might make things worse. As it was tensions were high. I didn’t want to get into a fight because that would mean someone would have to die, and I wasn’t going to let it be me. Even if Fren did the killing, it would be my fault. Or, I could entertain them, answer their questions, and possibly have someone help me fight the fae creature or at least leave me alone. That was simpler and kept blood from being spilt.

  “I’m sure it does, but the FBI cleared me.” I said, relaxing a little as a show of cooperation.

  “They did. But we didn’t see any reason as to why,” James said.

  “Did you steal their reports or something?”

  “No. Our backers are… above their backers,” James said.

  Now that was an admission. They were working with someone inside the FBI or who had the clout to get near immediate updates on a current case.

  “Things are growing out of hand,” Seth said. “What happened in the forest made national news today. That’s not good for anyone.”

  “No, it’s not,” I agreed. “I had no idea Grimm Seekers were so well connected.”

  They both froze. Eyeing me up and down.

  “How did you know?” Seth asked.

  “I have my ways. Plus, Chris, the FBI agent running the local case, gave me a heads up and said you were in town. It didn’t take much to piece two and two together when you came snooping around this morning, intimidating my friends.” I said the last with a little more anger than I intended.

  “He knows who we are?” James asked, clearly pissed.

  “It sounds like you guys have followed him around for a while. He seems like a pretty observant guy. I mean, he’s the one the FBI sends out for things like this.”

  “He does good work,” Seth said with a nod. “And it doesn’t matter if he knows who we are, he can’t touch us.”

  “I know he could complicate things for you,” I said. “But I’m sure he doesn’t know how highly you are connected, if you actually are. Perhaps you stole the case files from him and made up an elaborate tale for me? Even if that was the full truth, it means your resourceful.”

  “Enough about us,” James said, crossing his rather large arms. “How are you connected to all of this? I want answers—now.”

  That made now the make-or-break moment. I only had to decide what I wanted to do. My body still was sore, I wasn’t fully recovered from my wounds. The smart thing was to save my energy and mana for the true enemy. As Grimm Seekers they would know what a wizard was capable of, I just didn’t know how they would react to me telling them that fact. I sighed, and readied my power, knowing Fren would pick up on it and ready himself for action.

  “I’m a wizard,” I said plainly. Unlike the reactions most would have, which would be to laugh or want to hear it again to ensure they’d heard me correctly. The seekers were different, their eyes locked onto me as they understood my answer. Both went still, muscles ready for quick action if needed. James pursed his lips in a pissed expression, a vein began bulging on his head as his jaw muscles shifted. Seth looked thoughtful, his eyes pensive and distant. James would be my first target if it came to blows.

  “Like the legitimate type?” Seth asked after a moment. “You have a membership in the Tribunal?”

  “I do,” I said, surprised he knew so much.

  “We’re going to need to see proof,” James said, gesturing to my chest. “Where’s the amulet.”

  “I don’t wear it all the time.”

  “Are you for real right now? Most wizards would rather cut off their arm then be a foot from their Tribunal membership amulet. I’m not buying it,” James said, fingers inching towards his side where I was sure he had a concealed firearm beneath his flannel shirt.

  “It’s sort of gaudy,” I said, shrugging my shoulders, “and I’m not the best example of a Tribunal wizard.”

  Seth smiled, James didn’t. In fact, it looked like he was more prepared than ever to resort to violence. His movement and posture remained controlled, eyes watching me closely as I spoke.

  “I can go grab it,” I said.

  “—No. Seth will go get it, where is it?” James said. Seth nodded, agreeing.

  “Upstairs by my bed, on the right side there is a plant in the corner. It’s hanging on one of the branches,” I said. “Though it is a dickish move to not let me go get it in my own home.”

  “You could pull a failsafe or trap, or cast a spell.” James said, matter of fact, my every movement still under scrutiny. Seth ran up the stairs taking two at a time. “I could do that here and now,” I said challengingly, but was careful to appear relaxed and not a threat. “I don’t need to leave to stop you two.”

  It only took a moment before Seth returned.

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  “Okay, here it is. Verify yourself,” Seth said, handing me the amulet. His momentary wariness had visibly reduced after finding the item. No random practitioner would have one of these lying around… not unless they could kill a wizard.

