By early evening in the low-ceilinged lounge of the discreet safehouse, soft leather sofas arranged around a stone firepce. Michael, Alexa, Rond, Siobahn, Scarles, Madison, and Susan gather. It was time to see if they would feel comfortable staying in the house.

  ————

  Madison and Susan had walked in together, scanning the row of unfamiliar faces before them; Rond standing by a projector dispying crime-scene photos, Siobahn reviewing a dossier of recent anomalies, and Senior Agent Scarles siting at the head of the table with arms crossed, staring at a computer screen. Madison offered a terse greeting, her pulse quick as Scarles noded curtly, and stood. He knew better than to put a fake smile on his face. He was horrible at faking anything really.

  Dinner had gone well. It turned out everyone liked the chicken fried rice. Madison had recognized Alexa from their meeting in the student union. The conversation flowed easily…or rather as easily as it could have given the situation. Scarles had managed to avoid the ‘hard sell’ approach. His fellow agents were very clear with him before the students arrived. If he scared them off, they would go over his head. The agents had not mentioned the students joining Emerald yet. They had decided to give them some time to settle and become comfortable with their new acquaintances.

  Both Siobahn and Rond had offered to discreetly watch over them when they were not in the house. Rond had offered them firearms and hand-to-hand combat training and the students had seemed very interested in learning to look after themselves. Siobahn, while without paranormal abilities herself, had offered to help guide Madison in her arcane training. She was quite upfront about the idea that she would probably only be able to provide general guidance based on her own research and act as a recorder of Madison’s journey. Scarles had, miraculously, avoided doing or saying anything that would scare the young women away. That said, his fellow agents could see the strain such restraint was putting on the ambitious senior agent.

  ————

  As the the group settles Rond sets up a screen and projector.

  “OK,” his deep baritone rumbled, “we are going to show you a few pictures so you have a better idea of what we are dealing with.”

  Then he clicks through a slideshow of hostile entities; rogue sprites, bck spirits, and cndestine mystical ceremonies and syndicates seeking power. Madison leans forward, brow furrowed, as Siobahn highlights intercepted communications showing a network of dark-magic traffickers targeting individuals like her. The images on the screen repced by a map of potential, dangerous hotspots, and she pronounces, “This is what you’ll be up against, but you will not be alone…that is if you do not want to be.”

  Susan’s voice trembles when she realizes their every move could be monitored: “They know we’re out there.”

  Scarles taps a file stamped “URGENT,” revealing an imminent plot to harness Madison’s talent for nefarious ends. “We know, as do you by now obviously, that there are those who would use you for their own purposes. Some would, to be honest, welcome you as part of their group. They would get you involved in the “Lighter-Side” of things” he said, making air quotes and coming off a bit pompous, “then they would gradually draw you into their darker practices.”

  Emotions fred as Madison struggled between anger and fear, while Susan squeezed her arm, urging calm.

  Speaking up Susan said, “You want to use her too though, right? I mean, none of you can access magic or whatever it is, right?”

  Alexa held up a hand to forestall further questions from Susan, tapping a dossier on her p she decred “That is true, in a way…but the difference is that we are not going to ever ask you to do anything immoral or illegal. Also, failure to neutralize these threats could cost innocent lives, perhaps even your own.”

  Michael steps over to the switch to bring up the lights.

  “So, as you can see, there are a number of factors for you to consider. You’ve looked around the house, met the team. I’m sure you know you would be safer here than in the dorms. What do you think? Would you be comfortable here?” Michael asked.

  “Do we have to decide now? I mean, how soon do we have to decide?” Madison asked feeling overwhelmed.

  Scarles was frustrated, the girls hadn’t really shown any interest so far and now they were dithering.

  “Don’t they see they are in danger. I can’t let them get away, this “kid glove” treatment is bullshit! Fuck this!” Scarles fumed as he looked at the young students.

  Standing and adopting his most serious and commanding demeanor Senior Agent Scarles said, his voice hard “Look, you really don’t understand what you are dealing with you need to stay here for your own safety and, to be honest, I’m not sure you are competent to make this decision.”

  The other agents erupted, Madison and Suzy flinched back from the sudden eruption from the ‘professionals in the room’.

  As the barely constrained voices continued to argue, Madison and Suzy looked at each other with wide eyes.

  “EXCUSE ME!” Madison said, projecting her voice over the ‘professionals’.

  They all stopped and looked at her.

  “Fuck I knew this asshole would fuck shit up.” in various ways was being thought by the agents.

  “Look, first of all, you,” she pointed with her index finger causing Scarles to flinch wondering if she was going to cast some sort of spell on him, “are not my dad and frankly you’ve kinda come off as bossy and slimy all evening. So you don’t get to tell me what to do. Second, if you had just answered my questions we would probably have agreed to stay here for sure tomorrow morning after we had a night to sleep on it. Finally, even though you are an asshole, we are still gonna consider it seriously. We aren’t fucking stupid.” she lectured.

  Continuing she said, “So, if we do, and I do mean IF, decide to stay here our contact with you had better be limited and you better watch the fucking tone asshole…don’t forget who’s the witch here!”

  The fire in Madison and Suzy’s eyes left no doubt, they were scared as hell, but they weren’t going to be pushed around.

