October 10, 2003 – 1:30
"How do you think he is going to react? He loves you, madly. You know he is going to be upset and worried sick about you. However, I honestly understand why you may not want him to know where you are. We can't lie. I mean, we may manipulate some wordings, when necessary, but if he directly asks me where you are… best if I don't know, you're right… but I don't like it."
"Neither do I. I'd much rather be in bed with Frank right now, but before I come back home to him, I need to find out who sent them. These guys weren't amateur, but whoever paid them forgot that I'm a damn professional flyball player."
"One of the bests at that. That was a dumb move on their part to try to get you while you're flying."
"Dumb or not, they still tried. When you talk to Frank, can you please remain vague in your answers? I know he will worry and be mad at me. Our apartment is heavily warded, but I don't know what my enemies are capable of. I need to find out who came after me tonight. Best if I stay away until I find out more or fall off from everyone's radar if I want him to stay alive."
"For how long?"
"I honestly have no idea."
She hung up with Sebastian and sat on the bed. She didn't know what to do. She always refused to live in fear and she didn't want to give in to that one, but she knew she wouldn't be able to live with herself if something ever happened to Frank because of her. She would still need to make sure that none of the people who were after her had eyes on him.
She called some of her panthers, the adult ones who lived in her area, hoping that they would be up at this time, to see who would be able to keep an eye on him from a distance. Simone and Dan picked up the phone and agreed.
She called Erik and Henry.
"Hey sis! What's up?" said Erik.
"I nearly got captured on my way back from the field."
"WHAT?" they both said at the same time.
"I was followed. I tried to lose whoever was on my tail, but more joined in and tried to ambush me. I have no idea who sent them, but they were no amateurs."
"Holy gods from above! It doesn't matter how good these guys are, trying to get you when flying is an amateur move. I'd have been disappointed if they had captured you while you were flying," said Henry.
"Hmm you don't seem to be at your apartment at the moment. Where are you?" said Erik.
"I'm in some fay inn near Toronto. I was too far into Ontario when I managed to lose them. I couldn't just circle back and risk to lead them where I live. I can't endanger Frank."
"It must be someone who doesn't know where you live, I mean where you stay when you're not in the UK," said Erik.
"It could be anyone. How many people want me dead again? It could be a de Lima who's out for blood, it could be bounty hunters wanting to claim some government rewards, it could be people sent by an EBEE elder or any other foes I'm forgetting at the moment."
"I was about to ask if you told Frank, but knowing you, I don't think you did," said Henry.
"I didn't, I couldn't. If he knows where I am, he'll find a way to come to me. If he finds out what happened tonight, he might do something stupid that would put him on the radar of those who came after me. I spoke to Sebastian and I didn't even tell him where I was."
"This stinks like hellhound poop. We'll look into it, and see what we can find out. I hope your man will understand that you aren't leaving him just like that, that this isn't against him," said Henry.
"I hope so too. I don't want to lose him, but I also don't want him captured because of me."
She went out to get a drink and tried to get a sense of anyone who could have managed to track her there. Thankfully, elemental towns located off-grid aren't on any human map and didn't have to abide by human laws regarding the sale of alcohol. She had no trouble finding liquor at this hour.
The hood of her cloak was halfway down her face. She didn't want to be recognized. She didn't feel that she was being followed but knew there could be people searching for her in this fay town. She stayed out for a few hours, knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep even if she tried. Some people gave her weird looks, her aura was all over the place. She needed to find a way to blend in better.
She knew that even when wearing her eyeglasses, her aura was still leaking through. While it wasn't enough to prevent them from concealing her elemental eye colour, she could be detected among humans or other supernatural. Before heading back to her inn, she made a stop at a store selling binds and concealment spells. She bought two bracelets meant to conceal her aura and suppress her elemental essence when wearing them so that no one would be able to smell or detect what she was.
It was 6 in the morning when she made it back to her inn. She reached out to Sonylla to see if she'd be up for a sparring session later on that day. She needed an outlet. They agreed to meet at 9 at the CMMA headquarters.
"You look horrible girl, what have you been up to last night?" said Sonylla, when Coralis arrived.
Panjik, Emery and Clara, a CMMA agent she saw a few times in meetings, were also there. She trusted Panjik and Emery but didn't know Clara that well.
"It's a rather long story, not the place to talk about it."
"Let's fight it out then, we'll talk about it later."
Around lunchtime, High Mage Finnas called Coralis and Sonylla to his office. Panjik and Emery were also called there.
"As you all know, we entered a very dark time in our history. A few of us are on wanted lists and radicals are getting bolder. Last night, Rollio was captured and agent Gaspart Yoz almost got killed," said High Mage Finnas.