  I grabbed it and rested it in my palm, the medallion face up for all to see. The metal felt cool against my skin. I figured the medallion was composed of silver but there were also gold rings and for all I knew it was platinum or some magical metal that was unknown to the world. The Tribunal was very secretive about the creation of the amulets. It was one of the reasons I didn’t wear it much. Rex wasn’t entirely off about me not trusting governing authorities, and the Tribunal was no different.

  The medallion looked antique with ancient sensibilities. Items crafted for magical purposes had a significant cost in both resources and time. Anything truly magical had significantly more go into its construction than met the eye, but most was destroyed or folded into its magical nature. It made the medallions precious in ways I probably wouldn’t understand for decades. I’d had to participate in the last part of its forging by feeding my blood and pure mana into the clear gemstone on its front the size of a quarter.

  James leered, hand now under his shirt, ready to draw, eyes boring into mine.

  “Chill dude,” I said, holding the medallion and willing a little bit of my power through it. My signature in a magical sense. I moved my hand so they could see the gemstone centered in the medallion more clearly. The crystal began to gleam for a moment then the center took on split aspects of color. Most were shades of green, brown, and red, associated with my affinities for fire and earth but there were many other colored bands for the types of energies I had some ability to harness which webbed outward from the gems center. The colors bled to a soft white at the gemstone's outer border.

  The white border was a sign. Using magic shaped you, just as lifting weights shaped your body. If I had been working spells of death, terror, summoning daemons, or mind altering magics or a dozen other various ‘forbidden’ practices, the gems border would fade and darken. Truly twisted wizards who bent their talents to evil practices were changed by the same, and the medallion would display a sure sign of that corruption.

  The amulet represented my power and would only work for me. It verified I was its bonded owner, recognized by the Tribunal, and no known power could alter that. It would change, morph, and grow as my power did. I’d read fictional books about ‘soul bonded’ objects or items, one where the main guy had an entire cloud house fused to his soul, but in the real world this was the closest thing to that that I knew of. A true soul, body, and mana bound object.

  There were those within the Tribunal with affinities considered evil. Death magic being the most grievous. They could still become wizards if they had enough power in other areas, but it would hamper their ability to work magic. They would have to craft spells with the base component of their other affinities rather than death. If they ignored the Tribunal and used death powers or significantly crossed the lines and rules the Tribunal set, their medallion would show that decision, and they would be put down. I shivered at the added difficulty and frustration ignoring one of my powers would have put on my own training and spell crafting. I already curtailed my use of fire instinctively because of its destructive nature, amplified by my inherent power attribute. But cutting off that vast power fully, or painstakingly crafting spells without it would have been infuriating. Instantly, I felt even more guilty for the time I’d squandered with the power I’d been given.

  My amulet ensured I was not concealing anything from the Tribunal or anyone who knew its workings. If strikers from the Tribunal had entered my shop as the Grimm Seekers had done and wanted to see proof that I was who I was, this was that proof.

  “See,” I said. Curious to catch the seekers reactions.

  Seth relaxed, James didn’t.

  “We verified you’re an actually wizard,” Seth said. “What do you call those who can’t make full wizard?”

  “Wielder, warlock, witch,” I said. “Practitioners, if you don’t like ‘w’ words, but take your pick. You knew I was a wizard the second you found the medallion.”

  “It could have been stolen,” James said, “But, you do have more affinities than I’ve seen before.” Even his tone grew respectful at that.

  “I’m surprised you even knew something like this existed,” I said, sliding my amulet over my head, its metal chain cool against my skin, the medallion part bounced low on my sternum as I dropped it under my collar out of the way. “Much less how to read it.”

  “Most in the Grimm Brotherhood are not as well connected or trained as we are,” Seth said. “It’s done on purpose. No central place or authority to attack, everyone compartmentalized and safe if a group is taken or compromised.”

  “We’re just a little higher up the food chain,” James said, leaning against a wall as he feigned relaxation.

  “Sounds like most would be led blindly and easily co-opted. Or, at the least, ill-informed to face the creatures before them,” I mimed, which made them both frown at me. “Time for my questions. What do you normally do to wizards you meet?” I said, voice threatening.