  ————

  Meanwhile in an old pntation home outside Hattiesburg, Mississippi -

  “What about the two girlies up in Washington?” Mississippi State Senator Mallory Therese Grey’s refined southern drawl asked, barely hiding the menace in her demeanor. She sat at the head of a carved ebony table. Around the table sat the leaders of the Great Coven and other high ranking members of ‘The Hidden’.

  “That stupid group of amateurs summoned the Knight of Lust and it seems as if somehow their ‘sacrifice’ ended up with some ability. We need her and her girlfriend,” she said with obvious distaste, ”either in the organization or bled out.” the threat to the listeners was clear. Get the girls or they might be ‘bled out’.

  To her left sat David Navet, Southern Regional Director of the FBI and ckey of Senator Grey.

  “I can bring them in but I think it’s better if we act slowly. We don’t want to tip our hand and we don’t have enough power to act openly.” Director Navet said.

  “Is that what you think ‘Turnip’?” Senator Grey asked, malice slipping into her voice as she ridiculed him with the English transtion of his surname. The implied stupidity was something she used often. ‘Turnip’ was a useful tool but since her mistress had bought his soul she had discarded any social niceties he might have been afforded in other scenarios. She had nothing but contempt for the man, he had sold his soul for a pittance not understanding anything about what he was doing. Not the value of the thing he sold nor the power he could have had at his command.

  “Another ignorant amateur, burned by a fire he doesn’t understand,” she thought to herself.

  David was aware of the contempt of his nominal superior, he looked forward to the day when he could slowly strangle her to death as he fucked her gorgeous plush ass. He was as yet unsure how he would make that particur dream a reality and had to content himself with the delights he found in his…toys. The small brown women, girls really, he regurly used in the sacrificial ceremonies that kept his own powers functioning. The thought of the st one making him shiver at remembered pleasure. Not that he didn’t enjoy his wife or the women in their special circle of friends, but there was something special about the quivers of a woman who suddenly realized they were being killed while he fucked them so deliciously.

  “I cautioned against sending the drudge or the boggles you’ll recall, High Priestess” David replied not rising to the bait, his smooth Texas drawl, polite and warm, with a honied smoothness that had charmed many a young socialite out of their clothes.

  No one was fooled at this table though. Both Grey and Navet were dangerous people who served the same infernal power. Their continuing feud surprised many, one of them should have found a way to get away with killing the other, but it seems the “Princess”, as she was known, always interceded when one or the other got the upper hand. Much to their mutual continued frustration.

  “Neither of the girls has shown any great power and in the end…we both know our ‘Lady Princess’ will tell us when the time is right. Acting precipitously will only py into the hand of our cunning opponents…don’t you ‘think’ ma’am?” He continued adding a bit of spice to the honey this time. No heat just a little jab as part of the repartee.

  “Well, David, we will see…regardless any future attempts need to be handled with more finesse. I do agree that they have not been approached properly.” Mallory replied, recognizing that indulging in her private feud was both unprofessional and only extending the time she had to spend in the degenerate Texan’s presence.

  “What do you suggest we do?” She asked. Her dangerous eyes meeting those of the members who had advocated the previous attempts. They would pay a price for their errors and if not careful in the future, find themselves strapped to an alter.

  David smiled, recognizing he had managed to get Mallory to focus on the business they were here to conduct rather than the pleasant distraction of needling each other.

  “Well ma’am, as usual, I suggest a honey trap. We have resources that might be useful, as a matter of fact…” his eyes narrowed, focusing on a member at the far end of the table, “I think we have someone right here who has the perfect bait for something like that.”

  The man at the far end of the table, bnched as he realized what was being suggested, “But sir, our children are sacrosanct. The Pact says so.” he protested.

  “Awwww now Jimmy, no one is gonna touch your sweet little daughter except maybe our two new recruits. After all doesn’t little Jaquelyn just looooove the taste of pussy? Hehe, not that I bme her…I quite like it myself.” David drawled with a leer.

  “How do they know? Why do they think just because she is gay she would be interested in the targets? Fuck, shit, damn, fuck!!!! I just wanted to get rid of that asshole that was chasing my wife…then, a little help with my business, now they wanted my daughter. I knew, if they get her involved…things will get out of hand…that asshole David was probably already thinking of a way to ‘mentor’ Jacky…” James ‘Jimmy’ Brown thought, feeling sick.

  “But sir, David, she wants to attend Tennessee State, South Eastern isn’t even on her radar…and she probably doesn’t have the grades, and to be honest, I don’t have to money to send her across the country.” the words tumbled from ‘Jimmy’s’ mouth in a rush. He wasn’t sure he wanted to bring his daughter into the dark world he had fallen into.

  “Well, I’m sure I can make some arrangements for a foundation or two to help her out…and in the end, that’s really what we are all about here isn’t it…helping family?” Mallory interjected, enjoying pying with the man. His failure as a man and a parent had only served to make his cute daughter the perfect agent for them. She was already corrupted in Mallory’s mind, now they could bring her into the fold.

  “That is most generous ma’am, she’s not even interested in anything other than school and her friends. Bringing her in, I just don’t see how we might do that…” “Jimmy” protested further, “I’ve never seen any darkness around her.”

  Mallory and David shared a look. Darkness was, after all, decidedly within their sphere.