Talus led us to a solid metal door guarded by a fae in a security uniform and unmarked by fae or human signs. The guard checked Talus’s security card against a reader and then a clipboard list, and then finally stood aside, allowing us into the Calgary fae Court’s armory.
I tended to forget, given how few members the Court in Calgary has, just how pervasive the finances and influence of even a small joint Seelie-Unseelie Court like Calgary are. The armory drove the truth home, though.
In a country where hunting rifles were difficult to acquire and handguns almost impossible, the Court’s armory had hanging coat racks of body armor in every size. Cabinets of long arms, from assault rifles to automatic shotguns, lined one wall, where the other had neatly organized rows of handguns, machine pistols, and submachine guns. The far wall sported a small number of machine guns and rocket and grenade launchers, but the centerpiece of the entire armory was two massive oak wardrobe-like standing closets.
The oak they’d been built of was almost black with age, and they had no handles or locks, only intricate patterns of runes that would open the doors to the right words and uses of power. Inside were the prizes of any court—the orichalcum-enhanced and rune-empowered magical weapons forged by the gnomes, and often passed down through families for generations.
Talus went straight for the machine pistols, pulling out concealed holsters and tossing them to each of us.
“Put these on and grab one of the machine pistols,” he instructed.
I quickly examined the holster, which had been modified slightly to take the different size and bulk of a machine pistol from an ordinary handgun, and then grabbed a gun. It had the T shape familiar from popular media of an Uzi, but was only half again the size of the small pistol I had left at home—an IWI Ltd. Micro Uzi, according to the neat labeling on the case I removed it from.
For all the neat and detailed labeling, and the readily available preloaded twenty-round magazines that I collected five of, the serial number on the weapon had been neatly filed off. How the gun had made its way from its manufacturer in Israel to the armories of a supernatural organization in Western Canada was a mystery to me, and hopefully would remain a mystery no matter what happened to the weapon in question.
Laurie was eyeballing everyone’s size and passing out vests. These were plain Kevlar, no runic enhancements that I could see, but I put the one she gave me on over my shirt and the runic armor I wore under it regardless.
It took us fifteen minutes to pass out weapons and ammo and put on the vests. We then all put our heavy winter coats back on, their bulk easily concealing the body armor and hidden weapons.
Then Talus went around again, sticking a radio/microphone earpiece on everyone and double-checking all of our gear one final time.
“Everyone ready?” he asked, and we nodded. “Let’s go.”
THE YOUNG FAE noble led us out the back of the hotel, to a dark green SUV with tinted windows. Night had reclaimed the city as we’d prepared, along with a chilly fog that diffused the light from the streetlights and left the city a glittering white wonderland against the shadow.
We introduced ourselves in the SUV as we drove through the city. Two of the gentry on the team turned out to be a brother and sister, two redheads in formfitting body armor named Dave and Elena. The third was an overly serious fair-haired youth named Robert.
Robert was carrying a black briefcase containing a laptop and some other tools I hadn’t caught sight of when he was loading them. Listening to him talk to Dave and Elena, I quickly realized that he was even younger than me. Gentry lived a long time; it was easy to misjudge their ages.
With the snow and fog and traffic, we were easily an hour getting to the offices for Sigrid REIT. The last ten minutes or so of the trip passed in silence as everyone checked equipment and weapons.
This was the first time in my life I’d ever headed into a situation where I presumed there would be violence. I spent most of that last ten-minute silence checking there were bullets in the magazines I was carrying for the Micro Uzi.
“First time expecting trouble?” Dave eventually asked me, causing me to realize I was checking the magazine in my gun for the third time.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “Most of my encounters have been...surprises.”
“Well,” he said slowly, “to be blunt, you’re slower and weaker than everyone else here. Hang back, shoot at anything that comes right at you, and let us deal with any major threats. Elena and Talus and I have worked together before, and we all know Laurie and Robert as well. We’ll be fine.”
I nodded, and slotted the magazine pack into the machine pistol as Talus slowed the van.
“We’re here,” he said quietly. He turned to look back at us. “Robert and I will go in first and deal with the security system. You four move up and secure the entrance. Corral anyone who tries to leave. Don’t kill anyone you don’t have to.”
I followed Elena and Dave out of the car, and Laurie quickly stepped in to cover the rear as we moved to cover the main doors of the ten-story office building as Talus and Robert went inside.
“Door is locked,” Robert reported over the earpieces, and then the door popped open in front of him. “Not an issue; no alarm here.”
The two figures vanished into the building, heading for the stairs down.
“No security on this floor I can sense,” Talus said quietly into the radio. “There’s enough iron in the building I can’t sense if anyone’s in above us.”
“At the security office, hooking in,” Robert said, almost talking over him. “Looks like all the cameras are being fed offsite. Cycling through them all now.”
There was a pause, and the four of us standing outside shivered, waiting.
“There’s no one in the building,” he told us, and a huge weight slipped off my shoulders. “Which is weird,” he continued. “There should be at least one security guard. Looping the feeds; you’re good to go in—but watch your backs. This doesn’t smell right.”
Dave moved forward first, opening the doors while Elena covered him.
“Remember,” Talus said over the radio, “just because the cameras didn’t see anyone doesn’t absolutely guarantee there’s no one up there. Watch your step. We’ll join you at the stairs.”
We reached the stairwell door, which was sealed by a keypad and magnetic lock. Laurie gestured the rest of us out of the way and laid her hand on the door. A moment later, she pulled her hand back and the door opened with it.
Talus and Robert were on the other side, and the fae noble gestured us up the stairs before leading the way. Sigrid REIT was on the eighth floor.
Eight floors passed quickly and in silence, Talus stopping us at each floor so he could scan the floor with his sixth sense. Reaching the eighth floor, though, he didn’t even slow down. As soon as he reached the door, it clicked unlocked and swung open for him.
“Show-off,” Laurie muttered over the radio.
“Quiet,” he ordered. “Search the floor, check for hard drives and paper...” He trailed off at the end of the sentence as we walked out on to the floor and saw the state of what had been Sigrid REIT’s offices.
“It didn’t look like this on the cameras,” Robert said quietly, as we surveyed the chaos.
Someone—or a group of someones—had swept through the office like a hurricane. Filing cabinets were overturned. Computer desks rearranged. Several computer towers looked like someone had taken an ax to them repeatedly. Feeble sparks still glowed in the pile of ashes that looked like it had been a foot-deep pile of papers.
Laurie stood still in the doorway, still mostly in the stairwell. “What the hell?”
“The place has been cleaned out,” Elena said briskly. “There may still be something around we can retrieve; let’s take a look.”