  “Nothing, if you’re the right sort,” Seth said, gesturing at my medallion. “The wrong sort, and it usually ends badly.”

  “You’ve killed a wizard before?”

  “Not personally, no,” Seth said.

  “Full wizards, at least,” James added. His eyes looked dark as he continued. “Others… doing dark workings or hurting people… a few times.”

  “Good,” I said, stepping a few feet away to give myself options if this still turned bad. I disguised my move by shifting a bowl of beautiful rose quartz on a nearby shelf as if it had gotten displaced. “Else our conversation would have gone differently.”

  “You were attacked last night, right? Our reports are spotty about what happened,” Seth said.

  “Yes,” I said. “It was the creature responsible for all the trouble. We fought it off, but I wasn’t able to kill it.”

  “Or you summoned it,” James said.

  “Clearly not,” Seth said. “You saw his medallion. Green for earth magics, red for fire. Those are his main affinities. Nothing that dark.”

  “Doesn’t mean he can’t dabble in others. The amulet doesn’t show his power in relation to other affinity types or recent workings. Plenty of summoned creatures wouldn’t be seen as evil by that amulet.”

  “It’s good enough for me, and it should be for you,” Seth said, giving his brother a long look. “He hasn’t broken their own laws, quit being so angry at the world. We want to solve this case and help people. He can clearly help, so stop antagonizing him with every word.” He ended by leveling a stern gaze at his brother.

  I grinned. I was coming to like Seth and hadn’t thought he had what it took to stand up to his brother but apparently, he did.

  James’s concern was a valid one. However, in order to summon a creature like this, it would take a lot of practice or dark ritual methods in order to do so. Unless the summoner directly knew the being’s name. You could only summon weak beings, or creatures who allowed rituals to summon them from elsewhere without knowing their names or a specific spell. There were ways to summon beings with similar drives and motivations to your own. It was a riskier option and exposed you to them as much as those beings to you, but I’d have to be a greatly different person to summon something like this.

  I conjured that if a practitioner was ‘new’ to the sinister arts and kept their medallion off on purpose, it might slow its shift in revealing their evil practices. However, being bound the way it was, it would still change over time. It did mean this test from the seekers might not work as well as they thought, but they still were far more informed than I would have guessed. Like anything in life, things were complex, and I increasingly was realizing that I didn’t know everything. Still, their level of knowledge made me curious. The Tribunal was secretive, the fact they knew anything was a surprise. It made me want to play along to learn more.

  “Tell us about the creature, what was it?” James asked, feigning sudden diplomacy.

  “First,” I said. “Why did you guys come here, to Idaho? What information led two seekers to think this was something more than a mundane serial killer?”

  “We got lucky,” James said, folding his arms. It looked like he might have spit on the floor, had we been outside.

  “I need more than that.”

  “We honestly did get lucky,” Seth said. “We do this full time, traveling from city to city, covering most of the west coast and Midwest. Anything from local vampire’s covens, werewolves, aberrant practitioners,” Seth said warily eyeing me. “To cultists, witches and anything in between.”

  “Anything supernatural,” I said. “Based on our experience, I’m sure you hound and freak out a lot of innocent practitioners.”

  Seth ran a hand through his hair, “Well, a lot of those people abuse the gifts they have after your organization abandons or rejects them. Our organization finds plenty who run into magic and break your wizard laws long before they are found and trained by a proper wizard, they must be put down. It’s not the main type of threat we hunt, but it happens enough we know the signs.” His tone took on a resolved edge, “We take out anything or anyone that’s causing people harm and the normal systems aren’t equipped to handle. Sometimes, even a serial killer or human trafficker. When we saw enough weird events here like missing people, and murders far beyond what this area normally sees, we had to investigate it. All our searching led to you.”

  “Well, I’m flattered. But I’m already working on taking this thing out. You can move on and kill something else.”

  “We’re not leaving until it’s dealt with,” James interjected. “We don’t quit a job.”

  “Neither do I. I’ve been here for three years taking things down, and I’m not about to stop now.”

  “Three years?” Seth said. “That explains the drop off…”

  James ground his teeth and glared daggers at Seth, a clear sign he’d revealed too much.